Why DC’s Strongest Character Will Always Be [SPOILER]

The DC Universe is populated with some of the most powerful beings in any medium, from heroes like Superman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman, to villains like Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor, and Mr. Mxyzptlk. Several of their heaviest hitters have even put other publishers’ heroes in their place, but there is one character who stands above all the rest… even if very few readers are actually familiar with him.

Superman is familiar to everyone as one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe, and his powers have evolved throughout the years. Today, his most common abilities rank him as one of, if not the, most powerful character in the entire DC Universe. However, even Superman (any other character, really) pales in comparison to one of the DC Universe’s more obscure, yet ridiculously powerful, characters: The Presence.

Introduced in More Fun Comics #52, The Presence is the entity that initially transformed beat cop Jim Corrigan into the superhero, The Spectre. In that issue, he was manifested as “The Voice of the Presence” and was seldom more than a disembodied guide for the Spectre, and imbued the character with his superpowers. Created in 1940 by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, and Bernard Bailey, the Presence had reappeared several times throughout the history of DC Comics. With the power of omniscience, omnipresence, and near unlimited power, the Presence made his appearance several times in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series in DC’s Vertigo line. In his appearances in The Spectre, the Presence acts almost as a god, at times answering the prayers and pleas of Jim Corrigan, and even resurrecting the Justice Society of America.

The Presence, while an approximation of an ultimate supreme being might be in the DC Universe, has been personified by several characters as a great hand reaching out from a nebula at the moment of creation. Indeed, that image was once again referenced in DC Universe: Rebirth, although it was later revealed that the Great Hand seen then was that of Doctor Manhattan, altering the multiverse (and as Doctor Manhattan himself has stated within the pages of Watchmen: “If there is [a God], I am nothing like him.”

Although he only appears sporadically, The Presence has been described by characters and creators as the supreme being within the overall DC Universe (yes, there is a fourth-wall breaking appearance of “The Writer” in Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run, but that seems to be that character’s only appearance). The Presence is perhaps as close to “God” that DC Comics can safely reach — but it doesn’t mean that a surrogate or stand-in can’t fill that gap. Marvel has the One Above All, and DC has its Presence, the most powerful character in its lineup.