#Hypertime

[blanddcheadcanons]

The most difficult part of visiting alternate timelines for some heroes is meeting the children of their alternate selves. Some report feeling a sadness they can't quite explain. 57% of heroes polled say they still think about these children and 17.8% of those worry about them.

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[ronnyraygun]

Argue with me, I dare you.

[batmanvillainswithcircularheads]

[dccomicsnews]

Opinion: We need a Codified DC Multiverse post- Dark Crisis "Big Bang"

Opinion: We need a Codified DC Multiverse post- Dark Crisis “Big Bang”

I haven’t been reading Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths as event fatigue has been strong for a long time.  A very long time.  Still, I’ve been keeping up with some of the news spinning out of the event.  Reading that Pariah was brining back the original Multiverse did get my attention.  I’ve taken a wait and see approach, however. This week’s Dark Crisis: Big Bang #1 got me thinking when I saw the…

[konmics-n-stuff]

I think about hyperjacket Superboy a lot. As in the Superboy with the hypertime-traversing jacket; he died in the beginning of the Hypertension arc of Superboy ‘94.

Like,, he was traveling the entirety of hypertime, combating Black Zero for a long time (at least I think it was a long time, it’s been a sec since l read the comic). And we really don’t know much about him.

That leaves SO much room for interpretation and crossovers; the fanfic potential is unreal.

[thevindicativevordan]

Wait, Hypertime? I thought Johns' thing was Metaverse, which he made up specifically as a fuck you to the idea behind Hypertime ("It's all made up, it all does and doesn't matter" vs "main DC continuity is the one that matters") Also, "Yet another bold new direction for the Titans failed to take off" I think is a funny thing to say, because their problem isn't exactly an abundence of bold new directions.

He tied Hypertime and the Metaverse together over in Flashpoint Beyond.

If you don't mind reading a wall of text about the worst kind of nerd bullshit - and let's be clear both the Metaverse and Hypertime are dumb nerd bullshit - there you go. Hypertime and the Metaverse are the real focuses of his first new JSA issue, that and Helena Wayne.

That line about the Titans was sarcasm, guess it didn't come across.

[paullovescomics]

Now I'm up to #75 of the Superboy series that started in 1994. Finally he has a civilian name: Kon-el. The Hawaiian setting has been ditched, in favor of the metallic halls of Project Cadmus. The only supporting cast member who came along is Dubbilex, which does make sense, since he is a product of the Project. However, before we settle in at Cadmus, there's an outing on a lost island full of animal people. It's a take on the animal society of Kamandi, which ushers in a cavalcade of Kirby-created content. This goes hand-in-hand with the Superman titles of the time, if I remember correctly. It is pretty fun, although, as is often the case, it seems like we barely get to know any of these characters as they rush by in the crisis of the moment. We also get Hypertime in these issues. That was a way of re-introducing alternate worlds to the DCU without bringing back the old school multiverse. (In the early 80s folks were convinced that the multiverse was too confusing and off-putting to new readers, and that's why newstand sales were tanking. So it went away for a long time. Little did they know that much larger audiences would later embrace a menagerie of multiverses in movies and tv. Trying to guess what the missing readers want is a very old game, y'all, and nobody is ever very good at it.) This gives us Black Zero, an alternate Kon-El who cooked in the clone machine long enough to emerge at adult size and with more powers. And he's evil, natch. Later, the ex-supermodel-turned-psionic-bullet-firing-vigilante Hex returns, and now she's riding a dragon. All of this is fun, but I have to say that Kon-El often feels like he's just along for the ride. Particularly during the Cadmus arcs, you could put many other heroes in his place, and it would play out much the same. By #75, we're set for another change in status quo. If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned what happened to Tana, that's because that didn't happen. Why would such a downer, lackadaisically orchestrated dismissal of an important character happen in a series that's otherwise concerned with adventure and nostalgia? It doesn't fit the tone of the series, and it sucks, so clearly it didn't happen. Tana is back in Hawaii enjoying being a star reporter.

[suzukiblu]

what do you have for Clark kent?

Clark is the last son of Krypton.

Clark is the last of Krypton.

At least, that's what he thought thirty seconds ago.

"Uh," the kid standing in the middle of the broken-up Metropolis street in front of him says awkwardly, a gloved hand half-covering the bright and bold and undeniable emblem on his chest. There's a lot of surrounding property damage, a lot of staring civilians hovering on the sidewalk, and some very upset police officers cuffing up some very unconscious metahuman gang members. Clark can't even begin to bring himself to care about any of it. "Hey . . . ?"

"Hello," Diana says, raising a curious eyebrow at both the kid and the ridiculous mess that's somehow been made of the street. From the look of it maybe one of those gang members had some kind of tectonic-based abilities or something similar, but Clark continues not to care. "It seems we've encountered an admirer of yours, Kal."

"You're wearing that crest without permission," Bruce says flatly, looking less amused than Clark has seen him since the last time someone died on the League's watch.

Clark, meanwhile, can't say anything at all.

"Hey, Superman gave me permission, okay?!" the kid protests, bristling defensively. Clutching the emblem . . . protectively. Like he's afraid to have it taken away. "Just not, uh . . . this one."

"This one." Bruce frowns. The kid flattens his hand against his chest and just . . . shrugs, looking away. Clark can't look away from him at all. He looks like . . . he looks . . .

"Yeah," the kid says, gesturing a little directionlessly with his free hand. "I'm kinda not, like . . . local? There was like this whole thing, like with Hypertime and–it's complicated, okay? Just, like, it's an alternate reality issue. I'm sort of, uh . . . lost. Or–stranded, more like. I guess more like . . . stranded."

The kid swallows. Drops his hand away from the emblem and folds his arms over it instead.

Keeps standing there, looking like . . .

"Are you, now," Bruce says neutrally, and he's definitely going somewhere with that, but–

"You're Kryptonian," Clark blurts, because he can't hold the words back a moment longer. Diana and Bruce both go very still beside him. The kid just looks surprised.

"Uh, not really?" he says. "I mean, okay, sort of. I'm a binary clone of . . . you know, like a hybrid? Um, they based me off, well . . . our Superman. And then, like, stitched me up with human DNA to hold me together 'cuz the Kryptonian genome is a freaking nightmare and they couldn't really figure it out all that well, so otherwise I would've degraded and–uh. Sorry."

Clark feels something he doesn't think he's ever felt in his life, looking at this kid. Feels like he's been dragging himself through the uncanny valley and finally seen the other side of the thing; like he's finally crossed through the fog and darkness and come out into the clear light of day and seen what people are actually supposed to look like. Everything about him is just . . . right. The pitch of his voice, the slope of his shoulders, the way the sunlight reflects off his skin, the pattern of spokes in his irises, the color of his eyes, the weight of him in the world . . .

Clark wants to snatch this kid up and wrap him in his cape and never let anything else touch him. Never let him be hurt or upset or–or alone. Never. Not for anything.

He feels the way he's heard people describe feeling when they first met . . . when they first . . .

He feels the way he's heard people describe feeling when they first met their child. A sense of awe and wonder and . . . and . . .

He feels like he felt the first time he left the atmosphere and saw all of Earth all at once. Everything on it, everyone on it. The whole thing all together, all the same. Perfect.

Complete.

He's never loved anything this immediately, Clark realizes distantly. Not even that first full glimpse of Earth.

He can't imagine how he ever, ever could have.

"What's your name?" he asks, unable to shake the intensity of emotion held painfully tight in his chest. Not even wanting to shake it.

The kid looks–worried, almost. Puts his hands behind his back. Clark can see the full image of the El crest emblazoned in pride of place across his chest for the first time, and it makes him feel weak.

"Superboy," the kid says. "Um . . . Kon-El."

Clark's heart could burst, hearing that.

Or break.

"Kon-El," he echoes, forcing himself not to step in closer; not to crowd the kid. "I had a . . . on Krypton, before it was destroyed, there was . . ."

"A cousin. From the, uh, second house of El," the kid–Kon-El–agrees, shifting just barely anxiously. "My Superman said I . . . reminded him of him, like from what he saw in the recordings and all? So, uh . . ."

"I named you after him?" Clark asks wonderingly. He would've given the kid a human name over a Kryptonian one, himself, but then again, a public street in an alternate dimension isn't really the place for him to be introducing himself as "Jon Kent" or anything similar. Kon nods stiffly, drawing himself up a bit.

"Yeah," he says. "He said, uh–um. He said Kon-El was strong-willed. And . . . uh . . ."

He trails off, looking nervous, and then visibly steels himself and looks defensive again instead.

"He said I was family," he says, squaring his shoulders and lifting his jaw, like he's actually expecting someone to argue with him or something. "So he gave me that name."

Clark doesn't know who the hell made this kid so much as hesitate over saying that to any version of him that isn't an active supervillain, but he thinks he'd like to throw them into the Phantom Zone for a century or two. Just . . . that's all.

Or maybe three.

[pocketramblr]

Some super doodles before I focus on work and writing

"family resemblance 🤨", "Pocket experiences the hubris of thinking she can fix Black Zero", and "why is there an aquaman superboy here"

[mamawasatesttube]

just read house of kent arc and. hmmm. many thoughts mixed feelings. its like... it was an overall pretty nice superfam story and the clois+jon parts in particular were solid and good, and i care them, but man. everything abt kon's storyline in there and them trying to figure out his whole deal just really got used as a framing device and not an actual plotline... which i mean i kind of expected bc hes not the main character but at the same time the way its just entirely sorta handwaved as "oh well no answers but its cool!" is kinda frustrating. but of course that does come with the caveat that i generally just do not like rebirth kon's setup and storyline.

i just cant fucking get over this sentiment kon expresses outright here... clark is trying but jesus the situation is so existentially fucked up. hey man your grandparents remember you but no one else you knew including the rest of the supers does bc you never existed here. also we randomly threw in some stuff about how you might lose all your powers for some reason? but anyway at least youve got the farm buddy :)

(it's also frustrating re: kon's arc and general situation bc bendis is just not very consistent w explaining it. cassie remembers yj existing somehow, ma and pa remember kon when they see him, but clark never does. this is explained as him having memory issues bc of having universe-jumped so much, but if that was actually the case then youd think the random people in yj19 who kon meets, like the security worker who asks if he's jon, would also recognize him like ma and pa did. and then there's the way tim and steph supposedly have magically repressed memories, only steph's never return the way tim's do, but it's never brought up again? and tim only recovers these memories when zatanna gets around the block in his head but we just never find out what put that there to begin with, nor do we ever discuss any narrative impact of it so its kind of like well what was the point ...? why establish tim having this when cassie doesn't??? is it just to explain the previous tim line about conner's name "tugging on his heart" without having to bother saying anything similar about cassie and simply brushing her aside there to focus on tim's memories??? idk. there is just so little consistency around any of this. which i knew going in but also GOD. comics im on my knees im begging)

[ufonaut]

It never occured to me that both timelines would become equally real, splintering reality in both directions, past and future. In using my power to bend reality to my will, I ensured that my choices-- my will, would begin to form new pocket realities with every whim. I have named the disease. But what is the cure?

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan (2012) #3

(J. Michael Straczynski, Adam Hughes)

[blanddcheadcanons]

In an alternative universe Bruce Wayne is an Amazon and Diana’s younger brother ( formerly her younger sister.). Diana is extremely supportive and protective of him. It’s kept a secret and those closest to them know. What do you think?

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[clambuoyance]

I love love love ur Kon art! You’re probably 80% of the reason I made it this far in my read through of his solo (the other reason being I finished Bart and Tim’s solos ages ago and want the full set lol) and it’s been really fun! And like one plot point I haven’t been able to get out of my head is that one moment in the alternate dimensions arc where Kon runs into another SB who’s Batman’s sidekick? Like that’s just the funniest thing ever. I don’t think I’ve seen a single comic where Bruce wasn’t openly antagonistic towards him so I can’t stop wondering what crazy sequence of events got them there. Idk, I’m just rotating them unendingly in my brain

well right before kon got yeeted into that alternate reality, batman reassured him and said "Robin speaks very highly of you, Superboy . You'll do fine." so regardless of what bruce thought of kon, i imagine the loss of tim in that universe made them both see eye to eye more or something bc of what robin meant to both of them. it's kind of sad when you think about it T-T but also yes him willingly deciding to become a sidekick is a bit amusing considering how opposed to being a sidekick he normally is, and Robin!kon is so serious too…I once read a fic about Tim and kon meeting this robin!kon again but I forgot what it was called

Robin!Kon my beloved 🫶

[arctic-hands]

I like having joined a book fandom that's still new and fresh cause we get to nerdily bond as we devour a release of a new book in the series and I get to see all the theories and discussions and memes in real time as opposed to years later when everyone else knows how it ends so I have to block the fandom bc of spoilers. It's a feeling I haven't had since a teenager bc as of late I drag my ass into a fandom like a decade after its hayday and miss all the fun stuff

But it sucks ass that I am no longer as weirdly and eerily patient like I was as a child and the nine month wait for Heavenly Tyrant to come out is driving me crazy

[thehandwixard]

im just saying my personal joker canon is that hes fully entirely aware of the fourth wall in a way no one else is especially the fact of like hes in a comic book specifically. he knows this. how do i know this. well many things but points to the jason todd death poll. you ave to know this about me is that my kingdom hearts and dc comics meta are very different but both of them do pull from me thinking metatextual understanding is important in pieces of media like this that pull from decades of very famous artistic works in media. whether thats disney movies or its own canon and mythos

[alexanderwales]

There's a beautiful model of time travel called hypertime, which so far as I know was invented by qntm. You can read about it here.

The general idea is that there's an infinite stack of universes, possibly with a "prime" universe, each temporally offset from each other by some small amount (or just being continuous). You can imagine all of time on a chart where a properly sloped diagonal defines a specific time (e.g. January 1st, 2001), every horizontal line defines a single universe from its past to present, and every vertical line defines multiple universes that are "initially" arranged so that they're equivalent to "down" being backward in time and "up" being forward in time.

My plan was to write a fanfic of the NBC show Timeless using this model, rather than the one they use in the show. I see now that this was hugely more ambitious than Timeless ever deserved.

The big thing that keeps drawing me to this idea like a moth to flame is that there are cool things you can do with it. Here's one of them: a person goes to what they think of as "back in time", which is actually "down" on the time sheet, and ends up in a past that's different from the one they remember. How cool is that??

You intend to go to the past to see what's on Nixon's missing 18 minutes, and instead find yourself in a universe where the Nazis won WWII. And if you're operating under the assumption your time machine works like the one in Back to the Future, you're suddenly extremely confused. So you go back in time again, heading to just before the outbreak of WWII, and ... it's completely normal, with no sign that anyone has been monkeying around.

This is my white whale of a scene: the revelation that it all actually does make sense, the unfolding implications, the machinations of all the major time traveling factions and their goals.

I'm not actually sure that such a scene can be written in such a way that the majority of the audience would get it. Hypertime is hellish. Diagrams would help, but I'm not sure how much, especially because one of the things that (this subset of) hypertime assumes is some level of determinism and the inability to talk about "when" things happen except using reference frames.

As an added bonus, hypertime makes it possible to have diverse scenarios such that you can be wrong about how time travel works multiple times. You start out thinking that it's a stable time loop, you eventually see that contradicted and realize that it must be branching timelines, you see that contradicted and decide that it's ripple effect, and you see that contradicted and end up realizing that you're in this stupidly complicated hypertime setup. It has the potential to be the most complicated time travel story of all time. It has the potential to have the greatest number of explanations of time travel in a story, many of them incorrect.

I am at the point where I have an almost intuitive understanding of hypertime, but it took me drawing a lot of diagrams to get there, and I'm not sure I possess the writerly ability to explain it properly, especially if there are misdirects built into it.

A man can dream though.