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Although it previously teamed with a partner to create a series of digital-only Batman Black and White statues tied to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), DC is now teaming with Palm NFT Studios to create what the publisher is calling its first collection of NFTs on October 5.
Using what it calls Palm's "proprietary, environmentally sustainable, and energy-efficient technology," the NFT collection will highlight DC's history, character catalog, and diversity of its storytelling, according to the publisher.
The collection will be "hand-selected" by DC publisher and chief creative officer (and iconic artist) Jim Lee as what DC is calling a thank you and invitation to its fans to attend the second edition of DC Fandome on October 16.
Fans who register for the event will be able to collect a free NFT along with securing the ability to unlock a second by sharing on social media.
Several months back DC informed freelance artists they're not legally allowed to turn art they create for the publisher or of DC characters into NFT cryptocurrency or any form of digital art.
The new, official collection will feature characters like Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Harley Quinn, and Green Lantern and the initial drop gives fans the chance to collect three covers for each character with three levels of rarity, the engine that drives NFT collectibility.
"We spent a lot of time on how to translate and adapt these classic covers into a 21st-century format such as NFTs," says Jim Lee. "This drop pays homage to our 87-year history while visualizing a future in which NFTs play a foundational role in novel ways of interacting with DC content and unlocking new experiences."
Given its ties to Fandome, which the publisher says generated 22 million global views for its inaugural 2020 event in 24 hours and its expectation 2021's Fandome will surpass those figures, DC says this will be the first large-scale virtual event powered by NFT registration, and perhaps one of the biggest NFT drops ever.
DC says it choose Palm as a creative partner due to its "environmentally conscious approach to NFTs", claiming the company's blockchain provides a "99.99% reduction in energy usage" compared to Proof of Work systems, enabling DC's platform to mint millions of NFTs with near-zero cost."
NFTs have drawn criticism for the environmental cost of producing them. Like mining bitcoin, producing NFTs usually requires significant electricity consumption to power the computers which create the NFT. This has led to widespread criticism of the idea of creating NFT art, which drastically increases the environmental impact of individual digital artists.
"It's immensely rewarding to work with a partner like DC who understands that blockchain is more than a technology, it's a sustainable storytelling tool that can reshape the relationship between creators and fans," says Palm co-founder Dan Heyman.
There's little doubt it's just a matter of time before art from DC's best stories of all time is turned into NFTs.
