ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (07/13/85)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> I just read DC Presents #87, in which Superman (of Earth-1) gets zapped to Earth-Prime (the parallel earth where we live, or at least the one where Supes is a character in a magazine published by DC Comics, edited by Julius Schwartz, etc.). While there he meets the Superboy of Earth-Prime, a boy who was sent to Earth from Krypton (the one in Earth-Prime's dimension) just before it was destroyed, about 15 years ago. This boy is adopted by the Kent family and given the name "Clark". At the beginning of this issue, Halley's Comet comes by and activates Superboy-Prime's latent powers. He teams up with Superman (Earth-1) and at the end of the issue they are both zapped away. They will reappear in next month's issue of SUPERMAN, according to the next-episode blurb. OK, why am I writing this? Well, at the beginning of the issue, Superman is mourning the death of Supergirl. Therefore, this story takes place after Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. But it is established in COIE #6 that only five of the parallel universes still exist at that point, namely Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-4, Earth-S, and Earth-X. These are, respectively, the homes of the present DC heroes, the Golden Age DC heroes, the Charlton heroes, the Fawcett (Captain Marvel) heroes, and the Quality heroes (Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, etc.). So, how can Earth-Prime still exist? I don't have an answer, but it seems like a pretty obvious inconsistency. Other related problems in the same issue: Superman points out tourists from Arcturus and invaders from Polaris-six, who are in the middle of a long-standing war with the Betelgeuse Confederacy. Seeing as he knows this is a parallel dimension, how can he assume that the political situation is the same? And besides, isn't Polaris the sun that Thanagar circles? Anyone with answers or other observations, let me know! Inciedntally, the Polarians know that Superman is from another dimension. Mike Ciaraldi seismo!rochester!ciaraldi