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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

DC Leaves New York

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Last Friday, DC Comics left New York for good, ending the company's over eighty-year residence in the Big Apple.

Much has been said about the move, and from people who were there (in particular, I suggest you read former DC staffer Bob Greenberger's series of posts about it). The first thought that occurred to me was how stupid I was not to take a pic of myself in front of the amazing multi-character, multi-artist mural that decorated the wall across from the elevators the last time I was there--which turned out to be the last time I would ever be there.
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(click to embiggen)

When I was a kid reading comics in the 70s and 80s, I often perused the indicia of any given DC comic, and wondered what kind of magical place these things must have come from. New York might as well have been Mars, for how far away it seemed. DC didn't do office tours, but Marvel did, and my parents were kind enough to take me to NYC and visit The House of Ideas. It was fun, I loved it, but in my heart I was always a DC kid, and longed to visit there, too.

Over the years, I was fortunate enough to be able to do just that about half a dozen times, mostly for job-related reasons. While I maintained an professional demeanor, there was a part of me that kept thinking "Wow, I'm walking the halls of DC Comics." Some part of me had hoped I would end up working there one day, but of course that never panned out. And I distinctly remember thinking "This place probably isn't as fun as I think it is" when an employee pointedly shushed Paul Kupperberg and I for talking too loud in the hall one afternoon. And here I thought DC only had two Monitors.

It makes complete sense that DC has moved to be closer to where the action is--Los Angeles, where half a dozen movies are in production as we speak. But I can't help but feel sad that New York is no longer the home of National Periodical Publications.


1 comment:

Laurie S. Sutton said...

When I was a DC editor, I worked at 75 Rockefeller Plaza (in the Warner Building). Every Christmas a bunch of us would go downstairs and watch the lighting of the giant Christmas tree. One year Len Wein literally blinked and missed it! In the years following, I would visit my friends at 666 Fifth Ave. and 1700 Broadway. The decor and personnel changed, but it was still DC in New York. I'm all for moving forward into the future (and to L.A.), but it'll take me a while to separate DC from NYC in my mind and memories.