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DISCLAIMER: This timeline won’t necessarily reflect what you’re used to in your history books, your literature, your films, your television shows or your comic books. Because this is what really happened...
After discovering that Franklin Richards (Mister Fantastic, age 31) and Katie Power (Energizer, age 20) were having an affair, Franklin’s girlfriend Rachel Summers (age 43) moved out of the Baxter Building and back to the Xavier School, taking her and Franklin’s son J.R. (age 4) with her.
Police officer Crispus Allen (b. 1958) transferred from San Francisco to the Boston Police Department, where he was teamed with Renee Montoya.
On March 10, the NASDAQ stock market rose to a record high. After this, however, the “dot-com bubble” burst. Over the next two years, over-inflated stock prices would tumble and many Internet-based companies would fail.
The Nth metal weaponry of the Hawkman attached itself to Joseph Gardner (age 39), and he learned that he was the reincarnation of Carter Hall, and ultimately of Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt. He then became the third Hawkman, and over time even found himself losing track of his identity as Joseph Gadner and identifying more and more as Carter Hall. When he contacted Hawkwoman (Kendra Saunders, also age 39), she did not have any knowledge of her own resurrection or their past lives together, leading to an awkward reunion.
The U.S. Presidential election took place on Tuesday, November 7, but the outcome was not immediately clear pending a recount in Florida.
On December 12, hearing the case of Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush. In the end, Bush lost the national popular vote, but won the Presidency based on electoral votes.
2001
January 2001
On January 20, George W. Bush (b. 1946) became the 43rd U.S. President (2001-2009).
Having been infected by a new strain of the Legacy Virus that only affected non-mutants, Dr. Moira MacTaggert (age 67) discovered the secret to creating a cure. However, she was brutally injured by Mystique and died before she could implement the cure. She reached out to her ally Professor Charles Xavier (biologically age 42), with whom she shared a psychic bond, and he was able to telepathically retrieve the necessary information before she died.
Thanks to the intervention of the Avengers Infinity Squad, the sanctions against Earth were lifted, the quarantine was lifted on the Solar System, and the intergalactic criminals that had been banished there were removed. [Maximum Security]
February 2001
Using the information that Charles Xavier had gained from Moira MacTaggert, Dr. Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beat, age 54) worked to synthesize the cure for the Legacy Virus. However, it soon became clear that just as the virus had first been released by the death of the first victim, so too the cure would require someone to die in order to be released.
March 2001
Not wanting anyone else to suffer the same fate as his sister Illyana, Colossus (Piotr Rasputin, age 39) snuck into Dr. Hank McCoy’s laboratory, injected the Legacy Virus cure into himself and activated his mutant powers, transforming his body into organic steel. This “supercharged” the Legacy cure, simultaneously killing him and stopping the further spread of the Legacy Virus.
April 2001
Aquaman (Arthur Curry, age 60) obtained a new hand composed of mystical water with unusual properties. However, over time this water would prove cursed as it infected the rest of his body, gradually making him lose his memories and turning him into a creature known as the “Dweller-of-the-Depths.”
May 2001
In Los Angeles, Oliver Queen (age 59) rescued 15-year old Mia Dearden (b. 1986) from a child prostitution ring.
June 2001
As Magneto was preparing mutant army to expand his empire, the X-Men confronted him in Genosha. After a final battle, Wolverine killed him. Magneto’s Acolytes then agreed to disarm and end their war against humanity in exchange for peace.
Katie Power (Energizer, age 22) discovered that she was pregnant with the child of her Fantastic Four teammate Franklin Richards (Mister Fantastic, age 32). She took a leave of absence from the team and was replaced by her brother, Jack Power (Mass Master, age 24).
July 2001
Cassandra Nova had discovered a long-lost Master Mold A.I. and Sentinel production facility in the jungles of Ecuador. Using the last surviving relative of Bolivar Trask to gain control of the wild Sentinels, she had them attack the mutant safe haven island of Genosha. Using the newly created mutant-detection machine Cerebra, created by Beast, Cyclops and Wolverine found Cassandra Nova and defeated her, but not before the Sentinels had massacred almost the entire population of Genosha, nearly 1.6 million people. Among the handful of survivors, the X-Men discovered Emma Frost, and brought her back to their headquarters at the X-Mansion in Westchester County, New York.
Dr. Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beast, age 55) experienced a further mutation, becoming much more feline in appearance.
Chosen to lead a top-secret mission into North Korea, MI6 agent James Bond Bond (the third to go by that name, age 48) was betrayed , captured and imprisoned. [Die Another Day]
August 2001
At the X-Mansion, Beast (Hank McCoy) investigated the biological origins of the powerful enemy they had captured. When Cassandra Nova suddenly overcame her imprisonment, Emma Frost snapped her neck and Charles Xavier shot her. However, just before this, Cassandra Nova had forcibly exchanged minds with Xavier, so that it was she who shot him in her old body, thus covering up evidence of what had just happened. However, Xavier (in Nova’s body) did not die, and Beast kept the body alive on life support.
Meanwhile, possessing Professor Charles Xavier’s body, Cassandra Nova exposed him as a mutant to members of the media. The added publicity led to dozens of new applications for admission at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and the school decided to take a more open approach to admissions and welcome the additional students.
Jack Knight decided to retire as Starman (age 46) to raise his son Kyle. He passed along his Cosmic Staff to Courtney Whitmore (age 16), the Star-Spangled Kid. In appreciation of the honor, she changed her alias to “Stargirl.”
September 2001
In Boston, 15-year-old Stephanie Brown (a.k.a. Spoiler) had a baby girl, and gave her up for adoption.
On Tuesday, September 11, the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda carried out a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks in the United States. The attacks killed 2,996 people (including 19 hijackers) and caused at least $10 billion in damage, including the total collapse of the twin 110-floor towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Four morning flights were hijacked, two from Boston, one from Newark and one from Washington, D.C. The two planes from Boston’s Logan Airport were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center Complex, respectively, at 8:46 AM and 9:03 AM. Media coverage of the attacks and their aftermath was intense, beginning just moments after the first crash. The hijacked plane from Washington Dulles Airport crashed into the Pentagon building at 9:37 AM. The FAA grounded all flights in the U.S. at 9:40 AM, and all aircraft already in flight were ordered to land immediately. Intense heat from the jet fuel fires created structural damage that caused the South Tower to collapse at 9:59 AM. The hijacked plane from Newark, which had been targeted for the White House, crashed into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 AM as passengers actively resisted the hijackers. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 AM. Fires and structural damage would cause the collapse of a third building at the World Trade Center site (7 WTC) at 5:21 PM, and dozens of other buildings would suffer major damage.
Blood donations and relief funds for victim’s families surged across the U.S. in the weeks after the terrorist attacks. Police and rescue workers from around the country took leaves of absence, traveling to New York City to help recover bodies from the World Trade Center site. President George W. Bush’s approval rating soared to over 90% as Americans rallied behind their President and their nation. At the same time, hate crimes increased dramatically against Muslims and even unrelated religious minorities such as Sikhs, as well as against Americans of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, regardless of their ideology. Against this backdrop, the nation began moving toward tighter security, including passage of the Patriot Act, which curtailed certain civil liberties, and the costly “War on Terror” that would come to encompass two overseas wars and dominate much of U.S. foreign and domestic policy for the next decade.
October 2001
There was another outbreak of graboid attacks in Nye County, Nevada. [Tremors 3: Back to Perfection]
The X-Men arrived in Hong Kong to prevent the human trafficking of a powerful, captive mutant named Kuan-Yin Xorn. John Sublime, leader of the Weapon-Plus program, had wanted to make the secret purchase, hoping to use Xorn’s organs for his “U-Men” program, which featured human soldiers with grafted mutant organs. Xorn contemplated suicide, but Cyclops instead persuaded him to come back to America with the X-Men.
Five identical quintuplet sisters enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The 14-year-olds, named Sophie, Phoebe, Mindee, Celeste and Esme Cuckoo, were telepaths and shared a collective consciousness. Unknown to anyone else, they were actually clones of Emma Frost, five of a thousand who had been bred by John Sublime as weapons in his plan to rid the world of mutants.
U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban, the ruling faction in Afghanistan, hand over terrorist Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda. The Taliban declined, and the United States and United Kingdom launched Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, quickly driving the Taliban from power and building military bases near major cities across the country. Most al-Qaeda and Taliban were not captured, escaping to neighboring Pakistan or retreating to rural or remote mountainous regions, where they would continue to fight for years.
On October 26, President George W. Bush signed into law the controversial Patriot Act, which curtailed certain civil liberties in order to provide increased surveillance for terrorist activity in the U.S.
November 2001
As John Sublime’s book The Third Species hit the best-seller list, mutants again found themselves in the media spotlight. Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops, age 54) and Emma Frost (age 50) confronted John Sublime regarding his radical views on mutants and were captured by Sublime’s U-Men, a secret group he led that harvesting mutants for their organs. Scheduled for fatal surgery, Scott and Emma managed to escape, learning in the process that there was much more to Sublime’s operation than it seemed. Meanwhile, several squads of U-Men attacked Xavier’s School for Gifted Youth, intending to capture or kill all of the mutant students there. However, the students were able to fend off the attackers with help from Madeline Pryor Summers (a.k.a. Marvel Girl, age 41), who manifesting the Phoenix Force for the first time.
Jessica Jones, who had previously operated as a superhero under the aliases “Jewel” and “Knightress,” opened the “Alias Detective Agency” in New York City.
December 2001
Possessing the body of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova had traveled to the Triangulum galaxy, where she was wreaking havoc upon the Shi’ar Empire.
2002
The notion of rapid climate change gained widespread acceptance throughout the scientific community.
January 2002
Beast (Hank McCoy, age 55), Emma Frost (age 50) and Madeline Pryor Summers (age 41) convened. Based on their combined knowledge and Madeline’s psychic probing of Cassandra Nova’s comatose mind, they determined that Professor Xavier had been possessed by another entity, and that his true mind was now trapped in the body of Cassandra Nova, which was on life support in the X-Men medical facility.
On January 1, physical currency for the euro was introduced throughout the participating countries (the Eurozone), and national currencies began to be retired.
February 2002
Having established a psychic connection with Charles Xavier’s mind, currently trapped in the comatose body of Cassandra Nova, Madeline Pryor was able to convey a few short messages from him to his X-Men. First, he informed Beast that the annoying flu epidemic that seemed to be sweeping campus was actually being caused by a systematic Nanosentinel attack. Next, he informed everyone that the Shi’ar Imperial Guard was headed to Earth to sterilize the entirety of mutantkind, starting with the X-Men. Cyclops left with Xorn to confront the Shi’ar.
In New York City, a daughter was born to Fantastic Four leader Franklin Richards (age 33) and his girlfriend Katie Power (Energizer, age 24). Mother and child almost died during childbirth, but were saved by the magic of Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 27), the king of Latveria. A grateful Richards then asked Doom to name the child, and Doom chose the name of his stepmother, Valeria.
By February 28, all former national currencies were no longer legal tender throughout the Eurozone, as the transition to the euro currency had been completed.
March 2002
Aboard the Shi’ar Superdestroyer spaceship, Cyclops pleaded with the Shi’ar trying to explain that the Charles Xavier they were allied with was the very same Cassandra Nova entity that was destroying their empire, and which they were traveling to Earth to fight. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 28) kidnapped Valeria Richards, intending to sacrifice her in a black magic ritual to resurrect his father, Victor von Doom. However, her father, Franklin Richards, managed to stop him. Ever the scientist, Franklin found that he had to embrace magic to save his daughter. In doing so, he banished Doom to a demon dimension. Meanwhile, in Latveria, Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas assumed control of the government in the absence of the king.
April 2002
Darkseid used his Omega Effect to strip Secret (Greta “Suzie” Hayes) of her powers and left her a normal, 14-year-old human girl.
The Shi’ar attacked the X-Men but were repelled. Meanwhile, Cassandra Nova was exposed and the Shi’ar called off the attack. Afterward, Xorn healed the X-Men of their Nanosentinel infestations.
May 2002
After months of around-the-clock effort, the World Trade Center site in New York City was finally cleared following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Albuquerque lawyer James McGill (age 40) began using some of his con artist tricks (from his “Slipping’ Jimmy” days in Illinois) to get new clients.
After a dispute, crime lord Richard Fisk (age 52) was shot and killed by his mother Vanessa Fisk (age 74). His son Weston Fisk (age 23) inherited his criminal empire and became the new “Kingpin of Crime.”
Madeline Pryor Summers and Charles Xavier tricked Cassandra Nova into using the Cerebra mutant-locating device for her original goal of erasing mutantkind. However, the moment she used Cerebra to connect to the worldwide mutant population, she found that a piece of Xavier’s consciousness had been placed in each of them. At that moment, Madeline, who was becoming increasingly more powerful due to a manifestation of the Phoenix Force, psionically attacked Cassandra and forced her out of the Professor’s body, allowing the pieces of Xavier’s consciousness to regroup in his own body. Emma Frost then tricked Cassandra Nova back into her own, comatose body, now a mental prison.
On May 24, the U.S. and Russia signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT) treaty agreeing to limit their nuclear arsenals. It was in force from June 2003 until February 2011 when it was superseded by the New START treaty.
June 2002
CIA assassin Jason Bourne (age 32) was deployed in Marseille, France to kill an African leader named Nykwana Wombosi. Seeing his target in the company of his children, he was unable to complete the assignment. He aborted the mission, but was shot twice in the back and fell into the Mediterranean Sea. When he awoke on an Italian fishing ship, he had severe amnesia and was unable to remember anything about his life. He gradually pieces together clues as he fled across Europe. During this time, he made the acquaintance of Marie Kreutz, with whom he fell in love, and the pair eventually shook off the CIA assassins pursuing them. [The Bourne Identity]
After 12-year-old mutant Sonny Bean was killed by police in New York City, Charles Xavier founded the X-Corporation, a nonprofit global organization meant to defend mutant rights and provide support to “civilian” mutant populations. Offices would eventually be opened in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mumbai, Nairobi, Paris and Singapore.
Headed by Theresa Cassidy (a.k.a. Siryn, age 37), the Paris office of X-Corporation became one of the first to open.
Using artificial evolution and “Nanosentinel” technology, John Sublime and his staff developed two successful weaponsized metahumans out of dozens of candidates at “The World” genetic research facility in northern England. Test subject Zona-Cluster-6, codenamed “Huntsman,” and test subject Charlie-Cluster-7, codenamed “Fantomex,” were loaded on a train bound for France to be deployed as mutant-hunting Super-Sentinels.
Empress Veranke ordered the next phase of the secret Skrull invasion of Earth. Dozens of additional, shape-shifting Skrull spies would be moved into position over the coming months, and the Empress herself would eventually travel to Earth to personally oversee the operation.
August 2002
After a train accident in the Channel Tunnel was quarantined involving what was called a possible “gene-hazard,” the Paris branch office of X-Corporation went to investigate. Charles Xavier and Madeline Pryor Summers of the X-Men traveled to Paris to assist with the investigation, as well as to check on the status of the new X-Corp office. While in Paris, they were approached by someone calling himself Fantomex, claiming to be a mutant seeking asylum. Fantomex told them that Siryn’s response team was in danger from a bio-experiment on the train called “Huntsman.” Arriving on the scene, Fantomex and Madeline were able to kill the Huntsman, but noty before he killed X-Corp agent Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna, age 50). Madeline then learned that both Huntsman and Fantomex had been developed as living weapons by “The World,” a genetics research laboratory in England, but that Fantomex had resisted his programming. Grateful for his help, Madeline let Fantomex flee the scene.
Meanwhile, back at the Xavier School for Gifted Youth in Westchester County, New York, Madeline’s husband Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) had been having doubts about their marriage and began having a psychic affair with his X-Men teammate, the telepathic mutant Emma Frost.
Five failed cloning experiments by the Titan Thanos, each obsessed with nihilism and a desire to end the universe, attempted to kill Thanos by creating a black hole in space. However, Adam Warlock, Doctor Strange and other heroes came to Thanos’ aid and ended the threat. [Infinity Abyss]
September 2002
Released from North Korea in a prisoner exchange, MI6 agent James Bond Bond (the third to go by that name, age 49) solved the mystery of who had betrayed him, and took down the British and North Korean spies responsible. [Die Another Day]
October 2002
After years of U.N. disarmament violations, and with the belief that they may be harboring weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to use force against Iraq.
An investigation of energy company Enron led to its bankruptcy, the largest in history at the time, and revealed a wave of corporate accounting scandals in the U.S.
The “Rage” virus was accidentally released by animal rights activists raiding a research laboratory in Cambridge, England. Quick action by MI6 agent James kept the virus from spreading. However, Bond was infected in the process, and had to be killed as a precaution. [The premise of 28 Days Later, with the outbreak itself prevented by an honorable death for 007—who was figuratively “killed” by the failure of his own franchise and the debut of Jason Bourne this year.]
Queen Monica of Wakanda (age 53) suffered a brain aneurysm and died. Her death caused King T’Challa (age 58) to suffer a mental breakdown, suffering hallucinations and erratic behavior. After his mental state almost led to tribal warfare within the nation, T’Challa decided to temporarily hand power over to his council while he spent some time in New York.
November 2002
Jessica Jones (age 35) began dating Scott Lang, Jr. (Ant-Man, age 33).
In the ruins of Genosha, Magneto’s daughter Lorna Dane (age 52) was found alive. Using her own magnetic powers, she rallied the survivors and became their new leader, even adopting her father’s alias and calling herself Magneto II.
On November 25, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established as a new cabinet department of the United States federal government. Created in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the DHS represented a significant government reorganization, incorporating over two dozen government agencies into a single organization. One of the agencies to become part of the DHS was S.H.I.E.L.D., which saw its accronym change from “Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate” to “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” Also moving under the DHS was the “Men in Black” organization, which was renamed S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department).
December 2002
Having demonstrated her superiority within the Hand ninja clan, the reincarnated assassin Elektra (age 19) became their new leader.
2003
January 2003
In the rural northeastern Thailand village of Ban Nong Pradu, the head of an ancient Buddha statue named Ong-Bak was stolen by thieves and taken to Bangkok. Ting, a villager skilled in the martial art of Muay Thai, volunteered to retrieve it, and after taking on many criminals in the big city, he successfully did so. [Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior]
Following the death of mutant fashion designer Jumbo Carnation in New York City, apparently the victim of a hate crime, super-intelligent Xavier Institute student Quentin Quire (age 17) became convinced that the Professor Charles Xavier, the Institute and the X-Men weren’t doing enough to protect mutant rights.
February 2003
G.W. Bridge, Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was contacted by a Skrull spy disguised as Nick Fury. Claiming that he was the real Nick Fury, and that the one who had been assassinated had been merely a sophisticated Life Model Decoy android, the Skrull gave Bridge sensitive information about a secret plot by Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas to fund a group of supervillains with advanced technology to wreak terror on American soil. The Skrull’s disguise was impenitrable and Bridge was able to confirm that it was really Fury. After corroborating his story, Bridge took his findings to U.S. President George W. Bush. However, Bush denied S.H.I.E.L.D. the authorization to overthrow the post-Doom Latverian regime, which was seen as a key ally to the U.S. in gathering intelligence about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. [Secret War]
Scott Lang, Jr. (age 33) left the Fantastic Four to join the Avengers. Katie Power (Energizer, age 23) returned from maternity leave to active duty with the Fantastic Four. Her brother Jack Power (Mass Master, age 25) also remained with the team.
Becoming a vocal opponent to Charles Xavier’s pacifist teachings, student Quentin Quire began looking to the teachings of the late Magneto. He then organized a group of like-minded students, which he called the “Omega Gang.”
On February 1, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
March 2003
Deciding to act without the President’s authorization, G.W. Bridge recruited several independent heroes in a private attempt to covertly overthrow Latveria: Captain America (Steve Rogers, biologically age 38), Wolverine (age 111), Luke Cage (age 53), Daredevil (Matt F. Murdock, age 33), S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter (“Agent 13,” biologically age 23), Spider-Girl (May Parker, age 19) and superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson (age 18). After the assault on Latveria, the heroes’ memories were erased, with the exception of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. [Secret War]
At the Xavier Institute, the group of students known as the Omega Gang began using the illegal drug “Kick” to enhance their mutant powers. The use of this drug further fueled their rage against normal humans, which they had begun to see as oppressors and enemies.
The Iraq War (2003– 2011) began on March 20. The U.S., joined by the United Kingdom and several coalition allies, launched a “shock and awe” surprise attack without declaring war, and Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S. forces swept through the country.
April 2003
During “Open House Day” at the Xavier Institute, Quentin Quire’s Omega Gang captured Professor Xavier and sparked a riot on campus by spewing anti-human sentiment against the school’s human visitors. The Omega Gang threatened to kill the humans to avenge the death of Jumbo Carnation until Beast informed them that Jumbo had actually died of an overdose of the drug Kick, which they themselves were now taking. The X-Men subdued the Gang, but during the scuffle, two students were killed: Sophie Cuckoo and Dean Boswell. Omega Gang leader Quentin Quire then collapsed and died of an overdose of Kick. Following an investigation, the remaining members of the Omega Gang would be imprisoned. In order to keep the school from facing further scrutiny, Professor Xavier announced his resignation.
On April 9, Baghdad fell, ending Saddam Hussein’s 24‑year rule. The abrupt fall of Baghdad was accompanied by a widespread outpouring of gratitude toward the invaders, but also massive civil disorder, including the looting of public and government buildings and drastically increased crime.
May 2003
Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley, age 35) was killed in a fight with his two greatest enemies, Biis and Scratch.
Thanos had a dream in which he became merged with the entire universe, and then sacrificed himself for the sake of it. This dream would have a profound affect on his state of mind. [Marvel: The End]
On May 1, U.S. President George W. Bush visited the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and delivered a nationally televised “Mission Accomplished” speech, declaring victory due to the defeat of Iraq’s conventional forces. Nevertheless, Saddam Hussein remained at large and significant pockets of resistance remained. After President Bush’s speech, coalition forces noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on its troops. Initially, Iraqi resistance largely stemmed from fedayeen and Saddam/Ba’ath Party loyalists, but soon religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the insurgency.
June 2003
In Florida, 13-year-old Arthur Joseph “A.J.” Curry (b. June 1990) discovered that he could breathe underwater. His father, marine biologist Philip Curry, admitted that he had found him at sea and raised him as his own. He and his friend Stephen Shin then helped A.J. discover the full extent of his powers and learn how to control them.
Madeline Pryor Summers discovered that her husband, Scott Summers, had been engaged in a telepathic affair with Emma Frost, and confronted them both about it. Disgraced, Scott left the Xavier Institute.
July 2003
While heading a task force investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami, narcotics detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Bennett uncovered a new, dangerous drug kingpin. [Bad Boys II]
Beatrix Kiddo, former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, awakened from her four-year coma and resolved to kill every member of her former operation, which had tried to kill her. [Kill Bill Volume 1]
At “The World” genetic research facility in northern England, John Sublime and his staff developed their next weaponsized metahuman, codenamed “Ultimaton,” designed to be the Super-Sentinels’ grand powerhouse.
Nyssa Raatko, the estranged daughter of R’as al Ghul, returned with a plot to kill her father. [Batman: Death and the Maidens]
Cyclops (Scott Summers), Wolverine (Logan) and Fantomex conducted an assault against John Sublime’s mutant-hunting Weapon-Plus program at “The World” genetic research facility in England, and destroyed the program’s orbiting space station. [New X-Men #142-145]
On Thursday, August 14, a widespread power outage occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, just before 4:10 p.m. EDT. It affected an estimated 45 million people in eight U.S. states and 10 million people in Ontario. Some power was restored by 11 p.m. and many others got it back two days later. The blackout’s primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the FirstEnergy Corporation, located in Ohio. A lack of alarm left operators unaware of the need to re-distribute power after overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage, which triggered a race condition in the control software. What would have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into widespread distress on the electric grid.
September 2003
Beatrix Kiddo killed Vernita Green. She then traveled to Okinawa to obtain a sword from legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzō, who had sworn never to forge a sword again. However, after learning that her target is his former student, Bill, he agreed to forge his finest sword for her. [Kill Bill Volume 1]
On his 14th birthday, Talia al Ghul’s clone of Jason Todd underwent his final Lazarus Pit treatment. The experiment proved a success, and the clone regained Todd’s memories, albeit somewhat foggy and with an unbalanced mental state due to the influence of the Lazarus Pit. Learning that Batman had failed to “avenge his death” in the intervening years, he began developing a strong resentment for his former mentor.
October 2003
Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 50) was critically injured and captured by the criminal Savant (Brian Durlin). After escaping, she found herself slowed considerably from her previous level of ability.
November 2003
Beatrix Kiddo used her new sword to kill O-Ren Ishii, who was now the leader of the Tokyo Yakuza. [Kill Bill Volume 1]
At the Xavier Institute, the mutant Kuan-Yin Xorn revealed that he was secretly a follower of Magneto, and had been a sleeper agent for Magneto’s loyal forces in Genosha. He had indoctrinated his “Special Class” at the Institute with his militant anti-human philosophy, while indulging in the mutant power-enhancing drug Kick. As he took control of the Institute with forces from the Brotherhood of Mutants, he revealed that he had now attained a level of power that will allow him to remake Earth into “Planet X,” where humankind will serve as workers to the ruling class of mutants. He demonstrated his power by sending Madeline Pryor Summers (Marvel Girl) and Logan (Wolverine) hurtling into space. However, the shock of this activates the full Phoenix Force potential in Madeline. As the Phoenix, she returned to Earth with Logan. They rescued Beast and Emma Frost, who had been stranded at sea, and then returned to face Xorn. At the Xavier Institute, Cyclops and Fantomex had come to the aid of several of the students, who had been resisting Xorn as his rage led him to attempt to slaughter the local human population. Finally, as Madeline faced Xorn head on, Logan was able to sneak around behind him and decapitate him to end the madness. However, Xorn’s attack was too much for Madeline, and she died as well. The Phoenix Force was once again released into the universe.
December 2003
As penance for his past action, Thanos agreed to help stop Galactus from devouring Rigel-18. However, he soon realized that Galactus was being manipulated by a mysterious cosmic being known as the Hunger. [Thanos #1–6]
Bart Allen (biologically age 21) changed his superhero alias from “Impulse” to “Kid Flash.”
Saddam Hussein was captured on December 13.
2004
January 2004
Beatrix Kiddo killed Bill’s brother Budd, and then fought Elle Driver, another former Deadly Viper, and left her to die. [Kill Bill Volume 2]
Jessica Jones (age 36) and Scott Lang, Jr. (Ant-Man, age 34) ended their year-long relationship.
Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 41) and Oracle (Barbara Gordon, age 43) ended their relationship, although it was clear that they continued to have feelings for one another other.
February 2004
A high-tech Latverian assault force, led by a cyborg Prime Minister Von Bardas, attacked various targets in New York in reprisal for the attack on their homeland the year prior. Luke Cage was left in a coma by one of these attacks. The reprisal was revealed to be a trap for New York’s superheroes when Von Bardas armed a high-tech bomb. However, Von Bardas was destroyed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson, the bomb was disarmed and the supervillain army was defeated and arrested. Captain America, Wolverine and the X-Men immediately demanded answers from S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director G.W. Bridge about what happened. Bridge revealed the details of the secret invasion of Latveria and subsequent erasure of the heroes’ memories. Wolverine then cut him to pieces with his claws, revealing that it was not the real Bridge but a Life Model Decoy android. Bridge was then replaced as Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Amanda Waller (age 63), who had a distinguished record and no strong ties to either G.W. Bridge or his predcecessor, equally controversial director Nick Fury. Maria Hill (age 32) was named Waller’s second in command. Nick Fury himself had disappeared, but he had loyal allies within S.H.I.E.L.D. who continued to feed him sensitive information. This proved to be a major miscalculation, as this was not the real Nick Fury, who had been assassinated, but a Skrull spy sent to impersonate him. [Secret War]
Beatrix Kiddo tracked Bill to the Mexican countryside and discovered that their daughter, B.B., was alive and well, now four years old. Bill drugged her and interrogated her, but in the end she was able to kill him and leave with B.B. to start a new life. [Kill Bill Volume 2]
March 2004
Believeing herself to be in mortal danger in her new role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director, Amanda Waller took advantrage of top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. technology to have herself cloned and memory back-ups made.
On March 11, ten explosions occurred aboard four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. These nearly simultaneous, coordinated bombings were conducted by an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell, killing 191 people and wounding an estimated 1,800.
On March 31, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a Blackwater USA convoy led by four U.S. private military contractors. The four contractors were killed, and their bodies were dragged from their vehicles by local people, beaten, set ablaze, and their burned corpses hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates. Photos of the event were released to news agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the U.S.
April 2004
The Taipei 101 office building in Taipei, Tawian became the new tallest building in the world.
Tim Drake (age 18) was having a hard time balancing his career as a crime fighter with his responsibilities as a first-year college student. After giving it a lot of thought, he decided to put his career as Robin on hold and just focus on school.
Hydra contacted provate investigator and former Hydra agent Jessica Drew (age 64, but appearing much younger due to her unique physiology). They offered her a chance to restore her Spider-Woman powers, which had been lost two decades prior, if she would return to being a spy for them. Drew contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Amanda Waller, who told her to go ahead and accept the deal, but as a double-agend for S.H.I.E.L.D. What neither Drew nor Waller realized, however, was that Hydra had been infiltrated by Skrull sleeper agents, and the entire arrangement was a set-up. When Drew arrived at Hydra, she was abducted by the Skrulls, who took her to their secret orbiting base. There, they studied her unique DNA, which very much impressed the Skrull Empress Veranke. Subjecting herself to Super-Skrull experimentation, the Skrull sceintists were able to bestow the Empress with Drew’s Spider-Woman’s powers. For the security of their queen, the scientists did not kill Drew, as they had with most of their victims, but instead kept her for further study. Veranke traveled to the surface of Earth, where she adopted Drew’s identity and prepared to take part in the coming invasion.
In response to the killing of four Americans on March 31 and intense political pressure, U.S. Marines surrounded the city of Fallujah on April 4 with the intent of capturing those responsible for the killings, as well as others in the region who might have been involved in the insurgency or terrorist activities. Heavy fighting lasted until April 9, when the offensive was called off because of great civilian losses. In this First Battle of Fallujah, the Marines had only managed to gain control of about 25 percent of the city.
Stephanie Brown (age 18), who had been operating as the vigilante “Spoiler,” convinced Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 41) to allow her to become the new Robin.
In New York City, Jessica Jones discovered she was pregnant with Luke Cage’s baby.
June 2004
The heavy period of insurgent fighting in Iraq that had started in April came to an end.
At age 29, Falcon (Sam Wilson, Jr.) found his flight harness destroyed and his companion Redwing (a mutant red-tailed hawk) killed in a battle. He traveled back to Wakanda where the Black Panther (King T’Challa, age 60) designed a new, more advanced flight harness for him. He would eventually form a telepathic bond with another red-tailed hawk as well, naming it Redwing II.
July 2004
Jason Bourne and his lover Marie Kreutz were discovered living in Goa, India by an assassin name Kirill, who killed Marie. That alerted the CIA to Bourne’s location, and they started pursuing him, believing that he was responsible for several assassinations Kirill had performed. Bourne was eventually able to convince CIA agent Pamela Landy that the assassinations were part of a larger conspiracy by the CIA’s own Operation Treadstone. [The Bourne Supremecy]
On July 24, a Series T-X Terminator arrived from the alternate universe Earth-J (where it was now the year 2049) to kill Kate Brewster and various other leaders of the Resistance. Kate sent a re-programmed T-850 to our Earth to stop the T-X. Meanwhile, other heroes were able to disable a resurgent Skynet and stop it from starting a nuclear war.
August 2004
Jason Bourne encountered agents from an upgraded version of Operation Treadstone called “Blackbriar.” He traded information about Blackbriar to Landy for information about his past and disappeared. [The Bourne Ultimatum]
Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), was murdered at the age of 62.
The 11th cycle of Ragnarök began its conclusion, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Asgardians and Valar to once again begin the terrible battle that would destroy them. Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, located the forge that created Thor’s hammer Mjonir, and his ally Surtur used it to create multiple similar hammers to power their army. With these, they slaughtered their enemies. Thor escaped to Earth and sought the help of his allies there, the Avengers.
As the Valar began to die, their champion Captain Marvel (Billy Batson, age 55) began to lose his powers.
September 2004
Returning to Asgard with Thor, Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr.) found the city destroyed and the majority of its citizens dead. (Among them, Brunnhilde the Valkyrie, in the body of Sian Brown.) Thor then sent his friends back to Earth, realizing that there was nothing they could do. Everywhere Thor traveled, he found the same devastation. He then sacrificed both of his eyes at the Well of Mimir to gain the true knowledge of Ragnarök. This allowed him to fully understand the nature of the endless cycle of Ragnarök, perpetrated by “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” in order to feed off of the psychic energy of the Asgardians. Now in full control of the Odinforce, Thor realized what he must do: end the Ragnarök cycle once and for all.
With her powers increased by the chaos magic now inside her, the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, age 57) regained her memories of her lost children, Tommy and Billy. She became obsessed with trying to restore them to life, and launched a campaign of terror against the Avengers, whom she blamed for their deaths. In the ensuing chaos, she destroyed her former husband, the android Vision, and killed Ant-Man (Scott Lang, Jr., age 35) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton, age 59), before finally being defeated by Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange, age 92). Wanda was taken by her half-sister, the new Magneto (Lorna Dane), to the X-Men to try to get her powers under control. [The Avengers #500-503]
Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) dismissed Stephanie Brown from her duties as Robin after a pair of incidents where she risked both of their lives by failing to follow his orders.
On September 1, a group of armed Islamic separatist militants occupied School Number One in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia, and took over 1,100 people as hostages. On September 3, Russian security forces stormed the building. At least 385 hostages were killed, including 186 children, with a significant number of others injured or reported missing.
October 2004
Thor went to Surtur and made a deal with him: in exchange for Surtur reforging Mjolnir, Thor would blaze a trail for Surtur and his army to raze Asgard to the ground and give the Asgardians a final, glorious battle. Surtur accepted and began re-forging Mjolnir.
Claiming to be the original Piotr Rasputin (a.k.a. Colossus), who had died three years prior, a Super-Skrull spy infiltrated the X-Men team. He was working in tandem with the alien Ord, from the Skrull-allied planet Breakworld, who had been hired to create a “mutant cure” to help thin the ranks of “gifted” individuals on Earth. [A combination of Secret Invasion and Astonishing X-Men. I'm taking all of the Breakworld mutant prophecy stuff to be a misdirect as to Ord's actual intentions.]
A group of rogue Thanagarians used Rannian Omega-beam technology to transport the planet Rann from the Alpha Centauri star system to the Polaris B star system. The plan was for the two planets to share the same orbit in a true co-orbital configuration, similar to Saturn’s moons Epimetheus and Janus. However, slight errors in the calculations caused planet Thanagar to spin wildly out of its original orbit. [Adam Strange Vol. 2 #1–8, “Planet Heist”]
November 2004
To prevent the cycle of Ragnarök from starting over again, Thor went to the Three Norns and destroyed the Loom of the Fates, thus cutting off “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow,” possibly destroying them. This also destroyed Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and ended all the lives of those who dwelled in Asgard. Protected by the Odinforce, Thor found himself adrift in the void of the Timeless Halls, the pocket dimension that had resided within Yggdrasil. There, he declared that he would rest for a while, and began to dream.
As the last of the Valar died, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) was rendered powerless, and searched for an explanation why.
Determined to prove herself to Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) and win back her job as Robin, Stephanie Brown embarked on a dangerous mission on her own. She found herself outclassed and was brutally beaten, sustaining critical injuries.
The X-Corporation offices in Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore were bombed in a coordinated attack carried out by anti-mutant terrorists.
The Second Battle of Fallujah began on November 7. Fought entirely against insurgents and involving some of the heaviest urban combat since Vietnam, it was the bloodiest battle of the war. By November 16, the Marines had taken control of the city except for sporadic pockets of resistance.
December 2004
With Dick Grayson, Jr. by her hospital bed, Stephanie Brown died of the injuries she had sustained at the hands of criminals in November. Just days later, Tim Drake’s father Jack (age 48) was killed by Captain Boomerang. Wracked with guilt at the death of his friend and father, Tim Drake (age 19) decided to return to active duty fighting crime as Robin.
Ronnie Raymond (age 40) was killed, although his consciousness remained alive within the Firestorm Matrix as it searched for a new host.
Doctor Mid-Nite, Mister Terrific and Batman solved the mystery of who killed Sue Dibny, realiuzing that it was Jean Loring, the ex-wife of the Atom (Ray Palmer).
Half-human, half-Rannian space adventurer Aleea Strange (age 29 in Earth years, or 45 in Rannian ones) found herself stranded on Earth, where she heard a rumor that her home planet of Rann had been destroyed. When she finally made it back to the Alpha Centauri system, she discovered evidence that suggested the entire planet might have been moved, and that her mother and father might still be alive. [Adam Strange Vol. 2 #1–8, “Planet Heist” – except that Adam himself would have been an old man at this point, so it makes more sense for his daughter to be the focus of the story.]
Despite the presence of the Spectre holding it in check, the Parallax entity began to stir. Green Lantern Kyle Rayner was the first to sense it, and would soon race back to Earth, his ring issuing a warning. [Green Lantern: Rebirth]
On December 15, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered the termination shock (the point where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speeds) at a distance of 94 AU (14 billion km) from the Sun.
On December 26, a massive 9.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra Indonesia. Resulting tsunamis killed over 220,000 people (including more than 170,000 in Indonesia alone) and left five million homeless.
On December 28, the dwarf planet Haumea was discovered, the first of many large trans-Neptunian objects to be discovered over the next several years.
2005
Mason "The Line" Dixon became the first boxer in 20 years to hold all of the existing heavyweight titles at once (and the first to simultaneously hold the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts). Many at the time accused Dixon of lucking into the titles as heavyweight boxing was not what it once was.
Unicron attacked the planet Cybertron, killing many of the Transformers, including Autobot leader Optimus Prime, before he was finally destroyed. [The Transformers: The Movie]
January 2005
The discovery of the large, distant dwarf planet Eris (roughly the size of Pluto) by Mike Brown and his team led to a debate about whether such objects should be considered planets.
Danielle Cage was born to Jessica Jones (age 37) and Luke Cage (age 54) in New York City.
Edwin Jarvis (age 82) was killed while on holiday and secretly replaced by a Skrull agent, who then infiltrated Avengers Mansion.
On January 31, the first democratic elections were held in Iraq, electing a transitional government to draft a new constitution.
February 2005
After training with Oliver Queen (the former Green Arrow, age 63) and his son Connor Hawke (the current Green Arrow, age 24), 19-year old, HIV-positive Mia Dearden debuted as the new Speedy.
The clone of Jason Todd returned to Boston under the guise of “The Red Hood.” His new body was now biologically 16 years old, but he possessed at least 19 years of overlapping memories thanks to the “slow resurrection” process Talia al Ghul had used to revive him. Unfortunately, that process had also left him somewhat unhinged and bitterly resentful of his former mentor, Batman, whom he began to torment.
March 2005
With the Avengers disbanded, a new group of unregistered heroes banded together under the Avengers name: Captain America (Steve Rogers, biologically age 40), Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr., age 27), Luke Cage (age 54), Spider-Woman (the Skrull Empress Veranke, pretending to be Jessica Drew) and Spider-Girl (May Parker, age 20).
A Skrull spy named Pagon infiltrated the Hand ninja clan, assassinated their leader Elektra (age 22) and stole her identity. (However, Elektra had already been reincarnated once before, and her spirit was able to complete the journey on its own this time, finding a new host child, so that she could be reborn nine months later.)
April 2005
“The Scourge” (Jack Monroe) was shot and killed by the Winter Soldier (James “Bucky” Barnes).
May 2005
With the Spectre’s help, Parallax was severed from Hal Jordan’s soul. Jordan’s physical body was awakened from its death-like state, and Jordan was able to defeat Parallax with the help of the other remaining Green Lanterns. Afterward, however, the Spectre found itself on Earth without a host and became unstable. [Green Lantern: Rebirth]
As Princess Shuri of Wakanda turned 14, her father King T’Challa secretly began teaching her to assume the throne. Although no woman had ever done so, both of them believed that Shuri could be the first.
The Blue Beetle (Ted Kord, age 58) died.
Former CIA agent Philip J. Coulson joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
June 2005
The mutant superhero Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, age 58) suffered another mental breakdown, this time trying to alter the fabric of reality to recreate her lost
children. This created a pocket universe, a separate reality into
which Wanda and several of her associates were drawn for several weeks
The mutant hero known as Wolverine (Logan, age 113) joined the new line-up of the Avengers.
Jean Loring, in prison awaiting trial for the August 2004 murder of Sue Dibny, was transformed into a new version of the villainous Eclipso by mysterious forces. Escaping, the new Eclipso located the Spectre, who was without an Earthly host after resurrecting Hal Jordan, and had become unstable. Eclipso took advantage of this, using her influence to make the more powerful Spectre a pawn for her evil purposes.
Aleea Strange arrived on the planet Rann, now located in the Polaris B star system, and learned what had happend both to her home planet and to the planet Thanagar. Aware that the Rannians and Thanagarians both blamed each other for the calamaty and were on the brink of war, Strange traveled back to Earth to recruit Hawkman and Hawkwoman to help with negotiations.
July 2005
Under the influence of Eclipso, the Spectre attacked and killed approximately seven hundred wizards (Homo sapiens magi) at a gathering in Europe. Having witnessed this attack, Enchantress tried to recruit Earth’s top magic users to resist the Spectre, but learned that many of them had already been disabled, including the Phantom Stranger, Doctor Fate and Madame Xanadu. Meanwhile Captain Marvel had inexplicably lost his powers some months prior, and Doctor Strange had recently mysteriously disappeared (into the “House of M” pocket universe with the Scarlet Witch).
When Aleea Strange, Hawkman and Hawkwoman arrived back at planet Rann, they were shocked to see that a war had already begun between Rannians and Thanagarians. They quickly formed a response team to try to negotiate an end to the war. However, their efforts were hinderewd when the Tamaranean princess Blackfire betrayed this team and murdered Shayera Thal (the former Hawkwoman, age 105 in Earth years or 50 Thanagarian orbital cycles). Eventually, it became clear that all factions had a common enemy: Onimar Synn. With the help of Tigorr of the Omega Men and Captain Comet, Aleea Strange’s team managed to cut Synn into seven pieces, and each piece was inserted into a separate star to prevent him from reforming.
On July 7, a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks targeted civilians using the public transport system in central London during the morning rush hour. Four British Islamist men detonated four suicide bombs. As well as the four bombers, 52 civilians were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks.
August 2005
J.R. Richards, the nine-year-old son of Franklin Richards (age 36) and Rachel Summers (age 49) was enrolled with a private tutor at the Future Foundation, run by Franklin out of New York City’s Baxter Building. There, he was already completing his high school education and preparing to enter college to pursue an advanced degree.
Through the Enchantress, a group of Earth’s magic users, later named the “Shadowpact,” learned that the Spectre had been seduced and corrupted by Eclipso. They planned what was essentially a suicide mission to find them, attack Eclipso with overwhelming surprise and numbers and kill her, hoping to free the Spectre before he turned on them. As the Enchantress siphoned the magical power of wizards and sorcerers from around the world, Brother Voodoo was able to get the upper hand over the Spectre while the Shadowpact defeated Eclipso. However, the Spectre soon recovered enough strength to rescue Eclipso and escape.
Hurricane Katrina originated over the Bahamas on August 23. It made landfall in Florida August 25, and then continued over the Gulf of Mexico. On August 29, made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, and continued on to New Orleans, bringing heavy rains. Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, and at least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it one of the deadliest as well. Moving inland, the hurricane finally dissipated on August 31, although its remnants would continue to cause heavy rains and flooding as far away as Canada for days to come.
September 2005
The Great Lakes Avengers were sent a cease-and-desist order by the Maria Stark Foundation, forbidding them from using the name “Avengers.” When they realized that all of the surviving members were mutants, they renamed themselves the “Great Lakes X-Men.”
Wonder Woman (Donna Troy, age 54) killed the villain Maxwell Lord by breaking his neck, an action that alienated her to teammates like Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 43).
October 2005
Having returned to the Rock of Eternity after losing his powers, Billy Batson (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) finally made contact with the spirit of his mentor, the wizard Shazam. There, he was told to prepare for the coming danger. When the Spectre arrived, the spirit of Shazam faced him and was defeated. The Rock of Eternity then disintegrated. It split into many pieces, traveling through multiple dimensions, as it was destroyed. The destruction of the Rock of Eternity freed an untold number beings of evil magic back into the world, among them the “living” embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins, who were formerly trapped in stone statues in Shazam’s throne room. The scarab belonging to the original Blue Beetle, which Shazam had acquired from Ted Kord, landed in El Paso, Texas. Billy Batson remained without the powers of Captain Marvel, but found himself infused with the understanding of Shazam, and began to study the wizard’s books of magic. The Shadowpact, meanwhile, continued the fight, but would do so with even fewer options.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Amanda Waller (age 65) was killed and replaced by an impostor Skrull sleeper agent.
November 2005
Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter, age 40) retired from costumed crime fighting and returned to his home in the parallel universe of Earth-Penta, where it was the year 2482.
On November 2, known as “M-Day,” the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, age 58) stripped over 90% of Earth’s mutants (Homo sapiens superior) of their powers, thereby reducing a population estimated at over 2,300 (and a genetic carrier population in the millions) to less than 200. [House of M]
On M-Day, Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 52) lost the use of her “Canary Cry” mutant ability. Although still in peak physical condition at this point, without her mutant metabolism, her age would quickly begin to catch up with her.
Following M-Day, Cyclops (Scott Summers) shut down X-Corporation.
December 2005
Rachel Summers changed her surname to “Grey” in honor of her mother, and rejoined the X-Men under her mother’s original alias, “Marvel Girl.”
The reincarnated assassin Elektra was born for the third time. Throughout her childhood, she would eventually begin to regain memories of her previous lives.
The second “Phantom Lady” (Dee Tyler, age 41) was killed in a battle with the Society in Washington, D.C.
At a meeting of the Illuminati, they decided that the Hulk was too dangerous to remain on Earth, and began making plans to relocate him to another planet where he could be isolated and pose no threat to anyone.
2006
The U.S. population reached 300 million.
James Gordon, Jr. retired from the Boston Police Department.
Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (b. 1990), son of Seattle mob boss Ricardo Diaz, began studying martial arts in Manhattan under Richard Dragon (age 53). He soon proved to be a prodigy.
January 2006
Michael Jon Carter was born December 29, 2442 in Boston in the alternate, parallel universe of Earth-Tetra, which is 455 years further into the future than our own universe (here, it was 1987). A gifted college athlete, he ended up throwing his career away by fixing games for his father’s gambling. After being kicked out of school, he got a job as a security guard at the Space Museum in San Francisco. After a dimension-hoping Legion of Super Heroes left behind some 30th century technology from the Earth-Kilo universe, it ended up at the museum. With the help of the museum’s security robot, Skeets, Carter stole those items, including a flight ring, a force-field belt and the device that allowed travel between parallel universes. Using the latter, Carter traveled to the San Francisco of our universe, where he used his futuristic technology to become a superhero. Surprisingly, everyone in our universe already knew who he was, as it appeared that he was actually the second Michael Jon Carter to visit from a parallel universe, the first having only recently retired. He had wanted to call himself “Goldstar,” but everyone already knew him as “Booster Gold,” so that is the name that stuck.
While filming a reality television show in Stamford, Connecticut, the superhero group “New Warriors” accidentally triggered an explosion in a public park that killed four children. The incident added fuel to the argument calling for additional regulations on costumed vigilantes. [Civil War #1]
February 2006
Boston police officer Crispus Allen (age 47) was shot and killed by police crime scene technician James Corrigan, who then tampered with the evidence to avoid prosecution. Allen’s partner Renee Montoya had an emotional breakdown and would quit the police force over the incident. Allen’s spirit was not at rest and would live on, trapped as a ghost in the Ethereal Realm.
In Atlantis, the city of Poseidonis was destroyed by the Spectre, who was acting out of madness without an earthly host. Its governor, Vulko, was killed.
March 2006
In Boston, serial killer Victor Zsasz (age 40) murdered long-time Wayne family butler Alfred Pennyworth (age 87).
Deciding that he could not live as an ordinary human, the de-powered mutant Pietro Maximoff (a.k.a. Quicksilver, age 59) exposed himself to the Terrigen Mist, despite being denied permission by Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans. This restored his powers at an even higher level than before, but with unpredictable results.
Zatanna led a group of magic using heroes to rebuild the Rock of Eternity as the Shadowpact recovered the Seven Deadly Sins of Man. Using his new arcane knowledge, Billy Batson (the former Captain Marvel) reaffirmed himself as its keeper. Meanwhile, Nabu fought the Spectre and lost. Nabu was killed, but not before he freed the Spectre of Eclipso’s mind control. Realizing what he must do, the Spectre found a new human host and bonded with the spirit of recently deceased police officer Crispus Allen. He offered to resurrect Allen’s physic body, but at first Allen resisted. With the death of Nabu, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, declared that the Ninth Age of Magic had come to an end, and the Tenth Age had now begun.
Marissa “Missy” Knight (age 19) teamed up with her mother’s former partner Colleen Wing (age 53) as a new incarnation of the “Daughters of the Dragon.”
On March 9-10, U.S. President George W. Bush signed three bills from the U.S. Congress. Two reauthorized the U.S. Patriot Act, and the third was an added measure titled the Super-human Registration Act. Reports soon indicated that a sort of “underground civil war” was being waged in the greatly divided superhero community over whether or not to comply with the new law.
April 2006
Following from the U.S.’s decision to enforce stricter controls on metahumans, the United Nations decided to form its own metahuman agency, the Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive (S.H.A.D.E.). This was the U.N.’s first direct forray into metahuman affairs since T.H.U.N.D.E.R. (1965–1969).
In Alaska, the Collective attacked and killed every active member of Alpha Flight except Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski, age 67). Those killed were: Guardian (James Hudson, Jr., age 29), Major Mapleleaf (Louis Sadler, Jr., age 36), Vindicator (Heather Hudson, age 57), Puck I (Eugene Judd, age 46), Puck II (Zuzha Yu, age 26) and Shaman (Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen, age 81—although his shamanistic magic had made him appear younger).
After being diverted to the wrong star system, Hulk’s spacecraft crash-landed on the distant planet Sakaar. Weakened from the crash, the Hulk was fitted with an obedience disk and taken into slavery. He was forced to fight gladiator battles for the planet’s emperor, the “Red King.”
Daniel Grimm (age 29) celebrated a second Bar Mitzvah, since it had been 13 years since he began his “second life” as “The Thing.” As part of the ceremony, he organized a poker tournament for every available superhero in New York. After Flatman of the Great Lakes X-Men won the tournament., that group renamed themselves the “Great Lakes Champions.” [Thing Vol. 2 #8]
At age 55, Wally West retired as The Flash. Suffering from a condition that caused him to age prematurely, he left our universe for the alternate reality of Earth-Penta, where it was the 26th century and he was able to get the proper medical treatment he needed. He was accompanied by his wife Linda Park-West (age 49), but he left behind his adult, fraternal twin children Iris and Jai (age 24) and Jai’s son William (age 5). Bart Allen (actually age 21, but biologically age 24) became the new Flash.
While several members of the Green Lantern Corps worked to restore the planet Thanagar to its original orbit, and repair the damage done to it, a small group investigated a strange anomaly. This led to a skirmish, during which Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden, age 39) was killed. In her last moments, she breathed the emerald energy that Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern, age 36) once granted her back into him, increasing his powers significantly. Therafter, Rayner began using the alias “Ion.” [Rann/Thanagar War Special: Hands of Fate]
May 2006
In a surprise attack, the Annihilation Wave, a force from the Negative Zone led by Annihilus, entered our universe and began conquering star systems. They decimated the planet Xandar and its Nova Corps defense force. Richard Rider (age 46), who had been on Earth at the time, was the only surviving Nova Centurion.
On the planet Sakaar, the Hulk becomes a popular attraction in the gladiator arena. He also during this time period formed a warbound pact with his fellow gladiators Miek, no-name Brood, Elloe Kaifi, Lavin Skee, Hiroim and Korg.
After gaining her confidence, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) exposed his daughter, Luna Maximoff to the Terrigen Mist. She had previously been denied this rite of passage by the Inhumans, because she was half-human. The process was successful and granted Luna the power to manipulate others’ emotions at will.
In El Paso, Texas, teenager Jamie Reyes (b. 1991) found the Khaji Da Scarab in a vacant lot and took it home. That night, while he was sleeping, it bonded with his spine, and he became the third Blue Beetle.
Arthur Joseph “A.J.” Curry (age 16) was summoned by a mysterious creature known as the “Dweller-of-the-Depths.” The Dweller said that he was A.J.’s true father and had once been the hero Aquaman, but had fallen to a curse and devolved into a monster. He said that Curry’s true name was Orin and that he was the heir to the throne of Atlantis. He charged Orin to seize his heritage and rebuild the mighty kingdom of Atlantis. When Orin returned home to Florida to tell his adoptive father, Philip Curry, what had happened, he found that he had died while Orin was away.
June 2006
After the funeral of his adoptive father, Philip Curry, Orin told family friend and Atlantis scholar Stephen Shin about his encounter with the Dweller-of-the-Depths. Shin contacted the media, and demanded that Orin take him to Atlantis. Feeling betrayed, Orin left.
Arriving on Xandar, Richard Rider, the last surviving Nova Centurion, made contact with the living supercomputer known as the Xandarian Worldmind, which uploaded itself and the entire Nova Force into Rider, greatly enhancing his abilities. Meanwhile, the Annihilation Wave continued to sweep through the Andromeda galaxy, obliterating civilizations on thousands of star systems throughout the Skrull Empire.
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) traveled to the island of Genosha, where he attempted to use the Inhumans’ Terrigen Crystals to restore the powers of any mutants who had lost them on “M-Day” (November 2, 2005). However, while Terrigenesis initially seems successful, it has unexpected results and results in the death or illness of some of those exposed to the process. Concerned for her citizens, Pietro’s half-sister Magneto (Lorna Dane) confronted him about the adverse effects of Terrigenesis on the mutant population, and they got into a heated argument.
Meanwhile, in the Inhuman city of Attilan, Videmus admitted to allowing Pietro to escape with the Terrigen Crystals, believing that the Inhumans had grown weak and dull with their luxurious, unchallenging lifestyle, and that by losing the Terrigen Mists they would grow strong again through adversity. Black Bolt punished Videmus by forbidding him to ever make mental contact with another being ever again and forcing him to live in solitary confinement.
Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, Jr. (b. 1985) was promoted to the vice squad in Miami, where he was partnered with the son of his father’s old partner on that same squad, William “Sonny” Crockett (b. 1978).
Krishna Mehra, who had inherited the enhanced intelligence and physical attributes that his father had gained from the alien Jadoo, debuted in India as the masked crime fighter “Krrish.”
July 2006
On the planet Sakaar, the Hulk was forced to fight the Silver Surfer, who had also been captured and bound by an obedience disk. During the battle, the Hulk broke the Surfer’s disk, freeing him. The Silver Surfer then destroyed all the obedience disks of everyone in the arena. As he left Sakaar, he offered to return Hulk to Earth, but Hulk chose to remain behind.
Crispus Allen finally relented to the Spectre’s request and allowed him resurrect his physical body, thereby becoming a living host for the Spirit of Vengeance.
U.S. President George W. Bush took a meeting with Tony Stark, Jr. (Iron Man) over concerns that the Super-human Registration Act was being met with resistance among the superhero community, and particularly over the concern that Captain America (Steve Rogers) might not be on board with the process. Stark assured the President to push forward with enforcing the law, and that he would ensure cooperation from his Avengers teammate Captain America. [Civil War #1]
The Inhumans arrived in Genosha and ambushed the mutants there who had been restored by Terrigenesis. During the battle, Unus the Untouchable lost control of his own forcefield powers and suffocated himself to death. Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) tried to slip away with the Terrigen Crystals, but was shot by U.S. special forces. He escaped, but left the crystals behind, and they were seized by the U.S. government. After the battle, the Inhumans demanded the return of the Terrigen Crystals, but the U.S. government refused, citing security concerns. In frustration, the Inhumans issued a declaration of war against the United States and destroyed several military vehicles before returning to Attilan. Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four were forced to severe their ties with the Inhumans, as they were declared a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
It soon became apparent that the effect of Terrigenesis was only temporary on the former mutants, as they all returned to normal within a matter of days to weeks. However, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) had hidden away several of the Terrigen Crystals and would continue to experiment with them.
August 2006
The Super-human Registration Act became law at midnight on Tuesday, August 1. Federal agents immediately began rounding up masked heroes who had not registered, but were met with resistance by Captain America (Steve Rogers) and others who saw the legislation as a violation of civil liberties. They in turn were opposed by Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr.) and the heroes that had registered in support of the law. [Civil War #2]
On Monday, August 14, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the 2006 Lebanon War.
On Thursday, August 24, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) more narrowly defined the term “planet” to exclude objects that had not “cleared the neighborhood” around their orbit. The new definition demoted Pluto, which had been considered the “Ninth Planet” since its discovery in 1930, to the newly created class of “dwarf planet.”
On Wednesday, August 30, in an effort to calm this “Civil War” brewing among his fellow costumed heroes, Peter Parker (age 59) publicly unmasked, revealing his identity as the former Spider-Man. [Civil War #2]
September 2006
On the run from the Red King’s lieutenant, Caiera, Hulk and his allies were attacked by an invasion of “spikes” that cause monstrous mutations and death to anyone they touch. Horrified by the use of this weapon by her king, Caiera switched her allegiance to the Hulk. They then raided the capital and defeated the Red King. Hulk then established himself as the planet’s new ruler and took Caiera as his wife.
As skirmishes between heroes continued, the anti-registration hero Superboy (Kon-El, biologically age 26) was killed by pro-registration robots.
Quasar (Wendell Vaughn, age 54) was killed while facing Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave.
King T’Challa (age 62) and Ororo Munroe (Storm, age 49) were married in a large Wakandan ceremony.
The 2006 Lebanon War officially ended on September 8 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon.
October 2006
Hulk and his queen Caiera began brokering peace among the various conflicts which had festered under the Red King.
By this time, Nova (Richard Rider) had formed an army, the United Front, to oppose the Annihilation Wave as it swept through the universe.
The British Secret Service assigned the 007 number to James Bond, Jr. (age 33), who followed in his father’s footsteps to become the fourth 007 to go by the name “James Bond.”
Dexter Morgan (age 35), a blood spatter analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Department who secretly hunted and killed criminals for sport, began pursuing a new serial killer known as the “Ice Truck Killer.” As his pursuit began to turn into a game of cat-and-mouse, he soon began remembering repressed memories from his youth. [Dexter]
Eric O’Grady (b. 1978), a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. officer, stole Hank Pym’s latest Ant-Man technology and became the new Ant-Man. While he at first showed questionable moral character, he eventually grew into the role of a hero.
On October 4, Australian Internet activist Julian Assange launched WikiLeaks, a website and organization (operating in legal “gray area”) dedicated to publishing classified government information and news leaks from anonymous sources, all in the name of free speech.
November 2006
Elizabeth Lawrence (the original Liberty Belle) died at age 88. In her honor, her granddaughter Jesse Chambers (age 32) changed her costumed alias from “Jesse Quick” to “Liberty Belle.”
Caiera became pregnant with Hulk’s twin sons.
On November 17, a disc-shaped UFO hovered over gate C-17 of the Chicago O’Hare International Airport in front of several witnesses.
December 2006
Captain Comet (Adam Blake, age 75) was killed by Lady Styx.
After 37 years as a crime fighter, Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 53) left the Birds of Prey team and retired.
The Annihilation Wave reached the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, where it obliterated the Ruul homeworlds, but left the Kree untouched. This was due to an alliance made between Ravenous, deputy of Annihilus, and the House of Flyero, who controlled the ancient Kree homeworld of Hala. Because the resistance to the Annihilation Wave was composed largely of Kree, the House of Flyero had agreed to have the Kree change sides if spared. However, the Kree known as Ronan deposed the House of Flyero and resumed the fight against the Annilation Wave. Ronan would become the new Kree Emperor.
2007
Harry Potter became head of the Auror Department in Great Britain’s Ministry of Magic.
John Rambo fought to defend missionaries during the crisis in Burma. [Rambo]
January 2007
Drax and Moondragon released the Silver Surfer, who in turn released Galactus. Galactus then proceeded to unleash a massive attack that obliterated the majority of the Annihilation Wave, as well as three entire star systems. Nova (Richard Rider) was then able to engage Annihilus in combat and kill him, ending the Annihilation War.
After being gravely wounded by Spymaster, Harold “Happy” Hogan (age 70) was only being kept alive on life support. His daughter, Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 26) gave doctors the go-ahead to disconnect him, and he died.
Vic Sage died of lung cancer at age 59. He bequeathed the legacy of his masked crime-fighting identity, “The Question,” to Boston police officer Renee Montoya (age 36).
The X-Men (Beast, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Shadowcat, Wolverine and a Super-Skrull spy impersonating Colossus) were abducted and taken to Breakworld. The Skrull spy was under orders to incapacitate the human X-Men by administering the “mutant cure” to them while in transit. However, he had found that he had genuine feelings for Shadowcat (Katherine Pryde, age 40) and decided to aid the X-Men rather than hinder them.
February 2007
Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man) died at the age of 67.
Mister Terrific and Power Girl re-formed the Justice Society of America. Sanderson “Sand” Hawkins (now biologically about 33 years old) joined the team, adopting “Sandman” as his new alias, along with a modified version of his mentor Wesley Dodd’s original Sandman costume. Other recruits included Cyclone, Damage, Liberty Belle and Stargirl.
Vul (Gabriel Summers, age 48) freed the Shi’ar criminal Deathbird from prison. The two immediately took a romantic interest in one another.
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. (b. 1955) became a General in the Air Force, following in the footsteps of his father.
March 2007
The witch Circe orchestrated the capture and torture of Wonder Woman (Donna Troy, age 55) by the U.S. Department of Metahuman Affairs for violation of the Super-human Registration Act. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
Daken (Akihiro, age 50) confronted his father Wolverine (Logan, age 115) for the first time.
Black Bolt ordered a strike on key U.S. facilities, led by Gorgon, in order to return the Terrigen Crystals that had been stolen months prior by Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff). During the mission, however, a young Inhuman with plant-like powers named Jolen killed innocent civilians in a concert hall. The Inhuman task force attempted to flee the scene but were stopped and defeated in battle by the Fantastic Four. Gorgon surrendered and took the blame for the unnecessary casualties.
After aiding with the reconstruction effort in Atlantis, Orin (age 17) tried to stake his claim to the throne of Atlantis. However, another of the former Aquaman’s heirs, Koryak (age 27), also made that claim. Orin led the elders of Atlantis to the Dweller-of-the-Depths (Arthur Curry, the former Aquaman) to hear directly from their former king, but when they arrived, they found that he had been murdered. (Koryak’s men had beaten them there.) Without proof for Orin’s claim, Koryak was awarded the throne and took the title of “Ocean Master.” Orin would spend the next several years having adventures around the world with a group of individuals who would come to be known as “The Others,” as he continued to investigate the history of Atlantis and its ancient relics. Meanwhile, Atlantis would suffer under the Ocean Master’s rule.
April 2007
The witch Circe used the imprisonment of Wonder Woman by the U.S. government to try to instigate Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons of Themyscira into going to war with the United States. As the diplomatic situation became heated, it indeed appeared that they were on the brink of war. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
Worried about potential harm to civilians due to ongoing fighting in New York City, Captain America (Steve Rogers) removed his mask and surrendered to the police, effectively ending the anti-registration movement, except for small pockets of continuing resistance. Captain America was indicted on criminal charges for his anti-registration efforts. While being walked into a federal courthouse, he was shot and killed by the criminal Crossbones. The assassination was organized by the Red Skull, who then stole Rogers’ body, keeping it cryogenically frozen while using cloning technology to repair the wound.
While in captivity, the Inhuman known as Gorgon was exposed again to the Terrigen Mists by an American scientist. The second transformation was disastrous, turning Gorgon into a feral beast. Black Bolt then led a contingent of Inhumans to rescue the mutated Gorgon, attacking the Pentagon and reclaiming most of the Terrigen Crystals, defeating a limited Avengers contingent in the process.
On April 16, a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
May 2007
Wonder Girl (Carrie Sandsmark, age 24) managed to free her mentor from captivity by the U.S. Department of Metahuman Affairs, but lost her own life in the process. Wonder Woman then traveled to Themyscira, along with several other female heroes, to try to prevent the Amazons from going to war with the United States. Zatanna Zatara (age 55) used a spell to render Circe powerless for one hour. Free from Circe’s influence, Hippolyta was finally convinced to stand down by her daughter, Princess Diana II (age 12), who appealed to her mother to let Wonder Girl’s death be the end of the bloodshed. Realizing that Circe had manipulated the entire affair, Hippolyta then called upon the goddesses to banish her from Themyscira, and Circe disappeared, transported to Hades. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
In the wake of Captain America’s assassination, President George W. Bush named Tony Stark, Jr. (age 30) the new Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and launched the “Fifty State Initiative” to coordinate registered crime fighters across the United States. Stark’s assistant Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 27) became one of the lead coordinators of the program, under the codename “Hera.” Dr. Hank Pym (age 72) was also hired as an advisor. Soon afterward, Dr. Pym was murdered by the Skrull spy Criti Noll, who used his shape-shifting abilities to take Pym’s place. Criti Noll then used Pym’s position of influence to place other Skrull sleeper agents in as many state programs as possible.
Because of the Avengers’ poor showing against the Inhumans and the current scattered nature of the superhero community, the Pentagon decided that they would handle the Inhuman conflict themselves. S.H.I.E.L.D. oversaw a program whereby U.S. Marines were exposed to the Terrigen Mists to create Inhuman-like warriors, and then prepared as a lunar attack force.
While the shuttle that brought Hulk to Sakaar was being turned into a monument, the antimatter warp core engine detonated in a massive explosion. The entire capital was destroyed and his pregnant wife Caiera was killed. Enraged and blaming the Avengers, who had built the faulty shuttle with unproven alien technology, Hulk and his warbound left Sakaar and headed for Earth seeking vengeance. Hulk was not aware at the time that Caiera had been able to shield their unborn children from the explosion, and that they still lived, developing toward their birth in protective, egg-like cocoons of energy.
Roy Harper III (age 32) joined the Justice League and changed his alias from “Arsenal” to “Red Arrow.”
June 2007
New York City Police Department lieutenant John McClane (age 52) helped the FBI stop a cyber-terrorist attack. [Live Free or Die Hard]
The Skrull spy Pagon, impersonating the Hand ninja clan leader Elektra, was killed in battle with the New Avengers. Upon dying, he reverted to his Skrull form, and the heroes began to wonder how many additional Skrulls were hiding in their midst.
U.S. Marines possessing abilities on par with the Inhumans, but also sick and dying due to cellular instability, were rocketed to the moon to assail the Inhuman city of Attilan. They were repulsed. However, this attack was only a feint designed to allow one Marine to explode within the confines of the city, devastating Attilan. Black Bolt’s mad brother Maximus, who was colluding with the Marines, took control of Attilan and imprisoned his brother.
Having married Deathbird and become a member of the Shi’ar royal family, the human mutant Vul (Gabriel Summers) murdered D’Ken and declared himself the new Shi’ar Emperor, “By succession and by combat!” He then renamed himself “Vul’Ken” and led the growing faction loyal to him into open warfare against the faction still loyal to his sister-in-law Lilandra.
Donna Troy (age 56) retired as Wonder Woman. Against Queen Hippolyta’s wishes, she secretly gave the magic tiara, gauntlets, sandals, and the Lasso of Truth that had belonged to Diana, the first Wonder Woman, to the young princess Diana II (age 12) who now bore her name. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
July 2007
The Flash (Bart Allen, biologically age 25) was tricked by his nemesis Impulse (Thaddeus Thawne, age 23) into a machine that drained him of the Speed Force and transferred it to himself. Allen realized what was happening and managed to tackle Thawne during the transfer, just as his allies Valerie Perez and Iris West were trying to shut down the machine so that it wouldn't detonate. This caused some of the Speed Force to reverberate back into Allen, and it appeared that he disintegrated. However, in reality, he had “bounced” off of the Speed Force, shooting forward in time to June 2008.
Having learned that would-be Shi’ar Emperor Vul’Ken (age 48) was his long-lost son, Gabriel Summers, Corsair (Christopher Summers, still in excellent health at age 79) confronted him and pleaded with him to end the bloodshed. Instead, Vul’Ken declared that he had no father and killed Corsair. Alex Summers (a.k.a. Havok, age 56), one of Corsair’s other sons, then stayed behind in the Triangulum galaxy to take his father’s place on the Starjammers, a band of freedom fighters who resisted Vul’Ken.
The villain Professor Pyg (Lazlo Valentin) debuted in Boston.
August 2007
Hulk returned to Earth, intent on punishing the Avengers.
Skrull spies captured Black Bolt, who was imprisoned in the Inhuman city of Attilan on Earth’s moon, replacing him with an imposter. They then studied him, trying to use his voice as a weapon in their secret invasion against Earth.
The cybernetic hive-mind species known as the Phalanx took control of the Space Knights, and used them to infiltrate the Kree homeworld of Hala. In a matter of weeks, the Phalanx would assimilating the majority of the population of the Kree Empire and encase the Kree’s home galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, in a force field.
September 2007
Hulk continued his rampage around the Earth, intent on punishing those who had banished him off-world.
In order to cure his sister, Betty Ross Banner (age 66), who had suffered for the past decade with the symptoms of a strange radiation sickness, Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. (age 52) made an arrangement with the Leader and his fellow supervillains known as the “Intelligencia.” In exchange for giving her a treatment that would save her but would also give her super-powers, Ross agreed to undergo the same treatment, and to use his new powers to combat his and the Leader’s mutual enemy, the Hulk.
As part of the Fifty State Initiative, the Great Lakes Champions were named the representatives for the state of Wisconsin and renamed themselves the Great Lakes Initiative.
Thor awakened from his dreaming in the void of the Timeless Halls and returned to Earth.
October 2007
Bruce Thomas Wayne (age 61) discovered that he had a son by Talia al Ghul (Damian, now eight years old). [The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul]
Hulk was defeated and imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in a facility three miles underground.
Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. and his sister Betty Ross Banner began undergoing treatments from the “Intelligencia” designed to cure Betty of her radiation sickness, and give both of them super powered “strength and endurance.”
Thor summoned the citadel of Asgard to Earth near the town of Broxton in southwest Oklahoma. He then began searching for additional Asgardians, whom he sensed might also have returned.
November 2007
The first new child since M-Day demonstrated mutant powers. Only six years old and already an Omega-level mutant, multiple groups tried to reach Hope Spaulding (b. 2001), some wanting to protect her, some to capture her and some to kill her. According to Cable, she was a Messianic figure in the timeline of his universe (Earth-Askani), ultimately saving both mutants and ordinary humans from destruction. According to Bishop, however, she was an Antichrist-like figure in his universe (Earth-Ye), killing millions in a holocaust termed the “Six Second War.”
In New Orleans, Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr., age 30) confronted the newly returned Thor and instructed him that he was to register as a superhuman under the new federal law. Thor angrily refused, destroying Stark’s armor and criticizing him for his handling of the “Civil War.” Stark then backed down and proposed the possibility of diplomatic immunity for Asgard. Later, Thor discovered Heimdall living inside the body of an old man and summoned him forth, restoring him to his own, Asgardian body.
Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr.) called together a meeting of the Illuminati to discuss the possibility that the Skrulls were planning an invasion. The meeting was sabotaged by a Skrull impersonating one of their own, Black Bolt, as well as two new Super Skrulls possessing a range of all-new powers.
December 2007
Construction was finally completed on Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a.k.a. the “Big Dig,” the most expensive highway project in U.S. history (1991–2007).
In Alaska, the X-Men discovered that Bishop’s Purifiers had slaughtered all of the children in the hometown of Hope Spaulding, the newly emerged mutant. However, Hope herself had not been killed, as she had already been taken by Cable. The chase continued, but Cable eventually ended up with Hope, and would take her to his own universe, Earth-Askani, where he raised her as his own daughter, Hope Summers.
Thor rediscovered and reawakened the Warriors Three in Africa.
Bucky Barnes took over the mantle of Captain America.
Hulk’s sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala, were born on the planet Sakaar, emerging from their protective, egg-like cocoons of energy that their mother Caiera had placed them in when she died.
2008
Housing loan defaults in the United States sparked a global economic crisis.
January 2008
With the help of Heimdall and the Warriors Three, Thor rediscovered and reawakened Loki and hundreds of other Asgardians.
The first wave of opposition to the Phalanx invasion of the Kree Empire began to show signs of success. [Annihilation: Conquest]
February 2008
His treatments from the Intelligencia complete, Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. transformed into the “Red Hulk.” (At first his identity was unknown, and it was believed that he had actually killed Gen. Ross.) In his new form, he murdered Wendigo and The Abomination, destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier, and caused a minor earthquake in San Francisco, before being defeated by the combined efforts of the Hulk and Thor.
Thor called upon his lightning to reveal and restore almost all of the remaining Asgardians hidden in the “hearts and memories” of mankind, from all around the world.
Dave Lizewski (b. 1992), an otherwise ordinary high school student in Toronto, took his obsession with costumed crime fighters as an inspiration to become a real-life superhero. He bought a wetsuit, which he wore under his normal clothing, began exercising, and practiced things like walking on roofs.
Mason “The Line” Dixon lost his status as the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion when the IBF and WBO titles were awarded to Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
March 2008
Moondragon (Heather Douglas, age 51) and Captain Universe (Gabriel Vargas, age 28) were killed while fighting against the Phalanx invasion in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. [Annihilation: Conquest]
April 2008
No longer satisfied “practicing” to be a superhero, teenager Dave Lizewski sought out actual crime to fight. His first attempt earned him a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, after which he wandered into the street and was hit by a car. He managed to retain his secret identity by stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrived, and telling them he was mugged. He would spend the next several months undergoing intense physical rehabilitation, including four operations.
May 2008
A Skrull spy dressed as Spoiler and impersonating the late Stephanie Brown deceived Robin (Tim Drake, age 22) in order to try to infiltrate Batman’s organization. Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 45) was skeptical, but she passed all of the identity tests her could devise for her, and he welcomed her back into his confidence.
June 2008
With most of their sleeper agents having maneuvered into place, the Skrull
invasion of Earth began in force. Skrull spies sabotaged the inner workings of governments
around the world. Spies at S.H.I.E.L.D. took down the main Hellicarrier
headquarters, while those at S.W.O.R.D. caused the orbiting satellite base Peak to fall out of orbit. A breach was
instigated at the supervillain prison facility known as the Raft, while the Negative
Zone barrier at the Baxter Building in New York was opened by the Skrull Lyja,
who imitated Susan Storm Richards (The Invisible Woman, age 71, but biologically age 57), but against orders
refused to kill her. Meanwhile, Susan’s son, Dr. Franklin Richards (Mister
Fantastic, age 39) was shot and wounded by Skrull spy Criti Noll, who was
imitating fellow scientist Dr. Hank Pym (the former Ant-Man). However, Franklin
survived and developed a way to see through the Skrulls’ disguises. Not as lucky was Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 45), who died at the hand of the Skrull who was imitating Stephanie Brown, before she in turn was killed by Robin (Tim Drake, age 22).
In addition to a vast armada of standard Skrull warriors, another dozen “Super-Skrulls” joined the fight, each possessing the powers of one or more of Earth’s heroes. Several battles were fought, during which time even many individuals who were normally on the wrong side of the law, such as New York’s “Kingpin of Crime,” came to the aid of the heroes to resist the invaders. During one such battle, Oliver Queen (the former Green Arrow, age 66) was killed. During another, J’onn J’onzz (Martian Manhunter, age 116 in Earth years, or 62 in Martian ords), the last remaining Green Martian in existence, was killed in a firebomb by S.W.O.R.D. agents when his own green skin and shape-shifting abilities made them mistake him for a Skrull.
In the Savage Land, Spider-Girl (May Parker, age 24) and locally-raised Peter Rasputin, Jr. (son of the original Colossus, age 29) helped the natives repel invaders who had been mining resources disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
A handful of Skrull agents changed sides, choosing to aid Earth against what they saw as an unjust invasion. One of those was Lyja, who still loved Johnny Storm (The Human Torch, age 62) and could not follow through with her orders to destroy the Fantastic Four, even though it meant certain death for her and Johnny’s 16-year-old half-human son, Torus. Wounded in the fighting, she made her way to Johnny and informed him that his son was alive and being held captive aboard the Skrull command ship. Johnny then stormed the ship and rescued his son. Johnny also freed Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), the only other prisoner aboard, and she and Torus managed to get back to back safely to Earth in an escape shuttle while Johnny fought off the Skrull attackers. Johnny lost his own life in the process, however.
In the end, the tide of the battle clearly turned when Richards unveiled his device and the Skrulls were no longer able to disguise themselves. In the final battle, Skrull Empress Veranke was killed in New York by Oscorp CEO Norman H. Osborn (age 23). The final, undetected Skrull, who had been imitating Avengers butler Edwin Jarvis, fled for his escape-ship after kidnapping Danielle Cage, the young daughter of Luke and Jessica Cage, but he was killed by sniper Edward Lawton.
On the planet Breakworld, the X-Men stopped a plot by Aghanne to destroy her own planet. In the end, the Breakworldian Ord and the Skrull spy who had been imitating Colossus both sacrificed their own lives to kill Aghanne and prevent her from destroying the planet. This was when the X-Men realized that the spy had not been the real Colossus, as the radioactive core that killed him should not have affected the Colossus they knew.
Meanwhile, not knowing what had happened to Colossus, Shadowcat (Katherine Pryde, age 41) phased into what she thought was a giant missile being fired from Breakworld to destroy Earth. She had hoped to disrupt its electronics and prevent it from making the hyperspec jump, but when she finished enterring it, she discovered that it was actually a giant, hollow bullet. The weapon had been fired at Earth following the failed Skrull invasion, in order to exterminate all life on the planet. When it reached Earth, Pryde was able to use her power to phase the entire projectile through the planet, so that it passed harmlessly through, preventing the intended extinction-level event. However, the strain of this effort killed her. [Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1]
Bart Allen reappeared after “bouncing” off of the Speed Force in July 2007.
Theresa Cassidy (Siryn, age 43) had a drunken one-night-stand with one of the duplicates of Jamie Maddrox (Multiple Man, age 48). Afterward, Maddrox cannot remember the night, but attributes his memory loss to the alcohol. Meanwhile, Theresa soon discovered that she had become pregnant with Jamie’s baby.
July 2008
After the disastrous collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Skrull invasion, U.S. President George W. Bush suspended the organization pending a full investigation.
Following Dick Grayson, Jr.’s death, the retired Bruce Thomas Wayne (age 62) asked his estranged son Bruce Adam Wayne (age 27) to take up the mantle, but Adam was resistant to returning to Boston, preferring to stay in Providence and operate as Nightwing.
Aleea Strange (age 33 in Earth years, or 51 in standard Rannian calendar cycles) discovered that Lady Styx was infecting key residents of Rann with a virus that left them susceptible to mental control, including her father Adam Strange (age 74 in Earth years). Styx was using this influence to grow the base of her religion among the Rannians. Meanwhile, the Thanagarians were being stirred up by Deacon Dark, who was preaching a new, more extreme variety of the traditional Thanagarian religion. This soon led to a new war between planets.
Having arrived back on Earth, X-Men co-leaders Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) and Emma Frost traveled to the Savage Land to recruit Peter Rasputin, Jr. to join the X-Men.
August 2008
As soon as teenager Dave Lizewski was off crutches, he put his superhero suit back on and again went out on patrol. When he saved a man from a beating, an onlooker captured the incident on video and uploaded it to the website YouTube, turning Dave into an overnight sensation dubbed with the name “Kick-Ass.” Toronto’s criminal element did not look favorably upon the arrival of Kick-Ass, as vigilantes are bad for business.
Bruce Thomas Wayne asked Tim Drake (age 23) to become the next Batman, but Tim felt that Dick Grayson, Jr.’s death was his fgault and felt unworthy of the offer. Instead, he changed his alias from “Robin” to “Red Robin” and struck out on his own, severing ties with the Waynes.
The trauma of losing her mother caused 12-year-old Katelyn Pryde’s mutrant powers to activate, revealing that she shared the same powers as her mother.
Before joining the X-Men in their new home in San Francisco, Peter Rasputin, Jr. (the new Colossus) took a trip to Russia to visit the grave of his father, Piotr Rasputin, accompanied by his father’s best friends, Kurt Wagner (a.k.a. Nightcrawler) and Logan (a.k.a. Wolverine). While in Russia, however, he was mistaken for his father, abducted and interrogated by the secret Russian government spy program known as the “Red Room.” He and his friends soon escaped, and after a battle with Omega Red, returned to San Francisco. [Uncanny X-Men #496-499]
September 2008
The Red Skull’s consciousness was transferred from the body of Aleksander Lukin to a robot.
Michael Jon Carter’s twin sister, Michelle, followed her brother in coming over from the alternate universe of Earth-Tetra (where it was the year 2463) to become a costumed crime fighter in our universe. She used the alias “Goldstar.” She soon learned that her Earth-Penta counterpart had done the same, but had been killed early in her career, which made her paranoid and induced a few nervous breakdowns as she questioned her fate and her place in the universe. Over time, however, she outlived the original Goldstar and became more confident.
As the school year began, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) continued patrolling for crime in Toronto. Based on the popularity of his YouTube video, he also decided to set up a a social media account so that people who needed help could contact him.
October 2008
Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) answered his first online request for help, and ended up in an apartment full of violent thugs trying to kill him. He was rescued by a costumed, blade-wielding young vigilante named Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready, b. 1997), who brutally killed all of the attackers. She then left to join a man wearing a superhero costume going by the alias Big Daddy (her father Damon McCready, b. 1964). The two disregarded Kick-Ass, whom they considered an amateur.
Still reeling from the damage inflicted by the Skrull invasion, the Inhumans colony on Earth’s moon decided to travel to the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy and claim their birthright: dominion over the Kree Empire.
November 2008
Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dissolved the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and replaced it with the new agency H.A.M.M.E.R. To lead the new agency, U.S. President George W. Bush chose noted business leader, wunderkind and staunch Iraq War supporter Norman H. Osborn, the man who had actually delivered the killing blow to the Skrull Queen during their secret invasion in June 2008. Osborn would make H.A.M.M.E.R. a more paramilitary organization as opposed to the espionage-focused S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Inhumans departed the “Blue Area” of Earth’s moon, bound for the Kree homeworld of Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.
A series of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks occurred across Mumbai, India between Wednesday, November 26 and Saturday, November 29, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308. The attacks were coordinated by terrorist carried out by Pakistani members of the South Asian terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
December 2008
As Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) continued patrolling the streets of Toronto, he learned that his presence was inspiring others to do the same. He soon encountered the Red Mist, with whom he went on patrol. Unknown to Lizewski, the Red Mist was his classmate Chis Genovese (b. 1992), who was the son of local mob boss John Genovese.
The first reports began circulating of a much more violent Batman operating in Boston. Unknown to anyone at the time, it was former Robin, turned “Red Hood,” Jason Todd (biologically age 19).
The world economy slipped into the worst global recession since the 1930s Great Depression.
January 2009
John J. Jameson III (age 61), a former NASA astronaut and son of the legendary editor of the New York Post, was appointed New York City’s new Deputy Mayor of Emergency Management in the third mayoral term of Michael Bloomberg (2009-2013).
H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn (age 23) organized a new team of Avengers, which would come to be nicknamed the “Dark Avengers.”
Janet Van Dyne (the original Wasp) died of natural causes at age 70.
The Inhumans arrived at the Kree homeworld of Hala, and Black Bolt was welcomed as the new Emperor. A wedding was arranged between ineterim Emperor Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman princess Crystal in order to seal the bond between the houses.
On January 20, Barack Obama (b. 1961) became the 44th U.S. President, and the first African American to hold the office.
February 2009
The second Rann-Thanagarian War came to an end, as the planet Rann was rendered uninhabitable. However, Aleea Strange was able to save her people by using the Zeta-beam to transport them all to Throneworld, the now uninhabited homeworld of Strange’s ally Gavyn, a.k.a. “Starman.” The Rannians would rebuild their civilization here, renaming the planet “New Rann.”
King T’Challa (now age 65) received multiple challenges for the throne of Wakanda, and a tournament was held to determine the king. At T’Challa’s insistence, all of the contestants were masked, so that the winner would not be known until the end. At the end, it was revealed that his daughter Shuri (age 18) had emerged triumphant, and that the runner-up she had defeated had been her own father, King T’Challa. Shuri ate of the Heart-Shaped Herb and assumed her place as the first female Black Panther and Queen of Wakanda.
In Toronto, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski), Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready), Big Daddy (Damon McCready) and Red Mist (Chis Genovese) agreed to form a “super team.” As their first target, they chose mob boss John Genovese. However, as Genovese’s son, Red Mist orchestrated an ambush that got Hit-Girl and Big Daddy captured. Hit Girl escaped, but Big Daddy was murdered.
Tim Drake (a.k.a. Red Robin) began wearing the Batman costume in order to confront the imposter Batman. In doing so, he learned that the imposter was Jason Todd. Drake was severely wounded by Todd in a confrontation.
A new Anarky (Norm Alan) began operating in Boston.
In the Triangulum galaxy, Shi’ar Empress Lilandra was routed by the forces of challanger to the throne Vul’Ken (Gabriel Summers), and fled to the Large Magellanic Cloud to ask for help from the Kree.
March 2009
When Bruce Adam Waybe learned that Jason Todd had injured Tim Drake, he returned to Boston to confront him. After defeating Todd, he reluctantly assumed the mantle of Batman, with his younger half-brother Damian (age 10) serving as the new Robin.
Lilandra of the Shi’ar arrived on the Kree homeworld of Hala and interupted the royal wedding between Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman princess Crystal so that she could ask for help against the usurper Vul’Ken. The Kree then suffered a sneak attack by Vul’Ken, which affirmed their commitment to helping Lilandra. Thus began the “War of the Kings.” between the Kree and Shi’ar empires.
Disguised as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow (Natalie Romanoff, age 24, clone-daughter of the original Black Widow, Natalia “Natasha” Romanova) infiltrated Norman H. Osborn’s Thunderbolts team as a double-agent.
In Toronto, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) and Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) attacked the headquarters of mob boss John Genovese, killing him and most of his henchmen.
Theresa Cassidy (Siryn, age 44) gave birth to the son of Jamie Maddrox (Multiple Man, age 49), and named the child Sean after her late father. Just hours later, though, Jamie held his son for the first time and absorbed him just like he would any of the duplicate-selves that his mutant power allowed him to create at will. He then realized that Theresa had become impregnated not by him, but by one of his duplicates, causing him to absorb the son of the duplicate just as he would the duplicate itself. Theresa was furious, and Jamie himself contemplated suicide over the horror of what had happened. [X-Factor Vol. 3 #39]
April 2009
May 2009
On May 22, John J. Jameson III handled his first crisis as New York City’s new Deputy Mayor of Emergency Management, as he rallied Namor and the Avengers to turn away a gargantuan monster codenamed “Cloverfield” before it could reach the city.
June 2009
When Simon Trask’s anti-mutant group Humanity Now marched through San Francisco, several anti-mutant and pro-mutant riots broke out. As the police interceded, Dr. Hank McCoy (formerly “Beast” of the X-Men, age 63) was taken into custody. As X-Men tried to quell the fighting all over San Francisco, H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn (age 24) arrived. With noted mutant activist Charles Xavier (a depowered former mutant, biologically age 57) at his side, he asked for an end to the rioting and for X-Men leader Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops, age 62) to turn himself over to authorities and relinquish his leadership role within the mutant community. However, Summers refused. Osborn then released the Dark Avengers into the city, who hunted down X-Men. Meanwhile, in jail, Beast received an encoded message and discovered that the real Charles Xavier was also being held a couple of cells away, and that the man with Osborn was an imposter.
Louis Frohike (age 39), son of the original “Microchip,” David Lieberman, was recruited by Parker Robbins (The Hood) to fight the Punisher.
July 2009
Kree Emperor Black Bolt and Shi’ar Emperor Vul’Ken were both killed in battle when a “T-Bomb” exploded. The bomb destroyed most of the Shi’ar fleet, ending the “War of Kings” with a victory for the Inhuman-led Kree armada. Returning to Shi’ar space, Gladiator (Kallark) became the new Emperor. Where the T-Bomb had exploded, the fabric of time-space was ruptured, and a tear known as the Fault began to widen between our universe and an alternate, parallel universe known as the Cancerverse.
In San Francisco, Norman H. Osborn formed an alternative group of “official” X-Men (which became nicknamed the “Dark X-Men”) with Emma Frost (age 58) as their leader. Emma Frost was actually a mole in the group, however, trying to locate Charles Xavier and save the original X-Men. Osborn held a secret meeting with Scott Summers (Cyclops) to try to work out their differences, but reached an impasse. Meanwhile, some of Osborn’s team were testing a device called the Omega Machine, which was designed to permanently remove mutant powers.
Green Lanterns Ash and Saarek discovered the Black Central Power Battery at a reportedly classified location within Space Sector 666. After touching the battery, Saarek reported that their presence had awoken something. The two were killed when two monstrous hands emerge from below them as the battery called out, “Flesh.” In another part of the universe, a field of asteroids, the remains of the planet Xanshi (destroyed in 1989) in Space Sector 1313, shattered and a large quantity of black power rings moved out of them, headed toward Earth. Meanwhile on Earth, Black Hand (William Hand, age 63) removed the skull of Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) from where he had recently been buried in Boston, and carried it with him as his Black Lantern power battery began to charge.
Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm, age 75) became Sorcerer Supreme of Earth’s dimension and changed his alias to “Doctor Voodoo.”
August 2009
After several skirmishes between the original X-Men and the new “Dark” X-Men, the X-Men emerged victorious. They then announced that they were leaving San Francisco to live in “Utopia,” an offshore colony for mutants where they could live in isolation and safety.
Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 29) debuted as “Rescue” in an armored suit designed for her by Tony Stark, Jr. She soon began a romantic relationship with Stark as well.
Thousands of Black Lantern power rings reached the planet Oa and assaulted its crypts, resurrecting dead members of the Green Lantern Corps to create an undead Black Lantern Corps. Meanwhile on Earth, the Flash (Bart Allen, age 26) and Green Lantern Hal Jordan (age 69) investigated Batman’s disturbed gravesite and were attacked by the Martian Manhunter, now an undead Black Lantern. Elsewhere, Hawkwoman (Kendra Saunders, age 47) and Hawkman (Joseph Gardner, age 47) were killed by Black Lanterns Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) and Sue Dibny, and were then themselves reanimated as undead Black Lanterns.
September 2009
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school science teacher Walter Hartwell White (b. September 7, 1959) became involved in the processing and selling of illegal methamphetamines. [Breaking Bad]
Dr. Leonard Samson (a.k.a. Doc Samson, age 69) was revealed to have himself developed multiple personalities, just like his most famous patient, the Hulk.
More Black Lanterns attacked Earth’s heroes. Those reanimated as Black Lanterns included Arthur Curry (Aquaman), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Dick Grayson, Jr. (Batman), Frank Castle (Punisher), Hank Hall (Hawk), Paul Reid (Green Hornet) and Ronald Raymond (Firestorm), among many others. However, the late Dove (Don Hall) proved resistant to the Black Lanterns’ efforts to reanimate him, as his spirit was at peace in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Deadman realized that the dead superheroes were not their true selves when his own physical body was reanimated as a Black Lantern, while his spirit remained free. The Indigo Tribe arrived on Earth and used their indigo power rings to destroy the Black Lantern versions of Ralph and Sue Dibny. They then informed Hal Jordan and his allies that in order to defeat the Black Lanterns, the Lantern Corps of all of the Emotional Spectrum would have to unite. Elsewhere, Black Hand summoned Nekron, an extradimensional entity of undeath, and Necrosha (a.k.a. Selene Gallio), a 17,000 year-old psychic vampire, to serve as his agents in creating more Black Lanterns.
October 2009
After reviving hundreds of civilians that Earth’s heroes had been unable to save from dying over the years, Nekron began reviving many of Earth’s greatest heroes and villains, including: Artemis of Themyscira (Wonder Woman), Ben Grimm (The Thing), Buddy Baker (Animal Man), Clark Kent (Superman), Connor Kent (Superboy), Eobard Thawne (Zoom), Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Scott Lang, Jr. (Ant-Man), Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom) and Doomsday. At the same time, Necrosha revived hundreds of mutants who had lost their lives on the island of Genosha. She also brought back dozens of fallen X-Men allies and foes, including: Caliban, Doug Ramsey (Cypher), Gunther Bain (Unus the Untouchable), Irene Adler (Destiny), John Proudstar (Thunderbird), Kevin MacTaggert (Proteus), Laynia Petrovna (Darkstar), Max Eisenhardt (Magneto), Piotr Rasputin (Colossus), St. John Allerdyce (Pyro) and Sean Cassidy (Banshee).
Meanwhile, representatives of each of the Corps of the Emotional Spectrum had arrived to help Earth’s heores: Hal Jordan (Green Lantern Corps), Atrocitus (Red), Larfleeze (Orange), Sinestro (Yellow), Saint Walker (Blue), Indigo-1 (Indigo) and Carol Ferris (Violet). Ganthet duplicated the seven colored rings present and deputized non-Corps members to assist: himself as a Green Lantern, Mera as Red, Lex Luthor as Orange, Scarecrow as Yellow, the Flash (Bart Allen) as Blue, Warpath (James Proudstar) as Indigo, and Donna Troy (the former Wonder Woman) as Violet. The Corps leaders and their deputies then fought Nekron, but could not stop him, partly because Luthor was overwhelmed by his orange ring of avarice. Finally, the combined Corps arrive on Earth and join together to battle the Black Lanterns. The uniting of the different Corps resulted in the presence of white lanterns rings, which defeated the Black Lanterns. The Indigo Tribe then took Black Hand as a prisoner, the dead were laid to rest again, and all of the Corps left Earth.
A number of other heroes died defending Earth during the “Blackest Night” conflict with the Black Lantern Corps, including: the Huntress (Rosa Bertinelli, age 43), the Question (Renee Montoya, age 39), Tempest (King Garth of the Hidden Valley, age 57) and Donna Troy (the former Wonder Woman, age 58). In addition, while assisting the current Flash (Bart Allen), Jay Garrick (age 91), the original Flash, entered the Speed Force and left our plane of existence forever.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Walter White began using the alias “Heisenberg.” [Breaking Bad]
In Boston, 21-year-old college student Carrie Kelley (b. 1988) took over the mantle of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain (age 25). [In the comics, this was Stephanie Brown in 2009, and then Barbara Gordon again in 2011. However, Stephanie Brown died in 2004, and Barbara was still paralyzed and by now had probably grown too old for the role.]
November 2009
The Red Skull’s consciousness was transferred from a robot host to the cryogenically preserved body of Captain America (Steve Rogers). However, once revived, Rogers’ mind regained its full function and memory. By force of willpower, Rogers was able to over-ride the Red Skull’s personality and undo the reprogramming, reclaiming his mind and body. The Red Skull’s consciousness was preserved in the robot.
December 2009
The Punisher (Carlos Cruz, age 40) was dismembered and decapitated by Daken.
2011
January 2011
After a year-long struggle to defend the Fault, Nova (Richard Rider, age 50) and the Guardians of the Galaxy were able to restore Death to the Cancerverse with the help of Thanos. This stunned their enemies, allowing them to seal the Fault. Because he threatened to kill everything in our universe as well, the heroes tried to seal Thanos within the Cancerverse, but were unable to do so. During the struggle, Nova (Richard Rider) was mortally wounded and remained behind, sealed within the Cancerverse. Star-Lord (Peter Quill, age 24) stayed with him at first, helping him fight back the forces of the Cancerverse, until Nova forced him out of the Fault just before it sealed forever. [The Thanos Imperative]
In Toronto, as Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) promised her stepfather she would give up costumed crime fighting. Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) then began to team up with a number of other amateur, “real-life superheroes,” including Colonel Stars and Stripes, Battle Guy, Dr. Gravity, Insect Man and Night-Bitch. They eventually start calling themselves “Justice Forever.”
Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm, age 76), the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth’s dimension, was killed.
Presumed dead, police officer Vincent “Vince” Faraday became the masked vigilante known as “The Cape” in order to clear his name and defeat the criminal Chess (Peter Fleming).
February 2011
On February 12, Lois Lane Kent died at age 92. Her grandson Clark Kent II was 17 years old at the time and a senior in high school in Hutchinson, Kansas. After graduating, he would move to Dallas, Texas and debut as the second Superman. (He would turn 18 on December 1.)
March 2011
The Cape (Vince Faraday) was killed by henchmen of criminal businessman Peter Fleming (a.k.a. Chess).
On March 11, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing 15,840 and leaving another 3,926 missing. Tsunami warnings were issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies were declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake, including the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which experienced a nuclear meltdown of three of the plant’s six nuclear reactors on March 12.
April 2011
Drug kingpin Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” fled Albuquerque and went into hiding in New Hampshire. [Breaking Bad]
Louis “Microchip Junior” Frohike (age 41) was killed by Henry Russo (the son of Billy Russo, a.k.a. Jigsaw).
In Toronto, in response to the activities of Kick-Ass and his group Justice Forever, young crime boss Chris Genovese began calling himself “The Motherfucker,” and formed a group of costumed supervillain henchmen.
May 2011
In Toronto, crime boss Chris Genovese and his gang of criminals murdered Justice Forever leader Captain Stars and Stripes and put a number of other vigilantes in the hospital, then brutally massacred police officers responding to calls for help. The Toronto police responded by rounding up all of the amateur crime fighters active in the area. When they tracked down Kick-Ass through his Internet activity, Dave Lizewski’s father claimed that it was he who had been wearing the costume, and so they arrested him instead of his son. Genovese then had him murdered in his holding cell.
On May 2, Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. military forces in Pakistan.
June 2011
In Toronto, crime boss crime boss Chris Genovese attacked the funeral of Dave Lizewski’s father, and tried to kill Dave. However, Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) saved her friend. Deciding that she could no longer stand idly by, she returned to her life as a vigilante. Learning that Genovese was planning an attack in downtown Toronto, Dave and Mindy instead issued a challenge for an all-out battle on neutral ground.
Odin moved the citadel of Asgard from Oklahoma back to the world of Asgard in the universe of Eä, where the Asgardians began to rebuild from the ruins of Ragnarök.
July 2011
Phoenix Jones (Ben Fodor, age 23) and other amateur costumed crime fighters in the Seattle area formed a loosely organized group known as the “Rain City Superhero Movement.”
On July 1, Kick-Ass (age 19) and Hit-Girl (age 14) led their “Justice Forever” army of costumed heroes to Chris Genovese’s warehouse, where they battled his army of costumed villains in a brutal battle. Justice Forever won the battle, but there were many casualties on both sides. Chris Genovese fell into a giant shark tank, where he was mauled and left for dead, but survived with all of his limbs bitten off. After the battle, Hit-Girl, who was now wanted for murder, left Toronto on the run. Kick-Ass continued his training, but most of the other Justice Forever heroes gave up crime fighting permanently.
On July 16, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around the large asteroid Vesta, the first object of its kind to be studied in detail.
August 2011
September 2011
Drug kingpin Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico from his secret hiding place in New Hampshire. Soon thereafter, he was killed in a gunfight with a rival gang in Arizona. [Breaking Bad]
On September 17, “Occupy Wall Street” protests began in the United States. This soon developed into the Occupy movement which had spread to 82 countries by October.
October 2011
On October 13 in Seattle, costumed crime fighter Phoenix Jones (Ben Fodor, age 23) revealed his secret identity to the public following a court date.
November 2011
December 2011
The last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on December 18.
2012
January 2012
The android known as “The Vision” was rebuilt by Tony Stark, Jr.
Gamora and Rocket Raccoon helped 15-year-old Sam Alexander (b. 1996) discover how to use his father’s Black Nova helmet to become a new Nova. [Nova Vol. 5 #1]
February 2012
March 2012
James Bond, Jr. (age 39) was shot while on assignment in Istanbul and was presumed dead. He actually survived and chose to retire as British secret agent 007.
April 2012
Batman (Bruce Adam Wayne) and his allies took on the Court of Owls and their Talons during “The Night of the Owls.”
A chemist named Dr. Phayne, who had analyzed and recreated Mark Desmond’s formula, began experimenting on an amnesiac, whom he gave Mark Desmond’s identity. When the amnesiac had the same reaction as Desmond, turning into a monstrous, child-like brute, Phayne named him the third “Blockbuster” and used him to commit crimes.
Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady, age 34) was killed while on a mission for the Secret Avengers.
May 2012
Rocket Red (Gavril Ivanovich) was killed in action.
Nova (Sam Alexander) came to the planet Birj, trying to warn its people of the coming of the Phoenix Force. Instead, he battled Terrax, who refused to leave his planet. He managed to escape the destruction caused by the Phoenix, and fled to Earth, to warn of the coming of the Phoenix Force.
June 2012
New York City Police Department lieutenant John McClane (age 57) traveled to Russia after his son, Jack (b. 1984), was arrested there. Discovering that his son was secretly a CIA agent, the two of them had an adventure before returning to the U.S. [A Good Day to Die Hard]
July 2012
August 2012
When he discovered that he had sired a son with another woman, T’Challa (age 68) annulled his marriage to Ororo Munroe (Storm, age 60). Under Wakandan law, this allowed him to claim the child T’Chana (b. 2006) as his lawful son and heir.
Hurricane Sandy killed at least 209 people in the Caribbean, Bahamas, United States and Canada. Considerable storm surge damage caused major disruption to the eastern seaboard of the United States.
On August 6, the Mars Science Laboratory mission’s rover Curiosity successfully landed on Mars.
On August 25, at a distance of 121 AU (18.1 billion km) from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft arrived at the heliopause (the point at which charged particles from the interstellar medium are no longer deflected by the solar winds) and entered the interstellar medium.
September 2012
After MI6 headquarters was bombed in London, James Bond, Jr. returned to active duty as agent 007 to track down the former agent, Raoul Silva, behind the bombing. Although he did not pass the physical and psychological examinations for reinstatement, Olivia Mansfield, the director of MI6 (code name “M”) reinstated him anyway.
A series of terrorist attacks were directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide September 11–27, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
October 2012
Secret agent James Bond, Jr. lured former agent turned cyber-terrorist Raoul Silva to his family estate, Skyfall, in Scotland. Silva was killed in the final confrontation, but so was “M” (the director of MI6, Olivia Mansfield).
Superman (Clark Kent II, age 18) began dating Wonder Woman (Diana II of Themyscira, age 18) began dating.
November 2012
Gareth Mallory was appointed the new director of MI6 (code name “M”).
December 2012
Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 32) retired as the armored crime fighter “Rescue.”
2013
January 2013
February 2013
On February 15, a 10,000 ton meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk with the force of a 500 kiloton bomb, injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It was the most powerful meteor to strike Earth’s atmosphere in over a century. Afterward, many Russians—especially eyewitnesses—said they did not believe it was a meteor.
March 2013
April 2013
Aquaman (Orin, age 22) deposed Ocean Master (Koryak, age 34) and became the new king of Atlantis.
Damian Wayne (Robin, age 14) was killed.
On April 15, two brothers from the Chechnya region of Russia, Tamerlan Tsarnaev (age 26) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (age 19), planted and exploded a pair of bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring 264 others. The suspects were quickly identified by the FBI with the aid of Batman. Tamerlan was slain in a shootout with police on the campus of M.I.T. on April 18, and Dzhokhar was captured alive thanks to Batman (Bruce Adam Wayne, age 34) after a standoff with police on the following day. Dzhokhar’s defense team claimed that he had been a victim of brainwashing, but he was finally convicted on all charges at his trial in 2015. A clue to the actual mastermind of the attack was hidden in the bomber’s name, as “Dzhokhar” bears a noticeable resemblance to “Joker,” but no tangible evidence could be found linking the master criminal with the case.
On April 24, an eight-story commercial building collapsed in Savar Upazila, Bangladesh in one of the deadliest non-terrorist structural collapses in modern times, killing 1,129 and injuring 2,500.
May 2013
In Mumbai, India, the superhero Krrish (Krishna Mehra, age 33) faced an elaborate conspiracy orchestrated by the evil genius Kaal and his team of mutants. [Krrish 3]
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
Dr. Jane Foster (age 68) was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her longtime ally Thor soon brought her to Asgard for medical treatment, but she refused any form of magical aid.
September 2013
Serial killer Dexter Morgan (age 42), the “Bay Harbor Butcher,” disappeared at sea and was presumed dead. [Dexter]
October 2013
Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (age 23) debuted in Seattle under the alias “Richard Dragon,” a name he had stolen from the mentor he had murdered.
After being trained by her aunt, Dinah Laurel Lance (age 60), Sarah Lance (age 19) debuted as the third “Black Canary.”
November 2013
Under new Emperor Kl’rt, the Skrulls consolidated their central government on Tarnax II.
The Justice League became entangled in an interdimensional struggle with Skeletor of Eternia. [DC Universe vs. The Masters of the Universe]
In Mumbai, India, the son of Krishna Mehra (a.k.a. Krrish) was born and was named Rohit after his grandfather. From a young age, it was clear that he exhibited the same enhanced mental and physical powers that his father and grandfather had before him. [Krrish 3]
December 2013
Following Sinestro’s slaughter of the Guardians of the Universe for their Third Army plot and their part in his home planet Korugar’s destruction, the planet Oa was attacked and destroyed by Relic. Under Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern Corps established a new base of operations on the living planet and Green Lantern Corps member Mogo.
2014
January 2014
February 2014
The most severe epidemic to date of the Ebola virus began in West Africa, infecting over 24,000 people and killing at least 10,000.
On February 22, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev. Subsequent pro-Russian unrest throughout southern and eastern Ukraine further destabilized the country.
March 2014
On March 16, a referendum was held in the territory of Crimea, with a great majority voting in favor of secession from Ukraine. The following day, following the official announcement of the referendum results, the Supreme Council of Crimea declared the formal independence of the Republic of Crimea. Parliament also formally requested that the Russian government admit the breakaway republic into Russia. On March 18, representatives of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation signed the Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia, and on March 21, Russia formally annexed Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the process. The international response to this action was negative. During an emergency meeting on March 24, the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8. On March 27, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the Crimean referendum. Additional resolutions and economic sanctions against Russia would follow.
April 2014
May 2014
June 2014
July 2014
August 2014
Several months of protests and civil disorder began the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer on August 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the U.S. about the relationship between law enforcement officers and African Americans, the militarization of the police, and the use of force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide.
September 2014
October 2014
On Earth’s moon, Dr. Jane Foster (age 69) lifted Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor. Found worthy of its power, she was transformed into an Asgardian goddess possessing the full power of Thor. Concealing her identity, she took his name and became a champion. However, whenever she would transform back into her human form, she found that she was still weak, old and frail, and that her cancer had grown worse.
November 2014
On November 12, the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae probe successfully landed on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft had landed on such an object.
December 2014
On December 17, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba, removing the last vestige of the Cold War.
With the aid of Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 40), the spirit of Jericho Drumm was bound to his distant relative, Joshua Drumm (b. 1989), who had studied voodoo in Haiti but turned away from it when he moved to the U.S. to attend college. Joshua then embraced his voodoo heritage once again and became the new Brother Voodoo.
On June 26, in a 5–4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, thus legalizing gay marriage throughout the nation.
On July 14, NASA’s New Horizons probe will make its closest approach to Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a plutoid.
2017
On January 20, a new U.S. President will be sworn into office.
Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy will begin their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
2018
NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble.
2000
January 2000
Dick Grayson, Jr. (Batman, age 37) and Barbara Gordon (Oracle, age 39) started dating.
February 2000
After discovering that Franklin Richards (Mister Fantastic, age 31) and Katie Power (Energizer, age 20) were having an affair, Franklin’s girlfriend Rachel Summers (age 43) moved out of the Baxter Building and back to the Xavier School, taking her and Franklin’s son J.R. (age 4) with her.
March 2000
Police officer Crispus Allen (b. 1958) transferred from San Francisco to the Boston Police Department, where he was teamed with Renee Montoya.
On March 10, the NASDAQ stock market rose to a record high. After this, however, the “dot-com bubble” burst. Over the next two years, over-inflated stock prices would tumble and many Internet-based companies would fail.
April 2000
Hope Van Dyne (age 25) took up her mother’s mantle and became the second “Wasp.”
May 2000
The Nth metal weaponry of the Hawkman attached itself to Joseph Gardner (age 39), and he learned that he was the reincarnation of Carter Hall, and ultimately of Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt. He then became the third Hawkman, and over time even found himself losing track of his identity as Joseph Gadner and identifying more and more as Carter Hall. When he contacted Hawkwoman (Kendra Saunders, also age 39), she did not have any knowledge of her own resurrection or their past lives together, leading to an awkward reunion.
June 2000
July 2000
The Hearst Corporation bought The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Under anti-trust laws, it was then required to sell the other San Francisco newspaper it owned, The San Francisco Examiner. The Examiner was purchased by Alexander “Lex” Luthor (biologically age 30), the CEO of LexCorp. Longtime staff photographer James “Jimmy” Olsen (age 60) chose early retirement rather than work for a paper owned by Luthor.
August 2000
September 2000
October 2000
November 2000
December 2000
Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 38) and Daredevil (Matt F. Murdock, age 30) again teamed up, this time to take on the Kingpin (Richard Fisk, age 50) and the Scarecrow (Dr. Michael Jonathan Crane, age 56). [Batman / Daredevil: King of New York]
Because of accusations by the Skrulls, the Solar System became quarantined as an intergalactic prison. With a force field surrounding it and Ronan the Accuser acting as warden from an orbiting space craft, intergalactic prisoners were confined to its borders, placing Earth at risk. [Maximum Security]
Because of accusations by the Skrulls, the Solar System became quarantined as an intergalactic prison. With a force field surrounding it and Ronan the Accuser acting as warden from an orbiting space craft, intergalactic prisoners were confined to its borders, placing Earth at risk. [Maximum Security]
On December 12, hearing the case of Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush. In the end, Bush lost the national popular vote, but won the Presidency based on electoral votes.
January 2001
On January 20, George W. Bush (b. 1946) became the 43rd U.S. President (2001-2009).
Having been infected by a new strain of the Legacy Virus that only affected non-mutants, Dr. Moira MacTaggert (age 67) discovered the secret to creating a cure. However, she was brutally injured by Mystique and died before she could implement the cure. She reached out to her ally Professor Charles Xavier (biologically age 42), with whom she shared a psychic bond, and he was able to telepathically retrieve the necessary information before she died.
Thanks to the intervention of the Avengers Infinity Squad, the sanctions against Earth were lifted, the quarantine was lifted on the Solar System, and the intergalactic criminals that had been banished there were removed. [Maximum Security]
February 2001
Using the information that Charles Xavier had gained from Moira MacTaggert, Dr. Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beat, age 54) worked to synthesize the cure for the Legacy Virus. However, it soon became clear that just as the virus had first been released by the death of the first victim, so too the cure would require someone to die in order to be released.
March 2001
Not wanting anyone else to suffer the same fate as his sister Illyana, Colossus (Piotr Rasputin, age 39) snuck into Dr. Hank McCoy’s laboratory, injected the Legacy Virus cure into himself and activated his mutant powers, transforming his body into organic steel. This “supercharged” the Legacy cure, simultaneously killing him and stopping the further spread of the Legacy Virus.
April 2001
Aquaman (Arthur Curry, age 60) obtained a new hand composed of mystical water with unusual properties. However, over time this water would prove cursed as it infected the rest of his body, gradually making him lose his memories and turning him into a creature known as the “Dweller-of-the-Depths.”
May 2001
In Los Angeles, Oliver Queen (age 59) rescued 15-year old Mia Dearden (b. 1986) from a child prostitution ring.
June 2001
As Magneto was preparing mutant army to expand his empire, the X-Men confronted him in Genosha. After a final battle, Wolverine killed him. Magneto’s Acolytes then agreed to disarm and end their war against humanity in exchange for peace.
Katie Power (Energizer, age 22) discovered that she was pregnant with the child of her Fantastic Four teammate Franklin Richards (Mister Fantastic, age 32). She took a leave of absence from the team and was replaced by her brother, Jack Power (Mass Master, age 24).
July 2001
Cassandra Nova had discovered a long-lost Master Mold A.I. and Sentinel production facility in the jungles of Ecuador. Using the last surviving relative of Bolivar Trask to gain control of the wild Sentinels, she had them attack the mutant safe haven island of Genosha. Using the newly created mutant-detection machine Cerebra, created by Beast, Cyclops and Wolverine found Cassandra Nova and defeated her, but not before the Sentinels had massacred almost the entire population of Genosha, nearly 1.6 million people. Among the handful of survivors, the X-Men discovered Emma Frost, and brought her back to their headquarters at the X-Mansion in Westchester County, New York.
Dr. Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beast, age 55) experienced a further mutation, becoming much more feline in appearance.
Chosen to lead a top-secret mission into North Korea, MI6 agent James Bond Bond (the third to go by that name, age 48) was betrayed , captured and imprisoned. [Die Another Day]
At the X-Mansion, Beast (Hank McCoy) investigated the biological origins of the powerful enemy they had captured. When Cassandra Nova suddenly overcame her imprisonment, Emma Frost snapped her neck and Charles Xavier shot her. However, just before this, Cassandra Nova had forcibly exchanged minds with Xavier, so that it was she who shot him in her old body, thus covering up evidence of what had just happened. However, Xavier (in Nova’s body) did not die, and Beast kept the body alive on life support.
Meanwhile, possessing Professor Charles Xavier’s body, Cassandra Nova exposed him as a mutant to members of the media. The added publicity led to dozens of new applications for admission at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and the school decided to take a more open approach to admissions and welcome the additional students.
Jack Knight decided to retire as Starman (age 46) to raise his son Kyle. He passed along his Cosmic Staff to Courtney Whitmore (age 16), the Star-Spangled Kid. In appreciation of the honor, she changed her alias to “Stargirl.”
September 2001
In Boston, 15-year-old Stephanie Brown (a.k.a. Spoiler) had a baby girl, and gave her up for adoption.
October 2001
There was another outbreak of graboid attacks in Nye County, Nevada. [Tremors 3: Back to Perfection]
The X-Men arrived in Hong Kong to prevent the human trafficking of a powerful, captive mutant named Kuan-Yin Xorn. John Sublime, leader of the Weapon-Plus program, had wanted to make the secret purchase, hoping to use Xorn’s organs for his “U-Men” program, which featured human soldiers with grafted mutant organs. Xorn contemplated suicide, but Cyclops instead persuaded him to come back to America with the X-Men.
Five identical quintuplet sisters enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The 14-year-olds, named Sophie, Phoebe, Mindee, Celeste and Esme Cuckoo, were telepaths and shared a collective consciousness. Unknown to anyone else, they were actually clones of Emma Frost, five of a thousand who had been bred by John Sublime as weapons in his plan to rid the world of mutants.
On October 26, President George W. Bush signed into law the controversial Patriot Act, which curtailed certain civil liberties in order to provide increased surveillance for terrorist activity in the U.S.
November 2001
As John Sublime’s book The Third Species hit the best-seller list, mutants again found themselves in the media spotlight. Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops, age 54) and Emma Frost (age 50) confronted John Sublime regarding his radical views on mutants and were captured by Sublime’s U-Men, a secret group he led that harvesting mutants for their organs. Scheduled for fatal surgery, Scott and Emma managed to escape, learning in the process that there was much more to Sublime’s operation than it seemed. Meanwhile, several squads of U-Men attacked Xavier’s School for Gifted Youth, intending to capture or kill all of the mutant students there. However, the students were able to fend off the attackers with help from Madeline Pryor Summers (a.k.a. Marvel Girl, age 41), who manifesting the Phoenix Force for the first time.
Jessica Jones, who had previously operated as a superhero under the aliases “Jewel” and “Knightress,” opened the “Alias Detective Agency” in New York City.
December 2001
Possessing the body of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova had traveled to the Triangulum galaxy, where she was wreaking havoc upon the Shi’ar Empire.
The notion of rapid climate change gained widespread acceptance throughout the scientific community.
January 2002
Beast (Hank McCoy, age 55), Emma Frost (age 50) and Madeline Pryor Summers (age 41) convened. Based on their combined knowledge and Madeline’s psychic probing of Cassandra Nova’s comatose mind, they determined that Professor Xavier had been possessed by another entity, and that his true mind was now trapped in the body of Cassandra Nova, which was on life support in the X-Men medical facility.
On January 1, physical currency for the euro was introduced throughout the participating countries (the Eurozone), and national currencies began to be retired.
February 2002
Having established a psychic connection with Charles Xavier’s mind, currently trapped in the comatose body of Cassandra Nova, Madeline Pryor was able to convey a few short messages from him to his X-Men. First, he informed Beast that the annoying flu epidemic that seemed to be sweeping campus was actually being caused by a systematic Nanosentinel attack. Next, he informed everyone that the Shi’ar Imperial Guard was headed to Earth to sterilize the entirety of mutantkind, starting with the X-Men. Cyclops left with Xorn to confront the Shi’ar.
In New York City, a daughter was born to Fantastic Four leader Franklin Richards (age 33) and his girlfriend Katie Power (Energizer, age 24). Mother and child almost died during childbirth, but were saved by the magic of Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 27), the king of Latveria. A grateful Richards then asked Doom to name the child, and Doom chose the name of his stepmother, Valeria.
By February 28, all former national currencies were no longer legal tender throughout the Eurozone, as the transition to the euro currency had been completed.
March 2002
Aboard the Shi’ar Superdestroyer spaceship, Cyclops pleaded with the Shi’ar trying to explain that the Charles Xavier they were allied with was the very same Cassandra Nova entity that was destroying their empire, and which they were traveling to Earth to fight. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 28) kidnapped Valeria Richards, intending to sacrifice her in a black magic ritual to resurrect his father, Victor von Doom. However, her father, Franklin Richards, managed to stop him. Ever the scientist, Franklin found that he had to embrace magic to save his daughter. In doing so, he banished Doom to a demon dimension. Meanwhile, in Latveria, Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas assumed control of the government in the absence of the king.
April 2002
Darkseid used his Omega Effect to strip Secret (Greta “Suzie” Hayes) of her powers and left her a normal, 14-year-old human girl.
The Shi’ar attacked the X-Men but were repelled. Meanwhile, Cassandra Nova was exposed and the Shi’ar called off the attack. Afterward, Xorn healed the X-Men of their Nanosentinel infestations.
May 2002
After months of around-the-clock effort, the World Trade Center site in New York City was finally cleared following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Albuquerque lawyer James McGill (age 40) began using some of his con artist tricks (from his “Slipping’ Jimmy” days in Illinois) to get new clients.
After a dispute, crime lord Richard Fisk (age 52) was shot and killed by his mother Vanessa Fisk (age 74). His son Weston Fisk (age 23) inherited his criminal empire and became the new “Kingpin of Crime.”
Madeline Pryor Summers and Charles Xavier tricked Cassandra Nova into using the Cerebra mutant-locating device for her original goal of erasing mutantkind. However, the moment she used Cerebra to connect to the worldwide mutant population, she found that a piece of Xavier’s consciousness had been placed in each of them. At that moment, Madeline, who was becoming increasingly more powerful due to a manifestation of the Phoenix Force, psionically attacked Cassandra and forced her out of the Professor’s body, allowing the pieces of Xavier’s consciousness to regroup in his own body. Emma Frost then tricked Cassandra Nova back into her own, comatose body, now a mental prison.
On May 24, the U.S. and Russia signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT) treaty agreeing to limit their nuclear arsenals. It was in force from June 2003 until February 2011 when it was superseded by the New START treaty.
June 2002
CIA assassin Jason Bourne (age 32) was deployed in Marseille, France to kill an African leader named Nykwana Wombosi. Seeing his target in the company of his children, he was unable to complete the assignment. He aborted the mission, but was shot twice in the back and fell into the Mediterranean Sea. When he awoke on an Italian fishing ship, he had severe amnesia and was unable to remember anything about his life. He gradually pieces together clues as he fled across Europe. During this time, he made the acquaintance of Marie Kreutz, with whom he fell in love, and the pair eventually shook off the CIA assassins pursuing them. [The Bourne Identity]After 12-year-old mutant Sonny Bean was killed by police in New York City, Charles Xavier founded the X-Corporation, a nonprofit global organization meant to defend mutant rights and provide support to “civilian” mutant populations. Offices would eventually be opened in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mumbai, Nairobi, Paris and Singapore.
July 2002
Headed by Theresa Cassidy (a.k.a. Siryn, age 37), the Paris office of X-Corporation became one of the first to open.
Using artificial evolution and “Nanosentinel” technology, John Sublime and his staff developed two successful weaponsized metahumans out of dozens of candidates at “The World” genetic research facility in northern England. Test subject Zona-Cluster-6, codenamed “Huntsman,” and test subject Charlie-Cluster-7, codenamed “Fantomex,” were loaded on a train bound for France to be deployed as mutant-hunting Super-Sentinels.
Empress Veranke ordered the next phase of the secret Skrull invasion of Earth. Dozens of additional, shape-shifting Skrull spies would be moved into position over the coming months, and the Empress herself would eventually travel to Earth to personally oversee the operation.
August 2002
After a train accident in the Channel Tunnel was quarantined involving what was called a possible “gene-hazard,” the Paris branch office of X-Corporation went to investigate. Charles Xavier and Madeline Pryor Summers of the X-Men traveled to Paris to assist with the investigation, as well as to check on the status of the new X-Corp office. While in Paris, they were approached by someone calling himself Fantomex, claiming to be a mutant seeking asylum. Fantomex told them that Siryn’s response team was in danger from a bio-experiment on the train called “Huntsman.” Arriving on the scene, Fantomex and Madeline were able to kill the Huntsman, but noty before he killed X-Corp agent Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna, age 50). Madeline then learned that both Huntsman and Fantomex had been developed as living weapons by “The World,” a genetics research laboratory in England, but that Fantomex had resisted his programming. Grateful for his help, Madeline let Fantomex flee the scene.
Meanwhile, back at the Xavier School for Gifted Youth in Westchester County, New York, Madeline’s husband Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) had been having doubts about their marriage and began having a psychic affair with his X-Men teammate, the telepathic mutant Emma Frost.
September 2002
Max Mercury (age 74) finally entered the Speed Force when his body was controlled
by the evil speedster known as “The Rival.” [Impulse #88]
Released from North Korea in a prisoner exchange, MI6 agent James Bond Bond (the third to go by that name, age 49) solved the mystery of who had betrayed him, and took down the British and North Korean spies responsible. [Die Another Day]
October 2002
After years of U.N. disarmament violations, and with the belief that they may be harboring weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to use force against Iraq.
An investigation of energy company Enron led to its bankruptcy, the largest in history at the time, and revealed a wave of corporate accounting scandals in the U.S.
The “Rage” virus was accidentally released by animal rights activists raiding a research laboratory in Cambridge, England. Quick action by MI6 agent James kept the virus from spreading. However, Bond was infected in the process, and had to be killed as a precaution. [The premise of 28 Days Later, with the outbreak itself prevented by an honorable death for 007—who was figuratively “killed” by the failure of his own franchise and the debut of Jason Bourne this year.]
Queen Monica of Wakanda (age 53) suffered a brain aneurysm and died. Her death caused King T’Challa (age 58) to suffer a mental breakdown, suffering hallucinations and erratic behavior. After his mental state almost led to tribal warfare within the nation, T’Challa decided to temporarily hand power over to his council while he spent some time in New York.
November 2002
Jessica Jones (age 35) began dating Scott Lang, Jr. (Ant-Man, age 33).
In the ruins of Genosha, Magneto’s daughter Lorna Dane (age 52) was found alive. Using her own magnetic powers, she rallied the survivors and became their new leader, even adopting her father’s alias and calling herself Magneto II.
On November 25, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established as a new cabinet department of the United States federal government. Created in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the DHS represented a significant government reorganization, incorporating over two dozen government agencies into a single organization. One of the agencies to become part of the DHS was S.H.I.E.L.D., which saw its accronym change from “Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate” to “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” Also moving under the DHS was the “Men in Black” organization, which was renamed S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department).
December 2002
Having demonstrated her superiority within the Hand ninja clan, the reincarnated assassin Elektra (age 19) became their new leader.
2003
January 2003
Following the death of mutant fashion designer Jumbo Carnation in New York City, apparently the victim of a hate crime, super-intelligent Xavier Institute student Quentin Quire (age 17) became convinced that the Professor Charles Xavier, the Institute and the X-Men weren’t doing enough to protect mutant rights.
February 2003
G.W. Bridge, Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was contacted by a Skrull spy disguised as Nick Fury. Claiming that he was the real Nick Fury, and that the one who had been assassinated had been merely a sophisticated Life Model Decoy android, the Skrull gave Bridge sensitive information about a secret plot by Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas to fund a group of supervillains with advanced technology to wreak terror on American soil. The Skrull’s disguise was impenitrable and Bridge was able to confirm that it was really Fury. After corroborating his story, Bridge took his findings to U.S. President George W. Bush. However, Bush denied S.H.I.E.L.D. the authorization to overthrow the post-Doom Latverian regime, which was seen as a key ally to the U.S. in gathering intelligence about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. [Secret War]
Scott Lang, Jr. (age 33) left the Fantastic Four to join the Avengers. Katie Power (Energizer, age 23) returned from maternity leave to active duty with the Fantastic Four. Her brother Jack Power (Mass Master, age 25) also remained with the team.
Becoming a vocal opponent to Charles Xavier’s pacifist teachings, student Quentin Quire began looking to the teachings of the late Magneto. He then organized a group of like-minded students, which he called the “Omega Gang.”
March 2003
At the Xavier Institute, the group of students known as the Omega Gang began using the illegal drug “Kick” to enhance their mutant powers. The use of this drug further fueled their rage against normal humans, which they had begun to see as oppressors and enemies.
April 2003
On April 9, Baghdad fell, ending Saddam Hussein’s 24‑year rule. The abrupt fall of Baghdad was accompanied by a widespread outpouring of gratitude toward the invaders, but also massive civil disorder, including the looting of public and government buildings and drastically increased crime.
Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley, age 35) was killed in a fight with his two greatest enemies, Biis and Scratch.
Thanos had a dream in which he became merged with the entire universe, and then sacrificed himself for the sake of it. This dream would have a profound affect on his state of mind. [Marvel: The End]
On May 1, U.S. President George W. Bush visited the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and delivered a nationally televised “Mission Accomplished” speech, declaring victory due to the defeat of Iraq’s conventional forces. Nevertheless, Saddam Hussein remained at large and significant pockets of resistance remained. After President Bush’s speech, coalition forces noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on its troops. Initially, Iraqi resistance largely stemmed from fedayeen and Saddam/Ba’ath Party loyalists, but soon religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the insurgency.
In Florida, 13-year-old Arthur Joseph “A.J.” Curry (b. June 1990) discovered that he could breathe underwater. His father, marine biologist Philip Curry, admitted that he had found him at sea and raised him as his own. He and his friend Stephen Shin then helped A.J. discover the full extent of his powers and learn how to control them.
Madeline Pryor Summers discovered that her husband, Scott Summers, had been engaged in a telepathic affair with Emma Frost, and confronted them both about it. Disgraced, Scott left the Xavier Institute.
July 2003
While heading a task force investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami, narcotics detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Bennett uncovered a new, dangerous drug kingpin. [Bad Boys II]
Beatrix Kiddo, former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, awakened from her four-year coma and resolved to kill every member of her former operation, which had tried to kill her. [Kill Bill Volume 1]
At “The World” genetic research facility in northern England, John Sublime and his staff developed their next weaponsized metahuman, codenamed “Ultimaton,” designed to be the Super-Sentinels’ grand powerhouse.
August 2003
Nyssa Raatko, the estranged daughter of R’as al Ghul, returned with a plot to kill her father. [Batman: Death and the Maidens]
Cyclops (Scott Summers), Wolverine (Logan) and Fantomex conducted an assault against John Sublime’s mutant-hunting Weapon-Plus program at “The World” genetic research facility in England, and destroyed the program’s orbiting space station. [New X-Men #142-145]
On Thursday, August 14, a widespread power outage occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, just before 4:10 p.m. EDT. It affected an estimated 45 million people in eight U.S. states and 10 million people in Ontario. Some power was restored by 11 p.m. and many others got it back two days later. The blackout’s primary cause was a software bug in the alarm system at a control room of the FirstEnergy Corporation, located in Ohio. A lack of alarm left operators unaware of the need to re-distribute power after overloaded transmission lines hit unpruned foliage, which triggered a race condition in the control software. What would have been a manageable local blackout cascaded into widespread distress on the electric grid.
September 2003
Beatrix Kiddo killed Vernita Green. She then traveled to Okinawa to obtain a sword from legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzō, who had sworn never to forge a sword again. However, after learning that her target is his former student, Bill, he agreed to forge his finest sword for her. [Kill Bill Volume 1]
On his 14th birthday, Talia al Ghul’s clone of Jason Todd underwent his final Lazarus Pit treatment. The experiment proved a success, and the clone regained Todd’s memories, albeit somewhat foggy and with an unbalanced mental state due to the influence of the Lazarus Pit. Learning that Batman had failed to “avenge his death” in the intervening years, he began developing a strong resentment for his former mentor.
October 2003
Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 50) was critically injured and captured by the criminal Savant (Brian Durlin). After escaping, she found herself slowed considerably from her previous level of ability.
November 2003
Beatrix Kiddo used her new sword to kill O-Ren Ishii, who was now the leader of the Tokyo Yakuza. [Kill Bill Volume 1]At the Xavier Institute, the mutant Kuan-Yin Xorn revealed that he was secretly a follower of Magneto, and had been a sleeper agent for Magneto’s loyal forces in Genosha. He had indoctrinated his “Special Class” at the Institute with his militant anti-human philosophy, while indulging in the mutant power-enhancing drug Kick. As he took control of the Institute with forces from the Brotherhood of Mutants, he revealed that he had now attained a level of power that will allow him to remake Earth into “Planet X,” where humankind will serve as workers to the ruling class of mutants. He demonstrated his power by sending Madeline Pryor Summers (Marvel Girl) and Logan (Wolverine) hurtling into space. However, the shock of this activates the full Phoenix Force potential in Madeline. As the Phoenix, she returned to Earth with Logan. They rescued Beast and Emma Frost, who had been stranded at sea, and then returned to face Xorn. At the Xavier Institute, Cyclops and Fantomex had come to the aid of several of the students, who had been resisting Xorn as his rage led him to attempt to slaughter the local human population. Finally, as Madeline faced Xorn head on, Logan was able to sneak around behind him and decapitate him to end the madness. However, Xorn’s attack was too much for Madeline, and she died as well. The Phoenix Force was once again released into the universe.
As penance for his past action, Thanos agreed to help stop Galactus from devouring Rigel-18. However, he soon realized that Galactus was being manipulated by a mysterious cosmic being known as the Hunger. [Thanos #1–6]
Bart Allen (biologically age 21) changed his superhero alias from “Impulse” to “Kid Flash.”
Saddam Hussein was captured on December 13.
January 2004
Beatrix Kiddo killed Bill’s brother Budd, and then fought Elle Driver, another former Deadly Viper, and left her to die. [Kill Bill Volume 2]
Jessica Jones (age 36) and Scott Lang, Jr. (Ant-Man, age 34) ended their year-long relationship.
Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 41) and Oracle (Barbara Gordon, age 43) ended their relationship, although it was clear that they continued to have feelings for one another other.
February 2004
Beatrix Kiddo tracked Bill to the Mexican countryside and discovered that their daughter, B.B., was alive and well, now four years old. Bill drugged her and interrogated her, but in the end she was able to kill him and leave with B.B. to start a new life. [Kill Bill Volume 2]
March 2004
Believeing herself to be in mortal danger in her new role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director, Amanda Waller took advantrage of top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. technology to have herself cloned and memory back-ups made.
On March 11, ten explosions occurred aboard four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. These nearly simultaneous, coordinated bombings were conducted by an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell, killing 191 people and wounding an estimated 1,800.
On March 31, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a Blackwater USA convoy led by four U.S. private military contractors. The four contractors were killed, and their bodies were dragged from their vehicles by local people, beaten, set ablaze, and their burned corpses hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates. Photos of the event were released to news agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the U.S.
The Taipei 101 office building in Taipei, Tawian became the new tallest building in the world.
Tim Drake (age 18) was having a hard time balancing his career as a crime fighter with his responsibilities as a first-year college student. After giving it a lot of thought, he decided to put his career as Robin on hold and just focus on school.
Hydra contacted provate investigator and former Hydra agent Jessica Drew (age 64, but appearing much younger due to her unique physiology). They offered her a chance to restore her Spider-Woman powers, which had been lost two decades prior, if she would return to being a spy for them. Drew contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Amanda Waller, who told her to go ahead and accept the deal, but as a double-agend for S.H.I.E.L.D. What neither Drew nor Waller realized, however, was that Hydra had been infiltrated by Skrull sleeper agents, and the entire arrangement was a set-up. When Drew arrived at Hydra, she was abducted by the Skrulls, who took her to their secret orbiting base. There, they studied her unique DNA, which very much impressed the Skrull Empress Veranke. Subjecting herself to Super-Skrull experimentation, the Skrull sceintists were able to bestow the Empress with Drew’s Spider-Woman’s powers. For the security of their queen, the scientists did not kill Drew, as they had with most of their victims, but instead kept her for further study. Veranke traveled to the surface of Earth, where she adopted Drew’s identity and prepared to take part in the coming invasion.
In response to the killing of four Americans on March 31 and intense political pressure, U.S. Marines surrounded the city of Fallujah on April 4 with the intent of capturing those responsible for the killings, as well as others in the region who might have been involved in the insurgency or terrorist activities. Heavy fighting lasted until April 9, when the offensive was called off because of great civilian losses. In this First Battle of Fallujah, the Marines had only managed to gain control of about 25 percent of the city.
Coincidentally, also on April 4, the Mahdi Army forces began an offensive in Najaf, Kufa, Kut and Sadr City. This marked a turning point in the Iraq War, as militias and religious militant groups entered into the conflict.
On April 28, news reports revealed that U.S. military personnel had been involved in widespread prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. Graphic pictures showing U.S. soldiers taunting and abusing Iraqi prisoners dealt a blow to the moral justifications for the occupation in the eyes of many people, especially Iraqis.
May 2004
Stephanie Brown (age 18), who had been operating as the vigilante “Spoiler,” convinced Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 41) to allow her to become the new Robin.
In New York City, Jessica Jones discovered she was pregnant with Luke Cage’s baby.
June 2004
The heavy period of insurgent fighting in Iraq that had started in April came to an end.
At age 29, Falcon (Sam Wilson, Jr.) found his flight harness destroyed and his companion Redwing (a mutant red-tailed hawk) killed in a battle. He traveled back to Wakanda where the Black Panther (King T’Challa, age 60) designed a new, more advanced flight harness for him. He would eventually form a telepathic bond with another red-tailed hawk as well, naming it Redwing II.
July 2004
Jason Bourne and his lover Marie Kreutz were discovered living in Goa, India by an assassin name Kirill, who killed Marie. That alerted the CIA to Bourne’s location, and they started pursuing him, believing that he was responsible for several assassinations Kirill had performed. Bourne was eventually able to convince CIA agent Pamela Landy that the assassinations were part of a larger conspiracy by the CIA’s own Operation Treadstone. [The Bourne Supremecy]
On July 24, a Series T-X Terminator arrived from the alternate universe Earth-J (where it was now the year 2049) to kill Kate Brewster and various other leaders of the Resistance. Kate sent a re-programmed T-850 to our Earth to stop the T-X. Meanwhile, other heroes were able to disable a resurgent Skynet and stop it from starting a nuclear war.
August 2004
Jason Bourne encountered agents from an upgraded version of Operation Treadstone called “Blackbriar.” He traded information about Blackbriar to Landy for information about his past and disappeared. [The Bourne Ultimatum]
Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), was murdered at the age of 62.
The 11th cycle of Ragnarök began its conclusion, as “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” caused the Asgardians and Valar to once again begin the terrible battle that would destroy them. Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, located the forge that created Thor’s hammer Mjonir, and his ally Surtur used it to create multiple similar hammers to power their army. With these, they slaughtered their enemies. Thor escaped to Earth and sought the help of his allies there, the Avengers.
As the Valar began to die, their champion Captain Marvel (Billy Batson, age 55) began to lose his powers.
September 2004
Returning to Asgard with Thor, Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr.) found the city destroyed and the majority of its citizens dead. (Among them, Brunnhilde the Valkyrie, in the body of Sian Brown.) Thor then sent his friends back to Earth, realizing that there was nothing they could do. Everywhere Thor traveled, he found the same devastation. He then sacrificed both of his eyes at the Well of Mimir to gain the true knowledge of Ragnarök. This allowed him to fully understand the nature of the endless cycle of Ragnarök, perpetrated by “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow” in order to feed off of the psychic energy of the Asgardians. Now in full control of the Odinforce, Thor realized what he must do: end the Ragnarök cycle once and for all.
With her powers increased by the chaos magic now inside her, the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, age 57) regained her memories of her lost children, Tommy and Billy. She became obsessed with trying to restore them to life, and launched a campaign of terror against the Avengers, whom she blamed for their deaths. In the ensuing chaos, she destroyed her former husband, the android Vision, and killed Ant-Man (Scott Lang, Jr., age 35) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton, age 59), before finally being defeated by Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange, age 92). Wanda was taken by her half-sister, the new Magneto (Lorna Dane), to the X-Men to try to get her powers under control. [The Avengers #500-503]
Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) dismissed Stephanie Brown from her duties as Robin after a pair of incidents where she risked both of their lives by failing to follow his orders.
On September 1, a group of armed Islamic separatist militants occupied School Number One in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia, and took over 1,100 people as hostages. On September 3, Russian security forces stormed the building. At least 385 hostages were killed, including 186 children, with a significant number of others injured or reported missing.
October 2004
Thor went to Surtur and made a deal with him: in exchange for Surtur reforging Mjolnir, Thor would blaze a trail for Surtur and his army to raze Asgard to the ground and give the Asgardians a final, glorious battle. Surtur accepted and began re-forging Mjolnir.
Claiming to be the original Piotr Rasputin (a.k.a. Colossus), who had died three years prior, a Super-Skrull spy infiltrated the X-Men team. He was working in tandem with the alien Ord, from the Skrull-allied planet Breakworld, who had been hired to create a “mutant cure” to help thin the ranks of “gifted” individuals on Earth. [A combination of Secret Invasion and Astonishing X-Men. I'm taking all of the Breakworld mutant prophecy stuff to be a misdirect as to Ord's actual intentions.]
A group of rogue Thanagarians used Rannian Omega-beam technology to transport the planet Rann from the Alpha Centauri star system to the Polaris B star system. The plan was for the two planets to share the same orbit in a true co-orbital configuration, similar to Saturn’s moons Epimetheus and Janus. However, slight errors in the calculations caused planet Thanagar to spin wildly out of its original orbit. [Adam Strange Vol. 2 #1–8, “Planet Heist”]
November 2004
To prevent the cycle of Ragnarök from starting over again, Thor went to the Three Norns and destroyed the Loom of the Fates, thus cutting off “Those Who Sit Above in Shadow,” possibly destroying them. This also destroyed Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and ended all the lives of those who dwelled in Asgard. Protected by the Odinforce, Thor found himself adrift in the void of the Timeless Halls, the pocket dimension that had resided within Yggdrasil. There, he declared that he would rest for a while, and began to dream.
As the last of the Valar died, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) was rendered powerless, and searched for an explanation why.
Determined to prove herself to Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) and win back her job as Robin, Stephanie Brown embarked on a dangerous mission on her own. She found herself outclassed and was brutally beaten, sustaining critical injuries.
The X-Corporation offices in Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore were bombed in a coordinated attack carried out by anti-mutant terrorists.
The Second Battle of Fallujah began on November 7. Fought entirely against insurgents and involving some of the heaviest urban combat since Vietnam, it was the bloodiest battle of the war. By November 16, the Marines had taken control of the city except for sporadic pockets of resistance.
With Dick Grayson, Jr. by her hospital bed, Stephanie Brown died of the injuries she had sustained at the hands of criminals in November. Just days later, Tim Drake’s father Jack (age 48) was killed by Captain Boomerang. Wracked with guilt at the death of his friend and father, Tim Drake (age 19) decided to return to active duty fighting crime as Robin.
Ronnie Raymond (age 40) was killed, although his consciousness remained alive within the Firestorm Matrix as it searched for a new host.
Doctor Mid-Nite, Mister Terrific and Batman solved the mystery of who killed Sue Dibny, realiuzing that it was Jean Loring, the ex-wife of the Atom (Ray Palmer).
Half-human, half-Rannian space adventurer Aleea Strange (age 29 in Earth years, or 45 in Rannian ones) found herself stranded on Earth, where she heard a rumor that her home planet of Rann had been destroyed. When she finally made it back to the Alpha Centauri system, she discovered evidence that suggested the entire planet might have been moved, and that her mother and father might still be alive. [Adam Strange Vol. 2 #1–8, “Planet Heist” – except that Adam himself would have been an old man at this point, so it makes more sense for his daughter to be the focus of the story.]
Despite the presence of the Spectre holding it in check, the Parallax entity began to stir. Green Lantern Kyle Rayner was the first to sense it, and would soon race back to Earth, his ring issuing a warning. [Green Lantern: Rebirth]
On December 15, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered the termination shock (the point where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speeds) at a distance of 94 AU (14 billion km) from the Sun.
On December 26, a massive 9.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra Indonesia. Resulting tsunamis killed over 220,000 people (including more than 170,000 in Indonesia alone) and left five million homeless.
On December 28, the dwarf planet Haumea was discovered, the first of many large trans-Neptunian objects to be discovered over the next several years.
2005
Mason "The Line" Dixon became the first boxer in 20 years to hold all of the existing heavyweight titles at once (and the first to simultaneously hold the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts). Many at the time accused Dixon of lucking into the titles as heavyweight boxing was not what it once was.
Unicron attacked the planet Cybertron, killing many of the Transformers, including Autobot leader Optimus Prime, before he was finally destroyed. [The Transformers: The Movie]
January 2005
The discovery of the large, distant dwarf planet Eris (roughly the size of Pluto) by Mike Brown and his team led to a debate about whether such objects should be considered planets.
Three months after being spun wildly out of its original orbit by the arrival of the planet Rann in its orbit, the planet Thanagar stabilized in a highly eccentric orbit that took it close to its sun, the star Polaris B. Many Thanagarians had escaped in the ensuing weeks and had resettled on planet Rann amid high tensions between the two species, who each blamed the other for their predicament. [Adam Strange Vol. 2 #1–8, “Planet Heist”]
The Red Skull (Johann Schmidt in a 40-year-old cloned body of Captain America) was assassinated by the Winter Soldier. However, his consciousness survived, transferred to the body of Aleksander Lukin.
The adult clone of S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director, Amanda Waller was completed and placed in cryostasis.
The adult clone of S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director, Amanda Waller was completed and placed in cryostasis.
Danielle Cage was born to Jessica Jones (age 37) and Luke Cage (age 54) in New York City.
Edwin Jarvis (age 82) was killed while on holiday and secretly replaced by a Skrull agent, who then infiltrated Avengers Mansion.
On January 31, the first democratic elections were held in Iraq, electing a transitional government to draft a new constitution.
After training with Oliver Queen (the former Green Arrow, age 63) and his son Connor Hawke (the current Green Arrow, age 24), 19-year old, HIV-positive Mia Dearden debuted as the new Speedy.
The clone of Jason Todd returned to Boston under the guise of “The Red Hood.” His new body was now biologically 16 years old, but he possessed at least 19 years of overlapping memories thanks to the “slow resurrection” process Talia al Ghul had used to revive him. Unfortunately, that process had also left him somewhat unhinged and bitterly resentful of his former mentor, Batman, whom he began to torment.
March 2005
With the Avengers disbanded, a new group of unregistered heroes banded together under the Avengers name: Captain America (Steve Rogers, biologically age 40), Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr., age 27), Luke Cage (age 54), Spider-Woman (the Skrull Empress Veranke, pretending to be Jessica Drew) and Spider-Girl (May Parker, age 20).
A Skrull spy named Pagon infiltrated the Hand ninja clan, assassinated their leader Elektra (age 22) and stole her identity. (However, Elektra had already been reincarnated once before, and her spirit was able to complete the journey on its own this time, finding a new host child, so that she could be reborn nine months later.)
April 2005
“The Scourge” (Jack Monroe) was shot and killed by the Winter Soldier (James “Bucky” Barnes).
May 2005
As Princess Shuri of Wakanda turned 14, her father King T’Challa secretly began teaching her to assume the throne. Although no woman had ever done so, both of them believed that Shuri could be the first.
The Blue Beetle (Ted Kord, age 58) died.
Former CIA agent Philip J. Coulson joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
June 2005
The mutant superhero Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, age 58) suffered another mental breakdown, this time trying to alter the fabric of reality to recreate her lost
children. This created a pocket universe, a separate reality into
which Wanda and several of her associates were drawn for several weeksThe mutant hero known as Wolverine (Logan, age 113) joined the new line-up of the Avengers.
Jean Loring, in prison awaiting trial for the August 2004 murder of Sue Dibny, was transformed into a new version of the villainous Eclipso by mysterious forces. Escaping, the new Eclipso located the Spectre, who was without an Earthly host after resurrecting Hal Jordan, and had become unstable. Eclipso took advantage of this, using her influence to make the more powerful Spectre a pawn for her evil purposes.
Aleea Strange arrived on the planet Rann, now located in the Polaris B star system, and learned what had happend both to her home planet and to the planet Thanagar. Aware that the Rannians and Thanagarians both blamed each other for the calamaty and were on the brink of war, Strange traveled back to Earth to recruit Hawkman and Hawkwoman to help with negotiations.
July 2005
Under the influence of Eclipso, the Spectre attacked and killed approximately seven hundred wizards (Homo sapiens magi) at a gathering in Europe. Having witnessed this attack, Enchantress tried to recruit Earth’s top magic users to resist the Spectre, but learned that many of them had already been disabled, including the Phantom Stranger, Doctor Fate and Madame Xanadu. Meanwhile Captain Marvel had inexplicably lost his powers some months prior, and Doctor Strange had recently mysteriously disappeared (into the “House of M” pocket universe with the Scarlet Witch).
When Aleea Strange, Hawkman and Hawkwoman arrived back at planet Rann, they were shocked to see that a war had already begun between Rannians and Thanagarians. They quickly formed a response team to try to negotiate an end to the war. However, their efforts were hinderewd when the Tamaranean princess Blackfire betrayed this team and murdered Shayera Thal (the former Hawkwoman, age 105 in Earth years or 50 Thanagarian orbital cycles). Eventually, it became clear that all factions had a common enemy: Onimar Synn. With the help of Tigorr of the Omega Men and Captain Comet, Aleea Strange’s team managed to cut Synn into seven pieces, and each piece was inserted into a separate star to prevent him from reforming.
On July 7, a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks targeted civilians using the public transport system in central London during the morning rush hour. Four British Islamist men detonated four suicide bombs. As well as the four bombers, 52 civilians were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks.
August 2005
J.R. Richards, the nine-year-old son of Franklin Richards (age 36) and Rachel Summers (age 49) was enrolled with a private tutor at the Future Foundation, run by Franklin out of New York City’s Baxter Building. There, he was already completing his high school education and preparing to enter college to pursue an advanced degree.
Through the Enchantress, a group of Earth’s magic users, later named the “Shadowpact,” learned that the Spectre had been seduced and corrupted by Eclipso. They planned what was essentially a suicide mission to find them, attack Eclipso with overwhelming surprise and numbers and kill her, hoping to free the Spectre before he turned on them. As the Enchantress siphoned the magical power of wizards and sorcerers from around the world, Brother Voodoo was able to get the upper hand over the Spectre while the Shadowpact defeated Eclipso. However, the Spectre soon recovered enough strength to rescue Eclipso and escape.
Hurricane Katrina originated over the Bahamas on August 23. It made landfall in Florida August 25, and then continued over the Gulf of Mexico. On August 29, made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, and continued on to New Orleans, bringing heavy rains. Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, and at least 1,833 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it one of the deadliest as well. Moving inland, the hurricane finally dissipated on August 31, although its remnants would continue to cause heavy rains and flooding as far away as Canada for days to come.
September 2005
The Great Lakes Avengers were sent a cease-and-desist order by the Maria Stark Foundation, forbidding them from using the name “Avengers.” When they realized that all of the surviving members were mutants, they renamed themselves the “Great Lakes X-Men.”
Wonder Woman (Donna Troy, age 54) killed the villain Maxwell Lord by breaking his neck, an action that alienated her to teammates like Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 43).
October 2005
Having returned to the Rock of Eternity after losing his powers, Billy Batson (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) finally made contact with the spirit of his mentor, the wizard Shazam. There, he was told to prepare for the coming danger. When the Spectre arrived, the spirit of Shazam faced him and was defeated. The Rock of Eternity then disintegrated. It split into many pieces, traveling through multiple dimensions, as it was destroyed. The destruction of the Rock of Eternity freed an untold number beings of evil magic back into the world, among them the “living” embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins, who were formerly trapped in stone statues in Shazam’s throne room. The scarab belonging to the original Blue Beetle, which Shazam had acquired from Ted Kord, landed in El Paso, Texas. Billy Batson remained without the powers of Captain Marvel, but found himself infused with the understanding of Shazam, and began to study the wizard’s books of magic. The Shadowpact, meanwhile, continued the fight, but would do so with even fewer options.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Amanda Waller (age 65) was killed and replaced by an impostor Skrull sleeper agent.
November 2005
Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter, age 40) retired from costumed crime fighting and returned to his home in the parallel universe of Earth-Penta, where it was the year 2482.
On M-Day, Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 52) lost the use of her “Canary Cry” mutant ability. Although still in peak physical condition at this point, without her mutant metabolism, her age would quickly begin to catch up with her.
Following M-Day, Cyclops (Scott Summers) shut down X-Corporation.
December 2005
Rachel Summers changed her surname to “Grey” in honor of her mother, and rejoined the X-Men under her mother’s original alias, “Marvel Girl.”
The reincarnated assassin Elektra was born for the third time. Throughout her childhood, she would eventually begin to regain memories of her previous lives.
The second “Phantom Lady” (Dee Tyler, age 41) was killed in a battle with the Society in Washington, D.C.
At a meeting of the Illuminati, they decided that the Hulk was too dangerous to remain on Earth, and began making plans to relocate him to another planet where he could be isolated and pose no threat to anyone.
2006
The U.S. population reached 300 million.
James Gordon, Jr. retired from the Boston Police Department.
Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (b. 1990), son of Seattle mob boss Ricardo Diaz, began studying martial arts in Manhattan under Richard Dragon (age 53). He soon proved to be a prodigy.
January 2006
Michael Jon Carter was born December 29, 2442 in Boston in the alternate, parallel universe of Earth-Tetra, which is 455 years further into the future than our own universe (here, it was 1987). A gifted college athlete, he ended up throwing his career away by fixing games for his father’s gambling. After being kicked out of school, he got a job as a security guard at the Space Museum in San Francisco. After a dimension-hoping Legion of Super Heroes left behind some 30th century technology from the Earth-Kilo universe, it ended up at the museum. With the help of the museum’s security robot, Skeets, Carter stole those items, including a flight ring, a force-field belt and the device that allowed travel between parallel universes. Using the latter, Carter traveled to the San Francisco of our universe, where he used his futuristic technology to become a superhero. Surprisingly, everyone in our universe already knew who he was, as it appeared that he was actually the second Michael Jon Carter to visit from a parallel universe, the first having only recently retired. He had wanted to call himself “Goldstar,” but everyone already knew him as “Booster Gold,” so that is the name that stuck.
The Avengers tricked the Hulk into entering orbit to destroy a rogue
satellite, then used a shuttle to jettison him from the Solar System. They
intended for him to land on a peaceful planet, where he wouldn’t be a danger to
anyone else. However, there was a problem with the alien hyperjump technology
that was used, and his shuttle was diverted to the wrong star system.
February 2006
An exhibition match between undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Mason "The Line" Dixon and then 59-year-old former champ Rocky Balboa changed the perception that Dixon was “soft.” Dixon beat Balboa by split decision in what turned out to be a true test of character. The champ injured one of his hands early in the fight, but still managed to beat Balboa, who proved to be in exceptional shape, in a gritty contest.
Boston police officer Crispus Allen (age 47) was shot and killed by police crime scene technician James Corrigan, who then tampered with the evidence to avoid prosecution. Allen’s partner Renee Montoya had an emotional breakdown and would quit the police force over the incident. Allen’s spirit was not at rest and would live on, trapped as a ghost in the Ethereal Realm.
In Atlantis, the city of Poseidonis was destroyed by the Spectre, who was acting out of madness without an earthly host. Its governor, Vulko, was killed.
March 2006
In Boston, serial killer Victor Zsasz (age 40) murdered long-time Wayne family butler Alfred Pennyworth (age 87).
Deciding that he could not live as an ordinary human, the de-powered mutant Pietro Maximoff (a.k.a. Quicksilver, age 59) exposed himself to the Terrigen Mist, despite being denied permission by Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans. This restored his powers at an even higher level than before, but with unpredictable results.
Marissa “Missy” Knight (age 19) teamed up with her mother’s former partner Colleen Wing (age 53) as a new incarnation of the “Daughters of the Dragon.”
On March 9-10, U.S. President George W. Bush signed three bills from the U.S. Congress. Two reauthorized the U.S. Patriot Act, and the third was an added measure titled the Super-human Registration Act. Reports soon indicated that a sort of “underground civil war” was being waged in the greatly divided superhero community over whether or not to comply with the new law.
April 2006
Following from the U.S.’s decision to enforce stricter controls on metahumans, the United Nations decided to form its own metahuman agency, the Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive (S.H.A.D.E.). This was the U.N.’s first direct forray into metahuman affairs since T.H.U.N.D.E.R. (1965–1969).
In Alaska, the Collective attacked and killed every active member of Alpha Flight except Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski, age 67). Those killed were: Guardian (James Hudson, Jr., age 29), Major Mapleleaf (Louis Sadler, Jr., age 36), Vindicator (Heather Hudson, age 57), Puck I (Eugene Judd, age 46), Puck II (Zuzha Yu, age 26) and Shaman (Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen, age 81—although his shamanistic magic had made him appear younger).
After being diverted to the wrong star system, Hulk’s spacecraft crash-landed on the distant planet Sakaar. Weakened from the crash, the Hulk was fitted with an obedience disk and taken into slavery. He was forced to fight gladiator battles for the planet’s emperor, the “Red King.”
Daniel Grimm (age 29) celebrated a second Bar Mitzvah, since it had been 13 years since he began his “second life” as “The Thing.” As part of the ceremony, he organized a poker tournament for every available superhero in New York. After Flatman of the Great Lakes X-Men won the tournament., that group renamed themselves the “Great Lakes Champions.” [Thing Vol. 2 #8]
At age 55, Wally West retired as The Flash. Suffering from a condition that caused him to age prematurely, he left our universe for the alternate reality of Earth-Penta, where it was the 26th century and he was able to get the proper medical treatment he needed. He was accompanied by his wife Linda Park-West (age 49), but he left behind his adult, fraternal twin children Iris and Jai (age 24) and Jai’s son William (age 5). Bart Allen (actually age 21, but biologically age 24) became the new Flash.
While several members of the Green Lantern Corps worked to restore the planet Thanagar to its original orbit, and repair the damage done to it, a small group investigated a strange anomaly. This led to a skirmish, during which Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden, age 39) was killed. In her last moments, she breathed the emerald energy that Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern, age 36) once granted her back into him, increasing his powers significantly. Therafter, Rayner began using the alias “Ion.” [Rann/Thanagar War Special: Hands of Fate]
In a surprise attack, the Annihilation Wave, a force from the Negative Zone led by Annihilus, entered our universe and began conquering star systems. They decimated the planet Xandar and its Nova Corps defense force. Richard Rider (age 46), who had been on Earth at the time, was the only surviving Nova Centurion.
On the planet Sakaar, the Hulk becomes a popular attraction in the gladiator arena. He also during this time period formed a warbound pact with his fellow gladiators Miek, no-name Brood, Elloe Kaifi, Lavin Skee, Hiroim and Korg.
After gaining her confidence, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) exposed his daughter, Luna Maximoff to the Terrigen Mist. She had previously been denied this rite of passage by the Inhumans, because she was half-human. The process was successful and granted Luna the power to manipulate others’ emotions at will.
Arthur Joseph “A.J.” Curry (age 16) was summoned by a mysterious creature known as the “Dweller-of-the-Depths.” The Dweller said that he was A.J.’s true father and had once been the hero Aquaman, but had fallen to a curse and devolved into a monster. He said that Curry’s true name was Orin and that he was the heir to the throne of Atlantis. He charged Orin to seize his heritage and rebuild the mighty kingdom of Atlantis. When Orin returned home to Florida to tell his adoptive father, Philip Curry, what had happened, he found that he had died while Orin was away.
June 2006
After the funeral of his adoptive father, Philip Curry, Orin told family friend and Atlantis scholar Stephen Shin about his encounter with the Dweller-of-the-Depths. Shin contacted the media, and demanded that Orin take him to Atlantis. Feeling betrayed, Orin left.
Arriving on Xandar, Richard Rider, the last surviving Nova Centurion, made contact with the living supercomputer known as the Xandarian Worldmind, which uploaded itself and the entire Nova Force into Rider, greatly enhancing his abilities. Meanwhile, the Annihilation Wave continued to sweep through the Andromeda galaxy, obliterating civilizations on thousands of star systems throughout the Skrull Empire.
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) traveled to the island of Genosha, where he attempted to use the Inhumans’ Terrigen Crystals to restore the powers of any mutants who had lost them on “M-Day” (November 2, 2005). However, while Terrigenesis initially seems successful, it has unexpected results and results in the death or illness of some of those exposed to the process. Concerned for her citizens, Pietro’s half-sister Magneto (Lorna Dane) confronted him about the adverse effects of Terrigenesis on the mutant population, and they got into a heated argument.
Meanwhile, in the Inhuman city of Attilan, Videmus admitted to allowing Pietro to escape with the Terrigen Crystals, believing that the Inhumans had grown weak and dull with their luxurious, unchallenging lifestyle, and that by losing the Terrigen Mists they would grow strong again through adversity. Black Bolt punished Videmus by forbidding him to ever make mental contact with another being ever again and forcing him to live in solitary confinement.
Luke Cage (age 56) and Jessica Jones (age 39) were married in New York City.
Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, Jr. (b. 1985) was promoted to the vice squad in Miami, where he was partnered with the son of his father’s old partner on that same squad, William “Sonny” Crockett (b. 1978).
Krishna Mehra, who had inherited the enhanced intelligence and physical attributes that his father had gained from the alien Jadoo, debuted in India as the masked crime fighter “Krrish.”
July 2006
On the planet Sakaar, the Hulk was forced to fight the Silver Surfer, who had also been captured and bound by an obedience disk. During the battle, the Hulk broke the Surfer’s disk, freeing him. The Silver Surfer then destroyed all the obedience disks of everyone in the arena. As he left Sakaar, he offered to return Hulk to Earth, but Hulk chose to remain behind.
Crispus Allen finally relented to the Spectre’s request and allowed him resurrect his physical body, thereby becoming a living host for the Spirit of Vengeance.
U.S. President George W. Bush took a meeting with Tony Stark, Jr. (Iron Man) over concerns that the Super-human Registration Act was being met with resistance among the superhero community, and particularly over the concern that Captain America (Steve Rogers) might not be on board with the process. Stark assured the President to push forward with enforcing the law, and that he would ensure cooperation from his Avengers teammate Captain America. [Civil War #1]
The Inhumans arrived in Genosha and ambushed the mutants there who had been restored by Terrigenesis. During the battle, Unus the Untouchable lost control of his own forcefield powers and suffocated himself to death. Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) tried to slip away with the Terrigen Crystals, but was shot by U.S. special forces. He escaped, but left the crystals behind, and they were seized by the U.S. government. After the battle, the Inhumans demanded the return of the Terrigen Crystals, but the U.S. government refused, citing security concerns. In frustration, the Inhumans issued a declaration of war against the United States and destroyed several military vehicles before returning to Attilan. Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four were forced to severe their ties with the Inhumans, as they were declared a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
It soon became apparent that the effect of Terrigenesis was only temporary on the former mutants, as they all returned to normal within a matter of days to weeks. However, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) had hidden away several of the Terrigen Crystals and would continue to experiment with them.
The 2006 Lebanon War began on July 12 when militants from the group Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israeli border towns. Israel responded with military strikes into southern Lebanon.
August 2006
On Monday, August 14, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the 2006 Lebanon War.
On Thursday, August 24, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) more narrowly defined the term “planet” to exclude objects that had not “cleared the neighborhood” around their orbit. The new definition demoted Pluto, which had been considered the “Ninth Planet” since its discovery in 1930, to the newly created class of “dwarf planet.”
On Wednesday, August 30, in an effort to calm this “Civil War” brewing among his fellow costumed heroes, Peter Parker (age 59) publicly unmasked, revealing his identity as the former Spider-Man. [Civil War #2]
September 2006
On the run from the Red King’s lieutenant, Caiera, Hulk and his allies were attacked by an invasion of “spikes” that cause monstrous mutations and death to anyone they touch. Horrified by the use of this weapon by her king, Caiera switched her allegiance to the Hulk. They then raided the capital and defeated the Red King. Hulk then established himself as the planet’s new ruler and took Caiera as his wife.
As skirmishes between heroes continued, the anti-registration hero Superboy (Kon-El, biologically age 26) was killed by pro-registration robots.
Quasar (Wendell Vaughn, age 54) was killed while facing Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave.
King T’Challa (age 62) and Ororo Munroe (Storm, age 49) were married in a large Wakandan ceremony.
The 2006 Lebanon War officially ended on September 8 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon.
October 2006
Hulk and his queen Caiera began brokering peace among the various conflicts which had festered under the Red King.
By this time, Nova (Richard Rider) had formed an army, the United Front, to oppose the Annihilation Wave as it swept through the universe.
The British Secret Service assigned the 007 number to James Bond, Jr. (age 33), who followed in his father’s footsteps to become the fourth 007 to go by the name “James Bond.”
Dexter Morgan (age 35), a blood spatter analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Department who secretly hunted and killed criminals for sport, began pursuing a new serial killer known as the “Ice Truck Killer.” As his pursuit began to turn into a game of cat-and-mouse, he soon began remembering repressed memories from his youth. [Dexter]
Eric O’Grady (b. 1978), a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. officer, stole Hank Pym’s latest Ant-Man technology and became the new Ant-Man. While he at first showed questionable moral character, he eventually grew into the role of a hero.
On October 4, Australian Internet activist Julian Assange launched WikiLeaks, a website and organization (operating in legal “gray area”) dedicated to publishing classified government information and news leaks from anonymous sources, all in the name of free speech.
November 2006
Elizabeth Lawrence (the original Liberty Belle) died at age 88. In her honor, her granddaughter Jesse Chambers (age 32) changed her costumed alias from “Jesse Quick” to “Liberty Belle.”
Caiera became pregnant with Hulk’s twin sons.
On November 17, a disc-shaped UFO hovered over gate C-17 of the Chicago O’Hare International Airport in front of several witnesses.
December 2006
Captain Comet (Adam Blake, age 75) was killed by Lady Styx.
After 37 years as a crime fighter, Black Canary (Dinah Lance, age 53) left the Birds of Prey team and retired.
The Annihilation Wave reached the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, where it obliterated the Ruul homeworlds, but left the Kree untouched. This was due to an alliance made between Ravenous, deputy of Annihilus, and the House of Flyero, who controlled the ancient Kree homeworld of Hala. Because the resistance to the Annihilation Wave was composed largely of Kree, the House of Flyero had agreed to have the Kree change sides if spared. However, the Kree known as Ronan deposed the House of Flyero and resumed the fight against the Annilation Wave. Ronan would become the new Kree Emperor.
2007
Harry Potter became head of the Auror Department in Great Britain’s Ministry of Magic.
John Rambo fought to defend missionaries during the crisis in Burma. [Rambo]
January 2007
Drax and Moondragon released the Silver Surfer, who in turn released Galactus. Galactus then proceeded to unleash a massive attack that obliterated the majority of the Annihilation Wave, as well as three entire star systems. Nova (Richard Rider) was then able to engage Annihilus in combat and kill him, ending the Annihilation War.
After being gravely wounded by Spymaster, Harold “Happy” Hogan (age 70) was only being kept alive on life support. His daughter, Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 26) gave doctors the go-ahead to disconnect him, and he died.
Vic Sage died of lung cancer at age 59. He bequeathed the legacy of his masked crime-fighting identity, “The Question,” to Boston police officer Renee Montoya (age 36).
The X-Men (Beast, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Shadowcat, Wolverine and a Super-Skrull spy impersonating Colossus) were abducted and taken to Breakworld. The Skrull spy was under orders to incapacitate the human X-Men by administering the “mutant cure” to them while in transit. However, he had found that he had genuine feelings for Shadowcat (Katherine Pryde, age 40) and decided to aid the X-Men rather than hinder them.
February 2007
Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man) died at the age of 67.
Mister Terrific and Power Girl re-formed the Justice Society of America. Sanderson “Sand” Hawkins (now biologically about 33 years old) joined the team, adopting “Sandman” as his new alias, along with a modified version of his mentor Wesley Dodd’s original Sandman costume. Other recruits included Cyclone, Damage, Liberty Belle and Stargirl.
Vul (Gabriel Summers, age 48) freed the Shi’ar criminal Deathbird from prison. The two immediately took a romantic interest in one another.
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. (b. 1955) became a General in the Air Force, following in the footsteps of his father.
March 2007
The witch Circe orchestrated the capture and torture of Wonder Woman (Donna Troy, age 55) by the U.S. Department of Metahuman Affairs for violation of the Super-human Registration Act. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
Daken (Akihiro, age 50) confronted his father Wolverine (Logan, age 115) for the first time.
Black Bolt ordered a strike on key U.S. facilities, led by Gorgon, in order to return the Terrigen Crystals that had been stolen months prior by Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff). During the mission, however, a young Inhuman with plant-like powers named Jolen killed innocent civilians in a concert hall. The Inhuman task force attempted to flee the scene but were stopped and defeated in battle by the Fantastic Four. Gorgon surrendered and took the blame for the unnecessary casualties.
April 2007
The witch Circe used the imprisonment of Wonder Woman by the U.S. government to try to instigate Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons of Themyscira into going to war with the United States. As the diplomatic situation became heated, it indeed appeared that they were on the brink of war. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
Worried about potential harm to civilians due to ongoing fighting in New York City, Captain America (Steve Rogers) removed his mask and surrendered to the police, effectively ending the anti-registration movement, except for small pockets of continuing resistance. Captain America was indicted on criminal charges for his anti-registration efforts. While being walked into a federal courthouse, he was shot and killed by the criminal Crossbones. The assassination was organized by the Red Skull, who then stole Rogers’ body, keeping it cryogenically frozen while using cloning technology to repair the wound.
While in captivity, the Inhuman known as Gorgon was exposed again to the Terrigen Mists by an American scientist. The second transformation was disastrous, turning Gorgon into a feral beast. Black Bolt then led a contingent of Inhumans to rescue the mutated Gorgon, attacking the Pentagon and reclaiming most of the Terrigen Crystals, defeating a limited Avengers contingent in the process.
Vul (Gabriel Summers) used his mutant powers to restore the comatose former Emperor D’Ken to health. To ensure the loyalty of Vul, D’Ken arranged for him to marry his sister, Deathbird.
On April 16, a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
May 2007
Wonder Girl (Carrie Sandsmark, age 24) managed to free her mentor from captivity by the U.S. Department of Metahuman Affairs, but lost her own life in the process. Wonder Woman then traveled to Themyscira, along with several other female heroes, to try to prevent the Amazons from going to war with the United States. Zatanna Zatara (age 55) used a spell to render Circe powerless for one hour. Free from Circe’s influence, Hippolyta was finally convinced to stand down by her daughter, Princess Diana II (age 12), who appealed to her mother to let Wonder Girl’s death be the end of the bloodshed. Realizing that Circe had manipulated the entire affair, Hippolyta then called upon the goddesses to banish her from Themyscira, and Circe disappeared, transported to Hades. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
In the wake of Captain America’s assassination, President George W. Bush named Tony Stark, Jr. (age 30) the new Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and launched the “Fifty State Initiative” to coordinate registered crime fighters across the United States. Stark’s assistant Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 27) became one of the lead coordinators of the program, under the codename “Hera.” Dr. Hank Pym (age 72) was also hired as an advisor. Soon afterward, Dr. Pym was murdered by the Skrull spy Criti Noll, who used his shape-shifting abilities to take Pym’s place. Criti Noll then used Pym’s position of influence to place other Skrull sleeper agents in as many state programs as possible.
Because of the Avengers’ poor showing against the Inhumans and the current scattered nature of the superhero community, the Pentagon decided that they would handle the Inhuman conflict themselves. S.H.I.E.L.D. oversaw a program whereby U.S. Marines were exposed to the Terrigen Mists to create Inhuman-like warriors, and then prepared as a lunar attack force.
While the shuttle that brought Hulk to Sakaar was being turned into a monument, the antimatter warp core engine detonated in a massive explosion. The entire capital was destroyed and his pregnant wife Caiera was killed. Enraged and blaming the Avengers, who had built the faulty shuttle with unproven alien technology, Hulk and his warbound left Sakaar and headed for Earth seeking vengeance. Hulk was not aware at the time that Caiera had been able to shield their unborn children from the explosion, and that they still lived, developing toward their birth in protective, egg-like cocoons of energy.
Roy Harper III (age 32) joined the Justice League and changed his alias from “Arsenal” to “Red Arrow.”
New York City Police Department lieutenant John McClane (age 52) helped the FBI stop a cyber-terrorist attack. [Live Free or Die Hard]
The Skrull spy Pagon, impersonating the Hand ninja clan leader Elektra, was killed in battle with the New Avengers. Upon dying, he reverted to his Skrull form, and the heroes began to wonder how many additional Skrulls were hiding in their midst.
U.S. Marines possessing abilities on par with the Inhumans, but also sick and dying due to cellular instability, were rocketed to the moon to assail the Inhuman city of Attilan. They were repulsed. However, this attack was only a feint designed to allow one Marine to explode within the confines of the city, devastating Attilan. Black Bolt’s mad brother Maximus, who was colluding with the Marines, took control of Attilan and imprisoned his brother.
Having married Deathbird and become a member of the Shi’ar royal family, the human mutant Vul (Gabriel Summers) murdered D’Ken and declared himself the new Shi’ar Emperor, “By succession and by combat!” He then renamed himself “Vul’Ken” and led the growing faction loyal to him into open warfare against the faction still loyal to his sister-in-law Lilandra.
Donna Troy (age 56) retired as Wonder Woman. Against Queen Hippolyta’s wishes, she secretly gave the magic tiara, gauntlets, sandals, and the Lasso of Truth that had belonged to Diana, the first Wonder Woman, to the young princess Diana II (age 12) who now bore her name. [How Amazons Attack! should have gone…]
July 2007
The Flash (Bart Allen, biologically age 25) was tricked by his nemesis Impulse (Thaddeus Thawne, age 23) into a machine that drained him of the Speed Force and transferred it to himself. Allen realized what was happening and managed to tackle Thawne during the transfer, just as his allies Valerie Perez and Iris West were trying to shut down the machine so that it wouldn't detonate. This caused some of the Speed Force to reverberate back into Allen, and it appeared that he disintegrated. However, in reality, he had “bounced” off of the Speed Force, shooting forward in time to June 2008.
Having learned that would-be Shi’ar Emperor Vul’Ken (age 48) was his long-lost son, Gabriel Summers, Corsair (Christopher Summers, still in excellent health at age 79) confronted him and pleaded with him to end the bloodshed. Instead, Vul’Ken declared that he had no father and killed Corsair. Alex Summers (a.k.a. Havok, age 56), one of Corsair’s other sons, then stayed behind in the Triangulum galaxy to take his father’s place on the Starjammers, a band of freedom fighters who resisted Vul’Ken.
The villain Professor Pyg (Lazlo Valentin) debuted in Boston.
August 2007
Hulk returned to Earth, intent on punishing the Avengers.
Skrull spies captured Black Bolt, who was imprisoned in the Inhuman city of Attilan on Earth’s moon, replacing him with an imposter. They then studied him, trying to use his voice as a weapon in their secret invasion against Earth.
The cybernetic hive-mind species known as the Phalanx took control of the Space Knights, and used them to infiltrate the Kree homeworld of Hala. In a matter of weeks, the Phalanx would assimilating the majority of the population of the Kree Empire and encase the Kree’s home galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, in a force field.
September 2007
Hulk continued his rampage around the Earth, intent on punishing those who had banished him off-world.
In order to cure his sister, Betty Ross Banner (age 66), who had suffered for the past decade with the symptoms of a strange radiation sickness, Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. (age 52) made an arrangement with the Leader and his fellow supervillains known as the “Intelligencia.” In exchange for giving her a treatment that would save her but would also give her super-powers, Ross agreed to undergo the same treatment, and to use his new powers to combat his and the Leader’s mutual enemy, the Hulk.
As part of the Fifty State Initiative, the Great Lakes Champions were named the representatives for the state of Wisconsin and renamed themselves the Great Lakes Initiative.
Thor awakened from his dreaming in the void of the Timeless Halls and returned to Earth.
October 2007
Bruce Thomas Wayne (age 61) discovered that he had a son by Talia al Ghul (Damian, now eight years old). [The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul]
Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Jr. and his sister Betty Ross Banner began undergoing treatments from the “Intelligencia” designed to cure Betty of her radiation sickness, and give both of them super powered “strength and endurance.”
Thor summoned the citadel of Asgard to Earth near the town of Broxton in southwest Oklahoma. He then began searching for additional Asgardians, whom he sensed might also have returned.
November 2007
The first new child since M-Day demonstrated mutant powers. Only six years old and already an Omega-level mutant, multiple groups tried to reach Hope Spaulding (b. 2001), some wanting to protect her, some to capture her and some to kill her. According to Cable, she was a Messianic figure in the timeline of his universe (Earth-Askani), ultimately saving both mutants and ordinary humans from destruction. According to Bishop, however, she was an Antichrist-like figure in his universe (Earth-Ye), killing millions in a holocaust termed the “Six Second War.”
In New Orleans, Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr., age 30) confronted the newly returned Thor and instructed him that he was to register as a superhuman under the new federal law. Thor angrily refused, destroying Stark’s armor and criticizing him for his handling of the “Civil War.” Stark then backed down and proposed the possibility of diplomatic immunity for Asgard. Later, Thor discovered Heimdall living inside the body of an old man and summoned him forth, restoring him to his own, Asgardian body.
Iron Man (Tony Stark, Jr.) called together a meeting of the Illuminati to discuss the possibility that the Skrulls were planning an invasion. The meeting was sabotaged by a Skrull impersonating one of their own, Black Bolt, as well as two new Super Skrulls possessing a range of all-new powers.
Bruce Thomas Wayne (age 61) donned the cowl again as Batman and confronted R’as al Ghul to keep him from using Bruce’s son Damian to resurrect a new body for himself. Bruce led R’as to an alternate solution, and R’as was resurrected. Bruce was also healed and slightly de-aged during the process, making him say that he falt, "Injury-free and twenty years younger.” [The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul]
December 2007
Construction was finally completed on Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a.k.a. the “Big Dig,” the most expensive highway project in U.S. history (1991–2007).
In Alaska, the X-Men discovered that Bishop’s Purifiers had slaughtered all of the children in the hometown of Hope Spaulding, the newly emerged mutant. However, Hope herself had not been killed, as she had already been taken by Cable. The chase continued, but Cable eventually ended up with Hope, and would take her to his own universe, Earth-Askani, where he raised her as his own daughter, Hope Summers.
Thor rediscovered and reawakened the Warriors Three in Africa.
Bucky Barnes took over the mantle of Captain America.
Hulk’s sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala, were born on the planet Sakaar, emerging from their protective, egg-like cocoons of energy that their mother Caiera had placed them in when she died.
2008
Housing loan defaults in the United States sparked a global economic crisis.
January 2008
With the help of Heimdall and the Warriors Three, Thor rediscovered and reawakened Loki and hundreds of other Asgardians.
The first wave of opposition to the Phalanx invasion of the Kree Empire began to show signs of success. [Annihilation: Conquest]
Thor called upon his lightning to reveal and restore almost all of the remaining Asgardians hidden in the “hearts and memories” of mankind, from all around the world.
Dave Lizewski (b. 1992), an otherwise ordinary high school student in Toronto, took his obsession with costumed crime fighters as an inspiration to become a real-life superhero. He bought a wetsuit, which he wore under his normal clothing, began exercising, and practiced things like walking on roofs.
March 2008
Moondragon (Heather Douglas, age 51) and Captain Universe (Gabriel Vargas, age 28) were killed while fighting against the Phalanx invasion in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. [Annihilation: Conquest]
April 2008
No longer satisfied “practicing” to be a superhero, teenager Dave Lizewski sought out actual crime to fight. His first attempt earned him a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, after which he wandered into the street and was hit by a car. He managed to retain his secret identity by stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrived, and telling them he was mugged. He would spend the next several months undergoing intense physical rehabilitation, including four operations.
May 2008
A Skrull spy dressed as Spoiler and impersonating the late Stephanie Brown deceived Robin (Tim Drake, age 22) in order to try to infiltrate Batman’s organization. Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr., age 45) was skeptical, but she passed all of the identity tests her could devise for her, and he welcomed her back into his confidence.
June 2008
In addition to a vast armada of standard Skrull warriors, another dozen “Super-Skrulls” joined the fight, each possessing the powers of one or more of Earth’s heroes. Several battles were fought, during which time even many individuals who were normally on the wrong side of the law, such as New York’s “Kingpin of Crime,” came to the aid of the heroes to resist the invaders. During one such battle, Oliver Queen (the former Green Arrow, age 66) was killed. During another, J’onn J’onzz (Martian Manhunter, age 116 in Earth years, or 62 in Martian ords), the last remaining Green Martian in existence, was killed in a firebomb by S.W.O.R.D. agents when his own green skin and shape-shifting abilities made them mistake him for a Skrull.
In the Savage Land, Spider-Girl (May Parker, age 24) and locally-raised Peter Rasputin, Jr. (son of the original Colossus, age 29) helped the natives repel invaders who had been mining resources disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
A handful of Skrull agents changed sides, choosing to aid Earth against what they saw as an unjust invasion. One of those was Lyja, who still loved Johnny Storm (The Human Torch, age 62) and could not follow through with her orders to destroy the Fantastic Four, even though it meant certain death for her and Johnny’s 16-year-old half-human son, Torus. Wounded in the fighting, she made her way to Johnny and informed him that his son was alive and being held captive aboard the Skrull command ship. Johnny then stormed the ship and rescued his son. Johnny also freed Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), the only other prisoner aboard, and she and Torus managed to get back to back safely to Earth in an escape shuttle while Johnny fought off the Skrull attackers. Johnny lost his own life in the process, however.
In the end, the tide of the battle clearly turned when Richards unveiled his device and the Skrulls were no longer able to disguise themselves. In the final battle, Skrull Empress Veranke was killed in New York by Oscorp CEO Norman H. Osborn (age 23). The final, undetected Skrull, who had been imitating Avengers butler Edwin Jarvis, fled for his escape-ship after kidnapping Danielle Cage, the young daughter of Luke and Jessica Cage, but he was killed by sniper Edward Lawton.
On the planet Breakworld, the X-Men stopped a plot by Aghanne to destroy her own planet. In the end, the Breakworldian Ord and the Skrull spy who had been imitating Colossus both sacrificed their own lives to kill Aghanne and prevent her from destroying the planet. This was when the X-Men realized that the spy had not been the real Colossus, as the radioactive core that killed him should not have affected the Colossus they knew.
In the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, the Phalanx was finally defeated and the Kree Empire was freed. [Annihilation: Conquest]
Bart Allen reappeared after “bouncing” off of the Speed Force in July 2007.
Theresa Cassidy (Siryn, age 43) had a drunken one-night-stand with one of the duplicates of Jamie Maddrox (Multiple Man, age 48). Afterward, Maddrox cannot remember the night, but attributes his memory loss to the alcohol. Meanwhile, Theresa soon discovered that she had become pregnant with Jamie’s baby.
July 2008
After the disastrous collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Skrull invasion, U.S. President George W. Bush suspended the organization pending a full investigation.
Following Dick Grayson, Jr.’s death, the retired Bruce Thomas Wayne (age 62) asked his estranged son Bruce Adam Wayne (age 27) to take up the mantle, but Adam was resistant to returning to Boston, preferring to stay in Providence and operate as Nightwing.
Aleea Strange (age 33 in Earth years, or 51 in standard Rannian calendar cycles) discovered that Lady Styx was infecting key residents of Rann with a virus that left them susceptible to mental control, including her father Adam Strange (age 74 in Earth years). Styx was using this influence to grow the base of her religion among the Rannians. Meanwhile, the Thanagarians were being stirred up by Deacon Dark, who was preaching a new, more extreme variety of the traditional Thanagarian religion. This soon led to a new war between planets.
Having arrived back on Earth, X-Men co-leaders Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) and Emma Frost traveled to the Savage Land to recruit Peter Rasputin, Jr. to join the X-Men.
August 2008
As soon as teenager Dave Lizewski was off crutches, he put his superhero suit back on and again went out on patrol. When he saved a man from a beating, an onlooker captured the incident on video and uploaded it to the website YouTube, turning Dave into an overnight sensation dubbed with the name “Kick-Ass.” Toronto’s criminal element did not look favorably upon the arrival of Kick-Ass, as vigilantes are bad for business.Bruce Thomas Wayne asked Tim Drake (age 23) to become the next Batman, but Tim felt that Dick Grayson, Jr.’s death was his fgault and felt unworthy of the offer. Instead, he changed his alias from “Robin” to “Red Robin” and struck out on his own, severing ties with the Waynes.
The trauma of losing her mother caused 12-year-old Katelyn Pryde’s mutrant powers to activate, revealing that she shared the same powers as her mother.
Before joining the X-Men in their new home in San Francisco, Peter Rasputin, Jr. (the new Colossus) took a trip to Russia to visit the grave of his father, Piotr Rasputin, accompanied by his father’s best friends, Kurt Wagner (a.k.a. Nightcrawler) and Logan (a.k.a. Wolverine). While in Russia, however, he was mistaken for his father, abducted and interrogated by the secret Russian government spy program known as the “Red Room.” He and his friends soon escaped, and after a battle with Omega Red, returned to San Francisco. [Uncanny X-Men #496-499]
September 2008
The Red Skull’s consciousness was transferred from the body of Aleksander Lukin to a robot.
Michael Jon Carter’s twin sister, Michelle, followed her brother in coming over from the alternate universe of Earth-Tetra (where it was the year 2463) to become a costumed crime fighter in our universe. She used the alias “Goldstar.” She soon learned that her Earth-Penta counterpart had done the same, but had been killed early in her career, which made her paranoid and induced a few nervous breakdowns as she questioned her fate and her place in the universe. Over time, however, she outlived the original Goldstar and became more confident.
As the school year began, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) continued patrolling for crime in Toronto. Based on the popularity of his YouTube video, he also decided to set up a a social media account so that people who needed help could contact him.
October 2008
Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) answered his first online request for help, and ended up in an apartment full of violent thugs trying to kill him. He was rescued by a costumed, blade-wielding young vigilante named Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready, b. 1997), who brutally killed all of the attackers. She then left to join a man wearing a superhero costume going by the alias Big Daddy (her father Damon McCready, b. 1964). The two disregarded Kick-Ass, whom they considered an amateur.
Still reeling from the damage inflicted by the Skrull invasion, the Inhumans colony on Earth’s moon decided to travel to the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy and claim their birthright: dominion over the Kree Empire.
November 2008
Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dissolved the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and replaced it with the new agency H.A.M.M.E.R. To lead the new agency, U.S. President George W. Bush chose noted business leader, wunderkind and staunch Iraq War supporter Norman H. Osborn, the man who had actually delivered the killing blow to the Skrull Queen during their secret invasion in June 2008. Osborn would make H.A.M.M.E.R. a more paramilitary organization as opposed to the espionage-focused S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Inhumans departed the “Blue Area” of Earth’s moon, bound for the Kree homeworld of Hala in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.
A series of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks occurred across Mumbai, India between Wednesday, November 26 and Saturday, November 29, killing 164 people and wounding at least 308. The attacks were coordinated by terrorist carried out by Pakistani members of the South Asian terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
December 2008
As Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) continued patrolling the streets of Toronto, he learned that his presence was inspiring others to do the same. He soon encountered the Red Mist, with whom he went on patrol. Unknown to Lizewski, the Red Mist was his classmate Chis Genovese (b. 1992), who was the son of local mob boss John Genovese.
The first reports began circulating of a much more violent Batman operating in Boston. Unknown to anyone at the time, it was former Robin, turned “Red Hood,” Jason Todd (biologically age 19).
2009
The world economy slipped into the worst global recession since the 1930s Great Depression.
January 2009
John J. Jameson III (age 61), a former NASA astronaut and son of the legendary editor of the New York Post, was appointed New York City’s new Deputy Mayor of Emergency Management in the third mayoral term of Michael Bloomberg (2009-2013).
H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn (age 23) organized a new team of Avengers, which would come to be nicknamed the “Dark Avengers.”
Janet Van Dyne (the original Wasp) died of natural causes at age 70.
The Inhumans arrived at the Kree homeworld of Hala, and Black Bolt was welcomed as the new Emperor. A wedding was arranged between ineterim Emperor Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman princess Crystal in order to seal the bond between the houses.
On January 20, Barack Obama (b. 1961) became the 44th U.S. President, and the first African American to hold the office.
February 2009
The second Rann-Thanagarian War came to an end, as the planet Rann was rendered uninhabitable. However, Aleea Strange was able to save her people by using the Zeta-beam to transport them all to Throneworld, the now uninhabited homeworld of Strange’s ally Gavyn, a.k.a. “Starman.” The Rannians would rebuild their civilization here, renaming the planet “New Rann.”
King T’Challa (now age 65) received multiple challenges for the throne of Wakanda, and a tournament was held to determine the king. At T’Challa’s insistence, all of the contestants were masked, so that the winner would not be known until the end. At the end, it was revealed that his daughter Shuri (age 18) had emerged triumphant, and that the runner-up she had defeated had been her own father, King T’Challa. Shuri ate of the Heart-Shaped Herb and assumed her place as the first female Black Panther and Queen of Wakanda.
In Toronto, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski), Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready), Big Daddy (Damon McCready) and Red Mist (Chis Genovese) agreed to form a “super team.” As their first target, they chose mob boss John Genovese. However, as Genovese’s son, Red Mist orchestrated an ambush that got Hit-Girl and Big Daddy captured. Hit Girl escaped, but Big Daddy was murdered.
Tim Drake (a.k.a. Red Robin) began wearing the Batman costume in order to confront the imposter Batman. In doing so, he learned that the imposter was Jason Todd. Drake was severely wounded by Todd in a confrontation.
A new Anarky (Norm Alan) began operating in Boston.
In the Triangulum galaxy, Shi’ar Empress Lilandra was routed by the forces of challanger to the throne Vul’Ken (Gabriel Summers), and fled to the Large Magellanic Cloud to ask for help from the Kree.
March 2009
Lilandra of the Shi’ar arrived on the Kree homeworld of Hala and interupted the royal wedding between Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman princess Crystal so that she could ask for help against the usurper Vul’Ken. The Kree then suffered a sneak attack by Vul’Ken, which affirmed their commitment to helping Lilandra. Thus began the “War of the Kings.” between the Kree and Shi’ar empires.
Disguised as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow (Natalie Romanoff, age 24, clone-daughter of the original Black Widow, Natalia “Natasha” Romanova) infiltrated Norman H. Osborn’s Thunderbolts team as a double-agent.
In Toronto, Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) and Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) attacked the headquarters of mob boss John Genovese, killing him and most of his henchmen.
April 2009
May 2009
On May 22, John J. Jameson III handled his first crisis as New York City’s new Deputy Mayor of Emergency Management, as he rallied Namor and the Avengers to turn away a gargantuan monster codenamed “Cloverfield” before it could reach the city.
June 2009
When Simon Trask’s anti-mutant group Humanity Now marched through San Francisco, several anti-mutant and pro-mutant riots broke out. As the police interceded, Dr. Hank McCoy (formerly “Beast” of the X-Men, age 63) was taken into custody. As X-Men tried to quell the fighting all over San Francisco, H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn (age 24) arrived. With noted mutant activist Charles Xavier (a depowered former mutant, biologically age 57) at his side, he asked for an end to the rioting and for X-Men leader Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops, age 62) to turn himself over to authorities and relinquish his leadership role within the mutant community. However, Summers refused. Osborn then released the Dark Avengers into the city, who hunted down X-Men. Meanwhile, in jail, Beast received an encoded message and discovered that the real Charles Xavier was also being held a couple of cells away, and that the man with Osborn was an imposter.
Louis Frohike (age 39), son of the original “Microchip,” David Lieberman, was recruited by Parker Robbins (The Hood) to fight the Punisher.
July 2009
Kree Emperor Black Bolt and Shi’ar Emperor Vul’Ken were both killed in battle when a “T-Bomb” exploded. The bomb destroyed most of the Shi’ar fleet, ending the “War of Kings” with a victory for the Inhuman-led Kree armada. Returning to Shi’ar space, Gladiator (Kallark) became the new Emperor. Where the T-Bomb had exploded, the fabric of time-space was ruptured, and a tear known as the Fault began to widen between our universe and an alternate, parallel universe known as the Cancerverse.
In San Francisco, Norman H. Osborn formed an alternative group of “official” X-Men (which became nicknamed the “Dark X-Men”) with Emma Frost (age 58) as their leader. Emma Frost was actually a mole in the group, however, trying to locate Charles Xavier and save the original X-Men. Osborn held a secret meeting with Scott Summers (Cyclops) to try to work out their differences, but reached an impasse. Meanwhile, some of Osborn’s team were testing a device called the Omega Machine, which was designed to permanently remove mutant powers.
Green Lanterns Ash and Saarek discovered the Black Central Power Battery at a reportedly classified location within Space Sector 666. After touching the battery, Saarek reported that their presence had awoken something. The two were killed when two monstrous hands emerge from below them as the battery called out, “Flesh.” In another part of the universe, a field of asteroids, the remains of the planet Xanshi (destroyed in 1989) in Space Sector 1313, shattered and a large quantity of black power rings moved out of them, headed toward Earth. Meanwhile on Earth, Black Hand (William Hand, age 63) removed the skull of Batman (Dick Grayson, Jr.) from where he had recently been buried in Boston, and carried it with him as his Black Lantern power battery began to charge.
Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm, age 75) became Sorcerer Supreme of Earth’s dimension and changed his alias to “Doctor Voodoo.”
August 2009
After several skirmishes between the original X-Men and the new “Dark” X-Men, the X-Men emerged victorious. They then announced that they were leaving San Francisco to live in “Utopia,” an offshore colony for mutants where they could live in isolation and safety.
Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 29) debuted as “Rescue” in an armored suit designed for her by Tony Stark, Jr. She soon began a romantic relationship with Stark as well.
Thousands of Black Lantern power rings reached the planet Oa and assaulted its crypts, resurrecting dead members of the Green Lantern Corps to create an undead Black Lantern Corps. Meanwhile on Earth, the Flash (Bart Allen, age 26) and Green Lantern Hal Jordan (age 69) investigated Batman’s disturbed gravesite and were attacked by the Martian Manhunter, now an undead Black Lantern. Elsewhere, Hawkwoman (Kendra Saunders, age 47) and Hawkman (Joseph Gardner, age 47) were killed by Black Lanterns Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) and Sue Dibny, and were then themselves reanimated as undead Black Lanterns.
September 2009
Dr. Leonard Samson (a.k.a. Doc Samson, age 69) was revealed to have himself developed multiple personalities, just like his most famous patient, the Hulk.
More Black Lanterns attacked Earth’s heroes. Those reanimated as Black Lanterns included Arthur Curry (Aquaman), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Dick Grayson, Jr. (Batman), Frank Castle (Punisher), Hank Hall (Hawk), Paul Reid (Green Hornet) and Ronald Raymond (Firestorm), among many others. However, the late Dove (Don Hall) proved resistant to the Black Lanterns’ efforts to reanimate him, as his spirit was at peace in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Deadman realized that the dead superheroes were not their true selves when his own physical body was reanimated as a Black Lantern, while his spirit remained free. The Indigo Tribe arrived on Earth and used their indigo power rings to destroy the Black Lantern versions of Ralph and Sue Dibny. They then informed Hal Jordan and his allies that in order to defeat the Black Lanterns, the Lantern Corps of all of the Emotional Spectrum would have to unite. Elsewhere, Black Hand summoned Nekron, an extradimensional entity of undeath, and Necrosha (a.k.a. Selene Gallio), a 17,000 year-old psychic vampire, to serve as his agents in creating more Black Lanterns.
A number of other heroes died defending Earth during the “Blackest Night” conflict with the Black Lantern Corps, including: the Huntress (Rosa Bertinelli, age 43), the Question (Renee Montoya, age 39), Tempest (King Garth of the Hidden Valley, age 57) and Donna Troy (the former Wonder Woman, age 58). In addition, while assisting the current Flash (Bart Allen), Jay Garrick (age 91), the original Flash, entered the Speed Force and left our plane of existence forever.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Walter White began using the alias “Heisenberg.” [Breaking Bad]
In Boston, 21-year-old college student Carrie Kelley (b. 1988) took over the mantle of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain (age 25). [In the comics, this was Stephanie Brown in 2009, and then Barbara Gordon again in 2011. However, Stephanie Brown died in 2004, and Barbara was still paralyzed and by now had probably grown too old for the role.]
November 2009
The Red Skull’s consciousness was transferred from a robot host to the cryogenically preserved body of Captain America (Steve Rogers). However, once revived, Rogers’ mind regained its full function and memory. By force of willpower, Rogers was able to over-ride the Red Skull’s personality and undo the reprogramming, reclaiming his mind and body. The Red Skull’s consciousness was preserved in the robot.
December 2009
The Punisher (Carlos Cruz, age 40) was dismembered and decapitated by Daken.
2010
In Seattle, Washington, Ben Fodor (b. 1988) debuted as the masked crime fighter “Phoenix Jones.”
January 2010
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates became the new tallest building in the world.
Believing he had learned all that he could, Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (age 19) killed his martial arts teacher, the legendary Richard Dragon (age 56).
Six months after the T-Bomb exploded in the space between the Kree and Shi’ar Empires (the intergalactic space between the Large Magellanic Cloud and Triangulum galaxies), the rift in space-time known as the Fault had grown to gigantic proportions and begun to approach the Andromeda galaxy, becoming a major concern for the Nova Corps and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Investigating, the new Quasar discovered that the Fault was a tunnel leading to another, parallel universe that was ruled by evil, organic masses that had consumed their universe like a cancer. Within this “Cancerverse,” Death itself had been defeated and nothing ever died, it just became increasingly corrupted. Before Quasar could return to our universe, he was captured by the Revengers, the Cancerverse version of Earth’s united heroes. Servants of that universe’s Great Old Ones, known there as the Many-Angled-Ones, they planned to invade our universe to allow the cancer to continue to spread. [Realm of Kings]
During the Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears football game on January 3, H.A.M.M.E.R. agents received an anonymous threat indicating that superhuman Asgardian terrorists planned to kill the spectators as they left Detroit’s Ford Field stadium. H.A.M.M.E.R. acted quickly to detain several Asgardian suspects in the area and put up a defensive perimeter. Nothing could be proven and no charges were filed against any of the suspects. (In fact, the entire thing had been a set-up by Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief.) However, H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn cited the incident as the latest in a long list of Asgardian violations of the Super-human Registration Act and suspected terrorist connections. Dissatisfied with the implicit diplomatic immunity they had been granted since arriving on U.S. soil, Osborn decided that the Asgardians were a threat to national security, and he ordered an invasion of the sovereign Asgardian citadel in southwest Oklahoma.
On January 26 in Albuquerque, methamphetamine manufacturer Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” watched and let his partner Jesse Pinkman’s girlfriend Jane Margolis die of a drug overdose. [Breaking Bad]
February 2010
A loose-knit cabal of villainous mad scientists, called the Intelligencia, began kidnapping the world’s most intelligent minds.
Following the ill-informed siege of the Asgardian citadel in Oklahoma, President Barrack Obama removed Norman H. Osborn as Executive Director of the intelligence agency H.A.M.M.E.R.
On February 17, two airplanes collided over Albuquerque, New Mexico due to air traffic controller error, killing all 167 passengers aboard both planes. [Breaking Bad]
On February 27, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Chile, triggering a tsunami over the Pacific and killing at least 525. The earthquake was one of the largest in recorded history.
March 2010
In Albuquerque, methamphetamine manufacturer Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” began working for drug kingpin Gustavo Fring. [Breaking Bad]
In Detroit, Britt Reid III (a.k.a. Britt Reid, Jr., b. 1983), the rebellious son of Britt Reid II, became the fifth Green Hornet after his father was slain by the Black Hornet, a yakuza mobster with a score to settle. The aging but still fit Hayashi Kato (age 62) returned, along with his daughter Mulan Kato (b. 1989), who took over the role of Green Hornet’s crime fighting partner.
Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross Banner, age 68) killed She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters, age 58).
Cable (age 65) and Hope Summers (age 8) returned to our universe from the parallel Earth-Askani universe. (Cable had taken her to his home universe in order to keep her safe and train her to use her powers, but when conditions became unsafe there, they returned.) The cyborg mutant-killer Bastion sensed Hope’s return and he and gave his allies the order to kill the “Mutant Messiah.”
April 2010
Katelyn Pryde (age 14) joined her mother’s former team, the X-Men, as the new “Shadowcat.”
Hulk (Bruce Banner, age 74) and Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross, Jr., age 54) teamed up to defeat the Intelligencia and rescue the geniuses they had kidnapped, including Dr. Ray Palmer (the former Atom, age 75), T’Challa of Wakanda (the former Black Panther, age 66), Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beast, age 64), Dr. Franklin Richards (a.k.a. Mister Fantastic, age 41) and Amadeus Cho (age 17).
Following the death of her aunt Jennifer Walters, Hulk’s daughter Lyra (age 20) adopted the alias “She-Hulk.” At this time, she was not aware that her aunt’s killer, the Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross), was actually her biological mother.
On April 13, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in Qinghai, China, killing at least 2,000 and injuring more than 10,000.
On April 14, volcanic ash from one of several eruptions beneath Mount Eyjafjallajökull, an ice cap in Iceland, began to disrupt air traffic across northern and western Europe.
On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded, killing 11 workers. The resulting oil spill was one of the largest in history, spreading for several months and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
May 2010
At S.H.I.E.L.D., the clone of former Executive Director Amanda Waller was discovered and was revived with the latest memory imprint. Now in a much younger (biologically age 25) and thinner body, Waller requested to return to Belle Reve Prison in Louisiana to again oversee the Suicide Squad program.
The preserved body of Thanos was brought to the Cancerverse, where Death itself had been defeated, and was resurrected there by the Universal Church of Truth. As with all things in the Cancerverse, however, death was replaced by corruption. With his mind not fully his own, he was released back into our universe and went on a destructive rampage. [The Thanos Imperative]
June 2010
Vril Dox used Zeta-beam technology to move the desolated planet Rann out of the Polaris star system and into the Vega system, in the orbit previously held by the now-destroyed planet Tamaran. He then began terraforming Rann (or “New Tamaran”) to make it habitable again.
The Guardians of the Galaxy captured Thanos, who then agreed to help them defeat the forces of the Cancerverse. Secretly, Thanos had his own agenda, however: as an avatar of Death, his agenda was to kill not just everything in the Cancerverse, but everything in our own universe as well. [The Thanos Imperative]
The Super-human Registration Act was repealed. U.S. President Barack Obama heralded the move as the beginning of a “New heroic age.”
After a battle with Bastion and his allies, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner, age 51) rescued Hope Summers and teleported her to the mutant haven of Utopia (off the coast of San Francisco) before dying of his wounds.
July 2010
In Albuquerque, Walter “Heisenberg” White killed Gustavo Fring, and then began building his own methamphetamine drug empire. [Breaking Bad]
Sam Flynn (age 27) discovered a large computer in a hidden basement that belonged to his father, Kevin Flynn, the former CEO of ENCOM who went missing in 1989. The computer suddenly teleported him to “The Grid,” a virtual-reality universe created by his father within ENCOM’s mainframe. There, he discovered his father (age 55) was still alive, but was trapped by a rogue program that had taken control of the Grid. Kevin helped his son escape, sending his apprentice, an “Isomorphic Algorithm” (or ISO) named Quorra, who was the last of her kind, back to the real world with him. [Tron: Legacy]
Aquaman (Orin, age 20) met Mera (age 19), a princess of the pocket dimension of Xebel. (She, coincidentally, had the same name as his mother, but this was a common name among Atlantean nobility.) Mera was betrothed to the Xebel crown prince Nereus, and had been sent into our universe to prove her worthiness to become the future queen. Her mission was to assassinate Aquaman, the heir to the throne of Atlantis. Instead, however, she fell in love with him.
Nimrod-class Sentinel robots attacked the mutant stronghold of Utopia, but were defeated. After Cable sacrificed his own life, Hope Summers manifested the full extent of her Omega-level mutant abilities and mimicked the powers of all of the mutants around her. However, Emma Frost noticed that Hope showed the telltale signs of manifesting the dreaded Phoenix Force as well. Immediately after the battle was won, the mutant-tracking machine Cerebra detected the emergence of five new mutants across the world, and the X-Men dedicate themselves to finding them.
August 2010
The Leader and M.O.D.O.K. used a Cathexis ray to turn a bunch of their henchmen into “hulked out” versions of their enemies and turned them loose on Washington, D.C. (The heroes imitated included Captain America, Thor, Ms. Marvel, Cyclops, Iceman, Storm, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Thing.) They also turned the ray against the U.S. Marines that had come to investigate the disturbance, turning them into “hulks” as well. When Dr. Bruce Banner and his allies arrived to help, they learned that all of those affected would soon die due to the overload of radiation to their bodies. They managed to adjust the Cathexis Ray Generator so that it would act as a siphon, and Banner used his own body to absorb the radiation, transforming him back into the Hulk. Realizing that he could not absorb all of the radiation by himself, Dr. Leonard Samson (a.k.a. Doc Samson, age 70) tried to absorb some of the radiation as well. The “Hulked-Out Heroes” died, but they were able to restore the Marines to health. In the process, however, Samson lost his own life. [World War Hulks]
September 2010
As Dave Lizewski (Kick-Ass, age 18) began his senior year of high school in Toronto, and Mindy McCready (Hit-Girl, age 13) began her freshman year at the same school, both were trying to put their previous vigilante activities behind them. However, it soon became clear that McCready wasn’t ready to do so, and Lizewski asked her to help train him to become a better fighter. Meanwhile, Chris Genovese (formerly known as the Red Mist) was now in control of his family’s fortune and was determined to reinvent himself as a proper supervillain to gain revenge on Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl for the death of his father.
Dr. Jane Foster (age 65) opened a medical practice in Broxton, Oklahoma to be near Thor.
October 2010
A biologically 25-year-old clone of the original Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) was created, and his consciousness was transferred to it from his current robotic host.
November 2010
December 2010
On December 18, the “Arab Spring” began: a revolutionary wave of nonviolent and violent demonstrations, protests, riots and civil wars in the Arab world. Over the coming months, rulers were forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen; civil uprisings erupted in Bahrain and Syria; major protests broke out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Sudan; and minor protests occurred in Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Western Sahara. Fallout from the Arab Spring was also felt in Iran, Mali, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel.
January 2010
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates became the new tallest building in the world.
Believing he had learned all that he could, Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (age 19) killed his martial arts teacher, the legendary Richard Dragon (age 56).
During the Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears football game on January 3, H.A.M.M.E.R. agents received an anonymous threat indicating that superhuman Asgardian terrorists planned to kill the spectators as they left Detroit’s Ford Field stadium. H.A.M.M.E.R. acted quickly to detain several Asgardian suspects in the area and put up a defensive perimeter. Nothing could be proven and no charges were filed against any of the suspects. (In fact, the entire thing had been a set-up by Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief.) However, H.A.M.M.E.R. Executive Director Norman H. Osborn cited the incident as the latest in a long list of Asgardian violations of the Super-human Registration Act and suspected terrorist connections. Dissatisfied with the implicit diplomatic immunity they had been granted since arriving on U.S. soil, Osborn decided that the Asgardians were a threat to national security, and he ordered an invasion of the sovereign Asgardian citadel in southwest Oklahoma.
On January 26 in Albuquerque, methamphetamine manufacturer Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” watched and let his partner Jesse Pinkman’s girlfriend Jane Margolis die of a drug overdose. [Breaking Bad]
February 2010
A loose-knit cabal of villainous mad scientists, called the Intelligencia, began kidnapping the world’s most intelligent minds.
Following the ill-informed siege of the Asgardian citadel in Oklahoma, President Barrack Obama removed Norman H. Osborn as Executive Director of the intelligence agency H.A.M.M.E.R.
On February 27, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Chile, triggering a tsunami over the Pacific and killing at least 525. The earthquake was one of the largest in recorded history.
March 2010
In Albuquerque, methamphetamine manufacturer Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” began working for drug kingpin Gustavo Fring. [Breaking Bad]
In Detroit, Britt Reid III (a.k.a. Britt Reid, Jr., b. 1983), the rebellious son of Britt Reid II, became the fifth Green Hornet after his father was slain by the Black Hornet, a yakuza mobster with a score to settle. The aging but still fit Hayashi Kato (age 62) returned, along with his daughter Mulan Kato (b. 1989), who took over the role of Green Hornet’s crime fighting partner.
Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross Banner, age 68) killed She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters, age 58).
Cable (age 65) and Hope Summers (age 8) returned to our universe from the parallel Earth-Askani universe. (Cable had taken her to his home universe in order to keep her safe and train her to use her powers, but when conditions became unsafe there, they returned.) The cyborg mutant-killer Bastion sensed Hope’s return and he and gave his allies the order to kill the “Mutant Messiah.”
April 2010
Katelyn Pryde (age 14) joined her mother’s former team, the X-Men, as the new “Shadowcat.”
Hulk (Bruce Banner, age 74) and Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross, Jr., age 54) teamed up to defeat the Intelligencia and rescue the geniuses they had kidnapped, including Dr. Ray Palmer (the former Atom, age 75), T’Challa of Wakanda (the former Black Panther, age 66), Hank McCoy (a.k.a. Beast, age 64), Dr. Franklin Richards (a.k.a. Mister Fantastic, age 41) and Amadeus Cho (age 17).
Following the death of her aunt Jennifer Walters, Hulk’s daughter Lyra (age 20) adopted the alias “She-Hulk.” At this time, she was not aware that her aunt’s killer, the Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross), was actually her biological mother.
On April 13, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake occurred in Qinghai, China, killing at least 2,000 and injuring more than 10,000.
On April 14, volcanic ash from one of several eruptions beneath Mount Eyjafjallajökull, an ice cap in Iceland, began to disrupt air traffic across northern and western Europe.
On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded, killing 11 workers. The resulting oil spill was one of the largest in history, spreading for several months and releasing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
May 2010
The preserved body of Thanos was brought to the Cancerverse, where Death itself had been defeated, and was resurrected there by the Universal Church of Truth. As with all things in the Cancerverse, however, death was replaced by corruption. With his mind not fully his own, he was released back into our universe and went on a destructive rampage. [The Thanos Imperative]
June 2010
Vril Dox used Zeta-beam technology to move the desolated planet Rann out of the Polaris star system and into the Vega system, in the orbit previously held by the now-destroyed planet Tamaran. He then began terraforming Rann (or “New Tamaran”) to make it habitable again.
The Guardians of the Galaxy captured Thanos, who then agreed to help them defeat the forces of the Cancerverse. Secretly, Thanos had his own agenda, however: as an avatar of Death, his agenda was to kill not just everything in the Cancerverse, but everything in our own universe as well. [The Thanos Imperative]
The Super-human Registration Act was repealed. U.S. President Barack Obama heralded the move as the beginning of a “New heroic age.”
After a battle with Bastion and his allies, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner, age 51) rescued Hope Summers and teleported her to the mutant haven of Utopia (off the coast of San Francisco) before dying of his wounds.
July 2010
Sam Flynn (age 27) discovered a large computer in a hidden basement that belonged to his father, Kevin Flynn, the former CEO of ENCOM who went missing in 1989. The computer suddenly teleported him to “The Grid,” a virtual-reality universe created by his father within ENCOM’s mainframe. There, he discovered his father (age 55) was still alive, but was trapped by a rogue program that had taken control of the Grid. Kevin helped his son escape, sending his apprentice, an “Isomorphic Algorithm” (or ISO) named Quorra, who was the last of her kind, back to the real world with him. [Tron: Legacy]
Aquaman (Orin, age 20) met Mera (age 19), a princess of the pocket dimension of Xebel. (She, coincidentally, had the same name as his mother, but this was a common name among Atlantean nobility.) Mera was betrothed to the Xebel crown prince Nereus, and had been sent into our universe to prove her worthiness to become the future queen. Her mission was to assassinate Aquaman, the heir to the throne of Atlantis. Instead, however, she fell in love with him.
Nimrod-class Sentinel robots attacked the mutant stronghold of Utopia, but were defeated. After Cable sacrificed his own life, Hope Summers manifested the full extent of her Omega-level mutant abilities and mimicked the powers of all of the mutants around her. However, Emma Frost noticed that Hope showed the telltale signs of manifesting the dreaded Phoenix Force as well. Immediately after the battle was won, the mutant-tracking machine Cerebra detected the emergence of five new mutants across the world, and the X-Men dedicate themselves to finding them.
August 2010
September 2010
As Dave Lizewski (Kick-Ass, age 18) began his senior year of high school in Toronto, and Mindy McCready (Hit-Girl, age 13) began her freshman year at the same school, both were trying to put their previous vigilante activities behind them. However, it soon became clear that McCready wasn’t ready to do so, and Lizewski asked her to help train him to become a better fighter. Meanwhile, Chris Genovese (formerly known as the Red Mist) was now in control of his family’s fortune and was determined to reinvent himself as a proper supervillain to gain revenge on Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl for the death of his father.
Dr. Jane Foster (age 65) opened a medical practice in Broxton, Oklahoma to be near Thor.
October 2010
A biologically 25-year-old clone of the original Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) was created, and his consciousness was transferred to it from his current robotic host.
November 2010
December 2010
On December 18, the “Arab Spring” began: a revolutionary wave of nonviolent and violent demonstrations, protests, riots and civil wars in the Arab world. Over the coming months, rulers were forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen; civil uprisings erupted in Bahrain and Syria; major protests broke out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Sudan; and minor protests occurred in Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Western Sahara. Fallout from the Arab Spring was also felt in Iran, Mali, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel.
2011
January 2011
In Toronto, as Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) promised her stepfather she would give up costumed crime fighting. Kick-Ass (Dave Lizewski) then began to team up with a number of other amateur, “real-life superheroes,” including Colonel Stars and Stripes, Battle Guy, Dr. Gravity, Insect Man and Night-Bitch. They eventually start calling themselves “Justice Forever.”
Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm, age 76), the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth’s dimension, was killed.
Presumed dead, police officer Vincent “Vince” Faraday became the masked vigilante known as “The Cape” in order to clear his name and defeat the criminal Chess (Peter Fleming).
February 2011
On February 12, Lois Lane Kent died at age 92. Her grandson Clark Kent II was 17 years old at the time and a senior in high school in Hutchinson, Kansas. After graduating, he would move to Dallas, Texas and debut as the second Superman. (He would turn 18 on December 1.)
March 2011
The Cape (Vince Faraday) was killed by henchmen of criminal businessman Peter Fleming (a.k.a. Chess).
On March 11, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing 15,840 and leaving another 3,926 missing. Tsunami warnings were issued in 50 countries and territories. Emergencies were declared at four nuclear power plants affected by the quake, including the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which experienced a nuclear meltdown of three of the plant’s six nuclear reactors on March 12.
April 2011
Drug kingpin Walter White, a.k.a. “Heisenberg,” fled Albuquerque and went into hiding in New Hampshire. [Breaking Bad]
Louis “Microchip Junior” Frohike (age 41) was killed by Henry Russo (the son of Billy Russo, a.k.a. Jigsaw).
In Toronto, in response to the activities of Kick-Ass and his group Justice Forever, young crime boss Chris Genovese began calling himself “The Motherfucker,” and formed a group of costumed supervillain henchmen.
May 2011
In Toronto, crime boss Chris Genovese and his gang of criminals murdered Justice Forever leader Captain Stars and Stripes and put a number of other vigilantes in the hospital, then brutally massacred police officers responding to calls for help. The Toronto police responded by rounding up all of the amateur crime fighters active in the area. When they tracked down Kick-Ass through his Internet activity, Dave Lizewski’s father claimed that it was he who had been wearing the costume, and so they arrested him instead of his son. Genovese then had him murdered in his holding cell.
On May 2, Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. military forces in Pakistan.
June 2011
In Toronto, crime boss crime boss Chris Genovese attacked the funeral of Dave Lizewski’s father, and tried to kill Dave. However, Hit-Girl (Mindy McCready) saved her friend. Deciding that she could no longer stand idly by, she returned to her life as a vigilante. Learning that Genovese was planning an attack in downtown Toronto, Dave and Mindy instead issued a challenge for an all-out battle on neutral ground.
Odin moved the citadel of Asgard from Oklahoma back to the world of Asgard in the universe of Eä, where the Asgardians began to rebuild from the ruins of Ragnarök.
July 2011
Phoenix Jones (Ben Fodor, age 23) and other amateur costumed crime fighters in the Seattle area formed a loosely organized group known as the “Rain City Superhero Movement.”
On July 1, Kick-Ass (age 19) and Hit-Girl (age 14) led their “Justice Forever” army of costumed heroes to Chris Genovese’s warehouse, where they battled his army of costumed villains in a brutal battle. Justice Forever won the battle, but there were many casualties on both sides. Chris Genovese fell into a giant shark tank, where he was mauled and left for dead, but survived with all of his limbs bitten off. After the battle, Hit-Girl, who was now wanted for murder, left Toronto on the run. Kick-Ass continued his training, but most of the other Justice Forever heroes gave up crime fighting permanently.
On July 16, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around the large asteroid Vesta, the first object of its kind to be studied in detail.
August 2011
September 2011
On September 17, “Occupy Wall Street” protests began in the United States. This soon developed into the Occupy movement which had spread to 82 countries by October.
October 2011
On October 13 in Seattle, costumed crime fighter Phoenix Jones (Ben Fodor, age 23) revealed his secret identity to the public following a court date.
November 2011
December 2011
The last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on December 18.
2012
January 2012
The android known as “The Vision” was rebuilt by Tony Stark, Jr.
Gamora and Rocket Raccoon helped 15-year-old Sam Alexander (b. 1996) discover how to use his father’s Black Nova helmet to become a new Nova. [Nova Vol. 5 #1]
February 2012
March 2012
James Bond, Jr. (age 39) was shot while on assignment in Istanbul and was presumed dead. He actually survived and chose to retire as British secret agent 007.
April 2012
Batman (Bruce Adam Wayne) and his allies took on the Court of Owls and their Talons during “The Night of the Owls.”
A chemist named Dr. Phayne, who had analyzed and recreated Mark Desmond’s formula, began experimenting on an amnesiac, whom he gave Mark Desmond’s identity. When the amnesiac had the same reaction as Desmond, turning into a monstrous, child-like brute, Phayne named him the third “Blockbuster” and used him to commit crimes.
Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady, age 34) was killed while on a mission for the Secret Avengers.
May 2012
Rocket Red (Gavril Ivanovich) was killed in action.
Nova (Sam Alexander) came to the planet Birj, trying to warn its people of the coming of the Phoenix Force. Instead, he battled Terrax, who refused to leave his planet. He managed to escape the destruction caused by the Phoenix, and fled to Earth, to warn of the coming of the Phoenix Force.
June 2012
New York City Police Department lieutenant John McClane (age 57) traveled to Russia after his son, Jack (b. 1984), was arrested there. Discovering that his son was secretly a CIA agent, the two of them had an adventure before returning to the U.S. [A Good Day to Die Hard]
July 2012
August 2012
When he discovered that he had sired a son with another woman, T’Challa (age 68) annulled his marriage to Ororo Munroe (Storm, age 60). Under Wakandan law, this allowed him to claim the child T’Chana (b. 2006) as his lawful son and heir.
Hurricane Sandy killed at least 209 people in the Caribbean, Bahamas, United States and Canada. Considerable storm surge damage caused major disruption to the eastern seaboard of the United States.
On August 6, the Mars Science Laboratory mission’s rover Curiosity successfully landed on Mars.
On August 25, at a distance of 121 AU (18.1 billion km) from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft arrived at the heliopause (the point at which charged particles from the interstellar medium are no longer deflected by the solar winds) and entered the interstellar medium.
September 2012
After MI6 headquarters was bombed in London, James Bond, Jr. returned to active duty as agent 007 to track down the former agent, Raoul Silva, behind the bombing. Although he did not pass the physical and psychological examinations for reinstatement, Olivia Mansfield, the director of MI6 (code name “M”) reinstated him anyway.
A series of terrorist attacks were directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide September 11–27, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
October 2012
Secret agent James Bond, Jr. lured former agent turned cyber-terrorist Raoul Silva to his family estate, Skyfall, in Scotland. Silva was killed in the final confrontation, but so was “M” (the director of MI6, Olivia Mansfield).
Superman (Clark Kent II, age 18) began dating Wonder Woman (Diana II of Themyscira, age 18) began dating.
November 2012
Gareth Mallory was appointed the new director of MI6 (code name “M”).
December 2012
Jennifer “Pepper” Hogan (age 32) retired as the armored crime fighter “Rescue.”
2013
January 2013
February 2013
On February 15, a 10,000 ton meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk with the force of a 500 kiloton bomb, injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It was the most powerful meteor to strike Earth’s atmosphere in over a century. Afterward, many Russians—especially eyewitnesses—said they did not believe it was a meteor.
March 2013
April 2013
Aquaman (Orin, age 22) deposed Ocean Master (Koryak, age 34) and became the new king of Atlantis.
Damian Wayne (Robin, age 14) was killed.
On April 15, two brothers from the Chechnya region of Russia, Tamerlan Tsarnaev (age 26) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (age 19), planted and exploded a pair of bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring 264 others. The suspects were quickly identified by the FBI with the aid of Batman. Tamerlan was slain in a shootout with police on the campus of M.I.T. on April 18, and Dzhokhar was captured alive thanks to Batman (Bruce Adam Wayne, age 34) after a standoff with police on the following day. Dzhokhar’s defense team claimed that he had been a victim of brainwashing, but he was finally convicted on all charges at his trial in 2015. A clue to the actual mastermind of the attack was hidden in the bomber’s name, as “Dzhokhar” bears a noticeable resemblance to “Joker,” but no tangible evidence could be found linking the master criminal with the case.
On April 24, an eight-story commercial building collapsed in Savar Upazila, Bangladesh in one of the deadliest non-terrorist structural collapses in modern times, killing 1,129 and injuring 2,500.
May 2013
In Mumbai, India, the superhero Krrish (Krishna Mehra, age 33) faced an elaborate conspiracy orchestrated by the evil genius Kaal and his team of mutants. [Krrish 3]
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
Dr. Jane Foster (age 68) was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her longtime ally Thor soon brought her to Asgard for medical treatment, but she refused any form of magical aid.
September 2013
Serial killer Dexter Morgan (age 42), the “Bay Harbor Butcher,” disappeared at sea and was presumed dead. [Dexter]
October 2013
Ricardo Diaz, Jr. (age 23) debuted in Seattle under the alias “Richard Dragon,” a name he had stolen from the mentor he had murdered.
After being trained by her aunt, Dinah Laurel Lance (age 60), Sarah Lance (age 19) debuted as the third “Black Canary.”
November 2013
Under new Emperor Kl’rt, the Skrulls consolidated their central government on Tarnax II.
The Justice League became entangled in an interdimensional struggle with Skeletor of Eternia. [DC Universe vs. The Masters of the Universe]
In Mumbai, India, the son of Krishna Mehra (a.k.a. Krrish) was born and was named Rohit after his grandfather. From a young age, it was clear that he exhibited the same enhanced mental and physical powers that his father and grandfather had before him. [Krrish 3]
December 2013
Following Sinestro’s slaughter of the Guardians of the Universe for their Third Army plot and their part in his home planet Korugar’s destruction, the planet Oa was attacked and destroyed by Relic. Under Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern Corps established a new base of operations on the living planet and Green Lantern Corps member Mogo.
2014
January 2014
February 2014
The most severe epidemic to date of the Ebola virus began in West Africa, infecting over 24,000 people and killing at least 10,000.
On February 22, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev. Subsequent pro-Russian unrest throughout southern and eastern Ukraine further destabilized the country.
March 2014
On March 16, a referendum was held in the territory of Crimea, with a great majority voting in favor of secession from Ukraine. The following day, following the official announcement of the referendum results, the Supreme Council of Crimea declared the formal independence of the Republic of Crimea. Parliament also formally requested that the Russian government admit the breakaway republic into Russia. On March 18, representatives of the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation signed the Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia, and on March 21, Russia formally annexed Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the process. The international response to this action was negative. During an emergency meeting on March 24, the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8. On March 27, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the Crimean referendum. Additional resolutions and economic sanctions against Russia would follow.
April 2014
May 2014
June 2014
July 2014
August 2014
Several months of protests and civil disorder began the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer on August 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the U.S. about the relationship between law enforcement officers and African Americans, the militarization of the police, and the use of force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide.
September 2014
October 2014
On Earth’s moon, Dr. Jane Foster (age 69) lifted Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor. Found worthy of its power, she was transformed into an Asgardian goddess possessing the full power of Thor. Concealing her identity, she took his name and became a champion. However, whenever she would transform back into her human form, she found that she was still weak, old and frail, and that her cancer had grown worse.
November 2014
On November 12, the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae probe successfully landed on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft had landed on such an object.
December 2014
On December 17, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba, removing the last vestige of the Cold War.
2015
January 2015
Based in the model of the European Union, the post-Soviet states Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia founded the Eurasian Economic Union, which went into effect on January 1. Armenia became a member the following day, and Kyrgyzstan’s membership was approved to begin in May 2015.
February 2015
With the aid of Doctor Doom (Kristoff von Doom, age 40), the spirit of Jericho Drumm was bound to his distant relative, Joshua Drumm (b. 1989), who had studied voodoo in Haiti but turned away from it when he moved to the U.S. to attend college. Joshua then embraced his voodoo heritage once again and became the new Brother Voodoo.
On the night of Wednesday, February 18, several people witnessed a disc-shaped UFO crash into the snow and ice on the Jackhead reserve in northern Manitoba, Canada. Many more had witnessed the craft’s lights moments earlier as it passed over Lake Winnipeg. Despite amateur photographs and video clearly showing that the UFO was an alien spacecraft, the Canadian government claimed that it was a military plane. They restricted access to the crash site, confiscated cameras and towed away the wreckage.
March 2015
On March 6, NASA’s Dawn probe entered orbit around Ceres, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.
April 2015
On April 12, Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr. suffered traumatic injuries to his spinal cord while being arrested by police in Baltimore. While the circumstances of the injuries were initially unclear, eyewitness accounts suggested that the officers involved used unnecessary force against Gray while arresting him. When Gray died from those injuries on April 19, it sparked an ongoing series of protests and civil disorder, which intensified on April 25 when a major protest in downtown Baltimore turned violent, and again on April 27 following Gray’s funeral, prompting Governor Lawrence Hogan to declare a state of emergency.
May 2015
June 2015
On June 26, in a 5–4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state bans on same-sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, thus legalizing gay marriage throughout the nation.
July 2015
On July 14, NASA’s New Horizons probe will make its closest approach to Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft to visit a plutoid.
August 2015
September 2015
October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
2016
2016
January 2016
February 2016
March 2016
April 2016
May 2016
June 2016
July 2016
August 2016
September 2016
October 2016
November 2016
December 2016
2017
January 2017
On January 20, a new U.S. President will be sworn into office.
February 2017
March 2017
April 2017
May 2017
June 2017
July 2017
August 2017
September 2017
Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy will begin their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
October 2017
November 2017
December 2017
2018
NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble.
January 2018
February 2018
March 2018
April 2018
May 2018
June 2018
July 2018
August 2018
September 2018
October 2018
November 2018
December 2018
2019
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will complete the process of merging nearly all of South America (with the exception of a few small, European territories) into a single economic market.
2019
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will complete the process of merging nearly all of South America (with the exception of a few small, European territories) into a single economic market.
January 2019
February 2019
March 2019
April 2019
May 2019
June 2019
July 2019
August 2019
September 2019
October 2019
November 2019
December 2019
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