Last year may have seemed to fly by, but it was pretty packed when it came to DC movies, comics, TV and (for the first time in a few years) games! We all have our own personal favorites, reflecting our unique tastes and interests, and all of them are worth highlighting. So, like we’ve done in the past, we’re saying goodbye to 2022 by letting members of the DC.com writing team share their top three DC favorites for the year.
Returning for his second year to pen our third "Top Three" list is our master of comic book deep dives, Donovan Morgan Grant!
Another year in the books, and another year where DC is simply killing it with their comics! I thoroughly enjoyed the output from 2021 and I’m happy to say that 2022 saw no slowing down when it came to eagerly anticipated new comics. From the mega-event Dark Crisis embracing the theme of legacy in the DC Universe with open arms, to the continuing successful run of Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, this year was a reminder in why the DCU is my favorite superhero world to stay in. But although there was a lot I enjoyed over the past twelve months, here are three I’d place at the very top.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest
DC’s two biggest leading men have often teamed up over the decades, with the title “World’s Finest” serving as the duo’s most memorable moniker. However, this latest series isn’t simply another in a long line of team-up titles, but specifically hearkens back to a bygone era from DC’s Bronze Age.
Portraying its two heroes as still young and vibrant, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest projects optimism and excitement by exuberantly featuring not only Superman and Batman, but Robin, the Doom Patrol, the original Teen Titans and the Justice League of America. The key to this series’ success is long-time DC icon Mark Waid returning to his favorite characters and showing them off, as well as spectacular artwork and designs by Dan Mora. Mora’s been a rising star for the past few years in the industry, and in this book, his considerable talent glows with creativity and excitement. Battling demons, super-villains and the ravages of time itself, these two DC super friends haven’t been shown off in such pristine glory in a very long time.
Batman – One Bad Day: Two-Face
Written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Javier Fernandez, Batman – One Bad Day: Two-Face serves to not retell an origin story as the title might suggest, borrowing from one of the most famous super-villain origins, but instead serves as a solid detective story that analyzes both Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne in the present, with their respective supporting casts bouncing off ideas of fate, chance and good and evil. This standalone issue is a delight in acknowledging the personal history between the former friends-turned-enemies, and questions whether things can change after everything they’ve gone through.
As a massive Cassandra Cain fan, I especially appreciated her involvement, with terrific artwork by Fernandez rendering her strong and powerful. A mystery with a powerful emotional hook, this gets a heavy recommendation for all Bat-Fans who may have missed it a couple of months back.
Justice League Infinity
In 2020, we saw the return of the world of Batman: The Animated Series in the form of Batman: The Adventures Continue, a limited series set within the continuity of Batman’s animated universe and written by series producers Paul Dini and Alan Burnett. This year saw the conclusion of a different comic based on a DC Animated Universe project—Justice League Infinity.
Heralded by longtime comic and Justice League Unlimited writer J.M. DeMatteis and series producer James Tucker, Justice League Infinity takes place some time after the end of JLU’s third season and has the League facing conflicts of multiversal proportions. Alternate universes, time-displaced doppelgangers, evil Nazis and despotic Darkseids abound in this series which utilizes the multiverse in more daring and surreal ways than anything the original animated series could’ve hoped to get away with fifteen years ago. Alongside nailing the voices for the characters (which was especially nice given our recent loss of the great Kevin Conroy), the series is wonderfully illustrated by Ethen Beavers, who captures the energy and dynamism of the series’ original designs by Bruce Timm and James Tucker. This seven-issue comic truly feels like a continuation of Justice League Unlimited and left this longtime fan only wanting more.
Read all five of our 2022 Top Three lists: Alex Jaffe, Kelly Knox, Donovan Morgan Grant, Rosie Knight and Joshua Lapin-Bertone.
Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @donoDMG1.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC Entertainment or Warner Bros.
