DC has published an astronomical number of comics over the decades. The seeds for their superhero universe were first planted when Superman blasted onto the scene in Action Comics (1938) #1. Nowadays, there are hundreds of heroes who battle for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow in their massive universe, and even more populating the multiverse at large. This ever-expanding cast has starred in some of the most important and amazing comics ever put to the page. There are multiverse-spanning tales that operate on a scale that’s hard to imagine, like Crisis on Infinite Earths, and small, intimate explorations of characters we all love, like Batman: Ego. Comic book fans have learned to love these stories, and when we catch wind of another with that kind of potential coming up, it’s only natural that we get excited.
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Of course, the unfortunate reality is that not every comic can live up to the hype. Sometimes, fans have expectations for a book to be good or even great, but it winds up not clicking for them. That’s not what we’re here to talk about. No, we’re here to talk about the comics that had the entire fandom waiting on the edge of their seats, only for the story to finally arrive and unite these disparate factions into a single, solitary action: ranting about how bad it was. The comics we’re going over today had the potential to be generational stories, but dropped the ball so hard that fans still cringe years later. Without further ado, let’s dive into these stories that were so disappointing they left scars on the community.
5) Heroes in Crisis
Tom King is a very contentious writer today, but back in the late 2010s, general opinion was a lot more positive. Memories of his stellar Mister Miracle (2017) and Vision (2015) were still fresh in everyone’s mind, even if his run on Batman (2018) skyrocketed him into the negative spotlight. It’s well known that King loses the plot with long-format runs, but a tight twelve-issue series focused on heroes dealing with trauma and psychological issues sounded like it was the perfect story for him. It’s rare to get any story focused on that side of our heroes, and King was the perfect person to bring it to life. However, instead of a psychologically driven examination of how the superhero life can impact you, we got a convoluted murder-mystery that moved like a turtle and tried to character-assassinate the Flash.
We can only lay so much of the blame for that on King, given just how much former DC co-publisher Dan DiDio pushed for it to ruin Wally West, whom he hated as anything but a sidekick. Still, regardless of why the series bombed, it bombed. This story was pitched as an intimate, character-driven story, but forced itself to be this universe-spanning mystery without almost any focus on the actually interesting premise. Instead of being something new, it was something we’d all seen a hundred times before in a new coat of paint. As pretty as the art was, it couldn’t help the story that simply refused to move at a reasonable pace.
4) Batman: Widening Gyre
Kevin Smith is best known for his work in movies and TV, scripting more than his fair share of cult classics. Mainly, he specializes in comedies and parodies, such as Clerks and Comic Book Men. Like that last title implies, Smith is also a massive comic book fan, so when it was announced that he would be writing a twelve-issue Batman series, it naturally got fans excited. Modern interpretations of the Dark Knight veer very heavily into drama and seriousness, so a lighter, more comedy-focused story sounded like a great change of pace. However, what we got was a six-issue series where Batman did not act like himself at all. It was garish, hyper-sexual, and insane in all the wrong ways, culminating in a genuinely baffling cliffhanger that should never be resolved.
Batman can be a funny character, but this story didn’t lean into any of his comedic strengths at all, relying on the lowest-brow humor you could possibly imagine. It referenced the exploding wall scene from “Year One,” one of Batman’s coolest moments, and retconned Batman having a bladder spasm during that, which had Baphomet scream that Batman peed himself. And don’t even get me started on the assinine way Baphomet gained Batman’s trust. Somehow, the World’s Greatest Detective never once thought to fact-check this man’s story before bringing him into the Batcave. This story just failed to connect with Batman as a character, and that led to its second half simply never happening. Frankly, I don’t think many fans were disappointed.
3) Amazons Attack!
Despite her status and popularity, Wonder Woman hasn’t spearheaded many events. It’s rare for her to take center stage in something like this, and Amazons Attack! was her chance to show the wider comic world what she could do. This miniseries was originally spun as one meant to lead up to Infinite Crisis, further destabilizing the world and the relationships between the Trinity when the U.S. Military invaded Themyscira. However, this series instead appeared after Infinite Crisis, which was the first sign that something was seriously wrong with it. This new story focused on the Amazons declaring war on Man’s World after they imprisoned Wonder Woman, led by a warmongering Hippolyta and Circe.
This series was a total mess. Even if Hippolyta was being mind-controlled, the idea that she would command the Amazons to kill all men, including children, is ludicrous in a way that would never fly with another group of characters. The ending was genuinely insulting, having the Amazons scattered to the wind, effectively destroying their legacy. Instead of showing how Wonder Woman was essential to DC and letting her spread her wings, this event just showed how much DC was willing to disrespect her. It was terrible on every level, and left a bad taste in fans’ mouths for years.
2) Superman: Son of Kal-El
When he was introduced, Jon Kent instantly became one of Superman’s most popular characters. The plucky young man won hearts instantly, helping his iconic parents grow into new roles. As Superboy, Jon became an instant hit, but just a few short years after we got him, Jon was ripped away and unceremoniously aged up. This was to prepare him to take over as the main Superman as a part of the now-aborted 5G initiative. Jon’s age jump continues to be a very, very controversial topic, but even though practically everyone wished he would return to being the kid we all loved, it was hard not to get excited to see him take over as the Man of Tomorrow. This solo series was built up to incredibly, and this comic was poised to prove why Jon needed to be an adult.
This series had to do a lot. It needed to justify every decision for Jon’s character that further angered fans, but as I’m sure you know, it fell flat on its face. There’s nothing inherently offensive in this comic like our other entrants, but it makes the sin of being criminally boring. Nothing of note ever happens, and even when it does, it never hits any real emotional beats. Everything here is technically fine, but it lacks emotion and spirit. It read more like a checklist of events than a story, and few things make audiences as angry as being bored. Comic books, above all else, should never be boring. Suffice to say, this only made the fans who wanted to see Jon deaged even angrier.
1) Batman: Three Jokers
More so than any other book, Three Jokers is the poster child for this particular trope. In 2015, the enormous “Darkseid War” storyline brought a close to the New 52 with the Justice League becoming gods. In it, Batman sat on the Mobius Chair and asked for the Joker’s real name. Later, he revealed the answer to Hal Jordan: there were three Jokers. This mystery shocked the comic book world and immediately got fans hankering for the truth. Every month that we didn’t hear more, fans’ speculations grew wilder and bigger. The leading theory became that the three Jokers referred to versions that had survived the numerous multiversal resets, building to a massive story where Batman would come face to face with DC’s enormous history. We finally got our answer five years later, and by that point, expectations were unimaginably high.
Needless to say, this story was not the multiversal, layered tale everyone expected. It was never going to live up to the mythological hype fans had built around it, but it definitely didn’t help that the story itself genuinely ticked fans off. The forced romance between Jason and Barbara distracted from the real story, the Comedian and the Clown were too similar, and the plot was too convoluted to make sense. This comic didn’t work, and fans immediately turned against it, which is a shame, because there’s a really good story buried in here. The idea that Joker set up a situation to have Batman forgive Joe Chill so he could be the person who has hurt Batman the most was brilliant, and if we had gotten more of that instead of what we did, it may have lived up to some of its hype.
Which DC comic were you extremely hyped for, only to be let down when it actually released? Let us know in the comments below!
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