DC Comics
In 1935, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan. The company's debut publication was New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 with a February 1935 cover date. This anthology featured original stories rather than reprints from newspaper strips. It included genres like Westerns and adventure tales alongside funnies. Doctor Occult appeared in issue No.6 of New Fun Comics as the earliest recurring superhero created by DC that is still being used. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created this character in December 1935.
Wheeler-Nicholson launched Detective Comics later that year with a March 1937 cover date after a three-month delay. The themed anthology originally revolved around fictional detective stories before becoming the longest-running ongoing comic series. Slam Bradley debuted in the first issue through a collaboration between Wheeler-Nicholson, Siegel, and Shuster. By 1936, the group had become Nicholson Publishing. In debt to printing-plant owner Harry Donenfeld, Wheeler-Nicholson entered into partnership with him to publish Detective Comics No.1. Detective Comics, Inc. formed with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's accountant Jack S. Liebowitz listed as owners. Wheeler-Nicholson was forced out after the first year due to cash-flow problems. Shortly afterwards, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied at a bankruptcy auction and absorbed it.
Action Comics #1 featured Superman on its June 1938 cover and inside the issue. This comic book became the first to feature the character archetype later known as the superhero. It brought to life a new age of comic books now affectionately termed the Golden Age. Lois Lane appeared as Superman's first depicted romantic interest within the story. An unnamed office boy retconned as Jimmy Olsen's first appearance was revealed in Action Comics No.6 from November 1938.
Detective Comics No.27 introduced Batman in March 1939 through Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The masked vigilante wore a caped suit known as the Batsuit and drove a car later referred to as the Batmobile. James Gordon served as police commissioner of what would become Gotham City Police Department. Wayne Manor first appeared in Detective Comics No.28 in June 1939. The origin story showing Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne's death by a mugger debuted in Detective Comics No.33 that same month. Action Comics No.13 introduced Ultra-Humanite as the first recurring Superman enemy created by Siegel and Shuster. Metropolis emerged as Superman's home city in September 1939.
Editor Julius Schwartz directed editor Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz to produce a one-shot Flash story in Showcase #4 during October 1956. Writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome, penciler Carmine Infantino, and inker Joe Kubert created Barry Allen as an entirely new super-speedster with science-fiction bent. This reimagining proved sufficiently popular to lead to similar revamping of Green Lantern character. The modern all-star team Justice League of America followed shortly after.
National radically overhauled continuing characters primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman rather than just reimagining them. Mort Weisinger edited the Superman family titles introducing enduring characters like Supergirl, Bizarro, and Brainiac. Jack Schiff edited Batman titles introducing Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite. Schwartz and Infantino revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the New Look with relatively down-to-earth stories emphasizing Batman as detective. Editor Kanigher introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in a mythical realm. Flash #123 from September 1961 presented Flash of Two Worlds establishing Earth 1 and Earth 2 concepts.
In 1967, National Periodical Publications was purchased by Kinney National Company which acquired Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. Kinney spun off non-entertainment assets in 1972 as National Kinney Corporation before changing its name to Warner Communications Inc. In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc., making DC Comics a subsidiary of Time Warner. The company officially changed its name to DC Comics in 1977 after using Superman-DC since the 1950s.
Jenette Kahn replaced Carmine Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. Her first task involved convincing Bill Sarnoff to keep DC as a publishing concern rather than just managing licensing. Kahn expanded the line further in June 1978 increasing titles and story pages while raising prices from 35 cents to 50 cents. This move called the DC Explosion proved unsuccessful leading corporate parent Warner to dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles. Industry watchers dubbed this firing many staffers the DC Implosion. By September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced returning standard-size books to 17-page stories for 40 cents.
Crisis on Infinite Earths became a Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series that gave the company opportunity to realign complicated backstory and continuity discrepancies. A companion publication set out revised history of major DC characters separating timeline into pre- and post-Crisis eras. Key deaths shaped the DC Universe for following decades. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Watchmen by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons drew attention in mainstream press for dark psychological complexity. These titles helped pave way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles.
DC rebooted all running titles following Flashpoint storyline in 2011 with The New 52 giving new origin stories and costume designs. Geoff Johns wrote Justice League #1 starting August 31 with art by Jim Lee. Many ongoing series ended in August before relaunching comic line with 52 issue #1s. In 2016, DC announced line-wide relaunch titled DC Rebirth launching with 80-page one-shot written by Geoff Johns featuring art from Gary Frank and Ethan Van Sciver. This relaunch meant bringing back legacy and heart many felt had been missing since launch of New 52. January 2021 saw DC relaunch entire line under banner of Infinite Frontier expanding Multiverse into larger Omniverse where everything is canon.
Since early 1984, work of British writer Alan Moore revitalized horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing. Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison began freelancing for company resulting in sophisticated horror-fantasy material leading to Vertigo mature-readers imprint established in 1993. Vertigo did not subscribe to Comics Code Authority allowing more mature content. Piranha Press and other imprints including Helix science fiction line facilitated compartmentalized diversification. DC entered publishing agreement with Milestone Media creating culturally diverse superhero characters yielding popular animated series Static Shock.
DC purchased WildStorm Comics in 1998 continuing it as wholly separate imprint with unique style and audience. America's Best Comics became fledgling sub-imprint under WildStorm created by Alan Moore including League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Promethea. Moore strongly opposed this move so DC eventually stopped publishing ABC. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired North American publishing rights from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids. CMX imprint reprinted translated manga taking over from Dark Horse Comics' publication of webcomic Megatokyo in print form. DC Black Label launched in 2018 providing mature readers alternative to main continuity.
Up Next
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When did Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson found National Allied Publications?
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in 1935 at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan. The company's debut publication was New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 with a February 1935 cover date.
Who created the earliest recurring superhero still used by DC Comics?
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Doctor Occult as the earliest recurring superhero created by DC that is still being used. This character appeared in issue No.6 of New Fun Comics in December 1935.
What comic book introduced Batman to readers in March 1939?
Detective Comics No.27 introduced Batman in March 1939 through Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The masked vigilante wore a caped suit known as the Batsuit and drove a car later referred to as the Batmobile.
Which editor revitalized Batman with the New Look style in the late 1950s?
Editor Julius Schwartz directed Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Jack S. Liebowitz to produce a one-shot Flash story in Showcase #4 during October 1956. Schwartz and Carmine Infantino then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the New Look with relatively down-to-earth stories emphasizing Batman as detective.
When did National Periodical Publications officially change its name to DC Comics?
The company officially changed its name to DC Comics in 1977 after using Superman-DC since the 1950s. In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc., making DC Comics a subsidiary of Time Warner.