To make your mark on the future, it helps to take stock of where you’ve been. 2017 promises to be an exciting year for DC and its fans, but before we celebrate the new year, we thought we’d look back on 2016 and consider some of the places we’ve been. DC made some bold choices in the worlds of comics, film and TV, and many of them set our course for the months and years ahead. The past year was full of memorable moments, but some of these moments held real significance. Some of them really mattered. So as we do every year at this time, we thought we’d discuss a few of them. These are DCComics.com’s “Ten Moments that Mattered” for 2016.
 

As far as DC goes, 2016 could have been called “The Year of the Fan.”

While DC fans have long played an active role at DC—going all the way back to choosing Jason Todd’s fate at the hands of the Joker—their involvement exploded exponentially this year, and the results were memorable, exciting and always very fun.

This year DC launched a new YouTube channel devoted entirely to our fans, featuring videos such as comic reviews, trailer reactions, cosplay tutorials, deep dives into DC’s comic book history and much more. It was soon complemented with a brand new section on DCComics.com, also dedicated to fans and their work. The DC Fans section includes links to not only the latest YouTube videos on the DC Fans channel, but also to some of the most popular and informative fan sites out there.

Then there was the DC All Access app, which not only makes staying up to date on DC comic, movie, game and TV news easier than ever, but also allows fans to interact and engage in new ways with DC emojis and daily challenges. On the Vertigo side, 2016 saw the launch of the Vertigo Lounge, a new podcast featuring the Vertigo editorial team discussing some of the greater themes found within their books and typically featuring a guest who’s both a Vertigo Comics fan and an expert in a relevant field (like when they had a Jesuit priest drop by to discuss Preacher).

Fans also took an active, amplified role in promoting DC movies and TV this year. The Squad Up! Suicide Squad Cosplay Contest allowed fans to cosplay as one of the eleven core Suicide Squad characters for a chance to win a trip to San Diego Comic-Con. Fans also had a hand in picking the winners, whose trip was documented by DC All Access in a clip that’s garnered well over a million views on YouTube. Meanwhile, on the small screen side of things, DC debuted the #DCTV Couch Club, a team of four fans whose weekly blogs on the newest episodes of Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow are published on DCComics.com and whose video recaps are released on the DC Fans channel.

It’s all been part of a concentrated push to celebrate our fans as much as they celebrate us. Our fans have always been and always will be at the center of our business. You don’t just see DC characters on the movie screen or in the pages of comic books. You see them on t-shirts and other accessories. You discover them in toy collections, see them walking around at conventions and on Halloween, notice them on postal stamps—in other words, they’re part of everyday life. And that’s because of fans like you.

Characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash may continue to be the face of DC. However, in 2016 it became clear that it’s the fans who are its heart and soul.