DC Comics’ latest major story arc throughout its titles is the dark “Year of the Villain,” which kicked off May 1, 2019, finding Lex Luthor liquidating his assets to use his money to offer specific villains an enhancement of some kind, all as a means to his nefarious end – or that of Perpetua, who wants reality to meet its doom.
Since May 2019, there have been many one-shot releases, each focusing on a major DC villain, whether their dealing with Luthor’s offer or being infected by the Batman Who Laughs. Here is a list of the five best and five worst one-shots so far. (Warning: there are heavy spoilers.)
10 WORST: THE JOKER
Although co-written by legendary writer/director John Carpenter, this highly anticipated story about DC’s most infamous villain isn’t exactly about him. Narrated by one of the Royal Flush gang’s minions, this tale follows Six of Hearts, a mentally unstable criminal who becomes Mr. J’s sidekick. At first, he’s honored but, after many misadventures – even running into the Condiment King – he realizes the truth about the Clown Prince of Crime: Six may be crazy but the Joker is evil … and he knows exactly what he’s doing. The story had such promise as it could’ve delved more into Joker’s stance on the Year of the Villain and Luthor’s offer, or addressed that salacious tease from “Darkseid War” of there being three Jokers. Instead, it’s merely an unnecessary character study.
9 BEST: LEX LUTHOR
After Lex’s transformation into Apex Lex via absorbing Martian Manhunter and accepting Perpetua’s “upgrade,” this story finds Lex traveling the multiverse, searching for the other Lex Luthors – ultimately to destroy them and take out any threats to his ultimate plan. His first stop is plucking a young Lex Luthor out of the timeline and taking him around the multiverse to fulfill his deed. What follows is an expertly paced exploration into Luthor’s thinking, as well as the unfolding of the true reasoning for this journey and ultimately taking in kid Luthor – to find a Luthor to become a DNA sample should his apex self unexpectedly get destroyed.
8 WORST: SCARAB
Unless you’re a big Jaime Reyes fan, this one-shot taking place after Reyes being infected by the Batman Who Laughs, is somewhat of a recycled story from the already published “King Shazam!”, featuring Reyes narrating his transformation from Blue Beetle to the Scarab as his rage and anger are taking him over. Reyes’ villains are a bit of a joke (Ghostfire!?), and his transformation is somewhat similar to that of Billy Batson. Overall, the story is simply not very memorable, as are his friends Brenda and Paco. For a better version, read the next story on the list.
7 BEST: KING SHAZAM!
Unlike Reyes’ transformation in the previous entry, Billy Batson is quick to embrace his transformation of power. This story follows an infected Batson who transforms to Shazam and proceeds to hunt down and beat all of the gods he can find, ultimately searching for those strong enough to join him in the infection. By the end, Shazam is confronted by his foster sister, Mary Marvel, who tries to hit some sense into him. The story ends on a mighty big cliffhanger and features some of the best, strongest gods getting beat down by Shazam, proving his overwhelming strength in the DC universe.
6 WORST: DEATHBRINGER
Donna Troy is one of the best characters in the DC universe, but, unfortunately, while this one-shot about the infected Troy starts off great as she systematically takes down each member of the Titans while flashbacks express Troy’s misgivings, the entire story is one of the weakest of the bunch. With Troy’s troubled past, it’s understandable the infection is so quick to affect her. The ending doesn’t live up to its potential and I can’t help but think maybe the writer wrote it the way she did because there is no way even Troy could defeat the combination of Beast Boy, Steel, Miss Martian, and Raven.
5 BEST: BLACK ADAM
Most people tend to forget that although Black Adam is one of Shazam’s main enemies, he actually has very good intentions. He uses his powers to protect the people of his country, Kahndaq, and will do anything to make sure they are safe and free. So when an infected Shazam comes to Kahndaq, looking for a fight, Adam is more than willing to take the fight to his enemy. In the end, it isn’t Adam’s strength which wins the fight but rather the strength of his people. Kahndaq’s defeat over Shazam not only displays Adam’s badass character as he talks down to Billy Batson, but it also makes Adam more relatable to the reader, putting more of the "hero" in anti-hero.
4 WORST: OCEAN MASTER
Aquaman’s half-brother, Orm/Ocean Master has long believed he should be king of Atlantis, which has been the driving force between his animosity. In this story, taking place after Orm’s ordeal in “Drowned Earth,” Orm finds himself in the slums of the Ninth Tride, and on his way to the possible location of the land of King Dagon, his journey is cut short when he follows a kidnapping to an oil rig ruled by D-list villain, Marine Marauder, who was given powers by Apex Lex. Orm defeats Marauder thanks to a sea elemental named Lernaea. Lex shows up and offers power to Orm , only to have Orm bitterly refuse him, threatening Luthor to keep his war from the oceans. Orm has always been a bit of a whiny, unsympathetic character and this story doesn’t help his case.
3 BEST: THE RIDDLER
This story is a bit unorthodox compared to the other stories on this list, but that’s what makes it so great! With news spreading in the criminal underworld of villains getting offers from Apex Lex, the Riddler is disappointed he was never offered one of Lex’s dark gifts. So, to prove his worth, he and King Tut decide to once again try to kill Batman. However, after a visit from Lex, Riddler has somewhat of an existential crisis as he reflects on his life and his criminal career. The book perfectly displays both the humor and keen insightfulness writer Mark Russell is known for; plus, it ends with a potentially really dangerous threat as Riddler quits his shtick to pursue a possibly more dangerous path.
2 WORST: BLACK MASK
This tale from Tom Taylor starts off wonderfully – with Roman Sionis/Black Mask’s beginning and his brutal murder of his parents, to his armored money truck heist – but the ultimate “power” Lex offers Black Mask is a bit underwhelming and leaves the reader perplexed as to how this offer differs from any of the numerous take-overs and crimes Sionis has done in the past. The execution of Mask’s power is creative, but the story doesn’t really go anywhere, and there’s almost more of Renee Montoya and Batwoman here than Mask. Overall, it’s not bad because of its writing but because it could’ve been so much better!
1 BEST: SINESTRO
This other story by Mark Russell has Sinestro being tasked by Lex to stop a dominating force of soldiers called the Paragons, which threaten Lex’s and Perpetua’s goal towards doom. Sinestro comes to find that each Paragon quickly regenerates from any wounds thanks to microscopic beings called Microns – a race of peoples who live for 0.8 seconds, all to simply heal the Paragons. Sinestro quickly ascertains how to cease the Microns’ work so the Paragons can be destroyed. He first plays God, exploiting their longing for more life, then takes a sharp turn by making them grow resentful. The panels featuring the Microns in their transformation via giving them too much time and starting a cultural revolution is a wonderful irony, with art imitating life. The narrative doesn’t specify which side is the one which brings about the Microns’ downfall, and it highlights Sinestro’s manipulation skills, proving him one of the best of villains.