#dc geography

[coldtomyflash]

Okay just to make it clear how hyperfixated I will forever be on The Flash - 

I’ve been watching Supernatural recently (don’t ask, it sucked me back in) and in S09 episode 16, at 16:57 into the episode, there’s the outside of this building that in the show is labelled “The National Institute of Antiquities” in Kansas, MO.

I was reading the sign on the front thinking “ah, Kansas, MO, that just makes me think of Flash geography and Central City.” And then I paused because - 

It’s the same damn building.

I can’t believe I recognized it from like 2 seconds of screen time. I have a problem.

[coldtomyflash]

Central City cannot be as big as you think it is, writers

“Oh, there's 14 million people in this city.”

14 million.

1-4 million.

FOUR-TEEN M-I-L-L-I-O-N.

14 mil-

What.

Okay okay okay cool cool cool - 

EXCEPT THAT MAKES NO FREAKING SENSE, FLASH WRITERS!

Okay, if you’ve been following me for a few years, you might know I have a tag for DC Geography in which I have spent literally days chasing my own tail trying to figure out where Central City is and other aspects of it, like weather, waterways, and population.

And I gotta tell you guys, this does not jive with my research. Like, at all. My jaw hit the floor when I heard Caitlin deliver that line in 5x03.

To quickly recap* for people who don’t want to skim my descent into madness tags about locating Central City:

the aerial shots of the city are based on Portland, Oregon (greater metro population 2.4 million)

the show is filmed in Vancouver, BC (Canada) (greater metro population: 2.5 million)

in the comics and based on some hints in the show, the location of Central City is, in theory, where real-world Kansas City, Missouri is, replacing it (greater metro population: 2.16 million)

All of those cities have under a million in census population but we’re going with greater metro because that’s typically what people are referring to when they talk about a city’s population.

So we had pretty good reason to suspect that Central City? Regardless of the mess of where it’s located and whether it’s on a bay or just a river or inlet or what the case is - one of the few things we could say with some degree of confidence was that the city census was probably around 650,000 and the greater metro population was between 2 - 2.5 million.

EXCEPT.

For the record, the greater metro area of Chicago is 9.5 million. If Central City were truly around 14 million people, it would at the metro census of LA (13 million) but still shy of the larger regional population estimates for LA (around 18 million).

So just... let that sink in. We’re talking somewhere between Chicago and LA in terms of size.

And guys? There is nothing in the show or the narrative to indicate Central City is anywhere near that large, even if it swallows Keystone whole. Central’s not that big.

(But Gotham probably is...)

*for posterity’s sake, I’ve also gotta mention that Central City was once situated in Ohio or Pennsylvania instead of Missouri in the comics, and has been argued as most logically placed on the Great Lakes. Also, Star City is in the “pacific northwest” according to it’s shows writers (regardless of the fact that a map on Arrow showed in near Washington D.C.), And if that’s true then it does, honestly, make no sense that people are taking trains between Star and Central if Central is in Missouri. And they’re supposed to be “600 miles” apart? So either they’re both near the pacific (like I argue here) or they’re near D.C. and in Missouri.  But I digress.

[coldtomyflash]

I saw the post about trying to locate where Star City is. Despite them saying California the 600 Miles throws me off too. I saw you say Great Lakes, and I wanted you to know that in the show they use street names from Chicago as the street names for Star City, so I typically put Star City in Chicago

“The post”, oh nonnie, I have a whole tag...

I’ve been way too deep down that rabbit hole, unfortunately. I like the notion of Star City being Chicago, though I guess something on the show confirmed Star as being in Washington state. Apparently. Somehow.

I didn’t know they use street names from Chicago though, that’s neat! They use Boston for establishing shots for Star (or did a few seasons ago anyway) and Portland for establishing shots for Central (with the addition of Star Labs), so there’s definitely a multiplicity of influences here.

For where they are more boadly, I honestly go with one of two headcanons...

One is anchoring on what canon suggests for Star City, more or less but a bit more south. Basically, that Star City is approximately where Sacramento is and that Central City is north of there, in Oregon. Conversely, the other is anchoring on what canon suggests for Central City, that it’s in Missouri and Keystone is across the river from it in Kansas, and then Star City is ~Chicago or near there.

(Technically anchoring on Star City in the “pacific northwest” works better for weather patterns, distance between the cities, and the fact that Central City seems to be on a bay or inlet of some sort, not to mention how Barry will run all the way to Coast City for pizza and that’s implied to be in California, but I still more often just say it’s in Missouri and try not to think too hard about it).

[coldtomyflash]

maybe we can’t figure out where Central City and Star(ling) fit geographically because they switch places every time Barry time travels

[cloakedmonk]

Ellen Ripley ... Eat'Cher Heart Out!

Ellen Ripley … Eat’Cher Heart Out!

In the honorable tradition  of Edward Snowden, I now undertake to disclose to you, loyal readers of your ever-vigilant Skeptic-In-Residence, certain facts that, thanks to indefatigable and painstaking minutes of web-surfing research, I became privy to concerning a clandestine space project directed by NASA, the Defense Department, the CIA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CalTech, the National…

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[fuyunoakegata]

Geography of the DC Universe: Pt1 of I don’t even know how many it will be, lol

Okay, I wrote a quick little link and mini-article last week on comic creator Dick Sprang and the Sprang Act in the history of Gotham. I was going to try to do one on the history of Gotham for today, but oh man, I got in way over my head; that was too much for a quick essay (especially when I don’t know when to stop on a subject I get excited about). So instead, today is going to be a mini geography lesson for the DC Universe, leading into a geography of Gotham next Friday and a history of Gotham for the Friday after that. Hopefully by then I can manage to get my enthusiasm contained and edit heavily so I don’t write a novel :P

If you’re interested in in-universe details like this, some of the most useful non-internet tools are going to be The Atlas of the DC Universe, the Histories of the DC Universe, the Encyclopedia of the DC Universe, and various DC Secret Files and Origins comics (not only do those offer city maps, but they have fun things like detailed cutaway views of places such as the Batcave and Nightwing’s secret lair in Dr. Fledermaus’ “apartment” in Bludhaven).  I recently bought a copy of the DC Atlas, so I thought it might be fun to share some of the semi-official info from it (it was made for in-universe comic book reference purposes and as gaming material for the 90s DC Heroes role-playing game). 

DC’s Earth is pretty much like ours, except there are some extra cities and countries. Real cities show up occasionally in comics (the Teen Titans and Nightwing are in New York at one point, and later on, the Teen Titans are in San Francisco), but there are also DC-specific towns, such as Gotham and Metropolis, and that’s what I’m going to share here.  

For today, I’m going to share the world map and US map and a link to an online map that’s plotted some of the areas not listen in the DC Atlas. Over the next few days I’ll share some links to basic info and maps from some of the countries and cities listed on these maps.

http://www.karridian.net/dcatlas.html Has some excellent maps as well, including several that aren’t listed in the atlas. I know I’ve used several of these maps when I read some of the bigger DC-wide crisis stories. They really come in handy, then.

[haforcere]

I have the same question as Roy. What is this place? I know Croc says it’s the Toy Maker’s old hideout, but is it a location we’re supposed to know? Do we know where it is? Is it a room in a building, a crashed ship, underground? I was under the impression it was under the city somewhere, because Roy mentions sewer smell, but it’s not really clear if they’re still in the sewer, or if they just traveled through it and are now somewhere else. Also in this panel the walls look like some kind of metal paneling but in other ones it looks like concrete.

[coldtomyflash]

Problem with DC universe: Person: Where's Central City in the Flash universe DC fan: In America Person: lol yeah but where in America DC fan: by Star City Person: fine where's Star city DC fan:*sweats nervously*

Friend, I think you need to check out my Geography tag ;)