History of DC Comics Timeline

The new anthology title Action Comics launched with its first issue cover dated June 1938, featuring new characters such as Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Zatara by Fred Guardineer, and Tex Thompson by Ken Finch and Bernard Baily.

Image source: Action Comics 1

Starting in 1939, Siegel and Shuster's Superman was the first comic-derived character to appear in other formats, later featuring in his own newspaper comic strip, which first introduced his biological parents Jor-El and Lara.

Image source: Superman

The series Detective Comics made history as being the first to feature Batman—a Bob Kane and Bill Finger creation—in issue No. 27 (March 1939), responding to reader demand for more superhero titles.

Detective Comics issue 13 (June 1939) introduced the first recurring Superman enemy referred to as the Ultra-Humanite; created by Siegel and Shuster, this is commonly cited as one of the earliest supervillains in comic books.

Image source: Ultra-Humanite

The first issue of Superman's own comic, published in June 1939, helped directly introduce Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, also created by Siegel and Shuster.

Image source: Superman (comic book)

Detective Comics issue 29 (July 1939) included the first mention of Batman's utility belt by Gardner Fox. Issue 31 (September 1939) by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff introduced romantic interest Julie Madison, the Batarang weapon, and the Batplane aircraft.

Image source: Batman

Outside of DC's publishing, a character later integrated as DC was introduced by Fox Feature Syndicate named the Blue Beetle, released in August 1939.

Image source: Blue Beetle

Detective Comics issue 33 (November 1939) depicted the death of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne by a mugger, establishing the defining tragedy behind Batman's origin story.

Image source: Thomas Wayne

The Daily Planet, a common setting of Superman stories, was first named in a Superman newspaper strip around November 1939.

Image source: Daily Planet

The Flash's reimagining in Showcase #4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of Green Lantern, the introduction of the Justice League of America, and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books.

Image source: Showcase (comics)

In 1961, with DC's JLA as the specific inducement, Marvel Comics' writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age Marvel Age of comics with the debut issue of The Fantastic Four.

Image source: Fantastic Four (comic book)

In Flash #123 (September 1961), editor Julius Schwartz with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino and Joe Giella presented a conceptual mechanism for slotting Golden Age heroes into continuity using an other-dimensional Earth 2, whilst modern heroes exist on Earth 1, laying the foundations of the DC Multiverse.

Image source: Flash of Two Worlds

In 1970, Jack Kirby moved from Marvel Comics to DC at the end of the Silver Age of Comics, in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel had played a large, integral role.

Image source: Jack Kirby

Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, including Kamandi, The Demon, and OMAC, before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976. By 1973 his Fourth World titles had all been cancelled, though they later became integral to the DC Universe via Kenner's Super Powers Collection.

Image source: Kamandi

On September 30, 1946, the merger of National Allied Publications and All-American Publications formed National Comics Publications, consolidating the company's comic book operations.

Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost the lawsuit over Captain Marvel, Fawcett capitulated in 1953 and ceased publishing comics.

Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while rival publisher Dell Comics was charging fifteen cents.

National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on the stock market in 1961, marking a new corporate phase for the comic publisher.

In 1966, National Periodical Publications established its own television arm, led by Allen Ducovny, to develop and produce TV projects, with Superman TV Corporation handling distribution of NPP's shows.

This change in tone coincided with the prominent Go-Go Checks cover-dress featuring a black-and-white checkered strip at the top of each DC comic between February 1966 and August 1967, a misguided attempt by managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output stand out on the newsracks.

In 1967, Carmine Infantino, who had designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and the Phantom Stranger, rose from art director to become DC's editorial director.

Image source: Carmine Infantino

In 1967, National Periodical Publications was purchased by Kinney National Company, which purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. Kinney spun off non-entertainment assets in 1972 and changed its name to Warner Communications Inc.

Image source: Kinney National Company

Jenette Kahn, a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976, beginning a transformative era for the company.

Image source: Jenette Kahn

In 1977, the company officially changed its name to DC Comics, formally adopting the name by which it had been known colloquially for decades.

When Jenette Kahn became DC's publisher in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designer Milton Glaser to design a new company logo. Popularly referred to as the DC bullet, this logo premiered on the February 1977 titles and continues to be used on DC Archive Editions.

In June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman film, Kahn expanded the line further, increasing the number of titles and story pages and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents.

By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count, but the story pages replaced house ads in the books.

In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc., making DC Comics a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Image source: WarnerMedia

In 1998, DC purchased WildStorm Comics, Jim Lee's imprint under the Image Comics banner, continuing it for many years as a wholly separate imprint and fictional universe with its own unique style and audience.

Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to Superboy while retaining the trademark when the heirs of Jerry Siegel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership.

Image source: Superboy

On May 8, 2005, a new logo dubbed the DC spin was unveiled, debuting on DC titles in June 2005 with DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy No. 1.

In March 2012, DC unveiled a new logo designed by Landor Associates, which consists of a letter D peeling back to reveal the letter C.

DC Comics was located at 1700 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan until April 2015, when DC Entertainment transferred its headquarters to Burbank, California. Earlier offices had been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue, 909 Third Avenue, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, 666 Fifth Avenue, and 1325 Avenue of the Americas.

Image source: DC Entertainment

In May 2016, in conjunction with the DC Rebirth, DC replaced the peel logo with a circular logo reminiscent of the 1972 logo.

On February 21, 2020, the Co-Publisher of DC Comics, Dan DiDio, stepped down after 10 years at that position.

Image source: Dan DiDio

In August 2020, roughly one-third of DC's editorial ranks were laid off, including the editor-in-chief, senior story editor, executive editor, and several senior VPs.

The merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. was completed on April 8, 2022, placing DC Comics under the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella.

Image source: Warner Bros. Discovery

In July 2024, an updated version of Milton Glaser's 1977 Bullet logo was unveiled during San Diego Comic-Con, as well as an accompanying intro sequence featuring Superman for DC Studios.

Image source: DC Studios

A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation, with Filmation producing most of DC's initial cartoons, and other media.

Image source: Batman (TV series)

After the Comics Code Authority updated its rules following Marvel's drug storyline, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams' Green Lantern, beginning with Snowbirds Don't Fly in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (September 1971), which depicted Speedy as having become a heroin addict.

Image source: Green Arrow

Years after Fawcett ceased publishing, Fawcett sold the rights for Captain Marvel to DC Comics, and in 1972 the character was revived in DC's new title Shazam!, which featured artwork by Captain Marvel's creator C. C. Beck. However, the abandoned Marvel trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, preventing DC from using the name in the title of its own comic series.

Image source: Shazam (DC Comics)

The first such limited series was World of Krypton in 1979, and its positive results led to subsequent similar titles and later more ambitious productions like Camelot 3000 for the direct market in 1982.

Image source: World of Krypton

In November 1980 DC launched the ongoing series The New Teen Titans, by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, two popular talents with a history of success, and the series became one of DC's biggest hits of the era.

Image source: Teen Titans

Since early 1984, the work of British writer Alan Moore had revitalized the horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing, and soon numerous British writers, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison, began freelancing for the company.

One of DC's imprints was Impact Comics from 1991 to 1992, in which the Archie Comics superheroes were licensed and revamped for a new audience.

The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing the Vertigo mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to the Comics Code Authority.

Image source: Vertigo Comics

In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to the long-running fantasy series Elfquest, previously self-published by creators Wendy and Richard Pini under their WaRP Graphics publication banner.

In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids, broadening its catalog of international material.

In 2004, DC began laying the groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, promising substantial changes to the DC Universe and side-stepping the 1994 Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! event, which similarly tried to retcon the history of the DCU.

In 2005, DC launched its All-Star line, evoking the title of the 1940s publication, designed to feature some of the company's best-known characters in stories that eschewed the long and convoluted continuity of the DC Universe. The line began with All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder and All-Star Superman.

Image source: All-Star Superman

In 2005, the critically lauded Batman Begins film was released; also, the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalating conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in the Infinite Crisis limited series.

Image source: Infinite Crisis

In 2006, CMX took over from Dark Horse Comics' publication of the webcomic Megatokyo in print form, continuing DC's expansion into manga-style content.

Image source: Megatokyo

By 2007, DC was licensing characters from the Archie Comics imprint Red Circle Comics, bringing classic Archie superheroes into the DC fold.

Image source: Dark Circle Comics

DC licensed pulp characters including Doc Savage and the Spirit which it then used, along with some DC heroes, as part of the First Wave comics line launched in 2010 and lasting through fall 2011.

Image source: List of DC Comics imprints

In May 2011, DC announced it would begin releasing digital versions of their comics on the same day as paper versions, embracing the emerging digital marketplace.

On June 1, 2011, DC announced it would end all ongoing series set in the DC Universe in August and relaunch its comic line with 52 issue #1s, starting with Justice League on August 31 written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee. In 2011, DC rebooted all of its running titles following the Flashpoint storyline.

Image source: The New 52

On June 4, 2013, DC started DC2 and DC2 Multiverse, interactive digital comic formats offering motion and sound enhancements to select titles.

In 2014, DC announced an eight-issue miniseries titled Convergence which began in April 2015, revisiting characters and continuities from DC's past.

In 2016, DC announced a line-wide relaunch titled DC Rebirth, restoring legacy elements of the DC Universe while moving forward with new stories.

Image source: DC Rebirth

Known as DC FanDome, the free immersive virtual fan experience was a 24-hour-long event held on August 22, 2020. The convention returned for the virtual premiere of Wonder Woman 1984 and returned once again on October 16, 2021.

Image source: DC FanDome

In March 2021, DC relaunched their entire line once again under the banner of Infinite Frontier, opening up the multiverse and introducing new status quos for its heroes.

Image source: Infinite Frontier

In January 2023, DC relaunched their line under the banner of Dawn of DC following the conclusion of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and Lazarus Planet.

Image source: Dawn of DC