10 Most Important Comic Book Moments Of The Decade
10 Years of Thrills, Spills and Kills.
The 2010s have been a most curious decade for comic books. Film adaptations have never been popular with endless superhero flicks coming out every year. This year, Avengers: Endgame became the highest grossing film of all time (unadjusted for inflation so all you Gone With The Wind fans can calm down).
Yet, despite the mainstream boom period superheroes are currently enjoying, comic books themselves have frequently struggled with declining sales and general interest. In response, the powers that be at both Marvel and DC have seriously upped the ante.
Reboots, deaths, civil wars, heroes going villainous, villains getting heroic and crossovers have all escalated greatly this decade, leading to some seriously insane stuff coming out of our most beloved superheroes’ stories. From brand new legacy characters to turning traditional ones on their head, writers have had little fear in messing with the status quo. Many times such changes and plot twists have been greeted with acclaim and renewed interest, others have lead to countless debating among all us superfans.
Either way, reading material quality has been at an all time high in the 2010s and does not look to be slowing down any time soon. Let’s take a look at 10 of the most important comic book moments this decade and feel free to share your own favourites in the comments below.
10. The Dark Knights
Following up their immensely popular (and often controversial) run on Batman, the dynamic duo of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo paired up for a truly bonkers Batman centric event.
Dark Knights: Metal introduced us to the Dark Multiverse, a grim subversion of the more routine DC Multiverse. Fiddling about with mystery metals deep in the tunnels of his Batcave, Bruce Wayne inadvertently opens a portal to the Dark Multiverse, prompting mass chaos universe wide.
In the process, we are re-introduced to Batcentric super demon, Barbatos now equipped with his merry band of evil Batmen. The Batman Who Laughs (a gross amalgamation of Bruce and his hated nemesis), The Red Death (an evil Bruce Wayne possessed Barry Allen), The Murder Machine (a Cyborg-like Bruce created by an AI Alfred), The Dawnbreaker (A Green Lantern Bruce gone horribly wrong), The Merciless (Bruce as Ares’ God of War successor) and The Devastator (Bruce wits and Doomsday’s everything else) among others arrive in the Light Universe with a bang.
Surreal, unpredictable, surprising, the Dark Universe Batmen were many things. Most importantly however is the fact they show us the level of devastation and pain a figure like Bruce Wayne could cause if ever he were to succumb to evil. In the process, Snyder and Capullo hammered home that Batman’s as dangerous and as brilliant as even the most super powered of DC characters. In doing so, the team portrayed Batman in an even darker than usual light.