Earth 616. The main Marvel Universe. The most popular comics universe of all time, home of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine and the X-Men, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Stan Lee.
A partial list of alternate timelines to the Marvel Universe can be found here.
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, the most interesting – and most human – superhero universe there is.
1959: |
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| “On Mulberry Street: A Prelude” in Astro City/Arrowsmith: The Flip Book (June 2004) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
1969: |
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| “That Was Then…” in Astro City: That Was Then… #1 (March 2022) | |
1972: |
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| “Darkness Falls” in Astro City The Dark Age Book One #1 (August 2005) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
| “Criminal Prosecution” in Astro City The Dark Age Book One #2 (September 2005) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
1973: |
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| “Casualties of War” in Astro City The Dark Age Book One #3 (October 2005) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
| “Execution Day” in Astro City The Dark Age Book One #4 (December 2005) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
1974: |
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| “Knock Wood” in Astro City: Local Heroes #4 (November 2003) | |
| “Justice Systems” in Astro City: Local Heroes #5 (February 2004) | |
1976: |
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| “A Cold Wind Blowing” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Two #1 (January 2007) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
1977: |
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| “The Out-of-Towners” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Two #2 (April 2007) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
| “Street-Fighting Man” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Two #3 (June 2007) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
| “Saturday Night Fever” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Two #4 (November 2007) |
Astro City, vol.6: The Dark Age Book One – Brothers and Other Strangers |
1982: |
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| “The Cat Who Walked Through Walls” in Astro City, vol.3 #44 (July 2017) | |
| “A Cold, Gray Morning in America” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Three #1 (July 2009) | |
| “Gone to Ground” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Three #2 (August 2009) | |
| “Deep Cover” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Three #3 (September 2009) | |
| “All the Way Down” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Three #4 (October 2009) | |
1986: |
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| “The Cold Road” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Four #1 (March 2010) | |
| “Storms of the Heart” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Four #2 (April 2010) | |
| “Hoofbeats” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Four #3 (May 2010) | |
| “Storm’s End” in Astro City The Dark Age Book Four #4 (June 2010) | |
1995: |
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| “In Dreams” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #1 (August 1995) | |
| “The Scoop” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #2 (September 1995) | |
| “A Little Knowledge” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #3 (October 1995) | |
| “Safeguards” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #4 (November 1995) | |
| “Reconnaissance” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #5 (December 1995) | |
1996: |
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| “Dinner at Eight” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #6 (January 1996) | |
| “The Nearness of You” in Wizard Presents: Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #1/2 (1996) | |
| “Welcome to Astro City” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #1 (September 1996) | |
| “Everyday Life” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #2 (October 1996) | |
| “Adventures in Other Worlds” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #3 (November 1996) | |
1997: |
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| “New Kid in Town” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #4 (December 1996) | |
| “Learning the Game” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #5 (January 1997) | |
| “The Gathering Dark” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #6 (February 1997) | |
| “Eye of the Storm” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #7 (March 1997) | |
| “Patterns” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #8 (April 1997) | |
| “My Father’s Son” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #9 (May 1997) | |
| “Show ‘Em All” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #10 (September 1996) | |
| “Serpent’s Teeth” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #11 (October 1996) | |
| “Father’s Day” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #10 (September 1996) | |
1998: |
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| “In the Spotlight” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #10 (February 1998) | |
| “The Big Lockdown” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #14 (April 1998) | |
| “The Long Treadmill” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #15 (December 1998) | |
| “The Tarnished Angel” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #16 (March 1999) | |
| “The Voice of the Turtle” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #17 (May 1999) | |
| “The Empty Shell” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #18 (August 1999) | |
| “The Only Chance” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #19 (November 1999) | |
| “The Wow Finish” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #20 (January 2000) | |
2000: |
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| “Where the Action Is” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #21 (March 2000) | |
| “Great Expectations” in Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #22 (August 2000) | |
2001: |
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| “Since the Fire” in 9-11: The World’s Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember #2 (April 2002) | |
2002: |
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| “Alien Conqueror Captured in Suburbs“ | |
2003: |
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| “Newcomers” in Astro City: Local Heroes #1 (April 2003) | |
| “Shining Armor” in Astro City: Local Heroes #2 (August 2000) | |
| “Pastoral” in Astro City: Local Heroes #3 (August 2000) | |
2004: |
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| “Old Times” in Astro City Special: Supersonic #1 (October 2004) | |
| “Old Times” in Astro City: A Visitor’s Guide #1 (October 2004) | |
2006: |
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| “The Eagle and the Mountain” in Astro City: Samaritan #1 (September 2006) | |
2008: |
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| “Her Dark Plastic Roots” in Astro City: Beautie #1 (April 2008) | |
2009: |
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| “ Graduation Day” in Astro City: Astra #1 (November 2009) | |
| “The Gordian Knot” in Astro City: Astra #2 (December 2009) | |
2012: |
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| “The Sorcerer’s Assistant” in Astro City #11 (June 2014) | |
2013: |
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| “Through Open Doors, Part One” in Astro City #1 (August 2013) | |
| “Welcome to Humano Global” in Astro City #2 (September 2013) | |
| “Mistakes” in Astro City #3 (October 2013) | |
| “On the Sidelines” in Astro City #4 (November 2013) | |
| “Thumbtacks & Yarn” in Astro City #5 (December 2013) | |
2014: |
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| “Through Open Doors, Part Two” in Astro City #6 (January 2014) | |
| “The View from Above” in Astro City #7 (February 2014) | |
| “The View from Shadows” in Astro City #8 (March 2014) | |
| “The View from the Heart” in Astro City #9 (April 2014) | |
| “Victory” in Astro City #10 (May 2014) | |
| “The Deep Dark Woods” in Astro City #12 (July 2014) | |
| “Waltz of the Hours” in Astro City #13 (August 2014) | |
| “Ellie’s Friends” in Astro City #14 (October 2014) | |
| “Friends and Relations” in Astro City #15 (November 2014) | |
| “Wish I May…” in Astro City #16 (December 2014) | |
2015: |
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| “Sorrowsday” in Astro City #17 (January 2015) | |
| “The Dimming of the Day” in Astro City #18 (May 2015) | |
| “Pushing It” in Astro City #19 (April 2015) | |
| “Doing Battle” in Astro City #20 (March 2015) | |
| “The End of the Trail” in Astro City #21 (February 2015) | |
| “Hero’s Reward” in Astro City #22 (June 2015) | |
| “Sticks” in Astro City #23 (July 2015) | |
| “Apeman Blues” in Astro City #24 (August 2015) | |
| “Lucky Girl” in Astro City #25 (September 2015) | |
| “In Dreams 2015” in Astro City #26 (October 2015) | |
| “Game Over” in Astro City #27 (November 2015) | |
| “Yesterday’s Hero” in Astro City #28 (December 2015) | |
2016: |
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| “The Menace from Earth” in Astro City #29 (January 2016) | |
| “Enemy of the Empire” in Astro City #30 (February 2016) | |
| “Nightmare Life” in Astro City #31 (March 2016) | |
| “Things Past” in Astro City #32 (April 2016) | |
| “Permanent Records” in Astro City #33 (May 2016) | |
| “The End of the Whole Mess” in Astro City #34 (June 2016) | |
| “What I Did on My Vacation…” in Astro City #35 (July 2016) | |
| “The Other Side of the Story” in Astro City #36 (August 2016) | |
| “This Town” in Astro City #37 (September 2016) | |
| “Hot Time in the Old Town” in Astro City #38 (September 2016) | |
| “The Party of the First Part” in Astro City #39 (November 2016) | |
| “The Party of the Second Part” in Astro City #39 (December 2016) | |
2017: |
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| “The Sky’s the Limit” in Astro City #41 (April 2017) | |
| “The Deep Blue Sea” in Astro City #42 (April 2017) | |
| “My Dad” in Astro City #43 (June 2017) | |
| “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes” in Astro City #45 (August 2017) | |
| “The Day the Music Died” in Astro City #46 (October 2017) | |
| “Who’s a Good Dog?” in Astro City #47 (December 2017) | |
| “Dog Days” in Astro City #48 (December 2017) | |
2018: |
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| “Resistance” in Astro City #49 (January 2018) | |
| “Aftermaths” in Astro City #50 (March 2018) | |
| “Down in the Depths” in Astro City #51 (June 2018) | |
| “And, in the End…” in Astro City #52 (August 2018) | |
4200: |
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| “To Serve and Protect” in Astro City: Silver Agent #1 (August 2010) | |
| “Home to the Hill” in Astro City: Silver Agent #2 (September 2010) | |
Mark Waid’s brilliant Irredeemable is more or less based on a What If question:
What if Superman went mad and became a supervillain?
It’s a close look at the psychology of superheroics, starting from the unexamined assumption in most comics that anyone who gains powers will also have the right kind of personality for being a hero. The Plutonian is a Superman-analogue who isn’t up to the pressure…
…and Incorruptible is a companion series featuring one of the Plutonian’s arch-enemies, Max Damage, who has an epiphany and decides to become a hero in response to the Plutonian’s turn to villainy. His problem is that the only way he can think of to be a hero is to do the opposite of what he did as a villain…
A Victorian Era Justice League
A little series by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, which began as a Victorian Era Justice League featuring the familiar characters of that era’s fiction, but eventually expanded into the modest ambition of eventually including basically every piece of fiction ever. Along the way, it moved from America’s Best Comics (an imprint of WildStorm Comics published under the aegis of DC Comics) to a wholly creator-owned new home at Top Shelf Productions.
That said, a fantastic set of series, with loving attention to detail shining from every panel. This timeline also includes the annotations to the various volumes, since you’ll be missing at least half of the references without them.
Despite its original publisher, it is not a part of the America’s Best Comics Universe.
