10 DC Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

8. Static Shock: Rebirth Of The Cool

Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool
DC Comics

There's so much that can be said about Static, the classic Milestone character created by the late, great Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Derek Dingle and Michael Davis. Fans will most likely recognise Virgil Hawkins from the animated series of the same name, or indeed in Justice League: Unlimited, but most of his best material was reserved for his own comic series.

An African-American high school student caught up in a toxic cocktail of gun crime and police brutality, Virgil discovers he has the power to manipulate and generate electricity after being hit by the 'Big Bang', an event that gave birth to an array of super-powered citizens.

Although the character's initial run was lauded upon its release (as was Milestone as a whole), the character fell out of the spotlight after said series was cancelled. With McDuffie then heavily involved in the burgeoning DC Animated Universe, a cartoon show was created and, wouldn't you know it, people loved him.

McDuffie was then able to use the hero's newfound popularity and resurrect the original Milestone series. Now set in the mainstream DCU and not the Milestone 'Dakotaverse', Rebirth of the Cool was the comic every fan of the animated series wanted to read. It didn't just compliment the TV series, however. What it did do was reaffirm that Milestone's tenets - to strive for a more representative industry - are as important today, as they were back then.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.