Longtime DC Comics fans know how complex their continuity is. And that’s putting it mildly. While their rival Marvel Comics has had a pretty linear continuity since its inception, DC has undergone reboot after reboot. Even hardcore DC fans can hardly make heads or tails of what counts as canon anymore. Now, just as DC Comics turns 90 years old, the publisher has announced The New History of the DC Universe. This 4-issue limited series is written by industry legend Mark Waid (Kingdom Come) and illustrated by a variety of artists will arrive this summer. The story will be told through the eyes of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash. Here’s what Waid had to say about this rather large undertaking:
This is my dream project. It’s a chance to realign all of DC’s sprawling continuity into one master timeline, and to be joined by some of comics’ greatest artists to make it shine. With new information for even longtime fans, plus Easter eggs galore, this series will be an essential read for DC fans.
The artists for the first issue include Todd Nauck (Young Justice), and Jerry Ordway. The latter worked on the original Crisis on Infinite Earths forty years ago. The debut issue features a main cover from artist Chris Samnee, as well as variant covers by Dan Mora, Ryan Sook, Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, and Mike Cho. Artist Scott Koblish will provide a series of connecting wraparound variant covers for the series, depicting DC’s iconic characters chronologically with each issue. You can see several of the variant covers down below in our gallery:
DC Comics continuity has been something of a tangled knot for decades. In 1985, the publisher made their first attempt to streamline their multiple worlds with the mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. Following the end of Crisis, the creative team of Marv Wolfman and George Perez reteamed for The History of the DC Universe, a 2-issue guide to their new timeline. (Hence, why they named this current series The New History of the DC Universe.) But there were weird errors in this new continuity. Later mini-series like Zero Hour in 1994, and then Infinite Crisis in 2005, amended it. Then there was the Flashpoint reboot which led to the New 52 in 2011, which complicated things even further.
Mark Waid isn’t just a comic book writer, he’s also a comic book historian. So there’s no one better to tackle this project. In fact, back in 2019, Waid did a 6-part History of the Marvel Universe. But that was likely not as difficult a task as doing the same thing for the DC Universe. But this is certainly something DC fans have been waiting a very long time for. The first issue of The New History of the DC Universe hits comic book shops on June 25, 2025.