DC Comics facts for kids

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DC Comics, Inc.
DC Comics's current logo, introduced with the launch of its DC Rebirth comic line in 2016
Parent company	DC Entertainment (Warner Bros.) (WarnerMedia) (AT&T)
Status	Active
Founded	1934; 90 years ago (1934) (as National Allied Publications)
Founder	Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
Country of origin	United States
Headquarters location	2900 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California
Distribution	Penguin Random House Publisher Services, Diamond Comic Distributors
Publication types	List of publications
Fiction genres	Superhero Fantasy Science fiction Action Adventure
Imprints	List of imprints

DC Comics, Inc. (founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications) is an American comic book company. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., which itself is owned by Time Warner. Its top rival is Marvel Comics. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, which is best well known for making "superhero" comic books. DC Comics is very famous in the modern art subject Graphics.

Fictional characters
History
All Star DC Comics
- All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
- All Star Superman
The New 52
Other issues
Adaptations
Offices
Images for kids
See also

Fictional characters

Superheroes

The comic book company is famously known for creating some of the most well-known and iconic fictional characters such as:

Superhero teams

Most of their characters take place in the fictional DC Universe (DCU) and some of the most well-known fictional superhero teams are:

Justice League
Justice Society of America
Legion of Super-Heroes
Green Lantern Corps.
Young Justice
Teen Titans

Supervillains

It is also famous for creating some of the most well-known and iconic villains such as:

Supervillain teams

DC Comics is famous for featuring some of their most well-known and iconic fictional supervillain teams that also belong to the same DC Universe as well. Several of the supervillain teams are:

Injustice League
Secret Society of Super-Villains
Legion of Super-Villains
Sinestro Corps.
Suicide Squad

History

What is known today as DC Comics was founded in 1934 by publishing entrepreneur Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson under the name of "National Allied Publications". DC was formed by the merging of "National Allied Publications" and "Detective Comics Inc", as well as the affiliated "All-American Publications". Despite being officially known as "National Comics", the comic covers carried a "DC" logo and were referred to as a result of its nickname: "DC Comics". People had nicknamed it "DC" because of one its most popular comic series; Detective Comics and thus was born one of the world's most recognizable comic book brandings along with rivals Marvel publishing.

The company did not officially change its name to DC Comics however, until 1977 during the presidency of Jenette Kahn.

DC Comics has its current official headquarters at 1700 Broadway, 7th, New York, New York. Random House distributes DC Comics' books to the bookstore market, while Diamond Comics Distributors supplies the comics shop specialty market.

Golden Age

The company did not officially change its name to DC Comics however, until 1977 during the presidency of Jenette Kahn.

Silver and Bronze Age

During the post-War years, the popularity of superheroes had declined almost completely, though DC and other publishers were still going strong moving into other genres such as funny animals, romance, Sci-Fi, Westerns and horror. Major characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman has managed to remain in publication and by the mid-1950s the superhero was again due for a comeback. Showcase #4 in 1956 introduced readers to Barry Allen, the all-new Flash re-imagined with a sleeker design and steeped much heavier in science fiction (and the older Golden Age heroes being relegated to existing on Earth Two). Characters such as The Atom, Green Lantern and the JSA, now reinvented as the Justice League of America soon followed and a new superhero boom was kicked off.

During this time, The Comics Code Authority has also come into play, which drastically subdued the content available in the comic book medium.

With the reinvigoration of Marvel in the 1960s under the leadership of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, DC found itself a new and more potent competitor. Marvel succeeded by breaking what had become by then generic archetypes of superheroes by introducing characters which were younger and more flawed (and thus appeared more human and appealed to a younger crowd in a more direct manner.) After falling behind Marvel in sales, DC was finally forced to adopt much of the same system which Marvel had, by introducing such young teams as the Teen Titans to compete with the X-Men.

Modern Age and Crisis On Infinite Earths

In 1985, DC Comics decided its 50 years of continuity and numerous alternative Earths had become too messy and was in need of new blank slate. DC penned one of the first major comic book crossovers that incorporated almost every DC title and character ever published by the company. The series ended with multiple Earths being erased and merging into to one unified Earth. Following this, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were given new leases of life thanks to big name creators such as John Byrne, Frank Miller and George Perez that redefined the elderly heroes for a new generation.

During this same period, the comic audience has begun to grow up and the direct market for comic stores had opened allowing a wider variety of publications to be experimented with. One such experiment involved bringing in British writer Alan Moore to pen the low selling Saga of the Swamp Thing series. What resulted was style of comic book not experienced before by mainstream readers in its literary and story driven complexity and execution. Before long, other writers from across the pond such as Neil Gaiman, Peter Milligan and Grant Morrison were recruited to revamp obscure properties and tell new and interesting stories with an older audience in mind. 1986 saw the release of two seminal works from DC Comics, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen that reached unprecedented levels of critical acclaim and outside media attention. By the 90's DC and the entire comic book industry experienced a boom in mature comics aimed at older audiences and simultaneously witnessed a collector's boom that increased sales but almost caused the industry to collapse soon after.

In 1993, senior editor Karen Berger convinced DC to make her own imprint for mature readers named Vertigo, similar to DC imprints Piranha Press and Paradox Press as well as Marvel's Epic Comics. Using popular titles such as Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, The Sandman and Shade, The Changing Man as its blueprint along side new creator owned material, DC/Vertigo became a hub for intelligent and acclaimed comic books. While rival Marvel Comics continued to dominate the publishing arena with their exceedingly popular properties, DC/Vertigo became the destination for literary and inventive titles during the period.

In 1999, DC purchased Jim Lee's WildStorm Productions, formerly one of the founding studios of Image. The line of WildStorm comics and properties came under DC's control though the line continued to be published on the West Coast away from DC editorial until 2010.

All Star DC Comics

In 2000 Marvel Comics started an imprint called ultimate marvel in which the characters' origin is changed and modernized. This eventually led DC to starting an imprint of their own in 2005, thus All Star was born.

Both All-Star series are in their own continuity, except All-Star Batman and Robin which was part of Earth- 31.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder

All-Star Batman started in 2005 and was written by Frank Miller and Penciled by Jim Lee. This was the first series in the All Star imprint and opened to mainly negative reviews but had high sales. The series was released in a sporadic schedule. The series only reached 10 issues (2008) 2 issues before the intended end of the series.

All Star Superman

All-Star Superman started in 2006 and was written by Grant Morrison and Penciled by Frank Quitley. This was the second series under the All Star imprint, the first being All-Star Batman and Robin. The series opened to mainly good reviews and went on to win the Eisner Award for best new series in 2006 and best ongoing series in 2007 and 2009. Like All-Star Batman the series was also released in a sporadic schedule. The series ended with issue 12. The series overall has widely considered to be one of the best Superman stories of all time.

The New 52

In 2011, after a period of declining comic sales, DC announced they were cancelling all the main titles and starting over with all New 52's as part of a relaunch. In charge of the relaunch is Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The relaunch started with the release of Justice League # 1 on August 31st. this was done partially to revitalize the company and to de-age the characters and thus make them more dynamic. On January 12, 2012, it was announced that there would be a second wave of the new 52 where six titles would be getting canceled with another six to replace them, though the plan to stay at 52 ongoing monthlies seems to be consistent. DC also released a Third wave in September 2012, one year after the relaunch in September 2011. One book in the Third Wave, Talon, starring Calvin Rose was the first solo book for a character who was introduced in the New 52. The Fourth wave started in January 2013 and ended in March 2013, meaning that it was the first wave not to come out in a single month. The Fifth Wave consisted of titles such as the Movement, the Green Team and Superman Unchained.

The New 52 had proved to be so successful with critics, fans and commercially that Marvel the main competitor of DC decided to do a relaunch of their own called "Marvel NOW!" in late 2012.

Other issues

DC Comics has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo.

Adaptations

DC Comics has also made movies, cartoons, toys, video games and other merchandise about the characters, which have made them even more popular.

Offices

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 2015.

Images for kids

Cover art of the first comic book by National Comics Publications, cover dated February 1935. Unlike comic book magazines series up to that point, characters in this book, such as the Western character Jack Wood, were original creations, and did not originate in comic strips.
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