Many of DC Comics’ characters are familiar household names: Batman, Superman, The Flash, for example. But some, like the supernatural crime fighter Constantine, may be less widely known to mainstream TV audiences. Either way, DC is using each of these comic book characters as it expands its universe on television properties and uses each one to market another.

This fall sees the premieres of Fox’s Gotham, The CW’s The Flash and Arrow, NBC’s Constantine and a midseason debut for iZombie on The CW as well. CBS just announced it has a Supergirl series in the works.

This seems like a lot of DC all at once, but it’s no mistake that the brand is taking over your TV screen – it’s purely by design.

In 2009, when Warner Bros. Entertainment restructured DC Comics, the entertainment brand began a five-year plan to promote DC franchises and characters throughout other media outlets, TV in particular. The CW’s Arrow, which begins its third season in October, was only the first full-fledged television series of this plan. Since then, the goal has been to create one solid DC universe, much like Marvel’s big screen version, where the characters can interact while living out separate stories.

According to Geoff Johns, chief creative officer for DC Entertainment, consistency is a main priority for the franchise. This means not only staying consistent with one another – which can prove challenging as DC series now span four different TV networks – but also staying on brand with the DC Comics canon as they exist in print. Johns says that Warner Bros. and DC stay in touch at every level of creative, helping on scripts and offering notes as the opportunity arises.

The DC universe will be put to that test this winter, when no fewer than five television series will be airing at once.

Read more at Fast Company.

Brief Take: Keeping track of the entire DC universe onscreen is quite a feat. Fox’s Gotham alone carries not only the Batman character, but also several of well-known Batman villains, including (just so far) Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and Poison Ivy - and that’s just one show.

[Image courtesy of The CW and NBC]

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