Earth-Prime is an anthology series published by DC Comics and built around the Arrowverse. Each issue features a different part of the Arrowverse, with Batwoman featuring Ryan Wilder and her allies, Superman and Lois featuring the Kent-Lane family, and Legends of Tomorrow featuring the crew of the Waverider.
Not to be confused with the Earth-Prime series of novels.
This series includes examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Earth-Prime universe, Evil Eye is William Parker. In the original Impulse series, his real name was Wilfred "Eddie" Parker.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: In "The (Ex) Legends of Tomorrow", Mick loans the Cold Guns to Jax, making Jax the first black Captain Cold.
- Amazon Chaser: Kayla's dad Kyle turns out to be one of these, absolutely devoted to his scary warlord wife.
- Arc Villain: A mystery man in seen through many of the issues recruiting villains for a mysterious plan. Stargirl reveals that this is Magog.
- Beware the Superman: "Controlled Burn" explores the dark alternate timeline that John and Natalie Irons came from, where Superman became the world's greatest villain.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: In "Sidekick Rules", Will Parker hypnotizes people to be his followers, using his powers of telepathy.
- The Bus Came Back: Oliver Queen returns in the final issue, still the Spectre.
- Call-Back: "Flesh and Mud" features a number of callbacks to Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019):
- Lena tries to explain to a baffled Ryan that she and everyone else in Gotham used to reside in a different universe.
- Eagle-eyed readers might also notice that the newspapers in the background show that the story takes place shortly after the series finale of Supergirl, where Supergirl revealed her true identity.
- The back-up story, "A Night Out", features Luke trying to keep a date with Stephanie Brown, from the Batwoman episode "I'll Give You a Clue".
- "The Anniversary" features a cameo from Winslow Schott Sr., the Toyman from Supergirl, back when he was still alive.
- In "The (Ex) Legends of Tomorrow", Ray mentions that he's been working with the Quincy P. Runk Foundation, the charity that he set up at the end of the Flash episode "Armageddon, Pt. 1".
- Canon Immigrant:
- "Flesh and Mud" introduces Clayface into the Arrowverse while "The Anniversary" introduces the Nuclear Man and Lobo, with Maxima being hinted at by the latter.
- "Booster's Day Out" reveals that the Arrowverse version of Booster Gold has his own Skeets, but it's being held hostage by the Time Police.
- "Road Trip" expands the various Golden Age heroes active prior to the start of the series including Guardian and the Newsboy Legion, the Dan Garret Blue Beetle, Dan the Dyna-Might and Doll-Man. It also marks Needle's first significant appearance in a comic in over four decades. This also marks the first DC Comics appearance of Dan Garret's sidekick Sparkington J. "Sparky" Northrup.
- "Sidekick Rules" introduces a metahuman version of an obscure Impulse character called "Evil Eye".
- A Day in the Limelight:
- "A Night Out", from the Batwoman issue, focuses on Luke Fox as he tries to take advantage of Ryan and Sophie's dinner with Jada Jet to have a dinner date with Stephanie Brown. Unfortunately for him, the story happens to take place during the events of "A Lesson with Professor Pyg", so he's forced to abandon his date to help Ryan and Sophie.
- "Booster's Day Out" explores where Booster went after he stole the Waverider in "Knocked Down, Knocked Up".
- "Road Trip" explores the history of Needle, a forgotten Golden-Age supervillain.
- "Sidekick Rules" focuses on Bart Allen as he tries to work on his studies but encounters a metahuman who is active on his campus. The denouement also shows an older Wally going through his daily routine.
- Distant Finale: The ending of "The (Ex) Legends of Tomorrow" takes place in 2049, well into the future from which Nora West-Allen hails and long after most of the current and past Legends have retired.
- From Nobody to Nightmare:
- Tanner Freyr, the new Clayface, is just a bullied outsider before accidentally coming into contact with the remains of Basil Karlo, which merge with his skin and grant him Clayface's powers. It quickly goes to his head.
- "Controlled Burn" features the origins of the evil Superman from John and Natalie Irons' universe. In that timeline, he had a happy, humbling childhood with the Kents until they were killed in a car accident and he was sent to an abusive foster home. Without John and Martha's guidance, he became embittered, and when his powers developed, he used them to strike back at all the people who hurt and failed him over the years. And then he met that universe's version of Tal-Rho and things got exponentially worse.
- Happily Married:
- "The Anniversary" shows that while Clark and Lois' relationship is constantly tested by their respective careers, they are still each other's rock.
- "The (Ex) Legends of Tomorrow" catches up with several of the Legends who have married out. They're all still committed to each other, with Nora and Ray preparing for parenthood, and Carter and Kendra adjusting to being parents.
- In "Road Trip", Needle recounts how his late wife helped him to get his act together, and it's his fond memories of her that inspire him to keep making amends for his past crimes.
- Heel Realization: At some point during his long stint in jail for attacking the Sherman Building, Needle finally realized that it wasn't the Star-Spangled Kid's fault that he kept going to jail, it was his, and he decided to focus on reforming himself.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: At some point, Needle realized that he wasn't getting any younger and decided to quit supervillainy for good.
- Older Than They Look: "Road Trip" reveals that Pat is significantly older than he looks. He mentions that a "time vortex" made him younger.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Evil Eye gets red irises whenever he uses his powers, as do his victims when they fall under his influence.
- Refusal of the Call:
- Magog goes to Stargirl's Earth-2 to recruit Needle to his team of villains, but Needle refuses as he's grown so old and he sees no use being a villain again.
- In the final issue, Nora and Bart run to get Superman, but he's put away the costume for the moment and urges the two to step up.
- Retired Monster: Needle was a supervillain back in the old days, but now he's just an old widower who's mostly interested in spending his last years making amends for his former crimes.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Magog is usually more connected to Superman, hating him for his own Broken Pedestal moment. Here, he's more focused on the Flash and the Flash Family.
- Sequel Hook: The series ends with John and Natalie's Superman the only villain not recaptured and an epilogue setting up The Flash (2014) season 9 with Bloodwork's escape.
- Tempting Fate: "The Anniversary" shows a flashback to Clark and Lois' first anniversary, where they both insisted that they were going to make it to the restaurant on time, but something kept coming up. Ever since, they've celebrated their anniversary four days after the actual anniversary.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Bart has inherited his dad's speed, but is still learning how to use those powers responsibly.
- Writer on Board:
- "Flesh and Mud" was co-written by Natalie Abrams, a former Supergirl writer, and consequently, features a guest appearance from Lena Luthor and a lot of discussion about her relationship with Kara Danvers, despite said relationship having nothing to do with the story at hand.
- "A Night Out" gives Camrus Johnson, who played Luke Fox on Batwoman, a chance to explore Luke's relationship with Stephanie Brown.
- "Road Trip" gives James Robinson, a noted fan of Golden Age heroes, an excuse to introduce a royal crapload of them to the Arrowverse, including the original Guardian (Jim Harper), the original Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett), and Sparky, Blue Beetle's sidekick. He also takes advantage of the story to give Needle, a long-forgotten foe of Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, A Day in the Limelight.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- "Flesh and Mud" takes place in the middle of the "Poison Mary" arc of Batwoman, and thus Ryan is feeling down on herself. Luckily for her, Lena Luthor arrives to give her a pep talk.
- In "Road Trip", Needle decides to personally thank Pat for sending him back to jail all those decades ago, as his long incarceration forced him to get his act together. He also compliments Pat for being such a good influence on Sylvester and says that it's clear that Courtney will become another hero under his guidance.
