Earth One (EO) is an imprint of graphic novels published by DC Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the DC Universe. Those characters include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Teen Titans, as well as others whose characteristics and origin stories are revised and altered to suit the 21st century audience. The shared universe, unlike the original DC Universe in comic books, has yet to cross over its common plot elements, settings, and characters. The reality of Earth One is designated as Earth-1 as part of the DC Multiverse.
Announced in 2009, the imprint was launched in 2010 with the publication of Superman: Earth One, followed by Batman: Earth One in 2012. The Earth One universe would expand as more graphic novels are released, including Teen Titans: Earth One in 2014, Wonder Woman: Earth One in 2016 and Green Lantern: Earth One in 2018, with other novels currently under development.
Publication history
Releases
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. Superman: Earth One was issued in October 2010, while Batman: Earth One was held to be released at the same time as The Dark Knight Rises film in July 2012. 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. Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume One was in development in 2013. Teen Titans: Earth One debuted in November 2014. In 2015, Volume Three of Superman: Earth One was released in February, three months prior the May publication for Volume Two of Batman: Earth One (which was announced for release in 2013 before being postponed). In the same year, two Earth One graphic novels were announced to 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, who also wrote the Superman: Earth One series. In 2016, Volume One of Wonder Woman: Earth One and Volume Two of Teen Titans: Earth One were released in April and August, respectively.
The line was revived in July 2017 in which the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) would receive his first Earth One graphic novel, which was released in March 2018, seven months before the launch for Volume Two of Wonder Woman: Earth One in October. 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. Volume Two of Green Lantern: Earth One was scheduled to be published in late July 2020, but was delayed for a release in August. 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. In the following months, Volume Three of both Wonder Woman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One were published in March and June 2021, respectively.
In January 2021, DC officially cancelled Aquaman: Earth One, as its writer/artist Manapul was reportedly leaving the company, therefore abandoning the project.
Crossover
In January 2015, The Multiversity Guidebook No. 1 was launched, 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. The issue is considered by many fans as the first crossover of the Earth One imprint and its characters, and until then, due to the lack of interaction, it was debated whether the novels even existed in the same continuity or not. 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.
In an interview with IGN from June 2015, Dan DiDio, DC's co-publisher at the time, was questioned about a crossover between the graphic novels, but he discarded the idea. However, in April 2021, Grant Morrison, the writer of both Wonder Woman: Earth One and The Multiversity, expressed their opinion on how an Earth One crossover will happen "eventually".