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DC Comics is a major, longtime competitor to [[Marvel Comics]], and the two companies share over 80% of the American comic book market.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
==History==
===Origins===
Entrepreneur Major [[Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson]]'s National Allied Publications debuted with the tabloid-sized ''New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine'' #1 in February 1935. The company's second title, ''New Comics'' #1 (December 1935), appeared in a size close to what would become comic books' standard during the period fans and historians call the [[Golden Age of Comic Books]], with slightly larger dimensions than {{as of | 2009 | alt = today's}}. That title evolved into ''[[Adventure Comics]]'', which continued through issue #503 in 1983, becoming one of the longest-running comic book series.
Wheeler-Nicholson's third and final title, ''Detective Comics'', advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, eventually premiered three months late with a March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology series would become a sensation with the introduction of [[Batman]] in issue #27 (May 1939). By then, however, Wheeler-Nicholson had gone. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor [[Harry Donenfeld]] — who also published pulp-magazines and operated as a principal in the magazine distributorship [[Independent News]] — Wheeler-Nicholson was compelled to take Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish ''Detective Comics'' #1. '''Detective Comics, Inc.''' was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and [[Jack Liebowitz|Jack S. Liebowitz]], Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Major Wheeler-Nicholson remained for a year, but cash-flow problems continued, and he was forced out. Shortly afterward, Detective Comics Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied, also known as Nicholson Publishing, at a bankruptcy auction.
Detective Comics Inc. soon launched a fourth title, ''[[Action Comics]]'', the premiere of which introduced [[Superman]] (a character with which Wheeler-Nicholson had no direct involvement; editor [[Vin Sullivan]] chose to run the feature after [[Sheldon Mayer]] rescued it from the [[slush pile]]). ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938), the first comic book to feature the new character archetype — soon known as "[[superhero]]es" — proved a major sales hit. The company quickly introduced such other popular characters as the [[Sandman (DC Comics)|Sandman]] and [[Batman]].
===The Golden Age===
{{Main|Golden Age of Comic Books}}
National Allied Publications soon merged with Detective Comics, Inc. to form '''National Comics''', which in 1944 absorbed an affiliated concern, [[Max Gaines]]' and Liebowitz's [[All-American Publications]]. That year, Gaines let Liebowitz buy him out, and kept only ''[[Picture Stories from the Bible]]'' as the foundation of his own new company, [[EC Comics]]. 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'''".<ref>[[Gerard Jones|Jones, Gerard]]. ''Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book'' (Basic Books, 2004; trade paperback ISBN 0-465-03657-0, p. 223</ref> National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on the stock market in 1961.<ref>''Superman Faces New Hurdles: Publishers of Comic Books Showing Decline'', [[New York Times]], September 23, 1962, p.166</ref>
Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the line used the logo "Superman-DC" throughout, and the company became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name.
The company began to move aggressively against imitative [[copyright infringement|copyright violation]]s by other companies, such as [[Fox Comics]]' [[Wonder Man (Fox Publications)|Wonder Man]], which according to court testimony Fox created as a copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing [[Fawcett Comics]] for [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]], at the time comics' top-selling character. Despite the fact that parallels between Captain Marvel and Superman seemed more tenuous, the courts ruled that substantial and deliberate copying of copyrighted material had occurred. Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost, Fawcett capitulated in 1955 and ceased comics publication. Years later, Fawcett ironically sold the rights to Captain Marvel to DC — which in 1973 revived Captain Marvel in the new title ''Shazam!''. featuring artwork by his creator, [[C. C. Beck]]. In the meantime, the abandoned trademark had been seized by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1967, disallowing the DC comic itself to be called that. While Captain Marvel did not recapture his old popularity, he later appeared in a Saturday morning [[Shazam! (TV series)|live action TV adaptation]] and gained a prominent place in the mainstream continuity DC calls the [[DC Universe]].
When the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, the company focused on such genres as [[science fiction]], [[Western (genre)|Westerns]], [[humour|humor]] and [[Romance novel|romance]]. DC also published [[Crime fiction|crime]] and [[Horror fiction|horror]] titles, but relatively tame ones, and thus avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comics. A handful of the most popular superhero-titles (most notably ''Action Comics'' and ''Detective Comics'', the medium's two longest-running titles) continued publication.
===The Silver Age===
{{Main|Silver Age of Comic Books}}
In the mid-1950s, editorial director Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor [[Julius Schwartz]] (whose roots lay in the [[science-fiction]] book market) to produce a [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot]] [[Flash (comics)|Flash]] story in the try-out title [[Showcase (comics)|''Showcase'']]. Instead of reviving the old character, Schwartz had writer [[Robert Kanigher]] and [[John Broome]], [[penciller|penciler]] [[Carmine Infantino]] and [[inker]] [[Joe Kubert]] create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's [[civilian]] identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in ''Showcase'' #4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of the [[Green Lantern]] character, the introduction of the modern all-star team [[Justice League of America]], and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the [[Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age of comic books]].
National did not reimagine its continuing characters (primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) but radically overhauled them. The Superman family of titles, under editor [[Mort Weisinger]], introduced such enduring characters as [[Supergirl]], [[Bizarro]], and [[Brainiac (comics)|Brainiac]]. The Batman titles, under editor [[Jordan Stewart]], introduced the successful [[Batwoman]], [[Bette Kane|Bat-Girl]] and [[Bat-Mite]] in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schiff's successor, Schwartz, together with artist Infantino, then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in a mythological context.
DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by other comics companies. In 1961, with DC's superhero team the [[Justice League of America]] (JLA) as the specific spur,<ref>
Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, either [[Jack Liebowitz]] or [[Irwin Donenfeld]] of DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications)<!--also known as name is mentioned here because Stan Lee says "National Comics" in quote directly below this paragraph--> bragged about DC's success with the Justice League (which had debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 [February 1960] before going on to its own title) to [[publisher]] [[Martin Goodman (publisher)|Martin Goodman]] (whose holdings included the nascent [[Marvel Comics]]) during a game of golf.
However, film producer and comics historian [[Michael Uslan]] partly debunked the story in a letter published in ''Alter Ego'' #43 (December 2004), pp. 43-44:{{cquote|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 as [[Sol 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 DC ''owned'' 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 aware of the JLA's strong sales, confirmably directed his comics editor, [[Stan Lee]], to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee in ''Origins of Marvel Comics'' ([[Marvel Fireside Books|Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books]], 1974), p. 16:
{{cquote|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 called ''The'' [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?'}}
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[[Marvel Comics]] writer-editor [[Stan Lee]] and the legendary [[Jack Kirby]] ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue of ''[[The Fantastic Four]]''.<ref>[http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/cmbk6silver.html Integrative Arts 10: "The Silver Age" by Jamie Coville]. Accessed June 11, 2008
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Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters inhabited a shared [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]] that, decades later, was dubbed{{By whom|date=October 2009}} the [[DC Universe]]. With the story "[[Flash of Two Worlds]]", in ''Flash'' #123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer [[Gardner Fox]] and artists [[Carmine Infantino]] and [[Joe Giella]]) introduced a concept that allowed slotting the 1930s and 1940s [[Golden Age of comic books|Golden Age]] heroes into this continuity via the explanation that they lived on an otherdimensional "Earth 2", as opposed to the modern heroes' Earth 1 — in the process creating the foundation for what would later be called the [[Multiverse (DC Comics)|DC Multiverse]].
A [[Batman (TV series)|1966 Batman]] [[Television program|TV show]] on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales, and a brief fad for superheroes in [[Saturday morning cartoon|Saturday morning animation]] ([[Filmation#1960s|Filmation]] created most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the [[tone (literature)|tone]] of many DC comics — particularly ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'' and ''[[Detective Comics]]'' — to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This tone coincided with the famous "Go-Go Checks" [[checkerboard]] cover-dress which featured a black-and-white checkerboard strip at the top of each comic, a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks."<ref>[http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html#009267 "Irwin Donenfeld, R.I.P." by Mark Evanier, December 1, 2004]. Accessed June 11, 2008
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In 1967, Batman artist Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and Phantom 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 attempted to infuse the company with new titles and characters, also recruiting major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and [[Spider-Man]] co-creator [[Steve Ditko]] and promising newcomer [[Neal Adams]]. He also replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including [[Joe Kubert]] and [[Dick Giordano]], to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye.
These new editors recruited youthful new [[creativity|creator]]s, in part in an effort to capture a market which had grown from being dominated by children, to include older teens and even college students. Some new talent, such as [[Dennis O'Neil]], who had worked for both [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and [[Charlton Comics|Charlton]], gained critical and popular acclaim on titles including ''Batman'' and ''Green Lantern'' (his ''Green Lantern'' run with artist Neal Adams became a key title in the burgeoning 1970s Bronze Age, and the move away from the [[Comics Code Authority]]). Nevertheless, the period was plagued by short-lived series that started out strong but petered out rapidly.
====The Fourth World====
{{Main|Jack Kirby's Fourth World}}
In 1969, National Comics merged with [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]]. The previous year, [[Jack Kirby]] defected 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. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created a handful of thematically linked series he called collectively [[Jack Kirby's Fourth World|The Fourth World]]. In the existing series ''[[Jimmy Olsen]]'' and in his own, newly launched series ''[[New Gods]]'', ''[[Mister Miracle]]'', and ''[[Forever People|The Forever People]]'', Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as archvillain [[Darkseid]] and the otherdimensional realm [[Apokolips]]. 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" books would all be cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions would soon become integral to the broadening of the DC Universe. Kirby went on to create other "daring and different" series for DC, including ''[[Kamandi]]'', about a teenaged boy in a [[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] world of militaristic talking animals, when directed by the publisher to come up with something resembling ''[[Planet of the Apes (1968 film)|Planet of the Apes]]''.
===The Bronze Age===
{{Main|Bronze Age of Comic Books}}
Following the science-fiction innovations of the [[Silver Age of comic books|Silver Age]], the comics of the 1970s and 1980s would become known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more [[naturalistic]] and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the [[Comics Code Authority]], explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' in early 1971, and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writer [[Dennis O'Neil]] and artist [[Neal Adams]]' ''[[Green Lantern]]'', beginning with the story "Snowbirds Don't Fly" in the retitled ''Green Lantern / Green Arrow'' #85 (September 1971), which depicted [[Roy Harper (comics)|Speedy]], the teen sidekick of superhero archer [[Green Arrow]], as having become a [[heroin]] addict.
[[Jenette Kahn]], a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. 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 as ''[[Firestorm (Ronald Raymond)|Firestorm]]'' and ''[[Shade, the Changing Man]]'', as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre-[[Frederic Wertham|Wertham]] days of post-War comicdom. In June 1978, five months before the release of the [[Superman (film)|first Superman movie]], Kahn expanded the line further, increasing the number of titles, 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".<ref>Kahn, Jenette. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/252/publishorial.gif "Publishorial: Onward and Upward,"] DC Comics cover-dated September 1978.</ref> The move was not successful, however, and corporate partner Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the [[DC Implosion]]".<ref>"The DC Implosion," ''The Comics Journal'' #41 (August 1978), pp. 5-7.</ref> In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17 story pages but for a still-increased 40 cents.<ref>"Post-Implosion Fill-In Fallout," ''The Comics Journal'' #43 (December 1978), p. 13.</ref> 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 boost [[market-share]], the new team of publisher Kahn, vice-president [[Paul Levitz]], and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end — and following the example of [[Atlas/Seaboard Comics]] and such independent companies as [[Eclipse Comics]] — DC began to offer [[royalties]] in place of the industry-standard [[work for hire|work-for-hire]] agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights. In addition, emulating the era's new television form, the [[miniseries]], DC created the industry concept of the comic book [[limited series]], allowing for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format.
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 in comics|1980]] DC launched the ongoing series ''[[Teen Titans|The New Teen Titans]]'', by writer [[Marv Wolfman]] and artist [[George Pérez]], two popular talents with a history of success. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series ''[[X-Men]]'', but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales<ref>MacDonald, Heidi D. "DC's Titanic Success," ''The Comics Journal'' #76 (October 1982), pp. 46-51.</ref> 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 (media)|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.
===Late 1980s===
{{Main|Modern Age of Comic Books}}
This successful revitalization of a minor title led DC's editors to seek the same for the entire line and for the wider [[DC Universe]]. The result was the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', which gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the "baggage" of its history, address "errors" in the characters' long histories and - particularly - revise, update and streamline major characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. A companion two issues in the new [[prestige format]] entitled ''The History of the DC Universe'' set out briefly the revised history of the major DC characters, and set the scene for an effective reboot of all titles, while still rooted in the long tradition and history of the DC Universe. Effectively moving from the realism of the Bronze Age towards the era sometimes called the "Dark Age," ''Crisis'' featured many key and resonant deaths which would shape the DC Universe for the following decades, and separate the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis".
Meanwhile, a parallel revolution had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. Since the start of [[1984 in comics|1984]], [[United Kingdom|British]] writer [[Alan Moore]] had re-energized the horror series ''[[Swamp Thing|The Saga of the Swamp Thing]]'', and his acclaimed work sparked the comic-book equivalent of rock music's [[British Invasion (comics)|British Invasion]]. Building on the dark naturalism of the Bronze Age, numerous British writers, including [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Grant Morrison]], subsequently began freelancing for the company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror/fantasy material led not only to DC abandoning the [[Comics Code Authority|Comics Code]] for particular titles scripted by those talents, but also to establishing in 1993 the [[Vertigo (DC Comics)|Vertigo]] mature-readers imprint.
Key titles in the subtle shift towards the Modern Age include the two DC-published limited series ''[[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]'' by [[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]] and ''[[Watchmen]]'' by Moore and artist [[Dave Gibbons]]. These titles drew attention to changes at DC for dark psychological complexity, and promotion of the antihero. The new creative freedom and attendant publicity that allowed Miller to produce a dark, future Batman and Moore to create a similarly dystopian future filled with pessimism allowed DC to challenge Marvel's industry lead, and also paved the way for comics to both be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles as more than just for children, and to start making in-roads into the book industry, with collected editions of these key series selling particularly well as trade paperbacks.
Conversely, while the mainstream DCU got a shade darker, the mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC [[war comics]], including venerable series that had been in print since the 1960s. These titles, all with over 100 issues, included ''[[Sgt. Rock (comics)|Sgt. Rock]]'', ''[[G.I. Combat]]'', ''[[The Unknown Soldier (comics)|The Unknown Soldier]]'', and ''[[Weird War Tales]]''.
In 1989, with the release of the [[Batman (1989 film)|first Batman movie]], DC began publishing its hardcover series of [[DC Archive Editions]], collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories unseen by many modern fans. Restoration for many of the Archives was handled by Rick Keene with color restoration by DC's long-time resident colorist, [[Bob LeRose]]. These collections attempted to retroactively credit many of the writers and artists who had worked without much recognition for DC during the early period of comics, when individual credits were few and far between.
===1990s===
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 intent to resell at a higher value as the rising value of older issues was thought to imply that ''all'' comics would rise dramatically in price) and several storylines which gained attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which [[The Death of Superman|Superman was killed]], [[Batman: Knightfall|Batman was crippled]] and super-hero [[Emerald Twilight|''Green Lantern'' Hal Jordan turned into the super villain Parallax]], resulted in dramatically increased sales, but the increases were as temporary as the substitutes, and sales dropped off as industry sales went into a major slump as manufactured "collectibles" numbering in their millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves.
DC's [[Piranha Press]] and other imprints (including [[Vertigo (DC Comics)|Vertigo]], the mature readers line pioneered in the British Horror work of the 1980s and [[Helix (comics)|Helix]], a short-lived Science Fiction imprint) in the 1990s 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 contracts 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-friendly formats, including [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] collections of individual serial comics, and original [[graphic novel]]s.
DC entered into a publishing agreement with [[Milestone 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 short years, it yielded the popular animated series ''[[Static Shock]]''. [[Paradox Press]] was established to publish material ranging from the large-format ''Big Book of...'' series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novel ''[[Road to Perdition]]''. In 1998, DC purchased [[Wildstorm|Wildstorm Comics]], [[Jim Lee]]'s imprint under the [[Image Comics]] banner, and absorbed it while continuing it for many years as a wholly separate imprint - and [[WildStorm Universe|Universe]] - with its own style and audience. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprint [[America's Best Comics (DC)|America's Best Comics]] (ABC), a series of titles from the mind of Alan Moore, including ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', ''[[Tom Strong]]'' and ''[[Promethea]]''. Moore strongly contested this situation, and DC no longer publishes ABC.
===2000s===
In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy series ''[[Elfquest]]'', previously self-published by creators [[Wendy and Richard Pini]] under their [[WaRP Graphics]] publication banner. This series then followed the [[Tower Comics]] series [[T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents]] in becoming non-DC titles published in the "DC Archives" format. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers [[2000 AD (comic)|2000 AD]] and [[Les Humanoïdes Associés|Humanoids]]. It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with the mascot [[Johnny DC]], and established the [[CMX (comics)|CMX]] imprint to reprint translated [[manga]]. In 2006, CMX took over from [[Dark Horse Comics]] publication of the webcomic ''[[Megatokyo]]'' in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise of [[Kitchen Sink Press]] and acquired the rights to much of the work of [[Will Eisner]], such as his ''[[The Spirit]]'' series and his graphic novels.
Starting in 2004, DC began laying groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel to ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', promising substantial changes to the DC Universe (and side-stepping the [[1994 in comics|1994]] ''[[Zero Hour (comics)|Zero Hour]]'' event which similarly tried to [[Comics vocabulary#Retcon|ret-con]] the history of the DCU). In 2005, with the release of ''[[Batman Begins]]'', the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalated conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped [[One Year Later|forward a full year]] in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, ''[[52 (comic book)|52]]'', to gradually fill in the missing time. Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to "Superboy" (while retaining the trademark) when the heirs of Jerry Seigel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership.
In 2005, DC launched a new "[[All Star DC Comics|All-Star]]" line (evoking the title of the [[All Star Comics|1940s 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, produced by "all star" creative teams. ''All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder'' launched in July 2005, with ''All-Star Superman'' beginning in November 2005. ''All-Star Wonder Woman'' and ''All Star Batgirl'' were announced in 2006, with the release of ''[[Superman Returns]]'' in movie theaters, but neither have been released or scheduled as of the end of 2009.
===DC Entertainment===
In September 2009, Warner Bros. announced that DC Comics would become a subsidiary of DC Entertainment Inc., with Diane Nelson, president of [[Warner Premiere]], becoming president of the new company. DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz will step down and serve as a contributing editor and overall consultant.<ref>[http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090909-DC-Restructuring.html Newsarama: Warner Bros. Creates DC ENTERTAINMENT To Maximize DC Brands.] Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
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==Logo==
<!--[[Image:DClogos.png|frame|DC logos.]] commenting out a redlinked box-->
DC's first [[logo]] appeared on the April 1940 issues of its titles. The letters "DC" stood for ''Detective Comics'', the name of Batman's flagship title. The small logo, with no background, read simply, "A DC Publication".
The November 1941 DC titles introduced an updated logo. This version was almost twice the size of the previous one, and was the first version 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, where the logo has usually resided since. The company now referred to itself in its advertising as "Superman-DC".
In November 1949, the logo was modified to incorporate the company's formal name, National Comics Publications. This logo would also serve as the round body of Johnny DC, DC's [[mascot]] in the 1960s.
In October 1970, the circular logo was briefly retired in favor of a simple "DC" in a rectangle with the name of the title, or the star of the book; the logo on many issues of ''Action Comics'', for example, read "DC Superman". An image of the lead character either appeared above or below the rectangle. For books that did not have a single star, such as [[Anthology|anthologies]] like ''[[House of Mystery]]'' or team series such as ''Justice League of America'', the title and "DC" appeared in a stylized logo, such as a [[bat]] for ''House of Mystery''. This use of characters as logos helped to establish the likenesses as [[trademark]]s, and was similar to Marvel's contemporaneous use of characters as part of its cover branding.
DC's [http://www.metropolisplus.com/dc100page/index.htm "100 Page Super-Spectacular"] titles and later 100-page and "Giant" issues published from 1972 to 1974 featured a logo exclusive to these editions: the letters "DC" in a simple [[sans-serif]] [[typeface]] within a circle. A variant had the letters in a square.
The July 1972 DC titles featured a new circular logo. The letters "DC" were rendered in a block-like typeface that would remain through later logo revisions until 2005. The title of the book usually appeared inside the circle, either above or below the letters.
In December 1973, this logo was modified with the addition of the words "The Line of DC Super-Stars" and the star motif that would continue in later logos. This logo was placed in the top center of the cover from August 1975 to October 1976.
[[Image:dc variantlogo.jpg|thumb|1987 test logo.]]
When Jenette Kahn became DC's [[Publishing|publisher]] in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designer [[Milton Glaser]] to design a new logo. Popularly referred to as the "DC bullet", this logo premiered on the February 1977 titles. Although it varied in size and color and was at times cropped by the edges of the cover, or briefly rotated 4 degrees, it remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades.
In July 1987, DC released variant editions of ''Justice League'' #3 and ''The Fury of Firestorm'' #61 with a new DC logo. It featured a picture of Superman in a circle surrounded by the words "SUPERMAN COMICS". These variant covers were released{{By whom|date=October 2009}} to newsstands in certain markets as a marketing test.<ref>[http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/bobro/101831039029582.htm Silver Bullet Comic Books: It's BobRo the Answer Man (column; no date): "Conspiracy? Icons? And More?" by Bob Rozakis]</ref>
On May 8, 2005, a new logo was unveiled, debuting on DC titles starting in June 2005 with ''DC Special: The Return of [[Donna Troy]]'' #1 and the rest of the titles the following week. In addition to comics, it was designed for DC properties in other media, such as the movies ''[[Batman Begins]]'' and ''[[Superman Returns]]'' as well as the new Batman film ''[[The Dark Knight (film)|The Dark Knight]]'' and the TV series ''[[Smallville (TV series)|Smallville]]'', ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' and ''[[The Batman (TV series)|The Batman]]'', as well as for [[collectible]]s and other merchandise. The logo was designed by Josh Beatman of [[Brainchild Studios]]<ref>[http://www.brainchildstudiosnyc.com/downloads/DC_brandHistory.pdf DC Comics Brand History by Brainchild Studios]. Accessed July 29, 2008</ref> and DC [[Management|executive]] [[Richard Bruning]].<ref>[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33582 Newsarama article: "Richard Bruning on designing a new DC logo", May 11, 2005]. Accessed July 29, 2008</ref>
==Imprints==
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