1996:
Why date the D.C. Animated universe at all? Shouldn't it be timeless?
Firstly, I know there are a significant number of fans who feel that the collective series of the DCAU should remain timeless; that no year or date of any kind should be ascribed to them as they should always be viewed as taking place in the near or far future, so as to keep them relevant to the time we live in now. I'd be fine with that, except the shows themselves often give clear dates as to when certain events happen, and to ignore that seems silly. It makes more sense to me to fit those dates together in a logical way, and just accept that the D.C. Animated Universe is not the universe that you and I live in. We don't have and never will have these superheroes. And for me, laying down the order and times at which I think things happened (based on the episodes) does nothing to ruin the idea that these things will one day happen. They won't happen. It's as simple as that.
Why 18 episodes? Why these episodes? Why this order?
Well, because Superman: The Animated Series (which make up the 18 episodes that I believe take place in 1996) started in 1996. Also, something that I felt fairly strongly about when I was deciding what year and how many years The New Batman / Superman Adventures would cover, was that the Superman series had enough episodes for 3 years split into 18 episodes per year. That was a starting point, which when followed, seemed to make sense continuity wise. Superman, unlike Batman, makes the most sense continuity wise in the almost exact order that it aired (with just a few minor tweaks). After splitting Superman into three 18 episode sections I started mixing the 24 episodes of The New Batman Adventures into the series, starting at the end, alternating episodes of Batman & Superman. There are far more episodes of Superman than Batman so to help extend Batman's run I counted any Superman featuring Batman as a Batman episode. This allowed for a nearly perfect balance between the two shows for two years of Superman's run (from my perspective). This also placed the Batman episode "Cold Comfort" in year 2 (the latest I could place the episode), which features a date of August 20, 1997 within the episode...grounding Season 1 of Superman in 1996.
088 1x01 The Last Son of Krypton, Part I
*Brainiac introduced.
*Jor-El introduced.
*Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman introduced.
*Lara-El introduced.
089 1x02 The Last Son of Krypton, Part II
*John Corben / Metallo introduced.
*Jonathan Kent introduced.
*Martha Kent introduced.
*Lois Lane introduced.
*Lana Lang introduced.
*Lex Luthor introduced.
090 1x03 The Last Son of Krypton, Part III
*Bibbo Bibbowski introduced.
Batman is referenced:
First reference to Star Labs:
091 1x04 Fun and Games
092 1x05 A Little Piece of Home
093 1x06 Feeding Time
094 1x07 The Way of all Flesh (1 year before Action Figures)
095 1x08 Stolen Memories
096 1x09 The Main Man, Part I
097 1x10 The Main Man, Part II
098 1x11 My Girl (Batgirl referenced)
099 1x12 Tools of the Trade
100 1x13 Two's a Crowd
101 1x14 The Prometheon
102 1x15 Blasts From the Past, Part I
103 1x16 Blasts From the Past, Part II
104 1x17 Livewire
105 1x18 Speed Demons (introduces The Flash & The Weather Wizard)