It all started with this one...

But can this awesome story still be part of both universes' continuity since events such as "Crisis" occurred?...

If it was the case, here's how that encounter could be pictured :

Ok, let's try to sort this out...

     DC & Marvel crossovers : the beginning of an explanation?

                          Page hosted by Sebastien Carletti (s_carletti@hotmail.com)

Here we are...so, what you're about to read is a lil' something I've actually sent to some comic book professionals: Mr Mike Carlin (DC comics Executive Editor), Mr Kurt Busiek (Hot Shot Writer)...they all kindly took the time to read my stuff &  all gave me their opinion about it...I'd really like to thank them for that.

As an introduction, let's say that I wanted to mix the amazement I first felt when I read the very first intercompany crossovers with a concern I developed while reading comic books: continuity.

A paradox?...Well, perhaps not...

                                           IT ALL STARTS HERE...                                                                   

Remember the two entities introduced in Marvel vs DC ? They were supposed to be " asleep ", in a coma, after their battle that generated the two separated Universes. Now let’s say that in a such comatose state, they could have had " flashes " of consciousness. During those short flashes (" short " at a cosmic level, naturally...), cosmic disturbances were generated. What kind ?

Well, if we consider the information we have, after their selfdestruction, the entities took a new form : galaxies, stars, planets, souls... So, when one of those flashes happened, the entity concerned became vaguely aware of its new form, but without remembering its " brother ". The result was that its Universe was perfectly unifying with the other, as if it was ever the case : during those " unifications ", everything both universes had in common merged (stars/planets/beings...), but what was unique in each universe co-existed naturally...

How could it be possible ? Well, the other entity was still in a coma, the one shortly awaken was not " comfortable " with its new form and wasn’t even expecting there could be another Universe.

All this to explain that all the pre-DC vs Marvel Crossovers can be " in continuity ", even the pre-Crisis ones : the Marvel Universe was simply unifying with DC’s Earth 1 Universe .

After the Crisis events redefined from scratch the whole DC Universe, the " flashes " ended for a while...but one day, they started again (and, according to the special continuity in comics, crossovers such as " Punisher/Batman " occurred only few months before Marvel vs DC...).

Naturally, every time one of those flashes was over, everything came back to " normal ".

In fact, problems happened when both entities had flashes at the same time, or shortly spaced. This is what happened for the first time in " Green lantern / Silver Surfer ", and it explains why some characters remembered their encounter with someone from the other earth (Like when the Joker remembers Spidey in DC vs Marvel 1).

What about Access, the guardian of the " gate " between the Universes, would you say ?

Well, he was the only one aware of what was going on when the Universes were unified, but he was powerless when a " flash " occurred. All he knew is that one day it would happen, that the two entities would wake up : he had already experienced it when he still was Axel Asher (It’s a bit confusing to explain, assuming that Access encountered his older embodiment, " Morty ", in Marvel vs DC...).All he can do is fix things ( As presumed in " Unlimited Access " part one...). But it doesn’t end there...

In fact, even after " DC vs Marvel " and " All Access ", crossovers occurred with the concept of unified Universes. No more separated Universes. I was first " embarrassed ". But then DC integrated continuity in Batman / Spiderman... and Marvel presented this one-shot as the direct prequel of " Unlimited Access "...and I was delighted !

Why ? Because things continue to fit perfectly (Perfectly : if you consider the theories I extended from what already exists).

Even after the DC vs Marvel events, the two Universes were still unifying ! The reason ?

Here’s the idea (at this point, I’m supposed to sound enthusiastic...) that could help to insert everything I already settled (with the existing settlements as basis) in a story. Let’s take an old crossover. A pre-Crisis one. I’m talking about " Superman and Spiderman " released in 1981. If we admit our theories, it occurred during one of the entities’flash. When it ended, everything went back to normal. So, what’s new ? Well, this " encounter " left a trace, a " concrete " link between the two Universes : a tunnel (more precisely an "underground railway"), between NYC (DC’s and Marvel’s unified NYC) and Metropolis, that was constructed by Dr DOOM. You guess the rest : one part of the tunnel is on DC’s earth, the other on Marvel’s.

Here are the panels where you get to see the " underground railway" :

But now, how could this tunnel had survived to the Crisis’events ? Well, as I recall, most of DC’s Earths merged in a single one, and the tunnel (based in Earth 1) is still there, and is responsible for the Universes unifying again, even after the entities woke up ! Access is the only one who can separate the universes ( even if he doesn’t realize it yet...)

Nevertheless, can we say that the pre-crisis DC/Marvel crossovers still "happened", that they have been rewritten as well as the DCU history was?...that the events described in those crossovers  still occurred, but with post-crisis dc characters...well, it would be simple to say so, but the answer is probably NO...Why not, would you say?

Well, regarding what is depicted in the Superman/Hulk crossover ("the Incredible Hulk vs Superman", written by Roger Stern/release date: May 1999), the story takes place in both present time and past time...it's supposed to describe the first encounter of the two icons...and of course the Superman starring in that story is the post-crisis one we know...along with his post-crisis origin & continuity...and no reference to the "comic historical" first encounter of the Hulk and Superman (Superman & Spiderman, 1981) is made in this story...and it's quite logical .

So as a conclusion, this crossover can be presented as a "retcon" crossover (as I'd say the Galactus/Darkseid one is...), maybe resulting from recent cosmic disturbances that shattered the Marvel & the DC Universes ("Infinity Crusade", "Zero Hour"...).

Comic-book history is full of rules...the most important one?...well, THERE'S NO RULE!!!

Everything can be done, and then undone...the recent "Hypertime" concept Mr Waid & Mr Morrison developed is an interesting example...

Please follow that link for a lil' plan of what we've been "theorizing" about...

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