Key Comics Vault

This is the mantra for a series of comics put forward to writers as a challenge. The brainchild of Dan Jurgens, the Tangent universe was to give a fresh take on a world with superhumans. Writers and artists were to forget what they knew about a character and build them from scratch. Tricky enough, but it got harder as these characters had to fit into each others’ storylines and plots, forming a fleshed out world and overarching narrative.

With characters like Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, featuring in different comics, and with issues happening at almost the same time as one another, it can be difficult to know where to start with the Tangent Comics. The following is a guide to help with navigating Earth-9 and its official, plus unofficial, issues and appearances.

Phase 1

The comics below were released in 1997 and made up Phase 1 for Tangent Comics. They can be read in the following order:

• The Atom, Tangent Comics – Dan Jurgens and Paul Ryan
• Metal Men, Tangent Comics – Ron Marz, Mike McKone, and Mark McKenna
• Green Lantern, Tangent Comics – James Robinson, J. H. Williams III, and Mick Gray
• Flash, Tangent Comics – Todd Dezago, Gary Frank, and Cam Smith
• Sea Devils, Tangent Comics – Kurt Busiek, Vince Giarrano, and Tom Palmer
• The Joker, Tangent Comics – Karl Kesel, Matt Haley, and Tom Simmons
• Nightwing, Tangent Comics – John Ostrander and Jan Duursema
• Secret Six, Tangent Comics – Chuck Dixon, Tom Grummett, and Lary Stucker
• Doom Patrol, Tangent Comics – Dan Jurgens, Sean Chen, and Kevin Conrad

Phase 2

After the relative success of Phase 1, DC gave the go-ahead for more issues and a return to Earth-9. In 1998, Phase 2 began.

• Wonder Woman, Tangent Comics – Peter David, Angel Unzueta, and Jaime Mendoza
• Batman, Tangent Comics – Dan Jurgens and Klaus Janson
• Power Girl, Tangent Comics – Ron Marz, Dusty Abell, and Dexter Vines
• Tales of the Green Lantern, Tangent Comics – James Robinson, J. H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Drew Geraci, Georges Jeanty, John Ostrander, and Ryan Sook
• Trials of the Flash, Tangent Comics – Todd Dezago, Paul Pelletier, and Andy Lanning
• Superman, Tangent Comics – Mark Millar and Jackson Guice
• The Joker’s Wild, Tangent Comics – Karl Kesel, Tom Simmons, Joe Phillips, and Jasen Rodriguez
• Nightwing: Night Force, Tangent Comics – John Ostrander and Jan Duursema
• JLA, Tangent Comics – Dan Jurgens, Darryl Banks, and Norm Rapmund

Cameos 1999-2008

While not having any official titles, the Tangent universe or characters did appear in the following comics.

• The Kingdom, DC, 1999 – Mark Waid and Ariel Olivetti
• Infinite Crisis, DC, 2005 – Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, and Andy Lanning
• Ion #9-10, DC, 2007 – Ron Marz, Greg Tocchini, and Jay Leisten
• Justice League of America #16, DC, 2008 – Dwayne McDuffie, Joe Benitez, and Victor Llamas

Phase 3

Phase 3 was different to the previous phases as it was only one series, rather than separate one-shot issues.

• Superman’s Reign #1-12, DC, 2008 – Dan Jurgens, Matthew Clark, Fernando Pasarin, and Jesse Delperdang

Cameos and series from 2010 onwards

Earth-9 continued to pop up in DC comics and has recently had a new series released, although this time not on the Tangent imprint.

• Justice League of America #50-53, DC, 2010 – James Robinson, Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter, and Norm Rapmund
• Convergence #1, DC, 2015 – Jeff King, Scott Lobdell, Carlo Pagulayan, and Jason Paz
• Convergence: Justice League of America #1-2, DC, 2015 – Fabian Nicieza and ChrisCross
• Convergence: Flash #1-2, DC, 2015 – Dan Abnett, Federico Dallocchio, and Veronica Gandini
• Convergence: The New Teen Titans #1-2, DC, 2015 – Marv Wolfman, Nicola Scott, and Marc Deering
• Green Lantern: Dark, DC, 2024 – Tate Brombal, Werther Dell’edera, and Giovanna Niro