Editing DC Comics (section)

=== Time Warner / Time Warner Entertainment / AOL Time Warner (1990–2018) ===
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2024}}
In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with [[Time Inc.]], making DC Comics a subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, the [[Batman (1989 film)|first Tim Burton-directed Batman film]] was released, and DC began publishing its hardcover series of [[DC Archive Editions]]; these were collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories previously unseen by the majority of modern fans. Much of the restoration work was handled by Rick Keene, with colour restoration performed by DC's long-time resident colourist [[Bob LeRose]]. The Archive Editions attempted to retroactively credit many of the writers and artists who had worked for DC without receiving much recognition during the early age of comic books when individual credits were rare.

The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing—mass purchase of the books as collectible items, with the intention to resell at a higher value (as the rising value of older issues was thought to imply that ''all'' comics would rise dramatically in price)—and several storylines gaining attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which [[The Death of Superman|Superman was killed]], [[Batman: Knightfall|Batman was crippled]], and [[Emerald Twilight|Green Lantern turned into the supervillain Parallax]], resulted in dramatically increased sales. However, the increases were temporary, and sales dropped off as the industry went into a major slump, while manufactured "[[collectable]]s" numbering in the millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves.

DC's [[Piranha Press]] and other imprints (including the mature readers' line [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]], and [[Helix (comics)|Helix]], a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased the use of non-traditional contractual arrangements, including the dramatic rise of creator-owned projects, leading to a significant increase in critically lauded work (much of it for Vertigo) and the licensing of material from other companies. DC also increased publication of book-store friendly formats, including [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] collections of individual serial comics, as well as original [[graphic novel]]s.

One of the other imprints was [[Impact Comics]] from 1991 to 1992 in which the [[Archie Comics]] superheroes were licensed and revamped.<ref>{{cite news |last=Arrant |first=Chris |title=Completing the Red Circle: Talking to JMS |url=http://www.newsarama.com/2773-completing-the-red-circle-talking-to-jms.html |access-date=August 15, 2011 |website=[[Newsarama]] |date=April 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224714/http://www.newsarama.com/2773-completing-the-red-circle-talking-to-jms.html |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Markstein |first=Don |title=Archie (MLJ) Comics |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/mlj_arch.htm |website=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] |access-date=April 18, 2013 |archive-date=October 16, 2009 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091016104033/http://www.toonopedia.com/mlj_arch.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The stories in the line were part of its own shared universe.<ref name=cbr>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/jms-circles-the-dc-universe-in-red/ |title=JMS Circles the DC Universe in Red |last=Renaud |first=Jeffrey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008225108/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21346 |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |url-status=live |website=[[CBR.com]] |date=May 26, 2009 |access-date=December 13, 2021}}</ref>

DC entered into a publishing agreement with [[Milestone Media]] that gave DC a line of comics featuring a culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters. Although the Milestone line ceased publication after a few years, it yielded the popular animated series ''[[Static Shock]]''. DC established [[Paradox Press]] to publish material such as the large-format ''Big Book of...'' series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novel ''[[Road to Perdition (comics)|Road to Perdition]]''. 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. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprint [[America's Best Comics]] (ABC), a series of titles created by [[Alan Moore]] which included ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', ''[[Tom Strong]]'', and ''[[Promethea]]''. Moore strongly opposed this move, and DC eventually stopped publishing ABC.

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. This series then followed another non-DC title, [[Tower Comics]]' series [[T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents]], in collection into DC Archive Editions. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers [[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]] and [[Les Humanoïdes Associés|Humanoids]]. It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with the mascot [[Johnny DC]] and established the [[CMX (comics)|CMX]] imprint to reprint translated [[manga]]. In 2006, CMX took over from [[Dark Horse Comics]]' publication of the webcomic ''[[Megatokyo]]'' in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise of [[Kitchen Sink Press]] and acquired the rights to much of the work of [[Will Eisner]], such as his ''[[Spirit (comics character)|The Spirit]]'' series and his graphic novels.

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 (comics)|Zero Hour]]'' event which similarly tried to [[Comics vocabulary#Retcon|ret-con]] the history of the DCU). 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. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped [[One Year Later|forward a full year]] in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, ''[[52 (comics)|52]]'', to gradually fill in the missing time. 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.

In 2005, DC launched its "[[All Star DC Comics|All-Star]]" line (evoking the title of the [[All Star Comics|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'', and ''All-Star Wonder Woman'' and ''All-Star Batgirl'' was announced in 2006, but neither of these stories had been released or scheduled as of the end of 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brady |first=Matt |url=http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=81341 |title=Adam Hughes on His New Exclusive & All Star Wonder Woman |website=Newsarama |date=August 21, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830202046/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=81341 |archive-date=August 30, 2006}}</ref>

By 2007, DC was licensing characters from the [[Archie Comics]] imprint [[Red Circle Comics]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Renaud |first=Jeffrey |date=October 30, 2008 |url= https://www.cbr.com/jms-gets-brave-bold-with-archie-gang/ |title=JMS Gets Brave & Bold with Archie Gang |website=[[CBR.com]] |access-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706132846/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18636 |archive-date=July 6, 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref> They appeared in the Red Circle line, based in the DC Universe, with a series of [[one-shot (comics)|one-shots]] followed by a miniseries that led into two ongoing titles that each lasted for ten issues.<ref name="cbr" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/120824-DiDio.html |title=20 Answers and 1 Question With Dan DiDio: Holiday Surprise |last=Brady|first=Matt|website=Newsarama |date=December 24, 2008 |access-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829011736/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/120824-DiDio.html |archive-date=August 29, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>