10 Best DC Stories of the ‘10s

DC Comics did some great work in the 2000s. DC has weathered the ’90s much better than Marvel, and that continued into the 2000s. Readers got some amazing runs by the best creators in comics on characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Manhunter, and more, with teams like the JSA, the Outsiders, the Birds of Prey, and the Justice League all getting some great series. The mid ’00s saw DC bring back pre-Crisis ideas and use them in new ways, with the results being great stories. The late ’00s weren’t as great as a lot of what came before, but all of the potential was still there. The ’10s looked like they’d be a great time for DC, and fans had hope, especially after Blackest Night (which won’t be on the list, since half came out in ’09, so it’s in a weird middle ground; however, it’s excellent so you should read it).

If I’m being honest, the ’10s weren’t a great time to be a DC fan. There were definitely some great comics in the decade, but the New 52 was the harbinger of some very bad stories and the loss of everything that DC had built in the ’00s. The ’10s were a roller coaster ride for DC fans; you were never sure if you were going to get something great or something terrible. However, there are some books from the decade that stand tall, and these ten are the best of them.

10) Forever Evil

The Justice League was a major part of the New 52. Looking back on the various Justice League comics of that time there aren’t a lot of them that would be categorized as great. Some were good, some were okay, and some were mediocre at best. However, there were some cool ideas behind the Justice League comics, and the best of them was the invasion of the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3. This led to the best event comic of the New 52 — Forever Evil, by Geoff Johns and David Finch. The Crime Syndicate had smashed the Justice League and set their sights on the rest of the world. They blitzed the heroes with the help of the villains, but not everyone joined them. Lex Luthor created a team of villains — Sinestro, Black Adam, Black Manta, Captain Cold, Deathstroke, and a Superman clone Bizarro named B-1 — that worked with Batman and Catwoman against the Crime Syndicate. It’s an exciting, action-packed story that shows a new side of Lex Luthor. DC has some amazing events, and this one deserves its place among them. It shows off why DC has some of the best villains in comics, and gives readers everything they could want from a story like this.

9) “Zero Year”

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman run is one of the few bright spots in the entire New 52. It was the one book that you could go to and always get a sumptuously written story with brilliant art. A lot of people like “The Court of Owls”, others like “Death of the Family” and others enjoy “Endgame”. All of the stories are pretty good, but I would say the best one is “Zero Year”. The New 52 universe was a mixture of new and old ideas, and DC kind of did a terrible job of establishing what was canon and what wasn’t. “Zero Year” showed us the beginning of the New 52 Batman, as Bruce Wayne figured out how he would save the city that he loved so much. However, the Red Hood Gang, the Riddler, and a massive storm have other ideas for a city. “Zero Year” is Snyder and Capullo going wild with the ideas they’d been building up over their run and showing that while the New 52 was a different world with events, some things never change — the heroism of one man trying to fix a corrupted city.

8) Doomsday Clock

Doomsday Clock doesn’t have the best reputation, but it’s better than it gets credit for. There are multiple reasons why Doomsday Clock is controversial in DC fandom. Some people hated the fact that Watchmen was going to crossover with the heroes of the DC Multiverse, and wouldn’t give it a chance. The book’s delays were also a huge problem with the book, as was writer Geoff Johns’s tendency to mine Alan Moore’s DC work for ideas, going so far as to try and ape his writing style with mixed results. However, if you take all of that away and just read the 12-issue series, it’s actually quite good. It gives readers a crossover between two disparate universes in the best possible way, revealing the secrets of how the New 52 happened and the differences between Superman and Doctor Manhattan, placed on collision course by their differing ways of looking at the universe. Doomsday Clock has some tremendous issues and the last half more than makes up for the slower, more Easter Egg laden beginning. Seriously, Doomsday Clock #12, on its own, is one of the best single comics that came out in 2019.

7) Omega Men

Writer Tom King is a controversial figure in DC Comics history. This is the first time he appears on this list, yet not the last, and it’s for one of the better books of the latter stages of the New 52 — Omega Men. King and artist Barnaby Bagenda take readers back to the Vega Sector — DC’s premiere sci-fi location of the ’80s (there are some excellent Alan Moore shorts set in Vega in DC Universe by Alan Moore). Omega Men follows the titular group of rebels waging a guerilla war against the powers of the Vega Sector, with White Lantern Kyle Rayner getting dragged into battle. Omega Men is prime DC sci-fi, and this twelve issue format is where King has always shined. This book had a decent buzz when it was coming out, and deserves way more credit than it gets.

6) “I Am Suicide”

Tom King’s run on Batman is one of those runs where you either like it or hate it. Personally, I enjoyed the way it dug into who Batman is, and while there are definitely some disappointments in the run (Batman (Vol. 3) #50, “The Gift”, Batman (Vol. 3) #56-57), there are also some excellent stories. “I Am Suicide” is one of those. This story saw Batman deciding to use Psycho-Pirate’s powers to cure Gotham Girl’s madness. However, there’s one simple problem — Bane has the Psycho-Pirate in Santa Prisca. Batman gathers his own Suicide Squad and the group of them attack the prison that Bane calls home. This story is phenomenal. It digs deep into the trauma that is Batman brilliantly, and the art by Mikel Janin is amazing. Seriously, go look up some pages of this story if you don’t believe me. This is Batman at his finest and it’s a story that will stick with you for years.

5) Brightest Day

Blackest Night was an amazing story, and its follow-up is probably better. Brightest Day was a 26-issue biweekly series by Geoff Johns, Pete Tomasi, Ivan Reis, Fernando Pasarin, Ardian Sayif, Patrick Gleason, Scott Clark, and Joe Prado. This story followed the character resurrected at the end of Blackest Knight by the White Lantern — Martian Manhunter, Deadman, Jade, Captain Boomerang, Reverse Flash, Osiris, Maxwell Lord, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Firestorm, and Hawk — as they try to figure out why they’ve been brought back to life. It’s great from start to finish, the kind of DC that everyone loves. It set things up for the future beautifully… then DC publisher Dan DiDio decided to pull the trigger on the New 52. However, that doesn’t change how awesome this book is.

4) The Multiversity

Grant Morrison is the greatest DC writer of all time, and that’s really all there is to it. Morrison has done brilliant work at the publisher, pushing the bounds of what comic stories can be. Morrison didn’t do nearly as much amazing work in the ’10s than they did in previous decades, but they did give us The Multiversity. The Multiversity isn’t a traditional comic series. It’s two bookend issues with seven one-shots in between them, each one telling a story set on a different parallel Earth and all of them connected by the magic of comics (yes, really). Morrison worked with artists Ivan Reis, Chris Sprouse, Ben Oliver, Frank Quitely, Cameron Stewart, Jim Lee, Doug Mahnke, and a veritable army of artists on The Multiversity Guidebook #1. These stories are amazing, each one going in different directions inspired by different eras of comics. My personal favorites are Pax Americana (for my money one of the best single comics ever produced), Thunderworld Adventures, and Ultra Comics, but they’re all great. This is the kind of bravura storytelling that Morrison has become known for and its a nearly perfect comic about the power of comics (again, seriously).

3) DC Rebirth #1

DC Rebirth started great and then fell off, but that doesn’t change how amazing DC Rebirth #1 was. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Phil Jimenez, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, and Gary Frank, this book saw the returns of the post-Crisis Kent family and Wally West, as the truth about why the New 52 happened is put into question. This is one of the most hype comics ever. 80 pages for $2.99 in 2016 was wild, and this book set the entire comic Internet on fire. This is a nearly perfect comic, and while you can argue that everything that came after wasn’t great, it doesn’t change just how great a read this is. This book sold like hotcakes and it remains somewhat legendary among DC fans.

2) Action Comics (Vol. 2) #0-18

The New 52 has loads of problems, but Grant Morrison’s 19-issue Action Comics run isn’t one of them. Morrison, working with Rags Morales, Andy Kubert, Gene Ha, Talent Foreman, and Ben Oliver, brought Superman back to his man of the people roots and told the story of the early days of Superman in Metropolis before he even joined the Justice League. What follows is classic Morrison — big superhero action with amazing concepts that will blow your mind. It all comes together in the final six-issue arc, as the real monster behind five years of problems on Earth is revealed and everything that came before is revealed to have been connected. This is one of those complicated Morrison stories that might not work for every fan, but there’s just something about it. Morrison is on fire throughout, and the art is fantastic in every issue. There’s three story arcs to it, but they all build on each other, and if you stay with it, you’ll be rewarded with the greatest DC story of the New 52 (sorry, Batman fans).

1) Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, is a perfect comic book, full stop. The story follows Mister Miracle after a suicide attempt. He’s been questioning his life, all of the pain and terror, and has found no answers. However, a new war against Apokolips sees him and his wife Big Barda drafted into the war. This is brilliant storytelling from start to finish. It’s powerful and emotional, using the nine-panel grid to control the flow of the story perfectly. This story has so much depth to it, and it an example of a writer and artist gelling to an extent that few teams do. Mister Miracle has always been something special, a book that will wow you, shake you, and make you cry. Can Mister Miracle escape the ultimate trap, readers? Well, there’s only one way to find out… and you’ll be surprised by the answer.

What do you think are the best DC Comics of the ’10s (honorable to the Young Animal books, all of them)? Sound off in the comments below.

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