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. Vertigo | DC Database | Fandom The universe also features an assortment of well-known supervillains such as Lex Luthor, the Joker, the Cheetah, the Reverse-Flash, Black Manta, Sinestro, and Darkseid. [dci 2][dct 2], Johnny DC, later DC Entertainment, was DC's imprint for its all ages cartoon titles. [dci 9] Vertigo's Fables line had its first crossover, The Great Fables Crossover, a nine-issue storyline, through its two ongoing titles plus a miniseries, The Literals in 2009. "Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. [dct 3] Homage merged with Cliffhanger to become "WildStorm Signature Series". [96][97][98], On February 21, 2020, the Co-Publisher of DC Comics, Dan DiDio stepped down after 10 years at that position. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-owned properties, in which comics creators could publish material of their own creation without giving up the copyrights to those properties. Charlton Comics was an American comic book publisher, noted for its Action Heroes line: Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, the Question, Nightshade, Peacemaker and others. 1961; 62years ago(1961)(as National Periodical Publications), DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment,[4][5] a subsidiary of Warner Bros. This series then followed another non-DC title, Tower Comics' series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Create an account; Log in; Grading; . DC was granted the license to the Red Circle characters in 2008. While Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman merchandise always sold big, the comic books themselves were scraping rock bottom, according to ComicBook.com. The Batman titles, under editor Jack Schiff, introduced the successful Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. The first four titles in the line were Future Quest, Scooby Apocalypse, The Flintstones and Wacky Raceland. The line was launched with The Plain Janes, the line's signature title. ", "Superman: The Golden Age Sundays 19431946", "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Red Tornado", "Batman And Superman: The Two Superheroes Are Going To Fight The First DC Villain", "DC: The 10 Rarest Batman Comics (& What They're Worth)", "A Guide to the Fictional Cities of the DC Universe", "The Metropo-list: 15 DARK Secrets You NEVER Knew About Superman's City", "15 Best Comic Book Origin Stories Of All Time", "An Oral History of DC's CAPTAIN MARVEL/SHAZAM: The Fawcett Years, Part 1", Integrative Arts 10: "The Silver Age" by Jamie Coville, "Jim Shooter's Secret Origin, in his Own Words Part One", "DC Comics, Inc.: Private Company Information", "GHM Columns: GHM Staff: Steve Higgins A+ Graphic Novels ]", "Why TEEN TITANS Is DC Comics' Most Important (But Undervalued) Franchise Nerdist", "How the Year 1986 Changed Comic Books Forever", "Completing the Red Circle: Talking to JMS", "Adam Hughes on His New Exclusive & All Star Wonder Woman", "20 Answers and 1 Question With Dan DiDio: Holiday Surprise", "Brian Azzarello Gets Ready to Break DC's First Wave", "Grumpy Old Fan Growing the garden: DC's May solicits", "DC Comics Announces Historic Renumber of All Superhero Titles and Landmark Day-and-Date Digital Distribution", "DC Comics unleashes a new universe of superhero titles", "The Definitive Guide to the DC Comics Reboot", "DC Entertainment Brings Digital Comics to the Net Level With New DC2 and DC2 Multiverse Innovations", "DC's Band-Aid Event? DC Black Label is DC Comics' out of continuity all-star creator imprint. The imprint was renamed DC Entertainment. DC also published crime and horror titles, but relatively tame ones, and thus avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comics. The World's Largest Selection of Comic Books, from Batman and Superman comic books to Spiderman and X-Men comics, new and back issues. The line was supposed to be a newsstand based line aimed at the younger readers within its own self-contained universe. [dct 2], Impact was launched in July 1991 with several titles: Black Hood, The Fly, Jaguar, Comet, Legend of the Shield and The Web. While the imprint had four solid titles, the line was closed in mid-2005, with only Hard Time moving to the main DC imprint in a second series. In January 2023, DC is set to relaunch their line under the banner of "Dawn of DC" following the conclusion of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and Lazarus Planet. [21], Wheeler-Nicholson's next and final title, Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, eventually premiered three months late with a March 1937 cover date. [dct 3] The one-shots were collected into two volumes published in January 2008. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series X-Men, but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales[73] in part due to the stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. Discovery. American comic book publisher, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, This article is about the US publisher of comics. [dct 4], Minx was an imprint of DC Comics graphic novels aimed at the young adult market, particularly teenage girls. That commercial situation especially applied with Marvel's superior sell-through percentage numbers which were typically 70% to DC's roughly 50%, which meant DC's publications were barely making a profit in comparison after returns from the distributors were calculated while Marvel was making an excellent profit by comparison. BSUC lasted 30 issues, while most were one-shots or did not last for more than five issues. In December 1973, this logo was modified with the addition of the words "The Line of DC Super-Stars" and the star motif that continued in later logos. A handful of the most popular superhero-titles, including Action Comics and Detective Comics, the medium's two longest-running titles, continued publication. Additionally the line introduced two new characters, Jenny Hex, a teenage descendant of the Western hero Jonah Hex, and Teen Lantern, a teen who manages to hack into a Green Lantern power battery. For the 1940s comic book series, see, "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: All-American Publications", "Julian Darius'Vertigo Chronology at Sequart", "For Graphic Novels, a New Frontier: Teenage Girls New York Times", "WildStorm integrated in DC's 'Edge' titles", "DiDio reveals 'Earth One' plans for 2011", "Grumpy Old Fan Growing the Garden: DC's May Solicits", "DC Shakeup: DC To Launch Young Readers Imprint In 2018 Under Bobbie Chase", "DC announces new Black Label imprint for all-star creators", "DC to Replace 'Vertigo' and Other Publishing Imprints with Age Rating Labels", "Date set for 'All-Star Superman' release", "New DC Comics imprint DC Black Label will give creators the power to tell new, legendary tales", "DC Unveils New Imprints: DC Zoom for Young Readers, DC Ink for Young Adults", "DC Launches 2 New Imprints Focused on YA Readers", "Publishing Dates for DC Zoom and DC Ink Titles Locked Down", "DC Entertainment, Reginald Hudlin to Relaunch Milestone Universe With 2018's 'Earth M', "NYCC, Day 2: Minx, The Face of Modern Fiction", "Jurgens Talks "Tangent: Superman's Reign", "DC Announces Post-Karen Berger VERTIGO Changes", "DC Shakeup: Mark Doyle Takes Control Of Vertigo And Young Animal Bleeding Cool News And Rumors", "Neil Gaiman announces new Sandman Universe line of comics exclusive", "Astro City Returns at the Forefront of a New Imprint", "Young Justice, Wonder Twins, Dial H for Hero, More Part of BENDIS-Led DC Teen Imprint", "Exclusive: Bendis To Write Superman, Revive Jinxworld, And Oversee New Custom Imprint At DC Comics", "Gerard Way, DC Launch Young Animal Mature Readers Imprint", "Geoff Johns To Write For, Curate New DC Comics Label, The Killing Zone", "Brian Azzarello Gets Ready to Break DC's First Wave", "Expect Spirited, Savage Debuts From DC's 'First Wave' In April", "Grumpy Old Fan Growing the Garden: DC's May solicits", "DC Loses Rights To THE SPIRIT, DOC SAVAGE and THE AVENGER", "Spinning The Web: Talking to Web Artist Roger Robinson", "Closing the RED CIRCLE: Bidding Adieu To MIGHTY CRUSADERS", "DC Unveils New Heroes From All-Star Creators: Teleporters, Assassins and Monsters", "Comic-Con: 'Dark Matter' Marks New Start for DC's Comic Line", "Short-Stint Imprints: A Look Back at DC's Defunct Lines", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_DC_Comics_imprints&oldid=1138691494, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. When Worlds Collide: 15 Superheroes Who Jumped To The DC Universe - CBR [dci 7], Zuda Comics was later made as a free online site for original comics. DC signed Alloy Media & Marketing to market the imprint with a $250,000 budget. [dci 4], Originally, it was planned to be released in July 1996 with September cover dates as "Matrix". After a company called Detective Comics, or DC, debuted a Superman comic to great success in 1938, a lot of other people decided to hop on the comic books bandwagon. [42] The superhero Doll Man was the first superhero by Quality, which DC now owns. [52] Reportedly, DC ignored the initial success of Marvel with this editorial change until its consistently strengthening sales, albeit also benefiting Independent News' business as their distributor as well, made that impossible. [citation needed], DC started a Warner Bros cartoon characters line featuring Looney Tunes and Cartoon Network with the April 1994 issue of Looney Tunes. A company other than DC, its owner (s), or its owner (s)' subsidiaries retained the rights to the characters in these comic books. Copyright Dark Horse Comics [dct 6], Piranha was announced in November 1987 with Mark Nevelow as its editor. For the Scottish publisher of comics and newspapers, see, DC Comics' current logo, introduced with the, Kinney National/Warner Communications (19671990), WarnerMedia/Warner Bros. Kingdom Come is one of the most well-built alternate worlds in the DC multiverse, a setting that gets its blend of superhero cynicism and faith in humanity just right. This line introduces new characters and teams into the DC Universe. [8] The majority of its publications takes place within the fictional DC Universe and features numerous culturally iconic heroic characters, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg; as well as famous fictional teams including the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Justice League Dark, the Doom Patrol, and the Teen Titans. 28 (June 1939). RT @damintoell: In the age of megaconglomerate corporations, we don't seem to get funny mergers anymore. [23] Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a new anthology title, entitled Action Comics. Characters that DC acquired over the years and their current usage - Reddit Wildstorm was an imprint and subsidiary of DC Comics that was acquired that featured superheroes. In the Golden Age of Comic Books publishing, DC Comics was also an imprint of Detective Comics and its affiliated companies, All-American Publications and National Allied Publications, that were later all merged into National Periodical Publications, later renamed DC Comics. In 1970, Jack Kirby moved from Marvel Comics to DC, at the end of the Silver Age of Comics, in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel played a large, integral role. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel, at the time comics' top-selling character (see National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc.). [dci 10] The imprint was formerly a member studio of Image Comics. [dct 4] In September 2010, as part of DC Entertainment's reorganization, DC began to cancel Wildstorm imprint (with the December issues with two titles moving to the DC brand) and the Wildstorm editorial staff relocated to DC's Los Angeles-based digital publishing division. This merger was completed on April 8, 2022. In November 2006, All-Star DC was launched with All-Star Superman. With the news that WarnerMedia and Discovery will merge, it's likely that comic fans are wondering what this deal will mean for DC. When the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, the company focused on such genres as science fiction, Westerns, humor, and romance. The character makes a distinction of being the first masked vigilante published by DC. [20][21] Ink launched in September 2018 with Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Tamaki and Steve Pugh. The Top Comic Book Publishers and Companies - LiveAbout Doc Savage's back-up was Justice Inc., starring The Avenger,[43] while The Spirit had additional Spirit black-and-white short tales by various creators. A Guide to Comic Book Publishers (UPDATED) - Creator Resource [26][27] An unnamed "office boy" retconned as Jimmy Olsen's first appearance was revealed in Action Comics #6's (November 1938) Superman story by Siegel and Shuster. DC's Piranha Press and other imprints (including the mature readers line Vertigo, and Helix, a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. Discount Comic Book Service - Comics, trade paperbacks and collectibles During that time . The massive commercial success of . Detective Comics, Inc. (which would help inspire the abbreviation DC) was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Vertigo took over publishing collected editions for the Helix titles. In 2006, CMX took over from Dark Horse Comics publication of the webcomic Megatokyo in print form. DC shuttered Zuda in 2010 as the company moved to only DC Comics digital releases instead of web comics. [16], All-Star, or All-Star DC, was a DC imprint that allowed big name creators to make "out-of-continuity" stories of DC major characters. [39][40] Detective Comics No. [36] Cliffhanger merged with Homage to become "WildStorm Signature Series".