10 Best Comic Book Universes

Of the thousands of comic book universes created over the years, these are the best of them all!

Marvel Universe Patrick Gleason
Marvel Comics/Patrick Gleason

Fictional universes and comic books go hand-in-hand, and you can pretty much count on the fact that each and every publisher has at least one cohesive universe. The Simpsons have theirs, as do the Transformers, but there are more and more that you may never even think of thanks to multiverses.

Marvel's multiverse stretches as far as the imagination can possibly extend, while DC's tends to grow and shrink every now and again thanks to continuity-destroying crossover events. Whatever number of Earths DC happens to be on at the moment, you can rest assured, it's greater than one.

With so many universes cluttering up fiction like an ever-expanding Neverending Story, it can be hard to settle on which ones are the best. How could you possibly choose between the likes of DC and Marvel, or even Marvel's base universe, Earth-616, and its cinematic universe, Earth-19999?

It's nearly impossible to determine which is better, and this list doesn't attempt to do that. Instead, it highlights the 10 best comic book universes and presents them in no particular order. All of these selections are incredible settings for amazing stories, characters, and concepts. However, anything found on this list must have originated with comics, which means The Simpsons' Bongoverse doesn't count (even if it is admittedly great).

10. Wildstorm Universe

Marvel Universe Patrick Gleason
DC Comics

The Wildstorm Universe is one of many universes to exist out of Image Comics, and it started as a part of the mainstream Image Universe but broke off to become its own distinct Universe. That happened during the "Shattered Image" storyline, which served to sever the Wildstorm Universe from the Image Universe.

In the Wildstorm Universe, superheroes and interstellar travel are commonplace, as the Universe exists within an alternate history of the Earth. There are numerous titles set within the Wildstorm Universe, such as Team 7, Gen¹³, Deathblow, The Authority, Stormwatch, WildC.A.T.s, Sleeper, and many more.

In many ways, the Wildstorm Universe is similar to the main DC Universe due to the inclusion of numerous alien races and the prevalence of superpowered people. The D'rahn are a humanoid alien race whose technology and history have interwoven with that of humanity, creating a combined mythology for both races.

There are four types of superhumans in the Wildstorm Universe: Alien-human hybrids, Gen-Actives, Seedlings, and Century Babies, who are those humans born on the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. These individuals represent some of the most powerful thanks to their being immortal beings with impressive superpowers.

 
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Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com