DC Comics has made a science out of the 12-issue maxiseries. There’s something about a 12-issue series that you can’t get with a shorter book. It feels more weighty than the normal miniseries, giving creators the page real estate they need to tell a complete story. The best example of this is, as usual, Watchmen; Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were able to create a living, breathing world full of fully-realized characters, all while giving readers an outstanding overall story as well. Since then, numerous creators have used the 12-issue series to tell the best stories in the history of the medium. You usually can’t go wrong with a DC 12-issue book, as most of them are excellent on another level.
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DC has used these kinds of books to add maturity into the medium of comics and this has led some of these series’ to become some of the most brutal out there. Sometimes, that can mean rather graphic violence, but most of the time it’s the tone. These books take readers on some wild rides, dragging then through the most harrowing situations for stories that break their characters in a number of ways. These five DC 12-issues series are shockingly brutal and you need to experience their savage narratives.
5) Camelot 3000
Camelot 3000 birthed the modern prestige comic back in the 1982. Mike W. Barr was joined by Judge Dredd superstar Brian Bolland for a story that is as cliche as they come – King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table returning in a future time period – and went all out with it. In the year 3000, an alien invasion is ravaging the Earth, with the return of Arthur and his compatriots changing the course of the whole thing, but there’s a sinister truth behind the whole situation. An old enemy has returned as well and the stakes are the destruction of humanity itself. This story went more mature than most books you could get in the United States in the early ’80s, so there’s plenty of violence and death, but that’s not what makes this story so brutal. It’s all about an ancient war spilling into the future, each side going to the extreme to destroy the other. It doesn’t need blood and gore to be savage, as Barr and Bolland are able to establish a tone that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
4) Strange Adventures
Adam Strange was one of DC’s Silver Age sci-fi characters and he followed a rather tried and true trope. He was an archeologist pulled to an alien world by powerful technology where he becomes a two-fisted adventure hero, gets the girl, and becomes something he never would if he stayed on Earth. The main difference is that he would end up being thrown back to Earth, waiting for his next Zeta Beam ride. He’s a character that has faded into the background over the decades, but 2020 would see him get another chance at stardom in Strange Adventures, by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Evan “Doc” Shaner. This story kicked off in the present, where Strange had returned to Earth after saving Rann from the Pykts. However, there are questions about what exactly he did in the war, with Mister Terrific investigating his actions, which comes to a head when the Pykts attack Earth, seemingly for revenge. This story flashes back and forth between present and past, showing readers exactly what Adam had to do to win. I like to use the word “harrowing” at times like this, but even that one doesn’t go as far as needs to. Every issue just gets more brutal and oppressive as the truth is revealed, giving readers a story they won’t soon forget.
3) Justice
Justice, by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithwaite, is a love letter to the SuperFriends cartoons, pitting the old school Bronze Age version of the Justice League (during their Satellite Era) against the Legion of Doom. Anyone who knows SuperFriends knows that it was the opposite of brutal, but this 12-issue series is from the mid ’00s, when Marvel and DC were both pushing in more “mature” directions. This series did that as well, kicking off with a chilling vision of the apocalypse. From there, the book keeps raising the stakes, with the Legion of Doom tearing into the League, with some fantastically realistic, bloody results at times. Brainiac is at his most terrifying, doing brain surgery on Aquaman, and holding Arthur Jr. hostage, playing off the child’s death in the Bronze Age comics to mess with readers’ emotions. This book wanted to be a mature SuperFriends and succeeded brilliantly, giving readers a new view of both the League and Legion.
2) Mister Miracle
Tom King’s The Vision redefined a B-list character, showing his utility at finding a core to a character and using it to tell an amazing 12-issue story with them in 2016. An argument can be made that he perfected this approach with 2017-2018’s Mister Miracle, with Mitch Gerads. This book kicks off with the attempted suicide of the main character and goes on from there. Scott Free can escape everything except his life, which is about to change in numerous ways. Highfather is killed, the war against Apokolips turns hot, Orion is put in charge, and Scott and his wife Barda are forced to the front line, as the two of them have to deal with enemies on both sides. This is a book that deals with war and depression, and it doesn’t really shy from the terrible realities of both of these things. King and Gerads dig deep into the traumas that molded Mister Miracle, using them to inform a story that takes readers from the depths of the worst moments imaginable to some of the most life-affirming moments, dealing with trauma and depression in a very real way – you never win the war, you just survive it. I got the first issue signed by King and told him how much the story spoke to my own issues and he said that he hears that all of the time and is flattered but also sad that so many understand the book. That really says it all.
1) The Filth
Grant Morrison’s work is known for its brilliance, and brutality has always played a big role in their classic stories. Looking at their oeuvre, there’s numerous severe stories but the one that stands out among them all is The Filth, with artist Chris Weston. Back in the ’90s, Morrison was a believer in millenarianism, thinking the turning of the millennium would lead to utopia. However, we all know how that turned out and that reality feels like it led to The Filth. The book follows agents of The Hand, a secret organization who work to enforce Status Q. They’re the ones keeping the world mundane and oppressive, using what insane technologies to create a world where the bad guys always win and no one ever speaks up (so, you know, the 21st century). Morrison and Weston are no strangers to extreme violence and this series is full of that. There’s some insane body horror, beautifully rendered by Weston, and some of the most violent situations ever. There’s also some sexual violence that will shock readers who aren’t used to this sort of extreme storytelling. This book will shake you, but you’ll never want to put it down.
What’s your favorite brutal DC maxiseries? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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