''Milestone Returns'' or ''Earth-M'' is an ongoing line of

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

that began in September 2020. The line features reimagined versions of the

fictional characters In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

and shared universe of

Milestone Media Milestone Media is a company best known for creating Milestone Comics, which were published and distributed by DC Comics and the ''Static Shock'' animated series. It was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers, con ...

by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie.

Publication history

In 2018,

announced ''Earth-M'' as a reboot of several comic books of

by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie. In 2020, ''Earth-M'' was retitled as ''Milestone Returns'', with the initial issue being published in September. An extended version was published in February 2021. The issues are available in print, digitally, and on

DC Universe Infinite DC Universe Infinite is an online service by DC Comics that launched on January 21, 2021 and primarily distributes past issues of DC-published comic books over the internet. It is a relaunch of the former DC Universe streaming service, after its ...

since April 2021.

Setting

''Milestone Returns'' is set in "Earth-M", which is officially

non-canon In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story by its fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, tim ...

to the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

Premise

In Earth-M, famous characters like Static,

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

, Hardware and several others have new

origin stories In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

related to the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

, the event that happened in the city of Dakota. While they still do not know each other, the enigmatic

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

prepares them in secret for a war to come.''Milestone Returns'' #0 (2020). DC Comics.

List of titles

Prelude

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Crossover events

* "Worlds Collide" — A reboot of the 1994 original storyline.

Announced titles

* ''Icon and Rocket: Season Two'' * ''Hardware: Season Two''

Collected editions

References

{{DC events 2020 comics debuts Comic book reboots DC Comics storylines Milestone Comics Superhero comics