Hypertime


Hypertime is a fictional concept in DC Comics which first appeared in the 1999 The Kingdom limited series. It is a variation of the Multiverse concept that existed in DC Comics before Crisis on Infinite Earths and was devised by Mark Waid and Grant Morrison.
The idea, described in The Kingdom #2 as "the vast interconnected web of parallel time-lines which comprise all reality", was an attempt by Waid to resolve the many tangled continuity issues that were supposed to have been solved by 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Keith Dallas and Jason Sacks write, "Through Hypertime, Waid sought to resolve the contradictions in DC's continuity once and for all. Indeed, Hypertime allows for contradictions because anything that didn't make sense can be attributed to overlapping timelines."

Concept

Hypertime is a network of alternate timelines that branch off from the DC Universe. It has been analogized to a river network that branches out, and then runs 'up stream' to feed itself, like an ouroboros or tesseract. These timelines sometimes overlap with each other, causing alterations in reality. Characters can cross from one timeline to another if needed. Hypertime has been used extensively as a device to 'cheat' and explain continuity errors. As such, it is not universally acclaimed. Some fans welcomed the idea as an explanation for earlier continuity errors while others criticized it for being a license to create more narrative problems.
Indeed, it is seen as a 'way out' of the hopeless maelstrom that is the DC Comics timeline, while being derided as a marketing concept and a way to recycle and republish old shopworn stories to a new coterie of ever changing readers. It being understood, of course, that DC Comics owns the right to the stories.
The Hypertime concept was first introduced in The Kingdom, Mark Waid’s sequel to Kingdom Come. It is within the larger and so-called Multiverse, used within DC Comics publications. That is a "cosmic construct" collecting many of the fictional universes in which the published stories take place. The worlds in this multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure has changed several times in the history of DC Comics.
The twists and turns of an endlessly intertwined Medusa head of a timeline leads to endless stories and outcomes. As Mark Waid himself decreed: "The possibilities are endless. Hypertime is an unashamed reaction to nearly 15 years of comics being made ‘more realistic,’ less ‘larger than life.’ As far as we’re concerned, DC Comics shouldn’t be about rules and regulations and ‘can’t happen’s and ‘shouldn’t be’s; they should be about anything and everything that tells a good story and gets fans excited."
And he, and the overlords and other vassals of DC Comics, solemnly intoned in their over-simplified mantra chorus: "It's all true".

''52''

, disguised as Skeets, refers to Waverider as "the seer of Hypertime".

''Booster Gold''

An older Booster Gold, while explaining his duties to his son Rip Hunter, mentions the concept of Hypertime.

''Multiversity''

Hypertime is used to explain the formation and alteration of the 52 universes formed at the end of 52.

''Rebirth''

Hypertime has been mentioned several times in the Prime Earth continuity.