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"[[Post-Crisis]]" describes the state of [[The DCU]] after ''[[Crisis
The Post-Crisis universe has been rewritten many times since ''CoIE''. ''[[Zero Hour]]'', a [[Crisis Crossover]] from 1994, was meant to resolve the various
Compare with the [[New 52]], DC's second complete overhaul.
Some of the changes which occurred Post-Crisis:
* [[
** Superman's revised origin was told in the miniseries ''[[
** Superman's first appearance was not as [[Superboy]], but as an adult, when he first came to Metropolis. (Superboy was [[
** His powers were also ''extremely'' [[Nerf|downgraded]]. At Superman's [[Pre-Crisis]] height, he could [[Casual Interstellar Travel|fly faster than the speed of light]], [[Time Travel|travel through time]] unaided, move planets with his bare hands, and survive in the middle of a supernova. Attempts had been made before to reduce his overall power level, but this one has largely stuck.
** His power source was also tinkered with. For years, his powers had come from "the rays of Earth's yellow sun", but how this worked was never very well-defined. Post-Crisis, his body was essentially a living solar battery, charging up over the years since he was born on Earth (thus accounting for his slowly-developing powers as a child). Nowadays, before doing a real super feat, Superman will sometimes take a moment to charge up with extra solar radiation beforehand. There were also hints that some of his powers might be [[Psychic Powers|psionic]] in nature, such as his observation that it was much easier for him to lift large, heavy objects (like cargo ships) while flying than while standing. (These hints would pan out with the appearance of the Post-Crisis Superboy, a clone with telekinetic powers.)
** Initially, there was only ''one'' kind of naturally-occurring kryptonite; green. But by the time of the Crisis, at least a dozen varieties had been added, including White Kryptonite, Jewel Kryptonite, and X-Kryptonite. Immediately
*** The major types were reintroduced properly late in the Post Crisis era with the arrival of Superman's cousin Supergirl. The only major change is gold kryptonite which now only causes temporary power loss instead of being permanent.
** Prior to the Crisis, Superman had been the character's "real" identity and Clark Kent, uberwimp, was just a convenient disguise. Post-Crisis, this was reversed. Both the glasses and the cape were covers for the "real" Clark Kent, the super-powered Midwestern farmer's son that only his parents were privy to. Both personas grew on Clark since his Man Of Steel origin story (where he had insisted Superman was nothing but a fancy costume), with Kent being a competent, sharp-witted journalist (a far cry from the Pre-Crisis loser) with his own life and friends, and Superman developing important personal friendships with other superheroes, most notably [[Batman]], with whom he had a very different relationship than the pre-Crisis best buds. Likewise, no one suspected that Superman had an alter ego (after all, without a mask, who's to assume he's hiding something?), and Lois Lane was no longer obsessed with discovering his [[Secret Identity]]. In fact she was often much more interested in Clark as he was the only person who ever managed to scoop her. She also was no longer in love with Superman, and instead slowly developed an attraction to Clark during the early '90s.
*** After Clark Kent became engaged to Lois Lane (and, afterwards, revealed his secret identity to her), he had a [[Secret Keeper]] in Metropolis as well as his parents and Lana Lang in Smallville. This caused the distinction between Smallville
** Speaking of his parents, before the Crisis, Ma and Pa Kent were deceased; some time in [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]], it was revealed that they died of an alien plague that their adopted son couldn't cure. Post-Crisis, both Ma and Pa were alive and well and still a big part of their son's life. They were also ''much'' younger at the time they adopted Clark (Pre-Crisis they were already in their later years) to facilitate the greater impact they had on his adult life.
** The Earth-2 Superman, who had been a member of the [[Justice Society of America]], was erased from history. (However, he still existed, having been rescued to a haven outside of time, and eventually popped up again in ''Infinite Crisis''.)
** Lex Luthor was changed from a [[Mad Scientist]] to a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] with a [[Mega Corp|major business]] [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|backing his evil schemes]]. The current version is a combination of these two.
** Krypton changed from simply being humans with more advanced tech (and superpowers) to being a cold sterile society of [[Absolute Xenophobe
*** Likewise Clark did not know he came to
** Some of the changes Byrne made [[Older Than They Think|hearkened back to the character's original 1938 incarnation]]. Superman didn't learn about his alien heritage until well into his adulthood, and according to his origin, his powers developed gradually during his teenage years. His career as Superboy was itself originally a retcon of Superman's initial origin story.
* [[Supergirl]]
** Supergirl was killed off in ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', but an [[Executive Meddling|editorial mandate]] came down that Superman was to again be [[Last of His Kind|the last survivor of Krypton]]. Thus, for several years
* [[Wonder Woman]]
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* Wonder Girl
** Since Wonder Woman had never existed, her [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] protege Donna Troy (who already had a convoluted backstory) was left without a past. Eventually, it was settled that she had been raised and given her powers by the Titans of Greek myth. This worked well until John Byrne, in the ''Wonder Woman'' series, [[
* [[
** [[Frank Miller]] told Batman's new origin in the storyline ''[[Batman: Year One]]'' (as part of the ''Batman'' ongoing series). His backstory was much less altered than Superman's or Wonder Woman's, though his weirder [[Silver Age]] adventures were quietly removed from continuity. The darker [[Bronze Age]] Batman was actually a return to his dark, noir-esque [[Golden Age]] days after the kid-friendly stamp of the [[Comics Code]] was dropped by DC [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|(to the consternation of no one)]]. While Batman's character was even further darkened
** In ''Zero Hour'', it was stated that the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents was never caught. Dialogue in ''Infinite Crisis'' indicates that this has been [[
*** Also in ''Zero Hour'', the idea of Batman being an "urban legend" was introduced, stating that most people didn't think he actually existed. How true this is held to be has fluctuated. This urban legend part was undone by the 2004 story arc, "War Games".
**** The oddity goes further than that, apparently depending solely on whether they had a [[Writer
** He was also no longer a founding member of the [[Justice League of America]].
** The Earth-2 Batman (who had been dead for several years already) was erased as well.
** His relationship with Superman, which pre-Crisis had been one of [[Heterosexual Life Partners]] and among the most iconic in the DCU, became much tenser and rather antagonistic, although over the course of the years their friendship redeveloped. Unlike many other changes, however, this had some precedent in a [[Bronze Age]] rift that they never fully resolved. However, the pervasiveness of [[Depending
* Robin
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* The [[Justice League of America]]
** Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman had no longer been in the JLA (though each eventually joined after Crisis). Black Canary was [[
*** Additionally, [[Hawkman]] and Hawkwoman were members, but Hawkman was ultimately three different people. At once. Without any clarity. BEFORE his continuity [[Continuity Snarl|got really strange]].
** Almost immediately
* The [[Flash]]
** ''Crisis'' killed off Barry Allen, the [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] Flash, and left Wally West (formerly Kid Flash) becoming the Flash instead. Unlike many post-Crisis changes, this one didn't rewrite a lot of history (other than the characters having existed on the same Earth). Jay Garrick, the original Flash, still existed. Jay and Barry's original universe-crossing meeting was [[
*** It's worth noting that even with an apparent retcon in the works right now{{when}}, it's heavily implied that all the trouble Barry's in would end if he just went back in time to the Crisis and died like a good soldier.
*** This would be in keeping with the efforts of Crisis writer [[Marv Wolfman]] who, not really wanting to kill off Barry, left a back door for Barry to return with a potentially interesting dramatic hook (he is shown bouncing through time during his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] and Marv thought it would be interesting to have him pulled out mid
* [[Green Lantern]]
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* [[The Legion of Super Heroes]]
** Superboy and Supergirl were removed from continuity following ''The Man of Steel'' reboot of Superman, which established that Superman was the only survivor of Krypton, and that he started his superheroic career as an adult. This
* [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]]
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* [[Charlton Comics]] Characters
** The "action heroes" created by Charlton Comics, acquired by DC a few years earlier, were introduced into [[The DCU]], including [[Captain Atom]], [[The Question]], and the [[Blue Beetle]]. Captain Atom in particular was altered to the point that he was practically an entirely different character, with his original series [[
This is certainly not the full extent of the changes between [[Pre-Crisis]] and
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:The Ages of Super Hero Comics]]
[[Category:Post-Crisis]]
{{The Ages of Super Hero Comics}}
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