Editing DC Comics (section)

==== 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]]''.