Earth-Three

Earth-Three is a fictional alternate universe set in the. It is the Earth of an alternate reality in the DC Multiverse. It first appeared in Justice League of America #29 (1964).

Pre-Crisis


Its history is a mirror image to the Earth we know. On Earth-Three, Christopher Columbus was an American who discovered Europe; England (a colony of America) won freedom in a reversed form of the Revolutionary War (with Washington surrendering his sword to Cornwallis); President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln; and Lex Luthor (here called Alexander Luthor) is the only superhero on an Earth otherwise occupied entirely by villains, most of whom are reversed analogues of heroes on other DC Earths. The Earth-Three analogue to the Justice League is the Crime Syndicate of America.

Earth-Three is destroyed by waves of antimatter in the opening scenes of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The sole survivor is the son of Alexander and Lois Lane Luthor, Alexander Luthor, Jr.

Anti-matter Earth
In post-Crisis, pre-52 DC continuity, the multiverse has been merged into one single universe. Most of Earth-Three's history survives in the form of a similar antimatter Earth of JLA: Earth 2 in the antimatter universe of Qward. There are some new departures, however. At the end of their re-introduction, Amerika had launched a nuclear strike on London, against Britain's independence movement.

In Superman/Batman Annual #1, three members of this Crime Syndicate of Amerika -- Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman -- appear on the main DC Earth, along with an unnamed antimatter doppelganger of Deathstroke (whose behavior, including humorous breaking of the fourth wall, and powers are exactly the same as Marvel Comic's Deadpool, who is himself a parody of Deathstroke) hired to protect Bruce Wayne. The story supposedly takes place as the first time Superman and Batman figure out each other's identities and matches Batman, Superman, and Deathstroke against their respective antimatter selves. It should be noted, however, that the story is being told by Mr. Mxyzptlk, and may therefore be completely untrue.

Despite the return of the DC Multiverse and the creation of a new Earth-3, the Antimatter Earth still exists in Qward, acting as an inverted microcosm of New Earth.

New Multiverse
In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 parallel realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-3". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects of the pre-Crisis Earth-Three. The name of the Earth-3 Crime Syndicate analogue has been revealed to be the Crime Society of America. The Crime Society are considered to be evil versions of the heroes of Earth-2, acting as a new Golden Age counterpart to the Antimatter Earth. A hero known as the Jokester operates in this universe, as later do the Riddler, Three-Face (Evelyn Dent), and Duela Dent.

In Countdown #31 the version of Zatanna (Annataz Arataz) from this world was used by Superman-Prime to keep Mister Mxyzptlk in check.

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Three.