DC Comics has published a number of other imprints and lines of comics over the years.
90-464: In the Golden Age of Comic Books publishing, DC Comics was also an imprint of Detective Comics and its affiliated companies, All-American Publications and National Allied Publications , that were later all merged into National Periodical Publications, later renamed DC Comics. Before the merger, due to squabbles between the companies, All-American published under its own name/imprint in 1945 starting with
180-594: A back-up story in the Eye of the Storm titles. A new ongoing Authority series began the storyline of the Coup d'état crossover, which ran through Authority , Sleeper , Stormwatch: Team Achilles and Wildcats 3.0. Two Winter Special anthologies also came out. Most of the line, except Sleeper , were canceled two years after their introduction. In 2004 , WildStorm revamped its array of sub-imprints. The core titles were grouped into
270-635: A comic based on the Cartoon Network series The Batman , and Cartoon Network Block Party , an anthology title. In September 2006, Krypto the Superdog comic was released based on the Cartoon Network series of the same name. Three new titles, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! , Tiny Titans and Super Friends , were launched in August 2007 by Coordinating Editor Jann Jones. In February, Tiny Titans first issue
360-482: A license for the lucrative Star Wars license, but lost to the incumbent Dark Horse Comics . Due to declining sales across the U.S. comics industry, and his view that his role as publisher and growing family demands interfered with his role as an artist, Lee left Image Comics and sold WildStorm to DC Comics in late 1998, enabling him to focus once again on art. The deal went into effect in January 1999. DC hailed
450-400: A line of creator-owned comic books which included such popular works as: J. Scott Campbell's Danger Girl , Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers , Humberto Ramos ' Crimson and Out There , Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo 's Steampunk , Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco 's Arrowsmith , Busiek's Astro City and Warren Ellis 's Two-Step and Tokyo Storm Warning . 1997 also saw
540-466: A new age-specific identification of DC Kids (ages 8–12), DC (ages 13 and older) and DC Black Label (ages 17 and above and a reuse of the former label name). This does not apply to the pop-up imprints like Young Animal and The Wild Storm . All Star , or All Star DC , was a DC imprint that allowed big name creators to make "out-of-continuity" stories of DC major characters. All Star was DC's answer to Marvel's Ultimate imprint. The original purposes of
630-435: A new imprint titled America's Best Comics as a showcase for Alan Moore . The line includes the titles Promethea , The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Tomorrow Stories , Tom Strong and Top 10 . The studio launched Eye of the Storm in 2001 as an experiment. By this time, WildStorm had become largely a "mature readers" imprint. Joe Casey continued writing Wildcats , retitling it Wildcats 3.0 to reflect
720-518: A pilot for a TV series for the WB Network was made. The pilot never aired and was not picked up as a series, although the pilot was later leaked on the internet. Stormwatch was relaunched as Stormwatch: Team Achilles , about a team of normal soldiers who combat rogue superheroes. Robbie Morrison wrote a one-shot featuring the Authority characters, titled "Scorched Earth" (2003). It was serialized as
810-784: A portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch . Its main fictional universe, the Wildstorm Universe , featured costumed heroes . Wildstorm maintained a number of its core titles from its early period, and continued to publish material expanding its core universe. Its main titles included WildC.A.T.S , Stormwatch , Gen , Wetworks , and The Authority ; it also produced single-character-oriented series like Deathblow and Midnighter , and published secondary titles like Welcome to Tranquility . Wildstorm also published creator-owned material, and licensed properties from other companies, covering
900-732: A result, the Comics Code Authority was created by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers to enact self-censorship by comic book publishers. At this time, EC canceled its crime and horror titles and focused primarily on Mad . The Silver Age of Comic Books is recognized by some as beginning with the debut of the first successful new superhero since the Golden Age, DC Comics' new Flash , in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956). WildStorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm )
990-481: A revamp of all the Wildstorm Universe titles, including comic-books by writers such as: Alan Moore , Warren Ellis , Adam Warren , Sean Phillips , and Joe Casey . After this revamp the new Wildcats series, Stormwatch and DV8 took the places of the most popular and most commercially successful comics of the Wildstorm Universe. Wildstorm also made a presentation to Lucasfilm Ltd. in an attempt to obtain
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#17330938991411080-499: A second series. DC Ink is a graphic novel imprint for younger readers. In a May 2017 editorial leadership reorganization, three Executive Editors split up DC Comics and its imprints. Executive Editor Bobbie Chase was given custom comics, DC Kids, Digital First titles, Hanna-Barbera comics, Milestone and the relaunched Wildstorm Universe. The next year in February, DC unveiled two new graphic novel imprints aimed at younger readers. DC Zoom
1170-601: A series of one-shots and miniseries. In September 2010, as part of DC Entertainment's reorganization, DC began to cancel the WildStorm imprint (with the December issues with two titles moving to the DC brand) and the WildStorm editorial staff relocated to DC's Los Angeles-based digital publishing division. With DC's New 52 reboot in September 2011, the WildStorm characters were integrated into
1260-526: A single WildStorm imprint, and discarding the "Universe" and "Signature Series" imprints. In 2007 , the WildStorm fictional universe became "Earth-50", part of the DC Comics Multiverse . In April 2008 , Ben Abernathy announced that the events of Wildstorm: Revelations , Wildstorm: Armageddon and Number of the Beast would segue into Wildstorm: World's End , a post-apocalyptic direction for
1350-421: A sub-imprint of Image. He explained: "During the startup of Image Comics, I incorporated my business activities under the name Aegis Entertainment. As Aegis grew and the marketplace changed, I decided a new name would more accurately define the nature of the titles we produce". In conjunction with the name change, former DC editor Bill Kaplan was brought in to oversee production and scheduling, in an effort to combat
1440-559: A wide variety of genres . Its creator-owned titles included Red Menace , A God Somewhere , and Ex Machina , while its licensed titles included Friday the 13th , A Nightmare on Elm Street , The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , StarCraft , the Dante's Inferno game, The X-Files , and the God of War video game series. DC shut down the Wildstorm imprint in December 2010. In September 2011,
1530-409: Is Batman: Damned by Bermejo and Brian Azzarello in September 2018. Focus or DC Focus was an alternative imprint from DC Comics launched in 2004. The imprint was an alternative in that the titles were about people with superpowers without costumes or fighting crime. While the imprint had four solid titles, the line was closed in mid-2005, with only Hard Time moving to the main DC imprint in
1620-519: Is aimed at young adults. Creators include Mariko Tamaki , Ridley Pearson , Steve Pugh , and more. The books came in a standard format with a standard price: 128 pages for $ 9.99. Zoom launched in October 2018 with DC Super Hero Girls: Search for Atlantis by Shea Fontana. Earth M is an imprint announced at New York Comic Con 2017 and a relaunch of the Milestone universe by DC and Milestone Media . Earth M
1710-487: Is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California . The imprint took its name from
1800-429: Is focused on young readers, while DC Ink is aimed at young adults. Creators include Danielle Paige, Lauren Myracle , Marie Lu , and more. The books came in a standard format with a standard price: 192 pages for $ 16.99. Ink launched in September 2018 with Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Tamaki and Steve Pugh . DC Zoom is a graphic novel imprint aimed at younger readers. DC Zoom is focused on young readers, while DC Ink
1890-480: The All Star Wonder Woman book with some pages completed by November 2008. In November 2006, All Star DC was launched with All-Star Superman and ran 12 issues. A direct-to-video animated film was made based on All-Star Superman by Warner Home Video and released on February 22, 2011. Amalgam Comics was a joint imprint from Marvel Comics and DC Comics that published amalgamated characters such as
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#17330938991411980-821: The Dark Claw , Iron Lantern , Spider-Boy , and Lobo the Duck . Amalgam Comics published a total of 24 comics, with the first 12 comics being published in April 1996 in-between issues #3 and 4 of the miniseries DC vs. Marvel and the other 12 issues being published in June 1997. DC Black Label is DC Comics' out of continuity all-star creator imprint. This imprint allows creators to craft stories about DC's biggest superheroes outside of restrictive continuity. The initial lineup included creators such as Frank Miller , Kelly Sue DeConnick , Scott Snyder , Lee Bermejo and more. The earliest known release
2070-814: The Flash , Green Lantern , Doctor Fate , the Atom , Hawkman , Green Arrow and Aquaman . Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics , had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch , the Sub-Mariner , and Captain America . Although DC and Timely characters are well remembered today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era was Fawcett Comics ' Captain Marvel Adventures with sales of about 1.4 million copies per issue. The comic
2160-804: The crossover limited series DC/Wildstorm: DreamWar one of the earliest times where DC and WildStorm characters would appear together. The six-issue comic book limited series was written by Keith Giffen , drawn by Lee Garbett , and published by DC Comics . The Stormwatch: PHD title ended in November 2009. The remaining series each received another creative-team shake-up as 2010 began: February's The Authority #18 by Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman with art by Al Barrionuevo , Wildcats #19 by Adam Beechen with art by Tim Seeley and Ryan Winn , and April's Gen #35 by Phil Hester and art by Cruddie Torian . WildStorm varied its publishing with licensed properties, such as: A Nightmare on Elm Street , Friday
2250-627: The fanzine Comic Art in April 1960. An event cited by many as marking the beginning of the Golden Age was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics (predecessor of DC Comics ). Superman's popularity helped make comic books a major arm of publishing, which led rival companies to create superheroes of their own to emulate Superman's success. Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister company, All-American Publications , introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin , Wonder Woman ,
2340-518: The history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman , Batman , Robin , Captain Marvel , Captain America , and Wonder Woman . The first recorded use of the term "Golden Age" was by Richard A. Lupoff in an article, "Re-Birth", published in issue one of
2430-543: The "WildStorm Universe" imprint, the creator-owned properties became the "WildStorm Signature Series" imprint, and all the licensed properties remained under the "WildStorm" imprint. Following Eye of the Storm , WildStorm published fewer WildStorm Universe titles, including Majestic and Wildcats: Nemesis ; Majestic was based on a character that had appeared in DC Comics Superman titles. In August 2006 , WildStorm simplified its "brand" by returning all content to
2520-435: The 13th , The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , Mirror's Edge , World of Warcraft , The X-Files , Dante's Inferno , and God of War . WildStorm has also published original graphic novels from writers Kevin J. Anderson , John Ridley and David Brin . The imprint was shut down in December 2010, with Wildcats (vol. 5) #30 as its last issue, although DC Comics announced that the characters would reappear some time in
2610-659: The Archie Andrews character remaining in print well into the 21st century. At the same time in Canada, American comic books were prohibited importation under the War Exchange Conservation Act which restricted the importation of non-essential goods. Canadian publishers responded to this lack of competition by producing titles of their own, informally called the Canadian Whites . While these titles flourished during
2700-455: The Boy Wonder , was never finished (the last two issues remain unpublished to this day), but created a lot of discussions. The title is expected to get new branding as Dark Knight , if and when it resumes. Due to scheduling issues of the creative team, the status of writer Geoff Johns and artist J.G. Jones ' All Star Batgirl by November 2008 was on indefinite hold. Adam Hughes was working on
2790-628: The DC Universe with the Edge line of titles with a Stormwatch and Grifter title. America's Best Comics (ABC) was an imprint of Wildstorm, originating before Wildstorm's purchase by DC comics in 1998. Alan Moore created the concepts of the line. The imprint published its first comic, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1, in January 1999. Additional titles printed were Tom Strong , Promethea and Top 10 . In April 1999, Tom Strong begins its run. Moore became increasingly dissatisfied with DC, wrapping up
List of DC Comics imprints - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-480: The DC imprint in July 2010, thus cancelling a title and effecting a proposed new Swamp Thing series. The same year, Vertigo saw another Fables spin-off, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love and its 100-page "Spectacular" reprints program began. On September 27, as part of DC Entertainment's reorganization, Vertigo joined its other DC imprints under the same Editor-in-Chief Bob Harris, while three Vertigo editors were fired
2970-542: The DC imprint. Then on September 27, as part of DC Entertainment 's reorganization, DC announced the end of the Wildstorm and Zuda imprints with Bob Harris named Editor-in-Chief for all remaining imprints: DC, Mad and Vertigo. With the New 52 reboot in September 2011, the Wildstorm characters were adapted into the DC Universe within the " Edge " line, which also featured the Western and war comics. The Earth One graphic novel imprint
3060-566: The February stand date until the December stand date. In 1987, DC started Piranha Press as a mature readers line. The Elseworlds concept was tested in 1989 with Gotham by Gaslight : An Alternate History of the Batman and became an imprint with 1991's Batman: Holy Terror . Using the licensed Red Circle characters , DC launched the Impact Comics imprint in 1991 as an introductory and new talent imprint. In January 1993, DC's Vertigo imprint
3150-560: The Golden Age. During this time, the popularity of superhero comics waned. To retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into other genres, such as war , Westerns , science fiction , romance , crime and horror . Many superhero titles were canceled or converted to other genres. In 1946, DC Comics ' Superboy , Aquaman and Green Arrow were switched from More Fun Comics into Adventure Comics so More Fun could focus on humor. In 1948 All-American Comics , featuring Green Lantern , Johnny Thunder and Dr. Mid-Nite ,
3240-548: The Red Circle characters, this time as part of the DC Universe. The Milestone characters were also licensed in 2008 to be included in the DC Universe. With no placement in major bookstores in the young adult section, Minx was canceled in September 2008. With some licensed pulp characters mixed with pulp-like DC characters, DC launched the First Wave line in 2009. On July 1, 2010, DC shutdown its CMX imprint and moved Megatokyo to
3330-486: The Shield and The Web . In May 1992, the imprint got its first team title, The Crusaders , lasting eight issues. From October to December 1992, various titles were cancelled. The miniseries Crucible began in February 1993 by writers Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn and artist Joe Quesada and was an attempt to relaunch the line, but with sales still lagging, the imprint was instead cancelled. Johnny DC (later DC Entertainment )
3420-687: The Superman crossover story arc Warworld Saga . A 12 issue WildC.A.T.S series by Matthew Rosenberg and Stephen Segovia ran from 2022 to 2023. The 2023 series Birds of Prey features WildC.A.T.S member Zealot, and the new Outsiders series relaunches the Wildstorm title Planetary with a new version of the character The Drummer as well as the Authority's sentient home The Carrier. The 2023 DC Black Label mini-series Waller vs. Wildstorm featured Wildstorm characters such as Team 7 and Stormwatch . In 2023, James Gunn of DC Studios announced that
3510-596: The Tangent Universe, a new universe of superheroes, created by Dan Jurgens in 1997 based on alternative concepts for the regular DC superheroes. The imprint published a series of 18 one-shots over two years starring the Tangent version of the major DC Universe characters. The first nine specials were published during December 1997's "skip-week", with the second nine for September 1998's skip-week. The one-shots were collected into two volumes published in January 2008. In 2006,
3600-618: The Tangent characters appeared in the regular DC Universe in Infinite Crisis in 2006, in Ion #9-10 in 2007 and then in Countdown to Final Crisis in 2007. A 12-issue maxiseries titled Tangent: Superman's Reign , written and drawn by Jurgens, ran from March 2008 to March 2009 and revisited the Tangent Universe 10 years later, both in reality and fiction. Vertigo Comics was the alternative imprint of DC Comics . In January 1993, DC's Vertigo imprint
3690-676: The WildC.A.T.s characters they released in 1993. In 1995, Wildstorm created an imprint called Homage Comics , centered on more writer-driven books. The imprint started with Kurt Busiek 's Astro City and The Wizard's Tale , James Robinson's Leave It to Chance (with Paul Smith), and Terry Moore 's Strangers In Paradise . Subsequently, the imprint featured works by Sam Kieth , including The Maxx , Zero Girl and Four Women , three of Warren Ellis ' pop-comics mini-series, Mek , Red , and Reload , and Jeff Mariotte 's weird western Desperadoes . In 1997, Cliffhanger debuted
List of DC Comics imprints - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-420: The card game, Wildstorms: The Expandable Super-Hero Card Game produced between 1995 - 1997, which was later spun off into a crossover set of cards with Marvel. The crossover was the swan song for the Wildstorm game as Marvel's merchandising clout succeeded in pushing Wildstorm's out of the spotlight. Although the timing was right for their card game, they were too early by a year with a Pog game which used
3870-726: The cast, while WildC.A.T.s villain Helspont appeared in Superman #7 and #8, Grunge appeared in Superboy #8, Zealot appeared in Deathstroke #9, and Spartan appeared in Team 7 #5. Midnighter was a recurring character in Grayson , before spinning off into his own ongoing series. Midnighter and Apollo also appeared in a 6-issue miniseries, Midnighter and Apollo . On February 16, 2017, Wildstorm
3960-531: The change in the millennium with books named starting with "V2K". In May 2002, an ongoing title, Fables by Bill Willingham, revitalized the Vertigo line with stories updating old fairy tales. In July, the imprint launched the Vertigo Pop: Tokyo title, lasting four issues and including some manga, and the successful Y: The Last Man lasting to January 2008 and 60 issues. Fables first spin-off, Jack of Fables ,
4050-564: The comic book industry hit a setback when the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was created in order to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency . After the publication of Fredric Wertham 's Seduction of the Innocent the following year that claimed comics sparked illegal behavior among minors, comic book publishers such as EC's William Gaines were subpoenaed to testify in public hearings. As
4140-461: The company relaunched its entire superhero line with a rebooted continuity in an initiative known as The New 52 , which included Wildstorm characters incorporated into that continuity with its long-standing DC characters. In February 2017 Wildstorm was revived as a standalone universe with The Wild Storm , by writer Warren Ellis . However, the characters were reintroduced to DC continuity in 2021. Wildstorm, founded by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi ,
4230-633: The company's superhero characters from the DC Universe . Elseworlds was DC Comics' superhero alternative history and non-canon imprint. In November 1989, the first Elseworlds title, Gotham By Gaslight: An Alternative History of the Batman , was printed. The line became an imprint with October 1991's Batman: Holy Terror , as it was the first to carry the Elseworlds logo. Helix was a science fiction imprint of DC Comics. It only lasted two years before being merged into DC's Vertigo imprint. Originally, it
4320-480: The decision as one that would "strengthen both WildStorm's ability to expand its editorial goals and diversifying DC's output". WildStorm was editorially separate from DC Comics, and the two companies maintained offices on opposite coasts: Wildstorm in California , and DC in New York City . DC's acquisition of WildStorm allowed their respective universes to co-exist, and characters from either universe could appear in
4410-460: The end of the Helix imprint as its top title was moved to Vertigo, where reprints of the Helix titles also were printed under. In 2001, DC shut down Paradox Press. DC launched a manga imprint, CMX and DC Focus in 2004, but Focus was soon shut down in 2005. Johnny DC was launched in September 2004 with DC Comics' Looney Tunes - and Cartoon Network -based comic books. In November 2006, All-Star DC
4500-463: The entire 1950s were Action Comics , Adventure Comics , Batman , Detective Comics , Superboy , Superman , Wonder Woman and World's Finest Comics . Plastic Man appeared in Quality Comics ' Police Comics until 1950, when its focus switched to detective stories; his solo title continued bimonthly until issue 52, cover-dated February 1955. Timely Comics ' The Human Torch
4590-523: The final two issues, which included Black Cat stories. Lev Gleason Publications ' Daredevil was edged out of his title by the Little Wise Guys in 1950. Fawcett Comics ' Whiz Comics , Master Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures were canceled in 1953, and The Marvel Family was canceled the following year. Also during this period, the mass media with the advent of television were forcing media companies to put out comics that reflected
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#17330938991414680-693: The future. DC Comics relaunched its DC Universe imprint in September 2011, which included the integration of the WildStorm characters into the DC Universe. The initial wave of relaunched titles included: Voodoo and Grifter solo series, a revived Stormwatch title featuring Jack Hawksmoor , Midnighter , Apollo , the Engineer , and Jenny Quantum , and a revived version of Team 7 with non-WildStorm characters Deathstroke , Amanda Waller and Black Canary . The Teen Titans spin-off title The Ravagers featured Caitlin Fairchild and Warblade as part of
4770-620: The imprint had its first crossover storyline "The Children's Crusade", running through the Vertigo annuals with The Children's Crusade "book-end" series. In 1998, the Helix imprint closed down with its "signature book" Transmetropolitan transferred to the Vertigo imprint. Vertigo took over publishing collected editions for the Helix titles. Starting in January 1999, The Trenchcoat Brigade brought Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Dr. Occult and Mr. E together in one series lasting four issues. Vertigo had its first fifth-week event in December 1999 to mark
4860-529: The imprint with a $ 250,000 budget. Also, Minx was working with Book Sense to get the novels into independent bookstores. The Plain Janes was the only title to get a second volume before the imprint was shut down. Random House , DC's bookstore distributor could not get the line's books into the young adult fiction section at the major bookstores. The line was canceled in September 2008. The New York Four moved to Vertigo for its sequel, New York Five . Paradox Press
4950-504: The licensed Walt Disney animated-character comics) outsold the superhero comics of the day. The publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , Roy Rogers and Tarzan . It was during this era that noted Donald Duck writer-artist Carl Barks rose to prominence. Additionally, MLJ 's introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) gave rise to teen humor comics , with
5040-427: The line was to have stories featuring the characters in their "most identifiable versions as seen by the world outside of comics", but based on the creators recruited, the purpose shifted to the creators' vision. Only two out of the four planned miniseries made it to print. All-Star Superman was considered a landmark series for the Superman character and the creators. The other title, All Star Batman & Robin,
5130-435: The line. In July of the same year, Christos Gage and Neil Googe published a new WildCats: World's End #1. There followed, in August 2008, a new Authority: World's End #1 by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning with art by Simon Coleby , Gen #21 by Scott Beatty with art by Mike Huddleson , and Stormwatch: PHD #13 by Ian Edginton with art by Leandro Fernández and Francisco Paronzini . That same year, DC releaseld
5220-577: The most consistently, commercially successful comics from Image. These included Lee's own titles WildC.A.T.s and the teen-hero title Gen , illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. Like many other Image titles, some of the WildStorm titles suffered from inconsistent completion and shipping, resulting in "monthly" comics coming out every few months. This era produced a number of titles of varying popularity including Gen , WildC.A.T.s , Stormwatch , Deathblow , Cybernary , and Whilce Portacio's Wetworks . In late 1993, Lee launched Wildstorm Productions as
5310-486: The next day. Vertigo in 2011 released two one-shot multi-editor anthologies: Strange Adventures and The Unexpected . Another Fables spin-off, The Fairest , was launched in March 2012. In 2018, Neil Gaiman and Mark Doyle began to oversee a Sandman Universe imprint under the Vertigo banner. The Vertigo branding was retired in January 2020, with most of its library transferred to its successor, DC Black Label . WildStorm
5400-551: The popular culture of the time period. Comic books focused on space, mystery, and suspense that television and other forms of media were turning to in the march toward scientific progress. According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power. It was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including EC Comics ' series Mad and Dell's series Uncle Scrooge (both in 1952). In 1953,
5490-527: The product. Paramount had international distribution rights, and later released the film only in a few foreign markets. Toys from both titles were less successful than those made by Todd McFarlane, partly due to poor marketing and partly because the McFarlane toys were targeted at a more mature audience. However, they had a big success copying Wizards of the Coast 's Magic: The Gathering with their introduction of
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#17330938991415580-429: The relaunched Wildstorm Universe, plus the young reader imprint expected in 2018. In early March 2018, DC Comics announced a number of new imprints and lines. Imprints included DC Black Label, youth-oriented DC Inks and DC Zoom and Brian Michael Bendis' unnamed imprint, while DC imprint Vertigo was announced to be launching a Sandman Universe line. DC Comics discontinued all imprints as of January 2020 while implementing
5670-459: The series over to Mark Millar . The Authority fused Silver Age superhero concepts with 1990s cynicism. In the 2004 Wildstorm crossover, Coup d'etat , the Authority takes control of the United States. Ellis and artist John Cassaday created Planetary , about "explorers of the strange", an experiment that merged pop culture, comic book history and literary characters. WildStorm launched
5760-690: The shift in tone. The new version was penciled by Dustin Nguyen with inks by Richard Friend. Gen was relaunched with a new first issue, written by X-Men's Chris Claremont. A Gen spinoff, 21 Down , was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray . After the Point Blank mini-series, Ed Brubaker developed the same themes into the critically acclaimed Sleeper , set in the WildStorm universe. In 2001 Warren Ellis began Global Frequency . The rights for Global Frequency were bought by Warner Bros. in 2004 and
5850-556: The studio to work on the first issue of Cyberforce . Although he worked at the studio, his projects would debut as the work of a new Image "partner studio" firm named Top Cow . Silvestri continued to work out of Wildstorm's studio for about two years. Although WildStorm considered attracting talent, such as John Romita Jr. , from the "Big Two", ( Marvel and DC ), Lee decided to find new talent instead. Lee's talent search yielded Brett Booth in 1992, and J. Scott Campbell in 1993. Apart from McFarlane's Spawn , Wildstorm produced
5940-408: The studio's problems with erratic publication schedules. His attempts to get the studio's characters into other media proved disappointing. A Saturday morning cartoon series of WildC.A.T.s lasted only a single season (1994–1995), while a full-length animated version of Gen was produced but never released in the United States. Disney had acquired the domestic distribution rights, but shelved
6030-650: The time of the Second World War following the Shield 's debut in 1940. Many heroes of this time period battled the Axis powers , with covers such as Captain America Comics #1 ( cover-dated March 1941) showing the title character punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler . As comic books grew in popularity, publishers began launching titles that expanded into a variety of genres. Dell Comics ' non-superhero characters (particularly
6120-418: The titles of either imprint. In 1999, WildStorm launched several new titles, including The Authority , a dark and violent superhero comic whose characters fought dirty and had little regard for the rights and lives of their opponents; their only goal was to make the world a better place. Warren Ellis created The Authority as a successor to Stormwatch . He wrote its first twelve issues before handing
6210-544: The various series and moving League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to Top Shelf / Knockabout. Cliffhanger was an imprint of Wildstorm Productions for creator-owned projects. In July 1998, the Cliffhanger comic Danger Girl was licensed out to New Line Cinema for a film adaptation. Cliffhanger merged with Homage to become "WildStorm Signature Series". Homage Comics was an imprint of Wildstorm Productions for writer-creator owned comics. Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in
6300-423: The war, they did not survive the lifting of trade restrictions afterwards. The term Atomic Age of Comic Books is sometimes used to describe a brief time period, starting with either the end of World War II in 1945 or in 1948 with the first outcry of Fredric Wertham, and lasting until the mid-1950s. Some authors consider this an interregnum period or an era in its own right, but most regard it as still part of
6390-466: Was DC Comics' first mature readers imprint launched in 1987. The book establishing the imprint's tone was Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (BSUC), an anthology by Dave Louapre and Dan Sweetman. Piranha's best-selling (and most well-remembered) title was Why I Hate Saturn (which started Kyle Baker's solo career). Piranha was shut down in 1994 to be replaced by Paradox Press . The imprint was DC's first imprint that allowed creator-owned titles. Piranha
6480-484: Was DC's imprint for its all ages cartoon titles. Previously, Johnny DC was used in the Silver Age as a mascot for DC Comics. DC started a Warner Bros. cartoon character line featuring Looney Tunes and Cartoon Network with the April 1994 issue of Looney Tunes . In September 2004, DC upgraded this line to a full imprint as Johnny DC for the November cover date. In the same month, the imprint added The Batman Strikes ,
6570-549: Was DC's second mature readers imprint replacing Piranha Press in 1994. The Paradox imprint was shut down in 2001. Paradox's first comic books, Big Book of Urban Legends , La Pacifica and Brooklyn Dreams , saw print in January 1995. In August 1996, Paradox began the reprinting of the Gon manga by Masashi Tanaka. Road to Perdition , published in April 1998, was later adapted into a motion picture. Paradox stopped releasing material with Gon on Safari in September 2000. Piranha Press
6660-545: Was a superhero imprint for DC Comics using the Red Circle characters licensed from Archie Comics . The line was supposed to be a newsstand based line aimed at the younger readers within its own self-contained universe. The Comet , by creators Mark Waid and Tom Lyle, was the imprint's longest running title. The imprint was also supposed to be a training ground for new talent. Impact was launched in July 1991 with several titles: Black Hood , The Fly , Jaguar , Comet , Legend of
6750-453: Was an imprint and subsidiary of DC Comics that was acquired that featured superheroes. The imprint was formerly a member studio of Image Comics . In August 1998, DC purchased Wildstorm including imprints Cliffhanger, Homage and America's Best Comics with the imprints appearing under the DC banner in January 1999. In November 1999, the Star Trek comic book began publishing under Wildstorm with
6840-486: Was announced in November 1987 with Mark Nevelow as its editor. In June 1989, the imprint's first titles hit the stands, BSUC and ETC . 24 different titles saw print under the Piranha imprint. BSUC lasted 30 issues, while most were one-shots or did not last for more than five issues. In December 1992, Prince: Alter Ego , based on the rock star Prince, hit the stands. Tangent Comics was a DC Comics imprint that introduced
6930-584: Was canceled with issue #35 (March 1949) and Marvel Mystery Comics , featuring the Human Torch, with issue #93 (Aug. 1949) became the horror comic Marvel Tales . Sub-Mariner Comics was canceled with issue #42 (June 1949) and Captain America Comics , by then Captain America's Weird Tales , with #75 (Feb. 1950). Harvey Comics ' Black Cat was canceled in 1951 and rebooted as a horror comic later that year—the title would change to Black Cat Mystery , Black Cat Mystic , and eventually Black Cat Western for
7020-647: Was launched in July 2006 and lasted over 38 issues. After the September 2008 cancellation of the Minx line, Minx's The New York Four moved to Vertigo for its sequel, New York Five . Vertigo's Fables line had its first crossover, The Great Fables Crossover , a nine-issue storyline, through its two ongoing titles plus a miniseries, The Literals in 2009. In June 2009, Vertigo launched its first line in Vertigo Crime with Filthy Rich , followed by Dark Entries , both as black and white hardcovers. DC Universe characters returned to
7110-486: Was launched in November 2010. By the end of 2011, the First Wave line was discontinued. In a May 2017 editorial leadership reorganization, three Executive Editors split up DC Comics and its imprints. Pat McCallum took the DC superhero titles and Mark Doyle the two mature imprints, Vertigo and Young Animal. Executive Editor Bobbie Chase was given custom comics, DC Kids, Digital First titles, Hanna-Barbera comics, Milestone and
7200-471: Was launched with All-Star Superman . In May 2007, DC launched a line for young women called Minx . Also that year, DC entered the webcomic market with Zuda Comics . After seeing Tangent characters in the regular DC Universe in Infinite Crisis in 2006, in Ion #9–10 in 2007 and then in Countdown to Final Crisis , the Tangent imprint was revived on March 18, 2008, for a 12-issue maxiseries. The Red Circle line began print in 2008 as DC's second attempt with
7290-630: Was launched with some former DC Comics imprint titles. DC teamed up with Milestone Media to co-publish Milestone Comics starting in 1993. Impact Comics last saw print in July. Piranha was shut down in 1994 to be replaced by Paradox Press with Milestone Comics following in 1996. In July, the Helix science fiction imprint was launched. In December 1997, the Tangent Comics imprint was published on skip week, then on skip week of September 1998. In August 1998, DC purchased Wildstorm Productions , including imprints Cliffhanger, Homage and ABC. 1998 also saw
7380-463: Was launched with the Sandman and Swamp Thing groups of titles, plus Animal Man and Doom Patrol , all former DC Comics imprint titles plus Death: The High Cost of Living , a three-issue Sandman related miniseries, being the imprint's first new title. In February, several creator-owned titles begin printing with Vertigo from Disney 's aborted Touchmark imprint starting with Enigma . Also, in October,
7470-419: Was officially revived with The Wild Storm #1 by Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt , a 24 issue series that re-imagined the Wildstorm Universe. On October 11, 2017, Wildstorm launched a second series under The Wild Storm banner with the 12 issue mini-series The Wild Storm: Michael Cray by Bryan Hill . Following the conclusion of The Wild Storm DC Comics announced that a new Wildcats six issue mini-series
7560-548: Was one of the founding studios that formed Image Comics in 1992. Image grew out of Homage Studios and was founded by artists Whilce Portacio , Jim Lee, Erik Larsen , Rob Liefeld , Todd McFarlane , Marc Silvestri , and Jim Valentino in San Diego, California . All but Portacio decided to become full partners in the new firm. At the time, Lee and Portacio were recognized for their work on various X-Men titles at Marvel Comics . In late 1992, penciller Marc Silvestri joined
7650-463: Was planned to be released in July 1996 with September cover dates as "Matrix". However, to avoid comparison to the then-upcoming film The Matrix , the imprint was renamed "Helix". The imprint continued until 1998, when its "signature book" Transmetropolitan transferred to the Vertigo imprint. Additional Helix titles were later republished in collected editions under the Vertigo brand. Impact Comics (also stylized !mpact Comics or Impact! Comics )
7740-494: Was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity. Another notable series was The Spirit by Will Eisner , which deviated from the usual publishing model of the period as a weekly multi-page supplement in the Register and Tribune Syndicate newspapers for which Eisner held the copyright, a rare consideration for creators of that period. Patriotic heroes donning red, white, and blue were particularly popular during
7830-632: Was released, while in March the Super Friends title was relaunched, now based on the Mattel toyline of the same name. Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade began in December 2008. The imprint was renamed DC Entertainment. Minx was an imprint of DC Comics graphic novels aimed at the young adult market, particularly teenage girls. The line was launched with The Plain Janes , the line's signature title. DC signed Alloy Media & Marketing to market
7920-508: Was replaced with All-American Western . The following year, Flash Comics and Green Lantern were canceled. In 1951 All Star Comics , featuring the Justice Society of America , became All-Star Western . The next year Star Spangled Comics , featuring Robin, was retitled Star Spangled War Stories . Sensation Comics , featuring Wonder Woman , was canceled in 1953. The only superhero comics published continuously through
8010-452: Was supposed to launch its first book in early 2018 but the first release featuring this reality was Milestone Returns #0 in September 2020. Milestone , Static Shock , Duo , Love Army and Earth M was the announced slate of titles. Earth One ( EO ) is a DC Comics graphic novel imprint that features a separate continuity from their main imprint. Announced in 2009, Earth One graphic novels features re-imagined and modernized versions of
8100-538: Was to debut August 28, 2019, again penned by Ellis with art by Ramon Villalobos, but was cancelled in 2019. Grifter, Apollo, and The Midnighter appeared in the alternate future timeline series Future State : Dark Detective in 2021. The Wildstorm characters were then officially reintroduced into DC Universe continuity later that year in Batman: Urban Legends #5 and Superman and The Authority . The new Authority team then appeared as supporting characters in
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