When talking about epic DC zombie tales, DCeased and Blackest Night are some of the darkest, nightmarish stories out there.
But, which of the two is the ultimate DC zombie epic?
In DCeased, the DC Universe's heroes rush to stop a virus spreading across the planet due to Cyborg being infected by Darkseid’s Anti-Life equation. The story is an incredibly grim take on the DC Universe, and the series featured some shocking and emotional scenes between characters. Much of the Bat-family gets taken out by the virus, and both Superman and Wonder Woman -- who are symbols of hope for the world -- succumb before the tale ends. The story might be shorter than Blackest Night, but writer Tom Taylor's skill at building up post-apocalyptic scenarios, which he did in Injustice, comes into play here, making for an expansive, well-built and action-packed story. DCeased knows its characters well, and that makes it all the more satisfying.
While DCeased takes more of “techno-virus” scenario, Blackest Night has a more intricate take revolving around the Green Lantern series. In Blackest Night, the villainous Nekron resurrects a ton of dead superheroes and villains on his quest to eliminate all life and emotions from the universe. The story primarily focuses on Green Lantern. However, it also includes a huge collection of DC’s old and new characters that clash together in the most unpredictable ways. For example, villains such as Lex Luthor, Scarecrow and Sinestro end up aiding Green Lantern. Eventually, the heroes come together as the White Lanterns, resulting in a satisfying finale.
In terms of the formats of the stories, DCeased is a standalone tale set in its own continuity. However, Black Night was the culmination of Geoff John's Green Lantern run. Blackest Night was a massive crossover involving a ton of prior stories and brought a tone of twists and changes to the DC Universe as a result of its event status. Since Blackest Night is in-continuity, it also addresses death in comics, giving the book some thematic weight in that way.
Both works take very different approaches to their zombie apocalypses. DCeased shows a more humanized version of the traditional horror story, exploring how people react to grief and what they do in the aftermath of these terrifying events. This trend is fairly common to other zombie media, such as The Walking Dead, which put a lot of attention on morality and how ethical codes can easily break. DCeased is, overall, a very strong, standalone zombie apocalypse tale set in the DC Universe.
On the other hand, Blackest Night relies a lot on prior knowledge on the DC characters and their histories in the DC Universe. To fully understand and appreciate the whole story requires some background. While some might see this as a detriment, it's actually what makes the story unique. Blackest Night motivates people to learn more about the DC Universe. Although Black Night deals with a number of recurring themes, the story makes the loss of beloved characters feel effective. Death, in comics, is as important as an origin story, since it often results in changes when the hero returns down the line. And that is why Blackest Night is still DC's ultimate zombie apocalypse epic.