A Guide To Reading Dawn Of DC (2024)

Change is an ever-present factor of DC Comics, with the company’s recent Dawn of DC initiative kicking off yet another in a long line of revamps. Pitched as a jumping-on point for new readers around James Gunn’s announcements for a new cinematic DCU, Dawn of DC reset most DC titles back to a status quo after the cataclysmic events of Dark Crisis.

The line softly revamped existing titles like Batman and Action Comics, led to the creation of various miniseries like Cyborg, and had some ongoing series like Wonder Woman start from new first issues. It also did a tremendous job pulling double duty by slowly introducing concepts that would come into play with this summer’s Absolute Power event, eventually paving the way for DC’s upcoming DC All-In initiative.

Batman Reinvented A Fan-Favorite Concept

Batman's Self-Sabotage Caused Infighting Within Himself And Gotham

Batman's mythos have gotten much love in Dawn of DC, with the main title having undergone some interesting developments. Grant Morrison’s run on Batman introduced Zur-En-Arrh to the Post-Crisis continuity, turning the Silver Age character into a “backup personality” of Bruce Wayne’s to only be used in dire circumstances. Nearly 20 years later, author Chip Zdarsky brought back the alternate identity and reinvented him even further than Morrison did.

While Zdarsky’s time on Batman— beginning with the “Failsafe” storyline— started before the Dawn of DC initiative, he continued his run into the company-wide relaunch— with his Zur-En-Arrh storylines continuing. Zur is no longer Bruce's backup personality. It is now a subconscious self-sabotage for Batman, creating a robot contingency plan named Failsafe to hunt down the Dark Knight if he ever becomes ineffective. This dark side of Batman crept into Batman’s every thought (which caused conflict leading to the Gotham War event) and merged with Failsafe— effectively separating the personality from Batman’s body and prepping him for a larger role in Absolute Power.

Superman Introduced One Of The Hero’s Biggest Threats

The Superman Mythos Continued One Of Their Best Eras

Joshua Williamson’s plate is quite full between writing Green Arrow and Superman, but his workload got even heavier when he spearheaded the crossover event “House of Brainiac.” Taking place across Action Comics, Superman, Green Lantern, and Power Girl, the House of Brainiac storyline finally gave the Silver Age villain the spotlight he deserved.

However, while it gave Brainiac Prime time to shine, House of Brainiac introduced a new Superman villain who quickly rose to the top of the DC bad guy hierarchy— Brainiac Queen. Created by Brainiac Prime to split his hyper-intelligence across multiple forms and fed an army of Czarnians— the alien race Lobo is a part of— to power her up, Brainiac Queen found herself in the hands of Amanda Waller at the end of House of Brainiac, helping Waller’s newly founded Bureau of Sovereignty to create an army of Amazos in Absolute Power.

Wonder Woman Heralded A New Age Of Success For The Hero

Tom King Set The Amazon On Her Most Daring Adventure Yet

Introduced at the tail-end of Dawn of DC, Tom King’s run on Wonder Woman has been a smash success since its release, remaining a consistent figure in the top 50 sales of each month. The reason for its popularity has been clear since its release due to its star-studded creative team and eye-catching premise.

King’s run immediately instigates its conflict, with Wonder Woman and the Amazons as the top enemy of the United States due to the actions of a renegade warrior named Emelie. The run is built on themes of political corruption and the oppression of minority groups to keep the status quo intact, with each issue taking on a more episodic format to keep readers invested no matter where they start. The run also spun off into the miniseries Amazons Attack, exploring the impact of the United States’ ban against the Amazons.

The Flash Completely Shifted Genres

The Flash's Exploration Into Cosmic Horror Was A Welcome Change

Many readers found the shift from Jeremy Adams to Simon "Si" Spurrier on The Flash quite stark. The title went from a slice-of-life comic focusing on Wally West’s family to a surreal, cosmic adventure with a much darker tone. But this sudden pivot, while unexpected, paved the way for grand-scale storytelling unlike what Flash has seen in a long time.

Leaning into the cosmic horrors at the roots of the Speed Force, The Flash toyed with the very fabric of reality in its story. But perhaps most importantly, the series took a very serious look at Wally West and his family. Wally dealt with heavy pressure on his shoulders and had to mask the negative emotions that came with it in a way that came off as disconnected. His wife Linda also dealt with postpartum depression, which is displayed in a very real and heartbreaking way, something many can appreciate seeing in a mainstream comic. The Flash feels like a modern-day Vertigo classic and an excellent addition to Dawn of DC.

Titans Set Off A Chain Reaction

The Titans Were Made The New Faces Of The DCU

Tom Taylor’s Nightwing has been going strong since it began in May of 2021, with the series eventually crescendoing into the return of the Titans. After giving the iconic team their own ongoing series once again, the only logical next step would be for them to face up against a giant threat to meet them upon their return.

The Necrostar was originally believed to be that threat, with Beast Boy having to transform into Starro to beat him, but the reality was much worse— Beast Boy himself was the danger. In the pages of Beast World, Amanda Waller— with her new Bureau of Sovereignty— utilized the villainous Doctor Hate, having him turn the Starro-ified Beast Boy into a primal monster. While evil, Beast Boy spread spores across the Earth, turning humans into animal monsters. While the Titans won, readers wondered what else Waller had in store for the heroes.

Green Arrow Re-Established The Arrow Family

Heroes Closest To Green Arrow, Old And New, Came Together To Uncover A Serious Mystery

All of the greatest DC heroes, such as Batman and Superman, have wide and expansive supporting casts— often called families— in their corner, backing them up when the going gets tough. It’s a no-brainer that Green Arrow would eventually get one himself.

As part of Dawn of DC, Joshua Williamson's Green Arrow brought back many once-forgotten or abandoned characters from Oliver Queen’s past, including his son Conner Hawke and Lian, the daughter of his sidekick Roy Harper, incorporating them seamlessly into the current supporting cast of the Emerald Archer. While longtime Green Arrow fans may love the old-school characters and plot lines, modern readers would appreciate the new plot threads, including a timeline-trekking adventure and a hidden plot by Amanda Waller being investigated by the new Arrow Family. This plan would be executed in the pages of Absolute Power.

Green Lantern’s Titles Had A Spectrum Of Stories

The Green Lantern Corps Were Explored In Great Depth, With New Corps Introduced

The Green Lantern Corps made a glorious comeback after Dark Crisis, with two of its most prominent stars—Hal Jordan and John Stewart—given titles for Dawn of DC. Each series did a fantastic job revisiting its leading characters while making good use of the Green Lantern mythos.

The standard Green Lantern title returned to form, with Hal Jordan as the series lead. It explored his homecoming back to Earth after the events of Dark Crisis, his relationship with Carol Ferris, and how he was adjusting to operating as a solo hero on Earth. However, John Stewart in Green Lantern: War Journal was arguably even more compelling, as the series was a devastating insight into his family life. While not directly a part of the Green Lantern Corps, the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, was given a beautiful miniseries that explored his hidden sexuality and former lover during WWII.

The Suicide Squad Established Stakes

The Suicide Squad Were Pawns In A Much Grander Scheme

Considering how often the Suicide Squad has been used in recent years, it made more than enough sense to give the team a series in Suicide Squad: Dream Team to establish the incoming stakes for Absolute Power while also spotlighting two leads of the event—Amanda Waller herself and Dreamer.

Written by Nicole Maines, the actress who originated the character of Dreamer in the show Supergirl, Suicide Squad: Dream Team is a short but sweet series exploring the moral nuances of Dreamer, Waller, and what it means to do the wrong thing for the benefit of an apparent greater good. Dreamer is pushed to commit morally reprehensible actions alongside her more villainous squadmates, all while Amanda Waller insists on the righteousness of these acts. Despite Dreamer trying to rebel against her orders and do the right thing, it’s for naught— the book ends on a tragic note as it leads into Absolute Power.

Knight Terrors Was A Dark Event

Knight Terrors Was One Of The Most Expansive DC Events

Less than one year into Dawn of DC was the sprawling event of Knight Terrors, the summer event of 2023. While controversial due to its unique release format, as any ongoing series that got a tie-in during the event was put on hiatus for two months rather than coming out normally, Knight Terrors was a surreal, terrifying look into the deepest fears of many of DC’s premiere heroes all the same.

While the main event covered a very wide scope, with a new villain stealing the powers of Doctor Destiny, the tie-ins were part of a wider draw as they were nightmarish character studies. While some characters, like the Trinity, have had their deepest fears explored many times, plenty of others were given the spotlight—ranging from The Joker becoming a mundane office worker to Billy Batson and his persona of The Captain suffering from scares.

We Are Legends Was Legendary

We Are Legends Provided Fantastic New Characters With Diverse Creative Teams

We Are Legends was an initiative within an initiative spearheaded by editor Jessica Chen to celebrate Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and introduce some extra diversity in the world of DC Comics. It was an exciting chance for AAPI creators to tell new stories about characters of a similar background from all corners of the DC Universe.

Spirit World, The Vigil, and City Boy were all new and refreshing titles in DC’s lineup, and even if they didn’t last long, they definitely left an impact.Spirit World followed Xanthe, a non-binary hero’s adventures in the titular Spirit World alongside John Constantine and Cassandra Cain. The Vigil was about a secretive group of vigilantes who were given powers they did not want after the events of Lazarus Planet, out to stop the exploitation of metahumans. City Boy was about Cameron Kim, a boy with the ability to communicate with cities— initially using this power to scrape by, ending up exploring a myriad of locales in the DCU.

The JSA Had A New Golden Age

The JSA Thrived In Their Own Small Line

The Justice Society of America has been given much attention recently, from their presence in the film Black Adam to the fan-favorite CW series Stargirl. There is a good reason for this—the team is legendary, one of DC’s first, and represented by many characters that make for fantastic leading stars.

The JSA was given a new chance to shine in Geoff Johns’ last DC project before leaving the company, 2022’s Justice Society of America maxiseries. While it has yet to be completed, the book revived fan-favorite character Helena Wayne in an exciting time travel adventure. But it didn’t just stop there, as three other JSA icons were given spotlights: Wesley Dodds was brought back in the dynamically illustrated Wesley Dodds: The Sandman, Jay Garrick reunited with his long-lost child in Jay Garrick: The Flash, and Alan Scott had his past in WWII explored in Alan Scott: Green Lantern.

Limited Series Were Not Limited In Potential

Some Of Dawn Of DC's Best Series Were Smaller In Scope

Dawn of DC was truly huge in scale, encompassing many major players in the DCU. But the rollout of various limited series helped pad out the lineup and gave some fan favorites and lesser-known characters a chance to shine. Some, such as Green Arrow, graduated from miniseries to maxiseries to ongoing, all due to sales.

While many miniseries tied into ongoing series, events, or limited series headlining more major characters, a good many existed on their own to provide a good jumping on point for various heroes. Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville was a slice-of-life dramedy about the titular heroines, Hawkgirl was a modern fan-favorite, and Unstoppable Doom Patrol was a fantastic way of looking at how citizens dealt with the impact of Lazarus Planet, with many being turned into powerful oddballs. Whatever the case with each series, they were each fantastic additions to Dawn of DC.

Absolute Power Will Change the DC Universe

The Fate of the DCU's Heroes Are All At Stake

The climax of Dawn of DC is the Absolute Power event, which has slowly built up since the initiative’s debut. With two of DC’s premiere powerhouses, Mark Waid and Dan Mora, at the reins of the story, there’s much anticipation at what the event will hold for the future of the DC Universe.

At the center of it is Amanda Waller and her army of Amazos deployed with one singular goal: remove the powers of every hero on Earth. While the event is due to last through the summer, there’s no telling how it may end aside from one key detail— Absolute Power will lead into the new line of Absolute Comics by DC, taking place in an alternate universe where DC’s greatest heroes will be reinvented without the same privileges they typically have.

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Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson