Editing DC Comics (section)

=== DC Comics ===
In 1977, the company officially changed its name to '''DC Comics'''.<ref>{{cite web |title=DC Comics, Inc.: Private Company Information |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7621531 |access-date=August 6, 2016 |website=Bloomberg |archive-date=August 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808161918/http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7621531 |url-status=live }}</ref> It had used the brand "Superman-DC" since the 1950s, and was colloquially known as DC Comics for years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eury |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eC5mPdEtOdoC&pg=PA46 |title=Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure |year=2003 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=1-89390517-9 |page=46 |access-date=January 20, 2019}}</ref>

In June 1978, five months before the release of the [[Superman (1978 film)|first Superman film]], Kahn expanded the [[line (comics)|line]] further, increasing the number of titles and story pages, and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. Most series received eight-page back-up features while some had full-length twenty-five-page stories. This was a move the company called the "DC Explosion".<ref>{{cite web|last=Kahn |first=Jenette |url=http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/252/publishorial.gif |title=DC Publishorial: Onward And Upward |work=DC Comics |date=September 1978 |via=dialbforblog.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329065319/http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/252/publishorial.gif |archive-date=March 29, 2014}}</ref> The move was not successful, however, and corporate parent Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the [[DC Implosion]]".<ref>"The DC Implosion", ''The Comics Journal'' No.{{nbsp}}41 (August 1978), pp. 5–7.</ref> In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents.<ref>"Post-Implosion Fill-In Fallout", ''The Comics Journal'' No.{{nbsp}}43 (December 1978), p. 13.</ref> By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count but the story pages replaced house ads in the books.

Seeking new ways to boost [[market share]], the new team of publisher Kahn, vice president [[Paul Levitz]], and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end—and following the example of [[Atlas/Seaboard Comics]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Mediascene |author-link=Jim Steranko |last=Steranko |first=Jim |issue=11 |date=February 1975 |page=? |quote=Atlas/Seaboard publisher [[Martin Goodman (publisher)|Martin Goodman]]'s [[David and Goliath]] strategy is insidiously simple and outrageous—possibly even considered dirty tactics by the competition—[and consists of] such [things] as higher page rates, artwork returned to the artist, rights to the creation of an original character, and a certain amount of professional courtesy.}}</ref> and such independent companies as [[Eclipse Comics]]—DC began to offer [[royalties]] in place of the industry-standard [[work-for-hire]] agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights, giving talent a financial incentive tied to the success of their work. As it happened, the implementation of these incentives proved opportune considering Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief, [[Jim Shooter]], was alienating much of his company's creative staff with his authoritarian manner and major talents there went to DC like [[Roy Thomas]], [[Gene Colan]], [[Marv Wolfman]], and [[George Pérez]].{{sfn|Tucker|2017|pp=112–113}}

In addition, emulating the era's new television form, the [[miniseries]] while addressing the matter of an excessive number of ongoing titles fizzling out within a few issues of their start, DC created the industry concept of the comic book [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]]. This publishing format allowed for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format that could showcase creations without forcing the talent into unsustainable open-ended commitments. The first such title 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newcomicreviews.com/GHM/columns/A+/archives/071103.html|title=GHM Columns : GHM Staff: Steve Higgins A+ Graphic Novels &#93|website=Newcomicreviews.com|access-date=March 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204110919/http://www.newcomicreviews.com/GHM/columns/A+/archives/071103.html|archive-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref>

These changes in policy shaped the future of the medium as a whole, and in the short term allowed DC to entice creators away from rival Marvel, and encourage stability on individual titles. 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. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series ''[[X-Men]]'', but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales<ref>MacDonald, Heidi D. "DC's Titanic Success", ''The Comics Journal'' No.{{nbsp}}76 (October 1982), pp. 46–51.</ref> in part due to the stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. In addition, Wolfman and Pérez took advantage of the limited-series option to create a spin-off title, ''Tales of the New Teen Titans'', to present origin stories of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of the main series or oblige them to double their work load with another ongoing title.

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

This successful revitalization of the Silver Age Teen Titans led DC's editors<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nerdist.com/why-teen-titans-dc-comics-most-important-but-undervalued-franchises|title=Why TEEN TITANS Is DC Comics' Most Important (But Undervalued) Franchise – Nerdist|date=August 30, 2016|access-date=July 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118073919/https://nerdist.com/why-teen-titans-dc-comics-most-important-but-undervalued-franchises/|archive-date=November 18, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> to seek the same for the wider [[DC Universe]]. The result, the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the characters' complicated backstory and continuity discrepancies. A companion publication, two volumes entitled ''The History of the DC Universe'', set out the revised history of the major DC characters. ''Crisis'' featured many key deaths that shaped the DC Universe for the following decades, and it separated the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis".

Meanwhile, a parallel update had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. 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. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing the [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]] mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to the [[Comics Code Authority]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicvine.gamespot.com/vertigo/4010-521|title=Vertigo (Publisher) – Comic Vine|website=Comic Vine|access-date=July 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715180039/https://comicvine.gamespot.com/vertigo/4010-521/|archive-date=July 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Two DC limited series, ''[[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]'' by [[Frank Miller]] and ''[[Watchmen]]'' by Moore and artist [[Dave Gibbons]], drew attention in the mainstream press for their dark psychological complexity and promotion of the antihero.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432973/batmans-dark-side |title=Batman's Dark Side |website=[[National Review]] |access-date=July 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407131449/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432973/batmans-dark-side |archive-date=April 7, 2017 |url-status=live  |date=March 26, 2016 }}</ref> These titles helped pave the way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles and to make inroads into the book industry, with collected editions of these series as commercially successful [[trade paperbacks]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=How the Year 1986 Changed Comic Books Forever|url=https://nerdist.com/article/year-1986-changed-comic-books-forever/|access-date=June 5, 2021|website=Nerdist|language=en-US|archive-date=June 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605154107/https://nerdist.com/article/year-1986-changed-comic-books-forever/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC [[war comics]], including series that had been in print since the 1960s. These titles, all with over 100 issues, included ''[[Sgt. Rock]]'', ''[[G.I. Combat]]'', ''[[The Unknown Soldier (comics)|The Unknown Soldier]]'', and ''[[Weird War Tales]]''.