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[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/legacies1_3840.jpg]]
An old man, [[TheEveryman Paul Lincoln]], proudly displays his memorabilia and begins to tell his history...and, simultaneously, the history of the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. From the streets of Suicide Slum in The40s to Washington at the end of MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks to Metropolis in MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, he tells of the transition between the old-style masked heroes to the newer heroes, even as he tells his story.

Each issue is written by Len Wein (creator of ComicBook/SwampThing and many others) and illustrated by various people. Paul Lincoln's story doesn't take up all the book either - there's a backup story called a "Snapshot" of various characters at various times.

This series ran for ten issues from 2010-11. It's basically the DC version of ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}''.

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!!Tropes used in ''DC Universe: Legacies'':

%% ZCE * BigBrotherMentor: Jimmy is this at first to Paul...until Paul realizes that Jimmy is just out for himself, working as a criminal.
* ChangingOfTheGuard: The JSA to the JLA (especially since a few of the Leaguers are {{Legacy Character}}s of those in the JSA).
* ComicBookTime: Oddly played with. Paul seems to age in "real time", as if the [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] happened in The60s, ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' in The90s, and it's currently 2011. But the heroes, and the villains and supporting characters ... don't.
* ComingOfAgeStory: The first few issues are about Paul Lincoln growing up in a rough neighborhood, as he decides whether he wants to be a cop or criminal (he chooses [[spoiler:the former]]).
* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the ComicBook/DoomPatrol died, [[MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. The Joker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when ComicBook/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"
* EndOfAnAge: The end of MediaNotes/{{The Golden Age|OfComicBooks}}...
** DawnOfAnEra: ... and the beginning of MediaNotes/{{The Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}.
* TheEveryman: Paul Lincoln. The story is told from his point-of-view.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All the "Snapshots" have a title consisting of a non-concrete noun beginning with R: "Reflection", "Reaction", "Resurgence", "Remembrance", "Resistance", "Revision", "Reunion", "Revelation", "Resurrection", and "Redemption".
* KidSidekick: Paul comments on the emergence of sidekicks (which eventually form the ComicBook/TeenTitans) and how, when he was a kid, the kids mainly worked on their own (like the Newsboy Legion).
* MythologyGag:
** Superman's rescue of Lois from falling out of a helicopter in #3 is closely based on the same scene in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', complete with the line "You've got me? Who's got you?"
** Jimmy sustained spinal injuries during the Crisis in #6, leading him to never walk again. Very similar to what happened to Ted Grant in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', until he quickly recovered Post-Crisis.
** The strapline for the Myth/KingArthur "Snapshot" on the cover of #7 says "Camelot 500", a reference to ''ComicBook/Camelot3000''.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: Jimmy's life as a criminal gets him behind bars...where he becomes a model prisoner. Eventually, Paul testifies for his parole and Jimmy eventually gets out, becomes a better person and is eventually accepted back in his sister Peggy's life.
* {{Retcon}}: A few things get rewritten to smooth out the story. In #9, for example the Sentinels of Magic arrive to fight Asmodel-Spectre as a team under that name, while in the original ''Day of Judgement'' crossover, they reluctantly join forces during the storyline, and only get a name in the postscript story. In the same issue's "Snapshot", Shazam says that the Hawks were killed an unspecified amount of time before he gave the power to Black Adam, which honestly makes more sense than the idea that all the Ancient Egyptian proto-supers knew each other.
* SuperRegistrationAct: When the House Un-American Activities Committee demands that the JSA unmask themselves, Hawkman first takes a moment to talk it over with the others and then says, "For so many reasons, our ''faces'', our ''names'', our ''secrets'' must remain ''our own''. But don't worry, Senator, you ''won't'' be hearing from us again," then the entire JSA disappears in a flash of light. This was the end of the Golden Age.
* YouthfulFreckles: Jimmy and Peggy had freckles as kids.
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