What Earth-0 is
Earth-0, sometimes called Prime Earth, is DC Comics’ primary publishing continuity at the time of writing. The mainline Batman comics published this month are set on Earth-0. The mainline Superman comics, the Justice League, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and most other DC characters readers know from current publishing all live on Earth-0. The designation is editorial shorthand; the number rarely appears in the comics themselves, but DC’s reference materials and meta-continuity discussions use Earth-0 to identify the primary universe.
The designation came into use after the 2011 New 52 reboot. DC’s previous primary universe (post-Crisis New Earth, which ran from 1986 to 2011) ended with Flashpoint #5 in October 2011. The September 2011 New 52 launch issues introduced the new primary continuity, which was formally cataloged as Earth-0 in The Multiversity Guidebook #1 (March 2015) under Grant Morrison’s editorial framing.
Why this gets confusing
DC has had four distinct primary-Earth designations across publishing history:
- Earth-One (~1950s through 1985) — Silver Age primary universe. Home of Barry Allen Flash, Hal Jordan Green Lantern, the Silver Age Justice League. Distinguished from Earth-Two (Golden Age) when the multiverse framing made the distinction relevant.
- New Earth (1986 through 2011) — Post-Crisis primary universe, treated as single continuity without multiverse for most of the period. The post-Crisis-on-Infinite-Earths reset collapsed Earth-One and Earth-Two into a single Earth.
- Earth-0 / Prime Earth (2011 to present) — Post-Flashpoint primary universe. New 52, then DC Rebirth, then current continuity. Numbered explicitly in the post-Flashpoint multiverse system.
- Earth-2 (separate, parallel in current continuity) — DC’s Golden Age home in current cataloging. Home of the original Justice Society. Not the same as the pre-Crisis Earth-Two.
The naming similarity between pre-Crisis Earth-One and post-Flashpoint Earth-0 has caused real confusion among readers. They are different continuities with different character histories and different event chronologies. Earth-One existed during the multiverse era of the 1960s and 1970s; Earth-0 came into being in 2011 and incorporates elements of both pre-Crisis Earth-One and post-Crisis New Earth without being identical to either.
The Earth-0 character histories that matter
The post-2011 reset reorganized character histories in ways that are still being adjusted across DC publishing:
- Batman has been Bruce Wayne continuously, but the number of Robins, the duration of his career, and his relationships with the Bat-family have shifted with each Earth designation.
- Superman is Clark Kent on Earth-0, but the New 52 introduced a younger, more brash Superman who was eventually replaced by a partially-restored pre-Flashpoint Superman in DC Rebirth (2016). The current Earth-0 Superman is closer to the pre-Crisis version than the New 52 version was.
- Wonder Woman is Diana of Themyscira on Earth-0, but the New 52 reframed her parentage (making her a daughter of Zeus rather than the clay-creation of pre-Crisis continuity). Subsequent stories have walked back parts of the parentage retcon.
- Wally West was absent from New 52 continuity until DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (2016), where his return marked the beginning of the partial restoration of pre-Flashpoint elements that has continued through DC Rebirth and subsequent runs.
DC Rebirth and the partial restoration
DC Rebirth (2016) was a partial editorial reset of the New 52. Geoff Johns wrote DC Universe: Rebirth #1 as a framework for restoring pre-Flashpoint continuity elements without fully abandoning the New 52 numbering and character revisions. Wally West returned from continuity exile. Various character relationships were partially restored. The Earth-0 designation remained.
The result is that Earth-0 in 2026 is a hybrid continuity. Some elements are New 52; some are pre-Flashpoint; some are deliberately ambiguous. DC has not done a hard reset since 2011, which makes Earth-0 the longest-running DC primary universe by some measures (longer than Earth-One, depending on how the start date is counted), although the underlying continuity has been adjusted enough that some readers treat Earth-0 as multiple sequential continuities rather than a single one.
Collector context
Flashpoint #5 (October 2011) is the canonical reset issue for Earth-0. Print runs were substantial; supply remains plentiful. CGC 9.8 trades in the high three to low four figures. The book is recognized as a continuity-reset key but does not command the value tier of the foundational reset issues like Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 or Crisis on Infinite Earths #7.
The Multiversity Guidebook #1 (March 2015) is the second-tier collector reference for Earth-0 specifically. The book is a Grant Morrison reference issue with substantial print run; CGC 9.8 trades in the low three figures. The collector profile is built on Morrison’s broader Multiversity series rather than on Earth-0 specifically.
DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (2016) is a separately-significant collector key for the post-Rebirth restoration phase. Print runs were extreme (Rebirth was a major DC commercial push); supply is plentiful even at high grade. CGC 9.8 trades in the high two to low three figures.
