DC Cities: Where the Hell Are They?

When reading DC Comics Presents #87 yesterday, I noted an interesting panel in which Superman realized he was on Earth-Prime ("our" Earth) because certain well-known cities of the DC Universe just weren't there.This is interesting, because it represents one of the few clues as to where some of these cities actually are in the DCU's version of the United States. Looks like Gotham shares some of its territory with our New York, while Star City - home of Green Arrow - sits within the borders of the greater Boston. Seems a bit close for comfort, considering the DCU ALSO has a Boston and an NYC. One of my favorite resources for this info is the DCHeroes RPG's Atlas of the DC Universe, which at least attempts to give OTHER states a big city. The Atlas puts Gotham in southern New Jersey (close), and Star City in northern California (pretty far from Boston). Metropolis (which Superman simply can't find in the above panel) is in Delaware, Central City in Missouri, and Midway in Michigan. Not surprisingly, Coast City is in California. The information may come from the Amazing World of DC Comics fanzine, which it agrees with.

But are they really there? Or like the Simpsons' Springfield, are they nowhere in particular? They are iconic cities, so we may think of them as icons, ideas, concepts. Gotham is New York at night, Metropolis is the city in the daylight. That kind of thing. But there's something really satisfying about placing them on an actual MAP.

Alas, there's a lot of conflicting evidence. Metropolis, for example, may have been initially modeled on Toronto or Cleveland. A 1977 Ask the Answerman column places both Metropolis and Gotham adjacent to New York, which unconvincingly makes that part of the world into its biggest urban sprawl. (Incidentally, that column places Star City in Connecticut, Central City in Ohio and Midway in Michigan.) Action Comics #143 has the Statue of Liberty in Metropolis Harbor, making it seem like the city IS New York under another name. The Death of Superman story line and Countdown to Infinite Crisis both place it in the state of New York, if not New York itself. Seems like an embarrassment of riches for a single state. I think I still prefer Delaware.

Where would YOU like to place DC's fictional cities?