The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC continuity. It contains various superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Flash; as well as teams such as the Justice League, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans. It also contains well-known supervillains, including Joker, Lex Luthor, Cheetah, Reverse-Flash, and Darkseid.
Static Shock is an American superhero animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the WB Television Network's Kids' WB programming block. Static Shock ran for four seasons, with 52 half-hour episodes in total. The show revolves around Virgil Hawkins, a 14-year-old boy who uses the secret identity of "Static" after exposure to a mutagen gas during a gang fight which gave him electromagnetic powers. It was the first time that an African-American superhero was the titular character of their own broadcast animation series.
The Shadow Cabinet is a superhero team created by Milestone Comics and published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Shadow Cabinet #0, and were created by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III and John Paul Leon. Almost all of the original run, issues #4-11 and #13-17, were written by Matt Wayne.
Imperiex is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He was initially introduced as an adversary to the superhero Superman, before becoming a main antagonist for the crossover "Our Worlds at War".
Blaze and Satanus are twin fictional demonic siblings appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Blaze debuted in Action Comics #655, created by Roger Stern and Brett Breeding and first pencilled by Bob McLeod. Later, Satanus was created by Brett Breeding and debuted in The Adventures of Superman #493 by Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett. The twin duo originally starred as Superman villains associated with the supernatural but were later revealed to be the children of the Wizard Shazam, Blaze respectively depicted as a powerful enemy of the Marvel Family.
Static is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Milestone Comics founders Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle, and Christopher Priest. The character first appeared in a 3-page preview in Icon #1 with his first full appearance in Static #1, written by McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III and illustrated by John Paul Leon. He is a member of a fictional subspecies of humans with superhuman abilities known as metahumans. Not born with his powers, Hawkins' abilities develop after an incident exposes him to a radioactive chemical called "Quantum Juice", turning him into a "Bang Baby".
Milestone Media Company LLC is a media company best known for creating Milestone Comics, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media is also best known for the Static Shock animated series that was based off of their most popular comic property. The company was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers, consisting of Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Christopher Priest. The founders felt that minorities were severely underrepresented in American comics and wished to address this.
Rocket is a fictional superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, who was introduced by Milestone Media. She was the sidekick of the superhero Icon. Rocket's powers come from her inertia belt, based on tech from Icon's ship.
"DC One Million" is a comic book crossover storyline which ran through an eponymous weekly miniseries and through special issues of almost all of the "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998. It featured a vision of the DC Universe in the 853rd century, chosen because that is the century in which DC will have published issue #1,000,000 of Action Comics if it maintains a regular monthly publishing schedule. The miniseries was written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Val Semeiks.
Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He was best known for co-founding the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware. McDuffie was also known as a writer and producer for animated series such as Static Shock, Damage Control, Justice League Unlimited and the Ben 10 franchise.
Hardware is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. An original character from DC's Milestone Comics imprint, he first appeared in Hardware #1, and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan.
The character of Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and has been continually published in a variety of DC Comics book titles since its premiere in 1938. There have been several versions of Superman over the years, both as the main hero in the stories as well as several alternative versions.
Denys B. Cowan is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media.
Christopher Williams, who goes by ChrisCross, is a comic book illustrator, known mostly for his stints pencilling Milestone Comics' Blood Syndicate and Heroes, Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel and Slingers and DC Comics' Firestorm. He created the comic book character Jason Rusch with Dan Jolley.
"Worlds Collide" is an intercompany crossover event presented in July 1994 in the Milestone Comics titles and the Superman-related titles published by DC Comics. A one-shot comic title of the same name was written by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr. and Robert Washington.
One of the key aspects of the Modern Age of Comic Books was that it was the beginning of big events. In 1984, Marvel Comics debuted the first large crossover, Secret Wars, a storyline featuring the company's most prolific superheroes, which overlapped into a 12-issue limited series and many monthly comic books. A year later, DC Comics introduced its first large-scale crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths, which had long-term effects on the "DC Universe" continuity.
Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillains. The genre primarily falls between hard fantasy and soft science fiction in the spectrum of scientific realism. It is most commonly associated with American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.
Dharma is a fictional comic book character distributed by DC Comics, and the leader of the Shadow Cabinet. Originating in Milestone Comics media, he first appeared in Hardware #11, and was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Robert L. Washington III, and Denys Cowan.
Milestone Returns or Earth-M is a relaunch of American comic books published by DC Comics that began in September 2020. The line features reimagined versions of the fictional characters and shared universe of Milestone Media by Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Dwayne McDuffie.
Naomi McDuffie, also known as Powerhouse, is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by the writer Brian Michael Bendis for his Wonder Comics imprint, along with writer David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell. The character's name is, in part, a tribute to comic book writer and creator Dwayne McDuffie.
