(Continued from The Modern Age)

 

THE HEROIC AGE, PART ONE (A.D. 1913 - A.D. 1940)

A.D. 1913:

Character Debuts:

  • Betsy Bobbin
  • Jiggs
  • Maggie

 

Events:

  • Kal-El is born on Krypton to Jor-El and Lara. Jor-El, a leading Kryptonian scientist, becomes convinced that Krypton is doomed but is unable to convince the Kryptonian leadership. Jor-El conceives the idea of escaping Krypton by using rockets.
  • Dorothy Gale meets Scraps the Patchwork Girl.
  • The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones battle a group of aliens who call themselves "The Family".


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A.D. 1914:

Character Debuts:

  • Boob McNutt
  • Hans Von Hammer

 

Team Debut:

  • The Vulture Squadron (15)

 

Events:

  • Bruce Wayne is born in Gotham City, NJ.
  • Cartoonist/scientist Winsor McCay opens an interdimensional bridge between Los Angeles and the other-dimensional Toontown. (16)
  • Mondoshawan guardians arrive on Earth to retrieve the four stones of the elements as well as the Fifth Element, the Ultimate Weapon, from their resting place in an ancient Egyptian temple, feeling they are no longer safe owing to the wars they foresee are about to engulf the Earth.  The Great War begins shortly thereafter.
  • Betsy Bobbin travels to Oz.
  • On Vathlo Island on Krypton, scientist Val-Zod hears of Jor-El’s theory and believes it is true. He constructs an experimental rocket of his own, and test-launches it with himself inside. It goes off-course and he is believed lost.
  • The First and Twelfth Doctors return Captain Archibald Lethbridge-Stewart to his proper place in time.


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A. D. 1915:

Events:

  • Jor-El launches his family's pet dog Krypto into space while testing a prototype rocket. A meteor deflects the rocket into deep space, and Jor-El considers the dog lost.
  • The Toonerville Trolley begins operation.
  • Trot Griffiths travels to Oz.
  • Doug Phillips and Tony Newman battle the ghost of Nero in Italy.


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A.D. 1916:

Character Debut:

  • Hercule Poirot

 

Events:

  • Jor-El launches Kal-El into space as Krypton is destroyed. Kal-El lands on Earth and is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent of Smallville, KS, who name him “Clark”.
  • Santino “Sonny” Corleone is born.
  • Dorothy Gale and Ozma of Oz help restore the king and queen of Pingaree.

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A.D. 1917:

Character Debuts:

  • Andy Gump
  • The Balloon Buster (Steve Savage)
  • G-8

 

Team Debut:  

  • Freedom’s Five (17)

 

Events:

  • Vito Corleone first becomes involved in crime.
  • Captain Edmund Blackadder is killed in World War One.
  • Ozma of Oz is kidnapped by Ugu the Shoemaker.

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A.D. 1918:

 Events:

  • The Tin Woodman looks up his old girlfriend Nimmie Amee.
  • Matthew Crawley is injured fighting in the First World War.  A Canadian officer appears at Downton Abbey, claiming to be Patrick Crawley.
  • Francie Nolan attends the University of Michigan.


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A.D. 1919:  

Character Debuts:

  • The Air Ace (“Whit” McAleer)
  • Barney Google
  • Felix the Cat
  • Harold Teen
  • Olive Oyl
  • Randolph Carter
  • Waldo the Wonder Man (Rupert Waldo)

 

Events:

  • Fredo Corleone is born.
  • The Nome King and Kiki Aru attempt to conquer Oz.
  • The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and Subjugation of Humanity (THRUSH) is founded.

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A.D. 1920:

Character Debuts:  

  • Blackshirt (Richard Verrell)
  • Winnie Winkle

 

Events:

  • Michael Corleone is born. Vito Corleone kills Don Fanucci.
  • Donald Duck is born in Duckburg.
  • Dorothy Gale, Princess Ozma and Glinda the Good settle a conflict between the Flatheads and the Skeezers.
  • Captain Elliot Spencer opens the Lament Configuration and becomes the Pinhead.
  • John and Myrtle Sappo take up residence in the suburban town of Despaire.
  • Mister Extraordinary vanishes.
  • Kathy Nightingale is stranded in this time by the Weeping Angels.
  • Matthew Crawley proposes to Mary Crawley.

 

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A.D. 1921:

Events:

  • Walt Wallet adopts the foundling Skeezix.
  • In Egypt, an expedition led by Sir Joseph Whemple inadvertently revives Im-Ho-Tep.


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A.D. 1922:

Character Debut:

  • Fritzi Ritz

 

Event:

  • The nosferatu Count Orlock terrorizes the Transylvanian countryside.


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A.D. 1923:

Character Debut:

  • Moon Mullins

 

Events:

  • Constanzia “Connie” Corleone is born.
  • Tokyo Prefectural 49th Junior High School is established.

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A.D. 1924:

Character Debuts:

  • Casper Milquetoast
  • Chrono the Demon
  • Little Orphan Annie
  • Sister Rosette Christopher

 

Events:

  • Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered.
  • Norma Pickman, the kid sister of Richard Upton Pickman has a brief affair with Alexei Luthor, who soon abandons her. The affair results in her son Norman. Rather than face the stigma of single motherhood, she gives him up for adoption and moves to California.  (18)
  • Seeking revenge on those he believes wronged him, Robert Griffin - younger brother of John and Frank - seeks out Doctor Drury, a scientist that he knows has been following up on his brother's invisibility research.  Robert uses invisibility as part of his attempted revenge, but it ends badly and he is killed.


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A.D. 1925:

Character Debuts:

  • Bess
  • Crown
  • Porgy
  • Sportin' Life

Events:

  • The Fifth Doctor and Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa of Traken and Maggie Simpson  solve a murder mystery at Cranleigh Hall in England.
  • Ethan Crane and his dog Radar gain super-powers. Ethan begins fighting crime as Kid Supreme.
  • Vito Corleone avenges the deaths of his father and brother.
  • Norman Pickman is adopted by a couple named Osborn, who give the boy their last name.

 

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A.D. 1926:

Character Debut:

  • Charlie Chan

 

Events:

  • Walt Wallet marries Phyllis Blossom.
  •  Richard Pickman disappears.
  • The Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble and Agatha Christie battle a Vespiform.

 

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A.D. 1927:

Character Debuts:

  • Buck Rogers
  • Frank Hardy
  • Joe Hardy

 

Events:

  • Buck Rogers is caught in a mine cave-in. A mysterious gas puts him into suspended animation.
  • Dick Grayson is born in Gotham City, NJ.
  • The Corleones adopt Thomas Hagen.
  • Peter Pevensie is born.


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A.D. 1928:

Character Debuts:

  • Brigid O' Shaughnessy
  • Joe Palooka
  • Mickey Mouse
  • Miles Archer
  • Sam Spade
  • Solar Pons


Event:

  • Susan Pevensie is born.
  • Following the death of his father, Mame Dennis assumes custody of his orphaned son, Patrick.
  • Hildy Johnson resigns from his job as a reporter.


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A.D. 1929:

 

Character Debuts:  

  • Captain Easy
  • Popeye the Sailor
  • Tintin
  • Waldo the Wonder Boy (Stanley Waldo)
  • Wash Tubbs

 

Events:

  • Tintin and his dog Milou travel to the U.S.S.R.
  • Popeye the Sailor meets Olive Oyl. Popeye meets the Sea Hag for the first time.
  • Arkham Asylum opens.


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A.D. 1930:

Character Debuts:

  • The Golden Bat
  • Nancy Drew
  • The Night Hawk (Thurston Kyle)
  • The Shadow (Lamont Cranston)
  • Sparrowhawk ( "Snub" Hawkins)

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou travel to the Belgian Congo, where they fight diamond smugglers.
  • Captain Jeffrey Spaulding returns from Africa.
  • Edmund Pevensie is born.
  • Norma Pickman marries a man named Bates.
  • The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones battle the Daleks in New York City.
  • Henry Frankenstein’s son Wolf von Frankenstein returns to his ancestral home with his wife and his young son Peter Friedrich Frankenstein. There he encounters the monster created by his father. The creature has fallen under the influence of the criminal Ygor, who pressures Wolf to help the Monster. When the Monster and Ygor are both believed killed, Wolf and his family leave, eventually settling in America.


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A.D. 1931:

 Character Debuts:

  • The Black Whip (Buck Sinclair)
  • Dick Tracy

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou travel to America, touring Chicago and battling gangsters.
  • A Spanish-language film is made about Dracula's arrival in Britain. The film stars Carlos Villar as Dracula.

 

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A.D. 1932:

Character Debut:

  • Mary Worth

 

Events:

  • Athletes from Klopstokia dominate the Olympic Games.
  • Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff becomes president of Huxley College.
  • Lucy Pevensie is born.
  • Norma Bates has a son she names Norman, after her other son.
  • In Egypt, Frank Whemple meets Ardath Bey (who is, in fact, Im-Ho-Tep in disguise), who helps him find the tomb of Anck-es-en-Amon. Im-Ho-Tep kidnaps kidnaps Helen Grosvenor, a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of Anck-es-en-Amon. Frank and his friend Professor rescue her, and Im-Ho-Tep is destroyed.

 


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A.D. 1933:

Character Debuts:

  • Arthur "Boo" Radley
  • Atticus Finch
  • Blondie Boopadoop
  • Brick Bradford
  • Dagwood Bumstead
  • Dickie Dare
  • Dill
  • Doc Savage (Clark Savage Junior)
  • The Flaming Avenger (Mat Selwood)
  • Henry Gondorff
  • Jack Armstrong
  • Jean Louise "Scout" Finch
  • Jeremy "Jem" Finch
  • Johnny Hooker
  • King Kong
  • Mayella Ewell
  • Nancy Ritz
  • Nick Charles
  • Nora Charles
  • Rufus T. Firefly
  • The Son of Kong
  • The Spider (Richard Wentworth)
  • The Toff (Richard Rollison)
  • Tom Robinson

 

Events:

  • Popeye the Sailor adopts the boy who will come to be known as “Swee’pea”.
  • Carl Denham brings the giant gorilla named “King Kong” from Skull Island to New York City, where Kong escapes and is destroyed by military airplanes   A subsequent expedition to Skull Island discovers a juvenile giant ape they name “Son of Kong”.  This ape perishes when the island is destroyed in a volcanic eruption.
  • Dagwood Bumstead marries Blondie Boopadoop.
  • Rufus T. Firefly assumes the presidency of Freedonia.
  • Ygor seeks out Ludwig Frankenstein (younger brother of Wolf) in order to force the latter to transplant his brain into Frankenstein's Monster. The operation is only partially successful, and the Monster is believed killed when Ludwig's laboratory is destroyed. Ludwig is killed at the same time.
  • Nathan Detroit meets Sergeant Sarah Brown.

 

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A.D. 1934:

 

Character Debuts

  • Commander Don Winslow
  • Dale Arden
  • Doctor Hans Zarkov
  • Dupond
  • Dupont
  • Flash Gordon
  • J.Wellington Wimpy
  • Li’l Abner Yokum
  • Mandrake the Magician
  • Ming the Merciless
  • Pat Ryan
  • Snuffy Smith
  • Terry Lee

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou encounter arms and drug traffickers in the Middle East.
  • Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Doctor Hans Zarkov travel to the planet Mongo, where they help overthrow Ming the Merciless.
  • Frank Chambers and Cora Papadakis plot to murder her husband Nick, but their scheme in uncovered by Mandrake the Magician.


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A.D. 1935:

Character Debuts:

  • I.A. Moto
  • Porky Pig
  • Smokey Stover

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou travel to China, where they befriend a boy named Chang and fight the Japanese. From there, they become involved in political intrigue in South America. Tintin meets General Alcazar.
  • The Second Doctor and Jamie MacCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield battle the Great Intelligence in Tibet. 
  • Doctor Wilfrid Glendon becomes a werewolf, but is shot down by the London police.
  • Lawrence Talbot becomes a werewolf, but is presumed killed shortly thereafter.

 

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 A.D. 1936:

 

Character Debuts:

  • The Clock (Brian O’Brien)
  • The Domino Lady (Ellen Patrick)
  • The Green Hornet (Britt Reid)
  • Indiana Jones
  • James Kildare


Events:

  • Popeye the Sailor finds his long-lost father, Poopdeck Pappy.
  • Indiana Jones retrieves an artifact known as the “Ark of the Covenant”.
  • The timelost Mecha Megas comes to rest in a New Jersey junkyard.
  • Adolf Kaufmann meets Adolf Kamil.

 

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A.D. 1937:

Character Debuts:

  • Aubrey “Slats” Scrapple
  • Daffy Duck
  • Norman Conquest
  • Slam Bradley

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou travel to Scotland, where they battle counterfeiters.
  • Annie Warbucks meets Mister Am.
  • George Milton kills Lennie Smalls.
  • Cosmo Topper is haunted by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby.

 

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A.D. 1938:

 

Character Debuts:

  • The Arrow (Ralph Payne)
  • The Crimson Avenger (Lee Travis)
  • George Taylor
  • Lois Lane
  • The Rocketeer (Cliff Secord)
  • Superman (Clark Kent)
  • Zatara the Magician (John Zatara)



Events:

  • Tintin and Milou help stop the fascist nation Borduria from taking over its peaceful neighbor Syldavia.
  • The tripod-riding Martians invade New Jersey but are driven off with the help of Superman and Popeye the Sailor.
  • Carl Denham, having adopted the alias "Max O'Hara", returns to New York and establishes himself as a theatrical agent.
  • In Berlin, the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams and Mels encounter Adolf Hitler and the Teselecta. Hitler shoots Mels, causing her to regenerate into the woman they know as River Song. River poisons the Doctor, and flees the scene. Amy, Rory and the Teselecta pursue her. The Doctor helps River overcome her brainwashing, and she uses up her remaining regenerations to cure him.
  • Madge Arwell helps the Eleventh Doctor return to the TARDIS after he escapes from an exploding starship.
  • The Eleventh Doctor, River Song and Amy and Rory Williams battle the Weeping Angels in New York City. Any and Rory are subsequently stranded in this time and live out their lives there.
  • Maria Rainer goes to work for the Von Trapp family as a governess.
  • George Cugat, a cousin of Ricky Ricardo, marries a woman named Liz.


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A.D. 1939:  

 

Character Debuts:

  • Aman the Amazing-Man
  • The Angel (Thomas Halloway)
  • Batman (Bruce Wayne)
  • The Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett)
  • Bob Phantom (Walter Whitney)
  • Bozo the Iron Man
  • Doll Man (Darrell Dane)
  • The Escapist (Tom Mayflower)
  • The Eye
  • The Flame (Gary Preston)
  • The Human Torch (Jim Hammond)
  • Jimmy Olsen
  • Perry White
  • The Red Tornado (Abigail Hunkel)
  • Rex Swift
  • The Sandman (Wesley Dodds)
  • Speed Centaur
  • Stardust
  • The Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie)
  • Supreme (Ethan Crane)
  • The Wasp (Burton Slade)
  • The Wizard (Blaine Whitney)

 

Team Debuts: 

  • The A-1 Detective Agency (19)
  • The Minute Men (20)

 

Events:

  • The Daily Star is re-named the Daily Planet.
  • Superman encounters Alexei Luthor, who eventually becomes his arch-enemy.
  • Doctor Elbert Wonmug invents a time machine that he uses to bring the cavedwellers Alley Oop and Ooola to the present day.
  • “Hop” Harrigan, “Ikky” Tinker and “Prop” Wash form the All-American Aviation Company.
  • Superman, the Sandman, Zatara the Magician,  Slam Bradley, reporter Scoop Scanlon,  and Chuck Warren and the Catonah College track team all visit the New York City World’s Fair.
  • Samuel Clay and Joseph Kavalier meet. They will soon produce a comic book based on the real-life adventures of the Escapist.
  • Gary Concord falls into suspended animation.
  • With the start of the Second World War, the Hetalians begin their own version of the conflict.
  • Lawrence Talbot is revived by graverobbers, and subsequently travels to Vasaria, in Transylvania. there he encounters Elsa Frankenstein (kid sister of Wolf and Ludwig) and a Doctor Mannering, who attempts to cure him by draining his energy into Frankenstein's Monster. The experiment fails and both Talbot and the Monster are believed destroyed.  Elsa subsequently leaves Transylvania.

 

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A.D. 1940:

 

Character Debuts:

  • Aquaman (Arthur Curry)
  • The Atom (Al Pratt)
  • The Black Condor (Richard Grey)
  • The Black Hood ("Kip" Burland)
  • The Black Widow (Claire Voyant)
  • The Blue Blaze (Spencer Keen)
  • Blue Bolt (Fred Parrish)
  • Brenda Starr
  • Bugs Bunny
  • Bulletman (Jim Barr)
  • Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
  • Captain Midnight (James ”Red” Albright)
  • Catman (David Merrywether)
  • The Catwoman (Selina Kyle)
  • Cliff Cornwall
  • The Comet (John Dickering)
  • The Crimson Comet (Ralph Rivers)
  • Daredevil (Bart Hill)
  • The Dart (Caius Wheeler)
  • Doc Strange
  • Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson)
  • Doctor Hormone
  • Dynamic Man (Curt Cowan)
  • Dynamite Thor (Peter Thor)
  • The Eagle (Bill Powers)
  • Electro
  • Elmer Fudd
  • The Face (Tony Trent)
  • The Falcon (Carl Burgess)
  • Fantomah
  • The Fiery Mask (Jack Castle)
  • The Firefly (Harley Hudson)
  • The Flash (Jay Garrick)
  • Flexo the Rubber Man,
  • The Fox (Paul Patten)
  • The Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
  • Hawkman (Carter Hall)
  • Hourman (Rex Tyler
  • Hyper the Phenomenal (Don-Vin)
  • Ibis the Invincible (Prince Amentep)
  • Invisible Scarlet O'Neil
  • The Iron Warrior
  • The Joker
  • Jon Talbain
  • Kitten (Katie Conn)
  • Lash Lightning (Robert Morgan)
  • The Laughing Mask (Dennis Burton)
  • Madam Fatal (Richard Stanton)
  • Marvex the Super Robot
  • Mastermind Excello (Earl Everett)
  • Mercury
  • The Mirror Man (Dean Alder)
  • Mister E (Victor Jay)
  • Mister Satan (Dudley Bradshaw)
  • Mister Scarlet (Brian Butler)
  • The Owl (Nick Terry)
  • The Phantom Bullet (Allan Lewis)
  • The Phantom Reporter (Dick Jones),
  • The Press Guardian (Perry Chase)
  • Quicksilver (Max Crandall)
  • The  Red Bee (Rick Raleigh)
  • The Red Raven
  • Robin (Dick Grayson)
  • Sargon the Sorcerer (John Sargent)
  • The Scarlet Avenger (Jim Kendell)
  • The Shield (Joe Higgins)
  • The Silver Streak
  • The Skyman
  • The Spectre (Jim Corrigan)
  • The Spy-Smasher (Alan Armstrong)
  • Steel Sterling (John Sterling)
  • Sub-Zero
  • Toro (Thomas Raymond)
  • The Vision (Aarkus)
  • The Voice (Tim Brant)
  • The Woman in Red (Peggy Allen)
  • Woody Woodpecker
  • Zachary Zambini

 

Team Debuts:   

  • The Canadian Liberty League (21)
  • The Justice Society of America (22)

 

Events:

  • Tintin and Milou travel to North Africa.
  • Superman, Batman, Robin, Zatara the Magician, Hourman, the Sandman, Johnny Thunder, Slam Bradley, and servicemen “Red” Dugan, “Whitey” Smith and “Blooey” Blue visit the New York City World’s Fair.
  • The Pevensies enter Narnia for the first time.
  • Hugh, Dwight and Louis Duck are born.
  • Rusty Ryan organizes the Boyville Brigadiers.
  • Professor Gibbs invents a device to make people invisible, testing it on model Kitty Carroll. Mobster Blackie Cole learns of the device and has it stolen. Carroll, Gibbs and Gibbs' sponsor Richard Russell manage to retrieve the device. Russell and Carroll subsequently marry. The U.S. government purchases Gibbs's device but finds it unreliable for practical use.

 

(Continued in The Heroic Age, Part Two)

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  • Added the events of Topper to 1937.

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