This article is about the American publisher of comics. For the Scottish publisher of comics and newspapers, seeDC Thomson. For the capital of the United States, seeWashington, D.C.
DC Comics (originallyDC Comics, Inc.,[3] and also known simply asDC) is anAmerican comic book publisher owned byWarner Bros. Discovery.[4][5] DC is aninitialism forDetective Comics, a comic book series first published in 1937.[6] DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, the first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937.[7]
In 2017, approximately 70% of the American comic book market was shared by DC Comics and its long-time major competitorMarvel Comics,[22] though this figure may be distorted by the fact that sales ofgraphic novels are excluded. When all book sales are included, DC is the second largest publisher of comic books, afterViz Media, and Marvel is third.[23]
In 1935, entrepreneur MajorMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson foundedNational Allied Publications, intended as anAmerican comic book publishing company.[25][26][27] Its debut publication was thetabloid-sizedNew Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (the first of a comic series later calledMore Fun Comics) with a February 1935cover date. An anthology title, essentially for original stories not reprinted fromnewspaper strips, it was unlike many comic book series before it.[24][28] While DC Comics is now primarily associated withsuperhero comics, the genres in the first anthology titles consisted offunnies,Western comics, and adventure-related stories. The characterDoctor Occult—created byJerry Siegel andJoe Shuster in December 1935 and included in issue No.6 ofNew Fun Comics—is considered to be the earliest recurringsuperhero created by DC that is still being used.[29][30] The company created a second recurring title calledNew Comics, first released in December 1935, which was the start of the long-runningAdventure Comics series that also featured many anthology titles.[31] By 1936, the group had become Nicholson Publishing.[32]
Wheeler-Nicholson's next and final title,Detective Comics, was advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936 but eventually premiered three months late with a March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology that revolved originally around fictional detective stories became in modern times the longest-running ongoing comic series. A notable debut in the first issue wasSlam Bradley, created in a collaboration between Wheeler-Nicholson, Siegel and Shuster.[30] In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributorHarry Donenfeld—who also published pulp magazines and operated as a principal in the magazine distributorshipIndependent News—Wheeler-Nicholson had to enter into partnership with Donenfeld to publishDetective Comics No.1, and Detective Comics, Inc. (which helped inspire the abbreviation DC) was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's accountantJack S. Liebowitz listed as owners. As the company continued to experience cash-flow problems, Wheeler-Nicholson was forced out after the first year. Shortly afterwards, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied (also known as Nicholson Publishing) at a bankruptcy auction and absorbed it.[33][34]
Meanwhile,Max Gaines formed the sister companyAll-American Publications in 1939.[35] Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a new anthology title calledAction Comics;the first issue, cover dated June 1938, featured new characters such asSuperman by Siegel and Shuster,Zatara byFred Guardineer, andTex Thompson by Ken Finch andBernard Baily. Considered as the first comic book to feature the character archetype later known as the "superhero",Action Comics was a sales hit that brought to life a new age of comic books, now affectionately termed the"Golden Age".Action Comics #1 is credited as featuring thefirst appearance of Superman, both on the cover illustration and inside the issue, and is now one of the most valuable and sought-after comic book issues of all time.[36] The first Superman tale included a superheroorigin story with the reveal of an unnamed planet, later known asKrypton, where he issaid to have originated. The issue also contained the first essentialsupporting character and one of the earliest female characters in any comic, withLois Lane asSuperman's first depicted romantic interest.[37] TheGreen Hornet-inspired character known as theCrimson Avenger by Jim Chamber was featured inDetective Comics No.20 (October 1938). This character is known to be the first masked vigilante published by DC.[38][39] An unnamed "office boy",retconned asJimmy Olsen's first appearance, was revealed in a Superman story by Siegel and Shuster inAction Comics No.6 (November 1938).[40][41]
Starting in 1939, Siegel and Shuster's Superman was the first comic-derived character to appear in other formats, later featuring in his ownnewspaper comic strip, which first introduced his biological parentsJor-El andLara.[42] All-American Publications' debut comic series,All-American Comics, was first published in April 1939.[37] The seriesDetective Comics made history as being the first to featureBatman—aBob Kane andBill Finger creation—inissue No.27 (March 1939) with the request of more superhero titles. Batman was depicted as a masked vigilante who wore a caped suit known as theBatsuit and drove a car that was later referred to as theBatmobile. The Batman story also included a supporting character calledJames Gordon, thepolice commissioner of what would later becomeGotham City Police Department.[43] Despite being a parody, All-American Publications introduced the earliest female character who became the female superhero Red Tornado (though disguised as a male) inMa Hunkel who first appeared in the "Scribbly" stories inAll-American Comics No.3 (June 1939).[44] Another important Batman debut was the introduction of the fictional mansion known asWayne Manor first seen inDetective Comics No.28 (June 1939).[43] The seriesAdventure Comics followed in the footsteps ofAction Comics andDetective Comics by featuring a new recurring superhero calledSandman who first appeared inAdventure Comics No.40 (July 1939).[45]Action Comics No.13 (June 1939) introduced the first recurring Superman enemy referred to as theUltra-Humanite; created by Siegel and Shuster, this is commonly cited as one of the earliestsupervillains in comic books.[46] The Superman character had another breakthrough when he was given his owncomic book series, which was previously unheard of.[47] The first issue, published in June 1939, helped directly introduce Superman's adoptive parents,Jonathan and Martha Kent, also created by Siegel and Shuster.[40]Detective Comics No.29 (July 1939) included the first mention ofBatman's utility belt byGardner Fox.[48][43] Outside of DC's publishing, a character later integrated as DC was introduced byFox Feature Syndicate named theBlue Beetle released in August 1939.[49][50] Fictional cities were a common theme of DC; the first revealed city was Superman's home city ofMetropolis, originally named inAction Comics No.16 (September 1939).[51][52]Detective Comics No.31 (September 1939) by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane andSheldon Moldoff introduced a romantic interest for Batman namedJulie Madison, as well as theBatarang weapon that Batman commonly uses, and the fictional aircraft called theBatplane.[43] The story ofBatman's origin was first shown inDetective Comics No.33 (November 1939), which depicted the death ofThomas Wayne andMartha Wayne bya mugger. The origin story remained crucial for the fictional character after its inception.[24][53]TheDaily Planet (a common setting of Superman) was first named in a Superman newspaper strip around November 1939.[54]Doll Man was the first superhero to be produced byQuality Comics, which DC now owns.[55][clarification needed]Fawcett Comics was formed around 1939 and became DC's original competitor company over the next decade.[56] At the end of 1944, All-American titles began using its own logo to distinguish it from the National comics.[57][58]
All-American Publications, an affiliate concern co-owned by Gaines and Liebowitz, merged with Detective Comics, Inc. on September 30, 1946, formingNational Comics Publications.[b] The previous year, in June 1945, Gaines had allowed Liebowitz to buy him out and had retained onlyPicture Stories from the Bible as the foundation of his own new company,EC Comics.[60] At that point, "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, [the self-distributorship] Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity,National Periodical Publications".[61] National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on the stock market in 1961.[62][63] Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" as early as 1940 and became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name in 1977.[64]
DC Comics began to move aggressively against what it saw ascopyright-violating imitations from other companies, such asFox Comics'Wonder Man, which (according to court testimony) Fox started as a copy of Superman. This extended to DC suingFawcett Comics overCaptain Marvel, who was at the time the top-selling comic character (seeNational Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc.). Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost the lawsuit, Fawcett capitulated in 1953 and ceased publishing comics. Years later, Fawcett sold the rights for Captain Marvel to DC Comics, and in 1972 the character was revived in DC's new titleShazam!,[65] which featured artwork by Captain Marvel's creatorC. C. Beck. In the meantime, the abandoned 'Marvel' trademark had been seized byMarvel Comics in 1967, with the creation oftheir Captain Marvel, preventing DC from using the name in the title of their own comic series. While DC's Captain Marvel failed to recapture his earlier popularity, he later appeared in a Saturday morninglive action TV adaptation and gained a prominent position in the mainstream continuity of theDC Universe.
As the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, DC Comics focused on such genres as science fiction,Westerns,humor, andromance. The company also publishedcrime andhorror titles, although relatively tame contributions that avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comic genres. A handful of the most popular superhero titles continued publication, includingAction Comics andDetective Comics, the medium's two longest-running titles.
Pioneers of DC Comics who started in the 1930s[66]
National radically overhauled its continuing characters—primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—rather than just reimagining them. The Superman family of titles, under editorMort Weisinger, introduced such enduring characters asSupergirl,Bizarro, andBrainiac. The Batman titles, under editorJack Schiff, introduced the successfulBatwoman,Bat-Girl,Ace the Bat-Hound, andBat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schwartz and Infantino revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", with relatively down-to-earth stories re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in amythical realm.
Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters have inhabited a sharedcontinuity that was later dubbed the "DC Universe" by fans. With the story "Flash of Two Worlds", inFlash #123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino andJoe Giella) presented a conceptual mechanism for slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity using the explanation that they inhabited an other-dimensional "Earth 2", whilst the modern heroes exist on "Earth 1", consequently laying the foundations of what was later called theDC Multiverse.[67]
DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by their competitors. In 1961, with DC's JLA as the specific inducement,[c] Marvel Comics' writer-editorStan Lee and artistJack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue ofThe Fantastic Four.[69] Reportedly, DC dismissed the initial success of Marvel's editorial change until its consistently strengthening sales—albeit also benefiting DC's parent company Independent News, as Marvel's distributor—made it impossible to ignore. This commercial situation was highlighted by Marvel's superiorsell-through percentage numbers which were typically 70% to DC's roughly 50%, meaning that DC's publications were barely making a profit after returns from the distributors were factored in, while Marvel was making a healthy profit by comparison.[70] Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while the rival publisherDell Comics was charging fifteen cents.[71]
At this time, the senior DC staff were reportedly unable to explain how this small publishing house was achieving its increasingly threatening commercial strength. For instance, when Marvel's product was examined in a meeting, the emphasis on more sophisticated character-based narrative and artist-driven visual storytelling was apparently overlooked. Instead, superficial reasons were put forward to account for the brand's popularity, like the presence of the color red or word balloons on the cover, or that the perceived crudeness of the interior art was somehow more appealing to readers. When Lee learned about DC's subsequent experimental attempts to imitate these perceived details, he amused himself by arranging direct defiance of those assumptions in Marvel's publications as sales strengthened further to frustrate the competition.[72]
However, this ignorance of Marvel's true appeal did not extend to some of the writing talent during this period, and attempts were made to emulate Marvel's narrative approach. For instance, there was theDoom Patrol series byArnold Drake (who had previously warned DC's management about Marvel's strength),[73] a superhero team of outsiders who resented their freakish powers,[74] which Drake later speculated was plagiarized by Stan Lee to createThe X-Men.[75] There was also the youngJim Shooter who purposely emulated Marvel's writing when he wrote for DC after studying both companies' styles, such as for theLegion of Super-Heroes feature.[76] In 1966, National Periodical Publications established its own television arm, led by Allen Ducovny, to develop and produce TV projects, with Superman TV Corporation handling the distribution of NPP's shows.[77]
A1966 Batman TV show on theABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes inSaturday morning animation (Filmation produced most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened thetone of many of its comics—particularlyBatman andDetective Comics—to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This change in tone coincided with the prominent "Go-Go Checks" cover-dress that featured a black-and-whitecheckered strip at the top of each DC comic (all cover dates between February 1966 and August 1967), a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks".[78] In particular, DC artist Carmine Infantino complained that the distinctive cover made it easier for readers to spot DC's titles and avoid them in favor of Marvel's titles.[79]
In 1967, Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age charactersBatgirl and thePhantom Stranger) rose from art director to become DC's editorial director. With the growing popularity of upstart rival Marvel Comics threatening to topple DC from its longtime number-one position in the comics industry, he tried to direct DC's focus towards marketing new and existing titles and characters with more adult sensibilities, aimed at an emerging older age group of superhero comic book fans; this was in response to Marvel's efforts to market their superheroline to college-aged adults. Infantino also recruited major talents such as ex-Marvel artist andSpider-Man co-creatorSteve Ditko, and promising newcomersNeal Adams andDenny O'Neil, and he replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, includingJoe Kubert andDick Giordano, to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye.[citation needed]
Kinney National / Warner Communications (1967–1990)
In 1970,Jack Kirby moved from Marvel Comics to DC, at the end of theSilver Age of Comics, in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel played a large, integral role.
As artistGil Kane described: "Jack was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as a primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view."[81]
Givencarte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created a handful of thematically-linked series he called collectively "The Fourth World". In the existing seriesSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and in his own, newly-launched seriesNew Gods,Mister Miracle, andThe Forever People, Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as arch-villainDarkseid and the other-dimensional realmApokolips. Furthermore, Kirby intended their stories to be reprinted in collected editions, in a publishing format that was later called thetrade paperback, which became a standard industry practice decades later. While sales were respectable, they did not meet DC management's initially high expectations, and also suffered from a lack of comprehension and internal support from Infantino. By 1973 the "Fourth World" was all cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions soon became integral to the broadening of the DC Universe, especially after the major toy-company,Kenner Products, judged them ideal for theiraction-figure adaptation of theDC Universe, theSuper Powers Collection.[82] Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, includingKamandi,The Demon, andOMAC, before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976.
Following the science-fiction innovations of theSilver Age, the comics of the 1970s and 1980s became known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to morenaturalistic and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by theComics Code Authority, explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' story "Green Goblin Reborn!" inThe Amazing Spider-Man #96 (May 1971), and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writerDennis O'Neil and artistNeal Adams'Green Lantern, beginning with the story "Snowbirds Don't Fly" in the retitledGreen Lantern / Green Arrow #85 (September 1971), which depictedSpeedy, the teen sidekick of superhero archerGreen Arrow, as having become a heroin addict.
Jenette Kahn, a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. As it happened, her first task even before being formally hired, was to convince Bill Sarnoff, the head of Warner Publishing, to keep DC as a publishing concern, as opposed to simply managing their licensing of their properties.[83] With that established, DC had attempted to compete with the now-surging Marvel by dramatically increasing its output and attempting to win the market by flooding it. This included launching series featuring such new characters asFirestorm andShade, the Changing Man, as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre-Wertham days of post-War comicdom.
In 1977, the company officially changed its name toDC Comics.[84] It had used the brand "Superman-DC" since the 1950s, and was colloquially known as DC Comics for years.[85]
In June 1978, five months before the release of thefirst Superman film, Kahn expanded theline further, increasing the number of titles and story pages, and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. Most series received eight-page back-up features while some had full-length twenty-five-page stories. This was a move the company called the "DC Explosion".[86] The move was not successful, however, and corporate parent Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "theDC Implosion".[87] In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents.[88] By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count but the story pages replaced house ads in the books.
Seeking new ways to boostmarket share, the new team of publisher Kahn, vice presidentPaul Levitz, and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end—and following the example ofAtlas/Seaboard Comics[89] and such independent companies asEclipse Comics—DC began to offerroyalties in place of the industry-standardwork-for-hire agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights, giving talent a financial incentive tied to the success of their work. As it happened, the implementation of these incentives proved opportune considering Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief,Jim Shooter, was alienating much of his company's creative staff with his authoritarian manner and major talents there went to DC likeRoy Thomas,Gene Colan,Marv Wolfman, andGeorge Pérez.[90]
In addition, emulating the era's new television form, theminiseries while addressing the matter of an excessive number of ongoing titles fizzling out within a few issues of their start, DC created the industry concept of the comic booklimited series. This publishing format allowed for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format that could showcase creations without forcing the talent into unsustainable open-ended commitments. The first such title wasWorld of Krypton in 1979, and its positive results led to subsequent similar titles and later more ambitious productions likeCamelot 3000 for the direct market in 1982.[91]
These changes in policy shaped the future of the medium as a whole, and in the short term allowed DC to entice creators away from rival Marvel, and encourage stability on individual titles. In November 1980 DC launched the ongoing seriesThe New Teen Titans, by writerMarv Wolfman and artistGeorge Pérez, two popular talents with a history of success. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble seriesX-Men, but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales[92] in part due to the stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. In addition, Wolfman and Pérez took advantage of the limited-series option to create a spin-off title,Tales of the New Teen Titans, to present origin stories of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of the main series or oblige them to double their work load with another ongoing title.
This successful revitalization of the Silver Age Teen Titans led DC's editors[93] to seek the same for the widerDC Universe. The result, the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited seriesCrisis on Infinite Earths, gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the characters' complicated backstory and continuity discrepancies. A companion publication, two volumes entitledThe History of the DC Universe, set out the revised history of the major DC characters.Crisis featured many key deaths that shaped the DC Universe for the following decades, and it separated the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis".
Meanwhile, a parallel update had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. Since early 1984, the work of British writerAlan Moore had revitalized the horror seriesThe Saga of the Swamp Thing, and soon numerous British writers, includingNeil Gaiman andGrant Morrison, began freelancing for the company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing theVertigo mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to theComics Code Authority.[94]
Two DC limited series,Batman: The Dark Knight Returns byFrank Miller andWatchmen by Moore and artistDave Gibbons, drew attention in the mainstream press for their dark psychological complexity and promotion of the antihero.[95] These titles helped pave the way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles and to make inroads into the book industry, with collected editions of these series as commercially successfultrade paperbacks.[96]
In March 1989, Warner Communications merged withTime Inc., making DC Comics a subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, thefirst Tim Burton-directed Batman film was released, and DC began publishing its hardcover series ofDC Archive Editions; these were collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories previously unseen by the majority of modern fans. Much of the restoration work was handled by Rick Keene, with colour restoration performed by DC's long-time resident colouristBob LeRose. The Archive Editions attempted to retroactively credit many of the writers and artists who had worked for DC without receiving much recognition during the early age of comic books when individual credits were rare.
The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing—mass purchase of the books as collectible items, with the intention to resell at a higher value (as the rising value of older issues was thought to imply thatall comics would rise dramatically in price)—and several storylines gaining attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in whichSuperman was killed,Batman was crippled, andGreen Lantern turned into the supervillain Parallax, resulted in dramatically increased sales. However, the increases were temporary, and sales dropped off as the industry went into a major slump, while manufactured "collectables" numbering in the millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves.[97]
DC'sPiranha Press and other imprints (including the mature readers' lineVertigo, andHelix, a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased the use of non-traditional contractual arrangements, including the dramatic rise of creator-owned projects, leading to a significant increase in critically lauded work (much of it for Vertigo) and the licensing of material from other companies. DC also increased publication of book-store friendly formats, includingtrade paperback collections of individual serial comics, as well as originalgraphic novels.
One of the other imprints wasImpact Comics from 1991 to 1992 in which theArchie Comics superheroes were licensed and revamped.[98][99] The stories in the line were part of its own shared universe.[100]
DC entered into a publishing agreement withMilestone Media that gave DC a line of comics featuring a culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters. Although the Milestone line ceased publication after a few years, it yielded the popular animated seriesStatic Shock. DC establishedParadox Press to publish material such as the large-formatBig Book of... series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novelRoad to Perdition. In 1998, DC purchasedWildStorm Comics,Jim Lee's imprint under theImage Comics banner, continuing it for many years as a wholly separate imprint (and fictional universe) with its own unique style and audience. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprintAmerica's Best Comics (ABC), a series of titles created byAlan Moore which includedThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,Tom Strong, andPromethea. Moore strongly opposed this move, and DC eventually stopped publishing ABC.
In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy seriesElfquest, previously self-published by creatorsWendy and Richard Pini under theirWaRP Graphics publication banner. This series then followed another non-DC title,Tower Comics' seriesT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, in collection into DC Archive Editions. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers2000 AD andHumanoids. It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with the mascotJohnny DC and established theCMX imprint to reprint translatedmanga. In 2006, CMX took over fromDark Horse Comics' publication of the webcomicMegatokyo in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise ofKitchen Sink Press and acquired the rights to much of the work ofWill Eisner, such as hisThe Spirit series and his graphic novels.
In 2004, DC began laying the groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel toCrisis on Infinite Earths, promising substantial changes to the DC Universe (and side-stepping the 1994Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! event, which similarly tried toretcon the history of the DCU). In 2005, the critically laudedBatman Begins film was released; also, the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalating conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in theInfinite Crisis limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumpedforward a full year in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series,52, to gradually fill in the missing time. Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to "Superboy" (while retaining the trademark) when the heirs ofJerry Siegel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership.
In 2005, DC launched its "All-Star" line (evoking the title of the1940s publication), designed to feature some of the company's best-known characters in stories that eschewed the long and convoluted continuity of the DC Universe. The line began withAll Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder andAll-Star Superman, whileAll-Star Wonder Woman andAll-Star Batgirl were announced in 2006, but neither of these stories had been released or scheduled as of 2025.[101]
By 2007, DC was licensing characters from theArchie Comics imprintRed Circle Comics.[102] They appeared in the Red Circle line, based in the DC Universe, with a series ofone-shots followed by a miniseries that led into two ongoing titles that each lasted for ten issues.[100][103]
In 2011, DC rebooted all of its running titles following theFlashpoint storyline. The reboot calledThe New 52 gave new origin stories and costume designs to many of DC's characters.
DC licensed pulp characters includingDoc Savage and theSpirit which it then used, along with some DC heroes, as part of theFirst Wave comics line launched in 2010 and lasting through fall 2011.[104][105][106]
In May 2011, DC announced it would begin releasing digital versions of their comics on the same day as paper versions.[107]
On June 1, 2011, DC announced that it would end all ongoing series set in the DC Universe in August and relaunch its comic line with 52 issue #1s, starting withJustice League on August 31 (written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee), with the rest to follow later on in September.[108][109]
In 2016, DC announced a line-wide relaunch titledDC Rebirth.[115] The new line would launch with an 80-page one-shot titled DC Universe: Rebirth, written byGeoff Johns, with art from Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, and more. After that, many new series would launch with a twice-monthly release schedule and new creative teams for nearly every title. The relaunch was meant to bring back the legacy and heart many felt had been missing from DC characters since the launch of the New 52. Rebirth brought huge success, both financially and critically.[116][117][118]
On February 21, 2020, the Co-Publisher of DC Comics,Dan DiDio stepped down after 10 years at that position. The company did not give a reason for the move, nor did it indicate whether it was his decision or the company's. The leadership change was the latest event in the company restructuring which began the previous month, as several top executives were laid off from the company.[121][122] However,Bleeding Cool reported that he was fired.[123]
In June 2020, Warner Bros. announced a separate DC-themed online-only convention. Known asDC FanDome, the free "immersive virtual fan experience" was a 24-hour-long event held on August 22, 2020.[124] The main presentation, entitled "DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes", was held as scheduled on August 22.[125] The remaining programming was provided through a one-day video on demand experience, "DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse", on September 12.
AsWarner Bros. andDC's response to San Diego Comic-Con's cancellation due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the convention featured information about DC-based content including theDC Extended Universe film franchise, theArrowverse television franchise, comic books, and video games. The convention also returned for the virtual premiere ofWonder Woman 1984[126] and returned once again on October 16, 2021.[127]
In August 2020, roughly one-third of DC's editorial ranks were laid off, including the editor-in-chief, senior story editor, executive editor, and several senior VPs.[128]
In March 2021, DC relaunched their entire line once again under the banner ofInfinite Frontier. After the events of theDark Nights: Death Metal storyline, theDC Multiverse was expanded into a larger "Omniverse" where everything is canon, effectively reversing the changesThe New 52 introduced a decade prior.[129]
Furthermore, AT&T spun off WarnerMedia to Discovery, formingWarner Bros. Discovery. This merger was completed on April 8, 2022.
The November 1941 DC titles introduced an updated logo. This was almost twice the size of the previous version and the first with a white background. The name "Superman" was added to "A DC Publication", effectively acknowledging both Superman and Batman. This logo was the first to occupy the top-left corner of the cover, which is where the logo has generally resided ever since. The company began to refer to itself in its advertising as "Superman-DC".[132]
When Jenette Kahn became DC's publisher in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designerMilton Glaser to design a new company logo. Popularly referred to as the "DC bullet", this logo premiered on the February 1977 titles. Although it varied in size and colour, was at times cropped by the edges of the cover, and was briefly rotated by 4degrees, the logo remained essentially unchanged for almost three decades. Despite the various logo changes since 2005, the old "DC bullet" continues to be used only on theDC Archive Editions series.[133]
On May 8, 2005, a new logo (dubbed the "DC spin") was unveiled, debuting on DC titles in June 2005 withDC Special: The Return ofDonna Troy No.1 and the rest of the titles the following week. As well as being used for comics, the new logo was designed for DC properties in other media, including films sinceBatman Begins (withSuperman Returns showing the logo's normal variant), the TV seriesSmallville, the animated seriesJustice League Unlimited and others, as well as forcollectibles and other merchandise. The "DC Spin" logo was designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios[134] and DCexecutiveRichard Bruning.[135]
In March 2012, DC unveiled a new logo designed byLandor Associates, which consists of a letter "D" peeling back to reveal the letter "C". The logo was intended to signify the concept of superheroes having "dual" identities and was adaptable across different mediums.[136]
In May 2016, in conjunction with theDC Rebirth, DC replaced the "peel" logo with a circular logo reminiscent of the 1972 logo.[137]
In July 2024, an updated version of Glaser's 1977 "Bullet" logo was unveiled during San Diego Comic-Con, as well as an accompanying intro sequence featuring Superman forDC Studios.[138]
^In a 1947–1948 lawsuit filed by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster against National, the presiding judge noted in a "Findings of Facts": "DETECTIVE COMICS, INC. was a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York, and was one of the constituent corporations consolidated on September 30, 1946 into defendant NATIONAL COMICS PUBLICATIONS, INC."[59]
^Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, eitherJack Liebowitz orIrwin Donenfeld of DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications) bragged about DC's success with the Justice League (which had debuted inThe Brave and the Bold No.28 (February 1960) before going on to its own title) to publisherMartin Goodman (whose holdings included the nascentMarvel Comics, which was being distributed by DC's Independent News at this time) during a game of golf.
However, film producer and comics historianMichael Uslan partly debunked the story in a letter published inAlter Ego No.43 (December 2004), pp. 43–44
Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC's 909 Third Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office asSol Harrison and [production chief]Jack Adler were schmoozing with some of us ... who worked for DC during our college summers ... [T]he way I heard the story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of Independent News, not DC Comics (though DCowned Independent News) ... As the distributor of DC Comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. ... Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces ... Sol worked closely with Independent News' top management over the decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse's mouth.
Goodman, a publishing trend-follower who was aware of DC's strong JLA sales, confirmably directed his comics editor,Stan Lee, to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee:"Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book calledThe [sic]Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... ' If the Justice League is selling ', spoke he, 'why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?'"[68]
^Galloway, Ryan (July 5, 2021)."What Was The First DC Comic?".We Got This Covered.Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2021.
^Les Daniels, Superman: The Complete History, Chronicle Books, 1998, p. 9: "Superman is the best-known and most enduring superhero of all time."
^Will Brooker, Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon, Continuum, 2000, p. 5: "Batman may well be the most popular superhero ever created, rivaling even Superman in global recognition."
^Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, Knopf, 2014, p. xiv: "As the most famous female superhero, Wonder Woman has become a global symbol of feminine power."
^Geoff Johns, Justice League: Origin, DC Comics, 2011: "The Justice League is the most famous superhero team in the world."
^Glen Cadigan, The Unauthorized Teen Titans Guide, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003, p. 6: "The Teen Titans became the most popular teen superhero team of all time."
^Heidi MacDonald, Publishers Weekly, "DC’s Brand Building Through Suicide," 2016: "Suicide Squad has become one of DC’s most well-known brands, recognizable far beyond comic book readership."
^Paul Levitz, The Legion Companion, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003, p. 8: "The Legion was once so popular it received more fan mail than any other DC feature."
^Michael Mallory, Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe, Barnes & Noble, 2002, p. 212: "Luthor is the archetypal supervillain… he’s the most famous enemy of the most famous superhero."
^Paul Levitz, 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, Taschen, 2010, p. 496: "Darkseid is one of the most significant villains in the DC mythos—central to its cosmic narrative and instantly recognizable."
^Mike Madrid, The Supergirls, Exterminating Angel Press, 2009, p. 91: "Catwoman is one of the most famous antiheroes in comics—her image as potent as any hero’s emblem."
^"DC Comics Inc".hoovers.com/dc-comics-inc. Archived fromthe original on September 21, 2008. RetrievedOctober 18, 2008.
^Miller, John."2017 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops".Comichron. Archived fromthe original on January 23, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 23, 2018.Share of Overall Units—Marvel 38.30%, DC 33.93%; Share of Overall Dollars—Marvel 36.36%, DC 30.07%
^Marx, Barry,Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: DC Founded"Fifty Who Made DC Great: 5 (1985), DC Comics
^Benton, Mike (1989).The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing. pp. 17–18.ISBN978-0-87833-659-3.
^"New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935)".Grand Comics Database. The entry notes that while the logo appears to be simplyFun, theindicia reads, "New FUN is published monthly at 49 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., by National Allied Publications, Inc.; Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, President ... Inquiries concerning advertising should be addressed to the Advertising Manager, New FUN,...."
^abWallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1930s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 20.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.
^Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1930s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 25.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.Superman's runaway popularity as part ofAction Comics earned him his own comic. This was a real breakthrough for the time, as characters introduced in comic books had never before been so successful as to warrant their own titles.
^Maggie Thompson, Michael Dean, Brent Frankenhoff, Joyce Greenholdt, John Jackson Miller (editors),Comics Buyer's Guide 1996 Annual, Krause Publications, 1995, p. 81: "Beginning as National Allied Publications in 1935 [sic] and becoming National Allied Newspaper Syndicate the next year, it changed to National Comic [sic] Publications in 1946 and National Periodical Publications in 1961"
^"The DC Implosion",The Comics Journal No.41 (August 1978), pp. 5–7.
^"Post-Implosion Fill-In Fallout",The Comics Journal No.43 (December 1978), p. 13.
^Steranko, Jim (February 1975). "Mediascene". No. 11. p. ?.Atlas/Seaboard publisherMartin Goodman'sDavid and Goliath strategy is insidiously simple and outrageous—possibly even considered dirty tactics by the competition—[and consists of] such [things] as higher page rates, artwork returned to the artist, rights to the creation of an original character, and a certain amount of professional courtesy.
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