Comic Book / Legends of the Dead Earth

Legends of the Dead Earth was an event published by DC Comics in 1996.

The idea was that each annual issue for every main DC series would take place in the far future, in a time when the planet Earth is long dead. Humanity has moved on to different planets and galaxies, some reverting to more primitive and medieval cultures while others have advanced far more rapidly. And despite how long it has been since Earth's death, the influence of the DCU's heroes and villains are seeped into almost every world humanity now lives on.

Some of the stories centered around how the legacies of Batman, Superman, and others have evolved over the centuries, while others were about how the histories of certain heroes and villains had been comically or grossly distorted through the ages.

The annuals were largely considered to be out-of-continuity stories, although some were tied directly into the main DC continuity, such as in the Legion of Super-Heroes related annuals, the Power of Shazam annual, and the Starman annual.

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This imprint provides examples of:

• Accidental Hero: In the Green Lantern Annual #5 story "Nobler in the Mind", the badly wounded Green Lantern El'qa Squa Zreenah arrives on Qualar IV and intends to recruit one of the natives, a race of giant chickens, to fight the deadly Statejian fleet in orbit. Unfortunately, the population are extremely skittish and therefore unsuitable to become Green Lanterns. Believing that he will soon die, El'qa has the ring search for someone on Qualar IV with no fear. The ring locates such a person but warns El'qa that he is not going to like it. The chosen individual, Perdoo, is erratic, disinterested in his environment and easily distracted, particularly by his appreciation for flitterbys. However, he manages to defeat the Statejians, someone that no one else in recorded history has ever been able to do, without even realising it. El'qa later learns that Perdoo felt no fear in any circumstances as he was an inmate in an insane asylum and was therefore unaware of his surroundings.
• Amusement Park of Doom: In Action Comics Annual #8, Zarn terrorists take over the amusement park Bizarro World in order to assassinate Ambassador Ermel Vootie, who is attempting to negotiate a peace treaty between the Zarn and the Zentauri. The park security guard Phisto, who is secretly working with the terrorists, uses his access to the system to turn the attractions (most of which are dangerous alien animals) against the visitors.
• And I Must Scream: In Flash Annual #9, Tristan Mallory puts his brother Bryan into stasis for over three hundred years so he can siphon off his speed abilities in order to create a green paradise in the frozen wasteland their people are forced to live in. But more importantly, Tristan is doing this so he can use Bryan's power to keep himself young, and has been searching for people he can similarly empower so there's more energy for him to drain on. Bryan goes back into the machine after Tristan is killed, for the sake of saving his civilization.
• Ban on Magic: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Science Council that rules Binderaan has outlawed magic as it regards its use as being against the public good.
• Beware the Superman:
  • Superman Annual #8: Superman's consciousness has survived as a computer program who oversees the League of Supermen, but it becomes increasingly clear he's getting prone to more deadly methods of protecting his people.
  • Superboy Annual #3: The current Superman of Aztlan is a corrupt, self-serving despot, and it comes down to the new Superboy and his allies to overthrow him.
• Binary Suns:
  • In Detective Comics Annual #9, Typhon has two suns, Osiris and Isis.
  • In Flash Annual #9, Bryan and Tristan Mallory's planet has two suns.
• Bird People:
  • In Batman Annual #20, it is believed that the Scarecrow was an actual bird person who was hired by the food controllers of Old Gotham to scare away the birds that were eating their crops. The Scarecrow was so good at his job that he soon became the Lord and Master of the Gotham food area.
  • In the Green Lantern Annual #5 story "Nobler in the Mind", the Green Lantern El'qa Squa Zreenah is badly injured in a space battle with the Statejians, one of the most powerful and dangerous races in the universe, and he is forced to retreat to the planet Qualar IV. He finds that the planet is inhabited by a sentient race of avians who resemble giant chickens.
• Bizarre Alien Psychology: In the Green Lantern Annual #5 story "The Value of I", the Zilliphi reject the concept of individuality. They place great emphasis on the will of the majority, referred to as the Many, to the point that every important decision is put to a vote, even in the direst of circumstances. Taa presents the Conference House of Metro Nine with a Green Lantern Ring which would give the wearer the power to defeat the Barooki who are pillaging their city. Rather than making use of the ring, they decide to have a referendum. The Zilliphi reject using the ring as they fear that it would make the person who wore it stand out from the Many, meaning that they would no longer all be equal. Taa is told by the Conference House to dispose of the ring but he instead puts it on and uses its immense power to defeat the Barooki. He then gives a speech to the cheering crowd that the Many need to participate in their society as individuals if they are to survive and advance. However, his speech is misinterpreted and the Many instead decide to make Taa their king. They begin to come to Taa so that he can make all of their decisions for them. For instance, one couple, Sao and Saa, want him to decide on the hue that they should paint their quarters.
• Blessed with Suck: In Superman Annual #8, the League of Supermen is made up of men and women who are empowered with just one of Superman's many Kryptonian abilities. Unfortunately, they can't shut them off. Shield is completely numb, See-Through has to wear lead shades to block his x-ray vision, Flyboy needs to be tethered when not consciously moving towards something, Pounder can't handle normal objects and has to be fed like a baby, and Heat needs to let off excess heat energy every fifteen minutes or his insides burn up.
• Brain Uploading:
  • In Superman Annual #8, the League of Supermen is mentored and advised by a copy of Superman's consciousness created by computer drones prior to his being killed by Doomsday. Superman communicates with the League in the form of a Hologram in their headquarters.
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Lex Luthor has managed to live for thousands of years by transferring his consciousness into clone bodies. The current clone, Luthor the 60th, is elderly and decrepit and is preparing to make the transfer to a new, much younger clone. He notes that it becomes more difficult to transfer each time.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Surrogate", a young tooljerk named Cryssia is hooked up to a wave amplifier which connects her mind to an invulnerable robot body on the surface of Praxis IX, a planet with a predominantly methane atmosphere and a surface temperature close to 1,000 degrees, so that its platinum reserves can be mined. However, almost as soon as she is connected, Cryssia's entire consciousness is transferred to the robot body. Having been told by the scientist who subjected her to this treatment that the mass of the robot body can be reformed at will, Cryssia transforms it into a giant, golden version of Supergirl with the ability to fly. In her childhood, her parents had told her stories of Supergirl's legendary exploits on Old Earth and she had always imagined herself as the hero. Cryssia uses her new body to destroy the space station orbiting Praxis IX and kill the scientist who did this to her. Although her original body is destroyed, the process that transferred her consciousness to the robot body was irreversible.
• Bread and Circuses: In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, the Kane family has served as the executioners of Gotham since the Plight of Gotham crashlanded on their planet 500 years earlier. Assuming the identity of Batman or Batwoman depending on their gender, the Kanes' duty is to execute murderers in full view of the Gotham populace. While investigating the suicide of her father Robert, the new Batwoman Kathy Kane discovers that Commissioner Mondial and his men murder innocent people on a monthly basis and frame others for doing so. Further investigation leads her to Gotham's historical records which contain a written account of one of Mondial's ancestors, one of 50 survivors of the crashlanding. Inspired by the stories of Batman and Commissioner Gordon in Old Gotham, he believed that the best way to create a stable, ordered society was to use the threat of execution to keep the people in line and the spectacle of public executions to keep them entertained, even if that meant executing innocent people. His descendants continued this practice for 500 years until Kathy exposed the truth and brought it to an end.
• Busman's Vocabulary: Kaleb in Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5 is from an oceanic planet called Hydros which seems to be a planet of nothing but sailors and fishermen from what we see of it before it gets destroyed. Naturally, his diction early on leans heavily in to the idea that Space Is an Ocean, refering to his ability to fly as "swimming" and calling a fleet of spaceships a "school". He drops this later on as he spends more time on other worlds and the story shifts from him learning more about his powers and the galaxy at large to his participation in La Résistance.
• But You Were There, and You, and You: In the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "See My Finger. See My Thumb. See My Fist? You Better Run!", Guy connects to the cybertronic inducer and finds himself in the body of his descendant Gunner Gardner. After his mind returns to its proper time and place, he believes that it was "a real brain ride" and says to Bucky Wargo, Arisia Rrab and Tiger-Man II, "You were all there. As kids. You and you and you." Tiger-Man II replies, "Yeah, and if ya call me Auntie Em, I'm gonna bust ya."
• Cain and Abel: The Mallory siblings from Flash Annual #9, with Bryan being the non-believer, heroic Abel, and Tristan the fanatical, self-serving hypocrite Cain.
• Canon Immigrant: Thunder from The Power of Shazam! Annual #1 found herself transported to the era of the Legion of Super-Heroes and became an official member. She could transport herself between centuries by saying "Captain Marvel." As Thunder, she was in the 31st Century, but as CeCe Beck she was in her native time.
• Cat Girl: In Batman Annual #20, it is believed that Selina Kane was a brilliant geneticist who developed a technique called Genetrix to combine human and animal DNA. Although its use was strictly forbidden, Selina used herself as a test subject and injected herself with lynx DNA. Having obtained the grace of a cat as well as feline physical attributes, she became the criminal Cat-Fem.
• Character Narrator: Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5 is narrated by its protagonist Kaleb.
• Children Are Innocent: Wildfire is the last remaining original Legionnaire left by the time of Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, and is constantly recruiting new Legionnaires. Unfortunately, the majority of his past recruits keep dying in combat because they're all grossly prejudiced against each other. Finally, it dawns on Wildfire to recruit teenagers, reasoning the younger they are means they're not as xenophobic. It works. Mostly.
• City in a Bottle: In Robin Annual #5, the inhabitants of the generation ship Gotham believe that it is the sum total of the universe.
• City Planet:
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, the city planet Metropole is the capital of Lex Luthor's empire.
  • In Starman Annual #1, the Leader - formerly known as Richard Swift / the Shade - created a city that encompassed the entirety of the small planet on which he settled after Earth's destruction.
• Clone Army: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Luthor the 60th tells Kaleb that his Imperial Guard are clones created from the best fighting stock in the Empire.
• Clone Degeneration: In Action Comics Annual #8, scavengers discovered samples of Superman's DNA, belonging to LexCorp, in a crashed ship from Earth. They sold these samples to Barn'm P'Tee and he used them to create Bizarro, a flawed clone resulting from a glitch in the extraction process. P'Tee then built the Amusement Park Bizarro World around him, adding supporting characters such as Loiz and Jimmee from accompanying files.
• Composite Character: Some stories, like the aforementioned Batman Annual #20 saw some of the "legends" end up doing this trope (like the aforementioned "Fem-Cat" dressing like Poison Ivy).
• Covers Always Lie: The cover of Wonder Woman Annual #5 features AlyXa hastily putting on a Wonder Woman costume and about to be menaced by a Ratbat. None of that happens in the story.
• Create Your Own Hero: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, the people of Hydros are wiped out by the Empire on the orders of Luthor the 60th. This inspires the planet's last survivor Kaleb to join the rebellion and fight the Empire as the new Superman.
• Death by Origin Story: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, CeCe Beck's parents are killed by the Aberrant terrorist Dash Noir. In the confusion, a magic weapon sends Beck to the Rock of Eternity where she meets Captain Marvel and becomes his successor.
• Decapitation Presentation:
  • In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, the Jester presents Aaron Zsasz's head to the baying crowd after he is executed by Batman.
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, a Lizard-Man presents Starman's head on a pike to his king Ophos Arkayos after Finger City surrenders to their forces.
• Distant Prologue:
  • Adventures of Superman Annual #8 begins with a Hologram of Jor-El appearing to Superman in the 20th Century and downloading a great deal of information about Krypton into his brain. The remainder of the story takes place on Colu 500,000 years later, where the same thing happens to the Curatti Willigig.
  • In Superboy Annual #3, the first scene depicts the metahuman Sanson posing as the god Quetzalcoatl and promising the people of Aztlan that a superman would be delivered to them. Sanson then pretended that his previously secret powers were a gift from Quetzalcoatl. The rest of the story takes place 500 years later when Aztlan is ruled by a tyrannical Superman who abuses his great power for his own benefit.
• Distant Sequel: All of the stories are set centuries or millennia after the 20th Century. Both Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4 and Sovereign Seven Annual #2 take place at the end of the universe 19-20 billion years in the future.
• Driven to Suicide: In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, Robert Kane / Batman hangs himself after learning a man, Aaron Zsasz, that he executed the day before was innocent and as Gotham's executioner, he felt this was the only one to carry out justice.
• Earth That Was: This is the central premise of the crossover event which is explored in every story in different ways. None of the stories reveal how Earth was destroyed. Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7 establishes that it was destroyed at some point between the 30th and 75th Centuries.
• Emperor Scientist: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Lex Luthor plundered the ruins of the dead Earth to locate advanced pieces of technology (including a Green Lantern Power Battery and Doctor Fate's helmet) which he could use to conquer other planets and establish an empire.
• The Empire:
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Lex Luthor created an empire spanning a thousand worlds which he rules with an iron fist. Its capital is the world city Metropole.
  • In Impulse Annual #1, the Dargonian Empire rules hundreds of star systems and has a tendency to respond to overt acts of defiance with severe reprisals.
• Evil Doppelgänger: In Justice League America Annual #10, Captain Atom is brought to the future by Maxima and encounters evil versions of his Justice League comrades such as Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter and Mr. Miracle. He initially believes that they are robots but he is told by the doppelgänger of Ted Kord, who developed a conscience and switched sides, that they are probably more human than he is. Ted explains that they were created by Lord Havok, who recruited humans born on War World and placed them in bio-telemic capsules in order to break down their bodies into their component atoms and reshape them into whatever form he wished. The doppelgängers are members of the Alliance, a supervillain version of the old Justice League, and serve as Lord Havok's enforcers on War World.
• Expy:
  • In Action Comics Annual #8, Quedzl, the star attraction of the Amusement Park Bizarro World, is based on Barney.
  • In Legionnaires Annual #3, the imprisoned superheroes whom XS meets on Almeer-5 in the 100th Century are all inspired by major Marvel Comics characters. The first two are Gender Flipped expies: Ava / Avatar, who receives her powers from the Spear of Destiny, is based on Thor while Melissa Trask / Metallica, a brilliant electronics engineer who built an armored suit for herself, is based on Iron Man. Bob Brunner, who was transmorphed into Behemoth due to an energy transfer accident, is based on the Hulk. He resembles a blue version of the Hulk but, unlike the Marvel Hero, retains his intelligence when he changes. Ultra-Man, a very powerful hero from an earlier time, is based on Captain America.
• Famous Ancestor:
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, King Bruce the 23rd of Nu-Gotham is a descendant of Bruce Wayne.
  • In the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "Hypersensitive: A Changer for All Seasons", the changer Stonewall Fencer, a resident of Gardner's Green, claims to be one of Guy's descendants but the postal officer Garland Marsh is less than convinced.
  • In the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "See My Finger. See My Thumb. See My Fist? You Better Run!", Guy switches bodies with a young boy named Gunner Gardner, seemingly one of his descendants, in the town of Alphalphaville on the planet Arkayo in the far future. While there, he meets Gunner's friends Bucky, Risa and an unnamed Tiger-Boy, apparently the descendants of Bucky Wargo, Arisia Rrab and Tiger-Man II.
  • In the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "Dateless in a One Gender Town", half-sisters Manzo, Crocker and Buxton Gardner, otherwise known as the Gardner Gals, travel to the one gender town of Steinheim on the planet Prozack to recover a family heirloom belonging to their ancestor Guy. It was stolen by Lizzie Jordan, a descendant of Hal Jordan. While there, they meet Annie Wargo, a descendant of Bucky.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, two storytellers, one of whom believes that Aquaman was a great hero and one of whom believes that he was a terrible tyrant, each claim to be directly descended from him.
  • In Starman Annual #1, Lawrence Dare is a descendant of the O'Dare family, many of whom were members of Opal City's police force and friends of Jack Knight, the second Starman.
• Fantastic Racism: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Omuta, the indigenous population of Binderaan, are discriminated against by the ruling Science Council and the human population in general. CeCe Beck's father often claimed that they were a burden on society. They were generally regarded as being inferior to humans. Before the Science Council came to the power, they were used as slave labour in work camps. After they were freed, the Omuta were displaced from their homes and no effort was made to assimilate them into human society. Many of them had no choice but to beg for food on the street.
• Fantastic Slurs:
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legend Lives On", the half-Durlan shapeshifter Flexi dismisses S'Age's accusation that she is Supergirl as "typical singleform thinking."
  • In Justice League America Annual #10, the humans who were born on War World refer to those who were captured and assimilated by Lord Havok as "trogs."
• Feudal Future:
  • In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, Gotham has a medieval society.
  • In Azrael Annual #2, Nunky's planet has a medieval culture.
• The Fog of Ages: In Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, Wildfire can remember his exploits with the original Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th Century after 4,500 years. However, with the passage of time, he has forgotten his real name, Drake Burroughs, and most other details of his life. The Legionnaire Membrain helps him to recover his memory through sensory deprivation.
• Forgot the Call: Inverted in Adventures of Superman Annual #8. Willigig, the Curatti slave of the Sarkon Captain Grummb, accidentally activates a holographic message from Jor-El left for Superman 500,000 years earlier. The hologram contains substantial information about Krypton and Superman's Kryptonian heritage which is transferred to Willigig's brain. As a result, he becomes convinced that he is Superman.
• Framing Device:
  • In Batman Annual #20, Old Posea tells three children of the Bat-Man's heroic deeds in Gotham on Old Earth in order to teach them life lessons.
  • In Catwoman Annual #3, a museum tour guide tells several visitors about Commissioner Joker's pursuit of the Outlaw Couple Batman and Catwoman in the ancient city of Gotham.
  • In Azrael Annual #2, Nunky recounts the story of Azrael's heroic victory over Bane in the hell of Gotham to a large group of children.
  • In Flash Annual #9, Deborah tells the story of Tristan and Bryan Mallory, including her own involvement with them, to six children.
  • In Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2, a family of reptilian aliens experience simulations of the adventures of Guy Gardner and his descendants through a cybertronic inducer while visiting the asteroid museum Warriors.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, two storytellers tell conflicting stories about Aquaman to determine which is better. He is a great hero in the first story and a terrible villain in the second.
  • In Starman Annual #1, Richard Swift / the Shade tells seven children about the exploits of two Starmen, Prince Gavyn and Ted Knight.
  • In Sovereign Seven Annual #2, Violet Jones, Pansy Smith and Daisy Miller recall various adventures of the Sovereign Seven in the coffee house Crossroads as the universe comes to an end.
• The Future: Every story is set at the very least 500 years after the destruction of Earth but no date is given for its destruction and only a handful of the stories have a date attached.
  • Action Comics Annual #8 takes place in the 30th Century.
  • Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7 takes place in the 75th Century.
  • Although no date is given in The Power of Shazam! Annual #1 itself, its protagonist CeCe Beck is later sent back in time to the 30th Century in Legion of Super-Heroes #110 and says that she is 6,000 years in the past. As such, she is from the 90th Century. She refers to the calendar used by the Legion as "the Dead Earth calendar."
  • Legionnaires Annual #3 takes place in the 100th Century.
  • Adventures of Superman Annual #8 takes place 500,000 years after the 20th Century.
  • Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4 and Sovereign Seven Annual #2 both take place at the very end of the universe, which the former dates to 33 billion years after the Big Bang (approximately 19-20 billion years in the future).
• Future Imperfect:
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legend Lives On", S'Age gives her rendition of the Supergirl legend. Superman and Supergirl were metas from Krypton who gained their powers from exposure to Kryptonite radiation. Supergirl was the last being to leave Krypton after many failed attempts to save the planet. She and Supermen then journeyed to Earth, where they fell in love, got married and had a son, Superboy. Supergirl gained the ability to shapeshift from Kryptonite radiation and used it to transform into her secret identity of Lo Slane. S'Age claims that Supergirl could still be alive as she was a self-regenerating protoplasmic lifeform who was active from the First Heroic Age to the time of the Legion of Titanic Superheroes. She also believes that Supergirl once went crazy and tried to the destroy the world, an event called the Crisis.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "Shootout at Ice Flats", Sheriff Eileen P. Garrett's mother tells her that the "S" badge, an ancient relic from Old Earth, belonged to Sardine Girl, who was created from super scientific mud. In her showdown with the Nerf outlaw Curly, Eileen uses what she believes is an ancient Earth weapon against her: a Staple-O-Matic. It doesn't prove very effective. Other humans are seen holding a razor and a hairdryer, which they seemingly believe are also weapons.
  • In Detective Comics Annual #9, Dealy claims that Batman fought Three-Face, the Jokester, Bane-A-Gator, Firecat and the Buzzard and that he had a friend named Alfred Gordon.
  • This is played with in the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "The Legend Lives On!". The historical records on the asteroid museum Warriors celebrating the life of Guy Gardner claim that he fought injustice from the day that he was born (punching the doctor who slapped him), had a normal and happy upbringing, was always at the top of his class in high school, was a great athlete, served as the leader of the Justice League and was always faithful to his lady love, the goddess Ice. The museum does acknowledge that some archival sources suggest that Guy came from a dysfunctional family and that he was a high school dropout, a mediocre sportsman and an "obnoxious, womanizing hothead" who turned on the Green Lantern Corps. However, the tour guide Lumita claims that all of these stories are either inaccurate or were deliberately created to sully Guy's reputation. It turns out that Guy is still alive and well, Lumita is his daughter and he created Warriors to promote himself and his legacy.
  • In Catwoman Annual #3, Bruce and Selina are remembered as murderous criminals, who were opposed by Commissioner Joker, brilliant reporter Edward Nygma, and their own son, Dick Wayne.
• Generation Ships:
  • In Robin Annual #5, a generation ship called Gotham was sent into space sometime after Earth's destruction to search for a new home for humanity among the stars. However, the ship never reached its destination. Over the course of hundreds of generations, the inhabitants of Gotham forgot that they were even on a ship. As resources are scarce, people who have reached the age of 30 are killed via cremation and their ashes are converted into fertiliser so that plants can grow. This is euphemistically known as "the Giving." A former proctor who became disillusioned with Gotham society assumed the identity of the legendary Old Earth hero Batman. He sought refuge in the upper levels and discovered the monitor room at the top of Gotham. As such, Batman realised that Gotham was a ship and that there was an entire universe beyond it. He speculated that the ship either went off-course or the star at its destination went cold and died. After saving her from the proctors and robot guards called the Jokers, Batman recruits a rebel named Tris Plover as the new Robin. His plan is to access the proctormind, the ship's central nexus, and find a suitable planet where the people of Gotham can settle. Although Batman is killed in his fight against the proctors, Tris reaches the proctormind, which is able to find an Earth-like planet which fits all of Batman's specifications. However, it will take 323 cycles (years) for the ship to reach it. After being captured by the proctors, Tris sacrifices herself and undergoes the Giving. She does so in order to secure a better future for Gotham but not in the way that the proctors expect. Centuries later, the ship has reached the planet, which was named Gotham, and Tris is hailed as a hero on the same level as the original Batman and Robin.
  • In Impulse Annual #1, Trace Wyndham was born on a generation colony ship which was travelling to a distant galaxy to create a new civilisation. The crew was specifically selected as the best and brightest that humanity had to offer. However, an unspecified disaster struck. Trace's parents placed him in a lifepod but did not accompany him and were killed when the ship was destroyed. Trace was the Sole Survivor of the tragedy. The pod floated in space for several years until it was discovered by a Dargonian ship and brought to Mtoncanf.
  • In Wonder Woman Annual #5, a generation ship was launched from Earth prior to its destruction in the hope of finding a new home. However, a warp field breach severely damaged the ship and the comparatively few survivors were forced to eke out a "pitiful, subsistence life." Over time, they split into two groups. One of the groups became known as the Unremembered, for reasons that they were lost to them. One of their number, AlyXa, later learns that it is because they do not have access to a memory transfer device. After 10,000 generations, the other group evolved into the Ratbats. Neither group had any concept of life beyond the worldship, the name of which had been long since forgotten.
• Genocide Backfire: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, the Empire wipes out the people of Hydros as part of the Krypton Protocol, an initiative of Luthor the 60th to systemically destroy any planet whose natives are likely to develop superpowers under the sun of another world. Hydros is the 36th planet to be so destroyed. However, Kaleb survives the extermination of his people, having been rescued by the rebellion, and is trained by them to become the new Superman. By making use of his extensive powers, the rebellion is able to score substantial victories against the Empire.
• Government Drug Enforcement: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Science Council forces the citizens of Binderaan to take daily vitamins to keep them in check.
• Hates My Secret Identity: In Catwoman Annual #3, Bruce and Selina Wayne's teenage son Dick Grayson Wayne despises Batman and Catwoman. He regards them as murderers and thieves who should be brought to justice by Commissioner Joker. Dick does not take it well when he discovers that Batman and Catwoman are his parents.
• The Heart: In Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, Wildfire has served as one to the Legion of Super-Heroes for more than 4,000 years.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Luthor the 60th fires a beam weapon composed of an element from his homeworld Hydros, essentially the planet's equivalent of Kryptonite, at Kaleb when he attempts to attack him. Kaleb is almost killed in the process. However, his fellow resistance fighter Corin jumps in the path of the beam and the weapon is disrupted. The heat of the blast is more than any human could withstand and he dies within seconds but not before telling Kaleb to take care of Lang, with whom they were both in love. Corin's death has a significant effect on Kaleb as while Corin had never liked him, he was still willing to give up his life to save him for the good of the rebellion.
  • In Flash Annual #9, Bryan Mallory decides to re-enter the chamber which siphons off his Life Energy so that the people can be restored to health and the planet can remain green instead of returning to its previous icy status. He does so with the full knowledge that he shall have to remain in the chamber indefinitely.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Some of the DCU's less savory characters are portrayed as uncompromisingly heroic figures.
  • Aquaman Annual #2: The second tale of Aquaman portrays Ocean Master as a hero trying to stop his mad brother's reign over the Earth.
  • Catwoman Annual #3: As Catwoman and Batman are now a criminal couple, the Joker is a well renowned police officer who, after getting his skin bleached, became the well respected and dedicated Commissioner Joker.
  • Guy Gardner: Warriors Annual #2: The surly and foul tempered Guy Gardner is revered as an almost messiah-like figure referred to as "The Big Guy."
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Some of the DCU's greatest heroes are remembered as bloodthirsty criminals and despots.
  • Aquaman Annual #2: The second tale of Aquaman casts him as a cruel despot who rules a floating, skull shaped city alongside the Earth's oceans.
  • Catwoman Annual #3: Catwoman and Batman are a Bonnie and Clyde-esque criminal married couple.
• Homeworld Evacuation: Humanity evacuated Earth en masse prior to its destruction and were scattered across the galaxy.
• Hope Bringer: Superboy Annual #3 told of a group of Earthlings who got stranded on the planet Aztlan when Earth got thrown into a period of revolutionary upheaval and all space travel stopped. The Earthlings were using the planet to "play ancient Aztec" and couldn't be convinced to start building new lives for themselves now that they couldn't go home. It came to down to a man named Sanson secretly using his metahuman abilities to appear as the god Quetzalcoatl and proclaim a savior would be bestowed onto them. Sanson then pretended his powers were a "gift" from the aforementioned god, and inspired his friends to start building a new society for themselves. 500 years later, Aztlan is flourishing.
• Horse of a Different Color: In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, the Nu-Gotham Army rides Tyrannosaurus rexes into battle with the Lizard-Men.
• Human Sacrifice: In Starman Annual #1, the Prairie Witch kidnapped Opal City police officer William O'Dare in the 1940s and planned to sacrifice him so that her future crimes would be successful. However, Ted Knight, the original Starman, rescued him before she could do so.
• Humans Are Survivors: Humanity survived the destruction of Earth and settled on more than a thousand different planets throughout the galaxy.
• Immortal Ruler: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Lex Luthor created an empire that he ruled for millennia by transferring his consciousness into a series of 59 clone bodies.
• Insectoid Aliens: In Catwoman Annual #3, an insectoid alien visits a museum and hears the story of the heroic Commissioner Joker's battle with the villainous Batman and Catwoman on Old Earth.
• Internal Homage: The first panel of Action Comics Annual #8 recreates the cover of Action Comics #1 in which Superman made his debut in 1938, though with Bizarro in place of Superman.
• Kid from the Future: In Legionnaires Annual #3, in attempting to return to her own time of the 30th Century after being trapped 1,000 years in the past, XS accidentally travels even further back in time and meets her grandfather Barry Allen. After revealing her identity to him and explaining the situation, he asks her about the future. Her answers are vague and non-committal as she cannot tell him about his death for fear of altering the timeline.
• King Incognito: In Aquaman Annual #2, the first storyteller claims that King Aquaman disguised himself as a peasant so that he could visit the city of New Phoenix and discover what its people thought of him.
• Last of His Kind:
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Kaleb is the last survivor of Hydros as his people were wiped out by the Empire.
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, He-Who-Dares, the embodiment of all evil, is the last sentient being in the entire universe as it approaches heat death 33 billion years after the Big Bang (approximately 19-20 billion years in the future).
• Law of Alien Names: In Wonder Woman Annual #5, the Unremembered are a group of humans who have lived on a generation ship for 10,000 generations. All of their names feature a capital "X": AlyXa, ValXan, KarXyn, CatXon, GanXul and OlXus. In all but the last case, it is the fourth letter.
• Legacy Character: This is a major recurring theme throughout many of the stories.
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Kaleb, the last survivor of the Krypton-like planet Hydros, is recruited by the rebellion to become the new Superman and fight the Empire.
  • In Superman Annual #8, the League of Supermen continue the legacy of Superman by protecting their planet from natural and man-made disasters.
  • In Adventures of Superman Annual #8, the Curatti Willigig comes to believe that he is Superman after he receives a considerable volume of information about Krypton from a message that Jor-El recorded for Superman 500,000 years earlier.
  • In Superboy Annual #3, successive metas have been chosen to protect and rule Aztlan by becoming Superman for 500 years. Each Superman chooses a young man to be Superboy, who eventually succeeds him.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Surrogate", Cryssia becomes the new Supergirl after her consciousness is transferred into a robot body which she can reshape at will.
  • In Batman Annual #20, a Batman cyborg fights the City Controllers who rule New Gotham through oppression and mind control.
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, the City Hero, the Batman, is the guardian of Nu-Gotham who fights crime in the city and protects it from external threats such as the Lizard-Men. The people of Nu-Gotham believe that the Batman is their ruler King Bruce the 23rd but it is in fact his retainer Richard Grayson as the King was too frightened. Starman was the hero of Finger City before it fell to the Lizard-Men.
  • In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, successive generations of the Kane family, calling themselves either Batman or Batwoman, have been the executioners of the city of Gotham since their ship, the Plight of Gotham, crashlanded 500 years earlier.
  • In Robin Annual #5, a former proctor on the generation ship Gotham who had grown disillusioned with his society was inspired by the legends of Old Earth to become the new Batman. A rebel named Tris Plover becomes his Robin.
  • In Impulse Annual #1, Trace Wyndham is recruited into the Invisible Resistance by the speedster Kinnock. After demonstrating to Trace that he can access the Speed Force, Kinnock gives him the name Impulse as it suits his impulsive personality.
  • In Flash Annual #9, Bryan Mallory receives the Holy Shroud, namely Wally West's Flash costume, from the Martian Manhunter and becomes the Flash so that he can defeat his twin brother Tristan.
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, CeCe Beck is accidentally transported to the Rock of Eternity by a magic weapon wielded by the Aberrant Dash Noir. Once there, she meets the elderly Captain Marvel, who has been asleep for so long that he does not know that Earth was destroyed. He gives Beck his powers so that she can protect herself when the Rock of Eternity is overrun by Aberrants and the security forces pursuing them. As such, Beck becomes the new Captain Marvel.
  • In Wonder Woman Annual #5, a female Ratbat receives memories of Wonder Woman's adventures on Old Earth from a memory transfer device. This experience inspires her to fashion a costume resembling Wonder Woman's and fight the Unremembered who are invading her territory.
• Legend Fades to Myth:
  • In Superboy Annual #3, the history of Superman and Superboy has been reinterpreted to better fit in with the Aztec-influenced culture of the planet Aztlan, a former Earth colony which was cut off from Earth 500 years earlier (presumably when it was, unbeknownst to them, destroyed). Aztlan teachings hold that the god Quetzalcoatl placed his power in the Superman and sent him to Aztlan in a rocket to protect its people from evil. After the Superman was killed, a Superboy arose from his spilled blood. Superboy fought off the great evil that killed the Superman, who was restored to life. The grateful Quetzalcoatl gave Superboy the same powers as the Superman and each successive Superboy has in time become the new Superman.
  • In Flash Annual #9, the Martian Manhunter visited an ice planet and gave its people the Book of Iris and the Flash's costume. The former became the basis of their religion while the latter came to be known as the Holy Shroud. For generations, the eldest son of the Mallory family has journeyed to the top of the highest mountain where he receives the Holy Light and gains the power of Super-Speed. After his father Stevan dies, Bryan Mallory, who does not believe the old legends, travels to the mountain with his twin brother Tristan, a devout follower of the Light. Once there, Bryan is struck by lightning and becomes a speedster.
  • In Robin Annual #5, Gimmer believes that the legendary heroes of Earth and the planet itself may be nothing more than a myth.
  • In Detective Comics Annual #9, Bruggo says that his father does not believe that a planet like Earth, which rotated on its axis, could have existed.
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Science Council that rules Binderaan has determined that Earth is nothing more than a legend and that humanity evolved on Binderaan.
  • In Azrael Annual #2, the events of Knightfall are retold in fairy tale terms with more of an emphasis on Azrael's heroism. Azrael is regarded as being an angel and a warrior who was instructed by an oracle to journey to the hell of Gotham to slay its ruler, the Batking. When he arrives there, he finds that an ogre named Bane has defeated the Batking in combat and has imprisoned him in a tower. When he makes his way into the tower, Azrael removes the Batking's mask and finds that the two of them are identical, except for the Batking's hair being black instead of blonde. The Batking tells him that they are the same person, divided in two by an evil sorcerer named Brother Rollo. Azrael and the Batking are able to recombine and Bane runs away in fear as soon as he lays eyes on the new and improved version.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, two storytellers argue over whether Aquaman was a hero or a villain with each providing a story to support their claim.
    • In the first story, Earth is a desert planet and the only apparent source of water is Atlantis, which is located above ground in a dome. The world is ruled by the old King Aquaman, who gives the people who come to him water in small amounts. King Aquaman begins to wonder what his people in the faraway city of New Phoenix think of him and he decides to travel to the city in disguise. After a prostitute and several men in a tavern speak ill of him, the furious Aquaman reveals his true identity and engages them in combat. He intends to destroy New Phoenix but the generosity of a young boy, who gives him his water so that he can clean himself and look like a true king, stays his hand. The King instead strikes the ground with his sword, creating a huge geyser of water in the process.
    • In the second story, three-quarters of Earth is covered with water and it is ruled with an iron fist by Aquaman. He travels through the clouds in the flying city Poseidonis, which is shaped like a skull. From Poseidonis, he fires energy weapons at ships that refuse to acknowledge his mastery of the sea. After the heroes of Earth fail to defeat him, Aquaman's brother Ocean Master and his aide Black Manta launch an attack on Poseidonis. The city is destroyed in a fierce battle while Aquaman and Ocean Master are locked in eternal combat in space, being kept alive by magic and their anger towards each other.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legend Lives On", Flexi tells S'Age that Superman is nothing more than "a myth from the legend called Earth." Zip thinks that it is debatable.
• Life Energy: In Flash Annual #9, Tristan Mallory imprisoned his brother Bryan in a special chamber for 300 years after he received his speed. The chamber siphons off Bryan's life energy in order to make the once frozen planet lush and green and to keep Tristan alive indefinitely. As the process is unstable, Tristan gathers his people together for Green Day once every 20 years and uses Bryan to siphon off their energy in the same manner. After Tristan's follower Deborah releases Bryan from his confinement, Tristan is forced to drain the people's energy to the point that most of them become elderly and decrepit within hours.
• Lost Common Knowledge: In Wonder Woman Annual #5, the Unremembered have regressed thousands of years since their generation ship was struck with disaster. They have forgotten the meaning of words such as "sky," "night" and "stars" and know nothing of planets, space vessels, the universe or anything else beyond the worldship. Most notably, most male members of the Unremembered believe that women make babies "out of some contrary nature unique to them." There is a growing number of men, such as CatXon, who believe that men are just as much to blame for babies being conceived but it is widely seen as a "preposterous belief."
• Love Triangle: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Kaleb falls in love with Lang almost as soon as he lays eyes on her. Corin, another resistance fighter, has been in love with Lang for years and takes an instant dislike to Kaleb. It grows even stronger when it becomes apparent that Lang reciprocates Kaleb's feelings.
• Magic Versus Science: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, there is a conflict between magic and science on Binderaan. The ruling Science Council strictly enforces an adherence to science as if it were a religion. Those like the Aberrants who reject science in favour of magic are deemed to be non-believers and a threat to Binderaan society.
• Microts:
  • In Robin Annual #5, time aboard the generation ship Gotham is measured in cycles. One cycle is roughly equal to a year.
  • In Wonder Woman Annual #5, the Unremembered measure time in cycles. 18 years in the Old Earth calendar equates to 70 cycles.
• Mind-Control Device: In Batman Annual #20, the children of New Gotham are implanted with a mind control chip by the City Controllers once they reach a certain age. The Batman cyborg who protects the city prevents this from being done to three children.
• The Mole: In Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, it turns out that the Durlan Legionnaires Shape and Shift are conspiring with their people to prevent the re-establishment of the United Planets.
• The Morlocks: Subverted in Wonder Woman Annual #5. The Ratbats are a seemingly savage and barbarous race of creatures who evolved from one of the two groups of human survivors on a Generation Ship. They have been in constant conflict with the Unremembered for resources aboard the worldship for generations. AlyXa, a rebellious 18-year-old member of the Unremembered, managed to sneak into the Ratbats' territory without being seen. While there, she receives recorded memories of Wonder Woman and her exploits on Earth when in the proximity of a memory transfer device being used by a female Ratbat. When she uses it herself, AlyXa experiences residual memories drawn from the female Ratbat's mind and she discovers that the Unremembered have badly misjudged them. They are not savage, animalistic brutes but intelligent beings with a sophisticated society, which is more advanced than that of the Unremembered in some respects. For instance, female Ratbats are considered equal to the males while the women of the Unremembered are considered to be the males' property.
• Multiple Head Case: Subverted in Action Comics Annual #8. Phisto, the two-headed Bizarro World security guard who turns out to be collaborating with Zarn terrorists, has one mind and his two heads are in perfect sync. They always either Speak in Unison or finish each other's sentences.
• Mythology Gag: In Batman Annual #20, Batman is remembered as the Bat-Man in Old Posea's stories. The character was originally called the Bat-Man in his earliest appearances during The Golden Age of Comic Books.
• New Neo City:
  • In Batman Annual #20, New Gotham is a domed city ruled by the oppressive regime of the City Controllers.
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, Nu-Gotham is a city ruled by King Bruce the 23rd of the royal Wayne line, also known as the City Hero, the Batman.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, the first storyteller claims that King Aquaman visited the city of New Phoenix in disguise.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: In Action Comics Annual #8, the owner of the Amusement Park Bizarro World is Barn'm P'Tee.
• No Name Given: In Robin Annual #5, Tris Plover realises that, even though she agreed to become his Robin, she does not even know the name of the former proctor who assumed the identity of Batman. He is killed before he ever has the chance to tell her.
• Opening Narration: Most (but not all) annuals begin as follows: "Earth is dead. Those who once might have called it home are long scattered to the endless stars. But in that scattering, on a thousand different worlds, by a thousand different ways...Earth's greatest legends live on."
• Oral Tradition:
  • In Robin Annual #5, the Oldies of Gotham tell the children stories of the legendary heroes of Old Earth.
  • In Batman Annual #20, in the city of New Gotham, an old man named Posea tells three children stories of the Bat-Man who protected Old Gotham and his enemies the Mad Jester, Cat-Fem, Split-Face, Ice Bird and the Scarecrow. The stories have become increasingly distorted with each retelling but the basic elements are consistent with the actual events. It turns out that Posea is in fact a Batman cyborg who protects New Gotham in the same way that the original Batman protected Old Gotham.
  • In Wonder Woman Annual #5, the sayers of the Unremembered have passed on stories of the Lost Place, their name for Earth, for 10,000 generations. These stories concern their ancestors' departure from Earth aboard a generation ship as well as the heroism of Wonder Woman and other members of the Justice League. While the words have been preserved over time, they lose more of their meaning with each generation.
• Physical Hell: In Batman Annual #20, it is believed that the Bat-Man banished criminals to Arkham, a literal Hell on Earth, under his tower in Old Gotham.
• Planet Spaceship: In Justice League America Annual #10, Lord Havok created a giant spaceship called War World which contained an artificial environment emulating a planet. He used the ship to travel the cosmos and find human colonies, which he conquered.
• Power Trio: Dealy, Geela and Bruggo in Detective Comics Annual #9.
• Real After All: The appearance of Quetzalcoatl in Superboy Annual #3 was just a masquerade created by the metahuman Sanson. Superboy's girlfriend Challa uses her power to create the illusion of Quetzalcoatl expressing his contempt of the current corrupt Superman in order to stop him, but he sees through the deception... just in time for the real Quetzalcoatl to show up and pass judgment on Superman for his sins.
• Red Herring:
  • The second part of Supergirl Annual #1 is about a group of female space pirates who find one of their comrades is dead. She tried scratching a symbol on the floor as a way to tell who killed her, and the pirates believe she was trying to say "Supergirl." After nearly everyone is killed, driven by the paranoid belief one of them is Supergirl in disguise, we learn the symbol was really the biohazard symbol on the canisters the first pirate was found under. The canisters contained chemicals that cause aggression and paranoia.
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Corin is jealous of Kaleb's relationship with Lang and it seems as though he plans to betray him to the Empire. He instead prevents Kaleb from being killed by Luthor the 60th, sacrificing his own life in the process.
• Referenced By: William Shakespeare: The Green Lantern Annual #5 story "Nobler in the Mind" is a reference to the line "Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" from Hamlet, Act III, Scene I.
• La Résistance:
  • In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, the rebellion, led by Ambrose, is attempting to defeat the Empire, a brutal regime that encompasses a thousand worlds across the galaxy.
  • In Impulse Annual #1, the speedster Kinnock established the Invisible Resistance on Mtoncanf two years after the Dargonian Empire invaded the planet. As he knows that they do not have the resources to prevail in a direct confrontation with the Dargonians, Kinnock takes a more subtle approach. The Invisible Resistance attacks them without even letting them know that they are being attacked by sabotaging their computer systems, tainting their food and air supplies and overrunning their quarters with insects. It is Kinnock's hope that the Dargonians will eventually decide that Mtoncanf is more trouble than it is worth and abandon the planet.
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Aberrants are considered non-believers and dangerous rebels by the Science Council because they reject science and embrace magic. Led by Matriarch, the Aberrants' goal is to change the government through peaceful means. Matriarch is disgusted when she discovers that Dash Noir has been using violence to achieve their aims.
  • In Justice League America Annual #10, Ted Kord and Maxima started a rebellion against Lord Havok and the Alliance on War World.
• Robocam: In Detective Comics Annual #9, the War-Bat's perspective is seen after Geela activates him.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: The heroic versions of Aquaman in Aquaman Annual #2 and King Batman in Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4.
• Sdrawkcab Name: In Batman Annual #20, Old Posea, who tells fables of Batman, is named after Aesop.
• Sea Serpents: In Azrael Annual #2, Azrael, his counselor Brian and the Joker are attacked by a sea serpent while they are making their way across a river to Gotham by boat. Although the Joker repeatedly tells the other two men not to whistle as it will attract the monster, he does so himself at the first opportunity. He explains that he did so because he is "a nutty guy." Azrael is able to slay the monster with his sword.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Robin Annual #5, there are several references to Logan's Run and the novella Universe by Robert A. Heinlein. In the case of the former, the inhabitants of Gotham sacrifice themselves at 30 years old so that their bodies can be converted to plant fertiliser. Tris Plover goes on the run from the proctors and is rescued by Batman, who is the oldest person that she has ever seen. In the case of the latter, the generation ship Gotham has been travelling aimlessly for generations. So much time has passed that the inhabitants have forgotten that they are on a ship.
  • In Flash Annual #9, Deborah observes that Tristan Mallory claims to believe that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the Binderaan police officer who is investigating Dash Noir's terrorist attack is named Superintendent Javert.
  • In Sovereign Seven Annual #2, Violet Jones says, "I've a very bad feeling about this" as the universe ends. Pansy Smith replies, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi! You're my only hope!"
  • The introduction to Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 emulates the Opening Crawl of the Star Wars films.
  • In Action Comics Annual #8, the two warring species, the Zarn and the Zentauri, are named after the similarly antagonistic Narn and Centauri from Babylon 5.
• Single-Biome Planet:
  • In Flash Annual #9, Bryan and Tristan Mallory's planet is a frozen wasteland. However, it was a lush and green planet before the devastation resulting from the destruction of a planet in a nearby solar system (presumably Earth) caused numerous volcanoes to erupt, sending tons of ash into the atmosphere and blocking out the planet's Binary Suns.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, the first storyteller believes that Earth was a desert planet, as is the case with his own planet.
• Slave Race: In Adventures of Superman Annual #8, the Curatti are the slaves of the Sarkons. However, the Sarkon Captain Grummb claims that they are more like pets.
• Space Pirates:
  • In Adventures of Superman Annual #8, the Sarkons are a race of space pirates who routinely pillage and conquer worlds. Captain Grumbb's ship attacks a city on the planet Colu in order to obtain a recently discovered 500,000-year-old relic from Old Earth containing Jor-El's holographic message to Superman. Although they claim that they wish to spread the stories of Old Earth's heroes throughout the galaxy, the Coluan Xurl Dox determines that their true ambition is to distort the historical record and recast themselves as heroes, which will make for easier conquests in the future.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legend Lives On", five female space pirates, S'Age, Leedra, Flexi, Zip and Yola, pulled off a daring raid on the Mauck trade platform.
  • In the Green Lantern Annual #5 story "The Value of I", the Barooki are a species of space pirates who plunder entire worlds for their riches. After mortally wounding the Green Lantern Rak Arranya by firing maser blasts at him, they proceed to loot the city of Metro Nine on the planet Zilliph. A young Zilliphi named Taa, a messenger for the Conference House of Metro Nine, receives the Green Lantern ring from Rak. Although he is told to dispose of it, he instead uses it to defeat the Barooki.
• Space Western: The third part of Supergirl Annual #1, "Shootout at Ice Flats", takes place on a primitive frontier world called Bonechill IV.
• The Stars Are Going Out: In both Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4 and Sovereign Seven Annual #2, the stars have long since gone out as the universe is rapidly approaching its end.
  • In the former, the embodiment of all evil, He-Who-Dares, is in the ruins of a castle on an asteroid in orbit of the last star in the entire universe. As Evil prevailed over Good, the universe is undergoing heat death, which will be followed by oblivion. Had Good won, the universe would have "evolved into a living, self-conscious being, capable of bootstrapping itself to a new, undreamed-of state of existence." He-Who-Dares manages to alter the course of history so that the people of Nu-Gotham defeat the Lizard-Men's assault on their city. This sets off a chain reaction which allows Good to emerge victorious and the universe to achieve sentience.
  • In the latter, the coffee house Crossroads is located on the last planet orbiting the last star, which goes out. However, the sun rises again the next morning. It is hailed as the first sunrise of the first day of a brand new beginning, indicating the birth of a new universe.
• Stealth Pun: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, while he's always referred by the characters as Lex the 60th, we see a series of portraits of previous Lex-es with Roman numerals, so the last one was Lex LIX, and this one is... Lex LX.
• Super Registration Act: In Legionnaires Annual #3, Overlord Nevlor, the dictator of Almeer-5 in the 100th Century, introduced a law that all superbeings must be licensed in order to use their powers. Nevlor refused to grant licenses to those whom he could not control. If an individual uses their powers without a license, they are either downsized (literally) or imprisoned. They are then replaced with artificially created beings with the same powers who are loyal to Nevlor.
• Super Wheelchair: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Luthor the 60th has a wheelchair equipped with a life support system, controls to activate weapons and a force field to protect him from attacks.
• Take Up My Sword: In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, Kathy Kane becomes Batwoman after her father's suicide, and uncovers her ancestors have been manipulated into killing innocent people to keep Gotham's citizens law-abiding.
• Theme Naming: In Detective Comics Annual #9, Typhon's Binary Suns Osiris and Iris are located in the Greater Amun system. Osiris, Isis and Amun are all major gods in Egyptian Mythology.
• Third-Person Person: In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legend Lives On", Flexi always refers to herself in the third person.
• Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5 features Kaleb, the new Superman, being mistaken for the original by none other than Lex Luthor.
• Tidally Locked Planet: In Detective Comics Annual #9, the planet Typhon revolves around the Binary Suns Osiris and Iris in the Greater Amun system. It is held in a roughly elliptical orbit by the conflicting gravitational forces of the two suns. As such, one side, Sybaris, is in perpetual daylight whereas the other side, Crotona, is in perpetual darkness.
• Title Drop: In Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, Wildfire says that due process is "one of the greatest legends of the dead Earth."
• To Serve Man: In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, the Lizard-King Ophos Arkayos orders that all humans in Finger City over the age of nine are to be killed and that the children are to be placed in cages as "an army marches on its stomach."
• Translator Microbes: In Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #5, Kaleb is given a translator ear-plug so that he can communicate with the other rebels.
• Tuckerization:
  • In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, Finger City is named after Batman's co-creator Bill Finger.
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, CeCe Beck is named after Captain Marvel's co-creator Clarence Charles "C.C." Beck while her home planet Binderaan is named after prolific Marvel Family writer Otto Binder.
• Turned Against Their Masters: In Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #4, humans arrived on the Lizard-Men's planet centuries earlier and subjugated them as they were weak and divided. Under the leadership of their king Ophos Arkayos, the Lizard-Men rise up and destroy numerous human cities in their attempt to regain control of their planet.
• Unwitting Pawn: In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #6, Kathy Kane discovers her family have been pawns of Gotham's justice system since their society was founded. The Mondial Family have framed innocent people for murders and get them executed by Batman as a demonstration to keep their society in order. Kathy realizes her father Robert committed suicide upon learning every man he beheaded was innocent.
• Ursine Aliens: In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, many of the Omuta resemble bears. The rest resemble horses.
• Uterine Replicator: In Robin Annual #5, babies are created artificially through a process known as the Childing. After they are born, they are taken to the Nursery where they are raised until they are nine cycles (years) old, at which time they are put to work in the fields.
• Vestigial Empire: In Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #7, the United Planets collapsed after Earth was destroyed. In the 75th Century, the immortal Wildfire is the only surviving original Legionnaire. He has established a new Legion on the planet Rimbor which abides by the laws and customs of the United Planets. The former UP member states do not trust each other as a planet-sized cannon reappears to destroy a star every 100 years, which has the effect of blocking communication throughout the galaxy. Wildfire and a newly trained, highly efficient group of teenage Legionnaires are able to destroy the cannon when it appears 97 years ahead of schedule. As a result, communication is restored and the United Planets is re-established at Wildfire's urging. However, Legionnaires Annual #3 reveals that the United Planets no longer exists in the 100th Century, suggesting that Wildfire's initiative was ultimately unsuccessful.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting:
  • In Action Comics Annual #8, the actors who play Lois Lane (Loiz), Jimmy Olsen (Jimmee) and others at Bizarro World belong to a race of shapeshifters.
  • In the Supergirl Annual #1 story "The Legends Lives On", S'Age claims that Supergirl was a shapeshifter, which leads her to believe that her crewmate Flexi, a half-Durlan shapeshifter, is Supergirl in disguise.
  • In the Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "Hypersensitive: A Changer for All Seasons", the title character Stonewall Fencer is a shapeshifter.
• The Wall Around the World:
  • In The Power of Shazam! Annual #1, the city on Binderaan where CeCe Beck lives is located inside of a dome.
  • In Aquaman Annual #2, the first storyteller believes that Atlantis was a domed city on the surface of Old Earth.
• Walls of Tyranny: In Batman Annual #20, New Gotham is surrounded by a dome. The City Controllers tell the populace that it is for their own protection as the air outside New Gotham is poisonous. However, this is not true. The dome was constructed for the sole purpose of keeping the people inside the city.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Tristan Mallory of The Flash Annual #9 is driven by his need to be the one to carry on his father's holy mission. When Tristan's brother Bryan is chosen despite Bryan repeatedly stating he doesn't share his family's faith, Tristan smothers their dad and claims he was given their family's legacy to uphold.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In Batman Annual #20, the Old Gotham Warden Harvey Bent came to believe that it was not enough to banish criminals to the hell of Arkham but that they should be put to death. The Bat-Man refused to consider this as he believed that it would make them as bad as the criminals that they fought. Bent resigned as Warden in protest. In order to end the battle between good and evil raging inside of him, Bent tried to burn the evil out of himself. This only served to make things worse as the resulting disfigurement turned him into Split-Face, who resorted to bribery, perjury, evidence tampering and even murder to bring criminals to justice (or at least his idea of it).
• Whole-Plot Reference: The Guy Gardner: Warrior Annual #2 story "See My Finger. See My Thumb. See My Fist? You Better Run!" is a science fiction version of the Our Gang films. Further tribute is paid by the story credits: Beau "Spanky" Smith, David "Alfalfa" Brewer, Andrew "Buckwheat" Pevoy, Scott "Petey" Baumann, Kevin "Porky" Cunningham and Eddie "Butch" Berganza.
• Written by the Winners: In Adventures of Superman Annual #8, the Curatti believe that their ancestors invaded Ramar, the homeworld of the Sarkons, a millennium earlier and that the Sarkons defeated them, bringing an end to their cruel campaign of conquest. However, it turns out that Ramar is in fact the homeworld of the Curatti and that it was invaded by the Sarkons. The myth that the Curatti's ancestors were a race of conquerors who preyed on the weak was perpetuated by the Sarkons so that the Curatti would hate themselves, making them easier to subjugate.

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