Fans of DC Comics will never run out of great series to check out, but what are the three essential series every fan needs to read once in their life? Here’s our answer, excluding series from DC’s Vertigo line, which more than deserve their own list. (Read our equivalent list for Marvel Comics here.)
3
DC: The New Frontier
By Darwyn Cooke, Dave Stewart and Jared K. Fletcher
Over six issues, Darwyn Cooke depicts the beginning of the age of the superhero, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more coming onto the scene in the 1950s. A sumptuous period piece, Cooke offers up an elemental depiction of DC’s most iconic heroes, none of whom have yet had their edges or strangeness sanded off.
The writing has the wit and music of great pulp fiction, while every perfectly composed panel showcases the unique charm of comics as a medium. No detail is wasted and every choice is infused with Cooke’s unique artistic instincts, depicting a world where a living pantheon turn the world into mythology by stepping through it.
Comics often tout the idea of a shared universe, but The New Frontier makes it real, as the emergence of superheroes ripples out to change the world. By their nature, superhero universes have many origins, but New Frontier is the best there’s ever been.
2
Batman: Year One
By Frank Miller, Dave Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis and Todd Klein
Batman learns to be Batman in a comic that has inspired multiple movies and TV shows, with none actually replicating what makes it great. In a pre-supervillain Gotham, Bruce Wayne stumbles through his first year as a vigilante, attempting to forge a mythos grand enough to reshape a city rotted through with corruption and violence
This comic subtly exposes how Bruce Wayne deliberately builds up the lie of ‘Batman’, following on as he scores major victories and makes serious mistakes. It’s also a love letter to Batman’s relationship with (future) Commissioner Gordon, explaining how an incorruptible cop came to believe in vigilante justice.
Mazzucchelli turns Gotham into a real city and Batman into a real person, flawlessly communicating how the Dark Knight makes himself seem larger than life without ever forgetting that a single bullet could shatter the illusion.
Honorable Mentions:
- Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads – A dark but hopeful reflection on suicidality and family, King finds domestic drama in Jack Kirby’s epic New Gods, while Gerads delivers sublime art.
- ‘Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything’ by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons – This single-issue story is an existential horror starring Superman, exposing the true vulnerabilities of the Man of Steel.
- Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale – Batman’s most satisfying case is a tour of Gotham’s villains with a genuinely compelling murder mystery at the center. Sale’s art drenches Gotham in its own unique aesthetic, as fascinating to visit as Narnia or Tatooine.
- Secret Six by Gail Simone, Brad Walker and more – A team of profoundly damaged villains club together to keep their independence and accidentally become a found family. Secret Six isn’t a perfect series, but there’s nothing else quite like it, and it’s a story that could only be told in the DC Universe.
- The Suicide Squad by Derek Ostrander, Luke McDonnell and more – DC’s villains are drafted into a deniable squad of operatives, taking on the missions that heroes can’t (or won’t.) A political thriller that’s genuinely thrilling, Suicide Squad is a gritty adventure series that mines unexpected humor from its supervillain workplace.
1
All-Star Superman
By Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant, Phil Balsman and Travis Lanham
The definitive Superman story, Morrison and Quitely accept the challenge of the Man of Steel like no-one else ever has. An all-powerful, totally benevolent genius lives among us and sincerely wants the best for us. Countless people have claimed Superman is impossible to write well because the character is too powerful, but Morrison proves them wrong, introducing fascinating threats while keeping Clark Kent grounded as the greatest human to ever live.
Each of the ten issues that make up All-Star Superman is a standalone story, as Superman engages with another high-concept part of his lore while dealing with the overarching threat of an illness that’s set to finally kill him.
Morrison has often argued that superheroes are at their best as an expression of idealism, and All-Star Superman proves their case down to the smallest detail. Meanwhile, Quitely’s unparalleled art depicts a consistent, holistic universe where a living sun can attack Earth while an old man has a heart attack, and neither feels like the afterthought.
Those are our picks for the best DC comics ever published – let us know below what you think of our ranking, and which other titles belong on this list.
