11 Essential Storylines To Read If You're Just Getting Into Comics

10. Static Shock: Rebirth Of The Cool

DC Comics

There are few publishing events out there in the medium that really redefined its conventions, but the founding of Milestone Media in 1993 is surely one of them.

Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek Dingle's DC imprint was revolutionary for a number of reasons, not least of which because it was massively influential in diversifying the DC Universe both off the page and on it. Chief among the creators' works was, however, Static - a series that followed the exploits of a young Virgil Hawkins as he picks up superpowers during his high school years. It also, rather famously, birthed Static Shock, one of the brightest additions to the library of the DC Animated Universe.

Written by McDuffie and Robert Washington III (both writers who have since tragically passed away), and drawn by John Paul Leon, Static exemplified the Milestone approach to storytelling, providing bags of nuance and drama in a series that, although temporarily cancelled in the late nineties, found a new audience at the turn of the century in Rebirth of the Cool; which, apart from being the best title for a comic book ever, is a series everyone should check out given the opportunity.

The story is, rather sadly, currently out of print, which is a massive loss for everyone concerned. If you're interested in seeing the series return though, you can always send the folks at DC a message here.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

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.