What is the next DC comic to hit issue #1000?

What is the next DC comic to hit issue #1000? I believe it was last year that Wonder Woman and Flash had there 700th issue but is there another comic that is close? I just went to Wonder Con in Anaheim two weeks ago and I wish I would have asked this question during the Jim Lee and Dan DiDio panel.

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Yeah, I can’t think of any DC properties that could. Wonder Woman might be the closest, if you’re willing to fudge the number with other books she starred/co-starred in (like if you add Sensational Comics, Comics Cavalcade and Superman/Wonder Woman, you get 834).

We’re more likely to see an Amazing Spider-Man #1000 within the next few years.

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Orrr, DC could issue Wonder Woman weekly (or whatever) to try and get her to reach #1000 next. :slight_smile:

I don’t think that there is a property that is about to reach #1000. However, we do have more 80 year birthdays coming up. Flash and Shazam is next year. Wonder Woman is the following year. For all we know DC may even celebrate the creation of the JSA next year since they were the first superhero team.

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The issue is that the only major DC titles to survive through the Interregnum (~1950-1956) without resetting numbering were Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Those five titles are still running, but only the former two have their original numbering after Flashpoint (or Crisis on Infinite Earths, in Wonder Woman’s case). If you’re looking at a thousandth issue after aggregating multiple volumes that reset the numbering, Batman and Superman are roughly neck-and-neck (Superman started earlier, but was paused for a while after the Crisis, so they were at issues 713 and 714*, respectively, before Flashpoint, and have been published on pretty much identical schedules since).

*Of course, there’s the weirdness of the original Superman getting renamed Adventures of Superman and Superman Vol 2 running alongside it for a while, but if we count that, then it seems only fair to count Legends of the Dark Knight or Shadow of the Bat or something as the Bat-book equivalent and at that point the comparison depends entirely on what metric you use, which renders the whole thing rather pointless. I suppose technically the thing to do would be to subtract every issue published under the “Adventures of Superman” title and substitute in the ones published under Superman vol 2 in order to limit the count to only issues released under the title “Superman,” but that would probably alter the numbering very minimally.

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If they did a legacy renumbering the order would go Superman, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman. The only reason Action Comics beat Detective to issue 1,000 despite being almost a year younger was th3 fact that it went weekly for a while back in the 80s. Flash would beat Wonder Woman despite not having been in continuous publication because when Barry Allen graduated to his own book they just started the numbering where the Jay Garrick series left off. Adventure Comics could have hit the mark before Detective (definitely) or Action (maybe) had they restarted the numbering using any one of the many features that got their start in that title but they missed that boat

So if it’s Superman, Batman, Flash and Wonder Woman will it happen?

Unknown. I have a feeling that DC will find it hard to resist such a marketing opportunity and will return to legacy numbering in time for those series to hit the milestone number. On the other hand a quick look at the comic selection will show you how many times each of those titles was rebooted so even if they did get to a thousand its likely they will just be reset again the next time DC reboots.

Batman would be on # 823 with legacy numbering. Superman would be on # 821. Wonder Woman would be in the 700’s. Flash would be too but that would be a hodgepodge of lots of different series starring different Flashes.

What’s the sum total of Adventure Comics? Nowhere near 1,000 I gather but it’s pretty high.

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I think reverting to legacy numbering is cheating :frowning: If you started over with a first issue, it’s like blinking in a game of chicken. No takebacks!!

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DC should adopt the legacy numbering that marvel has been doing

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@Vroom, Adventure would be ahead of all of them had it stayed in print. It was DC’s second title after what became More Fun Comics, even ahead of Detective.

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I should say, had it stayed in print and gotten a similar boost to biweekly. I’m still trying to figure out how Detective got so close to Action after the year of Action Comics Weekly.

If we’re counting every volume of a character’s solo comic (Marvel Legacy-style), and we also aren’t counting the Batman or Superman series, then it’d probably be the Flash, what with the Jay Garrick stuff.

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The question with Adventure Comics is which features would count for any legacy numbering scheme because so many DC stalwarts passed through its pages. Starman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Sandman, Superboy and the Legion all had a place in the title…and that’s just off the top of my head! Last time Adventure Comics was renumbered it featured the Legion ending with 517.

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Batman is in the 800s
Spiderman is in the 800s

That’s about it.

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@markhb I figured Adventure would rank well past the #800 mark, but I had no idea it’d be ahead of 'Tec and Action. Thanks for the info :slight_smile:

I think legacy numbering has a 50/50 merit. It’s nice because it represents a character’s legacy (hence the label) but it could turn off new readers with money in hand that have absolutely zero understanding of numbering the way we do and are confused as all get out.

Sure, anyone can just Google (apologies to Infoseek) the various numberings but getting into comics should be as easy as just looking at what’s out there and buying what you like without extra research baggage.

That said, and from my own experience, numbering never turned me off a book or got me into one when I was getting into comics. I just jumped into whatever looked like a good read and went with it. The issue number wasn’t a concern. I imagine that’s the mentality of most new readers.

I went to the DC Database and took a look at different characters mentioned here to see who comes closest to Issue 1,000 by counting the different runs of each character’s comics. The Data Base includes the latest issues to be announce (the June 2019 issues). I am NOT counting Annuals in the final tabulations, only regular issues INCLUDING the various “Zero Issues” and the #1,000,000 Issues as they were in the monthly runs. These are my results and I hope I’m accurate:

Superman – 829 issues (if you add in “The Adventures of Superman” that Vol 1 was re-titled as it brings the tally to 1,059!)
Batman – 840 issues
Wonder Woman – 738 issues
The Flash – 736 issues (that includes the 104 issues of Jay Garrick’s Golden-Age run but not Bart Allen’s 13 issues as that was “The Flash – The Fastest Man Alive”)
Green Lantern – I tried to make a tally for this character, but there have been too many titles. I stopped when I got to 550 issues.

So, Batman will reach Issue #1,000 first in about 6 or 7 years (if the current publication rate remains the same) then Superman in about 14 years! It will be about 22 years before Wonder Woman and The Flash gets to Issue #1,000!