10 Shocking Cover Ups DC Comics Wants You To Forget
DC has been pumping out books for nearly a century, but some secrets are better left in the past...
DC Comics has been an active publisher of comic books since it put out its first book in 1934, back when it was first called National Allied Publications. Over the years, DC has created and published some of the most important characters in the history of the medium, including Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and many more.
Because the company has been in business for nearly 90 years, there are more than a few skeletons it would like to have remained in the closet. Issues with publishing, writers, artists, and more have sprung up every once in a while, and while they are public knowledge, that doesn't mean DC likes it that way.
Of course, not everything is as well known as some of the company's more public embarrassments, and there are a few things, even the most ardent readers of DC Comics may not know about.
Whether they happened this year, or back in the 1940s, these ten cover-ups deal with problems DC Comics has faced over the years, and while the publisher has overcome its issues as it continues pumping out books, they may not be the last time DC would prefer its fans looked away.
10. Suing & Buying Fawcett Comics
DC has been a major player in the comic book industry for so long, it's easy to forget that in the early days, there was more than simply Marvel and DC Comics printing successful books. One such company was Fawcett Comics, and it enjoyed success for decades before trouble hit.
In the 1940s, DC sued Fawcett over its character Captain Marvel. The complaint alleged that Captain Marvel was little more than a ripoff of Superman, but the case was dismissed on a technicality dealing with missing copyright information in the company's newspaper publishing of Superman comic strips.
The case went to appeal, and National Comics (DC at the time) won the lawsuit, as several stories were shown to have been lifted from Superman books. This caused significant financial problems for Fawcett, and by 1953, it ceased publishing all superhero comics while simultaneously settling the lawsuit out of court.
DC then went for Fawcett's throat and purchased the company's line of superhero characters, which included Captain Marvel. Ironically, DC was later sued in 1967 over the trademark name Captain Marvel, which resulted in the rebranding of the character as Shazam!
DC bought up several of its rivals in its growth to become a power-player in the comic book publishing world, but its fight with Fawcett was a nasty one the company would prefer wasn't brought up in otherwise polite conversation.