Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Marvel Universe: Earth's Zip Code

I found this on ign.com. It's a rather interesting definition of a term I know I have not heard of. Well, not a term so much as a number. 616, or Earth 616 is aparently the term used by fellow "comic geeks" to describe the original Marvel Universe. Now, I have NEVER heard this term before, but I am a new geek myself, so I am probably out of the loop. Anyway, the article is below. You can read it and then use this term to impress people with your vast knowledge of Marvel comics.


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Earth-616

Definition: The name of Marvel's "true" universe, where most of its comics are based. The term was coined by Alan Moore during his run on the UK-comic Captain Britain.

Common Use: Marvel has two regularly-used ongoing universes. The regular Marvel universe, which has been in existence since the launch of Fantastic Four in 1961, is called the 616 (or more technically Earth-616). The Ultimate Universe refers to the reality where Marvel's "Ultimate" line of comic book takes place. When someone wants to talk about Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe, they often refer to him as Ultimate Spider-Man. To clarify they are talking about the traditional Spider-Man first seen in Amazing Fantasy #15, fans refer to the Webslinger as the 616 Spidey.

While there have been plenty of alternate realities, it is rare that any of them are referred to by number. It is common, however, to refer to the regular Marvel U as the 616.

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