Tangent Comics

Tangent Comics is a DC Comics imprint created in 1997, developed from ideas by Dan Jurgens.[1] The line, formed from 18 one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash. Contrasting the Tangent Universe with the DC Universe, Jurgens commented:[2] The Tangent Universe tells the story of an Earth greatly influenced by the presence of super-powered beings. While the DCU Earth is essentially the same as our own, no more advanced in terms of technology or communications despite the existence of those qualities within the super-powered community, Earth Tangent is greatly influenced by all of that. Earth Tangent's economic, geographic and political landscapes are defined by the superhero community, whereas in the DCU those aspects exist unaffected by the superhero community.

Publication history

The Superman

Series

Based on concepts created by Dan Jurgens, Tangent Comics as a whole is dedicated to Julius Schwartz.[6]

1997 titles

The Atom
The grandson of the Tangent Earth's first superhero, an atomic veteran, takes on the mantle and learns a horrible truth about his family. Written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with finishes by Paul Ryan.
Doom Patrol
A team from the future arrives in the present, warning of the impending destruction of the Earth. Team members include Doomsday, Star Sapphire, Firehawk and Rampage. Written by Dan Jurgens, art by Sean Chen.
The Flash
Lia Nelson, the first baby born in space, grows up to become a teenage superhero with light-based powers. She can move at the speed of light and create holographic constructs. Written by Todd Dezago, art by Gary Frank.
Green Lantern
A woman with a lantern which, when placed upon a grave, can bring the dead back to life just long enough to complete unfinished business. Written by James Robinson, art by J. H. Williams III.
The Joker
A costumed anarchist in the city of New Atlantis uses pranks to highlight the failings and hypocrisy of those in power. Written by Karl Kesel, art by Matt Haley.
Metal Men
The Metal Men are a covert military group, so named because they came back from every mission unscathed. The members are nicknamed "Hawkman", "Lobo", "Gravedigger", and "Black Lightning". Written by Ron Marz, art by Mike McKone.
Nightwing
A group of agents from a mystical secret society that controls much of the world go renegade. Written by John Ostrander, art by Jan Duursema.
Sea Devils
A society of mer-people are created by the nuclear exchange that destroyed Cuba and Florida in 1962. Written by Kurt Busiek, art by Vincent Giarrano.
Secret Six
The Secret Six are a covert group of heroes who are formed when the Flash, Atom, the Joker, the Spectre, Plastic Man and the Manhunter join forces to combat Dr. Aquadus, a living ocean. Written by Chuck Dixon, art by Tom Grummett.[7]

1998 titles

Because the Tangent Comics titles were not linked to DC Comics' shared universe, they were free to make sweeping changes. In the Tangent one-shot issues published in 1998, an electromagnetic pulse disables technology worldwide and a powerful being called the Ultra-Humanite begins taking over the world.

Powergirl
U.S. agents attempt to kidnap China's genetically-engineered superhuman. Written by Ron Marz, with art by Dusty Abell.
Nightwing: Nightforce
The rogue Nightwing agents (including Jade, Obsidian, Black Orchid and Wildcat) attempt to rescue the Doom Patrol from the Soviet Union, only to unleash the Ultra-Humanite. Written by John Ostrander, art by Jan Duursema.
The Superman
An ordinary man finds himself evolving into something millions of years beyond human. Written by Mark Millar, art by Jackson Guice

Tangent: Superman's Reign (2008)

The 12-issue miniseries revisits the Tangent Universe 10 years later, both in reality and fiction. The series ran between March 2008 until April 2009 and was written by Dan Jurgens with art by Jamal Igle and Carlos Magno. The series was met with favorable reviews, noting strong character development and plotting.[8][9]

In efforts to aid an alternate-reality-displaced Tangent Flash (Lia Nelson), Green Lantern (John Stewart) and the Flash (Wally West) are inexplicably transported to Earth-9, the Tangent Universe, by the Tangent Green Lantern. The trio joins the Tangent Spectre and the Tangent Manhunter in freeing the Atom, leaving Stewart captured by the Tangent Superman, ruler of Earth-9. While being interrogated by the Tangent Superman, Stewart's ring is contacted by Hal Jordan's ring, which the Tangent Green Lantern uses to bring additional members of the Justice League to Earth-9. The rescued Atom is revealed to be the Tangent Powergirl, lover to the Tangent Superman, and a fight ensues. The Tangent Manhunter is brutally murdered. The Tangent Superman takes Stewart's power ring and uses the ring, augmented by his psychic powers and the magic of the Tangent Orion, to travel to New Earth of the mainstream DC Universe. Meanwhile, Batman infiltrates the Core, the hub of information on Earth-9, and is saved by the Tangent Batman while escaping, who is mounting a revolution against the Tangent Superman.

Convergence (2015)

Convergence is a two-month weekly miniseries, published by DC Comics, that ran from April–May 2015. Convergence spins out of the final issues of the weekly series Earth 2: World's End and The New 52: Futures End. The story involves Brainiac trapping cities from various timelines and planets that have ended, transporting them in domes to a planet outside of time and space and "opening them for a great experiment to see what happens when all these folks meet". Notable during this event is the return of DC characters from before the 2011 Flashpoint story arc that led to the creation of The New 52 universe.[10]

Interactions with the mainstream DC Universe

The Kingdom (1998) revealed that the Tangent Universe was part of Hypertime, a fluid system of alternate realities based on splitting and re-merging timelines. Regular DC characters became aware of the Tangent Universe, but did not interact with it.

Infinite Crisis (2006) identified the Tangent Universe as Earth-97, part of the recreated DC Multiverse. As Earth-97 was being destroyed in the chaos, the Tangent Universe's Green Lantern said that the heroes had to follow her lantern's light in order to survive. At the end of the story on New Earth, two children found the lantern belonging to the Tangent Universe's Green Lantern washed up on a beach.

The Tangent Universe's Green Lantern, Flash and Atom appeared in Ion #9-10 (February–March 2007), in which they displaced Ion and the two children who had found the lantern. Ion found himself in the Bleed, where he encountered Captain Atom. Upon returning to Earth, Ion defeated the Tangent heroes, apparently by sending them back to their native dimension. During this appearance, everything said by the Tangent heroes was a repeat of lines from the original Tangent Comics run.

The Tangent Universe's Green Lantern later appeared in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #50 (December 2010), where she fled to New Earth in order to warn its heroes of an impending attack by the Crime Syndicate of America. During the issue, it was revealed that the Syndicate members had ravaged the Tangent Universe's Earth and killed many of its heroes in the process. The Tangent Universe's Green Lantern later became instrumental in the ensuing battle by temporarily resurrecting Alexander Luthor Jr. of the original Earth-Three and by the end of the story, the Tangent Universe had been restored to its former state.

Earth-9

The "History of the Multiverse" backup stories in the 2007–2008 series Countdown to Final Crisis established that the Tangent Universe now exists as one of the new 52 alternate universes. DC's official list of the current known multiverse lists the Tangent Universe as Earth-9.

status	Dormant (since 2009)
founded	1997
founder	Dan Jurgens (writer) Eddie Berganza (editor)
parent	DC Comics
publications	Comics
genre	Superhero

Publication history

The Superman

Wonder Woman

Nightwing: Nightforce

Overview