In September 2011, DC Comics relaunched their entire line of publications, dubbing the new publishing initiative as The New 52. The initiative consisted of a new imprint of titles, all labeled with "The New 52" logo, as well as creating a rebooted DC Universe post-"Flashpoint" that saw characters from the former WildStorm and Vertigo imprints being absorbed into the main DC Comics line. The intent was to publish 52 ongoing titles each month across the DC Universe. However, DC has also counted one-shots, miniseries and maxiseries in that number. In June 2015, following the conclusion of the Convergence miniseries, "The New 52" branding and imprint were discontinued, although the continuity continued to exist under a new initiative, "DC You". As of June 2015, DC has released a total of 109 ongoing titles, with 3 planned. To expand The New 52 universe, DC has also released 22 one-shots, 22 miniseries and 3 maxiseries, with 1 one-shot planned.
Imprint titles
The ongoing titles under The New 52 imprint were organized under seven different "families," grouping similar characters or themes within the books together. These families were: "Justice League"; "Batman"; "Superman"; "Green Lantern"; "Young Justice"; "The Edge"; and "The Dark". However, by the release of the October 2013 solicitations, DC was no longer grouping the titles by these families, instead releasing one larger solicit, titled "The New 52 Group".
From September 2011 until June 2015, DC released 93 ongoing titles under the imprint across multiple "wave" releases, and to expand The New 52 universe, also released 21 one-shots, 17 miniseries and 3 maxiseries. DC used the "wave" format of introducing new titles, which occasionally corresponded with titles being canceled, to "constantly refresh the line". Additionally, in subsequent Septembers following the launch, DC featured unique publishing initiatives to commemorate the relaunch.
Post-imprint titles
In February 2015, it was revealed that after the Convergence miniseries in June 2015, DC would no longer use the "New 52" name to brand their books; however the continuity established in September 2011 would continue. Dan DiDio stated, "In this new era of storytelling, story will trump continuity as we continue to empower creators to tell the best stories". Jim Lee added, "Rather than having 52 books all in the same continuity, and really focusing on keeping a universe that's tightly connected and has super-internal consistency, and really one flavor, we've really broken it up. We'll have a core line of about 25 books that will have that internal consistency, that will consist of our best-selling books. But then the rest of the line, about 24 titles, will be allowed to really shake things up a little bit." The new titles will “reinventing key characters,†such as Black Canary, Cyborg, Bizarro, and Starfire, with a new “contemporary tonality to ensure a diverse offering of comic books.†In the initial "relaunch", 24 new publications joined 25 existing publications from before Convergence, with new titles continuing to be added. In March 2015, DiDio revealed there would not be an "overarching brand on this" stating the relaunch was just "DC Comics, pure and simple." However, in May 2015, DC announced the advertising campaign "DC You" for the relaunch, highlighting the four themes of characters, talent, stories and fans. The initiative, which began in DC's print and digital comics on May 20, before transitioning to other digital content on June 3, was featured on print inserts and ads, as well as on the DC Comics website and across social media with a special hashtag.
Since the "relaunch", DC has released an additional 16 ongoing series, as well as 5 miniseries, with 3 ongoing series, and 1 one-shot planned.
Continuing titles
These titles were published before Convergence and continue their previous numbering, as opposed to being renumberd or relaunched in June 2015.
New titles
One-shots
In May 2015, DC released eight-page original stories for free in the monthly titles of "Convergence" as well as on DC's website and other digital distributors such as comiXology. The stories provided a sampling of the new titles launching in June as a way to generate excitement for the titles and for readers to "get a chance to read these books, see the different styles of art, read the different types of stories, see how [DC] plan[s] to interpret [their] characters in a new way".
Miniseries
References
- Notes
- 1. ^ For additional creative team information, see each title's individual article.
- References
External links
- DC Comics comic page
