Greatest Comic Book Crossovers of The Decade:
Marvel and DC Comics have had several amazing comic book arcs over the decade. Our favorite superheroes have seen so many highs and lows throughout the years. Both the comic book publications have launched several milestone events, story arcs that see multiple superheroes coming together to share the frame and fight for a common cause. Some of those events have had so far-reaching implications that many fans have started to hold these crossover arcs as sacred. Many comic book crossover arcs have been published but only a few have managed to be counted amongst the comic book greats.
10. Civil War 2
Marvel’s Civil War event was a big affair that launched the superheroes of the comic book universe to new heights. In the Civil War, Iron Man and Captain America fought for the ideologies they believed in and the superheroes of the world were forced to take sides. In Civil War 2, the villains from Civil War 1 change sides to become the good guys. Iron Man, who was a government stooge in the Civil War, takes the side of the people in Civil War 2. He has to fight the faction led by Captain Marvel. The storyline may have received a lot of flak but the message that the arc conveyed was very powerful. Humanity should never play God even if they had a chance. A lot of people died and a lot of other heroes had to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Civil War 2 was a storyline that will have far-reaching effects on the entire Marvel Comic Book Universe.
9. Dark Knight III: The Master Race
Dark Knight III: The Master Race is another amazing creation by Frank Miller, who is the one that came up with the idea of the Dark Knight Returns universe. Batman has grown old but crime is not willing to take a break just because Batman did. When Ray Palmer accidentally de-shrinks around a thousand inhabitants of Kandor, the Kryptonians also start to realize that under Earth’s yellow sun, they are equal to Gods. The Kandorians start terrorizing the people of Earth and threaten an invasion. Batman has to team up with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman to find out the whereabouts of the only hope left for mankind – Superman and end the Kandorians’ reign of terror.
8. Avengers vs. X-Men
Not every crossover series has to change the entire universe. A series is good enough if they could engage the audience even though it may not have any permanent changes significant enough for the fans to prioritize as a must-read. Avengers vs. X-Men – is one such issue. The premise is simple. The X-Men intends to use the Phoenix Force to resurrect the dying Mutant population. The Avengers believe that the Phoenix Force is an untameable force and trying to control it will create negative ramifications for the planet. The X-Men succeed and the Phoenix Force is divided amongst five mutant heroes – Emma Frost, Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, and Namor. A lot of other events also happen. Professor X is killed by Cyclops, thus starting his transition from a level-headed mutant leader to a radical extremist.
7. Superman Reborn
The New 52 Re-launch left a lot of fans scratching their heads. For Superman fans, it was all the more confusing. The Pre-Flashpoint Superman becomes the new Superman of Earth after the New 52 Superman unfortunately dies. The new Superman also has to take care of a wife and son left behind by the New 52 Superman. Superman Reborn was a welcome issue that helped dispel the confusion regarding Superman’s legitimacy. It merged the new 52 and Pre-Flashpoint Superman to form one entity. The confusion was still there but with Superman Reborn, it was far lesser compared to what it was previously.
6. Spider-Verse
Spider-Verse is probably the greatest Spider-Man story ever written in recent years. Spider-Verse is the answer to why dos the universe even needs a friendly neighborhood wall-crawling superhero. It has literally every Spider-Man to ever exist in all the universes. They band together to stop a Multi-Verse ending threat! Spider-Verse has action, drama, and a lot of humor. It was so successful and popular that Sony even used it as a template to create a Spider-Man movie. Spider-Man: Into the spider-Verse is a vague but obvious replication of the Spider-Verse storyline.
5. Age of Ultron
In 2013, Marvel Comics revealed to us just how amazing a villain a rogue A.I can be, something we only thought the Terminator franchise is capable of. Age of Ultron is about Hank Pym creating an Artificial Intelligence after losing his mental stability and coming to the suicidal conclusion that the world if let to stay on its course, will soon destroy itself. The A.I created was a neural copy of the Hank Pym and it was called Ultron. Ultron would then take over the entire world and usher in a dystopian are of forced peace where humanity is nothing but slaves. Wolverine travels to the past as the last hope of mankind to kill Hank Pym before he loses his mind and creates Ultron.
4. Red Son
What happens if Superman never crash-landed in the United States? That is basically the story of Superman: Red Son. As a government-sponsored superhero that believes in communist ideals, Kal-El becomes a vehicle of Propaganda for the Kremlin. Using his prowess, the USSR manages to win the Cold War and leave the United States behind. Red Son sees Batman becoming a resistance head and the rest of superheroes either becoming unrelenting allies or hesitant enemies of the Red War Machine that is Mother Russia. Superman: Red Son is an else-worlds storyline but it is so famous amongst the readers that we had to put it on our list.
3. Siege
Coming in the year of 2010, Siege was an inter-universe crossover arc that featured not just lone superheroes but entire teams sharing the spotlight. The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and the Dark Avengers were joined by the Avengers Resistance and Secret Warriors, for this storyline. In Siege, Thor has shifted Asgard from its original location to an air-borne location hovering over Oklahoma. Asgard is unwilling to bow down to US sovereignty laws on the argument that they are not actually on US Soil. Norman Osborn, the then President of the United States, launches an assault on New Asgard to take down the floating city and chaos ensues.
2. Absolute Carnage
Absolute Carnage marks the return of the titular Spider-Man Villain. Kletus Casady is back and he is back with a vengeance. This time his targets are whoever that was ever host to a symbiote. Absolute Carnage reveals just how nasty and chaotic Carnage actually is and what we had seen before was but a glimpse of his true insanity. The storyline is extremely well-paced and the crossover has good, balanced guest appearances by other superheroes that do not overshadow the main plot. The three protagonists of the arc are Miles Morales, Eddie Brock, and Peter Parker.
1. Dark Knights Metal
Batman is a part of a grand, ancient prophecy. The world is soon about to descend into chaos after the Dark God Barbatos uses Batman’s body as a portal to jump into the mainstream DC Universe. Dark Knights Metal also features the evil versions of Batman hailing from the Dark Multi-Verse, the other side of the Multi-Verse that features universes with very small life-spans. Red Death is the Batman who stole the powers of the Flash. Devastator is Batman with the power of Doomsday. There is also a Batman who has the power of the Greek Gods, a Batman who is a female version of Batman and is the ruler of Atlantis, and one other Batman who has become a Cyborg. But the one true highlight of the comic book arc is the Batman who Laughs – a Batman who has been infected by the Joker Venom and has become the same as his arch-nemesis. Dark Knights: Metal is hands down the greatest comic book crossover arc of the decade.
