DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner. DC Comics is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in American comic books, and produces material featuring numerous well-known heroic characters, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Shazam, Hawkman and Green Arrow. The fictional DC universe also features teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, and the Teen Titans, and well-known villains such as Joker, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, Darkseid, Ra's al Ghul, Deathstroke, Sinestro, Black Adam and Brainiac. The company has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and many titles under their alternative imprints Vertigo and America's Best Comics.

The initials "DC" came from the company's popular series Detective Comics, which featured Batman's debut and subsequently became part of the company's name. Originally in Manhattan at 432 Fourth Avenue, the DC Comics offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue; 909 Third Avenue; 75 Rockefeller Plaza; 666 Fifth Avenue; and 1325 Avenue of the Americas. DC has its headquarters at 1700 Broadway, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, but it was announced in October 2013 that DC Entertainment would relocate its headquarters from New York to Burbank, California in 2015.

Justice League

The Justice League, also known as the Justice League of America, is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The Justice League was conceived by writer Gardner Fox, and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (Feb.-March 1960).

The team is an assemblage of superheroes who join together as the Justice League. The seven original members were Aquaman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman and the team roster has rotated throughout the years, consisting of many superheroes from the DC Universe.

The Justice League received its own comic book title called Justice League of America in October 1960. With the 2011 relaunch of its titles, DC Comics released a second volume of Justice League and in 2015 released a fourth volume of Justice League of America, both of which are currently in print. Since its inception, the team has been featured in various television programs and video games.

Background

Comics

Comics is a medium used to express ideas via images, often combined with text or other visual information. Comics frequently takes the form of juxtaposed sequences of panels of images. Often textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. Size and arrangement of panels contribute to narrative pacing. Cartooning and similar forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics; fumetti is a form which uses photographic images. Common forms of comics include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comics albums, and tankōbon have become increasingly common, and online webcomics have proliferated in the 21st century.

Flash (comics)

The Flash is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940).

Nicknamed the "Scarlet Speedster", the "Crimson Comet", "The Blur", and "The Streak", all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics. Thus far, four different characters—each of whom somehow gained the power of "super-speed"—have assumed the identity of the Flash: Jay Garrick (1940–present), Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Wally West (1986–2006, 2007–2012, 2013–present), and Bart Allen (2006–2007). Before Wally and Bart's ascension to the mantle of the Flash, they were both Flash protégés under the same name Kid Flash (Bart was also known as Impulse).

The second incarnation of the Flash, Flash (Barry Allen), is part of the Silver Age of comic books. Each version of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a warrior princess of the Amazons (which are based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and is known in her homeland as Princess Diana of Themyscira. When outside her homeland, she is sometimes known by the secret identity Diana Prince. She is gifted with a wide range of superhuman powers and superior combat and battle skills. She possesses an arsenal of weapons, including the Lasso of Truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and (in older stories) a range of devices based on Amazon technology.

Wonder Woman was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston. The character first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941 and first cover-dated on Sensation Comics #1, January 1942. The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986. Her depiction as a heroine fighting for justice, love, peace, and gender equality has led to Wonder Woman being widely considered a feminist icon. Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting Axis military forces as well as an assortment of colorful supervillains, although over time her stories came to place greater emphasis on characters, deities, and monsters from Greek mythology. In the decades since her debut, Wonder Woman has gained a formidable cast of enemies bent on eliminating the Amazon, including classic villains such as Ares, Cheetah, Circe, Doctor Psycho, and Giganta, along with more recent adversaries such as the First Born. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960).