For decades, DC Comics has used events to generate excitement and boost sales. Some are more successful at those goals. The creators of those events had different things they were trying to achieve. They set out to tell an engaging story and make a connection with the readers. In many ways, these event stories were better than the massive, well-publicized events.
A lot of these events have been overlooked by fans and historians. Some fans stand behind the quality of the more forgotten events. They will scream from the rooftops about the quality of grand stories with large casts and high stakes.
10 End Of An Era Gave The Legion Of Super-Heroes A Grand Send-Off
As the big event Zero Hour affected the entire DC Universe, no group of heroes was more affected than the Legion of Super-Heroes. Sales had gone down, and there was an editorial mandate to relaunch the Legion from the beginning. The final issues of Legion of Super-Heroes, Legionnaires, and Valor were gathered under the event title End of an Era.
End of an Era featured a lot of confusing time slips that robbed the Legion of members and history. The Legion gathered on a barren and molten Earth to face the end. The Time Trapper facilitated a stable send-off, complete with a mosaic of memorable Legion moments as everything went white.
9 Batman: Officer Down Had The Bat-Family Rally Around Commissioner Gordon
After Gotham City recovered from the earthquake-driven events of No Man's Land, returning the Batman titles to the old order would have been easy. Instead, the status quo was shaken by removing a popular supporting character. Commissioner Gordon is gunned down in an alley.
The story weaves around the mystery without losing track of how everyone deals with their friend lying in a coma. As with anything Gotham City, it's not the simple answer. Tying everything together through multiple titles and creative teams are the dramatic and graphically brilliant covers from Durwin Talon.
8 52's Brilliance Was Tarnished When DC Tried To Duplicate It
After Infinite Crisis, the decision was made to jump all DC titles ahead by one year. Everything that happened that year, the time without Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, was chronicled in the weekly limited series 52. Multiple stories were followed, including Black Adam ruling Khandaq, the Question training a successor, and the debut of Batwoman.
The last plot resolved was the return of the Multiverse, altered by the attack of a monstrous Mr. Mind. 52 was well-received, and DC Comics followed it with another weekly series, Countdown. That series would lead to Final Crisis, but it was regarded as lacking direction and quality.
7 Last Stand Of New Krypton Was The Culmination Of Two Years Of Storytelling
The preeminent event in Superman's world during the early 2000s was the establishment of New Krypton. The Bottle City of Kandor was enlarged, and the Phantom Zone was emptied, suddenly giving Earth 100,000 Kryptonians as new, super-powered residents. When that proved disruptive, the Kryptonians created a planet on called New Krypton.
Superman immigrated to the new planet just weeks before Brainiac attacked. This coincided with the American General Sam Lane working with Lex Luthor to destroy the Kryptonians. This marked the Last Stand of New Krypton as Superboy, Supergirl, and some of the Legion of Super-Heroes helped to defeat Brainiac. General Lane's agent, Reactron, destroyed New Krypton and almost all of its inhabitants.
6 Sins Of Youth Was A Fifth Week Event That Gave DC's Young Heroes A Chance To Shine
Klarion the Witch Boy was angered and made the heroes of the JLA, JSA, and some other characters children. The younger heroes of Young Justice and Stargirl were aged into adults. The heroes have to find a way to restore everyone's age. Throughout several one-shot titles, the situation was resolved when Klarion's familiar, the cat Teekl, was threatened.
The series of comics are fun yet able to convey the seriousness of the battle with Klarion. Superboy's girlfriend, Tana Nile, was killed as well, reinforcing the drama of the events. On the plus side, Stargirl's potential is recognized, so she becomes the eventual inheritor of Starman's Cosmic Rod.
5 Eclipso: The Darkness Within Was A Spectacle Of Action
The 1992 Crossover event running through DC's Annuals featured the elevation of Eclipso into a massive threat. Revealed as an ancient demon, he activated thousands of black diamonds to corrupt anyone who held them. All it took was someone to express anger or hatred while holding a diamond.
Eclipso targeted the heroes of the DC Universe, culminating in a massive battle on the moon. With bookend issues drawn by Bart Sears, dynamic action was displayed throughout. The structure of the story made sense when involving the various annuals. It was a format that DC could not reproduce as successfully for the next decade.
4 The Janus Directive Was An Intriguing Restructuring Of An Overlooked Corner Of The DC Universe
In The Janus Directive, the government's various intelligence and metahuman agencies, were pitted against each other. At the center of the conflict came the Suicide Squad. While there was a lot of distrust directed against Amanda Waller, the real villain was Kobra.
Ultimately, the government's agencies and heroes triumphed against Kobra, but the damage had been done. The President consolidated all the various agencies together under a cabinet-level official, Sarge Steel. Waller is eventually arrested for using the Suicide Squad to pursue her personal agenda.
3 Day Of Vengeance Was A Magic War That Rivaled Final Crisis In Scope
Amid Infinite Crisis, Eclipso corrupted the Spectre into exterminating all magic users. He went on a rampage, prompting the formation of a new magical group, the Shadowpact. The new group consisted of Nightshade, Detective Chimp, Nightmaster, the Enchantress, and Blue Devil.
Against all odds, these heroes rallied the surviving magical heroes to battle the Spectre. When the Rock of Eternity is destroyed, the Shadowpact rallies to rebuild it. The Shadowpact core group would stay together after Infinite Crisis to defend against magical threats in the chaos the event left the world of magic in the DC Universe.
2 Funeral For A Friend Was A Fitting Eulogy For Superman
After The Death Of Superman, the Superman comics line explored life without Metropolis's protector. The mood remained somber even as a plot developed for organizations jockeyed in the wake for the advantage Superman's death brought. Cadmus is shown to be very nefarious, a trait that would plague DC heroes for over a decade.
Lex Luthor manipulates Supergirl, who shines in taking Superman's place, as much as Lex Luthor schemes in the wake. Lois Lane's portrayal is heartbreaking as she can't publicly mourn as much as she wants. When things couldn't get any sadder, Jonathan Kent suffers a heart attack at the end, leading to Reign of The Superman.
1 Final Night Was Put Together Masterfully, Affecting Everything On Earth
It's rare to see an event truly have global ramifications. In Final Night, a Sun-Eater envelops Earth's Sun and drives the Earth into darkness. Lex Luthor and the heroes of Earth tried to find a way to save the planet, and various heroes helped relief efforts and kept the peace against rioting, looting, and other crimes.
Virtually every title had a tie-in issue to the event. It also played off the Silver Age reputation of the Sun-Eater with the Legion of Super-Heroes, with the introduction of Ferro, whose counterpart died battling a Sun-Eater. It ended with Hal Jordan gaining a level of redemption when he used his vast power to save the planet and repair the ecological damage days of freezing weather did to Earth.