Space Ranger ( Rick Starr ) is a science fiction hero who was published by American company DC Comics in several of their 1950s and 1960s anthology titles. He first appeared in Showcase #15 (July 1958) and was created by writers Edmond Hamilton and Gardner Fox and artist Bob Brown . The character has notable similarities to a preceding character named David "Lucky" Starr, created by novelist Isaac Asimov in his 1952 novel David Starr, Space Ranger . After appearing in Showcase #15 and 16, the Space Ranger was given a cover-starring series in Tales of the Unexpected , starting with issue #40 and lasting until #82 (1959–64). Afterward, he moved to Mystery in Space .
131-628: In 1957, DC Comics editorial director Irwin Donenfeld held a meeting with editors Jack Schiff and Julius Schwartz in his office, asking them each to create a new science fiction hero: one from the present, and one from the future. Given first choice, Schiff chose to create one from the future. After a successful tryout in Showcase #15 and 16, the Space Ranger was given a slot in Tales of
262-471: A mythical realm. Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters have inhabited a shared continuity that was later dubbed the " DC Universe " by fans. With the story " Flash of Two Worlds ", in Flash No. 123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino and Joe Giella ) presented
393-707: A 5-issue substory in the clone plague story-arc titled "Bizarro's World" (beginning in Superman (vol. 2) #87). Before he died, this Bizarro seriously injured Dr. Sydney Happersen, kidnapped Lois, created a ramshackle dummy version of Metropolis in a warehouse (to parody Superman's frequently rescuing Lois, he deliberately exposed her to and "rescued" her from one lethal danger after another), abducted Lana Lang, proposed to Lois and finally died in Luthor's labs. During this period, Superman also had to cope with an unending increase in his powers due to exposure to "purple kryptonite" in
524-656: A Bizarro-like creature that resembles Supergirl . The Bizarro Supergirl takes the heroes hostage, but is defeated in battle by the real Supergirl. It is revealed that the Bizarro Supergirl is a refugee from the cube-shaped Bizarro World, and was sent to Earth by her cousin after their planet was attacked by a being known as the Godship. Dr. Light attempts to take the Bizarro Supergirl to S.T.A.R. Labs, only to be violently knocked unconscious by Supergirl, who then absconds with her doppelgänger and her ship, hoping to stop
655-434: A March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology that revolved originally around fictional detective stories became in modern times the longest-running ongoing comic series. A notable debut in the first issue was Slam Bradley , created in a collaboration between Wheeler-Nicholson, Siegel and Shuster. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld —who also published pulp magazines and operated as
786-508: A Saturday morning live action TV adaptation and gained a prominent position in the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe . As the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, DC Comics focused on such genres as science fiction, Westerns , humor , and romance . The company also published crime and horror titles, although relatively tame contributions that avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comic genres. A handful of
917-476: A conceptual mechanism for slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity using the explanation that they inhabited an other-dimensional "Earth 2", whilst the modern heroes exist on "Earth 1", consequently laying the foundations of what was later called the DC Multiverse . DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by their competitors. In 1961, with DC's JLA as
1048-488: A copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel , who was at the time the top-selling comic character (see National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. ). Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost the lawsuit, Fawcett capitulated in 1953 and ceased publishing comics. Years later, Fawcett sold the rights for Captain Marvel to DC Comics, and in 1972
1179-479: A cube-shaped planet that has become colloquially known as Htrae (Earth spelled backwards). This world is now populated by Bizarro versions of Superman, his family, friends, and enemies. Similarly, Bizarro's weaknesses are reversed: green kryptonite has an empowering effect on him – healing and strengthening his body similar to the effects of yellow sunlight on Superman; while only blue kryptonite (an imperfect duplicate of green kryptonite) affects Bizarro adversely in
1310-568: 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. 85 (September 1971), which depicted 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,
1441-567: A father figure. Luthor is pleased and decides to use the imperfect clone in his plan to take the Syndicate down. Later, when Luthor and his team of villains pass through a tunnel, B-0 is revealed to be afraid of darkness. Luthor tries to comfort him with a story about his own fears, but ultimately wonders whether the clone was a waste of time; B-0 then speaks his first words, "Bizarro... try", much to Luthor's surprise. Though initially doubtful, Luthor grows truly fond of "Bizarro", who proves to be
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#17327973680731572-477: 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 . In 1998, DC purchased WildStorm Comics, Jim Lee 's imprint under the Image Comics banner, continuing it for many years as
1703-530: A form much as it was prior to The New 52 . A clone of Bizarro is found inside of a tube in a train car stolen by Black Mask sometime after the Crime Syndicate of America incident. The Red Hood and Artemis jump aboard the train car attempting to steal a weapon, not expecting it to be a clone of Superman. Bizarro eventually joins the Red Hood's Outlaws . During this time, Bizarro is stricken with
1834-477: A freak by Bizarro standards (out of resentment for the way that he was treated by Earth humans, Bizarro #1 made a law named the Bizarro Code that decrees that they must act the opposite of humans, causing no end of lunacy), the child is the catalyst for a brief war between Htrae and Earth. Blue kryptonite is also invented during this war, as well as the temporary existence of Bizarro-Supergirl. Bizarro also has
1965-504: A handful of thematically-linked series he called collectively "The Fourth World" . In the existing series Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and in his own, newly-launched series New Gods , Mister Miracle , and 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
2096-549: A home for himself, Bizarro travels into deep space to a solar system occupied by a blue sun. After creating a cube-shaped planet , filled with distorted versions of various buildings and locations on Earth, Bizarro is still lonely. The blue sun, however, gives Bizarro a new ability called "Bizarro Vision", which allows him to create new Bizarros. When this fails, Bizarro kidnaps Jonathan Kent , Superman's adopted father on Earth. Superman rescues his father and helps Bizarro become his world's greatest hero. Bizarro eventually appears on
2227-450: A home where they can be themselves. Superman encounters the couple once again, discovering that Bizarro – now called Bizarro #1 – has used a version of the duplication ray to create an entire world of Bizarros, who now reside on a cube-shaped planet called "Htrae" (Earth spelled backwards). Bizarro #1 and Bizarro-Lois #1 also give birth to a child who, while super-powered, appears to be totally human. Considered
2358-456: A major slump, while manufactured " collectables " 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 , and Helix , a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased
2489-400: A more normal world (egg-shaped rather than cubical) by the radiation from an exploding celestial body. The Bizarros are changed into normal people without super-powers, but still retain vestiges of their Bizarro Code (curtains hung outside the windows of a house, etc.). After the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths , Lex Luthor orders his scientific team to create a clone of Superman that
2620-496: A powerful asset throughout the event. During the final confrontation against the Earth-3 invaders, Bizarro battles Mazahs, the alternate version of Luthor himself; although he initially has the upper hand, Bizarro is fatally wounded and left to die. Luthor desperately tries to fix him, to no avail, and they share a sorrowful goodbye. Enraged over the death of Bizarro, Lex Luthor murders his Earth-3 counterpart, avenging Bizarro. After
2751-528: 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. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created
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#17327973680732882-416: A principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News —Wheeler-Nicholson had to enter into partnership with Donenfeld to publish Detective Comics No. 1, and Detective Comics, Inc. (which helped inspire the abbreviation DC) was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's accountant Jack S. Liebowitz listed as owners. As the company continued to experience cash-flow problems, Wheeler-Nicholson
3013-415: A publishing format that was later called the 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
3144-526: A purely Kryptonian body. Five years later, a capsule labeled B-0 is shown. After the Crime Syndicate takes over the world, Luthor releases Subject B-0, though his transformation is only halfway through. Luthor commands B-0 to murder a security guard as a test. B-0 initially ignores the order but kills the guard after the guard threatens Luthor with a gun. Luthor realizes that B-0 will not commit murder but will protect Luthor as he seems to view him as
3275-544: A purple version of Superman’s costume which has become Bizarro’s usual outfit in the comics. An unrelated four-issue limited series titled A. Bizarro (July–October) was published in 1999. Yet another version was introduced during the "Emperor Joker" storyline that ran in September and October 2000. Remaining in DC Comics continuity, this Bizarro continued to make semi-regular guest appearances that firmly established
3406-658: A romantic interest for Batman named Julie Madison , as well as the Batarang weapon that Batman commonly uses, and the fictional aircraft called the Batplane . The story of Batman's origin was first shown in Detective Comics No. 33 (November 1939), which depicted the death of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne by a mugger . The origin story remained crucial for the fictional character after its inception. The Daily Planet (a common setting of Superman)
3537-399: A scientist on Earth is demonstrating his newly invented "duplicating ray" to Superboy , and an accident causes the ray to duplicate the superhero. The copy, quickly labeled "Bizarro", is a flawed imitation as it possesses chalky white skin and childlike erratic behavior. Shunned by the people of Smallville , Bizarro befriends a blind girl named Melissa, and loses all hope when he realizes that
3668-520: A series of adventures on Htrae, aiding a normal Jimmy Olsen when he is accidentally trapped there, preventing an invasion of blue kryptonite statues, and stopping the Bizarro version of titano the Super-Ape . Bizarro's influence is also felt on Earth: Jimmy Olsen is inadvertently turned into a Bizarro for a while, and a new teen version of Bizarro travels to the 30th century and attempts to join
3799-508: A sickness which causes his cells to rapidly deteriorate. After saving his teammates in the Outlaws, he dies. Lex Luthor takes his body to try to resurrect him, on the condition that he be the property of Lexcorp. This results in Bizarro becoming extremely smart, surprising his teammates. Bizarro and Artemis briefly get trapped in a different dimension, but return to Earth. Bizarro becomes the ruler of Hell after killing Trigon , and plans to be
3930-523: A subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, the 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
4061-469: A superhero origin story with the reveal of an unnamed planet, later known as Krypton , where he is said to have originated . The issue also contained the first essential supporting character and one of the earliest female characters in any comic, with Lois Lane as Superman's first depicted romantic interest . The Green Hornet -inspired character known as the Crimson Avenger by Jim Chamber
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4192-428: A superhero team, but they are roundly defeated in their first mission by Evil Star and his Starlings. They then reorganize as an AA -type organization to help ex-sidekicks. During a meeting of such, Space Ranger enters and asks Cryll to rejoin him. He feels he was abandoned and chases Space Ranger away. During the night, Cryll has second thoughts about what he had done, and leaves before dawn to rejoin Space Ranger, to
4323-569: A supporting character called James Gordon , the police commissioner of what would later become Gotham City Police Department . Despite being a parody, All-American Publications introduced the earliest female character who became the female superhero Red Tornado (though disguised as a male) in Ma Hunkel who first appeared in the "Scribbly" stories in All-American Comics No. 3 (June 1939). Another important Batman debut
4454-399: A teenage test subject named Bobby. Instead, he transforms into a hulking white-skinned monster with cryonic vision, incendiary breath, and immunity to Kryptonite which is labeled "Subject A-0". Deducing his weakness, Luthor hits him with concentrated solar radiation that oversaturates his cells and kills him. Luthor then takes samples of the creature to continue his experiment, deciding to clone
4585-635: A transparent blue helmet and operating out of a hidden asteroid base via his sleek super-swift scarlet spaceship the Solar King . Possessing no powers other than his highly developed brain and brawn, the crew cut , yellow and red spacesuit-clad "Guardian of the Solar System" (later "Guardian of the Universe") armed himself with a vast variety of super-scientific gadgets like the all-purpose multi-ray pistol he wore on his weapon belt. Space Ranger
4716-501: 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
4847-776: Is a member of the League , a group of vigilantes hunted by Earth's registered superhumans. When the League goes public during a crisis, the Space Ranger reveals himself to be J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter , in disguise. In the "Without You I'm Nothing" short story written by Evan Dorkin and drawn by Steven Weissman , Cryll is one of a number of ex-sidekicks living on Skid Row. They include Cryll, Zook , Bathound , Proty , Doiby Dickles and many others, regardless of actual location of activity, time-period, or whether they are deceased, retconned, etc. Cryll organizes them into
4978-460: Is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment , a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery . DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, the first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937. The majority of its publications are set in
5109-442: Is assisted by the only two people who knew his secret, his loyal and highly efficient beautiful blonde secretary/girlfriend Myra Mason and his plucky and clever cute little pink alien sidekick Cryll , a big-eyed, trunk-snouted shapeshifter with the ability to transform into sundry super-powered extraterrestrial lifeforms who he had found frozen in suspended animation beyond the orbit of Pluto . Space Ranger and Cryll have visited
5240-532: Is finally destroyed when colliding with Superman in mid-air. Each time he exerted himself, the clone crumbled slightly. When Lois Lane's sister , who had been blinded in a terrorist attack, is exposed to Bizarro's dust, she regains her sight. While Superman had not expected this effect, he speculated that Bizarro heard the sister explain her partial recovery and may have deliberately allowed himself to be killed to cure her. A second Bizarro, able to speak and think better due to genetic engineering by Luthor, appears in
5371-450: Is reversed... The times were such that one-dimensional characters, your standard superheroes, even in comics, seemed rather simplistic, like paper cut-outs. What was demanded was the full dimensional personality – a figure that carried a shadow, if you like. I was certainly inspired to some degree also by C. G. Jung 's archetype of "the shadow " – and Bizarro certainly reflected that, as well. Binder introduced
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5502-516: Is still being used. The company created a second recurring title called New Comics , first released in December 1935, which was the start of the long-running Adventure Comics series that also featured many anthology titles. By 1936, the group had became Nicholson Publishing. Wheeler-Nicholson's next and final title, Detective Comics , was advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936 but eventually premiered three months late with
5633-522: Is the second largest publisher of comic books, after Viz Media ; and Marvel is third. In 1934, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications , intended as an American comic book publishing company. Its debut publication was the tabloid -sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (the first of a comic series later called More Fun Comics ) with a February 1935 cover date . An anthology title, essentially for original stories not reprinted from newspaper strips , it
5764-593: Is tricked into joining the reformed Secret Society of Super Villains by the Flash 's foe Zoom . In a battle with the Freedom Fighters Bizarro accidentally kills the Human Bomb , repeatedly hitting the hero to see the flashes of light that are produced from the kinetic energy of the blows. Bizarro becomes involved when Kryptonian criminals, led by General Zod, escape to Earth. Wishing to create
5895-539: The Infinite Crisis limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped forward a full year in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, 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 " line (evoking
6026-667: The Green Lantern character, the introduction of the modern all-star team Justice League of America (JLA), and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books . National radically overhauled its continuing characters—primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—rather than just reimagining them. The Superman family of titles, under editor Mort Weisinger , introduced such enduring characters as Supergirl , Bizarro , and Brainiac . The Batman titles, under editor Jack Schiff , introduced
6157-690: The Joker , Lex Luthor , Deathstroke , the Reverse-Flash , Brainiac , and Darkseid . The company has published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen , V for Vendetta , Fables , and many other titles, under the alternative imprint Vertigo and DC Black Label . Originally at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan , New York City, the company offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue , 909 Third Avenue , 75 Rockefeller Plaza , 666 Fifth Avenue , and 1325 Avenue of
6288-541: The Legion of Super-Heroes . When he is rejected by the Legion, the Bizarro teen creates his own Bizarro version of the Legion, which Superboy eventually persuades him to disband. When Bizarro encounters Superman once again, his powers are now the opposite of Superman's (such as freeze vision as opposed to heat vision and heat breath rather than freeze breath), and he attempts to kidnap Lois Lane. Bizarro also temporarily joins
6419-483: 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
6550-617: The Phantom Zone . Bizarro has a series of encounters with former Secret Society ally Solomon Grundy , and during the events of Blackest Night , Bizarro confronts the Black Lantern version of Grundy. Bizarro destroys Grundy by driving him into the heart of the Sun. Later, while investigating an object that crashes into a Metropolis park and leaves a massive crystallized crater in its center, Dr. Light and Gangbuster discover
6681-784: The Secret Society of Super Villains to battle the Justice League of America and Captain Comet . Bizarro appears in the Alan Moore -scripted " Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? ", in Superman #423 (September 1986). Bizarro goes berserk and destroys the Bizarro World and all of its inhabitants, then travels to Metropolis and wreaks havoc before abruptly committing suicide. This and many other deaths turn out to be
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#17327973680736812-795: The Silver Age , the comics of the 1970s and 1980s became known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more 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. 96 (May 1971), and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered
6943-682: The Space Museum . Each regales the other with different interpretations of Jack and Mikaal rescuing Starfire from a space pirate. Space Ranger also appeared in the background on Hardcore Station in Mystery in Space (vol. 2) #6 (April 2007). Space Ranger has made regular appearances in Trinity , the weekly series published by DC from 2008–2009. In an alternate reality created by the absence of Superman , Batman , and Wonder Woman , Space Ranger
7074-650: The Spirit which it then used, along with some DC heroes, as part of the First Wave comics line launched in 2010 and lasting through fall 2011. In May 2011, DC announced it would begin releasing digital versions of their comics on the same day as paper versions. Bizarro Reverse versions of Superman's powers: Bizarro ( / b ɪ ˈ z ɑːr oʊ / ) is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character
7205-557: The 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". 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 ". In September 1978,
7336-489: The "duplicating ray" and uses it on the hero, hoping to control the duplicate that became known as Bizarro #1. The Bizarro that is created, however, is confused, stating: "Me not human... me not creature... me not even animal! Me unhappy! Me don't belong in world of living people! Me don't know difference between right and wrong – good and evil!" Luthor is arrested by Bizarro for re-creating him, but forgotten as Bizarro attempts to emulate Superman, creating havoc in
7467-602: The 20th century on occasion, working with contemporary heroes such as Green Lantern Hal Jordan and the Justice League of America , and in their own time have had adventures with a red-headed 22nd century descendant of Adam Strange . Space Ranger makes an appearance in Starman #55 (July 1999), in which Space Ranger and Ultra the Multi-Alien are riding in Space Cabbie 's cab to find Starman IV's cosmic staff for
7598-706: The Americas . DC Comics was located at 1700 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan until April 2015, when DC Entertainment transferred its headquarters to Burbank, California . DC Comics books are distributed to the bookstore market by Penguin Random House Publisher Services . The comics shop direct market was supplied by Diamond Comic Distributors until June 2020, when Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors (who were by then dominating direct market distribution on account of
7729-490: The Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC Comics . At that point, "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, [the self-distributorship] Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications ". National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on
7860-461: The Bizarro World to implode, killing all of its inhabitants. Bizarro's severed head crashes onto Clark Kent's desk and addresses Clark Kent before his simulated life ends. Bizarro does not appear in Crisis on Infinite Earths , apparently because of this story's events. This story directly contradicts a World's Finest story where it is revealed that sometime in the future, Htrae is transformed into
7991-458: The Bizarro concept prior to the character's appearance in Superboy . The newspaper version wore a "B" on his chest, as opposed to Superman's distinctive "S". Schwartz stated: I was striving, you might say, for that mirror-image, that opposite. And out of a machine which would reveal the negative Superman, came the mirror image – always remembering that in a mirror everything
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#17327973680738122-472: 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. In 1977, the company officially changed its name to DC Comics . It had used the brand "Superman-DC" since the 1950s, and was colloquially known as DC Comics for years. In June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman film , Kahn expanded
8253-544: The DC Universe, especially after the major toy-company, Kenner Products , judged them ideal for their action-figure adaptation of the DC Universe , the Super Powers Collection . Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, including Kamandi , The Demon , and OMAC , before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976. Following the science-fiction innovations of
8384-483: The Godship and save the Bizarro World. After taking Bizarro Supergirl back to the Bizarro World, Bizarro Superman is reunited with Bizarro Supergirl. In 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC Universe. Two versions of Bizarro first appear in the Forever Evil event. Five years ago, Lex Luthor, intending to create his personal army of Supermen, attempted to splice Superman's DNA with human DNA and injected it into
8515-474: The Ruler of Hell to make sure Earth is not in danger before saying goodbye to Jason Todd and Artemis. Generally, Bizarro's powers are identical to Superman's, with the most substantial difference being that they are reverse versions of certain abilities. When operating within an environment under a blue sun, Bizarro gains the ability to replicate new lifeforms from his own body mass. Using this power, he cloned
8646-556: The Silver Age Teen Titans led DC's editors 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
8777-476: The Superman family of titles – Action Comics , Superman , Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen , Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane , Adventure Comics , Secret Society of Super Villains , and DC Comics Presents – from 1959 to 1984, prior to a reboot of the DC Universe, as a result of the limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths #1–12 (April 1985 – March 1986). Bizarro
8908-640: 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". 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. In 1967, Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and
9039-569: The Unexpected as of issue #40 (August 1959). He moved to Mystery in Space for issues #92–99, 101, 103 (1964–65). Set in the 22nd century, Space Ranger is really Rick Starr , a seemingly shiftless executive at his gruff, cigar-chomping father Thaddeus Starr' s Allied Solar Enterprises . He took on the role of the superheroic interplanetary troubleshooter to battle space pirates, alien invaders, evil scientists and other futuristic threats both cosmic and criminal, hiding his true identity beneath
9170-567: The adult version of the character into the Superman comic book, this time wearing an "S", in Action Comics #254 (July 1959). Bizarro proved popular, and eventually starred in a Bizarro World feature in Adventure Comics for 15 issues, running from issue #285–299 (June 1961 – August 1962), as well as in a special all-Bizarro 80-Page Giant ( Superman #202, December 1967/January 1968). The character made forty appearances in
9301-587: The antihero. 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 . 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 , and Weird War Tales . In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. , making DC Comics
9432-412: The battle is over, Luthor restarts the cloning process; when one of his scientists states it should take about ten years to fully develop a perfect Kryptonian clone, Luthor corrects him by saying it will take only five years, revealing he truly intends to create a perfect copy of Bizarro . In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called DC Rebirth , which restored its continuity to
9563-413: 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
9694-640: The character as a Frankenstein's monster pastiche that possessed all the powers of Superboy. Shunned for his unenviable appearance, the teen version of Bizarro only appeared in a single comic book story. An adult version appeared around the same time in the Superman daily newspaper comic strip written by Alvin Schwartz , debuting in Episode 105: "The Battle With Bizarro" (strips 6147–6242: August 25, 1958 to December 13, 1958). According to comics historian Mark Evanier , Schwartz long claimed that he originated
9825-492: The character as part of the Superman mythos. General Dru-Zod had originally created bizarro duplicates of himself to dominate the planet Krypton . The Bizarros had no power because they were not under a yellow sun, but they were soldiers ready to kill and die without hesitation. This was the reason why Zod was banished to the Phantom Zone for 25 Krypton sun-cycles. Some 12 years later, totally oblivious to these facts,
9956-424: The character was revived in DC's new title Shazam! , which featured artwork by Captain Marvel's creator C. C. Beck . In the meantime, the abandoned 'Marvel' trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, with the creation of their Captain Marvel , preventing DC from using the name in the title of their own comic series. While DC's Captain Marvel failed to recapture his earlier popularity, he later appeared in
10087-432: The city of Metropolis and almost exposing Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent. When Bizarro falls in love with reporter Lois Lane , she uses the duplicating ray on herself to create a "Bizarro Lois", who is instantly attracted to Bizarro. In addition, he also used the duplicating ray on himself to create "New Bizarro" who later dies from exposure to green kryptonite. The Bizarros leave Earth together, determined to find
10218-653: The climax of the Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen story-arcs. S-01 coined " Bizarre-O " is the first of Paul Westfield 's attempts to clone a new Superman by him during the storyline "Fall of Metropolis". Known as the thirteenth and only success of Westfield's project Superboy was recalled to Cadmus to discuss the new information uncovered regarding his own origin. While the Cadmus directors and Dr. Packard discussed what went wrong with S-01 and Westfield's secrecy on
10349-429: The comic book 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
10480-482: The company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing the Vertigo mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to the Comics Code Authority . 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
10611-488: The competition. 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), a superhero team of outsiders who resented their freakish powers, which Drake later speculated
10742-579: The consternation of the others. The oddities in this and several other offbeat stories are "explained" by crediting them to the pen of Bizarro . Starr also appears in DC's 2013 Threshold comic by Keith Giffen . Space Ranger makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Siege of Starro!". DC Comics This is an accepted version of this page DC Comics, Inc. (later simply known as DC )
10873-547: The direct market in 1982. 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 in part due to
11004-583: The disruption to Diamond caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ) replaced Diamond as the direct market distributor. In 2017, approximately 70% of the American comic book market was shared by DC Comics and its long-time major competitor Marvel Comics (acquired in 2009 by Warner Bros. Discovery's main competitor, The Walt Disney Company ), though this figure may be distorted by the fact that sales of graphic novels are excluded. When all book sales are included, DC
11135-512: The distribution of NPP's shows. A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation ( Filmation produced most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the tone of many of its comics—particularly Batman and Detective Comics —to better complement the "camp" tone of
11266-723: The end of 2009. By 2007, DC was licensing characters from the Archie Comics imprint Red Circle Comics . They appeared in the Red Circle line, based in the DC Universe, with a series of one-shots followed by a miniseries that led into two ongoing titles that each lasted for ten issues. In 2011, DC rebooted all of its running titles following the Flashpoint storyline. The reboot called The New 52 gave new origin stories and costume designs to many of DC's characters. DC licensed pulp characters including Doc Savage and
11397-450: The example of Atlas/Seaboard Comics 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 ,
11528-593: The fictional DC Universe and feature numerous culturally iconic heroic characters , such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern , the Flash , Cyborg , and Aquaman ; as well as famous fictional teams, including the Justice League , the Justice Society of America , the Teen Titans , and the Suicide Squad . The universe contains an assortment of well-known supervillains , such as
11659-463: The first comic book to feature the character archetype later known as the "superhero", Action Comics was a sales hit that brought to life a new age of comic books, now affectionately termed the "Golden Age" . Action Comics #1 is credited as featuring the first appearance of Superman, both on the cover illustration and inside the issue, and is now one of the most valuable and sought-after comic book issues of all time. The first Superman tale included
11790-686: The first mention of Batman's utility belt by Gardner Fox . Outside of DC's publishing, a character later integrated as DC was introduced by Fox Feature Syndicate named the Blue Beetle released in August 1939. Fictional cities were a common theme of DC; the first revealed city was Superman's home city of Metropolis , originally named in Action Comics No. 16 (September 1939). Detective Comics No. 31 (September 1939) by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff introduced
11921-639: The first recurring Superman enemy referred to as the Ultra-Humanite ; created by Siegel and Shuster, this is commonly cited as one of the earliest supervillains in comic books. The Superman character had another breakthrough when he was given his own comic book series , which was previously unheard of. The first issue, published in June 1939, helped directly introduce Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent , also created by Siegel and Shuster. Detective Comics No. 29 (July 1939) included
12052-538: The girl did not shun or flee from him because she was blind. Superboy is eventually forced to "kill" the "less than perfect" clone , using the remains of the duplicating machine, which acts like blue kryptonite (as opposed to green kryptonite , Superboy's weakness). The whole business proved unexpectedly easy as Bizarro deliberately destroyed himself by colliding with the duplicating machine's fragment. The ensuing explosion miraculously restores Melissa's eyesight. Years afterward, Superman's arch-foe Lex Luthor recreates
12183-503: 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 event which similarly tried to 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
12314-446: The line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents. 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
12445-547: 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 and Humanoids . It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with
12576-533: The machinations of Mister Mxyzptlk , who had become evil and begun a rampage of crime. Superman is unable to undo the deaths, but kills Mxyzptlk and then uses gold kryptonite on himself to remove his super-powers permanently. Bizarro's final Pre- Crisis appearance was in DC Comics Presents #97 (September 1986), which was also the final issue of that series. After being empowered by a Phantom Zone sorcerer, Mr. Mxyzptlk destroys Zrfff and then causes
12707-562: 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
12838-449: The mascot Johnny DC and established the 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 The Spirit series and his graphic novels. In 2004, DC began laying
12969-408: The most popular superhero titles continued publication, including Action Comics and Detective Comics , the medium's two longest-running titles. In the mid-1950s, editorial director Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor Julius Schwartz (whose roots lay in the science-fiction book market) to produce a one-shot Flash story in the try-out title Showcase . Instead of reviving
13100-526: The old character, Schwartz had writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome , penciler Carmine Infantino , and inker Joe Kubert create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's civilian identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in Showcase No. 4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of
13231-469: The other imprints was Impact Comics from 1991 to 1992 in which the Archie Comics superheroes were licensed and revamped. The stories in the line were part of its own shared universe. 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
13362-473: The planet Throneworld, befriending and aiding Earth hero Adam Strange and allies Prince Gavyn , Captain Comet , and the Weird . Together they participate in the war between alien worlds Rann and Thanagar, and against villains Lady Styx and Synnar. Bizarro eventually visits the grave of a deceased Jonathan Kent, and is then sent (by rogue Kryptonians) with other Superman foes to the inter-dimensional prison,
13493-701: The project Scrapper unknowingly leaned on the control panel for S-01's stasis pod causing him to be released. After breaking free of his stasis pod S-01 rapidly started deteriorating with his skin almost immediately taking on the chalky hue and ridged texture of other Bizarros. One other Bizarro is created using Lex Luthor's clone process, by Lex Luthor's estranged wife Contessa Portenza and Dabney Donovan shortly after Superman regained his normal powers when he expended his electromagnetic ones. This Bizarro abducted Lex Luthor's baby daughter and intended to send her by rocket to another planet, emulating Kal-El's escape from Krypton. His pile of explosives and bombs, meant to launch
13624-474: The restored Earth. Bizarro suffers a setback when captured by the Pokolistanian dictator General Zod . Zod beats and tortures Bizarro, simply because the creature resembles Superman. The hero rescues Bizarro, and to help him adjust to the normal Earth rebuilds Bizarro's "Graveyard of Solitude" (the opposite of Superman's Fortress of Solitude ). During the Infinite Crisis story line, Bizarro
13755-414: The rocket, would have killed her instead, and Superman had to shield her when Bizarro threw the launch switch. Bizarro III, already self-destructing from a genetic booby trap encoded into him by his creator, perished in the explosion. Another version of Bizarro possesses all the abilities of Superman but with a childlike mentality and method of speech. He is created by Batman 's arch-enemy the Joker when
13886-449: The specific inducement, 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 The Fantastic Four . 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
14017-511: 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. This successful revitalization of
14148-490: The stock market in 1961. Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" as early as 1940 and became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name in 1977. DC Comics began to move aggressively against what it saw as copyright-violating imitations from other companies, such as Fox Comics ' Wonder Man , which (according to court testimony) Fox started as
14279-498: The successful Batwoman , Bat-Girl , Ace the Bat-Hound , and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schwartz and Infantino then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", with relatively down-to-earth stories re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in
14410-471: The title of the 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
14541-422: 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 collections of individual serial comics, as well as original graphic novels . One of
14672-500: The villain steals the powers of the fifth-dimensional imp Mister Mxyzptlk . Creating a twisted version of Earth called "Jokerworld" – a perfect cube with the Joker's image on each facet – the villain designates Bizarro to be the planet's greatest hero and leader of a reimagined "JLA" (the "Joker's League of Anarchy"). When Mxyzptlk regains his powers, the imp allows Bizarro and several other beings to remain on
14803-401: 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
14934-412: 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 . 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
15065-444: Was charging fifteen cents. 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
15196-785: Was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman , and first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958). Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956 – c. 1970), the character has often been portrayed as an antagonist to Superman, though on occasion he also takes on an antihero role. In addition to appearing in the company's publications, he has also appeared in adapted media and tie-in products, such as animated and live-action television series , trading cards , toys , and video games . Bizarro debuted in Superboy No. 68 (published in August; cover-dated October 1958), writer Otto Binder casting
15327-628: Was featured in Detective Comics No. 20 (October 1938). This character is known to be the first masked vigilante published by DC. An unnamed "office boy", retconned as Jimmy Olsen 's first appearance, was revealed in a Superman story by Siegel and Shuster in Action Comics No. 6 (November 1938). Starting in 1939, Siegel and Shuster's Superman was the first comic-derived character to appear in other formats, later featuring in his own newspaper comic strip , which first introduced his biological parents Jor-El and Lara . All-American Publications' debut comic series, All-American Comics ,
15458-740: Was first named in a Superman newspaper strip around November 1939. Doll Man was the first superhero to be produced by Quality Comics , which DC now owns. Fawcett Comics was formed around 1939 and became DC's original competitor company over the next decade. At the end of 1944, All-American titles began using its own logo to distinguish it from the National comics. All-American Publications , an affiliate concern co-owned by Gaines and Liebowitz, merged with Detective Comics, Inc. on September 30, 1946, forming National Comics Publications . The previous year, in June 1945, Gaines had allowed Liebowitz to buy him out and had retained only Picture Stories from
15589-573: Was first published in April 1939. The series Detective Comics made history as being the first to feature Batman —a Bob Kane and Bill Finger creation—in issue No.27 (March 1939) with the request of more superhero titles. Batman was depicted as a masked vigilante who wore a caped suit known as the Batsuit and drove a car that was later referred to as the Batmobile . The Batman story also included
15720-581: Was forced out after the first year. Shortly afterwards, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied (also known as Nicholson Publishing) at a bankruptcy auction and absorbed it. Meanwhile, Max Gaines formed the sister company All-American Publications in 1939. Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a new anthology title called Action Comics ; the first issue , cover dated June 1938, featured new characters such as Superman by Siegel and Shuster, Zatara by Fred Guardineer , and Tex Thompson by Ken Finch and Bernard Baily . Considered as
15851-418: 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. Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while the rival publisher Dell Comics
15982-457: Was in response to Marvel's efforts to market their superhero 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. In 1967, National Periodical Publications
16113-525: Was part of "Project Changeling". Incorrectly starting from the assumption that Superman is a human with metahuman abilities (his alien origin had not yet been revealed), the process results in a flawed copy, which Luthor dismissively refers to as "...this bizarre – Oh, forget it", before ordering for the subject to be disposed of. The clone survives and, although mute and possessed of only limited intelligence and vague memories of Clark Kent's life, attempts to mimic Superman. He kidnaps Lois Lane and
16244-470: Was plagiarized by Stan Lee to create The X-Men . 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. 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
16375-456: Was purchased by Kinney National Company , 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
16506-684: Was reintroduced into the DC Universe in a one-off appearance with characterization similar to his original Superboy appearance in Superman: The Man of Steel #5 (December 1986). He was later revived in the "Bizarro's World" serial that ran through the Superman titles in March and April 1994, and in Action Comics Annual #8 in 1996. In 1997, Bizarro appeared in Superman: The Animated Series , wearing
16637-475: Was the introduction of the fictional mansion known as Wayne Manor first seen in Detective Comics No. 28 (June 1939). The series Adventure Comics followed in the footsteps of Action Comics and Detective Comics by featuring a new recurring superhero called Sandman who first appeared in Adventure Comics No. 40 (July 1939). Action Comics No. 13 (June 1939) introduced
16768-417: 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
16899-464: 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 Superman was killed , Batman was crippled , and 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
17030-421: 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. 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 and Shade,
17161-449: Was unlike many comic book series before it. While DC Comics is now primarily associated with superhero comics , the genres in the first anthology titles consisted of funnies , Western comics , and adventure-related stories. The character Doctor Occult —created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in December 1935 and included in issue No. 6 of New Fun Comics —is considered to be the earliest recurring superhero created by DC that
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