Detective Comics

Detective Comics
Detective Comics #1 (March 1937). Cover art by Vin Sullivan.
Publication information
Publisher	Detective Comics, Inc. #1–119 National Comics Publications #120–296 National Periodical Publications #297–467 DC Comics #468–current
Schedule	List 'Monthly: #1–434, #446–466, #489–811 Eight times a year:www.dccomics.com ' #469–474 Bimonthly: #435–445, #467–468, #475–488 Twice monthly #934-
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	List (vol. 1) March 1937–October 2011 (vol. 2) November 2011–July 2016 (vol. 1 cont.) August 2016–present
Number of issues	List (vol. 1): 883 (#1–881 plus issues numbered 0 and 1,000,000) and 12 Annuals (vol. 2): 57 (#1–52 plus issues numbered 0 and 23.1 through 23.4) and 3 Annuals (vol. 1 cont.): 10 (#934-943) (as of December 2016 cover date)
Main character(s)	List Batman (since #27) Other characters: Slam Bradley Elongated Man Batgirl Robin Manhunter Man-Bat Green Arrow Human Target
Creative team
Writer(s)	List (vol. 1) Bill Finger Dennis O'Neil Frank Robbins Gerry Conway Archie Goodwin Steve Englehart David V. Reed Greg Rucka (vol. 2) Tony Daniel Derek Fridolfs Gregg Hurwitz Matt Kindt John Layman Frank Tieri Peter J. Tomasi James Tynion IV Ed Brubaker
Penciller(s)	List (vol. 1) Bob Kane Dick Sprang Sheldon Moldoff Carmine Infantino Gil Kane Neal Adams Irv Novick Jim Aparo Walt Simonson Ernie Chan Marshall Rogers Gene Colan Alan Davis Tom Mandrake Don Newton J. H. Williams III, Pete Woods (vol. 2) Ed Benes, Andy Clarke, Tony Daniel Scot Eaton Jason Fabok Mikel Janin Syzmon Kudranski Eduardo Pansica Javier Pina
Inker(s)	List (vol. 1) Jerry Robinson Charles Paris Murphy Anderson Joe Giella Sid Greene Dick Giordano Terry Austin Alfredo Alcala
Colorist(s)	List Adrienne Roy

Detective Comics is the title of an American comic book series published by DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011, is best known for introducing the superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 (cover date May 1939, release date March 1939). A second series of the same title was launched in the fall of 2011 but in 2016 reverted to the original volume numbering. The series is the source of its publishing company's name, and — along with Action Comics, the series that launched with the debut of Superman — one of the medium's signature series. The series published 881 issues between 1937 and 2011 and is the longest continuously published comic book in the United States.

Detective Comics was the final publication of the entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, whose comics company, National Allied Publications, would evolve into DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comic book publishers, though long after its founder had left it. Wheeler-Nicholson's first two titles were the landmark New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (cover-dated Feb. 1935), colloquially called New Fun Comics #1 and the first such early comic book to contain all-original content, rather than a mix of newspaper comic strips and comic-strip-style new material. His second effort, New Comics #1, would be retitled twice to become Adventure Comics, another seminal series that ran for decades until issue #503 in 1983, and was later revived in 2009.

The third and final title published under his aegis would be Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, but eventually premiering three months later, with a March 1937 cover date. Wheeler-Nicholson was in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld, who was as well a pulp-magazine publisher and a principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News. Wheeler-Nicholson took Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish Detective Comics #1 through the newly formed Detective Comics, Inc., with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Wheeler-Nicholson was forced out a year later.