Marvel Comics routinely revisits past comic book storylines, borrowing titles like Secret Wars or Heroes Reborn to provide an updated take on a classic (or perhaps infamous story). DC Comics does this much less often, but numerous storylines from the 1990s offer an opportunity to reconnect with readers and also take another shot at some arguable letdowns.
The HBO Max animated series Harley Quinn borrows and scrambles numerous Harley storylines from her past, including the key ones that introduced her to comics. The show also provides a roadmap for how the DC Universe at large can leverage its past in the same way Marvel does both in the comics and on screen.
The Death Of Superman
2022 marks the 30th anniversary of The Death Of Superman, among the best Superman comic book storylines ever. DC Comics celebrates the landmark moment in comic history this fall, but an opportunity also exists for the company to go further. With so much debate about how best to make Superman relevant on screen, this storyline provides a guide for how to do it.
Though some comic book fans may see the storyline as a cash grab during the speculator boom in the 1990s, The Death Of Superman nevertheless stripped the hero down to his core and challenged what it meant to be Superman. Revisiting the storyline as Marvel did Secret Wars could offer a chance to reconnect with the character’s essence.
Emerald Twilight
Emerald Twilight arguably revitalized the character and franchise, leading to the best Green Lantern comic book storylines ever, like Blackest Night. With so much progress achieved in the last 30 years, it may feel regressive to go back to his bleak early 1990s story where Hal Jordan kills all the Green Lanterns. But the core idea offers some potential.
Current Green Lantern comics leverage the considerable mythology and storytelling Geoff Johns and others contributed in recent years. If DC Comics wanted to shake things up or open a door to new possibilities, a new take on Emerald Twilight could be in order.
Zero Hour
Emerald Twilight plays into Zero Hour, among DC Comics’ many continuity reshaping reboots, through its villain, Parallax. As a result, revisiting one could lead to the other. Zero Hour arguably let down readers in the 1990s, attempting to streamline DC’s complicated canon once again but making it worse.
DC Comics routinely shakes things up in events like The New 52 or Final Crisis. Another shot at Zero Hour potentially takes advantage of its intriguing premise – counting down backward from a cataclysmic event – to at least simplify the company’s continuity not only in comics but in live-action as well.
Knightfall
Batman provided fans with many great storylines in the 1990s and beyond. Knightfall ranks among the best Batman comic book storylines ever, pitting Bane against The Dark Knight for the first time and also generating a lasting image in Bane breaking Batman’s back that has inspired movies and shows.
Bruce Wayne left Batman to Azrael in the aftermath and the question of who is Batman and what he represents remains an intriguing one for the comics to explore in some capacity.
Gothic
Gothic counts among Grant Morrison’s best comic books ever. Drawn by Klaus Jansen, this storyline from the Legends of the Dark Knight comic presents a zealous, almost maniacal Batman. The storyline involving mysterious murders likely feels familiar to others that came later, but the unpredictable Batman offers some intrigue for 2022.
Batman explores a supernatural mystery in the storyline, exclaiming at one point “I am the king of Hell” in a moody, dark piece that feels like an interesting counter to the hyper-realism in the movies.
No Man’s Land
No Man’s Land influenced some elements of Batman movies it seems, particularly The Dark Knight Rises, as well as the HBO Max Harley Quinn animated series. This dark, expansive story where Gotham experiences a major earthquake and loses federal assistance seems primed for a revisit given the possibilities.
Much as Marvel remixes the core ideas in storylines like Secret Wars, No Man’s Land potentially offers a chance to explore Batman and his allies and enemies through the lens of a catastrophe. This could offer new possibilities for the characters, as it did Poison Ivy, who began her transition to one of DC Comics’ best antiheroes in this storyline.
Harley Quinn
Comic book fans know Harley Quinn made her first real appearance in DC continuity in No Man’s Land. The new animated show makes a great case for revisiting Harley Quinn’s best comic book storylines, which brought the character over from Batman: The Animated Series into DC continuity.
Going back to Harley Quinn, Mad Love, and other storylines allows the comics to blur the lines in Harley’s history as the show does, and rather than simplify a chaotic canon, embrace its messiness.
War Of The Gods
The late writer and artist George Perez provided a seminal run on Wonder Woman in the early 1990s, but War of the Gods for some fans fell short of expectations, likely due to Perez’s disputes with DC’s editorial department. The cataclysmic battle between different pantheons still presents an intriguing premise to explore.
With Marvel exploring its various pantheons in the comics and in live-action, there’s no reason that DC can’t do the same, especially with such an incredible character like Wonder Woman.
Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come, from writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross, proved a powerful response to many vogue tendencies in early 1990s comics. The storyline sees Superman intervene after a new generation of grim and gritty ‘heroes’ accidentally destroy an American city and much of its farmland.
The question of what it means to be a hero remains pertinent in modern comics and in all other media and the Kingdom Come universe seems primed to continue that dialogue.
Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics represented a rare but impressive crossover between DC and Marvel Comics. Taking their most iconic characters and fusing them together, the crossover generated many great and fun characters like Dr. Strangefate (Doctor Strange and Dr. Fate) and Thorion (Thor and Orion) that appeared in some cases only once.
Another trip to the Amalgam Universe offers an opportunity to reconnect to what makes superheroes fun and also what makes Marvel and DC equally worthwhile in the minds of so many fans.
