DC Comics' Reboots Explained! 

DC may be either Pre-Crisis or Post-Crisis, but I like to think of myself as being mid-Crisis.

I stopped caring about continuity after Rebirth. I mostly go by the old school Star Wars expanded Universe rules now: It's canon unless it contradicts something else. Otherwise, I just like enjoying good superhero stories

Crisis on Infinite Earths: reboot Flashpoint: reboot Rebirth: soft reboot

All this started because a writer thought it would be funny if the new flash was inspired by the old flash comics.

Meanwhile, over at Marvel, their timeline has gone uninterrupted. Meaning the entire 54 years of continuity since 1961 to prior to 2015's Secret Wars are all still canon due to their Sliding Timescale/Floating Timeline which moves the timeline so the that Marvel's Present Day will always take place parallel to our Present Day, whenever that is. In fact, Secret Wars still didn't change much, it just gave Marvel the opportunity to eliminate the various parallel universes and transplant popular AU characters into the main Marvel Earth of 616, as well as retcon some events. Ooh, idea! How about a video on Marvel's Sliding Timescale to explain how time passes in-universe.

Me:I think I finally understand the continuity DC Comics:REBOOT TIME!

I like a few DC Heroes, but my biggest problem with DC's continuity is how they "Reboot" but keep things the same. I think of Rebirth as a Reboot. The New 52 reboot didn't effect Green Lantern and kept its history from before Flashpoint. Batman also kept his history from before Flashpoint, but now it all happened in the span of 5 years. THIS is my problem with DC. It's hard to keep track of What has happened in different titles.

Post crisis will always be the golden era of DC comics for me. So many amazing stories came from that time and my two favorite heroes Wally West and Kyle Rayner got their time to shine as the Flash and Green Lantern.

Ok, when Comic Drake sighs before explaining something, you know you're in for a wild ride.

Itsjustsomerandomguy Iron Man: Your characters are so isolated from each other, I’m starting to think DC stands for “Ditch Continuity”.

Am I the only one that gets massively put off reading main continuity DC comics because of crisis events? Not necessarily because it's annoying to have things reset, but from a sympathetic level, as in I feel so bad seeing characters that I love get their literal existences and lives rewritten and warped like they do. It's the small moments that really make up our lives, and DC characters essentially face a fate force than death in the event of a crisis, and I just can't cope with reading that.

It sucks that the "DC Universe" relaunch (the one after Rebirth) doesn't have its own distinct name or Wikipedia page.

I'm still waiting for the next Crisis event: Mid-life Crisis. I mean, Batman already drives fast cars and hangs around younger women.

Meanwhile the marvel video is 1 second long and the word “no”

"This is truly a crisis" - Dr Manhattan

Tldr; "Because Comics."

Lets go its been so long since you've put out any Dc explained videos

You should talk about Dial H for Hero. *SPOILERS* The Multiverse is actually a giant dial?! How insane is that?!

Everything was, in my opinion, very straight forward until they began to mix New 52 with Pre-52 (Post Crisis). Unless I'm just uninformed or mistaken, I just find it very confusing. Dr Manhattan reverting Prime Earth back to New Earth would have been the easy fix, but that's not the case (I don't think). So I find myself a little confused, especially after Doomsday Clock's ending. I'm confused as to what exactly changed, besides the stuff shown in the issue (But I'm sure much more than that changed.)

I hope after Dark Nights: Death Metal, we can finally get a clear continuity, stories, origins that have a proper mix influence of New Earth and Prime Earth, and instead of being in one or the other it can be a different earth like Rebirth Earth or Central Earth. But that’s my thoughts.

People said a long time ago: Marvel should be renamed Remake DC should be renamed Reboot

Good ol' DC with those classic cosmic rewrites

so it's just writers collectively fucking up on continuity errors till they have to reboot again,and again

Commenting during the premiere

The end is a new beginning... It’s a reset and rebirth

this was nice to see since you have touched on various points in this video on other videos but never brought it all together nicely like this so thanks for that

6:59-7:11 There are few other areas of "influence" that were apparently skipped out on a much needed cleanse of post-Flashpoint.

So, rebirth prime earth is just the best parts of pre-flashpoint and New 52?

How dare you not talk about DC's soft reboots/continuity clean up events "Zero Hour" & "Infinite Crisis". Remember when they made Batman an urban legend? These things were not full reboots, but they did try and do the same thing as the other reboots. Make things easier for new readers to jump into. I think they at least deserve a mention in this video.

All of this could have been avoided if DC had better continuity control.

If I were DC i would just reboot everything again by creating an omniversal war that ends with the Presence saying, "Enough!" and erasing the entirety of DC and creating a brand new universe. Recreate Superman's origin story, Batman's, Wonder Woman's etc. Bring in Doomsday, have him kill Superman, resurrect Superman and have Darkseid be the one that created Doomsday. Establish Darkseid as the main big bad of the new saga and then you move forward from there where you keep building up the new continuity, remaking old and iconic stories (from the old continuities) and modernizing them and changing them up a bit. Like how the MCU is loosely inspired by Marvel Comics, have the new DC timeline be loosely inspired by the past DC stories to create something new and fresh. Meaning that past DC stories would no longer be canon, but the new timeline would take inspiration.

“Because comics” is the ultimate be all end all explanation for everything.

Woah, the alternate Green Lantern at 3:09 is sporting the Xbox logo!

so what you're saying is, Barry Allen is responsible for both of the Reboots DC had

"because comics" best explanation ever

Thank you so much for that explanation. I couldn’t find it anywhere

It looks like we're getting ANOTHER reboot when Dark Nights Metal ends...

Amazing vid. I think DC should do stuff with the Golden/Silver age more. Not just in comics, but like in tv and video games

Good explanation. Wonder Woman's Silver-Age (Earth-1) stories begin with Wonder Woman #98 and all previous comics with her are considered to be Earth-2 stories, but you're right that no explanations of this were ever given in the comics. The fact that Wonder Woman's comics did a "salute to the Golden-Age" sporadically from issues 156-169, and it mimicked the TV show's continuity from issues 228-242 makes figuring out which "Earth" any particular story was set on difficult at best.

I have to admit. I like this reset idea. As it allows new fans to catch up pretty quickly and follow along through a timeline. It also means the characters ages work with the era and years. Unlike Marvel with their characters being ancient. Peter Parker having adventures in the 60's but still be in his 20's in the 2010's just doesn't work.

Strange how Archie Sonic's "New 252" is more a reboot than the New 52 of DC. Funny timing of that as well. (It was a Flashpoint situation, but at least it made sure not to revert.)

Yeah, I'm still confused

Just wanna say thank you this explains all the reboots and stuff in such an easy and simple way

the problem with DC's reboots is that they can't seem to fully commit to them. If they just said that none of their previous comics were canon anymore and stuck to that, a lot of fans would be pissed about that but at least you wouldn't need a PHD in comic book bullshit to understand which stories actually still happened.

Hey, Drake! Could you do one of these on my favourite of DC's least-used superhumans? Her code name is "Black Orchid" and there have been at least three iterations of her! Thanks for all you do!

Depending on who you talk to, the designation of "Ages" in DC comics varies from people to people. For me: Golden Age: Action Comics #1 to October 1956 Silver age: Showcase #4 to Crisis on Infinite earths. Post crisis/Bronze age: Man of steel reboot to flashpoint New 52 to rebirth Rebirth to current

Thanks, this was really helpful! 😊😊😊

If DC has a continuity after Dark Nights: Death Metal, here is how it should look. The DC Post-Rebirth Prime Earth Timeline Generation 1: The Golden Age (The Age of Mysteries): Year 1 (1938): Zatara premiered on April 18; Crimson Avenger I (Lee Travis) premiered in October. Year 2 (1939): Red Tornado I (Ma Hunkel) and Sandman I (Wesley Dodds) premiered on April 30; World War II began on September 1; Shazam premiered on November 8. Year 3 (1940): Flash I (Jay Garrick), Johnny Thunder, and Hawkman I (Carter Hall) premiered on January 25; Spectre I (Jim Corrigan) premiered in February; Hourman I (Rex Tyler) premiered in March; Doctor Fate I (Kent Nelson) premiered in May; Allen Adam was born on May 3; Green Lantern I (Alan Scott) premiered on July 16; Atom I (Al Pratt) premiered in October; Green Lantern I, Flash I, Atom I, Doctor Fate I, Hawkman I, Sandman I, Hourman I, and Spectre I established the Justice Society of America on November 9 and had their first meeting on November 22; Max Mercury premiered in November. Year 4 (1941): Doctor Mid-Nite I (Charles McNider), Starman I (Ted Night), and the Newsboy Legion premiered in April; Hawkgirl I (Shiera Sanders) premiered in June; the Justice Society of America were bathed in chronal radiation on June 28; the Blackhawk Squadron premiered in August; the Squadron of Justice, the Shining Knight I (Justin Arthur), Johnny Quick, and Liberty Belle premiered in September; the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy premiered in October; Vigilante I (Greg Sanders) premiered in November; Crimson Avenger I, Shining Knight I, Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, and Vigilante I established the Seven Soldiers of Victory in December; the Freedom Fighters, Shazam Jr. (Captain Marvel Jr.), Wildcat I (Ted Grant), and Mister Terrific I (Terry Sloane) premiered in December; the All-Star Squadron established on December 7. Year 5 (1942): Airwave I (Larry Jordan) premiered in February; Sarge Steel was born; Johnny Chambers and Libby Lawrence were married on April 1; the Young All-Stars established on April 26; Mary Marvel premiered on July 6. Year 6 (1943): Judomaster I (Rip Jagger) premiered in June. Year 7 (1944): Redacted Year 8 (1945): World War II ended on September 2. Year 9 (1946): Redacted Year 10 (1947): Black Canary I (Dinah Drake) premiered in August. Year 11 (1948): The Seven Soldiers of Victory disappeared on October 26. Year 12 (1949): Redacted Year 13 (1950): Redacted Year 14 (1951): The Justice Society of America disbanded on March 21; Captain Comet premiered in June. Year 15 (1952): Phantom Stranger premiered in August. Year 16 (1953): The Shazam Family disappeared in November. Year 17 (1944): Redacted Year 18 (1955): Martian Manhunter was teleported from Mars to Earth and premiered on April 24; the Vietnam War began on November 1. Year 19 (1956): Redacted Year 20 (1957): Kal-El was born in Krypton on February 29. Year 21 (1958): Redacted Year 22 (1959): Redacted Year 23 (1960): Pete Ross was born on January 21; Arthur Curry was born on January 29; Mera was born on January 31; Bruce Wayne was born on February 19; Hal Jordan was born on February 20; Lori Lemaris was born on February 27; Captain Atom premiered in March; Diana of Paradise Island was brought to life on March 22; Krypton exploded on June 16; Kal-El arrived from Krypton to Earth on June 18 and was adopted and raised by the Kents on June 25; Lana Lang was born on July 17; Lois Lane was born on August 17; John Stewart was born on October 17; Oliver Queen was born on December 9; Steve Trevor was born on December 14. Year 24 (1961): Katar Hol was born on March 30; the Justice Society of America returned on June 14; Shayera Hol was born on June 19. Year 25 (1962): Redacted Year 26 (1963): Sue Dearbon Dibny was born on February 6; Barry Allen was born on March 19; Ralph Dibny was born on May 26; Superbaby premiered on June 11; Dinah Laurel Lance was born on August 19; Barbara Gordon was born on September 23; Iris West arrived from the 30th century on September 27; Superbaby met Zatara on December 25. Year 27 (1964): Blue Beetle I (Dan Garrett) premiered in June; Sarge Steel premiered in December. Year 28 (1965): Redacted Year 29 (1966): Thunderbolt premiered in January. Year 30 (1967): Redacted Year 31 (1968): Superbaby becomes Superboy I (Clark Kent) and premiered in Smallville on June 11; Bruce Wayne witnessed the death of his parents in Crime Alley on June 26. Year 32 (1969): Redacted Year 33 (1970): Redacted Year 34 (1971): Zatanna Zatara was born on May 20; Kara Zor-El was born in Argo City on September 22. Year 35 (1972): Snapper Car was born on January 10; Roy Harper was born on November 1; Dick Grayson was born on November 11. Year 36 (1973): Wonder Girl I (Diana of Paradise Island) premiered on March 22. Year 37 (1974): Superboy I met Bruce Wayne on March 10, Oliver Queen on March 11, the Legion of Superheroes in April, Arthur Curry on November 19, and Airwave I in December. Year 38 (1975): Barry Allen witnessed the death of his mother on March 18; the Vietnam War ended on April 30; Superboy I met Barbara Gordon in July; Al Rothstein was born on October 12; Hector Hall was born on November 14. Year 39 (1976): Lyta Hall was born in March; Superboy I met Hal Jordan on October 23. Year 40 (1977): Wally West was born on January 16; Garth was born on March 6; Donna Troy was born on April 26; the Vietnam War ended on April 30. Year 41 (1978): Clark Kent graduated from Smallville High in May; Bruce Wayne graduated from Gotham High in May; Clark Kent witnessed the death of his parents in May; Jennie-Lynn Hayden and Todd Rice were born on July 20; Clark Kent left Smallville to attend Metropolis University on September 3; Bruce Wayne attended Yale in September. Year 42 (1979): Katar and Shayera Hol were married on February 14; Steve Trevor’s plane crashed on August 13; Wonder Girl I becomes Wonder Woman, arrived at Man’s World, and premiered on September 4. Year 43 (1980): Bruce Wayne graduated from Yale and premiered as Batman in May; Dick Grayson witnessed the death of his parents on July 15 and premiered as Robin I on August 25. Year 44 (1981): Kate Kane was born on March 21; Superboy I becomes Superman on May 14; Superman and Batman had their first team-up in May; Helena Bertinelli was born on September 7. Year 45 (1982): Clark Kent graduated from Metropolis University in May; Kyle Rayner was born on May 14; Clark Kent got a job at the Daily Planet on June 30; Jason Todd was born on August 16. Year 46 (1983): Redacted Year 47 (1984): Redacted Year 48 (1985): Batwoman I (Kathy Kane) premiered in July; Flash II (Barry Allen) premiered on October 23; Connor Hawke was born.

Hey Drake, do you plan on posting your thoughts on Speed Metal?

Hey Comic Drake! I love your content and I’d love to see you make a video on the JL8 Web Comic

Gracias bro. Logre entender mucho más el lore de Tierra 1 y 2 gracias a este video

Very good video drake, nice job

Thanx for the explanation

I'm commenting to seriously help out this channel. Also liked. Also you rock.

Watched because you linked in another video. Thanks!

When you say DC Rebirth now causes Prime Earth to have some qualities of Pre-flashpoint new earth, do the origin stories of characters like Batman or Superman revert? Like is Batman's canon origin story now Batman Year One or Batman Zero Year? And is Superman's origin story one from Prime Earth or from Pre-flashpoint new earth?

One of the most confusing things about DC's publication and the biggest misconception imo is people think the 'Earth one' and 'earth two' concepts are two planets of the same universe which in fact they are two different earth's from completely different universes. Also the Gods Sphere and Apocalypse etc being outside of the actual multiverse. Consequently the events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths didn't affect the Gods Sphere. I will say a lot can be explained with Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics, how in fact the Presence didn't make the DC multiverse or the Gods Sphere and Source Wall but Michael Demeirgos' power was shaped by Lucifer Morningstar into the reality that is DC comics. Then even beyond all that The Writer wrote all of this so it's even more confusing

So flashpoint was just another flash thingy until dc said “fuck it” Very fun

Hi just found your channel amazing channel love it i wish i knew more good yt channels also i am gonna start reading dc comics first i am gonna read arrow new 52

And then you have the can of worms that is marvel's sliding timeline.

Can somebody please make a huge video explaining the entire story of the DC comics? I want to know the stories, but I don’t have the money to rent/buy these.

While it would have meant a longer and potentially more confusing video, I wish the video had another section that covered the various events that gave fans the perception that DC kept rebooting its universe. Stuff like Hypertime (aka Simpsons Time), partial reboots, re-using the "Crisis" name, etc.

Yo, real talk...I just watched Comics Explained's "How to Kill Cyborg" video & it made me wonder if he could hack a Green Lantern's power ring. I kind of want to discuss which easy a better computer, is it a motherbox or a Green Lantern's power ring?

Mean I really hope the universe doesn't get meddled with more... well hello, Death Metal! What do you have there in your hands? ... no no no, PUT THAT BACK!

You forgot about the hundreds of "Reality Altering Shenanigans"

Great video.

DC reboots is just like trying to force changes on yourself in a much complicated ways.

Man the DCYOU era was a complete and utter mess

Action Comics 196-197 I have NEVER heard of that. I always heard that its just vague where 1 begins and ends.

I once tried to explain Hydra Captain America to my dad. It didn't end well.

Hey, you mentioned @3:55 that instead of there being two Supes, there was just one. My question is, which Superman is that, the Earth 1 or 2? Also, what Superman comics chronologically take place right after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths? Thanks!

Cool video. Now do one on the ones from Marvel (even though there aren't any)

Can we just go back to pre-Crisis DC? I'd give anything for Infinity Inc to still be an ongoing title with its original characters. It was really good.

I wanted to start reading DC rebirth but I have not read any comics beforehand , so I was wondering if it would make any sense if I just started from the first rebirth comic or would it make sense if I read flashpoint , superman and Lois road to rebirth , watchmen and so on?

Man I miss New Earth. I mean, Rebirth isn't bad and we still had some great stories, I'm not saying we should scrap everything, but I've been revisisting some of the Post Crisis titles and I miss the feeling of "Hey, who is this Superhero that randomly appeared in the JSA book and claimed to be Hal Jordan's cousin?". I miss the JSA, I miss Booster Gold, and I really miss the JLA that wasn't restricted to just the "Big 5" and whoever else they're trying to promote at the time. The JLA should have a variety of members so more heroes can be called upon. It's more fun to see Flash interact with Plastic Man and Zauriel than just Batman and Green Lantern for the 1000th time

The way I wrap my head around Rebirth is that it's a soft-reboot. Most of the universe stays the same, DC only bring back a few pre-Flashpoint things that people liked, like Superman, Superboy, and Wally West. Marvel did something similar with Secret Wars in 2015 to bring a few characters like Miles Morales and Old Man Logan into the main universe.

7:07 "prime earth took on qualities and aspects of pre-flashpoint continuity." Could anyone help elaborate on examples of this?

7:32 they did you one better and did an anti-reboot that undoes all the prior reboots. Now the DC Multiverse is its own entire Lesser-Omniverse within the Greater-Omniverse and is now even more infinite than it was prior to the first Crisis and going forth every DC comic that has ever been made and ever will be made is now considered canon.

*dark crisis peers over Drake's shoulders*

Can you make a video about the infinity trilogy { infinity gauntlet , infinity war and infinity crusade

I appreciate the change of framing for the thumbnail. But Superman's logo kinda gives it away ;)

Saying DC had two reboots is being generous. Things like Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis & Rebirth may not have been full reboots but they did shake up the continuity and offered a soft reboot to the DC which I think adds to the confusion.

Laughs in Death Metal and Infinite Frontier

Very good video

Definetly A Good Vid To Listen To While Playing Lego DC Super-Villains

Hey comic drake Do you use any app to read comics? Or just paper copy’s?

Hi, so I'm a fan of DC more than I am marvel but most of what i know is from movies I've seen, games I've played or specific sections of DC comics that I have taken a particular interest in such as Green lantern and the lantern corps. So as someone who knows nothing about comics and has an interest to start where would be a nice area to plop myself and get to reading? Any help would be much obliged!

Yeah I still don't get it.

Thanks for making sense of what DC has been doing lately! Personally, I gave up on Comic Books after Flashpoint!

6:55 Pft the Comedian button censor bar

Can you make a video about Nightcrawler

I love how he started video saying that there’s only been two reboots and then goes into all the countless ones we’ve had since the 1950’s

When New 52 happened, I wasnt reading comics as much. The personalities of characters i loved changed. Of course they rebooted it because of the mighty dollar... DC was losing their old fans and prob readers and tried fixing it with Rebirth. Anything popular in the old and and new continuity was meshed together. Everything else was terminated because it wasnt making $$.... I hate when DC changed everything because of prophet. I love pre new 52. But I've opened back up to comic books again. I'm gonna start reading death metal even though it's over now.

This video is SO useful Also Post Crisis is the best

Do an episode about bart allen please, completey underrated

I understood everything except the last 2 minutes. I will come back at some point and watch again in the future

I can relate and respect for what DC for what they did. Mysteriously when I comments people see a greater story so I have to keep continuity in mind now. But I don’t want scare away new people, use new ideas or make my old fans upset / angry or get rid my old lore. So if anyone ask I just have Lillie say this: Lillie: “I have been through multiple different adventures. I have traveled through to multiple different place, universe, dimensions, timelines, multiverse also realities. I have acquired multiple different items, power, outfit and ect. Don’t worry it’s all happened your just seeing different moments in them. Same girl only have a lot of experience”

Unpopular opinion, with a few changes, Blackest Night would have been a more timely reboot.

And than there is that issue with Batman finding out the different eras of Joker are three different people

What's the name of the background music at the beginning 0:25?