Shadowline characters

They were almost human. Their evolution paralleled ours, though they evolved swifter and a great deal better. But humans evolved in greater numbers. Far greater numbers.
Individually, they were superior, but they were no match for the great tide of humankind that came, in time, to rule the Earth. So they became a shadow race, living among us, speaking our language, but secretly, eternally apart. Sometimes heroes. Often monsters.
But as the twentieth century moved nearer its close, the world had shrunk to the point that there was little room for living in secret and the power of humankind had grown to doomsday proportions. There was a more pressing need than ever for the shadows to emerge, to make themselves felt; to influence and control the destiny of the planet they shared with humanity.
That need was answered by the likes of Dr. Zero and Power Line, and the Order of St. George. Cautiously, recklessly, with responsibility and without, they entered into the mainstream of human life.
Sometimes heroes. Often monsters.

Translation: On Earth-Shadowline, there are no mutants, cyborgs, aliens, gods, magic, etc. There are only the shadows, who are a race similar, but distinct from humanity. All creatures of legend, from werewolves to the dragon that fought St. George, were shadows.

Earth-Shadowline does not appear to have any similarities to the universal structure and hierarchy of Earth-616 or similar worlds, and thus it would be outside of the mainstream Multiverse, but within the greater Omniverse. It has been suggested that there may be one more division present between Multiverse and Omniverse, to link asociated worlds, such as those linked to Marvel, and to keep distinct from other such groupings, such as those associated with DC or other titles. Thus worlds like the New Universe or the Shadowline might be contained within the Marvel Megaverse. Sounds good to me!

It is unclear whether Earth-Shadowline has a sliding timescale similar to Earth-616, and while it's almost certainly irrelevent, there is no evidence one way or the other. I personally prefer to be able to see characters age and change over time, so I'd like to see the events depicted in the Shadowline series as locked in place in 1988-1990, so that if any of the other characters were ever seen again, they might be more than a decade older.

Shreck is the only character on Earth-Shadowline with a connection to Earth-616. Terror INC, who had his own series in the early 1990s, was based on Earth-616, but is otherwise the same character as Shreck. It is unclear whether Shreck and Terror are other-dimensional counterparts of each other, or whether they are actually the same character. I would personally prefer to have Shreck have somehow traveled to Earth-616, whereupon he became Terror. However, as previously stated, there's no evidence one way or the other, so take your pick.

Earth-Shadowline was given the core continuum designation Earth-88194 in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.

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