5 Iconic DC Heroes’ Iconic Lines and How One Changed DC’s Biggest Character Forever

Comics are a truly unique medium, combining art and writing in a way that allows for infinite possibilities. It’s arguably the greatest medium for action, since comics can scale things as large or as small as they desire, while also slowing down or speeding things up with the right text and paneling. Of course, comics aren’t just a shmorgishboard of action and spectacle. They are, at the end of the day, graphic novels, which means that the script is just as important as the art that brings it to life. Everyone remembers the big, bombastic, and beautiful explosions of action that comic books offer, and reading them can get fans hyped as few things can, but what really sticks with people long-term are usually quieter moments.

DC’s superhero comics are character-driven books. Yes, the plot and action are the things that everyone talks about, but the thing that keeps fans coming back and staying with the book long after a good run finishes is their love for the characters. These characters, in turn, leave their mark on the world with words that define who they are and change everything around them to match that description. Today, we’re looking at five of DC’s most iconic heroes’ most iconic quotes and dissecting exactly why these lines have stuck with fans for years, and what they say about the characters we all love.

5) Green Arrow

“This. This is what I am. This is who I am. Come hell or high water. If I deny it, I deny everything I’ve ever done… Everything I’ve ever fought for.”

Green Arrow isn’t as large a figure as Batman or Superman, but he is still one of DC’s most enduring characters. He started out as nothing more than a knock-off of Batman with a Robin Hood theme, but he evolved into one of DC’s most nuanced, complicated heroes. Oliver Queen is a man of contradictions. He’s one of DC’s most openly political heroes, fighting for social reform and constantly preaching from his high horse that he keeps his eyes on the real enemy. He’s also a billionaire who, while he uses his wealth to help others, still very much enjoys the perks of his lifestyle far more than someone like Bruce. He’s a man who preaches acceptance and understanding but kicked out his surrogate son when he found out he was addicted to heroin.

Needless to say, Oliver is a complicated man, but at his core, he’s a good man fighting for what’s right, and nothing captures who he is better than this quote from Green Arrow (1988) #51. After a year-long quest to find himself, running from his past as the Green Arrow and the mess his life had become, Oliver finally returned home and defeated some terrorists, saving Black Canary. This quote is Oliver saying that, no matter how complicated or disastrous his life is, no matter how much he falls apart, he will always be Green Arrow. He’ll fight for the underdog and snap at the hells of the big guys in charge, and not even he can stop himself. This quotation captures all the complicatedness and sheer simplicity that makes his character so addictively unique.

4) The Flash

“My name is the Flash. I’m the fastest man alive.”

The Flash is one of DC’s most evolving legacies, being passed along between four iconic speedsters and counting, with a major focus on the familial connections between each of the Scarlet Speedsters. Along with the name, they’ve each also passed along this line, which is as much a mantra as it is a catchphrase. It’s very simple, but that lets it stick in people’s minds all the more and makes repeating it hit just as hard every time. This iconic line first appeared in The Flash (1987) #67, during Mark Waid’s legendary tenure on Wally West’s Flash. However, it quickly broke containment to spread to the other Flashes, being popularized as Barry’s catchphrase as well by the New 52 Flash (2011) and the CW’s Flash TV show.

This simple quote is a mission statement. It tells us that the Flash is a very clear character, and that he will solve the challenges in front of him with his absolute speed. It’s a claim that inspires challenge and constant demonstration, which the comics are sure to give, but what it really says about the Scarlet Speedster is in the first sentence. His name is the Flash. This quote often switches between the actual hero’s name and just the Flash, which tells us that this costume isn’t just a uniform, it’s a calling. At their core, every Flash takes up this race because it’s who they are at their core. They are ordinary people given the legacy and opportunity to make a difference, and being the Flash completes them in a powerful way.

3) Superman

“Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear… until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share, I’ll never stop fighting. Ever.”

Superman is the quintessential superhero. He’s the man who set the standard that everyone else is still trying to live up to, and there’s a decent argument that nobody else ever could. He has an innumerable amount of catchphrases and iconic lines, from his classic statement about fighting for truth, justice, and an occasionally changing third thing, to his gut-punching reassurance to Reagan that she’s so much stronger than she thinks in All-Star Superman #10. However, I decided that the one that captures the specific mix of iconicness and impact on the character and the world around him is this masterpiece from Action Comics #775, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?”

Superman had just spent the whole issue in an ideological and physical confrontation with the Elite, a popular and deadly group of anti-heroes who decided that Superman’s morality was old school. Manchester Black said that Superman’s idealism and belief in a better tomorrow meant that he was living in a dream world, and the Man of Steel’s response captures everything right about his character. Superman is the ideal superhero because he fights for everyone, every day, and he will never stop. Superman is, at the end of the day, a power fantasy character, letting the audience imagine what it’d be like if someone like him were real. However, his stories also call us to be like him, to fight for a better tomorrow with our own actions. He’s a dream that inspires real people, and nothing shows that better than this quote.

2) Green Lantern

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power…Green Lantern’s light!”

The Green Lantern Corps represents something much bigger than a single hero. They are the universe’s ultimate peace-keeping organization, flying through the stars and overcoming every fear imaginable to power their rings with willpower and courage. Typically, there’s only one Lantern per sector, but Earth has bred some of the Corps’s finest, from Hal Jordan to Jessica Cruz. Each of them has recited this oath, and every time they shout it and inspire themselves to be greater, it sends a chill down my spine.

These few lines capture everything the Green Lanterns stand for and everything they’ve done over the years. They’re a group of heroes who use their unrelenting courage to battle for peace and the lives of innocents across the cosmos, with this oath both charging their rings and becoming one of the most memorable ones in comics history. Of course, the individual lines from this oath have also all become their own pieces of history, with the “Blackest Night” event alone being one of their biggest stories. This oath has spawned entire other Corps, each with their own, based on this one’s structure. What Green Lantern fan hasn’t recited this oath at least once, imagining themselves with a ring? If that’s not iconic, I don’t know what is.

The Green Lantern oath has been adatped into just about every form of media that includes at least one of the heroes, and if you want to here it in action, one of my personal favorite renditions comes from, funnily eonugh, the Injustice 2 video game, when Atrocitus tempts the reformed Hal Jordan with a Red Lantern ring. You literally see the oath restoring Hal’s will to fight, and has exactly the kind of power behind the delivery that it should.

1) Batman

“Without warning it comes… crashing through the window of your study… and mine… I have seen it before… somewhere …it frightened me… as a boy… frightened me… Yes, Father. I shall become a bat.”

There’s no doubt that Batman is one of the most important superheroes to ever hit the comic book page, and no single quote has been as influential in creating the character as we know him today as this one. It was uttered at the end of Batman #404, the first chapter of the impossibly important “Year One” storyline. Bruce had completed his training, but needed a method to spark fear in criminals’ hearts. He was bleeding out in Wayne Manor after a disastrous night out, and decided that he would rather die than wait any longer to become the vigilante he knew he had to be. With his mind slipping back to the night his life changed forever, he asked his father for a sign, and a bat flew through his window.

This is a masterful reimagining of Batman’s original origin. In both, a bat shattered Bruce’s window and inspired him to adopt it as his mantle, but in “Year One,” it elevated it to mythic status. Prior to this, Batman’s relationship with bats was just due to his use of them as his symbol, but this turned the bat into a symbol of everything he wanted and needed to be. It was like his dad sent this bat just for Bruce, tying the creature to Bruce’s own fears and hope in the same moment. This quote evolved Batman, adding a depth and importance to his mantle that had been handwaved before.

This single quote, with this imagery of the bat shattering through the window, has become integral to every modern depiction of the Dark Knight. It’s the ultimate thesis statement for everything Batman has become since the Iron Age began. He’s a man who was terrified by something far beyond anything a child should face, but has chosen to embrace that fear and turn it towards something positive. His parents are the fuel behind his mission, with the bat as his fear made manifest. This quote firmly established that the bat was tied to his parents, and thus, to everything that makes him Batman. It brought everything full circle in a beautiful way, and it made Batman feel complete.

Which hero’s quote has inspired you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

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