10 DC Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

1. Watchmen

You won't find a stronger comic book than Alan Moore's Watchmen. You just won't.

Seminal in so many ways, and revolutionary in many more, Moore and Dave Gibbons' text is almost universally considered to be the finest comic book of all time. With its gripping social commentary on the eighties Cold War milieu and its satire of the superhero genre in particular, Watchmen continues to captivate readers thirty years on from its original publishing.

That's no small feat, and while continued revivals of the license prove to be controversial, it's easy to see why DC are so keen to trap the same lightning Moore and Gibbons did when the text first released in 1986. Indeed, it's a testament to Moore's work that the book's most famous characters - Rorschach, Nite Owl, Doctor Manhattan and Silk Spectre - are household names. To do that outside of the limits the mainstream DCU engenders is incredible, and the fact it keeps being revisited intimates how special a feat that is in accordance to the book's ever-increasing popularity.

Sure, fans might continue to misread Rorschach, but when the book's as good as it is, surely that's a price worth paying?

Are there any other DC Comics you think people simply HAVE to read? Please let us know in the comments below!