DC Comics brought the superhero to the masses in 1938 and has become one of the biggest names in pop culture. Before the rise of Marvel in the ’60s, they were superhero comics and even with the House of Ideas sucking up all the air in the room have still been able to put out the best comics of all-time. There’s an argument to be made – and I’ve been making it for years – that DC is the superior company to Marvel when it comes to stories that could be considered the best of all-time. Now, this is obviously highly subjective, but you can look at the books most praised by fans and critics, find the overlap, and extrapolate from there. DC mastered the prestige comic in the ’80s, giving readers classics like Watchmen.
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Watchmen is generally considered the most important comic of all-time and it tops many best of all-time lists. However, it’s far from the only DC book that could be counted among the best of all-time. There are tons of amazing books DC comics out there, the best of them rising like cream to the top. These five DC stories could all be counted among the best of all-time, classic stories from across the publisher’s history.
5) Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons
DC has been on fire in the 2020s, putting out brilliant stories that helped them take the top of the sales charts. There are some fantastic books from the last six years, but none of them can match Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott. This three issue over-sized Black Label series told the story of the origin of the Amazons, the war between the gods they started, the origin of Hippolyta, and the birth of their greatest hope.
This being Wonder Woman written by DeConnick, the work is fiercely feminist. The world has changed a lot since the days of Greek myth, but some things are always the same and DeConnick has no problem taking a look at the misogyny that created Western culture as we know it and show it for what it is. The art brings it all to the next level. Each artist does a separate issue and it. Is. Fantastic. Personally, Jimenez’s issue is my favorite, but they’re all examples of an artist putting all of their skill on the page. This comic will stir something in you.
4) Batman (Vol. 1) #232
Frank Miller get a lot of credit for making Batman mature, but this isn’t exactly the case. Creators had been doing dark Batman stories for years. The Batman TV show’s campiness was brought to the comics and DC took a page from it for years. As the ’60s ended, DC decided to go another way with the character, with writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams giving readers a mature Batman in stories across Detective Comics and Batman. Their books became some of the most beloved of all time, but they weren’t done there. They also created one of the greatest Batman villains ever in Ra’s al Ghul in Batman (Vol. 1) #232.
The first Ra’s al Ghul story saw him kidnap the Boy Wonder, leading the Dark Knight and Talia al Ghul to work together to find her father and save Batman’s young ward. However, nothing is at seems in this situation, when the story takes a twist that will change the history of Batman forever. O’Neil and Adams are always brilliant together and this issue is the finest example of their talent. This issue was adapted basically whole cloth in Batman: The Animated Series, introducing new generations to this tale.
3) “Crisis on Earth-Three”
The Justice League is DC’s premiere superteam. The success of their debut was so great, that Marvel decided that they wanted to get back in on superheroes. The early issues by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky might seem simple by today’s standards, but the two of them were an amazing team. They set the standard for what a team comic should be, with the creation of the multiverse in The Flash #123 leading the book to the next level. Justice League of America (Vol. 1) #21 brought back the Justice Society and eight issues later, readers would be introduced to the next major Earth in Justice League of America (Vol. 1) #29-30.
Titled “Crisis on Earth-Three”, the story saw the first appearance of the Crime Syndicate of America, the criminal rulers of Earth-Three, the world where evil always wins. Bored of being in charge with no challengers, the Syndicate sets their eyes on Earth-One, with the Justice Society coming to their aid. Fox and Sekowsky were, in a lot of ways, doing an event book every month in Justice League of America and this story was so big, it needed two parts, back when that meant something. It was spectacular Silver Age action and it remains one of the high water marks for superhero comics.
2) “American Gothic”
You can’t really do a best of all-time DC list without some kind of Alan Moore, but instead of going to the usual suspects, I’m choosing the height of his Swamp Thing run. Moore’s time on the muck-encrusted mockery of a man changed mainstream American comics forever. Moore took a monster book and made it sophisticated horror, and audiences lapped it up. A lot of writers choose something like “The Anatomy Lesson” to include on lists like this – I’ve done it in the past – but it’s “American Gothic” that deserves to be there.
The story ran through Swamp Thing (Vol. 2) #37-50, Moore working with artists Rick Veitch, John Totleben, Stephen Bissette, Stan Woch, and Ron Randall. John Constantine has learned of a plot by a group of South American sorcerers to destroy all of creation by unleashing the Great Darkness, leading Swamp Thing on a battle to stop them from gaining the power they crave. This story does what the best horror does – shows that the most horrifying thing is humans. Moore takes readers on a travelogue through the American soul for a story that you’ll never forget.
1) All-Star Superman
All-Star Superman is an all-time classic and to many it’s not only the best Superman story ever but the best superhero story period. I’ve been making that argument for years, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely taking the history of the Man of Steel and creating something that is truly flawless. When Superman rescues the first mission to the Sun from Lex Luthor, he learns two things – that exposure to that solar radiation has made more powerful than ever and that it was also going to kill him. With the end of his life at hand, the Last Son of Krypton decides to put his affairs in order, trying to leave the world a better place than he found it.
All-Star Superman is a story that does everything perfectly. It creates timeless versions of its main characters, taking ideas and plots from their past to inform this brilliant yarn. Morrison is in rare form for this one, able to nail both the big stakes action and the emotional core of the story – there are two big tear-jerker moments that never fail to switch on the water works. Morrison loves Superman and that comes through on every page. Quitely’s art is the icing on the cake, giving the book a classic feel with his simple linework and attention to detail. This is one of those comics that is completely perfect from start to finish and deserves all the praise in the world.
What DC comics do you feel belong the best of all-time? Do you think I’m wrong about any of these? Leave a comment in the comment section below!
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