The Trinity for a new generation.
"This freshly created Universe is still cooling and yet unformed. Earth-1's known super-beings - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Teen Titans - are at the beginning of their careers. Time and space are still pliable and nothing here is certain."
—The Multiversity Guidebook
Earth One is a series of graphic novels released by DC Comics that was started in 2010 with Superman: Earth One. Like the All-Star DC Comics before it, Earth One is DC's counterpart to Marvel's Ultimate Marvel line (though a more direct comparison would be Season One). Unlike All-Star however, it follows the Ultimate line more closely by being a modernized reboot of The DCU in a new continuity as well as all of the books having a Shared Universe as opposed to being a series of unrelated miniseries in their own continuity. It retells the origins of various characters such as Superman and Batman, often re-interpreting and modernizing them as well as putting new twists in.
Graphic novels set in this verse are:
- Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski
- Vol. 1 (2010), art by Shane Davis
- Vol. 2 (2012), art by Davis
- Vol. 3 (2015), art by Ardian Syaf
- Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns, art by Gary Frank
- Vol. 1 (2012)
- Vol. 2 (2015)
- Vol. 3 (2021)
- Teen Titans: Earth One by Jeff Lemire
- Vol. 1 (2014), art by Terry Dodson
- Vol. 2 (2016), art by Andy McDonald
- Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison, art by Yanick Paquette
- Vol. 1 (2016)
- Vol. 2 (2018)
- Vol. 3 (2021)
- Green Lantern: Earth One by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman
- Vol. 1 (2018)
- Vol. 2 (2020)
Earth One provides examples of:
- Age Lift: Jimmy Olsen, normally a teenager, is older than Superman. Conversely, Lucius Fox, normally a middle-aged man, is younger than Batman.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Rita Farr becomes Rita Markov by Related in the Adaptation.
- Viktor Markov is Will Markov.
- Etta Candy becomes Beth Candy.
- And most importantly, General Zod's name goes from being his last to his first as he's Zod-El, Jor-El's brother
- Adaptational Sexuality: Beth Candy is bisexual.
- Clothing Switch: Superman's call signal becomes a searchlight with his seal on it! Just aim at the sky and presto.
- Batman's call signal becomes a small pager he gives to his pal Gordon. It has a single button so he can just buzz Batman if need arises.
- Darker and Edgier: Much more so than the mainline DCU. Krypton's destruction was a deliberate act of war, Superman's more angsty than other portrayals and is distrusted by the public, Bruce Wayne isn't as skilled as other versions and is originally solely concerned with bringing in the man he believes had his parents killed to justice, Alfred is the family's bodyguard (not their butler) and encourages Bruce to kill, Jim Gordon is a reluctant Dirty Cop, Diana is a Child by Rape between Hercules and Hippolyta who originally kept Diana for the purpose of enacting a war against all males, Starfire is the source of several Titans' powers thanks to STAR Labs (led by Cyborg's villainous mother) experimenting on them, the Green Lantern Corps is already gone by the time Hal Jordan gets his power ring—though things improve on that end thanks to Hal, Hal himself is more jaded and cynical, and the last Guardian is insane.
- Decomposite Character:
- The male Luthor and Harvey Dent aren't this universe's version of Lex Luthor and Two-Face, but combined with Gender Flip, their respective wife and sister are.
- Abin Sur in this continuity is already long dead by the time Hal Jordan comes across him and obtains his power ring, with Kilowog instead being the one to give Hal Jordan exposition on the Green Lantern Corps and how the power ring works.
- While Sinestro eventually becomes affiliated with the Yellow Lanterns, he is no longer the founder, that role instead going to the last Guardian.
- Gender Flip: Lex Luthor's wife Alexandra becomes this universe's real Lex Luthor, and Jessica Dent, Harvey Dent's twin sister, becomes Two-Face instead of her brother.
- Genocide from the Inside: General Zod orchestrated the destruction of Krypton and intends to finish the job of wiping out the rest of the Kryptonian race by killing Superman, his own nephew.
- Mythology Gag: Lots. See the works' individual pages for more information.
- Race Lift: Raven is Native American; Kole is Asian; and Steve Trevor, Cassie Sandsmark, Gillian Loeb (like in the The Dark Knight Trilogy) and Dick Grayson are African-American as opposed to being Caucasian like in the main continuity.
- Related in the Adaptation: Bruce Wayne is part of the Arkham family from his mother's side, Rita Farr (now Rita Markov) is Tara Markov's mother though not biologically related, General Zod is Superman's uncle, and Wonder Woman is the biological daughter of Hippolyta and Hercules.
- Shared Universe: All of the books take place in the same verse, with some minor nods to each other. There was some initial uncertainty as to whether Teen Titans: Earth One shared the continuity of the others, but it was confirmed to in The Multiversity. Though this has become less clear as time has gone on, with the comics seemingly taking place in separate continuities, especially after the third volume of Wonder Woman ended with Diana Brainwashing for the Greater Good the entire male population to make them docile while the Amazons take over the world.
- Ultimate Universe: A new reboot of DCU that retells them for a 21st-century audience often reimagining the details? Yep, fits the bill.
