DC Comics

This is a /co/ related article, which we allow because we find it interesting or we can't be bothered to delete it.

This article is a stub. You can help 1d4chan by expanding it

DC Comics, proper name Detective Comics, is the oldest of the two most popular comics companies of all time. If you haven't heard of them, you've been living under a real rock. They are iconic for their work in the Supers genre.

Universe

The DC Comics universe mostly defines itself by a "Supergods" motif; its characters tend to be extraordinarily powerful and it views their adventures in a largely "neo-mythical" light. Whilst it does have its share of street-level heroes, most of its heroes are battling interplanetary or cosmic threats, especially when they team up. In general, DC's universe is closer to the Silver Age in general feel, with an emphasis on aliens, monsters, hyperscience and colorful heroes battling the aforementioned.

Except for the Vertigo imprint, which is more of a grimdark branch of the universe and, perhaps coincidentally, focuses more on its magical and horror elements.

Notable Supers

Superman

Considered the original superhero (although he actually built on tropes that had appeared in early pulp novels), Superman is famous; the last survivor of the alien planet Krypton, whose parents managed to launch him to Earth in an escape shuttle before Krypton's core destabilized and the planet exploded. Raised by good-hearted farmers in the Kansas village of Smallville, he dedicates himself to fighting for truth, justice, and liberty for all.

He is perhaps most infamous as the most absurdly overpowered character in comics, with an arsenal of abilities that includes flight, superhuman strength, nigh invulnerability, ocular heat rays, superhuman hearing, superhuman speed, x-ray vision and a freezing breath weapon. Ironically, he actually started out as relatively small powered; in the original comics, Superman's powers stemmed from his species having evolved on a planet with significantly higher gravity than Earth - as a result, on Earth, Superman's strength was far greater than any human, and the durable biology needed to resist the pressure made most human-level threats insignificant. He couldn't even fly originally, but instead his superhuman strength let him run at incredible speeds and leap huge distances. The very first cartoons gave him the ability to fly for dramatic effect, and that as where it started. In particular, he lost the "heavyworlder" origin and instead his powers became something his alien biology could only do if he charged up on solar energies from a yellow sun, whilst a popular radio drama introduced his most iconic vulnerability in the form of Kryptonite, the radioactive remnants of his homeworld.

We have a seperate article about him, mainly because his fame is partly separate from the DCU.

Batman

Batman is most notable as the longest surviving and best known example of the original "costumed vigilante" type of superhero. In many ways, he is a direct continuation of the shadowy avengers and vigilantes that proliferated in pulp fiction; even his backstory as a wealthy man who, traumatized by the murder of his parents by a mugger when was a child, dedicated himself to training body and mind before outfitting himself with useful gadgets to declare war on crime, is straight out of old pulps.

Whilst mostly associated with dark, brooding and depressing almost noir-esque tales from the Bronze and Dark Ages, there is one element of Silver Age Batman which has survived and prospered: his rogue's gallery. Back in the Silver Age, Batman in particular was prone to facing off villains built from what TVTropes calls "Idiosyncrazy" - weird gimmicks and themes around which an entire criminal identity and motif were formed. Whilst the most overtly silly rogues from this time were quietly shuffled off into retirement, the fact is that a number of villains actually made this trope work. Hence the Bat's colorful cast of crazed criminal creeps, from the murderously mirthful mad clown the Joker to the plant-controlling ecoterrorist femme fatale Poison Ivy to the puzzle-spouting Riddler and beyond.

We have a separate article about him, mainly because he's actually fairly influential on /tg/ stuff.

Wonder Woman

Widely recognized as one of the very first superheroines, if not the first, Wonder Woman is a magical woman - a clay baby brought to life by the blessing of the Greek goddesses and then further imbued with their blessings as she aged - reared on the hidden paradise of Themyscira‎, home of the Amazons. She was sent to "man's world" to spread a message of peace, love, tolerance and goodwill, but is more than willing to bash in the heads of villains to spread the good word.

Ironically, despite being considered one of "the big three" with Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman has long struggled to actually keep her titles afloat. This might have something to do with the fact that she is generally defined as "The Feminist Superheroine", and as such she has suffered a long string of silly, embarrassing or just plain stupid elements, alterations and revisions. But that's what happens when your creator is a polygynous sexual deviant obsessed with bondage and femdom to the point of preaching that these should become the new foundations of society.

The Flash

Fastest man alive. One of the first "legacy heroes". Usually a giant fucking nerd. Not that interesting, until he got a second TV series.

Green Lantern

Not that interesting, until the 1959 reboot, when DC ripped off Lensman and made him a space cop. Since then, the title character isn't that interesting, but the series has become a playground for writers and artists looking to do trippy science fiction/science fantasy stuff with lots of weird aliens.

Green Arrow

Batman rip-off. Not interesting, until he got a TV show that made him a slightly more willing-to-kill Batman.

John Constantine

The Wizard-as-Con-Man poster boy. John rarely actually does magic, and instead tricks his enemies into doing what he wants. Was for a long time kept in a sort of limbo, because he was a "mature audiences" (back when that meant "violence and cursing", rather than just sex) character. Has since become part of the main DCU, although usually in the background. Famously (1) bisexual (2) winds up accidentally killing all his friends (although there's usually some bad juju that Constantine is trying to disarm happening at the same time involved).

The Justice League

The biggest and most notable superhero team in the DC universe, made up of all its best and brightest.

/tg/ Relevance

There have been a number of roleplaying games tied into the DC universe released for players.