Milestone Returns or Earth-M is a relaunch of American comic books published by DC Comics that began in September 2020.[1] The line features reimagined versions of the fictional characters and shared universe of Milestone Media by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie.[2]

Milestone Returns
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Official cover for Milestone Returns #0.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
GenreSuperhero
Publication dateSeptember 2020 – November 2023
Main character(s)Earth-M (Milestone Universe)

Publication history

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Background

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In a January 2015 interview, writer Reginald Hudlin discussed a relaunch of Milestone Media Group, along with surviving co-founders Denys Cowan and Derek Dingle.[3] The following July, DC Comics announced the creation of "Earth-M" within their multiverse, which would be home to the earlier Milestone characters as well as new ones, and that one or two Earth M imprint titles would be published annually, as well as miniseries and one-shots. No further developments took place until October 2017, when it was announced that Milestone would be returning in 2018 with five titles, including Milestone (featuring Icon and Rocket), a new Static series, Duo (based on the character Xombi), and two other new titles: Earth-M and Love Army.[4][5] Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie's widow who inherited his 50% share in the original Milestone Media company, sued in August 2017 over being excluded from the revived company despite the new Milestone taking over the original's Milestone IPs.[6]

Development

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In 2020, Earth-M was retitled as Milestone Returns, with the initial issue being published in September.[7] An extended version was published in February 2021.[8] The issues are available in print, digitally, and on DC Universe Infinite since April 2021.[1]

Setting

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Milestone Returns is set in Earth-M, which is officially non-canon to the DC Universe.[2] According to Dark Crisis: Big Bang, it is designated as Earth-93 in the Multiverse.[9]

In Earth-M, famous characters like Static, Icon, Rocket, Hardware and several others have new origin stories related to the Big Bang, the event that happened in the city of Dakota.[10] While they still do not know each other, the enigmatic Dharma prepares them in secret for a war to come.[11]

List of titles

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Title Issue(s) Writer(s) Artist(s) Colorist(s) Premiere date Finale date Ref.

Prelude

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Milestone Returns #0 Reginald Hudlin
Greg Pak
Ryan Benjamin
Denys Cowan
Scott Hanna
Don Ho
Jim Lee
Jimmy Palmiotti
Khoi Pham
Bill Sienkiewicz
Hi-Fi
Alex Sinclair
Chris Sotomayor
September 13, 2020 [7]
Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition Reginald Hudlin ChrisCross
Denys Cowan
Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Bill Sienkiewicz
Juan Castro
Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Wil Quintana
Chris Sotomayor
February 24, 2021 [12]

Year 1

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Static: Season One #1–6 Vita Ayala ChrisCross Nikolas Draper-Ivey June 15, 2021 March 1, 2022 [13][14]
Icon and Rocket: Season One Reginald Hudlin Doug Braithwaite
Andrew Currie
Scott Hanna
Brad Anderson July 27, 2021 March 22, 2022 [14]
Hardware: Season One Brandon Thomas Denys Cowan
Bill Sienkiewicz
Chris Sotomayor August 10, 2021 May 31, 2022 [14]

Year 2

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Blood Syndicate: Season One #1–6 Geoffrey Thorne Juan Castro
ChrisCross
Wil Quintana May 10, 2022 October 25, 2022 [15][16][17]
Duo Greg Pak Scott Hanna
Khoi Pham
Chris Sotomayor May 17, 2022 October 18, 2022 [18][19]
Milestones in History #1 Steve Barnes
Pat Charles
Amy Chu
Melody Cooper
Tananarive Due
Karyn Parsons
Alice Randall
Touré
Eric Battle
Francesco Francavilla
Mike Gustovich
Ray-Anthony Height
Don Hudson
Jamal Yseem Igle
Arvell Jones
Jose Marzan Jr.
Maria Laura Sanapo
Dominike "Domo" Stanton
Ron Wilson
Michael Atiyeh
Dan Brown
Andrew Dalhouse
Eva de la Cruz
Francesco Francavilla
Hi-Fi
Emilio Lopez
Chris Sotomayor
June 21, 2022 [20]

Year 3

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Static: Shadows of Dakota #1–7 Vita Ayala ChrisCross Nikolas Draper-Ivey February 7, 2023 November 28, 2023 [21]
Icon vs. Hardware #1–5 Leon Chills
Reginald Hudlin
Denys Cowan
Yasmin Flores Montanez
John Floyd
Chris Sotomayor
February 14, 2023 November 7, 2023 [22]
Milestone 30th Anniversary Special #1 Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Evan Narcisse
Geoffrey Thorne
Stephanie Williams
Juan Castro
ChrisCross
Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Anthony Fowler Jr.
Sean Damien Hill
Atagun Ilhan
Yasmin Flores Montanez
Norm Rapmund
Dexter Vines
Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Noelle Giddings
Wil Quintana
Chris Sotomayor
March 21, 2023 [22]
New Talent Showcase: The Milestone Initiative Ashley Allen
Julio Anta
Greg Burnham
Natham Cayanan
Jordan Clark
Cheryl Lynn Eaton
Morgan Hampton
Jarred A. Lujan
Jarod Rhys Pratt
Jerome Rhett
Dorado Quick
Zipporah Smith

Tiahn Ankum
Anthony Fowler Jr.
Wade von Grawbadger
Scott Hanna
Daimon Hampton
Atagun Ilhan
John Livesay
Gregory Maldonado
Jose Marzan Jr.
Yasmin Flores Montanez
Petterson Oliveria
Roberto Poggi
Andrea Rosales
Lucas Silveira
Marcus Smith
Charles Stewart III
Le Beau Underwood
Dexter Vines
Kameron White
Walden Wong

Michael Atiyeh
Andrew Dalhouse
Nick Filardi
Luis Guerrero
Alex Guimarães
Hi-Fi
Chris Sotomayor
Bryan Valenza
June 6, 2023 [23]
Static Team-Up: Anansi Evan Narcisse Jose Marzan, Jr.
Charles Stewart III
Luis Guerrero June 13, 2023 [24]

Year 4

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Milestone Universe: The Shadow Cabinet #1– Joseph P. Illidge Darryl Banks
Atagun Ilhan
TBA November 20, 2024 TBA [25]

Collected editions

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Title Material collected Pages Publication date ISBN
Static: Season One
  • Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0
  • Static: Season One #1–6
200 February 1, 2022 ISBN 1779514212, 978-1779514219
Icon and Rocket: Season One
  • Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One #1–6
192 June 28, 2022 ISBN 1779515529, 978-1779515520
Hardware: Season One
  • Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0
  • Hardware: Season One #1–6
October 4, 2022 ISBN 1779515138, 978-1779515131
Blood Syndicate: Season One
  • Blood Syndicate: Season One #1–6
152 April 11, 2023 ISBN 1779518439, 978-1779518439
Duo
  • Duo #1–6
186 April 25, 2023 ISBN 1779518455, 978-1779518453
Static: Shadows of Dakota
  • Static: Shadows of Dakota #1–7
  • Static Team-Up: Anansi
200 February 6, 2024 ISBN 1779518552, 978-1779518552
Icon vs. Hardware
  • Icon vs. Hardware #1–5
192 February 6, 2024 ISBN 177952305X, 978-1779523051

References

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  1. ^ a b MacNamee, Olly (2021-03-23). "DC Comics Rethink: Milestone Comics To Relaunch, Now With Same Day And Date Print Copies". COMICON. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  2. ^ a b "The Return of DC's Milestone Universe Showcased in New Trailer". ScreenRant. 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  3. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Milestone Media rises again. Hudlin, Cowan and Dingle will revive company with eye toward characters of color". The Washington Post. January 21, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "DC Entertainment, Reginald Hudlin to Relaunch Milestone Universe With 2018's 'Earth M'". Hollywood Reporter. October 5, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "Milestone & DC Announce Earth M, Static Shock Comics". CBR. October 5, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Maddaus, Gene (August 1, 2017). "Estate of Comic Pioneer Sues Over Milestone Media Revival". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Quaintance, Zack (2021-05-25). "DC ROUND-UP: MILESTONE RETURNS #0, it's finally happening!". The Beat. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  8. ^ "Milestone Comics, the diverse and boundary-pushing superhero series, is back after two-decade hiatus". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  9. ^ Dark Crisis: Big Bang (2022). DC Comics.
  10. ^ Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0 (2021). DC Comics.
  11. ^ Milestone Returns #0 (2020). DC Comics.
  12. ^ MacNamee, Olly (2021-03-23). Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition (2021-). Retrieved 2021-03-23. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  13. ^ March 2021, Chris Arrant 23 (2021-03-23). "New Static series delayed, but now all Milestone comics coming out simultaneously in print & digitally". gamesradar. Retrieved 2021-09-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ a b c Grunenwald, Joe (2021-02-26). "Creative teams for STATIC, ICON & ROCKET, and HARDWARE relaunches revealed". The Beat. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  15. ^ "DC Comics reveals next phase of Milestone Media with Blood Syndicate comic, animated movie and talent initiative". SYFY Official Site. 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  16. ^ Doran, Michael (2021-10-16). "Blood Syndicate returns to comics and Milestone gets animated in 2022". gamesradar. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  17. ^ Michael Doran (2022-02-10). "Milestone's Blood Syndicate Season One launches in May". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  18. ^ George Marston (2022-02-18). "A new Milestone title rings in DC's AAPI Heritage Month celebration along with a series of variant covers". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  19. ^ "DC's Milestone Universe Expands With Earth-M Line of Comics". CBR. 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  20. ^ Schreur, Brandon (2022-03-21). "DC and Milestone Media One-Shot Highlights Real Black History Heroes". CBR. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  21. ^ Samantha Puc (2022-07-22). "Static: Shadows of Dakota limited series debuts in October". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  22. ^ a b Samantha Puc (2022-10-07). "Icon vs. Hardware and an anthology one-shot headline Milestone Comics' 30th anniversary". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  23. ^ O'Donoghue, Kate (2023-02-23). "DC Celebrates Up-And-Coming Milestone Talent in New Special Showcase". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  24. ^ First Comics News (2023-03-09). "Static-Team Up: Anansi #1 – Static: Shadows of Dakota Gets A Special One-Shot Featuring the Comic Book Debut of a Popular Character from the Static Shock! Animated Series". Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  25. ^ King, Samantha (2024-08-25). "The Dakotaverse Changes Forever as DC's Milestone Universe Returns for a New Series". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-09-23.