Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #129

Originally Posted on 05/10/2005 by Jeff Harris

DC Comics is putting a new spin on its famous logo. Painted powder blue and loosely inspired by the popular spinning star logo of Hanna-Barbera of the late seventies and eighties, DC is unleashing their new logo in a couple of weeks, but there is something more to the change.

Time Warner is basically changing DC Comics into a legitimate contender to Marvel Entertainment. No, everybody knows that DC and Marvel are competitors in the realm of comics, it's just that most younger folks (and the unknowing older people that don't read comics because they feel comics are beneath them, a.k.a. snobs) don't associate popular characters and franchises like Superman (and Smallville), Batman, Justice League, and Teen Titans with the name DC Comics, but rather Warner Bros. Thanks to popular shows on Cartoon Network and The WB and the relaunches of the Superman and Batman motion picture franchises along with other big time projects in the works, Time Warner is going to revamp the classic bullet logo introduced in the 70s into something more modern and marketable, creating a visual image and a solid brand behind the popular comic characters.

It may take a while for older fans to take a hold of, but visually speaking, it's pretty cool looking and very marketable. It's a lot better than having the DC name in front of a rectangular box like Marvel has for their current logo. Honestly, that was the best the House of Ideas could come up with? Still, even though the new DC logo looks like it would be more fitting on a bottle of dishwashing liquid, a football helmet, a baseball cap, or a box of overpriced tennis shoes (I'm looking at you, D.C.s), I think it would work as a multitiered brand logo. Perhaps we'll see the new logo attached in the end credits of shows like Smallville, Teen Titans, The Batman, JLU, Krypto, and the upcoming Legion of Super Heroes animated series (seriously, like I said months ago, if any DC franchise was made for anime, it would be LOSH) or in the opening credits before Batman Begins and Superman (insert action verb here until the name is picked) ala the Marvel movies.

Finally, DC Comics is being treated like a true brand instead of being cloaked behind the Warner Bros. name. Did I mention that the comics are getting better too?

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Webmaster/EiC/Lead Writer, The X Bridge
May 10, 2005