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Way back when, in the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU, Earth 3 was the home of the Crime Syndicate of America. It was an interesting world, built on the premise that its history was the opposite of Earth 1, the home of the Justice League of America. On Earth 3, the heroes are the villains and the villains are the heroes. Christopher Columbus left America and discovered Europe. England was an American Colony. John Wilkes Booth was the President who was shot by the actor, Abraham Lincoln. You get the picture, right?
A few years back, DC reintroduced the concept in the JLA:Earth 2 hardcover. Earth 2 exists in the Antimatter Universe. The Crime Syndicate of America became the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. There were some differences, from the original Earth 3, but the concept of the Antimatter Earth being a twisted reflection of so-called New Earth remained the same.
Well, after giving it some thought, I've decided that the concept as presented doesn't work. Think about it. If the Antimatter Earth is supposed to be the opposite of the Positive Matter Earth, then, really, it shouldn't even have evolved life. As a matter of fact, the entire Antimatter Universe should be freakin' empty, based on the internal logic of the setting. It should be a barren void.
But where's the fun in that? So, let's assume that the Animatter Universe evolved along similar lines to the Positive Matter Universe. If Antimatter Earth's history really is the opposite of New Earths, the contemporary society we've seen there should be completely different. For one thing, following the Logic of Opposites, the modern inhabitants of Antimatter Earth should be descended from Neanderthals, not Cro-Magnons. That alone would lead to marked physical differences in appearance and behavior. For that matter, using the Logic of Opposites, humanity would have first appeared in North America, not Africa. Humanity would have spread from North America, across the land bridge to Asia, then Europe and Africa last of all. Contemporary cultures should have reflected this, but they don't.
So, we'll give the Antimatter Earth some leeway and assume that human evolution and migration are consistant across the parallel Earths. That still wouldn't explain why the contemporary culture on Antimatter Earth so clearly resembles that of New Earth. I'm not even going to touch on the whole concept of evil = good and good = evil.
And why am I blathering on about this anyway? Well, I've been giving the concept some thought and I've had a really cool story idea. I may wind up posting it here. And I'm doing this to help rationalize how a world like the Antimatter Earth would fuction.
A few years back, DC reintroduced the concept in the JLA:Earth 2 hardcover. Earth 2 exists in the Antimatter Universe. The Crime Syndicate of America became the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. There were some differences, from the original Earth 3, but the concept of the Antimatter Earth being a twisted reflection of so-called New Earth remained the same.
Well, after giving it some thought, I've decided that the concept as presented doesn't work. Think about it. If the Antimatter Earth is supposed to be the opposite of the Positive Matter Earth, then, really, it shouldn't even have evolved life. As a matter of fact, the entire Antimatter Universe should be freakin' empty, based on the internal logic of the setting. It should be a barren void.
But where's the fun in that? So, let's assume that the Animatter Universe evolved along similar lines to the Positive Matter Universe. If Antimatter Earth's history really is the opposite of New Earths, the contemporary society we've seen there should be completely different. For one thing, following the Logic of Opposites, the modern inhabitants of Antimatter Earth should be descended from Neanderthals, not Cro-Magnons. That alone would lead to marked physical differences in appearance and behavior. For that matter, using the Logic of Opposites, humanity would have first appeared in North America, not Africa. Humanity would have spread from North America, across the land bridge to Asia, then Europe and Africa last of all. Contemporary cultures should have reflected this, but they don't.
So, we'll give the Antimatter Earth some leeway and assume that human evolution and migration are consistant across the parallel Earths. That still wouldn't explain why the contemporary culture on Antimatter Earth so clearly resembles that of New Earth. I'm not even going to touch on the whole concept of evil = good and good = evil.
And why am I blathering on about this anyway? Well, I've been giving the concept some thought and I've had a really cool story idea. I may wind up posting it here. And I'm doing this to help rationalize how a world like the Antimatter Earth would fuction.
