| DC Retroactive | |
|---|---|
 Cover forDC Retroactive – Batman: 1970s (Sept. 2011), art byTom Mandrake. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Publication date | September and October 2011 |
| No. of issues | 18 |
| Main character(s) | Batman, theFlash,Green Lantern, theJustice League,Superman,Wonder Woman |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | |
| Artist | |
| Penciller | List
|
| Inker | List
|
| Editor | List
|
DC Retroactive is a line ofone-shot comic book issues published byDC Comics. It revisited periods (grouped by decades) of the company's main characters:Batman,Superman,Wonder Woman,Green Lantern, theJustice League, and theFlash. These comics were published withcover dates of September and October 2011. TheDC Retroactive comic books followed theFlashpoint event and were launched just beforeThe New 52 line wherein DC titles were relaunched starting from #1.
The one-shots featured different characters with anostalgic version of their most representative decades. DC brought back some of the most relevant creative teams in the history of its main characters.Dennis O'Neil wroteBatman during the 1970s, as well as working with artistMike Grell[1] on the mid-1970s version ofGreen Lantern.
TheRetroactive line also brought back writers and artists had not worked for DC for many years; some of whom had retired from comics, such asRich Buckler, who drew oneWonder Woman story.Mike W. Barr,Cary Bates,Norm Breyfogle,Gerry Conway,Tom Mandrake, andLen Wein worked on the characters which they were associated with in the past.[2]
Each comic book was published in a 46-page format, split between 26 pages of new content, plus 20 pages of reprinted tales.[3]
Ben Abernathy, one of the editors of the project, stated: "It's the creators working on the characters that so many fans grew up reading. Readers have a real fondness and love for the material. And the opportunity to revisit that era, with the creators who made it great, is a welcome change from everything else going on in the industry these days".[4] Abernathy also noted that "the mandate given was, basically, we wanted to tell a fun story that was set in the era, whether it be posed as a 'lost story', 'story they always wanted to tell' or maybe something connected to the reprint".[4]
On June 21, 2011, DC revealed the covers for the 1970s issues on The Source blog.[5]
| Issue | Cover date | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batman - The '70s | September 2011 | Len Wein | Tom Mandrake | [6][7] |
| Batman - The '80s | October 2011 | Mike W. Barr | Jerry Bingham | [8][9] |
| Batman - The '90s | October 2011 | Alan Grant | Norm Breyfogle | [10][11] |
| The Flash - The '70s | September 2011 | Cary Bates | Benito Gallego andSal Buscema | [12][13] |
| The Flash - The '80s | October 2011 | William Messner-Loebs | Greg LaRocque | [14][15] |
| The Flash - The '90s | October 2011 | Brian Augustyn | Mike Bowden and Joe Seung | [16][17] |
| Green Lantern - The '70s | September 2011 | Dennis O'Neil | Mike Grell | [18][19] |
| Green Lantern - The '80s | October 2011 | Len Wein | Joe Staton and Andy Owens | [20][21] |
| Green Lantern - The '90s | October 2011 | Ron Marz | Darryl Banks andTerry Austin | [22][23] |
| Justice League - The '70s | September 2011 | Cary Bates | Gordon Purcell and Andy Smith | [24] |
| Justice League - The '80s | October 2011 | Gerry Conway | Ron Randall | [25] |
| Justice League - The '90s | October 2011 | Keith Giffen andJ. M. DeMatteis | Kevin Maguire | [26] |
| Superman - The '70s | September 2011 | Martin Pasko | Eduardo Barreto and Christian Duce | [27] |
| Superman - The '80s | October 2011 | Marv Wolfman | Sergio Cariello | [28] |
| Superman - The '90s | October 2011 | Louise Simonson | Jon Bogdanove | [29] |
| Wonder Woman - The '70s | September 2011 | Dennis O'Neil | J. Bone | [30] |
| Wonder Woman - The '80s | October 2011 | Roy Thomas | Rich Buckler andJoe Rubinstein | [31] |
| Wonder Woman - The '90s | October 2011 | William Messner-Loebs | Lee Moder andDan Green | [32] |