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In September 2011, DC Comics relaunched their entire line of publications, dubbing the new publishing initiative as The New 52. The relaunch saw DC introduce same-day release of physical comics with digital platforms, as well as characters from the former WildStorm and Vertigo imprints being absorbed into a rebooted DC Universe. The intent was to publish 52 ongoing titles each month across the DC Universe. However, DC has also counted one-shots, miniseries and maxiseries in that number. In subsequent Septembers following the launch, DC has featured unique publishing initiatives to commemorate the relaunch. DC released a total of 93 ongoing titles across multiple "wave" releases, until June 2015, when it discontinued the "New 52" branding. To expand The New 52 universe, DC also released 22 one-shots, 17 miniseries and three maxiseries.
Contents
Ongoing series
The New 52 ongoing series are organized under seven different "families," grouping similar characters or themes within the books together. By the release of the October 2013 solicitations, DC was no longer grouping the titles by these families. They instead began releasing one larger solicit, titled "The New 52 Group". However, titles that were not participating in an event for the month, such as "Forever Evil", were still grouped together in the larger solicit by the previous family headings. In September 2014, DC co-publisher Dan DiDio spoke about classifying the titles into the families, saying, "one of the things we did, when we launched the New 52, we broke those classifications up in a way that we were able to draw attention to all the characters. So we put them in groupings so we would be able to promote and help them draw attention in groups. It was never made to be a certain amount different stuff. [sic] We always want to have different styles of product... with a lot of characters, we're careful. Things like Frankenstein and Grifter and Voodoo and things of that nature, which were really risky characters and risky chances for us to take, and we're very happy to do them. Even though they didn't work, we knew there was value in those characters... We think they brought a lot of value to the launch. They brought a lot of breadth and depth to the line of books, and a diversity to the line. We didn't want to put them out and then forget about them. It was very important to make sure that they were prominent in other series, and that's why we put them in" other series.
In May 2012, DC cancelled titles from the initial launch (which had been dubbed the "First Wave") and launched new titles, which would become "Second Wave" titles. DC continued to use the "wave" format of introducing new titles, which occasionally corresponded with titles being canceled, to "constantly refresh the line". A "Third Wave" began in September 2012, while the "Fourth Wave" saw titles launching from January 2013 to March 2013. The "Fifth Wave" of new titles took place from May 2013 to July 2013. The first phase of The New 52 concluded in March 2014, at the end of "Forever Evil", with a new phase beginning in April 2014. In June 2015, after the Convergence miniseries, DC no longer used the "New 52" name to brand their books; however the continuity continued. 25 of the titles published before Convergence continued to be published with many of the same creative teams, along with 24 new titles.
"Justice League"
These titles feature characters related to the Justice League.
"Batman"
These titles feature Batman and the "Batman Family" of characters.
"Superman"
These titles feature Superman and the "Superman Family" of characters.
"Green Lantern"
These titles feature the members of the Green Lantern Corps, as well as the other Lantern Corps of the emotional spectrum.
"Young Justice"
These titles feature teen-aged characters and superhero teams.
"The Edge"
These are titles with war, science fiction, western, or crime themes, and include titles and characters formerly belonging to the WildStorm imprint.
"The Dark"
These are titles with supernatural, fantasy and horror themes, including titles and characters formerly belonging to the Vertigo imprint.
Other titles
Since the launch of The New 52, DC has published a variety of limited series and one-shots taking place in The New 52 universe and published under The New 52 banner.
Anniversary events
To celebrate the anniversary of The New 52, which began in September 2011, DC published unique events in subsequent years during the month of September. In September 2012, all publishing books released a zero numbered issue for "Zero Month", telling the New 52 origins for many characters. In September 2013, titles were released using a point system, highlighting many of DC's villains for "Villains Month". However, not all publishing titles at the time produced a "Villains Month" title, with some, such as Justice League, releasing four during the month. In 2014, all ongoing titles in September tie in to The New 52: Futures End, and depict possible events five years in the future. Titles were released as [Title]: Futures End #1. For example, Batman's issue was released as Batman: Futures End #1.
Collected editions
All fifty-two number ones from the launch titles were collected into a single hardcover volume, DC Comics The New 52, released in December 2011. The following year, in December 2012, all zero issues were collected in the DC Comics The New 52 Zero Omnibus. In December 2013, DC released DC Comics The New 52 Villains Omnibus, collecting all of the "Villains Month" titles. In December 2014, DC will release Futures End – Five Years Later Omnibus, collecting all of the September 2014 event titles.
With the announcement of the initial collected editions to be released featuring New 52 stories, DC revealed that some series will initially be collected as hardcovers, while others will go straight to trade paperbacks.