A fictional concept presented in the 1998 comic book series The Kingdom, hypertime is both a catch-all explanation for any continuity discrepancies in DC Universe stories, and a variation—in fact, a superset—of the Multiverse that existed before Crisis on Infinite Earths. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Kingdom is a comic book miniseries published by DC Comics, written by Mark Waid. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared setting where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. ... A is a subset of B If X and Y are sets and every element of X is also an element of Y, then we say or write: X is a subset of (or is included in) Y; X ⊆ Y; Y is a superset of (or includes) X; Y ⊇ X... In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a continuity construct in which multiple fictional versions of the universe exist in the same space, separated from each other by their vibrational resonances. ... Editing of this page is temporarily restricted to registered users (other than new accounts) in order to deal with vandalism. ...

The basic premise of the idea was summed up by writer Mark Waid as, "It's all true." It presumes that all of the stories ever told about (for example) Superman are equally valid stories. Despite overt contradictions between the versions of the character (and his adventures, supporting characters, and setting) that appeared in the late 1930s and 1940s comics by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, portrayed by George Reeves in the 1950s TV series, depicted in 1960s and 1970s comics drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger or Curt Swan, portrayed by Christopher Reeve in the 1978 movie and its sequels, written and illustrated by John Byrne in the late 1980s, portrayed by Dean Cain in the 1990s TV series Lois and Clark, portrayed by Tom Welling in the 2000s TV series Smallville, or portrayed by Brandon Routh in the 2006 movie, no one of these versions supersedes any other as canon. This was a repudiation of the prevailing approach to continuity in superhero comics, in which only the currently-used version is considered valid, rendering prior stories which are inconsistent with this continuity officially apocryphal. Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer. ... Superman, aka The Man of Steel, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, and has for several decades been one of the most popular and well-known comic book icons. ... // Events and trends The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992) was a Canadian-born artist best known for co-creating Superman with Jerry Siegel. ... Jerome (Jerry) Siegel (October 17, 1914 - January 28, 1996) was the co-creator of Superman, the first of the great comic book heroes and one of the most recognizable fictional characters from the 20th century. ... George Bessolo Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer to Don Brewer and Helen Lescher) (January 6, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Superman on television in the 1950s. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... Kurt Schaffenberger (December 15, 1920-January 24, 2002) was an American comic book artist. ... Curt Swan (born February 17, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died June 16, 1996) was an American comic book artist, most known for his work on the Superman comics. ... Christopher Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, director, producer and writer renowned for his film portrayal of Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent in four films from 1978-1987. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The Uncanny X-Men #135 (1980), cover by John Byrne. ... The 1980s, in its most obvious sense, was the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... Dean Cain, host of Ripleys Believe It or Not. ... The 1990s refers to the years 1990 to 1999; the last decade of the 20th Century, but in an economical sense The Nineties is often considered to span from the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 to the September 11 attacks in 2001. ... Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action television series based on the Superman comic books. ... Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent from Smallville Thomas John Patrick Welling (born April 26, 1977 in Putnam Valley, New York) is an American actor. ... Saddam Hussein shortly after his capture Major controversy over U. S. presidential election (November 7-December 13, 2000) September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on New Yorks World Trade Center and Virginias Pentagon killing almost 3000 people. ... Smallville is a WB television series, created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, following the adventures of the young Clark Kent in his hometown of Smallville before he became Superman. ... Publicity photo of Brandon Routh Brandon Routh as Superman Brandon James Routh (born October 9, 1979 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American film actor who has been cast for the lead role in the latest Superman movie: Superman Returns. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the context of fiction, the canon of a fictional universe comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. ... Apocrypha is a Greek word (απόκρυφα, neuter plural of απόκρυφος), from αποκρυπτειν, to hide away. ...

As it appears within comics stories themselves, Hypertime is a superdimensional construct which—under very limited circumstances (proscribed by editors in the real world, and by various in-story rules within the DC Universe itself)—can allow versions of characters from one continuity to interact with versions from another. For example, in The Kingdom, a version of Superman extrapolated into the future briefly encounters the Siegel/Shuster version.

Basically, Hypertime works like this: the main, or 'official' timeline is like a river, with a nearly infinite number of tributaries - alternate timelines - branching off. Most of the time, these alternate timelines go off on their own and never intersect with the main timeline. On occasion, the branches return, feeding back into the main timeline - sometimes permanently, sometimes temporarily. Thus, history can sometimes change momentarily and then change back (or not).

Some fans dislike the concept of Hypertime, believing that it undermines the storytelling continuity that adds to their enjoyment of stories set in an ongoing shared universe. Other fans like the concept because it saves stories that they enjoyed from being officially discarded following a retcon which renders them inconsistent with the new continuity. Retroactive continuity – commonly contracted to the portmanteau retcon – is the adding of new information to historical material, or deliberately changing previously established facts in a work of serial fiction. ...

Hypertime, however, has been infrequently utilized in DC titles, perhaps as a result of its chief architects and proponents, writers Mark Waid and Grant Morrison, working elsewhere in the comics industry (notably for Marvel Comics) subsequent to its introduction in The Kingdom. In fact, during recent promotional talks at San Diego Comic-Con (July, 2005), DC Executive Editor Dan Didio effectively disavowed the concept of Hypertime, stating it would no longer be used in future DCU titles. [1] Grant Morrison (January 31, 1960 - ) is a comic book writer and artist born in Glasgow, Scotland. ... It has been suggested that Felicia (pseudonym) be merged into this article or section. ... Comic-Con International is an annual comic book convention held in San Diego, California. ... Ongoing events • 2005 Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes • 2005 Maharashtra floods • 2005 Gujarat Flood • Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan • Fuel prices • Gomery Comm. ...

John Byrne presented a theory to explain the decades-long history of comic book characters, known as the "sliding seven years" theory. The concept is that all of a hero's adventures have taken place in the last seven years, and any topical references are simply updated. Case in point - while the Fantastic Four's origin has them testing a moon rocket to beat "The Commies" to the moon, Byrne's updated version has them testing an experimental star drive. And in Iron Man, Tony Stark no longer helped in Vietnam, but Cambodia. The Uncanny X-Men #135 (1980), cover by John Byrne. ... The Fantastic Four is a Marvel Comics superhero group. ... Iron Man (Tony Stark) is a Marvel Comics superhero. ...

(Hypertime is also used in the movie Clockstoppers, but in reference to a different concept: an artificially-induced highly-accelerated timeframe.) Clockstoppers is a 2002 film by the Nickelodeon branch of Paramount Pictures. ...

See also: Krypto-revisionism

With Hypertime, retcons or revisionisms do not truly exist. Many die-hard fans see it as a way to explain seeminly large inconsistancies. Although DC comics has announced they will no longer use it as a concept, there are still groups who use it as 'doctrine'. This is an example of Krypto-Revisionism. Krypto-revisionism is a concept created and named by writers Steven Grant and Mark Evanier, and describes the rejection by the audience of a storyline, concept, plot, or idea in an ongoing series. ...