Trade Paperback Timelines F.A.Q.

General Questions

– 1 — How are entries formatted?

Each entry has the name of the reprint volume listed in bold type. These names are also hyperlinked to the relevant pages on Amazon.com – hovering over a link will cause a small window displaying the cover and purchase information to appear.
Underneath this is listed the issues that are reprinted in the volume, along with their original publication dates. Where needed, additional information is provided to help explain the placement of a particular volume.
Novels and movies, where they appear on timelines, are described as such.

– 2 — What is a Sliding Timeline?

Sliding Timelines are employed by Marvel and DC Comics as a means of preventing characters from aging too much. Dates on a Sliding Timeline are usually defined as either “Year #” or as “# Years Ago”. For both major companies, the beginning of their modern heroic ages is dated somewhere between 10 and 20 years ago (varying according to the source). By implication, certain events predating the actual beginnings of these timelines are also connected to them, such as character origins, birthdates, etc.

– 3 — What gets included?

My attitude to continuity is to include everything, but to make appropriate notes explaining where different books contradict each other. This is especially the case with DC Comics, who have rebooted their universe so many times that what is in and out of continuity is, to say the least, unclear.

– 4 — How are entries dated?

Most of the dates in my DC Universe Timeline are based on the wonderfully detailed Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe.
Golden Age (and Atlas Age, for Marvel) reprints are a special case, as they are assumed to have happened more or less on their original publication dates in the absence of conflicting information in the actual stories themselves.

– 5 — What about time travel stories?

Most time travel stories are dated based on the perspective of the time traveller/s, or, if they are not the protagonists, the protagonists of the title – which is usually based on their publication dates, crossovers and other dating information in the relevant title/s. So far, this has been sufficient to encompass all the time travel stories in the timelines I have done.

– 6 — Why are some entries indented further than others?

If an entry is indented, what’s being indicated there is that that particular entry takes place during the un-indented entry immediately above it. You can see an example of this in the Elric chronology, towards the bottom of the page. While this information is also listed in the text for each entry, it’s convenient to have the visual cue as well.

– 7 — What does the Arrow icon –> mean?

This icon appears on some pages of the Marvel Universe timeline, and indicates that the entry immediately following was not originally released at the same time as the content around it, but added later. This information is implied by the issue dates (which are also listed) in each case, but the icon provides a visual cue as well. This icon appears nowhere on pages 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the timeline, for the simple reason that every title on these pages is a later insertion.

– 8 — Why isn’t ‘insert name here‘ listed?

As a general rule, I don’t like to list things unless I’ve read them myself and figured out to my own satisfaction where they fit in. This often leads to large numbers of books being added to a timeline at once, as I finish a particular group and add it to the appropriate chronology.
So the short version is “because I haven’t gotten to it yet”. If there’s something you feel belongs somewhere, by all means let me know – I’ll try to prioritise in favour of things that people are particularly calling for.

– 9 — What does ‘This placement is approximate‘ mean?

I try to avoid using those words, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. It means that I have not yet read the volume in question, but have placed it based on references to other volumes that I have read.

– 10 — Why don’t you list Omnibus editions, Essentials, Showcases, etc?

This is a deliberate choice on my part: I prefer to list the smallest possible units in order to be able to create a reading order more accurately. However, I will make exceptions for issues that are not reprinted elsewhere, so a few such volumes will show up in various timelines, such the Essential Godzilla volume from Marvel.