10 Shocking Cover Ups DC Comics Wants You To Forget

9. The DC Explosion Blew Up In Its Face

Harley Quinn DC Comics
DC Comics

Back in the 1970s, DC found that it was slumping in sales compared to its biggest rival, Marvel Comics, so to boost readership, the company launched the DC Explosion. This wasn't an event like "Crisis on Infinite Earths" or anything like that; it was more of a sales gimmick, and it exploded alright — in DC's face.

The DC Explosion was a bold move when it was first launched, as it had the goal of overtaking Marvel in sales. The plan was to boost sales by increasing everything the company produced. The company revived characters it hadn't used in decades, upped the cost of its books, and made them longer.

This was partly done to justify the cost increase, but it was more to do with the concept of doing everything bigger and better than Marvel. Books that were 17 to 18 pages in length were increased to 25 pages and higher. The ambitious plan also involved the launching of 57 new titles over a four-year period.

The problem with the DC Explosion was that it favored quantity over quality, and the company didn't have the staff of writers or artists needed to make the new titles very good. Because of this, most of the new books only lasted for a single issue with some maybe doubling that amount.

Before the year was out, the DC Explosion only managed to implode and hurt the company even further. It was a dark time over at DC, and it took a while before the company climbed out of the considerable hole the DC Explosion created for it.

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Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com