Welcome to the DC Universe Chronology.

This feature lists the stories which take place in the DC Multiverse. Stories are separated by the individual universe in which they occur and are sorted in chronological order. Stories may contain multiple events (known as sequences) which occur during different time periods. Therefore, the same story may appear in the Chronology more than once.

The Chronology is not intended to be a reading order. Comics may be read in whichever order the reader chooses.

Stories published by DC, but taking place outside the DC Universe, will not be listed in the Chronology.

When constructing a chronology or timeline of a fictional universe where time travel is not only possible. but commonplace, it is important to decide how to represent these stories within the timeline. Below is a description of the type of time travel, an example of each type, and an explanation of how I will be representing the story within the timeline.

Rules and Explanations Regarding Types of Time Travel Stories Represented in the Chronology:

The DC Rule of Time Travel
A character travels back/forward in time then returns to their own time.
Example: Batman is sent back in time by Professor Carter Nichols to the Revolutionary War.
Explanation: This story will not be placed in the timeline of the Revolutionary War. If you were to read the timeline from beginning to end, it would appear if Batman existed hundreds of years before his own birth. Therefore this story will instead appear in the regular Batman timeline from the time he left. Essentially Batman's appearances will be in order from the perspective of the character.

The Legion Rule of Time Travel
Character travels back/forward in time AND meets a significant character (real or fictional) then returns to their own time.
Example: Flash travels back to the stone age and meets Vandal Savage.
Explanation: From Flash's perspective this is treated exactly like the Batman time travel story above. The story will appear in his own timeline at the time he left. However, from Vandal Savage's point of view, this story happens much earlier in his life than his contemporary appearances and battles with the Flash. Therefore there will be a second entry in the timeline from Savage's perspective inserted in the stone age. Legion stories will frequently use this format when Superboy and/or Supergirl from contemporary times meet the Legion. An entry will appear in the 30th century chronology to document the event from the Legion's perspective. A separate entry will be used in the contemporary era to document the story from Superboy or Supergirl's perspective.

Booster Gold's Rule of Time Travel
Character travels back/forward in time and remains in the new time period for an extended period of time.
Example: Booster Gold goes back in time to the 20th century and establishes himself as a contemporary hero.
Explanation: Since most of these stories take place in contemporary time and crossover with many heroes, Booster's adventures will appear in the contemporary not the future era. His back story/origin that takes place in the future will be placed in to the contemporary era, so that from the timeline Booster's life will appear in order. Those appearances will be treated as though he were native to the 20th century and traveling forward in time to the future much like Superboy's trips to the 30th century.
This rule however, would not apply to Karate Kid, who made the majority of his appearances in the 30th century. He did stay in the 1970s for many issues of his own series, but his appearances fall under "The Legion Rule of Time Travel".

The DC Rule of Flashbacks
A flashback to events earlier/later in the life of a character.
Example: Batman tells Robin how he once wore the Robin costume while being trained by Harvey Harris.
Explanation: These type of stories have two sections, present day and the past. Therefore there will be two separate entries in the database. One for the main sequence in contemporary times, the other in the past. Since some stories contain multiple flashbacks to different time periods, a separate entry will be used for each period represented in the story.

The Origin Rule of Flashbacks
A single panel and/or montage flashback.
Example: Superman's origin is retold for the 99th time. A panel depicts his rocket leaving Krypton. A panel depicts his arrival on Earth. A panel depicts his powers developing. A panel depicts him becoming Superman, etc.
Explanation: Retellings and/or montages with single panels presenting key events in the life of a character will not be represented in the chronology. Only extended flashback sequences will get their own entries.

The Superboy Rule of Flashbacks
A story that takes place within an earlier/later period in the life of a character.
Example: Superboy, the adventures of Superman as a boy.
Explanation: Superboy adventures will be placed in the timeline prior to the adventures of Superman. Because Superman of Earth-1 was active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s and Superboy was published from the mid-1940s to the early-1980s, there is significant overlap. Superman and Superboy didn't exist simultaneously in 1970 for example. For the purposes of this timeline, Superboy's stories are all considered to have taken place in the 1940s. For more information see the How Old is Superman? section.

The Degaton Rule of Time Paradox
Story events that were erased or reset as a result of time travel.
Example: Per Degaton goes into the future steals technology, then brings it back into the past and conquers the world. The JSA then go into the past to defeat Degaton and restore the timeline. Therefore Degaton never went into the future or the past and is back to being Professor Zee's lab assistant.
Explanation: Even though the ramifications of the time travel have been reversed, the events shall be placed in the timeline from where the character made the time travel journey. If that involves multiple eras than multiple entries shall appear. An example is Degaton leaving from 1947 to fight the All-Star Squadron in 1941. An entry for Degaton will appear in 1947. An entry for the Squadron will appear in 1941.

The general rule is that you can look up any character and in the timeline and all the events in his/her life will go in sequence from the point of view of that character.