History Creator / DCComics

* MostWritersAreMale: The creative teams at the start of the 2011 reboot highlight this: Out of 52 creative teams, of two or three people each, there was exactly ''one'' woman: Creator/GailSimone is writing ''[[ComicBook/{{Firestorm}} The Fury Of Firestorm]]'' and ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl| 2011}}''. Later, more women were added to the creative teams; such as Christy Marx writing ''ComicBook/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld'' for the ''Sword and Sorcery'' comic.

* Creator/{{CMX}}

See DCComicsCharacters for an index of the characters in the larger DC Universe, and check DCComicsSeries for an index of all the series published by DC, both in and outside of the larger continuity. If you want to read more of the history of DC Comic's main editors and Editors-in-Chief and how they changed the company, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEditors here]]. If you want to see an index about all the important events who took place in the DCU, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEvents here]].

** Not to mention they retconned the Second Reboot (the New 52) with a soft reboot (Rebirth), indicating that the New 52 was not a separate universe, but rather the Post Crisis Universe Altered by an outside actor. The "New" Batman/Superman etc. simply have altered histories but are the same people substantially.

See DCComicsCharacters for an index of the characters in the larger DC Universe, and check UsefulNotes/DCComicsSeries for an index of all the series published by DC, both in and outside of the larger continuity. If you want to read more of the history of DC Comic's main editors and Editors-in-Chief and how they changed the company, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEditors here]]. If you want to see an index about all the important events who took place in the DCU, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEvents here]].

** Not to mention they retconned the Second Reboot (The New 52) with a soft reboot (Rebirth), indicating that the New 52 was not a separate universe, but rather the Post Crisis Universe Altered by an outside actor. The "New" Batman/Superman etc. simply have altered histories but are the same people substantially.

See DCComicsCharacters for an index of the characters in the larger DC Universe, and check ComicBook/DCComicsSeries for an index of all the series published by DC, both in and outside of the larger continuity. If you want to read more of the history of DC Comic's main editors and Editors-in-Chief and how they changed the company, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEditors here]]. If you want to see an index about all the important events who took place in the DCU, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEvents here]].

See DCComicsCharacters for an index of the characters in the larger DC Universe, and check ComicBook/DCComicsSeries for an index of all the series published by DC, both in and outside of the larger continuity. If you want to read more of the history of DC Comic's main editors and Editors-in-Chief and how they changed the company, see [[UsefulNotes/DCComicsEditors here]].

As of September 2011, breaking their tradition of waiting 10 years after the last time with the ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' series, DC rebooted their entire universe back to square one to make the stories and characters 'younger and more relevant' to the modern age. This took the form of the ''ComicBook/New52'' comics revamped, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman and the Justice League. Eventually, so many fans were alienated by this move[[note]]Such as [[DeathByOriginStory killing off Jonathan and Martha Kent]] after decades of being beloved ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' supporting characters in his ComicBook/PostCrisis adulthood[[/note]] that DC eventually decided to backtrack with ComicBook/DCRebirth saying the previous revision was Dr. Manhattan of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'s'' fault.

In 2013, it was announced that DC would be relocating its main offices from New York to Los Angeles to better integrate its multimedia operations.

In 2018, further sub-labels were launched aimed at specific age groups. Creator/DCBlackLabel was originally created as something of a revival of the original Vertigo concept, telling adult-oriented non-continuity stories about DCU characters, before becoming a complete replacement for Vertigo as stand-alone comics were launched under the name. For younger readers, Creator/DCInk (for teen and YA books) and Creator/DCZoom (for preteen readers) were launched before quickly having their names abandoned in favour of the more descriptive DC Young Adult and DC Middle Grade. Both publish graphic novels featuring DC characters in non-continuity stories (and sometimes with a very heavy {{Retool}} from the mainstream DCU version), and have recruited writers already established in childrens' and YA prose fiction.

In the 1990s, with comics enjoying increased sales due to a speculation boom, DC published a series of dramatic, shocking stories, including such world-shocking events as [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Superman's death]], [[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} Batman's back being broken]], and Green Lantern becoming a {{supervillain}}; sales were impressive, but [[UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996 they quickly dropped off again as the law of supply and demand came to bite speculators in]] [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer their collective asses]]. However, even with the millennium approaching, DC endured, and continued to publish a number of critically acclaimed graphic novels under its Vertigo, [=WildStorm=], and America's Best Comics imprints. (Other imprints, such as the short-lived science-fantasy concentric Helix and the [[Main/ShoujoDemographic shoujo-targeting]] Minx, have been less successful.)

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the Big Two comic book publishers active in the United States today, the other being Creator/MarvelComics. The publishing unit of DC Entertainment, itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creator/WarnerBros (and in turn a part of Creator/WarnerMedia), it's one of the largest and oldest comic book publishing companies in the world. Most of its material has relied steadfastly on [[Main/MeaningfulTitles "The World's Greatest Super Heroes"]] throughout its history, with such iconic names such as Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/WonderWoman, Franchise/TheFlash, Franchise/GreenLantern, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters along with an enormous supporting cast of alliances, rogue's galleries, task forces, crime syndicates, and oddities]] holding its banner high.

In the 1990s, with comics enjoying increased sales due to a speculation boom, DC published a series of dramatic, shocking stories, including such events as [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Superman dying]], [[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} Batman's back being broken]], and Green Lantern becoming a {{supervillain}}; sales were impressive, but [[UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996 they quickly dropped off again as the law of supply and demand came to bite speculators in]] [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer their collective assi]]. However, DC endured, and continued to publish a number of critically acclaimed graphic novels under its Vertigo, [=WildStorm=], and America's Best Comics imprints. (Other imprints, such as Helix (SF) and Minx (targeted at the teenage girl manga market), have been less successful.)

See DCComicsCharacters for an index of the characters in the larger DC Universe, and check ComicBook/DCComicsSeries for an index of all the series published by DC, both in and outside of the larger continuity.

DC began as Detective Comics, Inc in 1937, to publish a crime-themed AnthologyComic, ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'', which introduced Franchise/{{Batman}} in issue 27. In 1938, the company launched a second title, ''Action Comics'', starring Franchise/{{Superman}}. Detective Comics merged with National Allied Publications and All-American Publications in 1944 to form National Comics; however, due to the appearance of their logo, the company was popularly known as DC Comics, and eventually formally adopted that as its name.

Two years later, in 2020, DC suddenly announced [[https://www.ign.com/articles/dc-comics-dc-universe-layoffs-editorial-staff-warnermedia massive layoffs]] affecting nearly one-third of editorial staff in both its comic and television departments. They also revealed plans to cut down drastically on the number of monthly comic books published in 2021 [[note]] quoted as [[https://www.ign.com/articles/dc-comics-layoffs-changes-future-2021-dc-universe-collectibles 20% to 25%]] of their 2020 output[[/note]], as well as their abandonment of the planned '5G' storytelling initiative, which was subsequently retooled into ''ComicBook/FutureSlate''. According to Creator/JimLee, the company will also be shifting their focus back to more [[LighterAndSofter family-friendly content,]] and keeping their books and characters "on-brand" by editorial mandate. For this move's specific effects on Creator/DCBlackLabel and Creator/DCUniverse, please see their respective pages.

Two years later, in 2020, DC suddenly announced [[https://www.ign.com/articles/dc-comics-dc-universe-layoffs-editorial-staff-warnermedia massive layoffs]] affecting nearly one-third of editorial staff in both its comic and television departments. They also revealed plans to cut down drastically on the number of monthly comic books published in 2021 [[note]] quoted as [[https://www.ign.com/articles/dc-comics-layoffs-changes-future-2021-dc-universe-collectibles 20% to 25%]] of their 2020 output[[/note]], as well as their abandonment of the planned '5G' storytelling initiative. According to Creator/JimLee, the company will also be shifting their focus back to more [[LighterAndSofter family-friendly content,]] and keeping their books and characters "on-brand" by editorial mandate. For this move's specific effects on Creator/DCBlackLabel and Creator/DCUniverse, please see their respective pages.

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the Big Two comic book publishers active in the United States today, the other being Creator/MarvelComics. The publishing unit of DC Entertainment, itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creator/WarnerBros, it's one of the largest and oldest comic book publishing companies in the world. Most of its material has relied steadfastly on [[Main/MeaningfulTitles "The World's Greatest Super Heroes"]] throughout its history, with such iconic names such as Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/WonderWoman, Franchise/TheFlash, Franchise/GreenLantern, [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters along with an enormous supporting cast of alliances, rogue's galleries, task forces, crime syndicates, and oddities]] holding its banner high.

With that successful, she began to reorganize the company to fix that problem. For instance, she created health plans and instituted reprint fees. More importantly, in 1981, she instituted a royalty system for talents where the better their titles sold, the more they would be paid, giving them a stake in a series' continued success. Furthermore, she wooed various Marvel talents like Creator/SteveEnglehart, Creator/MarvWolfman and Creator/GeorgePerez, who were fortuitously disgruntled with Marvel Editor-in-Chief Creator/JimShooter's heavy-handed management enough to jump ship.

Unfortunately, Kahn's early marketing efforts did work out too well, most infamously when a major publishing expansion in 1977 called "The DC Explosion" backfired in part due a severe winter hampering distribution into the infamous "DC Implosion," where the publishing line was clawed back. However, Khan and the senior editors took control of their titles' sustainability problem by creating the limited series publishing concept, so they could at least get it under their control with predetermined endings for titles. Most of the moves paid off, with the most obvious example being ''The New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' which became a major success under Marv Wolfman and Creator/GeorgePerez, whose enhanced pay was enough incentive to keep the title going for years. Furthermore, they could show the origins of their original characters in a mini-series ''Tales of the New Teen Titans'' without interrupting their main title.

As of September 2011, DC rebooted their entire universe back to square one to make the stories and characters 'younger and more relevant' to the modern age. This took the form of "the ComicBook/{{New 52}}" comics revamped, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman and the Justice League.

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, rising quickly in popularity due to Stan Lee's editorial direction resulting in stronger writing. While Marvel wouldn't challenge DC's absolute sales yet, it was in the sell-through figures where Marvel started shining to DC's growing shock. [[note]]This requires explanation: at that time, the standard comic book industry method was to publish a large number of copies with the anticipation that a portion would not be sold on the newsstand and would be returned to the publisher for refunds. So, the real income from publishing would determined by how much refund money the publisher would have to give up. In the early 1960s, DC's sell-through rate was about 50%, break-even numbers for them, but Marvel was then enjoying a 70% sell-through, which meant that they had refund a lot less money and got to keep the difference as profit. Even though DC, which was distributing Marvel at the time, had screwed over that company by restricting their publishing to 8-12 titles a month, they had a fabulously profitable publishing tiger by the tail.[[/note]]

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, rising quickly in popularity due to Stan Lee's editorial direction resulting in stronger writing. While Marvel wouldn't challenge DC's absolute sales yet, it was in the sell-through figures where Marvel started shining to DC's growing shock. This requires explanation: at that time, the standard comic book industry method was to publish a large number of copies with the anticipation that a portion would not be sold on the newsstand and would be returned to the publisher for refunds. So, the real income from publishing would determined by how much refund money the publisher would have to give up. In the early 1960s, DC's sell-through rate was about 50%, break-even numbers for them, but Marvel was then enjoying a 70% sell-through, which meant that they had refund a lot less money and got to keep the difference as profit. Even though DC, which was distributing Marvel at the time, had screwed over that company by restricting their publishing to 8-12 titles a month, they had a fabulously profitable publishing tiger by the tail.

However, by the late 1970s, the company was going through rough waters with Marvel finally beating them in sales and DC Comics floundering with titles that began big and then petered out within a few issues. Then the company got a new president, Jenette Kahn, who began to reorganize the company to fix that problem. For instance, she created health plans and instituted reprint fees. More importantly, in 1981, she instituted a royalty system for talents where the better their titles sold, the more they would be paid, giving them a stake in a series' continued success. Also, she and the senior editors took control of their titles' sustainability problem by creating the limited series, so they could at least get it under their control with predetermined endings for titles. The moves paid off, the most obvious example being ''The New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' which became a major success under Marv Wolfman and Creator/GeorgePerez, whose enhanced pay was enough incentive to keep the title going for years. Furthermore, they could show the origins of their original characters in a mini-series ''Tales of the New Teen Titans'' without interrupting their main title.

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, who actually managed to exceed DC's sales and popularity in the 1960s due to stronger writing.

In the 1970s, after Marvel's [[UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode Comics Code]]-defying [[DrugsAreBad anti-drug]] ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' story, DC jumped on the bandwagon with a slew of '[[MoralOfTheStory relevant]]', social-issue-tackling {{superhero}} stories. Most famously, Franchise/GreenLantern and ComicBook/GreenArrow took a trip across America, fighting such issues as drug use and broken homes. Furthermore, Creator/JackKirby, the other major co-creator of the MarvelUniverse, signed up to create [[ComicBook/NewGods The Fourth World]] comics such as ''The ComicBook/NewGods'' and ''Mister Miracle''. Unfortunately, these titles were ahead of their time and Kirby eventually returned to Marvel in the mid 1970s.

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, who actually managed to exceed DC's sales and popularity in the 1960s due to stronger writing. For their part, DC tried figuring out how Marvel was doing it, but outside Creator/ArnoldDrake (Creator of the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'') proved hopeless as it such as they guessed at such superficial reasons like the color red or loads of text on the covers, or supposedly the bad art in their eyes like Creator/JackKirby's was somehow more appealing.[[note]]Creator/StanLee found out about this boardroom guesswork by his rivals and amused himself by defying their conjectures to frustrate them still more.[[/note]]. In 1967, DC managed to get some of this popularity by bringing Creator/SteveDitko over from Marvel, who introduced elements such as [[{{Antihero}} flawed heroes]] and personality clashes during team-up stories. Around the same time, the conglomerate Kinney National Company (who would become the parent of film studio Creator/WarnerBrothers shortly after) purchased DC Comics, integrating it as a division of Warner Bros. in the process. In the 1970s, DC began to expand into more mature stories, attracting teenagers and young adults who previously considered comics to be exclusively a kids' medium.

However, by the late 1970s, the company was going through rough waters with Marvel finally beating them in sales and DC Comics floundering with titles that began big and then petered out within a few issues. Then the company got a new president, Jenette Kahn, who began to reorganize the company to fix that problem. For instance, she created health plans and instituted reprint fees. More importantly, in 1981, she instituted a royalty system for talents where the better their titles sold, the more they would be paid, giving them a stake in a series' continued success. Also, she and the senior editors took control of their titles' sustainability problem by creating the limited series, so they could at least get it under their control with predetermined endings for title. The moves paid off, the most obvious example being ''The New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' which became a major success under Marv Wolfman and George Perez, whose enhanced pay was enough incentive to keep the title going for years. Furthermore, they could show the origins of their original characters in a mini-series ''Tales of the Teen Titans'' without interrupting their main title.

In addition, DC took a chance on some of the talent from Britain and gave some of the promising talents, such as Creator/AlanMoore, Creator/GrantMorrison, and Brian Bolland, a shot at their lesser titles. The result was an explosion of astounding creativity that signaled the comic book version of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion. Mainstream comics would never be the same.

In the late 1980s, DC was responsible for catapulting comics to a new era of respectability and critical acclaim. Part of this was their epic, {{continuity}}-shaking ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', which showed that comics could tell stories as effectively as any novel or movie. The other was a pair of [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructive]] works, Creator/AlanMoore[='=]s ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' and Creator/FrankMiller's ''Comicbook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', both of which brought a new level of intelligence and psychological complexity to the medium. They also kicked off the craze for DarkerAndEdgier, HotterAndSexier comics, and started the so-called [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]]. In the wake of this, all the other publishers started [[FollowTheLeader copying them]], and even the main [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] became somewhat darker to accommodate the new tastes.

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, who actually managed to exceed DC's sales and popularity in the 1960s due to stronger writing. For their part, DC tried figuring out how Marvel was doing it, but outside Creator/ArnoldDrake (Creator of the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'') proved hopeless as it such as they guessed at such superficial reasons like the color red or loads of text on the covers, or supposedly the bad art in their eyes like Creator/JackKirby's was somehow more appealing. In 1967, DC managed to get some of this popularity by bringing Creator/SteveDitko over from Marvel, who introduced elements such as [[{{Antihero}} flawed heroes]] and personality clashes during team-up stories. Around the same time, the conglomerate Kinney National Company (who would become the parent of film studio Creator/WarnerBrothers shortly after) purchased DC Comics, integrating it as a division of Warner Bros. in the process. In the 1970s, DC began to expand into more mature stories, attracting teenagers and young adults who previously considered comics to be exclusively a kids' medium.

In the mid-1950s, DC revived their old superhero, Franchise/TheFlash, in order to appear in their anthology ''Showcase''. Rather than bringing back the old character, the writers introduced a new hero with a new secret identity and a scifi-based origin. Following the success of this story, the Franchise/GreenLantern was similarly reimagined, and National began increasing their superhero output. This practice was copied by several other publishers, most notably Marvel, who actually managed to exceed DC's sales and popularity in the 1960s due to stronger writing. In 1967, DC managed to get some of this popularity by bringing Creator/SteveDitko over from Marvel, who introduced elements such as [[{{Antihero}} flawed heroes]] and personality clashes during team-up stories. Around the same time, the conglomerate Kinney National Company (who would become the parent of film studio Creator/WarnerBrothers shortly after) purchased DC Comics, integrating it as a division of Warner Bros. in the process. In the 1970s, DC began to expand into more mature stories, attracting teenagers and young adults who previously considered comics to be exclusively a kids' medium.