DC Comics (theme)

DC Comics, previously known as DC Universe and simply known as DC, is a subtheme of Super Heroes introduced in December 2011. Preview edition Batman and Green Lantern minifigures were given away at the 2011 San-Diego Comic Con. In addition to Batman and Green Lantern, Superman was also given out at the New York City Comic-Con.
==Description==
Sets in the DC Comics theme mostly revolve around and his rogues gallery, but other heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern have appeared, although only Superman actually has some foes from his series that appears in a box set (Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Bizarro and General Zod). However, in 2015, Lego started making sets for heroes besides Batman and Superman. Currently, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Flash are the only heroes who have had their enemies appear in sets. 
Most of the sets are very similar to sets from the previous theme, but are now fully comic-based and have a more colorful and cartoony approach to the source material, as opposed to the darker colors used in the original theme, which was mostly based on Batman: The Animated Series. Many of the minifigures from the original theme which were based on their animated series counterparts (such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face), and have been changed to resemble a comic-inspired iteration. Characters who already were based on the comic books (such as Catwoman, Bane, and The Riddler) have changed the least, only being updated with new prints, and colors (and in Riddler's case, a new mould, the Small Clown's bowler hat).
Most characters color schemes have remained the same, except for Two-Face's, which has drastically changed from white and black to orange and purple. Batman's vehicles frequently use black and yellow where the original ones would use black and gold; he also occasionally uses a light grey and dark blue colored vehicle.
While in the original Batman sets, many villains would carry guns, most of the villains in DC Universe don't have guns at all, the exception being The Joker who even then has his false "BANG" gun.
While many of the structures in Batman would use dark colours like grey, black, and brown, the three structures released in DC Universe: Joker, Riddler, and Harley Quinn's funhouse, a bank, and The Batcave, are generally more colourful; The Funhouse mixes the color schemes of all three villains included together (this includes colors such as black, red, white, purple, green, and yellow), and the Batcave uses both of the color schemes Batman has used on his vehicles throughout the first wave (black and yellow and dark blue and grey), and adds transparent light blue lights.
So far, several System sets revolving around a hero other than Batman has been released. 76002 Superman: Metropolis Showdown, 76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville, and 76009 Superman: Black Zero Escape are based on the film Man of Steel. 6862 Superman vs. Power Armour Lex depicts Superman fighting a large, purple and green, kryptonite-powered mech piloted by his arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor, while trying to rescue Wonder Woman. In this set, Superman is based on the comics.
Even though the DC sets are mostly comic based, two promotional items given away at the 2011 San Diego Comic-con depict Batman and Green Lantern in their movie costumes. 
In 2013, a set inspired by The Dark Knight Rises was released. It includes Batman, Bane, and Commissioner Gordon inspired by their appearances in The Dark Knight trilogy. Also included is The Bat, which is black with blue highlights, a redesigned Tumbler in a desert camouflage color scheme and smaller than the original, and two yellow and black barricades.
10937 Batman: Arkham Asylum Breakout, features a new model of Arkham Asylum, which featured dark colors such as dark grey, black, and dark red. It also brings back the dark and gothic feeling to the theme.
76000 Arctic Batman vs. Mr. Freeze: Aquaman on Ice features the Batboat in the same black and yellow color scheme as the previous year's vehicles and a white, trans blue, and grey ice prison. It also features Batman in an exclusive Arctic suit and Aquaman, the only non-Batman character in the winter 2013 wave. 
Guns are introduced to the DC sub-theme and one is given to Gordon. The villains, however, still mostly lack guns or weapons (the exceptions being Mr. Freeze, who has his freeze gun and The Penguin, who has his umbrella.) 
The Penguin, who was featured in the original theme based on his comic book appearance, is only updated with new prints and colors. The Scarecrow and Mr. Freeze, who were based on their appearances on Batman:The Animated Series, are updated with new prints and colors, with Freeze having a new helmet and gun design.
Three sets based on the Superman movie, Man of Steel were released to coincide with the release of the film. All minifigures in the Man of Steel-themed sets are based on their appearance in the film.
76002 Superman: Metropolis Showdown depicts a fight between Superman with a yellow and black sports car and General Zod with a black satellite on a grey and tan base, that has a feature to launch the car.
76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville features Superman and Colonel Hardy in a tan military jeep, battling Zod, Faora and Tor-An in a grey spaceship. 
76009 Superman: Black Zero Escape depicts Superman saving Lois Lane trapped in a black pod from Zod on a dark grey platform.
In 2014 five Batman-based sets were released, all of which include new variants of past minifigures or new minifigures. 2014 is the only year that Batman appeared in three series. 
76010 Batman: The Penguin Face Off depicts a battle between The Penguin and Batman in the Gotham Iceberg Lounge. Penguin comes with a duck boat and Batman comes with a jet ski. 2 Penguin Minions also come with the set. The Penguin's variant is exclusive to the set.
76011 Batman: Man-Bat Attack features Batman, Man-Bat and Nightwing battling over Gotham City. Batman comes with his Batcopter. Nightwing comes with his glider, and his costume is based off the New 52 variant. Nightwing and Man-Bat are exclusive to this set.
76012: Batman: The Riddler Chase depicts a car chase between Batman's Batmobile and The Riddler in his dragster. The Flash is there to lend a hand by racing alongside Batman in hopes of stopping The Riddler. The Riddler and Batman's variants are both exclusive to the set. 
76013 Batman: The Joker's Steam Roller features Batman, Batgirl, Damian Wayne, Joker and the Joker Henchman battling on the streets of Gotham City. Batman has his Batplane, and The Joker has his steamroller. Batgirl and Damian Wayne are exclusive to this set, and The Joker and The Joker's Henchman variant is exclusive to this set also. 
76034 Batboat Harbor Pursuit features Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke. Batman and Robin has the Batboat, and Deathstroke has his jet-ski. Deathstroke is stealing jems as Batman comes to stop him with Robin. Deathstroke is exclusive to this set, and the Robin variant is also exclusive to this set. 
76035 Jokerland feature Batman, Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and The Penguin. The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and The Penguin have trapped Robin, Beast Boy and Starfire (of the Teen Titans!) and Batman has to save them in a new Batmobile. Beast Boy and Starfire are exclusive to this set. The variants of The Joker, Harley Quinn, and Robin are also exclusive to this set. 
10672 Batman: Batcave is a set in the Juniors line. This set comes with Batman, Robin (Dick Grayson) and The Joker. 
Batman appeared in 70815 Police Dropship for The LEGO Movie alongside Emmet, Johnny Thunder, Green Ninja and two Robo SWAT. 
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash are all characters in The LEGO Movie, while Batman is one of the stars of the film.
Martian Manhunter appeared physically in 2014 as a promotional item through the online LEGO store.
2016 saw the release of three sets based off the movie Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the introduction of the subtheme Mighty Micros. Four more comic inspired Batman sets were released with two being indirect tie-ins to the Suicide Squad movie. These sets introduced new characters Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Katana, Killer Moth, and Blue Beetle, along with Ras Al Ghul, and Talia Al Ghul. Updated variants of Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Damien Wayne and Scarecrow were also introduced. In March, a direct to consumer exclusive version of the Batcave from the 1966 TV series was released, featuring nine minifigures based off their interpretations on the show. 
In 2017, due to the release of The LEGO Batman Movie, no regular release sets were launched in January under the main DC theme, except for three Mighty Micros sets. Four sets were released in the summer wave, with three being tie-ins for the Justice League movie. A Wonder Woman movie set was also released. 
In 2018, three Justice League comic sets were released in January featuring updated versions of Batman, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and Cyborg. These sets also introduced six new characters, Cheetah, Lobo, Firestorm, Krypto, Killer Frost, and the Reverse-Flash. In the summer, three comic based Batman sets were released. These sets featured new variants of Batman, as well as new characters Batwoman, Ace the Bathound, Brother Eye, and OMAC, along with Court of Owls Talons. Three more Mighty Micros sets were also released this year, along with a Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice inspired blister pack, the latter featuring the exclusive Knightmare Batman variant. 
In winter 2019, two more sets were released both depicting Batman and a member of the Justice League battling one or more villains. New to the line with this wave, was Ocean Master and Firefly. The wave also introduced updated variants of Batman, The Flash, Poison Ivy, and Aquaman, A summer wave was also released to celebrate Batman's eightieth anniversary, with redesigned versions of The Batcave, Batmobile, Batwing, and Batcycle, as well as updated variants of Batman, Bruce Wayne, Robin, Mr. Freeze, The Joker, Two-Face, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, The Riddler, Commissioner Gordon, and Clayface. In the fall, an 3,306 pieced version of the 1989 Batmobile was released, along with a minifigure scale version. The big version featured exclusive variants of The Joker, and Vicki Vale from the movie, as well as Batman, the latter who was released again the following year, in 76161 1989 Batwing.
In 2020, a collectable minifigure series was released. The latter half of the year saw four more sets released with Batman, with the largest being the 1989 Batwing. The summer wave featured updated versions of Man-Bat, Mr. Freeze, Nightwing, Robin, Harley Quinn, Batgirl, and The Penguin, with one new character, Bronze Tiger, also introduced. In the 1989 Batwing, an updated variant of the 1989 Joker was also released, along with Lawrence the Boombox Goon. A set tied to the release of Wonder Woman 1984 was also released. 
In 2021 the DC theme was light with minimal sets released. In January, a blister pack featuring Batman, The Penguin, and Harley Quinn was released. Batman's variant was a redesigned version of his grey suit from 2006. The spring wave saw a redesigned 1966 Batmobile released, with updated Batman and The Joker minifigures, along with a Juniors set, featuring Batman, The Joker, and Batgirl. A Batman cowl statue was also released. In the fall, a minifigure scale version of the Dark Knight Trilogy Tumbler launched, with a redesigned Ultimate Collector Series version set for release in November. Three sets for The Batman, were also set for a spring release, but pushed to the fall, with their release set for November 2021 in North America, and January 2022 worldwide. 
===Ultrabuilds===
The Ultrabuilds are constructable action figures based on a ball-and-socket building system. All of the figures are made of a black and grey TECHNIC-like skeleton, with armor of varying colors placed upon it, although they all feature unique, semi-realistic head moulds. 
They are built similarly to recent Hero Factory sets. All of the Ultrabuild figures have two friction joints, which do not appear in similarly sized Hero Factory sets, an exclusive head, and all feature either a printed chest or torso piece.
Three DC Ultrabuilds have been released to date based on Batman, The Joker, and strangely, Green Lantern who had yet to appear in a system set at that point. The Ultrabuild figures utilize different colour schemes than their respective minifigures, and also have different weapons. 
Batman is depicted as wearing blue boots, a blue cowl, blue sleeves, and blue over his chest, while everything else is gunmetal in colour, with the exception of his "cape" which is made of two long, curved pieces on either side of his back. Batman carries a sword, while in the sets he generally carries a batarang.
Green Lantern, who has only been promotionally released in his movie based costume, has bright green boots, shoulder pads, and chest, while his upper legs and lower torso are gunmetal, and his arms are gunmetal and white. Unlike his minifigure, who had no accessories in the promotion, Green Lantern wields a construct which takes the form of a morning-star weapon.
The Joker is the most drastically different from his minifigure, who mostly wears purple. As an Ultrabuild, however, he wears little purple, only having it on his shoulders, coat tails, lower arms, and lower legs. His other parts are a large variety of colors including gunmetal, bright green, and orange. He also carries a ray gun which uses colours such as transparent orange, white, and transparent neon green.
==Background==
The DC Universe subtheme's continuity is based on no particular DC continuity, but instead follows the original one used in the Batman theme, which is based on the comic books and the . So far, the story has mostly been told through the comic books included in the DC sets.
In the first comic, The Joker and Harley Quinn team up with The Riddler, and capture Robin. They hang him over a barrel of a green substance until arrives and triggers the traps at their hideout, using them against the villains. Batman then rescues Robin, and the three villains then escape on the roller coaster, leaving the ending open for play opportunities.
In the second, Catwoman steals a diamond and Batman gives chase to her.
The third issue depicts Batman and Robin capturing Poison Ivy, and bringing her back to The Batcave. Bane then enters on his drill to rescue Ivy. Bruce Wayne quickly changes into Batman, and uses the Batcycle to fight Bane's drill, before it is left at a cliff-hanger.
In the fourth, Lex Luthor has captured Wonder Woman and Superman proceeds to save her. Lex's mech is destroyed, but he escapes. Wonder Woman is then shown posed heroically, swinging her lasso, again leaving the end open.
In the next comic, The Joker returns, this time in his helicopter and with a henchman. He tries to drop a laughing gas bomb on Gotham City, but the Batwing almost destroys his helicopter. The Joker and the henchman are shown grasping on to the rotor, once again leaving the end open.
In the final comic, Two-Face is robbing a bank. Batman gives chase to him in the Batmobile, at which point the comic ends openly again.
thumb|300px|left|The LEGO Batman Short 
In a three-part story in LEGO Magazine and on LEGO.com, Batcave Break-in, Lex Luthor creates the Injustice Gang, a team composed of himself, The Joker, Catwoman, Bane, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face. They manage to find the Batcave and defeat Batman and Robin, but fail to decide who gets to have their revenge first, which causes them to fight amongst themselves, and allows Batman and Robin to escape and capture them all at once. Strangely, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn appear on the cover of the first part of Batcave Break-in, but don't appear in the story. Mr. Freeze did not even appear in any of the Super Heroes sets at the time.
A sequel to LEGO Batman: The Videogame has been released. It revolves around The Joker teaming up with Lex Luthor to get his revenge on Batman. The Justice League come to his aid in his hour of need. See LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes for more information.
A LEGO Batman Short aired on DC Nation in March 2012. In it, Batman and Robin are chasing The Joker, who has stolen the Man of the Year award, which was supposed to be awarded to Bruce Wayne. The Joker is caught and sent to Arkham Asylum, a defeat which Lois Lane is shown reporting. Lex Luthor then arrives and frees Joker (and The Penguin when he was demonstrating his gun) from his cell, and they form a partnership. The short is directly related to LEGO Batman 2 and clips from it have appeared in various trailers and other advertisements.
In the winter 2013, one comic was released featuring all three sets. Dr. Harleen Quinzel (as Harley Quinn) with the help of The Penguin breaks The Joker, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy out of Arkham Asylum, while Batman arrives to stop it, but is frozen by Freeze. The other villians leave Freeze behind, and Robin arrives and beats Freeze while Batman subdues the other villians. Aquaman talks with a whale before arriving on a dock and frozen by Mr. Freeze with Batman coming to his rescue in the Batboat. Batman in The Bat and Commissioner Gordon work to stop Bane in a camo Tumbler and are successful.
In spring, 2014, another comic was released depicting the four sets released in that era. It starts with the Penguin stealing a precious jewel, and escapes on his duck boat, with scuba Batman in hot pursuit. Batman makes quick work of the Penguin, but the explosion sends the gem into the air, where Man-Bat takes it. Nightwing arrives on the scene with his glider-jet, which is broken by Man-Bat, but Batman saves him and defeats the villain in the Batcopter. But the gem falls once more, into the bag of The Riddler, who has gotten away with money after a recent robbery. The Flash goes after him, but The Riddler defeats him with his banana. However, due to moving at such high speeds, The Riddler loses all of his money and the gem, which The Flash recovers. Batman comes in on the Batmobile, and after narrowly dodging The Riddler's bomb, hits one of his wheels. Batman and The Flash tie up The Riddler, and The Flash returns the money to the bank. However, The Riddler and Batman notice a disturbance, which is The Joker's steamroller, which wrecks havoc on Gotham City and its people. Robin manages to defeat his goon, but The Joker swerves, knocking both of them off the vehicle, but Batgirl saves Robin. Batman arrives in the Batwing, but his flick fire missiles are deflected by the Steamroller. Thinking outside of the box, Batman closes in the wings, and manages to capture The Joker.
From 2014, year-long story arcs would be published throughout each issue of the LEGO Club Magazine and on the LEGO Club website, using Club Codes. The 2014 story arc was entitled "Fearless". It is a story featuring the Justice League in a battle against the Scarecrow and the Ventriloquist. In 2015, the story was entitled "False Victory". It is based on the 2015 line of sets. The main antagonist is Darkseid. The comic was available at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, with an Action Comics #1 poster inside. The 2016 story arc followed Batman's villains (with the inclusion of Lex Luthor) as they told tales of how close they had come to defeating Batman. A new instalment was released each LEGO Club issue, and the conclusion was available exclusively on LEGOClub.com. The SDCC print edition was released with a Mighty Micros comic, which had been released in two instalments on the LEGO Club website. The comic's main antagonist was Mr. Mxyzptlk. Occasionally, a new LEGO DC comic based on the current line of sets is released in the LEGO Life Magazine.
== Sets ==
=== Batman ===
==== Batman '66 ====
==== The Dark Knight Trilogy ====
==== The Batman ====
=== Justice League ===
=== Superman ===
=== DCEU ===
=== Mighty Micros ===
=== Ultrabuild ===
== Sub-themes ==
=== Batman '89 ===
== Other Products ==
===Comic-Con and DC FanDome Exclusives===
===Duplo Combination models===
* Joker and Green Lantern Combiner Model One
* Joker and Green Lantern Combiner Model Two
* Batman and Green Lantern Combiner Model
* DC Ultrabuild Combiner Model
===Video Games===
Image	# 	Set 	Pieces	Minifigure(s)	Price	Released
 	Not applicable	LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes	17 	Lex Luthor 	 	2012
 	Not applicable	LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham 	4 	Plastic Man 	 	Fall 2014
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Super-Villains 	4 	Lex Luthor 	 	Fall 2018
===Movies===
Image 	# 	Set 	Pieces	Minifigure(s) 	Price 	Released
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130125214447/lego/images/thumb/e/e8/91hdEQrcTTL._AA1500_.jpg/207px-91hdEQrcTTL._AA1500_.jpg	Not applicable	LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite 	4 	Clark Kent 	$24.99 
£24.99	2013
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs Bizarro League 	4 	Batzarro 	$24.99 
£24.99	2015
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom!	5 	Trickster 	$24.99 
£24.99	2015
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash 	7 	Cosmic Boy 	$24.99 
£24.99	2016
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout 	7 	Nightwing 	$24.99 
£24.99	2016
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash 	None 	No minifigure 	$16.49	2018
 	Not applicable	LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis 	TBA 	Green Lantern (Jessica Cruz)	$24.99	2018
===Board Game===
Image	# 	Set 	Pieces	Microfigure(s) 	Price	Released
 	50003	Batman	257 	BatmanRobinBatgirlNightwingThe JokerThe RiddlerMr. FreezeTwo-Face	 	2013
===Magnets===
Image	# 	Set 	Pieces	Minifigure(s) 	Price	Released
 	853431	Batman, Robin, The Joker Magnet Set	 	RobinThe Joker	 	2012
===Key Chains===
Image	# 	Set 	Pieces	Minifigure(s)	Price	Released
 	853429	Batman Key Chain 	1 	Batman 	 	2012
 	853430	Superman Key Chain 	1 	Superman 	 	2012
 	853433	Wonder Woman Key Chain 	1 	Wonder Woman 	 	2012
 	850815	Arctic Batman Key Chain	1 	 	 	2013
===Books===
Image	#	Set 	Pieces	Minifigure(s)	Price	Released
 	 	LEGO Batman: The Visual Dictionary 	4 	 	 	2012
 	 	LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Comic Book 	 	 	Free 	2012
 	 	LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes: Prima Official Game Guide	 	 	 	June 19, 2012
 	 	LEGO DC: Batman 8x8 1 	 	 	 	2012
 	 	LEGO DC: Batman 8x8 2 	 	 	 	2012
==Notes==
* DC Comics had also published the BIONICLE and Hero Factory comics.
* Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman were all of the DC super heroes that had appeared in The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, in addition to Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor and Alfred Pennyworth who also made appearances it the sequel too.
==Minifigures==
===Non-physical characters===
==Gallery==
Range dc2012.jpg|The first wave of DC System sets, minus 6857 The Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape
Super heroes lego.com logo.png|LEGO.com logo
SuperHeroesTRU.jpg|DC Universe sets at Toys R Us
DC comic.jpg|The front of the comic that are included in the sets
dc minifigures.png
dc comic builder.jpg
DC catalog.png
DC minifigures.png
DC sets.jpg
SHComic.jpg
lego mag comic.jpg
Batmanlego2530pxheaderimg2.jpg|The first official image of the game
Lego batman 2 new artwork.jpg
Bonus lego batman 2 dlc.jpg|Exclusive Pre-Order DLC from EB Games.
7563414740 6882ea1e94 m.jpg|Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman
LB2_DLC_Heroes_EN.jpg|LEGO Superheroes DLC Pack
DCSetting.jpg|The setting for the theme
Lego-man-steel-poster.jpg|A LEGO-fied Man of Steel poster
LEGOGraphic.jpg
lego mos poster.jpg|Another LEGO-fied Man of Steel poster available at Toys Я Us
10151190_10152056554848403_1399418500_n.jpg|A poster from LEGO's Facebook page
021215A FM TRU DC.jpg 
DC Lego.png
batman_vs_superman.jpg|LEGO-fied posters, for Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice.
LEGOJusticeLeagueCosmicClashNYCC.jpg|LEGO DC Super Heroes: Cosmic Clash
DC_MiniLineup_Wallpaper_1600x1200.jpg|The Justice League
LEGO_Marvel_Super_Heroes.jpg|August icon
The Flash Justice League.jpg| Justice League from LEGO DC Super Heroes: The Flash
Aquaman_and_the_Justice_League.jpeg|LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis
Download (1).png|10599 Batman Adventure
Download.png|10842 Batcave Challenge
11340556-1044447026557700.jpg|10823 Batwing Adventure
==Videos==
Lego dc ad
LEGO_Super_Heroes_Batman_Stop-Motion_Trailer
DC ultrabuilds ad
LEGO DC Comics Commercial 2014
==Sources==
==External Links==
* Official site (archive)
Category:Subthemes
Category:Themes
Category:Super Heroes
Category:DC Universe
Category:Themes introduced in 2012
Category:Licensed themes
Category:Current Themes
Category:LEGO Dimensions
Category:DUPLO
Category:Warner Bros.