First Wave (comics)

First Wave is the name of a separate DC Comics fictional universe, its line of comic book and a comic book limited series featuring the universe.

The universe was a melding of licensed pulp fiction characters with versions of established non-super powered DC heroes. The comic book line was launched with a Batman/Doc Savage one-shot followed by the limited series and two continuing series. The limited series was six-issue long published in 2010 and written by Brian Azzarello, drawn by Rags Morales featuring the main characters of the universe.

Publication history
With DC's acquisition in 2009 of comic book rights for Doc Savage and The Spirit amongst other pulp characters, DC co-publisher Dan DiDio and writer Brian Azzarello decided on a shared universe for these characters then added established non-super powered DC heroes to the mix.

The First Wave fictional universe is one of the worlds in the DC Multiverse and was introduced in a Batman/Doc Savage one-shot, written by Brian Azzarello with art by Phil Noto. As well as the Eponymous characters it also introduced others such as Black Canary, The Avenger, The Blackhawks, The Spirit, and Doc Savage's The Fabulous Five.

This was then followed by a First Wave limited series with art by Rags Morales.

The First Wave line was then expanded to include two ongoing series: Doc Savage, initially written by Paul Malmont with art by Howard Porter, and The Spirit, initially written by Mark Schultz and drawn by Moritat.

Both of these titles also included back-up stories further showcasing the First Wave universe. Justice Inc., starring The Avenger, runs in Doc Savage while The Spirit featured short black-and-white tales of the lead character written and drawn by various creators for the first eight issues.

By February 2011, DC planned to cancel the line, but the Doc Savage and The Spirit titles were solicited as late as August 2011. In February 2012, DC listed a First Wave collection for May 2012 release. Licenses for the involved non-DC characters, Spirit, Doc Savage and the Avenger, ended prior to December 17, 2012.