Filing Cabinet of the Damned

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Realtors Hate Superheroes

My morbid side wants to know: how many cities and/or countries have been destroyed in the DC Universe?

Off the top of my head I can think of several:

  • Coast City, nuked by Mongul in the "Death of Superman" bit.
  • Bludhaven, annihilated just recently in Infinite Crisis.
  • Tampa, squashed by a giant meteorite in an old issue of Firestorm.
  • The nation of "Qurac," nuked by Cheshire just to prove a point in an old issue of Deathstroke the Terminator.
  • Topeka, destroyed by Imperiex Prime in the Our Worlds at War crossover.
  • Fairfield, a city in the midwest somewhere, nuked by the robot Mister Atom in Power of Shazam.

That's not counting the cities that are nearly destroyed but bounce back:

  • Gotham, destroyed in an earthquake, abandoned by the government, and eventually rebuilt.
  • Metropolis, destroyed in Luthor's last mad grasp at power before he "died," sometime in the late nineties.
  • Moscow, flattened badly in the Invasion! crossover.

Plus, a good-sized chunk of San Diego fell into the ocean, killing most of its inhabitants and leaving the rest mer-people. (The sunken section is now called "Sub Diego," which is German for "a whale's penis.")

Man, I would hate to be a realtor in the DCU. "Buy real estate in Springfield! We haven't been nuked, destroyed by aliens, or sunken into the sea! Yet!" Worse still to be an insurance agent.

What's sad is that I know this list is far from complete.

Can you folks help me out?

What other cities and/or countries have been reduced to rubble in the DCU?

Or the Marvel U, for that matter. I don't recall Marvel destroying any cities wholesale, though New York does take an awful beating on a regular basis.

(Edited to add: I forgot that the Marvel Universe's Washington, DC area was smooshed by Kang the Conqueror in The Avengers a few years ago. How could I forget it? When I read it, I looked at a panel of kabooms and thought, "Hey, wait--based on landmarks in that picture, my house would be in the middle of that particular kaboom. Marvel Universe Harvey and the Missus would be dead, toasted by Kang's Space Army from the Far Future. Murdered by a dork in green and purple named 'Kang.' What a drag." DC Universe Harvey and the Missus live on, as best I can figure.)

----------------------
At the risk of being unbeliveably, unbearably tacky, I just remembered that this is the anniverary of Katrina and the loss of New Orleans. My subconscious remembered this and got me thinking about destroyed fictional cities rather than deal with the horror of a real one.

Thanks a lot, four-color brain. Way to be sensitive and humane.

(smacks self in head)

For those of a charitable bent, please donate a bit to Direct Relief or another reputable organization. There's still a lot to be done.

5 Comments:

  • Tokyo is destroyed by Titannus (a big, insane Skrull) in Marvel Team-Up Volume three. Dr. Strange helps 'em rebuild afterwards, I think, but still. Tokyo.

    By Blogger Canton, at 11:58 PM  

  • Pittsburgh was destroyed in Marvel's 'New Universe' project back in the '80s.

    By Blogger Matthew E, at 10:39 AM  

  • Metropolis, destroyed in Luthor's last mad grasp at power before he "died," sometime in the late nineties.

    Early nineties, actually, just before Zero Hour. Literally magically rebuilt by Zatanna and Lord Satanus in the aftermath.

    And Metropolis supposedly took yet another hit in issue 7 of IC when the big brawl took place on its streets, though rebuilding seemed to be quick by 52 week 1.

    Star City was recently bombed to bits in Green Arrow, and Judd Winick's riding the Katrina parallel pretty hard.

    The Spectre scourged the entire nation of Vlatava of all life except for Count Vertigo and one other guy.

    And all signs point to Kahndaq being wiped out by the end of the year.

    By Blogger Steven, at 11:13 AM  

  • I think Topeka was ALSO destroyed in 1998's The Kindgom event.

    By Blogger Matter-Eater Lad, at 6:18 PM  

  • I remember an issue of X-Force from around 1992 where the Juggernaut seems to destroy one of the Twin Towers. No mention of it is made ever again.

    India nuclear bombed Pakistan in a throw away panel of the JLA's story arc World War III. It was showing the effects of Mageddon a super weapon that enhanced aggression.

    The Hulk has destroyed dozens of small towns throughout Marvel earth.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:35 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home