What the heck is Hypertime? The Multiverse?
The Multiverse and Hypertime are two ways DC has used to structure alternate-reality stories. Until 1985, DC had a series of parallel universes that they called the Multiverse. Earth-1 was home to the Justice League and DC’s current heroes. Earth-2 was home to the Justice Society and DC’s Golden Age heroes. Other universes contained alternate histories, or heroes that DC had purchased from other comics companies. Each universe was distinct, and some heroes could easily travel from one universe to another. In 1986, Crisis on Infinite Earths got rid of the multiverse and combined all the groups of heroes into one shared universe. Hypertime was a more fluid approach, introduced in 1999. Instead of parallel universes, there was a branching timeline. Each reality was an alternate timeline, branching off from some point in the past. Maybe a few months ago, maybe a few decades, maybe centuries.
