At the end of December 2020, which is fast-approaching, the DC Universe app will be losing all of the TV shows and movies that brought in a lot of subscribers. While those shows, at least the shows created specifically for DC Universe, will find a new home on HBO Max, comics will continue to populate the DC Universe app as it changes its name to DC Universe Infinite.
With tens of thousands of comics stretching across DC's 80-plus year history— and more comics being added every week— there is no shortage of great series to read. Just about every story featuring DC's biggest heroes are already on the service, but it's the weird and wild stuff that really makes the service worth paying for. The books that aren't likely to get reprinted anytime soon, many of them seemingly forgotten in the years that have passed since they came out.
10 1st Issue Special
Looking to recreate the success of Showcase and find their next Flash or Green Lantern, DC kicked off 1st Issue Special in 1975 as a way to try out characters before dedicating a whole series to them.
While the success of the characters who appeared in 1st Issue Special was mixed, some have made a mark on the DC Universe, including Manhunter, Mikaal Tomas, the blue Starman, and Warlord. 1st Issue Special ran for thirteen issues, and each one is well worth taking a look at.
9 Elvira's House Of Mystery
In 1981, Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark, made her debut on KHJ-TV and a new star was born. The world became enamored by Elvira and her wit, as well as her style, bringing out the goth look well before it became hip. Throughout the 1980s, Elvira was everywhere— from her TV show to her own movie and even in commercials for random products. All of this made her the first true "Mistress of all Media."
Being so popular, it was only a matter of time before Elvira ended up in the comics, and DC got her. With a fantastic cover by the iconic Brian Bolland, Elvira's House of Mystery kicked off. The horror anthology series, as the title suggests, saw Elvira move into the House of Mystery once owned by Cain and Abel— best known for their roles in Neil Gaiman's Sandman— and taking over their task of witnessing the weirdest and scariest tales in the world.
8 Ambush Bug Nothing Special
Written by Keith Giffen and Robert L. Fleming with art by Giffen, Chris Sprouse, and William Wray, Ambush Bug Nothing Special is a fourth-wall-breaking wild ride of a series that sees the titular hero looking for a new comic that he can be in.
Throughout the special, Ambush Bug interviews with a number of heroes, including Aquaman and Lobo, and Dream of the Endless, to be their sidekick all while battling DC's most famous— and apparently evil— editor, Julius Schwartz. Ambush Bug Nothing Special is the height of Keith Giffen's weird DC stories, taking the sense of comedy he brought to Justice League and Lobo and bringing it to a new level.
7 Flex Mentallo
Spinning out of his Doom Patrol run, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely created the four-issue Flex Mentallo series as the first part of his thematic "hypersigil trilogy" that includes The Invisibles and The Filth.
In the series, Flex Mentallo, the "The Man of Muscle Mystery", is searching for his old friend The Fact and finds himself going on an adventure that is nearly impossible to describe. Flex faces off against the Mentallium Man, the Killer Kitten, and his own psyche to discover the truth.
6 Victorian Undead
Created by Ian Edginton and Davide Fabbri, Victorian Undead is a six-issue series that follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as they take on the strangest case of their careers; trying to figure out why the dead are rising.
As Holmes and Watson battle zombies across Victorian London as they try to discover who is behind the horrors all around them and what the long-dead Moriority has to do with it all. A second series, Victorian Undead II: Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula, and a one-shot Victorian Undead Special: Sherlock Holmes vs. Jekyll/Hyde are also available on DC Universe.
5 The Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love
Looking to get in on the success of the Dark Shadows soap opera, DC Comics created The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, a romantic horror anthology series that saw each issue tell a "Full-Length Novel of Love And Danger!" After four issues, the series was rechristened as Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion and the romance angle was dropped. The series ran for fifteen issues with stories by Jack Kirby, Howard Chaykin, Gerry Conway, and Gil Kane, among others.
One character from The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, Charity, would later show up in the 1990s Starman series created by James Robinson and Tony Harris and in the 2008 weekly series Trinity.
4 All-Star Section Eight
Created by Garth Ennis, John McCrea, and Steve Dillon and spinning out of Hitman, All-Star Section Eight is a six-issue series that follows the further adventures of Section Eight, DC's most unpleasant superhero team.
With members like Sixpack, Dogwelder, and Bueno Excellente, Section Eight prepares to take on an evil so great, it may not even exist while searching for an eighth hero to join the team. Garth Ennis' well-known style of humor is front and center in what may be one of the grossest series DC has ever published.
3 Scooby Apocalypse
The dog named Scooby-Doo and the crew that makes up Mystery Incorporated are some of the most famous paranormal detectives in the world, even if almost every case ends up just being an old guy in a costume. But when writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, best known for their classic Justice League series, took on the usually goofy adventures of the lovable misfits, they turned it into a horrific story that saw the world overrun by monsters with help from artists Andy Owen, Howard Porter, Dale Eaglesham, Ron Wagner, and Jan Duursema.
Scooby Apocalypse follows the adventures of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo as they try to fix their biggest mistake— bringing about the end of the world. This 36-issue series tells the full story, including the death of one teammate.
2 Prez: First Teen President
Created by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti, Prez: First Teen President, tells the story of Prez Rickard, the first teenager to become the President of the United States of America. The series, which came out just two years after the voting age was lowered to 18, follows Prez as he meets the corrupt businessman Boss Smiley who convinces the teen to run for Senate. But after meeting a Native American named Eagle Free, Prez chooses to instead run for the White House.
With his mother as the Vice President and Eagle Free director of the FBI, Prez takes on government red tape, a right-wing militia led by the great-great-great-great-great-grandnephew of George Washington, and vampires. And he does it all in just four issues.
1 Human Defense Corps.
Written by Ty Templeton with art by Clément Sauv, Human Defense Corps is a six-issue series that focuses on a select group of soldiers in a newly created branch of the military established by then President of the United States Lex Luthor.
The Human Defense Corps was created by Luthor to ensure that the US government wouldn't need to depend on superheroes if there was an alien or magical threat on the nation. In the series, the Human Defense Corps take on shape-shifting aliens and vampires before invading Hell to retrieve their dead comrades. Sadly, the series did not sell well and the Human Defense Corps has been all but forgotten.