The Top Ten Best DC Comics of 2023

This year was a bit erratic in some ways.

As I mentioned in my Top Ten Worst DC Comics of 2023 list, there are quite a few gems this year but not as many as I initially thought. It could be that the books that I liked were so, SO good that made me think that there were more books but in reality I had to fill a few spots here with titles I forgot about.

That doesn't mean such titles were not good, they were actually solid but they were not as good as the ones I put at the top. However, as I mentioned this year was a bit chaotic because a few titles that I choose last time won't make an appearance here because sadly their quality was not consistent and even some of the books I picked here that I thought would be higher ultimately had a few flaws that made me reconsider their position.

Nonetheless, this is definitely a good year of comics, a good year for many authors actually since some of them reminded me how good they could be and some of them became even better and that's really some of the best compliment I can give.

Without further ado, let's congratulate:

10. Geoff Johns/Todd Nauck's Stargirl: The Lost Children.

I have to admit that I ended-up being kinda disappointed with Geoff Johns' revival of the Justice Society of America since the main title ended-up going nowhere after a while and will apparently stay that way since Johns is leaving DC Comics with many of his promises left unfulfilled.

That being said, I also have to say that the miniseries Stargirl: The Lost Children was enjoyable for the most part.

Just as I mentioned last year, Johns reintroduced and retconned several Golden Age sidekicks into modern times, reinventing a lot of the mythos and creating a lot of potential for future stories involving them and the characters connected to them (potential that won't be reached by Johns himself but I digress).

More important though, this book gave much more relevance to the character of Stargirl, giving her a reason to exist in the current DCU and making her relatable to the recently presented sidekick by basically defining her as their leader showing how important she can be for the Justice Society of America as a whole.

Todd Nauck once again contributed a lot to this story thank to the kinetic style that was a great fit for a book about sidekicks and brings a lot of memories to his days in Young Justice.

If there's a complaint here and why this is so low in the list is because, while is entertaining overall, the conclusion left a bit to be desired due that it was forced to connect to the current ongoing JSA title that feels directionless by now and thus, made this book with an ending that is not that satisfying.

Despite of the complaints, is fitting that Johns is able to deliver a fun story that involves the character based on his own sister as one of his final DC works. Decent send-off.

Things only get better from now on thankfully.

9. Joshua Williamson's Green Arrow.

I was honestly pretty nervous when this was announced.

I liked Joshua Williamson, I have liked most of the books he has worked on. However, I did not like most of the times he wrote Green Arrow in those books because he tended to go for an overly-idealized and bland version of Oliver Queen who was a guy who only made a few mistakes in his life and was already a better (and duller) man because of them.

And the beginning of the current book didn't make me more optimistic about what was going to happen funnily enough since it initially seemed like Williamson was quickly going to redeem only in a very simple and stupid manner by retconning all of his mistakes saying that it was all a villain's fault. Basically a "Parallax" fix for Green Arrow except that it would be a terrible fit for Oliver Queen due that gets rid of all the complex human aspects and replaces them with a dumb supervillain reasoning.

Fortunately that didn't actually happen and what we ended-up getting was an actual solid superhero story.

The premise is all about the reunion between Ollie and his family after he disappeared due to the events of Dark Crisis which leads to a journey into the Multiverse in which we see many incarnations of Green Arrow and elements of their history gathering. You can imagine that Williamson is having a ton of fun with such rich continuity and thankfully he also addresses a lot of the trademarked flaws from the protagonist and creates an appropriate development for him.

Is not perfect though and that's the reason why is kinda low in this list. While I love the references to previous stories, I also find all of that a bit pandering, especially when it focuses too much on the return of some of the members of Ollie's family. Not to mention that the villain's motivations for doing all of this are pretty poor and I feel like we could have gotten something new and interesting (Spoilers: The villain is Merlyn and the fact that he didn't get a compelling portrayal feels like a complete waste).

So, is not my ideal Green Arrow but is a good enough Green Arrow and after the last few years of either mediocrity or nothingness, this is certainly better than that.

8. Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Green Lantern: War Journal.

This was an interesting year for Green Lantern.

As I've mentioned before, I wasn't really that much of a fan of Jeremy Adams' work as a whole, I always thought it was fine and with good intentions but ultimately never reaches its actual potential. That didn't change when he was announced as the new writer of Green Lantern since while there are a few good ideas there, I think it doesn't compensate for how much regression went for the character of Hal Jordan.

But why do I mention that? Because in that same title there was a second feature by Phillip Kennedy Johnson about the character of John Stewart and it was easily the most interesting part of it.

Yes, after his solid work on Action Comics, Johnson went to handle Green Lantern in his own way and the second feature eventually became its own title. Going for a more cosmic tone compared to the weirdly grounded work that Adams' tries to do but ironically enough, Johnson actually does a more faithful portrayal of John, not ignoring his previous development and actually building from it. Is great to see how John tries to find a balance between his life as a soldier and architect and fortunately the writer realizes that the latter is ultimately the most important part of his personality.

The ideas don't end there since Johnson makes a very creative take on the mythos, reinventing a few of the classic Green Lantern concepts while making the protagonist interact with different planets and races even involving different timelines and realities. Is a pretty dense read in that regard.

Nonetheless, despite of the more cosmic-oriented direction, Johnson also makes the relationship between John and his mother a core aspect of the series, making her a motivation for John during the story. I think overall is a more successful way to make the character relatable than whatever the hell Adams was doing with Hal.

This is another successful book by Johnson and this is not even the best one this year but before that, let's talk about:

7. Mark Waid/Dan Mora's Shazam.

After a couple of years of rather poor offerings in the Shazam franchise (including the frikking second movie), I was fearing that the series was going to remain in limbo once again. Even when Mark Waid was announced as the new writer I wasn't still that optimistic about it since Waid had a, let's say, tendency at writing kids that is not often the best, not to mention that I didn't trust DC much at the actual direction they could take with the series.

Well, those fears quickly put aside thankfully... for the most part.

What Waid gives us here is a very "classic" superhero story and that's really when Waid is at his best. Is a story that exploits the most basic aspects of the old Captain Marvel tales with Billy being a kid who depends a lot on the power of the Shazam but that puts him in an interesting dilemma when the writer decides to create a conflict that doesn't make such transformation as easy as it used to be. Add the fact that Waid includes stuff like space dinosaurs, intelligent gorillas and even forgotten concepts from the original Fawcett Comics and you get as classic comic book fun as you can, it has a very Silver Age feel.

However, not everything is perfect though. Waid often goes to that "classic" direction to a fault as well. Shazam's new nickname "The Captain" seems too forced and out of place at times, I understand that Waid really wanted to bring back that name but the way it was introduced and implemented doesn't make a lot of sense. Plus, Waid's decision to make Billy a weak boy who needs the Shazam power to get out of trouble goes against what Geoff Johns implemented early on this same continuity about how Billy was a stronger person due that he grew up as an orphan (which makes me doubt about what kind of continuity Waid is following). Finally, the choice of the writer about returning to the original idea of Billy and Captain Marvel being different persons gets away from the charm of Shazam being just a child in the body of an adult superhero which is something that most people have become attached to.

Dan Mora's artwork was a great way to bring even more attention to the launch of this book since his energetic and vibrant style was a perfect fit for a book dedicated to young characters while the classic comic moments are depicted with the required creativity.

There are problems I find in this run but there are not enough to ruin what ultimately is a pretty enjoyable story, one that I'm excited to look forward every month.

And this is far from the only mention that Mark Waid will get here.

6. Mark Waid/Emanuela Luppachino's World's Finest: Teen Titans.

I didn't know what to expect from this to be honest.

Mark Waid doesn't have the best track record writing young characters, he usually writes them overly-annoying or purposely unlikable so I was clearly a bit apprehensive about what he was gonna do with the main DC teenage superhero team.

Thank God that Waid learned from previous mistakes apparently since all of the characters here have been extremely likable and in a very accurate way for the most part.

Based on the early years of the Teen Titans (basically another "Year One" retelling) we see the growing pains of he group, getting to know each other, trying to figure out a way to work together despite of their differences and ultimately learning that they are all friends above anything else and need to fight against those who want to destroy their family.

There's a lot to appreciate here in terms of characterization. Robin keeping secrets from the rest because of his overbearing father figure, Aqualad being an introvert and learning how to have a normal life with others and Speedy overcompensating with the fact that he's own father figure is always absent. Waid clearly made his homework about the roots of these characters and went to interesting directions with them.

The dynamic between all of them is also pretty great. The beginning of Mal Duncan and Bumblebee's relationship is really enjoyable while the end of Donna Troy and Garth's feels sad yet appropriate for both of them while characters like Roy Harper can create conflict for all of them but is understandable considering his own issues.

Emanuela Luppachino's artwork certainly contributed to the appeal of this series. Her expressive and beautiful characters were perfect for the more dramatic scenes which are a staple in a Titans series.

If there's a reason why this is not higher on the list is because this being a 6 issue miniseries makes some of the resolutions a bit unsatisfying and the whole conflict overly-rushed (and is not helped by the poor personality of the villains). However, all the positives from this book makes me want more, especially because what we currently have with this particular team is the uninspired run by Tom Taylor.

Funnily enough, there's something I found more fun as a whole.

5. Chip Zdarsky's Batman.

Yes, Gotham War was a another derivative Batman crossover in a long list of derivative Batman crossovers but forced mandates aside, Chip Zdarsky's Batman continues to be genuinely good.

During his second year on the title, Zdarsky decided to play with ideas that I haven't seen pretty much since Grant Morrison's days on the franchise. The Multiverse plays a huge aspect in Zdarsky's plans with Batman visiting alternate realities and while I think there's a bit of an unnecessary and predictable emphasis on the Joker here, the writer still manages to create an interesting twist about it concerning a man who never became insane and is now obsessed to become such maniac.

The rest is just pure alternate Earths fun with Batman not only meeting alternate versions of his rogues gallery but also from himself which involves the typical Batmen that you would expect including the Dark Knight Returns one, the Red Rain one, the Batman Beyond one but there are also some that I didn't think were part of such Multiverse by now like the Adam West, Michael Keaton and even the Christian Bale one and they all play an important role in the story to help the main character. Bruce using a goofy gadget to win a battle against an impossible enemy is probably one of my favorite moments from this year.

Sure, the book eventually deviates due to the already mentioned pointless event but what Zdarsky does is very creative and more important than everything fun, not to mention that he never loses the core of the characters and presents them in an appropriate way. Bruce is not the only focus here either since the writer handles second features usually and I have to say he writes Tim Drake rather well in those.

I'm really entertained by this title and I hope things stay this way for the long run but to be honest, there are more consistent books from now on.

4. Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Action Comics.

This is one of the first signs that should tell you how good the Superman line is right now.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson has been delivering solid Superman stories from day one since he started a few years ago and of course 2023 was no different. Playing at the beginning of this year with the direction of the Superman family being bigger than ever, Johnson utilizes this opportunity to write many of the supporting characters from the line and he does a pretty wonderful job at the dynamics between all of them, developing logical character work based on their experience (even Jon Kent who heavily needs it right now) and involving appropriate antagonists that only the whole team can face.

One of the most important aspects from this book is how well Johnson understands Superman from how he interacts with people, being either his family or just normal people, and how he deals with his enemies, making they face the consequences of their crimes but at the same time, believing they can get better if they're giving the chance and even willing to help those close to them. This is as on-point of a portrayal as you can get.

If there's a problem with the book is that Johnson has to share it with other features (and sadly in some issues include the awful Leah Williams' Power Girl) but aside from that, this just a very well-written book and part of a new era of the character that only gets better from here.

And speaking of which...

3. Mark Waid/Dan Mora's World's Finest.

This surprisingly gets better and better.

Mark Waid has been delivering solid classic superhero stories with a very Silver Age feel since he launched this book with strong characterization and interesting ideas.

However, this year his big plans have become really apparent.

Last year we saw the appearance of Waid's own creation from the 90s, Magog, return in a very surprising manner, a manner in which he connects to Superman in a very interesting way that gives a much bigger insight into the relationship they had in Waid's classic story Kingdom Come but for some reason, it didn't occur to me that the writer would return to that universe so soon.

Yes, Waid has revisited such universe in the past as seen in the sequel series The Kingdom. However, such book wasn't really that great to be honest due that it had a bunch of ideas that didn't really contribute to the Kingdom Come world or characters and it mostly served as a way to introduce the concept of Hypertime to be able to reintroduce ideas similar to the Multiverse without actually reintroducing the Multiverse.

But I digress, what Waid is currently doing here is actually reinventing the Kingdom Come world in a way. Cementing the beginning of David/Magog as an antihero and presenting a bunch of ideas that makes a lot of sense for this particular reality (and even using Geoff Johns' vision of Gog of all things since Waid apparently realizes that portraying him as an actual deity is much better than simply depicting him as a religious fanatic obsessed with Superman as he did in The Kingdom).

Of course, one of the highlights is the strong dynamic between Superman and Batman due that Waid really nails their relationship and continues to depict them appropriately based on the problematic situation they find themselves in with Superman believing that his own Kingdom Come self has not done enough for this world and Batman trying to figure out what's happening. Is solid stuff overall.

Don't ask me how Dan Mora is able to work on two books monthly while maintaining the same quality because I sure as hell don't know but I'm glad that he's still on board since he gave the series its own identity and remains looking great in every action scenes.

As a whole, I will say that this remains the strongest of Waid's works this year since while I've found a few issues with Shazam and World's Finest: Teen Titans, I just can't find any real fault in World's Finest. Is simply a strong book that keeps getting better and better.

However, there's something that gained more my attention this year, something a bit more unique.

2. Christopher Priest's Superman: Lost.

Is funny because, despite of my excitement for Christopher Priest's work on Black Adam, that series didn't end up as well as it could. In fact it felt weirdly rushed with ideas that never really achieved anything fulfilling and a wasted potential which is especially frustrating since you would think an antihero book would be perfect for Priest after his amazing work on Deathstroke.

And then he was announced he was going to write a Superman book which funnily didn't catch my attention so quickly since Priest's strengths are based on more grounded characters, more human characters as one would say, in which Priest can explore dilemmas of morality and how the relationships between those people work.

Of course I should have known better that Priest is a very experienced writer and what he did here was nothing short of impressive.

The premise is about Superman being away from Lois Lane in a way and from that you can start figuring out what kind of theme Priest is going to be playing with here. However, the writer goes surprisingly high concept here with Superman visiting different planets and cultures, interacting with alien characters and races and trying to learn he can solve their own problems in his own way while adapting to the way they live, is a very interesting direction and one that Priest exploits to his fullest.

But of course, this wouldn't be a Priest book if he wasn't exploring the more human side of this premise and this is perfectly reflected in the relationship between Lois and Clark, about how he being far away starts causing harm to their dynamic and while Lois understand is Clark's job to help people, she can't help but feeling that she's starting to lose him. Is a very complex portrayal of a couple from a superhero perspective and makes me want to see how all of this would be resolved.

Of course there's also the author's trademarked social commentary that is focused on the many alien cultures that have some resemblance to the one on Earth which works pretty well for an idealistic character like Superman. That being said, one my favorite aspects here is the portrayal of Lex Luthor who is obsessed with Clark and extremely evil in his own way to the point of causing harm to someone close to harm and ironically torturing himself in the process because he can't help but keep thinking in the many ways of how Clark could take revenge on him.

Is just a very interesting take on the concept of Superman, one that I haven't seen in a while to be honest and one that is greatly appreciated.

Now what could be my number 1 pick?

1. Joshua Williamson's Superman.

What does this makes it my favorite book of the year?

Well, for one, it was a very pleasant surprise.

You see, Joshua Williamson was not really at his best for a while. He handled way too many books at the same time, including a few team books, all of them leading up to the forgettable event Dark Crisis which made me lose a bit of faith on the writer.

However, it later became pretty clear that Williamson is just not that good at handling either team books or crossovers (which was further proved by the other average event Knight Terrors) but his solo books has always been solid at the very least and I can safely say that his work on Superman combines all of his strongest points and then some.

Coming with the premise of Lex Luthor apparently turning a new leaf, Williamson created a brand new collaboration between Clark and Lex. Sure, we have seen that in the past but during those times, Lex's interior motives were always obvious but here, you can almost believe that Lex really means it when he says he has changed but of course, this being Superman's archenemy, there's always that feeling that he might have other reasons for doing all of this. Williamson plays with that doubt and delivers one of the most interesting dynamics between Clark and Lex, one that showcases how complex both characters can be, emphasizing all of their classic traits and even creating new ones based on the unique interaction they now have.

The new ideas don't end there since the writer introduces Supercorp. A new business whose purpose is also to gain Superman's trust but at the same time, Lex can't help himself to tease his classic enemy from time to time about it, making the whole relationship even more tense. The biggest point of this direction though, is to contribute to the worldbuilding, one that involves Metropolis and its people in a big way that I haven't seen in a while.

Because yes, the whole cast of Superman pays an important role here. The Daily Planet, the Superfamily, even Superman's classic villains, all of them are part of this big plan and I love to see how each of these characters are integrated into the plot. Williamson even brings into the table a few characters that I thought gone like Lex's family and that comes with its own sort of problems.

There's also an emphasis on Lex's enemies coming for him and of course this is all related to the idea of his own mistakes and crimes coming back at him. The writer uses this as an opportunity to introduce brand new rogues to the book in a powerful way while connecting to the old ones. All of this connecting to an overarching story that is always progressing at a fast pace. This is the kind of stuff I usually see from Geoff Johns and I'm glad that Williamson is taking his role now.

You might start understanding why I consider this my favorite book of the year. It combines everything I love from comics, worldbuilding, long-term planning, good villains, attention to continuity and strong characterization. Nonetheless, what I consider most important here is that it showed me the full potential of Joshua Williamson as a writer to the point I can safely say this is his best book yet.

Yes, this gives me a lot of hope for the future and that's the best I can get from any year. Now let's see if 2024 improves things even further!