Editing DC Comics (section)

=== National Periodical Publications ===
DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by their competitors. In 1961, with DC's JLA as the specific inducement,{{efn|Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, either [[Jack Liebowitz]] or [[Irwin Donenfeld]] of DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications)<!--also known as name is mentioned here because Stan Lee says "National Comics" in quote directly below this paragraph--> bragged about DC's success with the Justice League (which had debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' No.{{nbsp}}28 (February 1960) before going on to its own title) to publisher [[Martin Goodman (publisher)|Martin Goodman]] (whose holdings included the nascent [[Marvel Comics]], which was being distributed by DC's Independent News at this time) during a game of golf.<br /><br />However, film producer and comics historian [[Michael Uslan]] partly debunked the story in a letter published in ''Alter Ego'' No.{{nbsp}}43 (December 2004), pp. 43–44
{{blockquote|Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC's 909 Third Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office as [[Sol Harrison]] and [production chief] [[Jack Adler]] were schmoozing with some of us&nbsp;... who worked for DC during our college summers&nbsp;... [T]he way I heard the story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of Independent News, not DC Comics (though DC ''owned'' Independent News)&nbsp;... As the distributor of DC Comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. ... Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces&nbsp;... Sol worked closely with Independent News' top management over the decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse's mouth.}}

Goodman, a publishing trend-follower who was aware of DC's strong JLA sales, confirmably directed his comics editor, [[Stan Lee]], to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee:
"Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called ''The'' {{sic}} ''Justice League of America'' and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... ' If the Justice League is selling ', spoke he, 'why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?{{'"}}<ref>''[[Origins of Marvel Comics]]'' ([[Marvel Fireside Books|Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books]], 1974), p. 16</ref>}} 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 ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/cmbk6silver.html |title=Integrative Arts 10: The Silver Age |first=Jamie |last=Coville |website=[[psu.edu]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624145720/http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/cmbk6silver.html |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=live |access-date=June 11, 2008}}</ref> Reportedly, DC dismissed the initial success of Marvel's editorial change until its consistently strengthening sales—albeit also benefiting DC's parent company Independent News, as Marvel's distributor—made it impossible to ignore. This commercial situation was highlighted by Marvel's superior [[sell-through]] percentage numbers which were typically 70% to DC's roughly 50%, meaning that DC's publications were barely making a profit after returns from the distributors were factored in, while Marvel was making a healthy profit by comparison.{{sfn|Tucker|2017|p=xiii}} Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while the rival publisher [[Dell Comics]] was charging fifteen cents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Torcivia |first=Joe |date=August 21, 2019 |title=Joe Torcivia's The Issue At Hand Blog: Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Take THAT, Dell! |url=http://tiahblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/adventures-in-comic-boxing-take-that.html |access-date=June 1, 2024 |website=Joe Torcivia's The Issue At Hand Blog |archive-date=June 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601043205/http://tiahblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/adventures-in-comic-boxing-take-that.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

At this time, the senior DC staff were reportedly unable to explain how this small publishing house was achieving its increasingly threatening commercial strength. For instance, when Marvel's product was examined in a meeting, the emphasis on more sophisticated character-based narrative and artist-driven visual storytelling was apparently overlooked. Instead, superficial reasons were put forward to account for the brand's popularity, like the presence of the color red or word balloons on the cover, or that the perceived crudeness of the interior art was somehow more appealing to readers. When Lee learned about DC's subsequent experimental attempts to imitate these perceived details, he amused himself by arranging direct defiance of those assumptions in Marvel's publications as sales strengthened further to frustrate the competition.{{sfn|Tucker|2017|pp=11–13}}

However, this ignorance of Marvel's true appeal did not extend to some of the writing talent during this period, and attempts were made to emulate Marvel's narrative approach. For instance, there was the ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' series by [[Arnold Drake]] (who had previously warned DC's management about Marvel's strength),{{sfn|Tucker|2017|p=28}} a superhero team of outsiders who resented their freakish powers,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Eury |first=Michael|title=The Doom Patrol Interviews: Editor's Note|journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=65 |page=37|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=July 2013 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> which Drake later speculated was plagiarized by Stan Lee to create ''[[X-Men (comic book)|The X-Men]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://classic.newsarama.com/general/ArnoldDrake/DrakneInterview.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071011174524/http://newsarama.com/general/ArnoldDrake/DrakneInterview.htm |title= Talking to Arnold Drake| archive-date= October 11, 2007 |access-date= May 15, 2009 |last= Epstein |first= Daniel Robert |date= November 11, 2005 |work= [[Newsarama]]}}</ref> There was also the young [[Jim Shooter]] who purposely emulated Marvel's writing when he wrote for DC after studying both companies' styles, such as for the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' feature.<ref name=GraphicNYC>{{cite web|last=Irving |first=Christopher |date=July 20, 2012 |url=http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/07/jim-shooters-secret-origin-in-his-own.html |title=Jim Shooter's Secret Origin, in his Own Words – Part One |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820204839/http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/07/jim-shooters-secret-origin-in-his-own.html |archive-date=August 20, 2018 |url-status=live |website=nycgraphicnovelists.com}}</ref> 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 the distribution of NPP's shows.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 31, 1966 |title=Comic book company sets up TV arm |pages=60 |work=[[Broadcasting Magazine]] |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-01-31-BC-OCR-Page-0060.pdf |access-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531050040/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-01-31-BC-OCR-Page-0060.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

A [[Batman (TV series)|1966 Batman TV show]] on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes in [[Saturday morning cartoon|Saturday morning animation]] ([[Filmation]] produced most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the [[tone (literature)|tone]] of many of its comics—particularly ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'' and ''[[Detective Comics]]''—to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This change in tone coincided with the prominent "Go-Go Checks" cover-dress that featured a black-and-white [[checkered]] strip at the top of each DC comic (all cover dates between February 1966 and August 1967), a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks".<ref>{{cite web |first=Mark |last=Evanier |date=December 1, 2004 |title=Irwin Donenfeld, R.I.P. |url=http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html#009267 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518104754/http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2004_12_01.html |archive-date=May 18, 2008 |access-date=June 11, 2008}}</ref> In particular, DC artist Carmine Infantino complained that the distinctive cover made it easier for readers to spot DC's titles and avoid them in favor of Marvel's titles.{{sfn|Tucker|2017|p=34}}

In 1967, Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age characters [[Batgirl]] and the [[Phantom Stranger]]) rose from art director to become DC's editorial director. With the growing popularity of upstart rival Marvel Comics threatening to topple DC from its longtime number-one position in the comics industry, he tried to direct DC's focus towards marketing new and existing titles and characters with more adult sensibilities, aimed at an emerging older age group of superhero comic book fans; this was in response to Marvel's efforts to market their superhero [[line (comics)|line]] to college-aged adults. Infantino also recruited major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and [[Spider-Man]] co-creator [[Steve Ditko]], and promising newcomers [[Neal Adams]] and [[Denny O'Neil]], and he replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including [[Joe Kubert]] and [[Dick Giordano]], to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye.{{cn|date=November 2024}}