DCU Cities Take 2: The DCU States Contest

So yesterday, we were hanging out in the comments section, trying to figure out in which states the DC universe's fictional cities were, when Lazarus Lupin jokingly said they were probably in the 7 (actually 10) states Obama added during a campaign interview. Oh what a difference a flub makes! But since we know from JLA/Avengers that the DC Earth is bigger than ours (and Marvel's), and because the writers have been either shy or contradictory when it comes to even naming the state any of their cities are in, the conclusion is easily drawn:

DC Earth contains Obama's America!

After all, in addition to extra cities, DC Earth has lots of countries we don't - Qurac, Biyalia, poor retarded Markovia - but no extra states or provinces? (I know I felt like I'd walked onto DC Earth when Nunavut was created here in Canada.) Fictional locations have a big gap between counties and countries that is hard to understand. Let's fix that. I've chosen 10 cities to be placed each in their own new, fictional state. YOU name the states (and maybe where they go on the map) and I'll pick my favorites for inclusion in a new 60 state map of the United States to be featured on this very blog next week. Nothing to win but the honor.

So here are the DC cities that really deserve their own states.
1. Metropolis
2. Gotham City (and Blüdhaven)
3. Central City
4. Keystone City (across the state line from Central)
5. Midway City
6. Coast City
7. Star City
8. Gateway City
9. Fawcett City
10. Opal City

I'll give you guys a week, and I might even participate myself! Until then, signing off from the real 51st state (if you can take it from us, Mike Sterling!)..

Comments

Eric TF Bat said…
I had a vague memory, and a moment's googling revealed it to be true: there was a three-issue comic series called Coventry, about the fictitious US state of the same name. So that's my vote for one of the states.

Looking at Wikipedia's article on the etymology of US state names, I see some trends in the naming. We've got states named for people (Washington, Georgia, Hawaii), Native American tribes (the Dakotas, Alabama, Iowa), foreign places (New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire) and lots and lots of rivers, lakes and other water features (Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota). And you get a fair few cardinal points thrown in: West Virginia, South Dakota, North Carolina.

There are also some states that never existed, like Franklin, Muskogee and Deseret.


So how about this for a representative sample of fictional states:

Jefferson
Hancock
Alonquin
Sioux
New Cardiff
New Cambridge
North Iowa
South Colorado
Avon
Hudson

Now, as to where they would all go, I leave that to others better versed in such things. But it's a start!
Siskoid said…
Nice research there!
Unknown said…
1. Metropolis

Sion the Silver State

2. Gotham City (and Blüdhaven)

Sherrinforth or Holmes

3. Central City

Kiowa

4. Keystone City (across the state line from Central)

Lakota(h)

5. Midway City

Earp

6. Coast City

Gold Coast

7. Star City

Newcastle

8. Gateway City

Morales

9. Fawcett City

Beck

10. Opal City

Charters or New Perth
Anonymous said…
Where I would put some of these:

1. Metropolis
Is the virtual entirety of the small state of Drake, named after the British adventurer-explorer-privateer, located south of NY..

2. Gotham City (and Blüdhaven)
New Norway, the name was retained even after the British took over the colony. Located North of NY.

3. Central City
4. Keystone City (across the state line from Central)
Keystone City, Kansas. Central City, Missouri. According to DC.

5. Midway City
In Michigan according to the folks at DC.

6. Coast City
According to wikipedia, Coast City is actually located in a real state from its very beginning in the comics, California.

7. Star City
Nova Albion, a state between California and Oregon.

8. Gateway City
The major port of Nova Albion.

9. Fawcett City
Centralia, the Crossroads State, in the center, more of less, of the US.

10. Opal City
In the small state of Henrietta located between Maryland and Virginia and named after the wife of Charles I.
Austin Gorton said…
Awesome idea!

1. Metropolis - Plymouth, on the NE seaboard (north of New York)

2. Gotham City (and Blüdhaven) - New Wales (if the Duke of York gets a state, so should the Prince of Wales)(south of New York)

3. Central City - Sioux (Lakota would be more correct for the western branch of the Sioux, but it would be fitting that the US would use the archaic name the Lakota themselves don't use for a state)

4. Keystone City (across the state line from Central) - Platte (both Sioux and Platte somewhere around Kansas/Nebraska, south of the Dakotas)

5. Midway City - Tippecanoe (between Illinois and Indiana)

6. Coast City - North California (north of Californa, natch)

7. Star City - Columbia, south of Oregon.

8. Gateway City - Also North California (Coast City would be the capital)

9. Fawcett City - Superior (somewhere around Minnesota/Wisconsin, near Lake Superior)

10. Opal City - Chesapeake (somewhere on the Eastern seaboard, near Chesapeake Bay)
Jeff R. said…
It was Lazarus Lupin that suggested this, not me.

That said, I'll put "Haukins" up as a possible state name, named after DCU-specific Revolutionary War Hero Tom Haukins (Tomahawk). "Lynn" is also a possibility along those lines, for Bess "Miss Liberty" Lynn, but (1) naming a state for a woman that early is lesss likely, (2) I'm not sure if her Identity was revealed ever or early enough for that to work, and (3) It's not a great sounding state name.
Jeff R. said…
Oh, and I'd go for giving Haukins Opal City.
Lazarus Lupin said…
Opal City always feels rather old. I take it for one of the first cities that has grown but rarely changes. I like the state name of "New Wales."

Lazarus Lupin
http://strangespanner.blogspot.com/
art and review
I'm not good with states, just cities. I'm a writer, so I'll need to come up with not quite but close analogues of existing suburbs, etc.

Hub City is based on East St. Louis, Illinois. I don't know if Mr. O'Neil had always planned it that way, but the Sun-Times ran a series of articles on the corruptness of ESL, from the mayor on down. I bring this up as a way of considering that a fictional city might indeed share a commonality with a real one. ESL is not considered a suburb of STL, in fact, there are bigger town surrounding it. So the idea of Gotham gaining some of NYC's population yet be in NJ seems valid.

A good part of lower Illinois has the Shawnee Nat'l Forest, so I could see a state named Shawnee. I'd see how shaving some of the blockier states like Iowa, the Dakotas, Washington and Oregon might give us a few extras. Or part of two,in the case of Star City, have the state be a part of WA and also of OR.
Gateway City was mentioned as being in mid-point Oregon and that was also the setting for the Spectre series from the 1960s. I only know that because its mentioned on the cover, some guy has Wildcat in a foetal position above the city and this crazy guy is pointing a finger at him and at Spectre, saying something along the lines of, if I could do this to him, think of what I'll do to Gateway. Fantastic Neal Adams cover.
Telemelia said…
Fawcett City was suggested to be in Wisconsin, so in this contest, I'm suggesting that a state be wedged into the gap between WI, MN and IA.

Founded by a group of settlers wanting to start a homestead to raise cows, bees and brew, the little settlement grew to encompass an entire territory of industrious workers.

When tasked with applying for Statehood, Governor Christos Balaban decided to reach back to their roots and name the state after the Greek god of Cattle, Husbandry and Beekeeping, Aristaeus.

The new State was called Aristas.
Bill D. said…
Well, clearly Fawcett City has to be in the great state of Moley. Billy shouts it out enough.
Jeff R. said…
So, let me try a full set:

Opal City is in Haukins, already explained.

Star City I'll put in Rosslynn (named after both Betsy Ross and Bess Lynn).

Gotham City is a large city in but not the capital of the state of Gotham, of course.

Metropolis is in Franklin (an East coast version of that state, not the traditional one.)

Central City and Keystone city are in Houston and West Texas, because that's the only place where things can be that big.

Coast City is in Olympia

Midway City is in North Iowa

Fawcett City is in Drake

Gateway City is in New Jerusalem
Lazarus Lupin said…
Why just states too we could have new territories. Or how about Fawcett City being in the New Navajo Nation. The NNN reservation. It's growth has been because of different tax laws in the reservation making it a good place for business to grow.
Quilty said…
I can't give up most of my idea of some of the DCU cities being located in real states, so I'm going to cheat and create 10 new states that don't necessarily contain DCU cities.


Metropolis, New Troy (see below; with parts of NYC's population.)

Gotham City, NJ (going with my impulse to make this a concentrated version of Newark and the surrounding cities, also with part of NYC's population. Nearby Blüdhaven is equivalent to New Brunswick, NJ.)

Central City, MO (apparently the canon DCU version of Kansas City MO)

Keystone City, KS (same for KS)

Midway City, Superior (in place of Sault Ste. Marie, MI)

Coast City, CA (in place of Long Beach, CA)

Star City, Sierra (larger version of Sacramento, CA, reaching to the coast)

Gateway City, Sierra (larger version of Eureka, CA)

Fawcett City, WI (in place of La Crosse)

Opal City, Chesapeake (a larger Cambidge, MD. I like the idea of Opal taking the place of Providence, RI, given its sometimes Lovecraftian flavor, but the general idea is that it is a Mid-Atlantic city.)

TBC…
Quilty said…
New States! Thanks in part to Eric TF Bat's links, as well as some information on the fictional cities themselves.

Chesapeake – Cool name "borrowed" from Teebore. Consists of western Maryland and the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula. Capital: Salisbury.

Franklin – Eastern Tennessee and parts of Virginia and North Carolina in the Appalachian Mountains. Capital: Asheville.

New Troy –comprised of most of real-world Suffolk County, NY. In the DCU New York City has about a quarter of the population of the real-world city. The four outer boroughs, as well as Nassau County, are much greener and much less densely populated. Capital: Metropolis.

Oneida – state carved out of the Military Tract of central New York State, located around Lake Oneida. Originally intended to be named "Arcadia," since the township names are based mostly on classical Greek and Roman names, but support in the NY State Legislature was only possible once the area's Iroquois heritage was recognized. Capital: Syracuse.

Polk – comprising the area of the Gadsden Purchase, as well as the southern border of New Mexico. Its unusual shape gives it the unwelcome nickname "the Shovel." Capital: Tucson.

Puerto Rico – In the real world. an associated free state. Capital: San Juan.

Sierra – Northern and eastern California. The border runs roughly from the area north of San Francisco and Oakland, down the center of the state, and turning East again between Sequoia and Mojave National Parks. A large part of the populations of the real-world San Francisco-Oakland area is in nearby Star City. Capital: Star City.

Sioux – Name "borrowed" from Eric TF Bat's post. Made up of the eastern counties of the Dakotas. Capital: Sioux Falls.

Superior – The Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Mostly parkland, but fueled by its large insurance industry. Capital: Midway City.

West Texas: Roughly the area west of both the 100th parallel and the northernmost part of the Nueces River. Capital: Lubbock.
Craig Oxbrow said…
Thomas Paine warrants having a state named after him, the motto "we have it in our power to begin the world over again" would be a shoo-in...

... but who'd want to live in a constant state of Paine?