Since the reintroduction of DC Comics' multiverse almost 20 years ago, DC has told a lot of stories set in alternate timelines or parallel Earths. One thing that has always been part of the publisher's legacy, though, is comic books that adapt, supplement, or continue the story of movies and shows based on DC's own comics. Such comics could make up a whole corner of the multiverse on their own.

Not that many years ago, comic book adaptations of popular movies and TV shows were a staple. If a big blockbuster like Star Wars or Indiana Jones came to theaters, fans could be sure that somebody was going to adapt it.

Even TV hits like ALF, Muppet Babies and The Real Ghostbusters had their own companion comics. Some of those titles still exist, particularly at license-heavy publishers like IDW and Oni Press, but Marvel and DC rarely seem to make them anymore. There are exceptions, though, and in recent years, those exceptions have included comic book tie-ins to movies, TV shows, and even video games based on DC properties.

In the Beginning, Superboy and The Flash Showed Tie-In Comics Could Work

It Took Years to Begin Adapting Straight From Other Media

DC has made a number of comic books that are based specifically on the company's own TV and film projects. It would be impossible to list all the publisher's spin-off comics, but a number of historical series are representative of the strong association that DC's TV and movies have with comics... when DC wants it to be so. For years, the closest DC came to really connecting its live-action projects with its comics was shifting the tone of books like Batman to be more like the '60s TV show.

Comics starring Batman had a lighthearted, even campy tone throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, and not only because of the character's association with the TV show starring Adam West. Many critics, scholars, and fans interpret Batman's mid-century shift towards the zany and bright as a reaction to criticism from Frederic Wertham, the author of Seduction of the Innocent, and his historic crusade against comics and the comic-book industry.

DC made a comic that used the title and general art style from the beloved Super Friends animated series, but the comic didn't share the same continuity. It wasn't until 1990 that DC went all-in with its comic spinoffs, which is when fans of the Superboy TV series got a comic book series to go along with it. That series was important, in part, because, due to the Man of Steel comic reboot a few years before, there wasn't a Superboy in continuity at the time the show was on the air. The following year, DC released The Flash TV Special #1, which told two stories set in the world of John Wesley Shipp's Flash TV show.

The DC Animated Universe Picked Up the Pace with New Comic Stories

Batman, Superman, and the Justice League All Got Popular Adaptations

The rest of the 1990s was sort-of hit-or-miss for comic adaptations. Batman: The Animated Series got a well-liked comic that also marked writer Dan Slott's first work for DC. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman came to the small screen, but, while WB made novelizations and merchandise for the show, no comic ever materialized. A graphic novel, branded as Lois & Clark and featuring a photo of Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain on the cover, simply reprinted some of the most important Superman issues of the '80s and '90s, including Man of Steel #1 and the first appearance of Hank Henshaw.

DC's attitude toward comic spinoffs changed when Smallville came to an end.

Besides the animated series, DC was still fairly light on comics that continued the stories of live-action media. Adaptations for movies like Steel and Batman & Robin may have featured some differences from the movies, but those were from early drafts of the script, not in any interest in expanding the lore of the projects. DC's attitude toward comic spinoffs changed when Smallville came to an end. The incredibly popular WB series prominently featured the work of comics writer Bryan Q. Miller, who launched a Smallville spin-off comic book, Smallville Season 11, where fans could finally see that show's version of Clark suited up in a cape and tights.

DC's Superhero TV Boom in the 2010s Finally Came to Comics

After Smallville, the DC TV Multiverse Exploded

When it first launched, the CW's Arrow felt like a real risk: yes, Oliver Queen had connected with audiences on Smallville, but this wasn't Justin Hartley's take on Ollie, and the show's Batman-inspired approach wasn't much like his version of the character. When Arrow became a hit for the network, the universe started to expand, including with comic book tie-ins, and the Arrowverse was born. An Arrow comic arrived, with Arrow: The Dark Archer and Arrow Season 2.5 also filling gaps in the show's timeline. The stories were ostensibly canonical, although some of them were later wiped out by events in the actual Arrowverse shows.

That became the standard operating procedure for Arrowverse comics, which took place in the shared universe of Arrow and its spinoffs, but only counted as long as they didn't conflict with the main TV series. After the success of Arrow, DC released The Flash: Season Zero, which took place in the earliest days of the Flash's career - although it was technically during season one and not a prequel as the title suggests. During that same period, fans got The Adventures of Supergirl, which was set on Earth-38, the world of the Arrowverse.

DC Returned to the Past With Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman

Classic Stories Finally Got Their Follow-Ups

For years, fans had hoped for official continuations of stories from the worlds of Batman (both the 1966 TV show and the 1989 movie), the beloved Wonder Woman TV series, and Superman: The Movie. Once the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Arrowverse exploded onto the scene and superheroes were all the rage in other media, DC finally got on top of those requests, with comics like the series Batman '66, Superman '78, Batman '89, and Wonder Woman '77. These titles also proved valuable outside the comics market, in bookstores and as add-ons for Mondo's vinyl soundtrack sets.

Superman '78 allowed Christopher Reeve's version of the hero to the DC Universe for the first time.

These comics take place during the classic movies and shows and give fans a new look at old worlds. Batman '89 in particular is a fascinating case, since there are a number of aborted ideas from Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's movies that made their way into the pages of the comic. Superman '78 allowed Christopher Reeve's version of the hero to the DC Universe for the first time, enjoying some of the big, silly things you can do with comics that simply were not plausible given the restrictions of movie-making in the 1970s and early '80s.

The End of DC's Arrowverse Was an End of an Era - on TV and in Comics

Two Comic Books Gave Arrowverse Fans High-Stakes Adventures

The Arrowverse lasted for more than a decade, but after the end of Arrow and the sale of the CW network to Nexstar, it quickly became clear that time was running out for the fan-favorite family of shows. The network's line-wide Crisis on Infinite Earths event brought the end of Oliver Queen's story, setting up the Arrow series finale, but the finale disappointed longtime fans when Emily Bett Rickards did not return to reprise her role as Felicity Smoak. In-story, it was established that Felicity was helping off-screen, and DC published Crisis on Infinite Earths: Paragons Rising to tell that story.

Paragons Rising had the distinction of being the first Arrowverse comic to feature comics-accurate versions of the heroes, and it even at one point crossed over with the 1980s Crisis on Infinite Earths comic book. Soon after, DC released Earth-Prime, the "final event" of the Arrowverse, which was written by staff writers from the shows and teamed characters from The Flash, Batwoman, Superman & Lois, Stargirl, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow against Magog, a violent antihero first introduced in the acclaimed DC miniseries Kingdom Come by Alex Ross and Mark Waid.

DC Comics Launched a Number of Oddball Comic Adaptations

Media Tie-Ins Fans Would Be Hard-Pressed to Find

With Superman Returns and Green Lantern, DC abandoned straight movie adaptations for something different: a number of tie-in one-shots focusing on individual characters and filling in blanks in their stories before and during the movies. DC did something similar in 2023 with The Flash (the movie and not the CW show). In between those two eras, though, there were quite a few "oddball" adaptations that are often forgotten, even by hardcore fans. There were digital-only tie-ins, for example, for both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

While The Dark Knight's prologue is included on the Batman Begins DVD and so incredibly easy to find, The Dark Knight Rises' prologue was only ever released on a specific Nokia phone as part of a promotional tie-in. Man of Steel had a prequel fans could only obtain by buying a movie ticket/DVD combo pack at Walmart stores. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice featured tie-in mini-comics distributed in cereal boxes - but also a digital-only series viewed through a custom reader powered by buying cans of Dr. Pepper.

Injustice and Fortnite Came to Play in the Comic Book Adaptation World, Too

DC's Best-Selling Video Games Have Also Come to Comics

In addition to movies and TV, DC has a history of adapting successful video games based on its IP. The long-running Injustice: Gods Among Us comic book was so impressive that it helped catapult writer Tom Taylor to industry success, and it has been cited by fans critical of the game's story as the best way to handle some of its narrative issues. The success of the title was such that it got a number of spinoffs and tie-ins throughout its run. At the same time, DC has had great success with titles drawn from the Batman: Arkham franchise and even a Batman/Fortnite comic book.

Given the infinite nature of DC's multiverse (restored after one of its many Crisis crossovers and sequels), it stands to reason that any and all of these stories took place within DC's multiverse, linking everything together, from Lynda Carter and Adam West to Christopher Nolan and Fortnite. That's part of the magic of comics, and it gives fans hope that stories like Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman will eventually get the Batman '89 treatment and have their stories wrapped up in a comic book that will give closure to cliffhangers and dangling plots, all courtesy of DC Comics.

The mentioned comics, from Smallville Season 11 to Injustice and everything in between, are available now from DC Comics.