DC Comics has become famous –or maybe infamous– for their time skips, reboots, retcons, and official timeline resets. Some may criticize the practice, but all the same, it’s what has allowed DC to create such rich and diverse superheroes, villains, and henchmen, not to say multiple storylines and interpretations sprawling out over so many decades.
In some cases, the time skips have resulted in a great story and made key points of DCU history pop off the page with dynamic art.
10 In Future State: Swamp Thing, The Green Father Is An Introspective Superhero
DC Future State is an ongoing event in 2021 that moves forward after Dark Nights: Death Metal in a possible future for the DCU. While the usual major DC superheroes have their stories, Swamp Thing gets his turn in a two-issue series by writer Ram V and artist Mike Perkins.
The year is 4,500, and Swamp Thing is the ruler of the Earth after humankind has been wiped out by war. There's a conflict with the humans as Swamp Thing, the introspective superhero, tries to save the planet yet again.
9 Time Is Skipped & Stolen In The Button Series, When Batman & The Flash Team Up
Time skips, jumps, and even gets stolen in The Button, a four-issue series with the Batman side by writer Tom King and artist Jason Fabok, and The Flash issues written by Joshua Williamson with artist Howart Porter that concluded the Flashpoint storyline for good. The World's Greatest Detective and The World's Fastest Man team up to take on the case of the mysterious button that seems to have energetic properties.
It leads them to crisscross back into the Flashpoint timeline (which Barry was supposed to have already corrected), a space where time itself is disintegrating, and along the way discover clues of a missing decade of time that Doctor Manhattan has hidden from the rest of the universe.
8 All-Star Superman Gives The Kryptonian An Appropriate End
This 12-issue series by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely ran from November 2005 until October 2008, and while it's outside DCU continuity, many fans love the idea of giving the Man of Steel a complete story. Because of Lex Luthor's machinations, Superman is infected with deadly radiation that increases his powers –but it will kill him within a year.
He reveals his identity to Lois and they have their moment. He fulfills his bucket list of stuff he wants to do for humanity and ends up, thousands of years in the future, as a golden sun god.
7 Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later Gave The Legion A Fan Fave Reboot
In 1989, the DCU threw the teenage Legion of Super-Heroes exactly five years into the future. It was the dark and gritty era of DC, and the teens turned into struggling young adults. It's five years after the Magic Wars. The United Planets system has changed, and not for the better. Writer Paul Levitz handled most of the Legion issues along with artists Greg LaRocque and Keith Giffen, with some writing by Al Gordon and Tom and Mary Bierbaum. One issue was written by Mark Waid and Tom McCraw with artist Stuart Immonen, with writer Brad Meltzer and artist Shane Davis handling the Justice League of America issue.
Earth is ruled by aliens called Dominators. Storylines were retconned, and Superboy was written out of the Legion. Many fans loved the stories and fresh approach, even if the period was largely written out of continuity subsequently.
6 Batman Beyond Revamped The Role For A New Generation
Batman Beyond, the animated series, gave fans Terry McGinnis, a younger hero with a troubled past and an aging Bruce Wayne as his mentor in the year 2039. The Batman Beyond comics written by Hilary J. Bader with artist Rick Burchett, and cover artist Bruce Timm began with a six-issue series in 1999.
Like the show, it became a fan and cult favorite for its sci-fi flavor and a cool futuristic version of Gotham City. Barbara Gordon is finally police commissioner, and Batman’s cape and cowl are gone –but this version flies, and so does the slick new Batmobile.
5 The Flash: Rebirth Brought Back Barry Allen In A Big Way
Barry Allen had been dead since the Crisis on Infinite Earths, but now he's back. Wally was The Flash, and Reverse Flash is back to torment Allen, threaten Iris, and the usual mayhem. The Flash: Rebirth, written by Geoff Johns with artist Ethan Van Sciverran, ran for six issues in 2009/2010, and became an iconic story about the entire Allen/Flash family, as everyone connected to the Speed Force is affected.
It takes a journey back into the Speed Force, and he pierces through the time barrier to push Thawne back through it. The first issue sold out immediately on its release.
4 The Dark Knight Returns Is A Powerful Story That Has Become A Classic
A Cold War is boiling over in the background as a gray-haired Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement. The story jumps ahead to a decade after Jason Todd's death, and the city has become a 1980s-style dystopia of mindless and violent teenage gangs. The 4-issue mini-series was written by Frank Miller with illustrations by Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley in 1986.
It is also a place where a caped vigilante is no longer officially sanctioned. He becomes a gritty survivor, and as the USA/Russia battle blows up (literally) he takes on Superman himself for control of Gotham.
3 Batman: The Court of Owls Sets Up A New Mythology
Batman: The Court of Owls by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo re-establishes Batman's timeline and continuity in the DCU as part of The New 52 timeline reboot. The 7-issue series was initially released in 2011. The story begins at Arkham Asylum, and Batman finds Dick Grayson's DNA under the fingernails of a murder victim.
Clues point to the Court of Owls, and Batman himself is captured and nearly killed by them. It all ties back to Dick's grandfather, and as the series ends, it leads into Night of the Owls, when a legion of Talons is unleashed on Gotham City.
2 Batgirl’s Back In The Darkest Reflection
Part of The New 52 series, Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection by writer Gail Simone and artist Ardian Syaf made many fans happy by returning Barbara Gordon to the role of Batgirl. Barbara can walk again after years of recovery from the events of The Killing Joke (and her time spent as Oracle).
She's back in the world, with all the mixed feelings that go along with it, and her revised story makes Jim Gordon and Barbara Eileen her biological parents. Her recovery is mentioned to have taken three years, with few other details.
1 Wonder Woman: Dead Earth Has An Unusual Storyline & Fantastic Art
Written and illustrated by Daniel Warren Johnson and published by DC Black Label, this trip off the beaten path sees Diana waking up after a centuries-long nap in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. The Princess of Themyscira works to uncover what went wrong, and save humanity from itself, but the more she finds out, the more it points to a clash between the Amazons and humankind –with Wonder Woman at the center.
Along with its unusual storyline, the three-issue series that came out in 2019 was widely praised for striking manga-influenced art by Daniel Warren Johnson.
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