Milestone Returns or Earth-M is a relaunch of American comic books published by DC Comics that began in September 2020. The line features reimagined versions of the fictional characters and shared universe of Milestone Media by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie.
In a January 2015 interview, writer Reginald Hudlin discussed a relaunch of Milestone Media Group, along with surviving co-founders Denys Cowan and Derek Dingle. The following July, DC Comics announced the creation of "Earth-M" within their multiverse, which would be home to the earlier Milestone characters as well as new ones, and that one or two Earth M imprint titles would be published annually, as well as miniseries and one-shots. No further developments took place until October 2017, when it was revealed that Milestone would be returning in 2018 with five titles, including Milestone (featuring Icon and Rocket), a new Static series, Duo (based on the character Xombi), and two other new titles: Earth-M and Love Army. Charlotte Fullerton, Dwayne McDuffie's widow who inherited his 50% share in the original Milestone Media company, sued in August 2017 over being excluded from the revived company despite the new Milestone taking over the original's Milestone IPs.
In 2020, Earth-M was retitled as Milestone Returns, with the initial issue being published in September. An extended version was published in February 2021. The issues are available in print, digitally, and on DC Universe Infinite since April 2021.
Milestone Returns is set in Earth-M, which is officially non-canon to the DC Universe. In Dark Crisis: Big Bang, Earth-M is designated as Earth-93 in the Multiverse.
In Earth-M, famous characters like Static, Icon, Rocket, Hardware, and several others have new origin stories related to the Big Bang, the event that happened in Dakota City. While they still do not know each other, the enigmatic Dharma prepares them in secret for a war to come.