Earth-612 (Post-Crisis)

Earth-612 is the world of the Legion of the Strange, seen in a dream by Danny the Street in DOOM PATROL (vol II) #53, published by DC Comics in 1992 (before the Vertigo imprint was being used). It is characterized by the existence of DC/Vertigo characters portrayed in parody/tribute to characters from non-Vertigo sources (Marvel, DC, or Image).

The designator 612 comes from a reference in BOOKS OF MAGIC ANNUAL #3, in which an alternate Tim Hunter (the Other) travels from one world to the next, meeting his counterpart Hellspawn on number 612 (by his own reckoning).

Because of the obvious similarities, Earth-612 may be the Amalgam Universe, or a Hypertime of it. More correctly, Earth-612 may be a dream dimension, as most of the stories accepted as occurring on this world were perceived as dreams by beings in or from other Earths.

Alternately, Mikel Midnight has proposed that the parody nature of these stories places them on Earth-12, the world of the Inferior 5. He has included all four established "612" stories in his Earth-12 timeline. Earth-612 may also possibly be one of the many layers of reality seen in the Flex Mentallo mini-series, given that Flex (like the X-Men / Doom Patrol) were both first encountered as residents of Danny the Transvestite Street. Jon Woodward has done a much better job than I ever could of explaining the worlds of Flex Mentallo.

Earth-612 should not be confused with Angor, the alternate Earth on which live analogs to many Marvel Universe characters, most notably the Justifiers. The Justifiers (also known as the Champions of Angor and the Assemblers) are a tribute to the Avengers, just as Marvel's Squadron Supreme (on Other-Earth) is a tribute to the Justice League of America. Angor appears to be a parallel world of the Marvel Universe, and does not have any obvious DCU (or Vertigo) elements.

It should be noted that the Other seemingly destroyed Earth-612 when the resident Tim Hunter (Hellspawn) died. That interpretation holds that every alternate Earth is a dream world that exists only so long as it contains a Tim Hunter. In light of the concept of Hypertime, it is possible that these worlds visited by the Other did not fade away upon his departure, but rather continued to exist without a Tim Hunter. It is this supposition that this page is based on, which allows the timeline below to continue past the death of Hellspawn into the future in which Doom Force exists.

Doom Patrol Vol 2 #48 (October, 1991)