Hypertime is a
fictional concept in
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
which first appeared in the 1999 ''
The Kingdom'' limited series.
It is a variation of the
Multiverse
The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The di ...
concept that existed in DC Comics before 1985's ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to ...
'' limited series and was created by
Mark Waid
Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles '' The Flash'', ''Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...
and
Grant Morrison.
Hypertime, described in ''The Kingdom'' #2 as "the vast interconnected web of parallel time-lines which comprise all reality", was an attempt by Waid to resolve the various tangled continuity issues that were supposed to have been solved by ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''. Keith Dallas and Jason Sacks wrote: "Through Hypertime, Waid sought to resolve the contradictions in DC's continuity once and for all. Indeed, Hypertime allows for contradictions because anything that didn't make sense can be attributed to overlapping timelines".
Concept
''The Kingdom''
Hypertime is a network of alternate timelines that branch off from the
DC Universe
The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lante ...
. These timelines sometimes overlap with each other, causing alterations in reality. Characters can cross from one timeline to another if needed. It has been analogized to a river network that branches out and then runs 'up stream' to feed back into itself before splitting off again.
Hypertime has been used as a device to explain
continuity errors. Some fans welcomed the idea as an explanation for earlier continuity errors while others criticized it for being a license to create more narrative problems.
The Hypertime concept was first introduced in ''The Kingdom'', Mark Waid's sequel to ''Kingdom Come'', and exists within the larger multiverse used within
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
publications.
Writer Mark Waid stated that "the possibilities are endless. Hypertime is an unashamed reaction to nearly 15 years of comics being made 'more realistic', less 'larger than life'. As far as we’re concerned, DC Comics shouldn't be about rules and regulations and ‘can’t happen’s and ‘shouldn’t be’s; they should be about anything and everything that tells a good story and gets fans excited".
''Infinite Crisis''
When
Superboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime (Clark Kent, born Kal-El), also known as Superman-Prime or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain and an alternate version of Superman. The character first appeared in '' DC Comics Presents'' #87 (November 19 ...
fractures reality from the pocket universe he is residing in, images of the world of ''Kingdom Come'' including
Gog from ''The Kingdom'' limited series appears while doing so, showing that Superboy-Prime's actions created Hypertime.
''52''
Mister Mind, disguised as
Skeets, refers to
Waverider as "the seer of Hypertime".
Booster Gold
An older
Booster Gold
Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in '' Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has been a member of the Justice League ...
, while explaining his duties to his son
Rip Hunter, mentions the concept of Hypertime.
''Multiversity''
Hypertime is used to explain the formation and alteration of the 52 universes formed at the end of ''
52''.
Rebirth
Hypertime has been mentioned several times in the Prime Earth continuity.
[''Justice League'' (vol. 3) #25 (July 2017)]
Flashpoint Beyond
Hypertime is presented as one of two halves of “the Divine Continuum”, the other half being the Omniverse. The Omniverse represents Space, while Hypertime represents Time. Where the Omniverse is characterized as being fundamentally conceptual in nature, Hypertime is characterized as being emotional, with branches happening whenever decisions of great importance take place. Previous Crises are reclassified as being either Omniverse Crises (the Crisis on Infinite Earth, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Multiversity, Dark Nights, and Dark Crisis) or Hypertime Crises (Zero Hour, The Kingdom, Flashpoint, Convergence, and Doomsday Clock).
See also
*
Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of ''Captain Britain'', the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was des ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
Unofficial Hypertime Website
*{{cite web , url= https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hypertime+dc+comics&qpvt=hypertime+dc+comics&view=detail&mid=2FF7BE60D38ECC8EC5862FF7BE60D38ECC8EC586&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dhypertime%2Bdc%2Bcomics%26qpvt%3Dhypertime%2Bdc%2Bcomics%26FORM%3DVDRE , author=IamMemoAcebo , via=
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
, date=May 18, 2017 , title=DC Comics {{ndash Hypertime , format=Video
Time and Hypertime
1999 in comics
Continuity (fiction)
DC Comics dimensions
Fictional elements introduced in 1999
Multiple time paths in fiction
Physics in fiction