Editing DC Comics (section)

=== Kinney National / Warner Communications (1967–1990) ===
In 1967, National Periodical Publications was purchased by [[Kinney National Company]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/dc.htm |title=DC Comics |publisher=[[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]] |date=November 17, 2011 |access-date=August 10, 2012}}</ref> which purchased [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]] in 1969. Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets in 1972 (as [[National Kinney Corporation]]) and changed its name to [[Warner Communications Inc.]]

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 played a large, integral role.

As artist [[Gil Kane]] described:

Jack was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as a primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view.<ref>{{Citation |title=McKay, Sir George Mills, (20 July 1869–19 July 1937), Co. Founder and since Hon. Treasurer of English-speaking Union |date=December 1, 2007 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u213884 |work=Who Was Who |access-date=June 7, 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u213884 }}</ref>

Given ''carte blanche'' to write and illustrate his own stories, he created a handful of thematically-linked series he called collectively [[Fourth World (comics)|"The Fourth World"]]. In the existing series ''[[Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen]]'' and in his own, newly-launched series ''[[New Gods]]'', ''[[Mister Miracle]]'', and [[Forever People|''The Forever People'']], Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as arch-villain [[Darkseid]] and the other-dimensional realm [[Apokolips]]. Furthermore, Kirby intended their stories to be reprinted in collected editions, in a publishing format that was later called the [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]], which became a standard industry practice decades later. While sales were respectable, they did not meet DC management's initially high expectations, and also suffered from a lack of comprehension and internal support from Infantino. By 1973 the "Fourth World" was all cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions soon became integral to the broadening of the DC Universe, especially after the major toy-company, [[Kenner Products]], judged them ideal for their [[action figure|action-figure]] adaptation of the [[DC Universe]], the [[Super Powers Collection]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Evanier|first= Mark |others=Introduction by Neil Gaiman|title= Kirby: King of Comics|year= 2008|publisher= Abrams|location= New York City|isbn= 978-0-8109-9447-8|page= 197}}</ref> Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, including ''[[Kamandi]]'', [[Etrigan the Demon|''The Demon'']], and [[OMAC (Buddy Blank)|''OMAC'']], before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976.

==== Bronze Age ====
{{Main|Bronze Age of Comic Books}}

Following the science-fiction innovations of the [[Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]], the comics of the 1970s and 1980s became known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more [[Naturalism (literature)|naturalistic]] and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the [[Comics Code Authority]], explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' story "[[Green Goblin Reborn!]]" in ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' No.{{nbsp}}96 (May 1971), and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writer [[Dennis O'Neil]] and artist [[Neal Adams]]' ''[[Green Lantern]]'', beginning with the story "[[Snowbirds Don't Fly]]" in the retitled ''Green Lantern / Green Arrow'' No.{{nbsp}}85 (September 1971), which depicted [[Roy Harper (comics)|Speedy]], the teen sidekick of superhero archer [[Green Arrow]], as having become a heroin addict.

[[Jenette Kahn]], a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. As it happened, her first task even before being formally hired, was to convince Bill Sarnoff, the head of Warner Publishing, to keep DC as a publishing concern, as opposed to simply managing their licensing of their properties.{{sfn|Tucker|2017|p=110}} With that established, DC had attempted to compete with the now-surging Marvel by dramatically increasing its output and attempting to win the market by flooding it. This included launching series featuring such new characters as ''[[Firestorm (comics)|Firestorm]]'' and ''[[Shade, the Changing Man]]'', as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre-[[Wertham]] days of post-War comicdom.