DC Comics

**DC Comics**is one of the largest American companies in the comic industry and other related media. DC Comics is a subsidiary of Time Warner, and is responsible for famous characters which include but are not limited to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and their teammates in the Justice League.

## Etymology

DC originally stood for *Detective Comics*, the name of Batman comic series', and later became the official company name.

## Location

Originally located in New York City at 432 Fourth Avenue, DC has been successively headquartered at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue; 909 Third Avenue; 75 Rockefeller Plaza; 666 Fifth Avenue; and 1325 Avenue of the Americas (in 1992). DC took over several floors when it moved to 1700 Broadway in the mid-1990s, relocating there with fellow Time Warner property MAD Magazine, which moved there from 485 Madison Avenue.

## History

### Origin

The company is an amalgamation of several companies, which include **National Allied Publications**, **Detective Comics, Inc.**, **National Comics**, and **National Periodical Publications**.Despite the names of National Comics and National Periodical Publications, the logo "Superman-DC" was also used throughout the line. The name **DC Comics**was also used coloniqually before the official name adoption.

### Golden Age

The comic publisher became the first to include superheroes, with the introduction of **Superman**in *Action Comics #1*. The introduction of Superman caused a boom of cash influx, which was proven through income and market research. Superman's popularity led to the introduction of other famed superheroes, including **Batman**and **Wonder Woman**.

After their success, DC Comics attempted to sue other mimicing companies, including *Fox Publications*for their character Wonderman, who was largely a copy of Superman, and *Fawcett Comics*for their character Captain Marvel who was also a representation of Superman.

Once interest in the superhero genre began to fade, they largely moved away from superheroes and into other genres such as Sci-Fi, but continued to publish some of their most comics, including Action Comics and Detective Comics.

### Silver Age

In mid-1950s, editorial directors decided trademarks needed to be kept and maintained and ordered a more modern version of **Flash.**Flash's civilian identity, costume, as well as origin was all changed for the modern society, and much to DC's surprise, the comic sold very well. They ordered more issues as well as a revamping of heroes such as Green Lantern, and a new version of the Justice Society of America which turned out as the Justice League.

Other characters whose comics had not been canceled gained a similar revampation. Superman titles included a new variety of characters, including Supergirl, Bizarro, and Braniac. This led to Batman titles also gaining new characters, which included Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and Bat-Mite. The attempt with Batman was less succesful, and the comics were handed over to a new writer who emphasized on Batman's detective skills.

When sales began to decline, partially thanks to the growing popularity of *Marvel Comics*, DC hired writers that were all under the age of 30 in order to relate to the youth market. Though the writers weren't all great, there were some that grew up to be spectacular influences. In the 1970s, Jack Kirby, a writer, defected from Marvel and joined DC. In addition, Captain Marvel was revived under the liscense *Shazam!*.

### 1990s

The comic book genre gained a brief boom in the 1990s, thanks to spectacular purchasing of collectible books as well as extensive storylines that included Superman dying and Batman being crippled. The boom was only temporary and sales dropped off as industry sales went into a slump.

### 2011

DC announced they would be the first company to release digital comics the same day as paper comics. DC also announced that there would be a massive reboot of the DC Universe after Flashpoint, which would include rebooted comics starting at #1 as well as new series.

## Logos

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