X Weirdest DC Heroes to Have Their Own Series (& Number 1 Is Great)

There are a lot of characters in the DC universe. Going well beyond the major, A-list heroes, there is no shortage of interesting and fascinating characters, many of them good guys, who show up in various stories and adventures. But while there are a lot of heroes, not all of them get their own series. Most of DC’s characters end up as supporting players for other characters’ books or are part of team stories, and that includes some pretty popular figures. However, every so often some of DC’s weirder characters not only get a chance to shine in a story but they get their own series as well.

These five characters are among DC’s strangest offerings, but they are also heroes who have managed to have their own series, too. They run the gamut from beloved characters we still enjoy seeing pop up in main stories now and again to a humorous and weird character we still don’t understand fully but they are all delightful in their own way.

5) Ambush Bug

Ambush Bug is hands-down DC’s strangest character. First debuting in 1982, the truth is we don’t really know what Ambush Bug’s actual origin is. He might be Irwin Schwab, but he has some mental problems and doesn’t really understand reality so that identity might also be some sort of delusion. There’s also the origin where Brum-El from the doomed planet Schwab sent his clothing off the planet, but it was intercepted, crashed on Earth, and all that was left was the Ambush Bug found by Irwin Schwab and Arghlyle, literally a sock in a metal mask. It sounds silly and it is, intentionally so. Ambush Bug is meant to be humorous.

And, surprisingly, that humorous weird character ended up becoming popular enough to get two miniseries and a number of specials. His most notable series is the four-issue Ambush Bug from 1985. It’s also notable that Ambush Bug has been both a hero and a villain. He’s a weird character, but also kind of cool.

4) Bat-Mite

Bat-Mite is one of those bonkers characters that people generally just love and while he’s appeared plenty of times as antagonistic supporting character and has even shown up in animation, he has also gotten his own series as well. Like Mister Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite is an imp from the Fifth Dimension. He idolizes Batman and even dresses up in his own, poorly fitting version of Batman’s costume, and shows up in Batman’s world pretty regularly where he’s more of a pest than anything else.

Bat-Mite got his own, six-issue series in 2015 more than 50 years after his initial debut in 1959. The series follows Bat-Mite as he pushes his form of help off onto various heroes after being exiled from the Fifth Dimension, his efforts at “help” being part of his plan to “fix” the DC Universe.

3) Shining Knight

It feels a little wrong to call Shining Knight a “weird” character. He’s really more of just an unusual one, a character from the criminally underappreciated Seven Soldiers of Victory team. First appearing in 1941, Shining Knight, aka Sir Justin, is Knight of the Round Table in King Arthur’s court but is buried in an avalanche along with his winged horse, Victory, after defeating Blunderbore. Kept alive for centuries by magic, they end up in the modern age when they’re found during an archeological dig. Sir Justin is essentially a hero displaced in time and it’s pretty cool.

Shining Knight is so cool that he got a four-issue miniseries from Grant Morrison in 2005, Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight. All of the Seven Soldiers have their own series (including Bulleteer) but Shining Knight’s is just special.

2) Aztek

Created by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, Aztek was raised by a secret organization, the Q Society, as the champion of Quetzalcoatl to battle Tezcatlipoca. He has a magical suit of armor and eventually comes to the United States where he takes up the identity of Curt Falconer. At one point, he joins the Justice League but quits when he finds out Lex Luthor is connected to the Q Society. Aztek eventually sacrifices himself helping Superman stop Mageddon, who is actually Tezcatlipoca.

Aztek got his own, 10-issue series in 1996, Aztek: The Ultimate Man, which is actually where the character debuted. It’s also worth noting that while the first Aztek perished, there is a second version of the character, a female version named Nayeli Constant.

1) Detective Chimp

Detective Chimp, aka Bobo T. Chimpanzee, may be a “weird” DC character, but he’s also one of the best. A literal chimpanzee with superhuman-level intelligence, Detective Chimp solves crimes, usually along with the Bureau of Amplified Animals. He made his first appearance during the Golden Age in Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 in 1952, and while he did have a period of time where he disappeared from comics, he’s been a favorite since his return in 1981 and is even a member of the Justice League Dark.

He got his own book with Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp #1 in 2007. While technically not exactly his own full series, the one-shot story that followed Detective Chimp while he was in possession of the Helmet of Nabu, was a great little story that let this beloved character shine.  He’s easily one of the most interesting and unique characters in DC, and we would love to see him get more stories all his own (though we also never complain when he shows up to help out other heroes as well.)

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