Editing DC Comics (section)

===Arrowverse===
DC did quite a few TV serials from the 1950s onwards, although with the exception of the ten-year-long Smallville series, these shows tended to be fairly short-lived "flash in the pan" affairs, lasting from 1-6 years on average. Then came 2012's "Arrow".

The idea was simple: take a B-lister character, Green Arrow, and then exploit that character's lack of an established fanbase compared to the likes of Batman or Superman to do something more experimental. The result was to lean back on Arrow's "Left-Wing Archer Batman" characterization and throw in a dash of the Punisher; "Arrow" revolved around Oliver Queen taking up the costumed identity of the Green Arrow to become a vigilante avenger, tracking down and killing criminals connected to a conspiracy that had killed his father and almost killed him. He slowly built up a vigilante team, softened his methods, and basically exploded in popularity, going from a media nobody to a media darling.

That opened the floodgates for other series set in the same universe. In 2014, "The Flash" would debut, being established as living in the same world as Oliver Queen and his Arrow team - the two superheroes would even team up in some crossover episodes. Then things began to expand. 2015's "Supergirl" focused on the titular female Kryptonian, bringing the Martian Manhunter in as her ally, and then established her as native to one of the alternate dimensions in this new DC multiverse when she crossed paths with the Flash. 2016 would bring in "The Legion of Tomorrow", a team of time-traveling second-string characters from Oliver Queen's dimension. 2018's "Black Lightning" and 2019's "Batwoman" would finish the direct members of the Arrowverse.

At the same time as the Arrowverse was taking shape, however, DC was also airing a number of other TV serials that were, at least originally, not connected to the Arrowverse. These included Gotham (a take on the Batman story focusing on Gotham during Bruce Wayne's childhood and with future-Police Commissioner Gordon as the protagonist), Krypton (a two-season story about Superman's parents), and others. Several of these shows - Titans, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, and Stargirl - would later be established as being "Arrowverse Adjacent", taking place in the Arrowverse multiverse but not in the dimensions of either Arrow or Supergirl. Several of the more well-received historical DC tv shows would also be retconned into being part of the Arrow multiverse as well, including the legendary Smallville.

Whilst on the surface the Arrowverse was inspired by Marvel's idea to do tie-in serials to the MCU based on B-tier and lower characters, in fact, DC actually beat them to the punch; the earliest MCU tie-in serial, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D", didn't debut until 2013, and the others releasing between 2015 to 2017.