[[{“value”:”
2024 has come and gone and, like any other year, it had a couple of moments that made the jaws of DC Comics fans everywhere drop. Who would have thought a year that began with an invasion of animal-human hybrids would have ended with the death of an iconic DC foe?
2024 was a year of betrayal, loss, and wild non-canon events. And in between the excitement of DC’s usual output were several moments that were so off-the-wall, they had fans doing double takes. As a new year begins in earnest, read on to see 10 of the most unbelievable DC Comics moments from 2024.
10
Raven Traded Places with Her Demonic Half
Happened In: Beast World #6, Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis, Lucas Meyer, and Eduardo Pansica
The “Beast World” crossover drove the DCU wild as spores created by Beast Boy turned Earth’s population into animal people. But lurking in the shadows of the chaos was a villain known as Doctor Hate, an asset created by Amanda Waller in the wake of Knight Terrors. But who did the mysterious villain turn out to be? None other than Raven’s demonic side, given physical form. Titans: Beast World #6 finally saw the two come face to face, but the outcome wasn’t what anyone expected.
The evil Raven defeated her good half and imprisoned her within her gem, allowing her to infiltrate the Titans. Things only got worse from there as the demon began manipulating the unsuspecting team as part of a plan to turn Raven into a powerful world conqueror known as the Dark-Winged Queen.
9
Green Arrow Went All In on Supporting Amanda Waller
Happened In: Green Arrow #13, Joshua Williamson and Amancay Nahuelpan
After being lost in time and space, Green Arrow finally made it back home, but he had a bone to pick with Amanda Waller. After confronting her in her new base in the Hall of Order, Waller countered Oliver Queen with an offer: Work for her as part of her plan to bring Earth’s metahumans to order. Green Arrow played along, even telling his allies that he was conning Waller. But when Absolute Power began, Green Arrow shocked his allies with four simple words: “I believe in Waller.”.
Of course, it was a ruse, as Absolute Power later revealed that Oliver used a mental trick with Martian Manhunter’s assistance to make it seem like he was a true believer in Waller’s mission. Still, it was a shock to see Green Arrow willfully arrest his allies en masse.
8
DC Gives a Surprising Answer to Its ‘Three Jokers’ Mystery
Happened In: Batman #143, Chip Zdarsky, Andrea Sorrentino, and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Everyone remembers the wild Batman: Three Jokers story, which revealed that the original Joker had turned others into duplicates of himself. It’s place in canon was always tenuous, but the “Joker: Year One” storyline in Batman #142-144 gave fans a new answer to its oddball three Jokers mystery. The story was set just after the Clown Prince of Crime’s origin, revealing that Joker was trained by one of Batman’s most sinister mentors, Dr. Daniel Captio.
Captio, the man who taught Bruce how to create his Zur-En-Arrh personality, taught the same method to the Joker. But Joker improved on Batman’s training and split his mind into three different personalities, each one more devious than the last. Canonically, there were never three separate Jokers as the previous story established. Just three personalities all occupying the same physical form.
7
Wonder Woman’s Greatest Love Lost His Life
Happened In: Wonder Woman #14, Tom King and Daniel Sampere
For well over a year, Wonder Woman has been at war with the Sovereign, America’s secret king. The endless battle had been wearing the embittered old man down, and he wanted nothing more than to hurt the hero that’s been endangering his rule. The Sovereign summoned Wonder Woman’s partner, Steve Trevor, to his home and shot him point-blank and later had his body dumped in Washington. The news spread quickly, and Wonder Woman distanced herself in order to grieve the loss of her love.
To her credit, Wonder Woman did attempt to save Steve by traveling to the underworld, only for him to rebuff her and implore her to move on. As bad as it was seeing Trevor go, it was this loss that inspired Wonder Woman to bring a child forged by her love for Steve into this world.
6
Lex Luthor Sacrificed His Mind to Save the Day
Happened In: Superman #15, Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval
Spring of 2024 was rocked by the Superman-centric event “House of Brainiac”, which finally saw Clark’s nemesis Brainiac return for an all-out assault on the Super-Family. Brainiac kidnapped Metropolis’ metahumans, as well as Lex Luthor, to help bring his ultimate creation, the Brainiac Queen, to life. While onboard Brainiac’s ship, Lex started working with Brainiac in an attempt to save his daughter Lena.
However, Lex double-crossed Brainiac, and he and Lena searched for the core of Brainiac’s hive mind. Upon finding it, Lex connected his mind to the core in order to wipe Brainiac’s memory. Lex succeeded and heavily damaged Brainiac’s ship. Unfortunately, Lex also erased his own memory in the process, completely forgetting who he was. Lex still hasn’t regained his memory and there’s no sign that he’ll be getting it back anytime soon.
5
The Emotional Spectrum Created a Lantern Powered by Sadness
Happened In: Green Lantern #13, Jeremy Adams, Fernando Pasarin, and Oclair Albert
The Green Lanterns faced one of their worst threats in the form of Lord Premier Thaaros, the leader of the United Planets who assumed control of the Corps. Under Thaaros’ leadership, he destroyed the Central Power Batteries of every other faction in the Emotional Spectrum, causing aberrations to appear all over the DC Universe. At the same time, Hal Jordan’s ex, Carol Ferris, left her fiancé, Nathan Broome, at the altar to be with Green Lantern once more.
Being dumped in such a public manner had a serious impact on Nathan, whose deep feelings of sadness manifested in a shocking way. He actually became a Lantern, but one powered by sadness, a previously unaffiliated emotion in the Spectrum. Since taking on the moniker Sorrow, Nathan has been using his newfound powers to make others hurt as badly as he is.
4
Superman’s Son Was Turned into a Living Weapon
Happened In: Absolute Power #2, Mark Waid and Dan Mora
Amanda Waller worked for months in the shadows to really hit the Earth’s metahumans where it hurt. And after kidnapping and modifying Superman’s son with alien technology, Waller rained down hell on the heroes in Absolute Power #2. Heroes that hadn’t been apprehended gathered at the Fortress of Solitude to make a plan, but their respite was interrupted by the Brainiac Queen and Jon Kent, who started taking down the heroes one by one.
No one was more shocked or disgusted by what happened to Jon than Superman, who tried to get through to his boy, only to discover that the Brainiac Queen had a stranglehold on him. It did seem like Jon was close to breaking the hold Waller and the Queen had, but the young Superman was taken once again, forced to keep fighting his friends and loved ones.
3
The MonsterVerse’s Kong Became a Green Lantern
Happened In: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #7, Brian Buccellato, Tom Derenick, and Christian Duce
The MonsterVerse and the DC Universe collided in the outrageous crossover Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, and though it wasn’t canon, it was a hell of a ride. The event came to an epic conclusion in the miniseries’ seventh issue, which featured giant robots, kaiju, and Titans every which way. Things only got worse when Ra’s al Ghul brought a revived Skull Devil to the fray, which almost killed Kong. Thankfully, a Power Ring found its way to Kong, turning the Eighth Wonder of the World into DC’s newest Green Lantern.
And yes, Kong was smart enough to use his new weapon to make a construct, forging a replica of his beloved battle axe. However, his time as a Green Lantern was brief, but it didn’t stop this moment from being one of the coolest things in 2024.
2
Absolute Power Caused Chaos For DC’s Heroes
Happened In: Absolute Power #1-4, Mark Waid and Dan Mora
Amanda Waller went above and beyond to stir up trouble in 2024. From blackmailing heroes like Dreamer to utilizing assets like Failsafe, Waller did everything in her power to take on Earth’s metahumans and she succeeded. By using a group of Amazos, Waller stole the powers of almost every metahuman on Earth and locked up any unfortunate hero or villain who crossed her path. And if it weren’t for the determination of several heroes, Waller would have won it all.
But thankfully, her Amazos were destroyed, returning the powers to the metahumans. That is, most got their powers at least. Some heroes, like Fire and Ice, accidentally swapped powers with other heroes. Worse, other heroes still haven’t gotten their powers, forcing the newly revamped Justice League to form the Atom Project and track down the missing powers.
1
Darkseid Died and Brought a Dark, New DCU to Life
Happened In: DC All In Special #1, Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, and Wes Craig
The DC Universe only got wilder after the conclusion of Absolute Power, as seen in DC All In Special #1. Darkseid found himself cut off from the multiverse and was going mad, causing him to fuse with the Spectre in a misguided attempt to fix things. The Spectre brought Darkseid to the Justice League, where the New God’s physical body was destroyed, causing his energy to disperse into the multiverse and imprint on a brand-new universe.
Darkseid’s energy completely re-shaped this new Earth, creating a world that reflected his cold ideals. The Absolute Universe, as it’s known, is like the DCU fans know, but one with more adversity for its heroes to conquer. Even now, Absolute Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all discovering just how hard they’re going to have to work to keep their DC Universe from going to absolute hell.
“}]] The wildest moments of 2024 for DC Comics. Read More