When Does "The Kents" #1 (1997) Take Place?
"The Kents" #1 "Bleeding Kansas" Part 1 is a western historical fiction comic-book written by John Ostrander that released June 4th, 1997. So when is "The Kents" #1 set?
It takes place on the fictional DC Comics Universe timeline in the years:
We know this because the real-world abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) appears and says, "Things gonna come to a head --especially with this fool Kansas-Nebraska thing they got in th’ Congress.", referring to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was debated in the United States Senate and the US House of Representatives from January 4th, 1854 AD to May 22nd, 1854 AD. Later, Silas Kent holds a newspaper with the headline: "Kansas - Nebraska Bill likely to Pass!" The Kansas-Nebraska Act went into effect on May 30th, 1854 AD in the real world so it’s probably April or May of 1854 AD at this point.
1854 AD - 1855 AD
We know this because the real-world abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) appears and says, "Things gonna come to a head --especially with this fool Kansas-Nebraska thing they got in th’ Congress.", referring to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was debated in the United States Senate and the US House of Representatives from January 4th, 1854 AD to May 22nd, 1854 AD. Later, Silas Kent holds a newspaper with the headline: "Kansas - Nebraska Bill likely to Pass!" The Kansas-Nebraska Act went into effect on May 30th, 1854 AD in the real world so it’s probably April or May of 1854 AD at this point.
Late in the issue, Silas writes home to his wife Abigail Kent in an undated letter and tells her, "Governor Reeder has been replaced by Governor Shannon"… In the real world, since elections had proven untenable, US President Franklin Pierce had appointed Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder but fired him and appointed Wilson Shannon in his place on August 16th, 1855 AD. So presumably, it’s during or very soon after August of 1855 AD at the end of the conic.
Furthermore, the main action begins with a textbox presenting an excerpt of writing from an ancestor of Jonathan "Pa" Kent’s that reads, ‘From the journal of Silas Kent -- "April 3, 1854’ and, near the end of the issue, there’s another textbox reading ‘-- "March 1, 1855’ at the start of another excerpt.
Additionally, the issue opens with a frame prologue and a later awkward quick interlude merely labeled with a textbox telling us it’s "Metropolis, today." So the frame story and the interjected scene with Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman are set in ‘the present’ of the DC Universe. This is unplaceable at this time.
It is a chronologically early comic in the DC Comics Universe multiverse timeline and can be read at its timeline point.
