When reading DC Comics Presents #87 yesterday, I noted an interesting panel in which Superman realized he was on Earth-Prime ("our" Earth) because certain well-known cities of the DC Universe just weren't there.
This is interesting, because it represents one of the few clues as to where some of these cities actually are in the DCU's version of the United States. Looks like Gotham shares some of its territory with our New York, while Star City - home of Green Arrow - sits within the borders of the greater Boston. Seems a bit close for comfort, considering the DCU ALSO has a Boston and an NYC. One of my favorite resources for this info is the DCHeroes RPG's Atlas of the DC Universe, which at least attempts to give OTHER states a big city. The Atlas puts Gotham in southern New Jersey (close), and Star City in northern California (pretty far from Boston). Metropolis (which Superman simply can't find in the above panel) is in Delaware, Central City in Missouri, and Midway in Michigan. Not surprisingly, Coast City is in California. The information may come from the Amazing World of DC Comics fanzine, which it agrees with.
But are they really there? Or like the Simpsons' Springfield, are they nowhere in particular? They are iconic cities, so we may think of them as icons, ideas, concepts. Gotham is New York at night, Metropolis is the city in the daylight. That kind of thing. But there's something really satisfying about placing them on an actual MAP.
Alas, there's a lot of conflicting evidence. Metropolis, for example, may have been initially modeled on Toronto or Cleveland. A 1977 Ask the Answerman column places both Metropolis and Gotham adjacent to New York, which unconvincingly makes that part of the world into its biggest urban sprawl. (Incidentally, that column places Star City in Connecticut, Central City in Ohio and Midway in Michigan.) Action Comics #143 has the Statue of Liberty in Metropolis Harbor, making it seem like the city IS New York under another name. The Death of Superman story line and Countdown to Infinite Crisis both place it in the state of New York, if not New York itself. Seems like an embarrassment of riches for a single state. I think I still prefer Delaware.
Where would YOU like to place DC's fictional cities?
This is interesting, because it represents one of the few clues as to where some of these cities actually are in the DCU's version of the United States. Looks like Gotham shares some of its territory with our New York, while Star City - home of Green Arrow - sits within the borders of the greater Boston. Seems a bit close for comfort, considering the DCU ALSO has a Boston and an NYC. One of my favorite resources for this info is the DCHeroes RPG's Atlas of the DC Universe, which at least attempts to give OTHER states a big city. The Atlas puts Gotham in southern New Jersey (close), and Star City in northern California (pretty far from Boston). Metropolis (which Superman simply can't find in the above panel) is in Delaware, Central City in Missouri, and Midway in Michigan. Not surprisingly, Coast City is in California. The information may come from the Amazing World of DC Comics fanzine, which it agrees with.But are they really there? Or like the Simpsons' Springfield, are they nowhere in particular? They are iconic cities, so we may think of them as icons, ideas, concepts. Gotham is New York at night, Metropolis is the city in the daylight. That kind of thing. But there's something really satisfying about placing them on an actual MAP.
Alas, there's a lot of conflicting evidence. Metropolis, for example, may have been initially modeled on Toronto or Cleveland. A 1977 Ask the Answerman column places both Metropolis and Gotham adjacent to New York, which unconvincingly makes that part of the world into its biggest urban sprawl. (Incidentally, that column places Star City in Connecticut, Central City in Ohio and Midway in Michigan.) Action Comics #143 has the Statue of Liberty in Metropolis Harbor, making it seem like the city IS New York under another name. The Death of Superman story line and Countdown to Infinite Crisis both place it in the state of New York, if not New York itself. Seems like an embarrassment of riches for a single state. I think I still prefer Delaware.
Where would YOU like to place DC's fictional cities?
Comments
Star City is probably hardest to place--is it east coast, Great Lakes (like in early DCU RPG publications) or west coast?
For me, Star City was Seattle, but DC has a "real" Seattle. Metropolis was New York, but DC has a "real" New York, etc.
Best not to think about it and just enjoy.
- Mike Loughlin
Something I was pondering the other day regarding the "Metropolis/Gotham/New York" problem was what if Gotham and Metropolis weren't cities but boroughs on N.Y.? So Metropolis was like Manhattan and Gotham was like Brooklyn? Just a thought.
Flashes get a KC/KS thing, but further south, I recall an issue from the 90s where Superman visits Jay Garrick, who is down the road from Topeka, which is near Smallville.
Myself, when reading the 60s Hawkman, I assumed Midway City was Chicago. No offense to anyone up there, but why would there be a museum and the Doom Patrol HQ in Sault St. Marie?
The big Michigan town now, of course, is the Question's Hub City.
And then there's the stuff that's not in the Atlas, cities that sprang up later, like Wonder Woman's Gateway City and Blüdhaven. I like the Virginias for the former, and maybe Hartford (another whaling town) for the latter, personally.
Lazarus Lupin
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Likewise, Metropolis can stand in for real-world Wilmington, DE, to fit in more or less with the DCU. Metropolis is much larger than Wilmington, of course, meaning that in both area and/or population of nearby cities such as Dover, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Allentown, and Bethlehem are much smaller than in the real world.
My opinions on a few more cities: Star City is Tacoma, WA, fitting in with the Mike Grell-era positioning of Green Arrow in Seattle. Coast City is Long Beach, CA, home to many aerospace companies. I agree with Central/Keystone as the two real-world Kansas Cities. I think Midway City was situated on the Great Lakes, probably near Chicago, which would fit in with Hawkman's home as being in Chicago in the Hawkworld series. So for me Midway would be a larger Gary, IN. Ivy Town is New Haven, CT, making Ivy University the DCU stand-in for Yale.
10 states is more than enough for the DCU to fit its cities!
Needed content for tomorrow, as it turns out.
And wasn't Hub City based on Chicago?
As for Hub City, I always imagined it as Detroit, but you're probably right.
I remember when that DCCP panel appeared, it blew my tiny mind!