Earth One (DC graphic novel series)

In 2009, DC Comics announced the Earth One line of graphic novels, which were planned to be printed in 2010 with the first issues of Superman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One.[1] Superman: Earth One was issued in October 2010,[4] while Batman: Earth One was held to be released at the same time as The Dark Knight Rises film in July 2012.[5][6] Volume Two of Superman: Earth One was confirmed at that time to be released later that year, in October, with additional volumes of Batman: Earth One confirmed as well.[7] In June 2013, work on a Wonder Woman: Earth One volume was under way.[8] Teen Titans: Earth One debuted in November 2014.[9] In 2015, Volume Three of Superman: Earth One was released in February,[10] three months prior the May publication for Volume Two of Batman: Earth One (which was announced for release in 2013 before being postponed).[11][12] In the same year, it was announced two Earth One graphic novels that have yet to come out; those were Aquaman: Earth One by writer/artist Francis Manapul and The Flash: Earth One by writer J. Michael Straczynski,[13][14] who also wrote the Superman: Earth One series.[15] In 2016, Volume One of Wonder Woman: Earth One and Volume Two of Teen Titans: Earth One were released in April and August, respectively.[16][17]

The line was revived with the announcement in July 2017 that the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) would receive his first Earth One graphic novel,[18] which was released in March 2018,[19] seven months before the launch for Volume Two of Wonder Woman: Earth One in October.[20] After 2012's Volume One and 2015's Volume Two of Batman: Earth One, Volume Three was originally announced to debut in 2018, but was pushed back for 2021 due to writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank's work on DC Rebirth and Doomsday Clock.[21][22] Volume Two of Green Lantern: Earth One was scheduled to be published in late July 2020,[23] but was delayed for a release in August.[24] A month later, during DC FanDome, Jim Lee, DC's current publisher and CCO, revealed in a pre-recorded video for the event that more graphic novels from the Earth One line are in development.[3] In the following months, it was announced that Volume Three of both Wonder Woman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One would be published in March and June 2021, respectively.[25][26][27]

In January 2021, it was announced that DC had officially cancelled Aquaman: Earth One, as its writer/artist Manapul was reportedly leaving the company, therefore abandoning the project.[28]

In June 2015, in an interview with IGN, Dan DiDio, DC's co-publisher at the time, was questioned about a crossover between the graphic novels, but he discarded the idea.[29] Earlier that year, in January, was launched The Multiversity Guidebook #1, a guidebook to the DC Multiverse with detailed entries of all 52 existing worlds that make it up; one of the universes present is Earth One (Earth-1), as the guide features this world's versions of the DC heroes along with a brief description of their universe.[2] The issue is considered by many fans as the first crossover of the Earth One imprint and its characters,[30] and until then, due to the lack of interaction, it was debated whether the novels even existed in the same continuity or not.[30][31] Despite the aforementioned lack of interaction between the graphic novels, the characters from the Earth One universe still appear in some of the company's comic books. For example, Earth One's Batman makes a cameo appearance in the 10th issue of Batman: Arkham Unhinged.[32]

This freshly created Universe is still cooling and as yet unformed. Earth-1's known superbeings – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Teen Titans – are at the beginning of their careers. Time and space are still pliable, and nothing here is certain.

— The Multiversity Guidebook #1[2]

The premise of the Earth One imprint is to reimagine the characters of DC Comics by featuring "their first years and earliest moments retold in a standalone, original graphic novel format, on a new earth with an all-new continuity."[42] The intent is to reboot DC's most iconic superheroes and supervillains by presenting new, updated versions with revised origin stories in a modern setting to an audience that hasn't read these characters' comics previously, or hasn't seen them lately.[43] Unlike most of the company's publications, which are comic books released monthly, the output of Earth One consists entirely of graphic novels that are launched at once.[44] The project has been compared to the Ultimate line of Marvel Comics, which was a successful attempt to reintroduce Marvel's most popular characters to a new generation of readers.[45] Another comparison to Earth One was with the All Star line, an earlier attempt by DC to revamp its characters in a separate continuity, although it failed in its goal mainly due to scheduling problems.[46]

As the series takes place in a new continuity unrelated to any other in DC, the creative teams had access to all elements in the characters' stories to produce their own interpretation without restrictions. For example: Batman, who is usually depicted as a near-perfect crime-fighter, is portrayed in the novels as inexperienced and constantly prone to mistakes;[48][49] the Teen Titans, instead of sidekick superheroes, are presented as a group of teenagers who developed powers after being subjected to experiments by S.T.A.R. Labs;[17] Lex Luthor is reimagined as a married couple rather than just one man;[50] Harvey Dent, who in the mainstream comics is the supervillain Two-Face, dies and his twin sister Jessica Dent (an exclusive Batman: Earth One character) becomes the Earth One version of the villain;[29] Steve Trevor, originally a Caucasian character in the comics, is written as an African American in the novels;[51] and General Zod is the uncle of Superman, unlike his comic book counterpart who is unrelated to the hero.[52] In addition to reinterpreting already established comic book characters, the Earth One series also introduces new characters unique to the graphic novels, such as the serial killer Birthday Boy and the aforementioned Jessica Dent, with both characters debuting in Volume One of Batman: Earth One.[53][54]

In December 2009, following the announcement of the Earth One imprint, Geoff Johns revealed in an interview that he, who until then had only written comic books, would be responsible for writing the first Batman graphic novel.[46] In April 2018, Gabriel Hardman, co-writer and artist of the Green Lantern: Earth One series, explained in an interview to Inverse how he intended to differentiate the novel from other interpretations of the title character, stating, "It was incredibly obvious it was going to be difficult to tell the story they were trying to tell and make that work. At that point, I ended up thinking about what would make a good Green Lantern story. What would be a good way to approach Green Lantern from the ground up? It’s not difficult. You just have to strip away the things that work for a character [that’s been] around for fifty years but aren’t necessary to telling [a story]. You can take away some of the trappings that aren’t absolutely necessary to tell a core Green Lantern story."[44]

A constant criticism from fans regarding the graphic novels has been about their irregular releases.[55] In September 2020, Jim Lee explained the reason behind this, saying, "We are still publishing the Earth One series, they're just not on a super regular schedule, because we reached out to top creators and gave them the time to tell their stories. Whenever they finish their projects, we take them, package them, and publish them."[3]

In the television series Gotham, the character Alfred Pennyworth (portrayed by Sean Pertwee) takes inspiration from both his mainstream and his Earth One counterparts, drawing elements from the two versions, such as him being a former member of the Royal Marines who is the loyal butler of the Wayne family, and later becomes the legal guardian of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) following the murder of his parents. Alfred is also a skilled martial artist, just like his Earth One incarnation, as he trains Bruce in the combat skills he would eventually utilize in his adulthood as Batman.[64] In Krypton, General Zod (Colin Salmon) is depicted in the series as the uncle of Superman, similar to his version of Earth One.[52]

In the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons) is based on the Earth One iteration of the character.[65] The 2022 film The Batman features similarities, in addition to adapting various aspects of the Batman: Earth One graphic novel,[27] something which hasn't been officially confirmed by the director Matt Reeves so far. Such aspects include: the portrayal of a still young and inexperienced Batman (Robert Pattinson) at the beginning of his career as a crime-fighter, the Riddler (Paul Dano) being a serial killer targeting Gotham City's corrupt elite,[66] the depiction of Alfred (Andy Serkis) as a former Royal Marine responsible for training Bruce in combat himself, as well as other aspects.[67][68]

The 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City and its 2013 prequel Batman: Arkham Origins feature a number of alternative outfits for Batman to wear, including one based on the costume used by the Earth One version of the character.[69][70]

Grayson: Earth One is a fan-made web series, directed and written by Hisonni Johnson, and is available on the YouTube channel P3Series.[71] It follows a hypothetical, alternate universe scenario similar to the premise of the Earth One imprint, in which Richard Grayson / Nightwing was never adopted by Bruce Wayne / Batman after the murder of his parents and, as a result, he did not become his sidekick Robin. The series stars Stephen McCain as Grayson, Kevin Porter as Batman, Jono Cota as Jason Todd, Angela Gulner as Barbara Gordon, Rileah Vanderbilt as Helena Bertinelli, Katie Young as Carrie Kelly, Daz Crawford as Victor Friese, and Christian Lawrence Wade as Crispus Allen.[72] Originally planned for a six-episode season, production on the series had to be halted due to budget problems, which resulted in the release of only the first two episodes: the first, "Anything for Babs", on June 1, 2013 and the second, "The Boy and the Bullet", on March 4, 2015.[73]