7 Great DC Comics That Are Way Too Short

DC Comics is known for the excellence of their stories. While everyone has a favorite publisher, even the most diehard Marvel fans can’t deny how many amazing stories that DC has put out. The publisher has more “best of all time” stories than its marvelous competition, putting out amazing tales that feel like they get the perfect amount of time to spin their yarn. Books like Watchmen, All-Star Superman, Mister Miracle, Preacher, The Sandman, and many others were beautifully paced masterpieces, lasting as long as they needed to. However, not every book gets the time it needs to develop and some amazing books could go on much longer.

There are numerous reasons why some books are shorter than others. Some books are given less issues because they might not sale well and some of them get cancelled before finding the audience they deserve, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. These seven awesome DC comics were too short, and could have been even better if they had more time.

7) Superman and the Authority

Grant Morrison is one of DC’s greats and when they decided to end their full-time comic career, they were given one last Superman book. Superman and the Authority, with artists Mikel Janin, Travel Foreman, and Fico Ossio. This book was about Superman, his powers weakening, bringing together a new version of the Authority to keep up his neverending battle against evil, facing off with Brainiac and the Ultra-Humanite. This book was great, but it was only four issues long. Morrison could have done so much better if they would have gotten more page room, and it will always be a tragedy that they didn’t get something longer to say good-bye to DC with (well, mostly good-bye; they still sometimes work for the publisher).

6) DC One Million

DC One Million is the best DC event of the ’90s and it accomplished that in four issues. Grant Morrison built up the book in their JLA run and teamed with artist Val Semeiks for the event’s main series, taking the DC Universe of the present to the 853rd century. The series was able to tell an awesome story, but it was the shortest event comic that DC put out in the ’90s, a time when most event books were at least six issues. The story was amazing in four issues, but it often felt a little too fast-paced. If the book had several more issues, it would have been even more of a masterpiece than it already was.

5) Midnighter and Apollo

Midnighter and Apollo were created in the mid ’90s as the Superman and Batman of the Authority, back when Wildstorm Studios was still at Image. However, there was a big difference between the them and the World’s Finest duo – they were gay lovers and has no problem killing people. Fans loved them, but they wouldn’t get their own book until 2016’s Midnighter and Apollo, by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco, spinning out of Orlando’s Midnighter series. This six-issue mini was fantastic, but it would have been better if it was longer. Orlando did an amazing job with both characters, and getting more of the couple from him would have been spectacular.

4) Chase

The ’90s were great for DC Comics, especially the last five years of the decade. The publisher had all of the best writers in the industry and were taking chances that Marvel wasn’t. However, not every great ’90s DC book found an audience (pour one out for Chrono and Aztek, both of which were great) and Chase was unfortunately one of these. The book followed DEO agent Cameron Chase as she plumbed the secrets of the superhero community, working with – and against – the heroes. The book by Dan Curtis Johnson and current superstar JH Williams III only ran for ten issues and that’s a tragedy. Johnson and Williams III were doing bravura work, and maybe the book could have found its audience if it stuck around a little longer.

3) Blue and Gold

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are one of DC’s most beloved pairs and in 2021 finally got a book as a duo. Blue and Gold ran for eight issues, and was written by Booster creator Dan Jurgens with art by Ryan Sook, Cully Hamner, Kevin Maguire, Paul Pelletier, and Phil Hester. This book was a slice of superhero comedy perfection, with a headlining duo that everyone loves. It shouldn’t have been a miniseries but an ongoing, but it came at a time when DC was mostly putting out minis (2021 DC might have had ten ongoings, with Batman-related books taking up almost half of those). It had amazing talent on it and starred characters fans love in stories that were supremely entertaining and if it went longer, it would have been better for everyone.

2) Mister Terrific (Vol. 1)

Mister Terrific is basically the Justice Society of America’s Batman and has become one of the most beloved characters in the DC Multiverse. This has been the case for most of the 21st century. He came to prominence thanks to JSA and Justice Society of America (Vol. 2), but he got his biggest chance for stardom in the New 52. The Justice Society was being sent to their own Earth, but Michael Holt would stay on the prime Earth and get his own book from Eric Wallace and Gianluca Gugliotta. It was supposed to be an ongoing but only lasted eight issues. The early New 52 was brutal for low-selling books, not giving them a chance to grow. The fans who read this book liked it and it should have been given longer to find an audience.

1) Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Supergirl is having a renaissance and it all came from Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. This story followed the Maid of Might after she went to a planet with a red sun for her birthday, so she could drink. She ended up being attacked by a known brigand while without her powers and ended up hunting him down alongside a girl whose family he killed. This book was amazing, full of amazing writing and art. The eight-issue series was a blockbuster, but it was actually supposed to be 12 issues long, like most of King’s other works at that time. However, DC pared it down, because Kara hadn’t been popular in a while, robbing us of more Supergirl goodness.

What DC stories do you think should be longer? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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