DC Comics Presents

Yes, Superman, there IS a Santa Claus!

DC Comics Presents was a DC Comics comic book starring Superman and a series of guest stars in team-up stories during the Bronze Age of comics, surviving the mass cancellation of titles known as the "DC Implosion". The series lasted for 97 issues, a respectable run by modern standards, from 1978 to 1986. It was canceled during DC's first mass relaunch (after the Crisis on Infinite Earths) but the Action Comics series then became the new Superman teamup book for a while.

Notable events from the series:

• The ultimate Superman/Flash race (to the very End of Time) in issues #1-2.
• The introduction of Ambush Bug, first as a recurring villain and then as guest star himself;
• The introduction of major Superman foe Mongul (a Thanos Captain Ersatz, even co-created by Thanos' creator.)
• Two teamups with Swamp Thing, one of them written by Alan Moore;
• He-Man (yes, THAT He-Man!)
• The introduction of Superwoman (as her own character and not an identity for Lois Lane.)
• Two team up stories with... Clark Kent?
• Similarly, a team up with the original Superboy (eg. himself!)
• A Team Up with Santa Claus (All Just a Dream... Or Was It a Dream??)
• The formal introduction of the Global Guardians (from the Superfriends comic) into the DC Universe;
• The introduction of Superboy Prime (not yet an insane menace.)

The New Teen Titans also launched in this series, but in an insert story where Superman was not involved.

As part of their 2011 relaunch, the series was brought back this time as an anthology series, with each arc featuring a different DC character.

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Tropes in DC Comics Present include:

• Death Star: Warworld.
• Depending on the Writer: Most of the stories were OK, but some had Superman acting way out of character ex. in his fight with Martian Manhunter.
  • The series had no regular writer or artist, resulting in the style of each issue varying wildly. YMMV on whether that was a good or bad thing.
• The Joy of X (the "Whatever Happened To …" backups)
  • The crossover with (the space-based) Starman was basically a wrap-up for his canceled series (in the Anthology series Adventure Comics) -and it featured Mongul too. In fact, given it was drawn by Jim Starlin, it could be considered a homage to Starlin's work on Marvel Comic's Captain Marvel.)
• Plot Tailored to the Party: Given how powerful Superman is, some of the stories had to get very creative to justify his needing other heroes' help or being able to fight him.
• Stand Alone Episode: The original series did not have much continuity between issues. Of course, comics were different back then, and the Story Arc and Decompressed Comics were much rarer.
  • There were exceptions, like the three-issue story that introduced Mongul and Warworld (costarring Martian Manhunter, Supergirl and The Spectre) and the two-part story involving Superman's Secret Keeper Pete Ross (back when he was white) co-starring the Legion of Super-Heroes and... Superboy?)
• Team-Up Series: Superman teams up with guest stars.