It would be a crime not to be familiar with DC Comics. Who isn’t familiar with Superman, Batman, and the Justice League? DC Comics, which began publishing in 1937 from their Manhattan office, has come a long way since then. Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded Detective Comics, which stands for Detective Comics. The company launched Action Comics featuring Superman and Detective Comics featuring Batman to critical acclaim, establishing a legacy that has endured to this day.
DC has produced some thrilling stories throughout its history, from its Golden Age to the Time Warner unit. They don’t mind narrating complicated plot structures and pushing their superheroes to the brink of destruction and torment. We’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 Best DC Comics to Read. So, let’s get started!
Best DC Comics of All Time!
10. Blackest Night
The obsession with zombies in comic books is legendary, and the Blackest Night saga takes this concept to a whole new level. This story revolves around Hal Jordan (Green Lantern for Sector 2814). He is a member of the Green Lantern Corps, a global peacekeeping force that uses willpower to power green projective rings.
A sacred book on Oa, the Green Lantern Corps base, contains a prophecy foretelling the arrival of the Blackest Night. And then the prophetic event begins. Nekron, the embodiment of death, travels the world resurrecting dead superpowered beings and establishing the Black Lantern Corps.
He recruits the Justice League’s deceased members, including Batman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow, and others. Nekron has a master plan to wipe out all life in the universe, and only Hal Jordan can stop him.
Critics praised Blackest Night for its intricate storyline centred on emotions (because emotions power individual Lantern Corps). This saga played a significant role in Hal Jordan’s rise to fame. This story was followed by the Brightest Day saga, which is also worth reading.
9. Watchmen
Watchmen, Alan Moore’s brilliant story, was published monthly by DC in 1986. This satirical comic was inspired by the Cold War anxiety that existed at the time of its publication. The setting is an alternate reality in which superheroes known as the Watchmen actively changed US history by winning wars on behalf of the government.
Because of the Keene Act, these superheroes are outlawed and unwelcome in 1985, forcing them to retire and live normal lives alongside citizens. The constant creep of the world towards World War III; the Doomsday Clock approaches its end, underpins this setting.
The story begins with the murder of Edward Blake and the investigation of a vigilante named Rorschach. Rorschach enlists the help of his fellow Watchmen – Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, and Ozymandias – after concluding that someone is killing off superheroes. What follows is a dark path to total annihilation and some truly horrifying secrets.
By presenting a dystopian setting and expertly crafting a story out of it, Watchmen challenged the mainstream comic storylines of the time. Watchmen blurs the distinction between heroes and villains, with both sides portraying morally good and bad characters. Who will watch the Watchmen themselves? The comic presents a rather unique perspective on superheroes.
With the release of Watchmen, DC briefly surpassed Marvel in terms of sales. The comic was dubbed “the best of breed” by Time Magazine, and the BBC dubbed the time it was released “the time comic books grew up.” Watchmen is still regarded as one of the top 100 comic books of all time.
8. Death of Superman
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shushter created Superman in 1938, paving the way for the most popular superhero ever created. Clark Kent’s origin story as the last Kryptonian raised by Smallville farmers is as legendary as the show’s success. Superman can be considered the superhero archetype.
In the Death of Superman storyline, DC attempted to kill their beloved hero. Doomsday arrives on Earth and begins wreaking havoc. The Justice League members try to stop him, but they are easily defeated by Doomsday, who is unafraid of anything. Finally, Superman enters the fray and manages to demolish the Project Cadmus mountain. They fight in Metropolis, where the epic finale takes place.
The Death of Superman was followed by the Reign of Supermen, which is also a fantastic story. Death of Superman received critical acclaim because fans were unsure whether Superman would return, which created apprehension among readers.
7. Long Halloween
DC fans would have recognised the Long Halloween saga’s influence in the new Robert Pattinson Batman film. Long Halloween is a 13-issue comic book series created by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale that depicts the early years of Batman’s reign as a masked vigilante in Gotham. It also foreshadows the rise of Batman’s rogue gallery, particularly Two Face (Harvey Dent).
The plot begins with an enigmatic character named Holiday murdering well-known Gotham figures. Every month, the killings take place only on holidays. Furthermore, Batman, District Attorney Harvey Dent, and Captain Jim Gordon form an alliance to end Carmine Falcone’s reign in Gotham. When Holiday murders Johnny Viti, Falcone’s nephew, and leaves behind an untraceable pistol and a jack-o-lantern as evidence, The Dark Knight is forced to go into detective mode (did you catch that Arkham game series reference?!).
Long Halloween reinforces the notion that Batman is first and foremost a detective, and it demonstrates that incorporating the Caped Crusader into a criminal mystery saga results in an awesome story worth re-reading time and time again. This is a classic noir tale. Long Halloween received widespread acclaim from critics and readers alike, and is widely regarded as the best Batman story ever written.
6. Flashpoint
The Flashpoint delves into the world of alternate realities (not parallel universes) through the eyes of the Fastest Man Alive, Barry Allen. Flashpoint, written by Geoff Johns, alters the DC Universe, paving the way for the New 52. This comic was made into a film, Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox, and the third season of The CW’s The Flash is based on it.
Barry Allen wakes up with no superpowers. His mother, Nora, is alive and well, rather than dead. And there is no Justice League; Captain Cold, the Flash’s antagonist, is a well-known Central City hero. Barry quickly realises he is in an alternate reality, one that he may have created with his own actions. This new reality, on the other hand, is bleak, with Atlanteans and Amazonians at war, Thomas Wayne as a gruesome murdering Batman, and Superman as a laboratory guinea pig. Barry must correct the timeline.
The New 52 was created when Flashpoint dissolved the previous DC universe and created a new timeline for the heroes’ adventures. The comic saga is a haven for science nerds (as are most Flash comics), but it also delves deeper into alternate realities and tells a fantastic story.
5. The Killing Joke
Bob Kane and Bill Finger became legends after creating Batman, but it was their creation of the maniacal, psychopathic Joker that elevated them to the status of comic Gods. The Joker is without a doubt the best villain ever created. The Clown Prince of Crime, with his green hair and acid scars, can drive actual Gods insane (like he did to Superman in the Injustice Saga).
The Killing Joke tells the origin story of the Joker while also depicting him paralysing Barbara Gordon and terrorising Jim Gordon. The comic is also famous for its iconic cover photo, which depicts the Joker dressed as a tourist with a point-and-shoot camera.
The Killing Joke attempts to explain Joker’s past, before he fell into the vat of acid. It was written by none other than Alan Moore, who wanted to explore the mirror identities of Batman and Joker – the aphorisms of ‘one bad day away from being insane.’
In 1989, The Killing Joke won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album, with critics hailing it as the best Joker story. The action-packed graphic novel was lauded for its humanity and reformative elements.
4. Crisis on Infinite Earths
The idea behind this massive saga was to unify all the multiverses into a single DC universe, and the writer – Marv Wolfman – and penciller – George Perez did an excellent job. The Crisis on Infinite Earths was hailed as a huge success for DC, cementing their place as the creators of the first massive superhero saga. It was also known for assassinating many of its main characters, including the Flash and Supergirl.
Antimatter energy is sweeping through and destroying universes. The heroes band together and travel to each universe to stop the spread of this antimatter, resulting in violent clashes across the multiverse. The battles come together to reveal the identity of the main supervillain, the Anti-Monitor. A different Antimatter Universe is created as a result of fractions in reality. The Anti-Monitor transports the new Earth to this universe, where the decisive battle occurs.
DC realised that the multiverse concept they had introduced had quickly become a convoluted mess, posing enormous challenges for writers to maintain continuity in storytelling. The Crisis on Infinite Earths was written specifically to address this issue and bring about one universe. The saga became an instant best-seller, dubbed “the story that saved the company from bankruptcy.”
3. The Dark Knight Returns
The Dawn of Justice film, directed by Zack Snyder, pitted Batman against Superman. While the film depicted the battle in a sloppy manner, its main influence, The Dark Knight Returns, does not disappoint. The story is told in four parts by Frank Miller and begins with a bang: a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to the vigilante fold and assumes the mantle of Batman.
With the Mutants terrorising Gotham and its citizens, old-man Batman decides to strike them down with an iron fist. His return isn’t easy because he retired a decade ago. Batman appears to be struggling with his ninja moves as agility comes to him slowly. Meanwhile, because Batman has been declared an outlaw, the government commissions Superman (a bureaucratic pawn) to confront and apprehend him. This results in a fight between the two superheroes, with Batman displaying some of his best combat strategies.
The Dark Knight Returns was initially priced at $2.95 per copy, and the creators didn’t anticipate much attention for the story. However, many critics now rank this comic as the best of all time. in their list of the best comics It is widely regarded as the greatest Batman story.
2. Justice League: The Darkseid War
This is the final saga for the Justice League in the New 52, before the universe is rebooted for DC Rebirth. Justice League: The Darkseid War is a grandiose story involving nearly all of the DC Universe’s superheroes. The plot and action of the comic series received widespread acclaim. This comic’s best selling point is that it handles the war’s complex events without losing focus and becoming hazy for the readers.
The story begins with the Anti-Monitor killing Metron and declaring his desire for war with Darkseid. This soon comes to pass, as the two Gods clash on none other than Planet Earth. The Justice League is left to protect the planet from the devastation that these two titans leave in their wake. They soon realise, however, that something more sinister is at work, enabling war between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, and it revolves around the Anti-Life Equation.
The Darkseid War pits two of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe against each other. It also creates some epic moments, such as Batman assuming the Mobius Chair and transforming into the God of Knowledge, the Flash tying himself to the Black Racer, and the Justice League collaborating with the Crime Syndicate.
1. Injustice: Gods Among Us
Consider Marvel’s Civil War on a much larger scale and timetable; the Injustice Saga volumes span five years, and the story continues with the massively successful video game of the same name. The story, written by Brian Bucchellato and Tom Taylor, imagines Superman descending into villainy and total authority.
Superman searches for Lois Lane, who has been kidnapped by the Joker and Harley Quinn. Superman accidentally punches Lois Lane into space and kills her after being sprayed with Scarecrow’s fear toxin (this teaches you not to underestimate Batman’s rogue gallery). The catch is that Lois is carrying Superman’s child, who also dies.
Superman snaps, mortified and overcome with grief, and decides to take over the planet’s administration. He violates the League’s no-kill policy by yanking the Joker’s heart from his body while Batman looks on in horror. This event divides the Justice League, with individual members siding with Superman or Batman.
In this issue, you’ll see Batman at his most moral, and Superman at his most insane (but somewhere, you will feel that he does make sense). Following the Injustice: Gods Among Us saga, Injustice 2 brings the heroes together to fight Brainiac, culminating in a final Batman v. Superman battle. Injustice received numerous awards and acclaim from readers and critics alike.
Final Thoughts!
That concludes our list of the best DC Comics of all time. If you’ve read any of these comics, you should be aware of how good they are, and if you haven’t, we strongly advise you to do so.
So, do you believe these are the best DC Comics in your opinion? Or do you believe any other comics should be included? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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