company name	DC Comics
company logo
company type	Subsidiary of Warner Bros.
foundation	1934, by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (as National Allied Publications)
location	1700 BroadwayMidtown ManhattanNew York, New York
key people	Diane Nelson (President)Dan DiDio (Co-Publisher of DC Comics)Jim Lee (Co-Publisher of DC Comics)Bob Harras (Editor In chief)Geoff Johns (Chief Creative Officer)John Rood (Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Business Development)
industry	Comics
products	''See list of DC Comics publications''
owner	Time Warner
parent	DC Entertainment, Inc.(Warner Bros. Entertainment)
divisions	Vertigo
homepage	http://www.dccomics.com }}

DC Comics, Inc. (founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications) is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner. DC Comics produces material featuring a large number of well-known characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, and such superhero teams as the Justice League and the Teen Titans, and such antagonists as Lex Luthor, the Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, Sinestro, the Penguin, Two-Face, General Zod, Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac, and Darkseid.

The initials "DC" came from the company's popular series ''Detective Comics'', which subsequently became part of the company's name. The title can be considered a redundant initialism. DC Comics has its headquarters at 1700 Broadway, Midtown Manhattan, New York, New York. Random House distributes DC Comics' books to the bookstore market, while Diamond Comic Distributors supplies the comics shop specialty market.

DC Comics and its major, longtime competitor Marvel Comics (currently owned by Time Warner's main rival The Walt Disney Company) together shared over 80% of the American comic-book market .

History

Origins

Entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications debuted with the tabloid-sized ''New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine'' #1 in February 1935. The company's second title, ''New Comics'' #1 (cover date December 1935), appeared in a size close to what would become comic books' standard during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, with slightly larger dimensions than . That title evolved into ''Adventure Comics'', which continued through issue #503 in 1983, becoming one of the longest-running comic book series.

Wheeler-Nicholson's third and final title, ''Detective Comics'', advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, eventually premiered three months late with a March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology series would become a sensation with the introduction of Batman in issue #27 (May 1939). By then, however, Wheeler-Nicholson had gone. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld — who also published pulp magazines and operated as a principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News — Wheeler-Nicholson was compelled to take Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish ''Detective Comics'' #1. Detective Comics, Inc. was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Major Wheeler-Nicholson remained for a year, but cash-flow problems continued, and he was forced out. Shortly afterward, Detective Comics Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied, also known as Nicholson Publishing, at a bankruptcy auction.

Detective Comics Inc. soon launched a fourth title, ''Action Comics'', and the premiere of which introduced Superman (a character with which Wheeler-Nicholson had no direct involvement; editor Vin Sullivan chose to run the feature after Sheldon Mayer rescued it from the slush pile). ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938), the first comic book to feature the new character archetype — soon known as "superheroes" — proved a major sales hit. The company quickly introduced such other popular characters as the Sandman and Batman.

On February 22, 2010, a copy of ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938) sold at auction from an anonymous seller to an anonymous buyer for $1 million, besting the $317,000 record for a comic book set by a different copy, in lesser condition, the previous year.

The Golden Age

National Allied Publications soon merged with Detective Comics Inc. to form National Comics, which in 1944 absorbed an affiliated concern, Max Gaines's and Liebowitz's All-American Publications. That year, Gaines let Liebowitz buy him out, and kept only ''Picture Stories from 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 the stock market in 1961.

Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the line used the logo "Superman-DC" throughout (the DC logo could be seen on their covers and ads as early as 1940), and the company became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name in 1977.

The company 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 a copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel, at the time comics' top-selling character. Despite the fact that parallels between Captain Marvel and Superman seemed more tenuous (Captain Marvel's powers came from magic, unlike Superman's), the courts ruled that substantial and deliberate copying of copyrighted material had occurred. Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost, Fawcett capitulated in 1955 and ceased comics publication. Years later, Fawcett ironically sold the rights to Captain Marvel to DC — which in 1973 revived Captain Marvel in the new title ''Shazam!'' featuring artwork by his creator, C. C. Beck. In the meantime, the abandoned trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, disallowing the DC comic itself to be called that. While Captain Marvel did not recapture his old popularity, he later appeared in a Saturday morning live action TV adaptation and gained a prominent place in the mainstream continuity DC calls the DC Universe.

When the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, the company focused on such genres as science fiction, Westerns, humor, and romance. DC also published crime and horror titles, but relatively tame ones, and thus avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comics. A handful of the most popular superhero-titles (most notably ''Action Comics'' and ''Detective Comics'', the medium's two longest-running titles) continued publication.

The Silver Age

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 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'' #4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of 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 did not reimagine its continuing characters (primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), but radically overhauled them. The Superman family of titles, under editor Mort Weisinger, introduced such enduring characters as Supergirl, Bizarro, and Brainiac. The Batman titles, under editor Jordan Stewart, introduced the successful Batwoman, Bat-Girl and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schwartz, together with artist Infantino, then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in a mythological context.

DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by other comics companies. In 1961, with DC's JLA as the specific spur, Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee and legendary creator Jack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue of ''The Fantastic Four''.

Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters inhabited a shared continuity that, decades later, was dubbed the DC Universe. With the story "Flash of Two Worlds", in ''Flash'' #123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino and Joe Giella) introduced a concept that allowed slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity via the explanation that they lived on an other-dimensional "Earth 2", as opposed to the modern heroes' "Earth 1" — in the process creating the foundation for what would later be called the DC Multiverse.

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 created most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the tone of many DC comics — particularly ''Batman'' and ''Detective Comics'' — to better complement the "camp" tone of the TV series. This tone coincided with the famous "Go-Go Checks" checkerboard cover-dress which featured a black-and-white checkerboard strip at the top of each comic, a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks."

In 1967, Batman artist 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 attempted to infuse the company with new titles and characters, also recruiting major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko and promising newcomer Neal Adams. He also replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including Joe Kubert and Dick Giordano, to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye.

These new editors recruited youthful new creators, in part in an effort to capture a market which had grown from being dominated by children, to include older teens and even college students. Some new talent, such as Dennis O'Neil, who had worked for both Marvel and Charlton, gained critical and popular acclaim on titles including ''Batman'' and ''Green Lantern'' (his ''Green Lantern'' run with artist Neal Adams became a key title in the burgeoning 1970s Bronze Age, and the move away from the Comics Code Authority). Nevertheless, the period was plagued by short-lived series that started out strong but petered out rapidly.

In 1967, National Periodical Publications was purchased by Kinney National Company, which later purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts and became Warner Communications.

The Fourth World

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. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created 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 archvillain Darkseid and the otherdimensional realm Apokolips. 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" books would all be cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions would soon become integral to the broadening of the DC Universe. Kirby went on to create other "daring and different" series for DC, including ''Kamandi'', about a teenaged boy in a post-apocalyptic world of anthropomorphic talking animals, when directed by the publisher to come up with something resembling ''Planet of the Apes''.

The Bronze Age

Following the science-fiction innovations of the Silver Age, the comics of the 1970s and 1980s would become 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' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in early 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'' #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. 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, 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 June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman movie, Kahn expanded 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 partner Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the DC Implosion." In September 1978, the line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17 story pages 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 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. 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. 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 openended commitments.

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 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.

Late 1980s

This successful revitalization of the Silver Age Teen Titans into The New Teen Titans led DC's editors to seek the same for the entire line and 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 "baggage" of its history, address "errors" in the characters' long histories and - particularly - revise, update and streamline major characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. A companion publication in the new prestige format, two volumes entitled ''The History of the DC Universe'', set out briefly the revised history of the major DC characters, and set the scene for an effective reboot of all titles, while still rooted in the long tradition and history of the DC Universe. Effectively moving from the realism of the Bronze Age towards the era sometimes called the "Dark Age," ''Crisis'' featured many key and resonant deaths which would shape the DC Universe for the following decades, and separate the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis".

Meanwhile, a parallel revolution had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. Since the start of 1984, British writer Alan Moore had re-energized the horror series ''The Saga of the Swamp Thing'', and his acclaimed work sparked the comic-book equivalent of rock music's British Invasion. Building on the dark naturalism of the Bronze Age, numerous British writers, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison, subsequently began freelancing for the company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror/fantasy material led not only to DC abandoning the Comics Code for particular titles scripted by those talents, but also to establishing in 1993 the Vertigo mature-readers imprint.

Key titles in the subtle shift towards the Modern Age include the two DC-published limited series ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' by Frank Miller and ''Watchmen'' by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. These titles drew attention to changes at DC for their dark psychological complexity and promotion of the antihero. The new creative freedom and attendant publicity that allowed Miller to produce a dark, future Batman and Moore to create a similarly dystopian alternate history allowed DC to challenge Marvel's industry lead. These titles also paved the way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles as suitable reading for adults, and to make inroads into the book industry, with collected editions of these key series selling particularly well as trade paperbacks.

Conversely, while the mainstream DC Universe got a shade darker, the mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC war comics, including venerable 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 a subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, the first non-camp Batman movie was released, and DC began publishing its hardcover series of DC Archive Editions, collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories unseen by many modern fans. Restoration for many of the Archive Editions was handled by Rick Keene with color restoration by DC's long-time resident colorist, Bob LeRose. These collections attempted to retroactively credit many of the writers and artists who had worked without much recognition for DC during the early period of comics, when individual credits were few and far between.

1990s

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 intent to resell at a higher value as the rising value of older issues was thought to imply that ''all'' comics would rise dramatically in price) and several storylines which gained attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which Superman was killed, Batman was crippled, and superhero ''Green Lantern'' turned into the supervillain Parallax resulted in dramatically increased sales, but the increases were as temporary as the hero's replacements. Sales dropped off as the industry went into a major slump, while manufactured "collectibles" 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 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.

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 a few short 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 a wholly separate imprint - and fictional universe - with its own 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, including ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'', ''Tom Strong'', and ''Promethea''. Moore strongly contested this situation, and DC eventually stopped publishing ABC.

2000s

In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to 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 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 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 escalated conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in 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 a new "All-Star" line (evoking 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, and were produced by "all star" creative teams. ''All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder'' launched in July 2005, with ''All-Star Superman'' beginning in November 2005. ''All Star Wonder Woman'' and ''All Star Batgirl'' were announced in 2006, with the release of ''Superman Returns'' in movie theaters, but neither have been released or scheduled as of the end of 2009. Adam Hughes, who was initially announced as the writer/artist on ''All Star Wonder Woman'' in 2006, explained at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International that that project was "in the freezer" for the time being, due to the difficulty involved in both writing and illustrating himself.

DC Entertainment In September 2009, Warner Bros. announced that DC Comics would become a subsidiary of DC Entertainment, Inc., with Diane Nelson, President of Warner Premiere, becoming president of the newly formed company and DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz moving to the position of Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant there.

2010s

On February 18, 2010, DC Entertainment named Jim Lee and Dan DiDio as Co-Publishers of DC Comics, Geoff Johns as Chief Creative Officer, John Rood as EVP of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, and Patrick Caldon as EVP of Finance and Administration.

In May 2011, DC announced it would become the first comic-book publisher to begin releasing digital versions of their comics on the same day as paper versions.

Relaunch

On June 1, 2011, DC announced that it would cancel all ongoing series set in the DC Universe in August and relaunch its comic line with 52 issue #1s, starting with ''Justice League'' on August 31, 2011 (written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee), with the rest to follow in September.

Logo

DC's first logo appeared on the April 1940 issues of its titles. The letters "DC" stood for ''Detective Comics'', the name of Batman's flagship title. The small logo, with no background, read simply, "A DC Publication".

The November 1941 DC titles introduced an updated logo. This version was almost twice the size of the previous one, and was the first version with a white background. The name "Superman" was added to "A DC Publication", effectively acknowledging both Superman and Batman. This logo was the first to occupy the top-left corner of the cover, where the logo has usually resided since. The company now referred to itself in its advertising as "Superman-DC".

In November 1949, the logo was modified to incorporate the company's formal name, National Comics Publications. This logo would also serve as the round body of Johnny DC, DC's mascot in the 1960s.

In October 1970 DC briefly retired the circular logo in favor of a simple "DC" in a rectangle with the name of the title, or the star of the book; the logo on many issues of ''Action Comics'', for example, read "DC Superman". An image of the lead character either appeared above or below the rectangle. For books that did not have a single star, such as anthologies like ''House of Mystery'' or team series such as ''Justice League of America'', the title and "DC" appeared in a stylized logo, such as a bat for ''House of Mystery''. This use of characters as logos helped to establish the likenesses as trademarks, and was similar to Marvel's contemporaneous use of characters as part of its cover branding.

DC's "100 Page Super-Spectacular" titles and later 100-page and "Giant" issues published from 1972 to 1974 featured a logo exclusive to these editions: the letters "DC" in a simple sans-serif typeface within a circle. A variant had the letters in a square.

The July 1972 DC titles featured a new circular logo. The letters "DC" were rendered in a block-like typeface that would remain through later logo revisions until 2005. The title of the book usually appeared inside the circle, either above or below the letters.

In December 1973, this logo was modified with the addition of the words "The Line of DC Super-Stars" and the star motif that would continue in later logos. This logo was placed in the top center of the cover from August 1975 to October 1976. When Jenette Kahn became DC's publisher in late 1976, she commissioned graphic designer Milton Glaser to design a new logo. Popularly referred to as the "DC bullet", this logo premiered on the February 1977 titles. Although it varied in size and color and was at times cropped by the edges of the cover, or briefly rotated 4 degrees, it remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades.

In July 1987, DC released variant editions of ''Justice League'' #3 and ''The Fury of Firestorm'' #61 with a new DC logo. It featured a picture of Superman in a circle surrounded by the words "SUPERMAN COMICS". The company released these variants to newsstands in certain markets as a marketing test.

On May 8, 2005, a new logo was unveiled, debuting on DC titles in June 2005 with ''DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy'' #1 and the rest of the titles the following week. In addition to comics, it was designed for DC properties in other media, such as the movies ''Batman Begins'' and ''Superman Returns'' as well as the new Batman film ''The Dark Knight'' and the TV series ''Smallville'', ''Justice League Unlimited'' and ''The Batman'', as well as for collectibles and other merchandise. The logo was designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios and DC executive Richard Bruning.

Imprints

All Star (2005–2008)

Amalgam Comics (1996–1997; jointly with Marvel Comics)

DC (1935–present)

DC Archive Editions (1989–present)

DC Focus (2004–2005; merged with main DC line)

Elseworlds (1989–2004)

Helix (1996–1998; merged with Vertigo)

Impact Comics (1991–1993; licensed from Archie Comics)

Johnny DC (2004–present)

Mad Books (1992–present)

Milestone Media (1993–1997)

Minx (2007–2008)

Paradox Press (1998–2003)

Piranha Press (1989–1993; renamed Paradox Press)

Tangent Comics (1997–1998)

Vertigo (1993–present)

WildStorm Productions (1999–2010)

* America's Best Comics (1999–2005)

* Cliffhanger (1999–2004; merged to form WildStorm Signature)

* CMX Manga (2004–2010)

* Homage Comics (1999–2004; merged to form WildStorm Signature)

* WildStorm (1999–2010)

* WildStorm Signature (2004–2006; merged with main WildStorm line)

Will Eisner Library (2000–present)

Zuda Comics (2007–2010)

Acquired companies and studios

All-American Publications (merged 1944)

Archie Comics (superhero properties licensed 1991–1993 as part of Impact Comics, properties licensed again in 2008)

Charlton Comics (some properties acquired 1983)

Fawcett Comics (some properties licensed 1972, acquired early 1990s)

Flex Comix (made investment in 2007; jointly owned with other companies)

Mad Magazine (legally owned by EC Publications, but assigned to DC's corporate control in the late 1990s. Both companies are part of Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Quality Comics (some properties licensed 1956, later acquired)

WaRP Graphics (properties licenced from 2003 to 2007)

WildStorm Productions (properties acquired 1999)

Will Eisner Library (some properties licensed 2000)

See also

DC Cosmic Cards

DC Direct

List of DC Comics publications

List of DC Comics characters

List of television series based on DC Comics

List of video games based on DC Comics

List of films based on DC Comics

Major events of the DC Universe

Notes

References

Goulart, Ron, ''Ron Goulart's Great History of Comics Books'' (Contemporary Press, Chicago, 1986) ISBN 0-8092-5045-4

DC Comics at the Big Comic Book DataBase

Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics

External links

Interview with DC publisher Paul Levitz

DarkMark's Comics Indexing Domain

DC Comics at Don Markstein's Toonopedia

DC Comics Database wiki

Category:DC Comics Category:Publishing companies established in 1934 Category:Time Warner subsidiaries Category:Book publishing companies based in New York

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Team name	Justice League
Publisher	DC Comics
Debut	''The Brave and the Bold'' (vol. 1) #28 (February/March 1960)
Creators	Gardner Fox
Base	The Hall and the SatelliteWatchtowerThe RefugeJLI EmbassiesDetroit BunkerSatelliteSecret Sanctuary
Memberlist	List of Justice League members
Cat	teams
Subcat	DC Comics
Hero	y
Sortkey	Justice League }}

The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics.

First appearing in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (February/March 1960), the League originally appeared with a line-up that included Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. However, the team roster has been rotated throughout the years with characters such as Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Black Canary, the Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna, other Green Lanterns, and dozens of others. The team received its own comic book title in October 1960, when the first issue was published, and would continue to #261 in April 1987, which was the final issue. Throughout the years, various incarnations or subsections of the team have operated as Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, Justice League Elite, and Extreme Justice.

Various comic book series featuring the League have remained generally popular with fans since inception and in most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. The League concept has also been adapted into various other entertainment media, including the classic Saturday morning ''Super Friends'' animated series (1973–1986), an unproduced ''Justice League of America'' live-action series, and most recently the animated series ''Justice League'' (2001–2004) and ''Justice League Unlimited'' (2004–2006). A live-action film was in the works in 2008 before being shelved. "

Publication history

Silver and Bronze Age / ''Justice League of America''

title	Justice League of America
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	October 1960 – April 1987
issues	261
writers	Gardner FoxGerry Conway
pencillers	Mike SekowskyDick DillinGeorge Pérez
inkers	Sid GreeneDick GiordanoFrank McLaughlin
creators	Gardner FoxMike Sekowsky }}

Having successfully reintroduced a number of their Golden Age superhero characters (Flash, Green Lantern, etc.) during the late 1950s, DC Comics asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society of America. Fox, influenced by the popularity of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to change the name of the team from Justice ''Society'' to Justice ''League''. The Justice League of America debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (1960), and after two further appearances in that title, got their own series which quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles. Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky were the creative team for the title's first eight years. Sekowsky's last issue was #63 (June 1968) and Fox departed with #65 (September 1968).

The initial Justice League lineup included seven of the DC superheroes being published regularly at that time: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. However, Superman and Batman barely featured in most of the stories, not even appearing on the cover most of the time. Three of DC's other surviving or revived characters (Green Arrow, Atom, and Hawkman) were added to the roster over the next four years, the latter two having been revamped by Gardner Fox himself. JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a round of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel-Timely owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book (''Justice League'') was selling. Later that day Goodman told Lee to come up with a team of superheroes for Marvel; Lee and Jack Kirby produced the Fantastic Four.

The Justice League operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. A teenager named Lucas "Snapper" Carr tagged along on missions, and he became both the team's mascot and an official member. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect and snapping his fingers, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In ''Justice League of America'' #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team. His resignation followed the resignations of two of the League's original members, Wonder Woman (in ''Justice League of America'' #69) and J'onn J'onzz (in ''Justice League of America'' #71).

Satellite years

In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting satellite headquarters in ''Justice League of America'' #78 (February 1970). Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, Zatanna and Firestorm all joined the team during this period, and Wonder Woman returned. In the first two thirds or so of this era, the team was sometimes said to have a twelve-member limit and/or a "no duplication of powers" policy; this was formally rescinded in ''Justice League of America'' #146, allowing Hawkgirl to join.

Those involved in producing the ''Justice League of America'' comic during the 1970s include writers Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Elliot S! Maggin, Cary Bates, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Steve Englehart, with Dick Dillin handling the art chores from issues #64-181, missing only one issue, #153 and did only a framing sequence for #157. Len Wein wrote issues #100–114 wherein he and Dillin re-introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory in issues #100-102 and the Freedom Fighters in issues #107-108. Libra, a supervillain created by Wein and Dillin in ''Justice League of America'' #111 (May-June 1974), would play a leading role in Grant Morrison's ''Final Crisis'' storyline in 2008. Writer Gerry Conway had a lengthy association with the title as well. His first ''JLA'' story appeared in issue #125 (December 1975) and he became the series' regular writer with issue #151 (February 1978). With a few exceptions, Conway would write the team's adventures until issue #255 (October 1986). After Dick Dillin's death, George Pérez, Don Heck, and Rich Buckler would rotate as artist on the title. Pérez would leave the title as of issue #200 to concentrate on ''The New Teen Titans'' although he would contribute covers to the ''JLA'' through issue #220 (November 1983).

Detroit

Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their other team books, which focused upon heroes in their late teens/early 20s, Gerry Conway and artist Chuck Patton revamped the Justice League series. After most of the original heroes failed to arrive in order to help the team fend off an invasion of Martians, Aquaman dissolved the League and reformatted its charter to only allow heroes who would devote their full time to the roster. The new team initially consisted of Aquaman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, the Vixen, and a trio of teenage heroes Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe. Aquaman would leave the team after a year and was replaced as leader by the Martian Manhunter. Because of his own edict of only wanting full-time heroes in the League, Aquaman's estranged wife Mera gave him an ultimatum to stay with either the group or with her to salvage their marriage.

Fan response to the series' new direction was largely negative and even the return of Batman to the team in ''Justice League of America'' #250 could not halt the decline of the series. Thus the fan deeming the name of the worst team of Justice Leaguer's ever, which eventually receded to the comics; such as in a moment of coversation in Justice League vol 2 Vixen said "With our line-up we coundn't even beat Detroit!" Which was responded by Dr Light "Anyone can beat Detroit!" The final storyline for the original ''Justice League of America'' series (#258-261) by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Luke McDonnell, culminated a story-arc involving long-time Justice League enemy Professor Ivo's murders of Vibe and Steel (and the resignations of Vixen, Gypsy, and the Elongated Man) during the events of DC's ''Legends'' mini-series, which saw the team disband.

Modern incarnations

Justice League International

The 1986 company-wide crossover featured the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed "Justice League" then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The new series, written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis with art by Kevin Maguire (and later Adam Hughes), added quirky humor to the team's stories. In this incarnation, the membership consisted partly of heroes from Earths that, prior to their merging in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, were separate. The initial team included Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Light (a new Japanese female character, emerging from the Crisis of Infinite Earths, not the supervillain who had appeared previously), Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, and Guy Gardner; and soon after inception, added Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire (then known as the Global Guardians' Green Flame), Ice (then known as the Global Guardians' Icemaiden), and two Rocket Reds (one was a Manhunter spy, and one was Dimitri Pushkin). The series' humorous tone and high level of characterization proved very popular initially, but writers following Giffen and DeMatteis were unable to maintain the same balance of humor and heroics, resulting in the decline of the series' popularity. New writers gave the storylines a more serious tone and re-focused the team on America, resulting in the book being re-branded ''Justice League America''. By the mid- to late-1990s, with the series' commercial success fading, it was eventually canceled, along with spinoffs ''Justice League Europe'', ''Extreme Justice'', and ''Justice League Task Force''.

''JLA''

title	JLA
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 1997 – February 2006
issues	125
writers	Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Denny O'Neil, Chuck Austen, Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, Allan Heinberg, Bob Harras
pencillers	Howard PorterBryan HitchDoug Mahnke
inkers	John DellPaul Neary
creators	Grant MorrisonHoward Porter }}

The low sales of the various Justice League spinoff books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team (all the various branch teams were disbanded) on a single title. A Justice League of America formed in the September 1996 limited series ''Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare'' by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza, which reunited the "Original Seven" of the League for the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths. In 1997, DC Comics launched a new Justice League series titled ''JLA'', written by Grant Morrison with art by Howard Porter and inker John Dell.

This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter. Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the "Watchtower", based on the Moon. Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a pantheon of gods, with their different powers and personalities, incorporating such characters as Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion, Huntress, Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Steel (John Henry Irons), and Plastic Man. He also had temporaries as Aztek, Tomorrow Woman, and Green Arrow (Connor Hawke).

Under Morrison, the series pitted the League against a variety of enemies, ranging from murderous White Martians, renegade angels, a new incarnation of the Injustice Gang led by Lex Luthor, the Key awakened from a coma, to the villainy of new villain Prometheus, the alien species of existing JLA villain Starro the Conqueror (revamped as a monstrous creature known as "The Star Conquerer") and Captain Atom villain General Wade Eiling, who transformed a cadre of Marines into deformed super-powered beings known as "The Ultra-Marines" as well as put his mind into the body of the indestructible Shaggy Man, and a futuristic Darkseid. Morrison's run itself featured a myth-arc involving the New Gods preparing the Earth for battle against a creature known as "Maggedon", a super-sentient weapon of mass destruction that was approaching Earth, that culminated in the final Morrison arc "World War III".

The run also had its share of editorial problems, such as Morrison's need to adapt to Superman's changing powers, the death of Wonder Woman and the loss of Green Arrow Connor Hawke, due to plans for a Kevin Smith-penned ''Green Arrow'' series. Still, ''JLA'' quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed off and on for several years. Despite this, DC did not create continuing spinoff series as it had done before.

Morrison departed with issue #41, after which the book saw runs by Mark Waid and Joe Kelly. Subsequent to this, the series switched to a series of rotating writers with issue #91 while Kelly (via ''JLA'' #100) was given a the mini-series ''Justice League Elite'', which featured Green Arrow, Flash, and several other Kelly created characters. The new format saw stories by John Byrne, Chuck Austen, and Kurt Busiek. Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg would take over the book with #115, which saw a multi-part storyline that dealt with the aftermath of ''Identity Crisis'', and served as a lead-in to the events of "Infinite Crisis", as Superboy-Prime destroyed the Watchtower at the end of issue #119. Bob Harras would ultimately write the book's final storyline (''JLA'' #120-125) as Green Arrow struggled in vain to keep the League afloat.

''52''

In ''52'' Week 24, Firestorm recruits a group to reform the Justice League. It consists of Firehawk, Super-Chief, Bulleteer, and Ambush Bug. They fight a deranged Skeets who takes Super-Chief's powers and kills him as well as numerous people given powers by Lex Luthor's Everyman Project. Afterward, Firestorm breaks up the team.

Also in the series, Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. was informally referred to as a "Justice League" in solicitations and on covers.

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2)

title	Justice League of America (vol. 2)
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2006 – August 2011
issues	60 (including #0) as of August 2011
writers	Brad MeltzerDwayne McDuffieLen WeinJames Robinson
pencillers	Ed BenesMark BagleyBrett Booth
creators	Brad MeltzerEd Benes }}

One year after the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite in the Batcave to re-form the League in ''Justice League of America'' #0, the kick-off for a new series by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes. The series featured a roster which included Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary, Red Arrow (Green Arrow's former sidekick), Red Tornado, Vixen, Black Lightning, and Hawkgirl. The first arc of the series focused upon Red Tornado and pitted the team against a new intelligent incarnation of Solomon Grundy and the rebuilt Amazo. The new incarnation of the team has two main headquarters, linked by a transporter. The first site is The Hall, which in mainstream DC Universe is a refurnished version of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron's former headquarters located in Washington, D.C. Black Canary is elected as the first official Chairperson after the fight against Amazo and Solomon Grundy, and led both the Justice League and Justice Society in a complex quest to reunite time-lost members of the pre-Crisis Legion of Super-Heroes, who had been sent back in time to free both Bart Allen and Flash from the other dimensional realm of the Speed Force. Meltzer left the series at the end of issue #12, with one of his subplots (Per Degaton, a pre-nuclear fire mutation version of Despero, and a circa 1948 version of the Ultra-Humanite gathering for an unknown plot) resolved in the pages of ''Booster Gold''.

Dwayne McDuffie took over the writing job with the ''Justice League Wedding Special'' and the main book with issue #13. Due to DC Comics seeking to launch a spin-off Justice League book led by Hal Jordan, the character was removed from the main League series and replaced by John Stewart. Firestorm also joined the roster, with the series entering into a series of tie-in storylines towards ''Countdown to Final Crisis'', with the arrest of a large number of supervillains (gathered by Lex Luthor and Deathstroke to attack the League on the eve of the wedding of Black Canary and Green Arrow) setting up the ''Salvation Run'' tie-in miniseries. Also, roster members Red Tornado and Geo-Force were written out. McDuffie's initial issues received mixed reviews and experienced minor conroversy due to fan favorite Hal Jordan's removal in favor of Stewart. Jordan ended up being restored to the roster by issue #19 of the series, only to be removed once again by issue #31 once ''Justice League: Cry for Justice'' was completed and ready to be shipped.

Issue #21 saw the return of Libra and the Human Flame, setting up their appearances in ''Final Crisis''. Later issues would resolve issues involving Vixen's power level increase and see the integration of the Milestone Comics characters the Shadow Cabinet and Icon, who fought the Justice League over the remains of the villainous Doctor Light. The group suffered greater losses during ''Final Crisis'' with the deaths of Martian Manhunter and Batman, as well as the resignations of Superman and Wonder Woman, who could no longer devote themselves full-time to the League due to the events of the ''New Krypton'' and ''Rise of the Olympian'' storylines in their respective titles. Hal Jordan would also resign as well, clearing the way for John Stewart's return to the team. Black Canary (now team leader) found herself declaring the League no more, though the group would continue with Canary taking a secondary role in the group. Her last act as leader would be assigning John Stewart and Firestorm the task of hunting down the Human Flame, for his part in the murder of Martian Manhunter, as seen in the ''Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!'' miniseries.

Vixen would take over the team, with Plastic Man rejoining the group. Len Wein wrote a three-part fill-in story for ''Justice League of America'' that ran from #35 to #37. McDuffie was fired from the title before he could return, after discussion postings to the DC Comics message board, detailing behind-the-scenes creative decisions on his run, were republished in the rumor column "Lying In The Gutter". James Robinson was announced as the new ''Justice League of America'' writer.

Wein's fill-in run would be published as "Justice League: Cry For Justice" neared its conclusion, as Vixen and Black Canary's group (sans John Stewart) would confront Hal Jordan and Green Arrow's makeshift Justice League group, which had stumbled upon a plot by the villain Prometheus that had resulted in much death and carnage. During the confrontation over Jordan's group using torture to extra information from the villains being blackmailed into carrying out Prometheus' plan, both Roy Harper and Supergirl would discover that one of Jordan's heroes, Captain Marvel Jr., was really Prometheus in disguise. In the ensuing battle, the League would suffer horrible losses: Roy Harper was maimed and his daughter Lian and hundreds of thousands of people in Star City would be killed by a doomsday device Prometheus activated. Vixen would have her leg broken and Plastic Man would have his powers permanently scrambled, making him a slowly disintegrating puddle creature. To save other cities from being destroyed like Star City, the League reluctantly allowed Prometheus to go free. However, Green Arrow (with help from the Shade) would track down and kill Prometheus.

Following the events of "Blackest Night", Hal Jordan and Donna Troy begin the task of rebuilding the League, with Green Arrow, the Atom, Batman, Mon-El, Donna, Cyborg, Doctor Light, Starfire, Congorilla, and the Guardian.

At the end of issue #43, the majority of the new members leave for various reasons. Mon-El and the Guardian leave after Mon-El returns to the future, Black Canary returns to the Birds of Prey, Starfire leaves to join the R.E.B.E.L.S., Green Lantern leaves locate the other Lantern Corps Entities, and Green Arrow is forced to leave due to his fugitive status. James Robinson revealed this was due to him having second thoughts about his decision to use so many characters, and revealed that the team would have a different roster in the coming months. To replace the departed members, Jade and Jesse Quick were added to the team. Cyborg remained with the team in a reduced capacity, and was eventually given his own co-feature storyline for issues 48–50.

Under Robinson, the title experienced mixed reviews and lower (but stable) sales than under Meltzer and McDuffie, with negative fan respone being leveled at the series due to its usage of lesser known heroes instead of more popular Justice League members. DC eventually announced that Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps would be joining the Justice League during a tie-in to the ''Reign of Doomsday'' crossover, but the character did not become a full member due to the cancellation of the title.

The series ended with issue #60 in August 2011, with the title being one of the numerous DC books cancelled after the ''Flashpoint'' crossover. The issue saw Batman disbanding the League due to most of the individual members becoming preoccupied with personal commitments.

''Justice League''

title	Justice League
Converted	y
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2011 – present
main char team	Justice League of America
writers	Geoff Johns
pencillers	Jim Lee
inkers	Scott Williams
colorists	Alex Sinclair
creators	Geoff JohnsJim Lee }}

In 2011, following the "Flashpoint" crossover storyline, all DC titles were canceled. Fifty-two titles were relaunched with new first issues and new creative teams. ''Justice League of America'' was relaunched as ''Justice League'', and was the first of the new titles released, coming out the same week as the final issue of ''Flashpoint''. The title will be written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee, and will feature a brand new origin for the team which is covered in the first six issues of the series that takes place five years before the events of the titles from the other relaunched series. Issue #7 of the series will begin the story of the Justice League in the present which is set to be released in March 2012.

The starting line-up of the team will consist of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, the Flash (Barry Allen), and Cyborg, with the Atom (Ryan Choi), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), Green Arrow, Aquaman's wife Mera, Deadman, recently created character Element Woman, and Lady Luck, a revamp of the Golden Age character, as additional members.

In addition to this series, two other ''Justice League''-related titles have been announced and will launch during the same month; a new ''Justice League International'', written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti, featuring a roster consisting of Batman, Booster Gold, Rocket Red, Vixen, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Fire, Ice, August General in Iron, and Godiva, and ''Justice League Dark'', written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Mikel Janin, featuring a roster consisting of John Constantine, Shade, the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, and new character Mindwarp.

Various origins of the Justice League

In a story told in flashback in 1962's ''Justice League of America'' #9, Earth was infiltrated by the Appelaxians. Competing alien warriors were sent to see who could conquer Earth first to determine who will become the new ruler of their home planet. The aliens' attacks drew the attentions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. While the superheroes individually defeated most of the invaders, the heroes fell prey to a single competitor's attack; only by working together were they able to defeat the competitor. For many years, the heroes heralded this adventure as the event that prompted them to agree to pool resources when confronted with similar menaces.

Years later, however (as revealed in ''Justice League of America'' #144), Green Arrow uncovered inconsistencies in League records and extracted admissions from his colleagues that the seven founders had actually formed the League after the Martian Manhunter was rescued from Martian forces by the other six founders, along with several other heroes including Robin, Robotman, Congo Bill/Congorilla, Rex the Wonder Dog, and even Lois Lane. Green Lantern participated in this first adventure solely as Hal Jordan, due to the fact that he had yet to become the costumed hero at that time (the biggest inconsistency Arrow found, as they celebrated the earlier incident's date, while recounting only the later one's events). When the group formalized their agreement, they suppressed news of it because of anti-Martian hysteria (mirroring the real-world backdrop of Martian scares and anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s). Because the League members had not revealed their identities to each other at the time, they did not realize that Jordan and Green Lantern were one and the same when he turned up in costume during the event described in #9. While most subsequent accounts of the League have made little mention of this first adventure, the animated ''Justice League'' series adapted this tale as the origin of the League as well.

1989's ''Secret Origins'' #32 updated ''Justice League of America'' #9's origin for Post-Crisis continuity. Differences included the inclusion of the original Black Canary as a founding member and the absence of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman (the 1960s time frame was retained, but the post-Crisis versions of DC's three biggest stars were young and early in their careers in the late 1980s). Additionally, while Hal Jordan served as the public face of the Justice League, this iteration of the League's origin cast the Flash as the team's unofficial leader, since it was Allen who usually came up with the plans that best utilized everyone's powers. 1998's ''JLA: Year One'' limited series, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, further expanded upon the ''Secret Origins'' depiction, with the revelation that the group was secretly financed by Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the superhero Green Arrow. It also stated that Superman rejected membership into the group, leading to much animus between him and the other "founders" during the early years of the group.

In 1994's ''Justice League Task Force'' #16, during Zero Hour, an unknown superhuman named Triumph appeared. In a plotline never explored before, Triumph was revealed to have been a founding member of the Justice League and was their leader. On his first mission with the fledgling Justice League Triumph seemingly "saved the world" but was teleported into a dimensional limbo that also affected the timestream, resulting in no one having any memory of him. This explained how all the heroes ended up in Washington for their first meeting.

Further convolutions came with the issue of Batman's involvement with the League; during the 1990s, the editors of Batman sought to distance Batman from the Justice League, to the point of demanding that Batman's entire Justice League membership be removed from the group's canon. According to Christopher Priest, this "Batman was never in the Justice League" edict came down ironically after DC published ''Justice League America Annual'' #9, which featured Batman as a member of the League during its early days. The edict itself was largely haphazardly enforced; while Mark Waid had Batman proclaim to have never been a member of the League in ''Justice League Incarnations'' #7, other writers such as Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen took the stance that Batman had simply never joined the team until the Justice League International era. This edict was ultimately dropped by the early 2000s, as Batman's involvement with the League is now referenced heavily by later writers such as Brad Meltzer.

The convoluted change made to Hawkman's background in the wake of the launching of the Hawkworld ongoing series, in 1990, resulted in a retcon where the original Golden Age/Justice Society Golden Age Hawkman, Carter Hall was now a member of the team as opposed to Katar Hol (who would now not join the group until 1994's Justice League America #0). The details of how Carter Hall joined the team, would be revealed in the 2001 ''Justice League Incarnations'' #1, with the revelation that Carter joined the team to serve as a mentor for then-young heroes.

In 2006's ''Infinite Crisis'' #7, the formation of "New Earth" (the new name for the Post-Crisis Earth) resulted in the retcon that Wonder Woman was a founding member of the Justice League in the early days. In Brad Meltzer's ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0 (2006), it was also revealed that both Superman and Batman were founding members as well. ''52 - Week 51'' confirmed that the 1989 ''Secret Origins'' and ''JLA: Year One'' origins were still in canon at that time, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman joining the team (consisting of Aquaman, Black Canary, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter) with founding members' status shortly after the group's formation. However, in various issues (particularly issue #12) of the 2006 ''Justice League of America'' series, the founding members of the Justice League are shown to be: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter.

With much of DC's past history rebooted by the 2011 "Flashpoint" event, an entirely new origin for the League is introduced in the subsequent ''Justice League'' series which debuted in September 2011. Issue #1 portrays the first meeting between Batman and Hal Jordan, with the two encountering each other during a battle against a Parademon in Gotham City. After realizing the creature is extraterrestrial in origin, the two heroes head to Metropolis to seek out Superman (who is a known alien in the new continuity), and are attacked by him. Later, after a brief fight to which the Flash arrives and Batman convinces Superman they are on the same side, they move to an abandoned newspress building to work on analyzing the mysterious alien box, when it suddenly activates and more Parademons arrive. While fighting them off, the heroes notice them capture people for something. During this they meet two more heroes Aquaman and Wonder Woman who join them.

Related series

''Formerly Known as the Justice League''

In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire returned with a separate limited series called ''Formerly Known as the Justice League'' with the same humor as their Justice League run, and featuring some of the same characters in a team called the "Super Buddies" (a parody of the ''Super Friends''). A follow-up limited series, entitled ''I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League'', soon was prepared, although it was delayed due to the events shown in the ''Identity Crisis'' limited series, but was eventually released as the second arc in ''JLA: Classified''. The Super Buddies consisted of Blue Beetle; Booster Gold; Captain Atom, Fire; Mary Marvel; the Elongated Man with his wife, Sue Dibny; Maxwell Lord; and L-Ron. The second story arc of ''JLA: Classified'' focuses on the Super Buddies in a humorous story that features Power Girl, Guy Gardner, and Doctor Fate.

''JLA/Avengers''

In 2004, George Pérez and Kurt Busiek came out with a ''JLA/Avengers'' crossover, an idea that had been delayed for 20 years for various reasons. In this limited series, the Justice League and the Avengers were forced to find key artifacts in one another's universe, as well as deal with the threats of villains Krona and the Grandmaster. A key moment in League history occurs in this series, when the Avenger Hawkeye becomes the first Marvel Comics character to be inducted into the Justice League.

''JLA: Classified''

title	JLA: Classified
schedule	Monthly
format	Ended
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 2005 - May 2008
issues	54
writers	various
artists	various
creators	Grant MorrisonEd McGuinness }}

In 2004, DC began an anthology series titled ''JLA: Classified'', which would feature rotating writers and artists producing self-contained story-arcs and aborted mini-series projects that were reappropriated for publication within the pages of the series, starring the JLA. While the bulk of the stories took place within the continuity of the series (circa ''JLA'' #76–113) some of the stories take place outside of regular DC Universe canon. The series was canceled as of issue #54 (May 2008).

''Justice''

In October 2005, DC began publishing the 12-issue miniseries ''Justice'' by writer Jim Krueger, writer/illustrator Alex Ross, and artist Doug Braithwaite. The story, which takes place outside regular DC continuity, has Lex Luthor assembling the Legion of Doom after he and several other villains begin to have nightmares about the end of the world and the failures of the Justice League to prevent said apocalypse. As the Legion begins engaging in unprecedented humanitarian deeds throughout the world, they also launch a series of attacks on the Justice League and their families. In the end however, the threat that the Legion was warned about destroying the Earth turns out to be caused by Brainiac, who seeks to destroy Earth during the chaos.

''Justice League: Cry for Justice''

Originally a planned ongoing title, ''Justice League: Cry For Justice'' is a mini-series written by James Robinson and drawn by Mauro Cascioli. The mini-series, set after the events of ''Final Crisis'', has Hal Jordan leaving the League following the deaths of Batman and Martian Manhunter, as their deaths have caused Hal to seek out a more proactive manner of dealing with super-villains. Hal, along with Green Arrow and later Supergirl, Captain Marvel Jr., and Batwoman are then recruited by Ray Palmer to investigate a murder of a former colleague carried out on orders from Prometheus. This ties into another string of murders, bringing Starman Mikaal Tomas and Congorilla together as their investigation of the murders of several European super-heroes are also revealed to be the work of Prometheus.

With help from the Hawkman villain I.Q., Prometheus plans on creating the ultimate weapon in mass murder, a massive doomsday device which he plans on using to destroy entire cities, as part of his revenge scheme against the JLA for lobotomizing him. Disguised as Captain Marvel Jr., Prometheus maims Roy Harper and brutally injuring JLA members Dr. Light II, Vixen, and Plastic Man while using the JLA Satellite to activate his doomsday device, which destroys Star City, killing 90,000 innocent civilians, including Roy Harper's young daughter Lian. Prometheus ultimately extorts his freedom from the League in exchange for the codes to shut down his weapon, much to the horror of the JLA members. However, afterwards, Green Arrow (with help from reformed villain the Shade), tracks Prometheus down and kills him by firing an arrow into his head.

The mini-series leads directly into the formation of a brand new JLA roster with Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Donna Troy, Dick Grayson as Batman, Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Mon-El, Cyborg, Starfire, Congorilla, Guardian, and Mikaal Tomas.

''JLA/The 99''

Launching in October 2010, ''JLA/The 99'' was a crossover mini-series featuring the Justice League teaming up with the heroes of Teshkeel Comics' ''The 99'' series. The JLA consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), the Flash (Barry Allen), the Atom (Ray Palmer), Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Hawkman, and Firestorm (Jason Rusch).

Awards

The original ''Justice League of America'' series has won:

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Comic Book''

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Adventure-Hero Group''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Favorite Novel'' ("Crisis on Earth-One/Crisis on Earth-Two" in ''Justice League of America'' #21-22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky)

1963 Alley Awards for ''Strip that Should Be Improved''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Artist Preferred on Justice League of America'' (Murphy Anderson)

1973 Shazam Awards for ''Best Inker (Dramatic Division)'' (Dick Giordano)

Collected editions

Silver Age ''Justice League of America''

This series has been collected in the following: {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |Justice League of America Archives volume 1 |''The Brave and the Bold'' #28-30, ''Justice League of America'' #1-6 |- |2 |Justice League of America Archives volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #7-14 |- |3 |Justice League of America Archives volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #15-22 |- |4 |Justice League of America Archives volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #23-30 |- |5 |Justice League of America Archives volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #31-38, #40* |- |6 |Justice League of America Archives volume 6 |''Justice League of America'' #41-47, #49-50* |- |7 |Justice League of America Archives volume 7 |''Justice League of America'' #51-57, #59-60* |- |8 |Justice League of America Archives volume 8 |''Justice League of America'' #61-66, #68-70* |- |9 |Justice League of America Archives volume 9 |''Justice League of America'' #71-80 |}

omitted issues featured reprints of material from earlier Archives.

''Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America'' (1987–1996)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	Justice League International Volume 1	''Justice League'' #1-6, ''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #7
''2''	Justice League International Volume 2	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #8-14, ''Justice League'' Annual #1
''3''	Justice League International Volume 3	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #15-22
''4''	Justice League International Volume 4	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #23-25, ''Justice League America'' #26-30
''5''	Justice League International Volume 5	''Justice League International Annual'' #2-3, ''Justice League Europe'' #1-6

''JLA'' (January 1997 – February 2006)

This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	New World Order	''JLA'' #1-4
''2''	American Dreams	''JLA'' #5-9
''3''	Rock of Ages	''JLA'' #10-15
''4''	Strength in Numbers	''JLA'' #16-23, ''JLA Secret Files'' #2, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot)
''5''	Justice For All	''JLA'' #24-33
''6''		''JLA'' #34-41
''7''		''JLA'' #42-46, ''JLA Secret Files'' #3, ''JLA 80-Page Giant'' #1
''8''	Divided We Fall	''JLA'' #47-54
''9''	Terror Incognita	''JLA'' #55-60
''10''	Golden Perfect	''JLA'' #61-65
''11''	The Obsidian Age (Book 1)	''JLA'' #66-71
''12''	The Obsidian Age (Book 2)	''JLA'' #72-76
''13''	Rules of Engagement	''JLA'' #77-82
''14''	Trial By Fire	''JLA'' #84-89
''15''	The Tenth Circle	''JLA'' #94-99
''16''		''JLA'' #101-106
''17''	Syndicate Rules	''JLA'' #107-114, and a story from ''JLA Secret Files'' 2004
''18''	Crisis of Conscience	''JLA'' #115-119
''19''	World Without a Justice League	''JLA'' #120-125

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1	''JLA'' #1-9, plus a story included in ''JLA: Secret Files and Origins'' #1
''2''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 2	''JLA'' #10-17, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot), plus ''JLA/WILDCATS''
''3''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 3	''JLA'' #22-26, 28-31 and 1,000,000''
''4''	JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 4	''JLA'' #34, 36-41, ''JLA: Classified'' #1-3, ''JLA: Earth II''

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) (August 2006 – August 2011)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	The Tornado's Path	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #1-7
''2''	The Lightning Saga	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0, #8-12; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #5-6
''3''	The Injustice League	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #13-16; ''JLA Wedding Special'' #1
''4''	Sanctuary	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #17-21
''5''	The Second Coming	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #22-26
''6''	When Worlds Collide	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #27-28, #30-34
''7''	Team History	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #38-43
''8''	The Dark Things	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #44-48; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #41-42
''9''	Omega	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #49-53
'' 10	The Rise of Eclipso	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #54-60

Miscellaneous reprints

These trades don't reprint the series in a coherent fashion, but reprint themed issues. {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |Justice League of America Hereby Elects |''Justice League of America'' #4, 75, 105-106, 146, 161, and 173-174 |- |2 |JLA: The Greatest Stories Ever Told |''Justice League of America'' #19, 77, 122 and 166-168, Justice League #1, JLA Secret Files #1 and JLA #61 |- |3 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 1 |''Justice League of America'' ##21-22, 29-30, 37-38 and 46-47 |- |4 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #55-56, 64-65, 73-74 and 82-83 |- |5 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #91-92, 100-102, 107-108 and 113 |- |6 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #123-124, 135-137 and 147-148 |- |7 |Crisis on Multiple Earths volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #159-160, 171-172 and 183-185 |}

In other media

See also

Justice Society of America

Spin-off groups

Extreme Justice

Justice Leagues

Justice League Antarctica

Justice League Elite

Justice League Europe

Justice League International

Justice League Task Force

Super Buddies

References

External links

Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

The Origin Story of the Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

Justice League of America at Toonopedia

''Justice League Unlimited'' at Cartoon Network "A Monumental Move" (April 5, 2007) WizardUniverse.com - Writer Brad Meltzer discusses the origins and implications of the JLA's new HQ

The Justice League Library

"Super-Exiles of Earth" (''JLA'' #19, May 1963)

Category:1960 introductions Category:1961 comic debuts Category:1997 comic debuts Category:2006 comic debuts Category:DC Comics titles Category:Justice League Category:Characters created by Gardner Fox

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