DC Comics

## DC Comics, Inc.

**DC Comics, Inc.** is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of **DC Entertainment**, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, and produces material featuring numerous culturally iconic heroic characters including: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

Most of their material takes place in the fictional DC Universe, which also features teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans, and well-known villains such as The Joker, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, and Darkseid. The company has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including *Watchmen*, *V for Vendetta*, and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo.

The initials "DC" came from the company's popular series *Detective Comics*, which featured Batman's debut and subsequently became part of the company's name. Originally in Manhattan at 432 Fourth Avenue, the DC Comics offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue; 909 Third Avenue; 75 Rockefeller Plaza; 666 Fifth Avenue; and 1325 Avenue of the Americas. DC had its headquarters at 1700 Broadway, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, but it was announced in October 2013 that DC Entertainment would relocate its headquarters from New York to Burbank, California in April 2015.

Random House distributes DC Comics' books to the bookstore market, while Diamond Comic Distributors supplies the comics shop specialty market. DC Comics and its longtime major competitor Marvel Comics (acquired in 2009 by The Walt Disney Company, WarnerMedia's main competitor) together shared approximately 70% of the American comic book market in 2017.

## History

### Origins

Entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in autumn 1934. The company debuted with the tabloid-sized *New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine* #1 with a cover date of February 1935. The company's second title, *New Comics* #1 (Dec. 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 today's. That title evolved into *Adventure Comics*, which continued through issue #503 in 1983, becoming one of the longest-running comic-book series. In 2009 DC revived *Adventure Comics* with its original numbering. In 1935, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the future creators of Superman, created Doctor Occult, who is the earliest DC Comics character to still be in the DC Universe.

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 had to take Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish *Detective Comics* #1. **Detective Comics, Inc.** was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and 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 afterwards, 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. *Action Comics* #1 (June 1938), the first comic book to feature the new character archetype—soon known as "superheroes"—proved a sales hit. The company quickly introduced such other popular characters as the Sandman and Batman.

On February 22, 2010, a copy of *Action Comics* #1 (June 1938) sold at an auction from an anonymous seller to an anonymous buyer for $1 million, besting the $317,000 record for a comic book set by a different copy, in lesser condition, the previous year.

## General information

### Key people

Thomas Gewecke (CDO, WB Entertainment)
Jim Lee (CCO)
Amit Desai (executive VP)

### Products

Film
Television
Video games

### Brands

DC Universe
Super Hero
Justice League
Batman
Superman
Wonder Woman

### Parent

Warner Bros.
(WarnerMedia)

### Divisions

DC Comics
DC Films
*MAD*
Vertigo

DC Entertainment, Inc. is the Warner Bros. subsidiary that manages its comic book units and its intellectual property (characters), in other units as they work with other Warner Bros. units.

1. ↑ Template:Cite web
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 DC Comics Inc. Hoovers. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
3. ↑ Template:Cite web
4. ↑ Template:Cite web
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6. ↑ Template:Cite comic
7. ↑ Template:Cite book
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9. ↑ *New Fun* #1 (Feb. 1935) at the Grand Comics Database. The entry notes that while the logo appears to be simply *Fun*, the indicia reads, "New FUN is published monthly at 49 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., by National Allied Publications, Inc.; Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, President ... Inquiries concerning advertising should be addressed to the Advertising Manager, New FUN,...."
10. ↑ Template:Cite web
11. ↑ *New Comics* at the Grand Comics Database
12. ↑ *Adventure Comics* (DC, 2009 series) at the Grand Comics Database
13. ↑ Template:Harvnb