15 DC Comics Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

If you're looking for some top DC stories, you've come to the right place.

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These days, DC heroes enjoy a higher profile than they ever have before thanks to their transition to the big and small screens. The success of DC’s movie and TV universes has exposed fans to not just the adventures of big stars like Superman and Batman, but to those of lesser known heroes too, like Green Arrow and the Suicide Squad.

However, for any new fan coming in (heck, even for a lot of existing comic fans), delving into the comics these characters came from can seem like a daunting task.

With thousands of issues spanning back across decades and decades, it can be difficult to know where to even start reading about your favourite character, let alone what their best stories are.

Now this isn’t even remotely close to being a compilation of all the best stories that DC has to offer, but think of it more as a list of essential reading. These are some of the best comics that have been written for DC, as well as some of their most important.

It’s a smorgasbord of titles from across the DC multiverse, designed to give you the highlights of what makes their heroes so great.

15. 52 Omnibus

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DC's big name heroes may usually get all the spotlight, but the company has a whole treasure trove of excellent, lesser known characters and no series better exemplifies that than 52.

Set in the aftermath of the event comic Infinite Crisis, in which an evil clone of Superboy tried to destroy the multiverse (it isn't really required reading to understand 52 though), the series sees Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all disappear for a year and chronicles the adventures of various other heroes as they try to fill the void.

52 really gives a chance for these characters to shine, highlights include Superman fanboy Steel stepping up as the protector of Metropolis and taking on Lex Luthor, burned out cop Renee Montoya teaming up with the philosophical Vigilante The Question and jerk from the future Booster Gold going from fame hungry narcissist to time-travelling, multiverse saving superhero and narcissist (even proving popular enough to get his own sequel series). All of this is written by a team of top tier writers including Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Keith Griffen, Greg Rucka and Grant Morrison.

52 is also notable in how it breaks from the format of traditional comics. Each issue occurs a week after the last over the course of a year in real time and the story continually jumps between plotlines, giving the book an addictive TV like quality, much like Game of Thrones.

And of course, we all know the best way to enjoy that type of series is to binge it.

Contributor

I was just a mild-mannered NCTJ accredited journalist until one day I found out the truth... that I could share my nerdy ramblings with people on the internet! It's just like mumbling to myself on the train, but without all the strange looks.