History ComicBook / SupermanAndBatmanGenerations

** B.J. has the same red hair as the Bruce Wayne Jr seen in the Silver Age "Imaginary Stories" featuring "the second Batman and Robin team".

** Bruce Wayne's first superhero identity, the Flying Fox, is a nod to the Golden Age Batman replacement character from the ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron'' sequel series ''The Young All-Stars''.

* TheUnreveal: Bruce's wife is never given a positive identity, but it's strongly implied to be Julie Madison; he's dating her in the first chapter, and his wife is from high society. Both ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} and [[ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul Talia]] also either get a mention or appear at other places in the series.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The 24th Century chapter of ''Generations III'' goes back to 2008 and resolves a dangling plot thread from ''Generations II'': Bruce's wife saying that Bruce Jr. isn't his son. [[spoiler:It turns out she was lying and just wanted to make up for her denying Bruce and BJ the chance to be a team.]]

An {{Elseworlds}} series written and illustrated by Creator/JohnByrne, ''Superman & Batman: Generations'' is built upon one central conceit: the complete and total {{Aversion}} of ComicBookTime. ''Generations'' consists of three different series:

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: In ''Generations II'', Diana giving birth to her daughter Stephanie takes place at the same time that she receives word from Wonder Girl that her husband Steve Trevor was killed flying over Korea.

* BrainInAJar: Metallo [[spoiler:who, in this story, is Lex Luthor.]]

* CardboardPrison: Seemingly averted, as the Joker has been in Arkham Asylum for ten consecutive years, but then played straight when it's revealed [[MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll that he dug a tunnel out and has been sneaking out of the prison to commit supposed "copycat" crimes under the alias of Joker Jr. for years]].

* HotWitch: Lana Lang becomes this when she gets a hold of Merlin's staff in 1929.

** Ra's al-Ghul appears in the story, so of course he deserves a mention. [[spoiler: He also discovers that if two people enter the Lazarus Pit at the same time, one will die and his life force will be transferred to the other, making him immortal. He and Bruce Wayne enter and Bruce emerges, restored to his prime. He eventually discovers that he ages one year for every century he lives. ''Generations III'' further reveals that that single Pit was permanently changed, conferring this immortality on anyone who bathes in it.]]

* SmokingIsNotCool: Lois Lane takes up smoking in 1939, claiming it to be as harmless as eating breakfast in the morning. By 1969, however, Lois is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, and tells her daughter Kara Kent that smoking is what also ended up killing Perry White. By 1979, Lois is in the hospital and on death's door. Thankfully, that wonderful [[SignificantAnagram Dr. Holurt]] has taken over her treatment.

* TheUnreveal: Bruce's wife is never given a positive identity, but it's strongly implied to be Julie Madison; he's dating her in the first chapter, and his wife is from high society. Both Catwoman and Talia also either get a mention or appear at other places in the series.

** President Harold "Hal" Jordan strangely hits upon this insight, given that his normal DC Universe counterpart as ComicBook/GreenLantern turns on the ComicBook/GreenLanternCorps after the destruction of Coast City and becomes Parallax.

** Becomes a plot point in regards to Superman's great-granddaughters Lara and Lois, particularly Lara, whose attraction to an alien Green Lantern is hampered because she's LegalJailbait.

** Lois and Lara Wayne are named after their great-grandmother Lois Lane and great-great-grandmother Lara Lor-Von respectively.

* ContinuityNod:
** Clark Wayne's twin daughters, Lois and Lara, call themselves Supergirl Red and Supergirl Blue respectively. This is a nod to the infamous "Superman Blue and Superman Red" imaginary story which later was used in a different form in the 1990s Superman stories.
** In the 1949 chapter Batman and Robin are surprised when they discover that the Joker survived an atomic explosion in 1945, which occurred during ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica''. Bruce Jr. also made an EarlyBirdCameo at the end of that story.

** In ''Generations'', Kamandi is a descendant of Buddy Blank (OMAC), both characters created by Creator/JackKirby.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The RecapEpisode of ''Generations III'' shows that several characters died over the course of the series, we just never heard about them until now The list includes [[spoiler:Hal Jordan, Clark and Lois Wayne, OMAC, and Lex Luthor.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Dick Grayson's vengeful spirit tries to kill the Joker, but Alfred's spirit talks him down before he condemns himself to Hell.]]

* JustForTheHeliOfIt: In the 1939 chapter, Bruce Wayne illegally lands his autogyro on the grounds of the World's fair to help cement his iage as a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob.

* RetGone: [[spoiler:In ''Generations III'', with the death of the resurrected Darkseid, his RetroactivePreparation plan and everything associated with it (such as Luthor's Parademon-assisted Blackout Bomb) vanishes entirely from time, thus rendering the dark timeline it spawned no more]].

* RetGone: [[spoiler:In Generations III, with the death of the resurrected Darkseid, his RetroactivePreparation plan and everything associated with it (such as Luthor's Parademon-assisted Blackout Bomb) vanishes entirely from time, thus rendering the dark timeline it spawned no more]].

* DeadGuyJunior: Wonder Woman's daughter is named Stephanie (nickname Stevie) after her father Steve Trevor, who was killed while flying a mission over Korea.

* HotWitch: Lana Lang becomes this when she gets a hold of Merlin's staff.

* ''Generations II'' (2001) details events that take place between the chapters of the previous series, as well as giving larger roles to other DC heroes like ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/TheFlash, and GreenLantern. The series starts in 1942, with each subsequent chapter jumping ahead by 11 years.

** President Harold "Hal" Jordan strangely hits upon this insight, given that his normal DC Universe counterpart as Franchise/GreenLantern turns on the ComicBook/GreenLanternCorps after the destruction of Coast City and becomes Parallax.

* MetaOrigin: In the ''Generations'' universe, Alan Scott's GreenLantern powers come from a missing fragment of the central power battery, giving it a common origin with the other [=GLs=] even if he didn't originally intend it.

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Both [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] and [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]] are Presidents Action by default.

* BadassNormal: Any of the Batman Family up to Clark Wayne, but special mention has to go to Johnathan Kent, who goes after Ultra-Humanite with a shotgun to help Clark and Bruce (and is actually the one responsible for Ultra being paraplegic).

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Joel Kent kills his sister Kara by punching ''through'' her chest.]]

* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Generations III'''s 19th century chapter, [[spoiler:Johnathan Kent]] is chasing ComicBook/JonahHex because he believes Hex killed two of his brothers and a dozen friends during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar. Hex says that they were soldiers fighting for their countries and it was nothing personal.

* TheAgesOfSuperHeroComics: Explored as part of the aversion of ComicBookTime. Each of the books of Generations I debatably covers one of the ages.

* AlternateTimeline: Of an alternate timeline. The basis of ''Generations III'' is that an alternate future from the one shown at the end of the first series is created, but by the end the timeline is wiped out and replaced with the proper one shown in the first one.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Generations I ends with Superman and Batman [[spoiler:and Lana Lang]] going off to see if there's anywhere else in the universe that needs heroes; the caption at the bottom even reads "'''Never''' The End".

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:In Generations III, Luthor-Metallo unleashes a "blackout bomb" that acts as a Class 1, reducing the world to the level of Creator/JackKirby's ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}'' stories. Made worse by the fact that all pre-bomb technology remains deactivated for 300 years, meaning humanity has to start over from scratch.]]

* BrainUploading: In Generations III, [[spoiler:Lex Luthor uploads his brain into the computer banks of the Superman Museum, granting him access to the whole planet's computer network.]]

** In Generations II, [[spoiler:Kara tells BJ about her Supergirl wig, saying that it won't come off unless she removes it on purpose or she dies.]] This is of course a reference to Generations I, [[spoiler:where Kara's wig falls off her lifeless body after Joel murders her.]]
* CanonDiscontinuity: [[spoiler:Generations III writes ''itself'' out of existence: when the heroes destroy Darkseid once and for all, reality "shatters". The last page shows Kal, Bruce, and Lana in space as per the ending of Generations I, with Kal and Bruce commenting that something feels off and hoping that they haven't forgotten anything important.]]

* {{Depower}}: Gold Kryptonite, as in [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Superman comics. [[spoiler:Lex Luthor uses it on Joel Kent ''in utero'', robbing him of powers forever. He does the same to Superman later on using Gold K cuff links. In Generations III, Supergirl uses it on herself on purpose.]]

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The RecapEpisode of Generations III shows that several characters died over the course of the series, we just never heard about them until now The list includes [[spoiler:Hal Jordan, Clark and Lois Wayne, OMAC, and Lex Luthor.]]

* {{EMP}}: Metallo ([[spoiler:Lex Luthor]]) unleashes one in his first battle in 2008, which shuts down Cyborg. He uses an even bigger one in Generations III that brings about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

** Generations III: [[spoiler:Mrs. Wayne tells Bruce and BJ that they aren't really father and son and asks them not to investigate any further, all as part of an elaborate scheme to get BJ to use the Lazarus Pit and become Robin again and thereby making up for the fact that she never allowed BJ to be Dick's partner. Her final message even ends with a self-aware "So...just how well do I know my boys?"]]
* GenerationalSaga: Kind of the whole point. Going from Bruce Wayne's Batman and Superman to Dick Grayson's Batman to BJ's Batman and Supergirl [[spoiler:and back to Bruce Wayne's Batman and Superman.]] Even more present in Generations II with the expansion of focus from the story of the Wayne and Kent families to the greater DCU and the history of the Green Lanterns, Wonder Women, and Flashes.

* HandWave: In the authors' notes for Generations II, Byrne admits that he had Wonder Woman debut one year later than she did in reality (1942 rather than 1941), mainly because he didn't want to wait until another sequel series to bring her into the story.

** Ra's al-Ghul appears in the story, so of course he deserves a mention. [[spoiler: He also discovers that if two people enter the Lazarus Pit at the same time, one will die and his life force will be transferred to the other, making him immortal. He and Bruce Wayne enter and Bruce emerges, restored to his prime. He eventually discovers that he ages one year for every century he lives. Generations III further reveals that that single Pit was permanently changed, conferring this immortality on anyone who bathes in it.]]

* KidFromTheFuture: [[spoiler:Superman unwittingly becomes this in Generations III, when an attempt to travel to the 30th century runs into turbulence and sends him back to the 19th, where he runs headlong into Johnathan Kent and Martha Clark as young adults and helps save Martha's life.]]
* KilledOffForReal: Many characters, thanks to the aversion to ComicBookTime and SnapBack.

* LastKiss: A variation in Generations III: [[spoiler:Lana Lang, having gone to the future and learned that she won't end up with Clark, asks him for a Last Kiss before her memories are erased. The problem being, this is 14 year old Lana and adult Clark. Many readers were {{Squick}}ed.]]

** Done again by BJ himself in Generations III: [[spoiler:After dropping the bomb that BJ isn't Bruce's son, his wife asks him not to investigate any further. BJ immediately sets to work, pointing out that she only addressed that request to Bruce. Later on they learn that this was exactly what Mrs. Wayne intended them to do.]]

* MetaOrigin: In the Generations universe, Alan Scott's GreenLantern powers come from a missing fragment of the central power battery, giving it a common origin with the other [=GLs=] even if he didn't originally intend it.

* MindScrew: In Generations III, [[spoiler:Metron gives Superman a device and asks him to return it the next time they see each other. Which just so happens to be the 19th century, complete with Past-Metron specifically asking for the device.]] When Superman expresses his confusion, Scott Free recommends that he [[MST3KMantra not ask too many questions]].

* MyOwnGrampa: Rather, great grampa. In ''Generations III'', Batman marries Lara Wayne, who is the daughter of Clark Wayne, the adopted son of Bruce Wayne Jr. and the biological son of Joel Kent. So, Bruce Wayne becomes his own great-grandson, albeit not by blood.

** In Generations, Kamandi is a descendant of Buddy Blank (OMAC), both characters created by Creator/JackKirby.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Generations III introduces future Green Lantern Jordan Kelly, who says he was named for "the greatest Green Lantern to ever live".

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Ultra-Humanite's robots spent decades restoring Lex Luthor's brain in the hopes of rehabilitating his evil personality. This backfires in the short-term by turning Lex into ''Generations''[='=] version of Metallo, and in the long term in Generations III where he causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]
* NotGrowingUpSucks: Superman's great granddaughters become this due to an accident. After a century like this, one of them falls in love and decides to give up her powers so she can grow up. She gets them back eventually and then falls under ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty like with normal Kryptonians.

* RagnarokProofing: Justified: [[spoiler:In Generations III, Clark Wayne and his daughters go to the Fortress of Solitude to see if Luthor's technology-nullifying bomb has really worn off. Clark tests the theory by trying to start Pa Kent's car, but makes an off-hand remark about field generators designed to keep all of Superman's exhibits in perfect condition.]]

* RecapEpisode: Generations III's 26th Century chapter has [[spoiler:Batman and Lara]] explaining the events of the first half of the series to [[spoiler:Superman]], who's been away from Earth for the last 500 years.

* RetroactivePreparation: [[spoiler:Darkseid's plan in Generations III. He sends a massive force of Parademons to attack Earth in the 30th Century; when they fail, the survivors jump back in time 100 years and try again, and so on until they conquer the planet.]]

* ShowdownAtHighNoon: One occurs between ComicBook/JonahHex and [[spoiler:Johnathan Kent]] in Generations III, but gets interrupted.

* StartMyOwn:
** In the 1964 chapter, the teenage sidekicks and children (Supergirl, Robin II, Wonder Girl II, and Kid Flash) decide to create their own hero group for themselves, eventually deciding on the name "Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}".
* SuperEmpowering: [[spoiler:Humanite-in-Luthor develops a cure for Gold Kryptonite, which Superman uses to restore his own lost powers as well as giving them to his grandson Clark Wayne. In Generations III, Supergirl Blue and Batman use it as well, with the HandWave that Batman's immortality let him survive it.]]

* TimeSkip: Each chapter jumps ahead by a set number of years for each series: 10 for Generations I, 11 for Generations II, and 100 for Generations III.

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Most of Generations III's 22nd Century chapter focuses on who we (and the heroes) assume to be Kamandi. At the end of the chapter we learn it's actually his identical daughter Kam.
* WalkingTheEarth: Scott Free says that he and Metron have been doing this since they escaped Apokalypse in Generations III.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The 24th Century chapter of Generations III goes back to 2008 and resolves a dangling plot thread from Generations II: Bruce's wife saying that Bruce Jr. isn't his son. [[spoiler:It turns out she was lying and just wanted to make up for her denying Bruce and BJ the chance to be a team.]]

* YearOutsideHourInside: [[spoiler:Superman experiences this in Generations III when he's stranded on New Genesis and when he finally leaves, only to come back some time later and find that his children with Beautiful Dreamer are now adults who think their father abandoned them.]]

* YouKilledMyFather: In Generations III's 19th century chapter, [[spoiler:Johnathan Kent]] is chasing ComicBook/JonahHex because he believes Hex killed two of his brothers and a dozen friends during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar. Hex says that they were soldiers fighting for their countries and it was nothing personal.

* ''Generations II'' (2001) details events that take place between the chapters of the previous series, as well as giving larger roles to other DC heroes like WonderWoman, ComicBook/TheFlash, and GreenLantern. The series starts in 1942, with each subsequent chapter jumping ahead by 11 years.

* SmokingIsNotCool: Lois Lane takes up smoking in 1939, claiming it to be as harmless as eating breakfast in the morning. By 1969, however, Lois is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, and tells her daughter Kara Kent that smoking is what also ended up killing Perry White.

* BerserkButton: The Ultra-Humanite/Lex Luthor's murder of Superman's wife, daughter, and son becomes this for the Man of Steel, leading to his RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* BlessedWithSuck: The formula that the Ultra-Humanite/Lex Luthor gave Joel Kent to restore his Kryptonian powers ended up killing him after a few hours, despite his mentor's original claims of the contrary. Which, of course, was what Ultra/Lex was hoping that Joel would believe.

* CallForward: In the first chapter, Bruce and Julie look at a poster for the Flying Graysons, and Bruce says he heard that their son is a real "Boy Wonder".

** In the 1949 chapter Batman and Robin are surprised when they discover that the Joker survived an atomic explosion in 1945, which occured during ''ComicBook/BatmanAndCaptainAmerica''. Bruce Jr. also made an EarlyBirdCameo at the end of that story.
* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:When Ultra-Humanite's rocket blew up, his body was damaged beyond repair while his brain was intact, while Lex Luthor's brain was badly damaged but his body was intact. This allowed Ultra's robot minions to put his brain in Lex's body.]]

* FountainOfYouth: The Lazarus Pit, as per the Batman comics.

* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler:The Ultra-Humanite-in-Luthor's plan, as follows: De-power Superman's son, become the boy's mentor while instilling a hatred for the Kents, pose as Lois' doctor so he can get close enough to kill her, give Joel powers so he can kill his sister BEFORE the treatment kills him, jump into the future, and rely upon pre-set plans to kill off all of Superman's friends and relations while he goes on a wild goose chase looking for a Luthor who isn't there. All this so he can steal Superman's body and powers.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}} member Chuck stops a smart missile from hitting a military hospital by [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming it with his plane]], and then insists on staying in the plane in order to steer it away from the hospital (none of the heroes present can help him for various reasons).
** [[spoiler:Johnathan Kent warns Thomas and Martha Wayne about their impending murder, but when they learn that this will inspire their son to become one of the world's greatest heroes, they willingly go to their deaths (though they make sure to tell Bruce how much they love him beforehand).]]

* LegacyCharacter: The ''other'' main point of the series. The series covers three Batmen, three Green Lanterns, five Flashes, and many more.

* LoopholeAbuse: In the 1964 chapter, Bruce Jr's mother forbids him to partner up with Dick; Kara Kent cheerfully points out that dear old Mom never said anything about working with Supergirl...

* OlderThanTheyLook: After Bruce Wayne has his soul fused with Ra's al-Ghul's in the Lazarus Pit, not only is his youth restored to his prime adult age (with a bit of white hair streak), he also ages one year for every one hundred years that passes.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The immortal characters don't look any worse than 40 or 50. Superman eventually has to wear makeup to appear older when he's in his Clark Kent identity.

* SidekickGraduationsStick: With a single unusual exception: [[spoiler:Bruce's wife sends him and Bruce Jr. on an adventure, requiring the aged BJ to partake of the Lazarus Pits and become Robin again, despite having been Batman himself. At the end they find out it's because his wife felt bad about never letting BJ be Robin to Bruce's Batman.]]

* StartMyOwn: In the 1964 chapter, the teenage sidekids and children (Supergirl, Robin II, Wonder Girl II, and Kid Flash) decide to create their own hero group for themselves, eventually deciding on the name "Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}".

* ArtShift: Byrne does his best to imitate the art style of the era, such as the original Seigel and Schuster look for 1939 Superman, or a style reminiscent of the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse for 1999 Batman.

* KnittingPregnancyAnnoucement: When Bruce Wayne's wife goes to tell Bruce she is pregnant, she holding a pair of knitting needles with partially knitted booties on them behind her back.