The Real Story Behind When DC Characters Appeared In Monthly Marvel Comics
2. Enter The Distinguished Competitor
One of the benefits of creator-owned properties is that said creator can do with them as they see fit - even if it is selling the whole thing to a large corporate entity.
At the tail end of the 1990s, Jim Lee did just that and sold the entirety of his Wildstorm universe to DC Comics.
The sale would serve two ends. Firstly, it would raise the entire company's visibility while offering them autonomy to exist as a standalone imprint like DC already had with Vertigo. Secondly, it bought Jim Lee a seat at the "big table" and allowed him to move up the first few rungs of the corporate ladder.
Wildstorm would become the "cool older teenage brother" to DC with books such as The Authority, Planetary, and Sleeper. These titles, along with his smash hit Batman run and managing to retain Alan Moore's ABC line - despite his well-documented dislike of Wildstorm's new owners - resulted in Lee's promotion to Publisher of DC Comics.