2024 has come and gone, and like any other year, there have been some moments that have made the jaws of DC Comics fans around the world drop. Who would have thought that a year that started with an invasion of animal-human hybrids would end with the death of DC’s iconic enemy?
2024 was a year of betrayal, loss, and intense non-canon events. And in between the excitement of DC’s usual offerings, there were some really outlandish moments that made fans do a double take. As the new year officially begins, take a look at the 10 most incredible DC Comics moments of 2024.
10
Raven traded places with her demonic counterpart.
Event: Beast World #6, Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis, Lucas Mayer, Eduardo Pancica
The “Beastworld” crossover excited the DCU as spores created by Beast Boy turned Earth’s population into animal humans. But lurking in the shadows of the chaos was a villain known as Doctor Hate, created by Amanda Waller in the wake of Night Terrors. But who exactly was the mysterious villain? Nothing but the demonic side of Raven given physical form. In Titans: Beast World #6, the two finally faced off, but the outcome wasn’t what anyone expected.
The evil Raven defeated her good half and trapped her inside the gem, allowing her to invade 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 Darkwinged Queen.
9
Green Arrow did his best to support Amanda Waller
Location: Green Arrow #13, Joshua Williamson, Amankay Nahuelpan
After losing time and space, Green Arrow finally returned home, but had to pick a bone with Amanda Waller. After confronting Oliver Queen at his new base in the Hall of Order, Waller countered with an offer to him to “work for her as part of her plan to bring Earth’s metahumans to order.” Green Arrow cooperated, even telling his allies that he was deceiving Waller. However, as Absolute Power began, Green Arrow shocked his allies with four simple words: “I believe in Waller.”
Of course, this was a ruse, and it was later revealed by Absolute Power that Oliver used psychic tricks with the help of Martian Manhunter to make it seem like he truly believed in Waller’s mission. It became. Still, it was shocking to see Green Arrow intentionally arrest his allies en masse.
8
DC gives surprising answer to ‘Three Jokers’ mystery
Location: Batman #143, Chip Zdarsky, Andrea Sorrentino, Giuseppe Camuncoli
Everyone remembers the wild Batman: Three Jokers story where the original Joker turned others into copies of himself. While their place in the canon has always been delicate, the “Joker: Year One” storyline in Batman #142-144 gave fans new answers to the mysteries of the three strange Jokers. The story is set shortly after the birth of the Clown Prince of Crime, and reveals that the Joker was trained by one of Batman’s most evil mentors, Dr. Daniel Captio.
Captio, who taught Bruce how to create the Zur-en-A persona, taught the Joker the same method. However, the Joker improved Batman’s training, splitting Batman’s mind into three distinct personalities, each more evil than the previous one. Canonically, there were never three separate Jokers, as established in previous stories. Just three personalities all occupying the same physical form.
7
Wonder Woman’s greatest love lost her life
Event: Wonder Woman #14, Tom King, Daniel Sampere
For over a year, Wonder Woman has been at war with America’s secret king, the Sovereign. Exasperated by the endless battles, the old man was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to hurt the heroes who were endangering his rule. Sovereign summoned Wonder Woman’s partner Steve Trevor to his home and shot him at close range, then dumped his body in Washington. The news spread quickly, and Wonder Woman distanced herself to grieve the loss of her love.
To her credit, Wonder Woman tried to travel to the underworld to save Steve, but Steve rejected her and begged her to move on. It was a shame to see Trevor go, but it was this loss that motivated Wonder Woman to bring into the world a child forged by her love for Steve.
6
Lex Luthor sacrificed his heart to save the day.
Event: Superman #15, Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval
The spring of 2024 is rocked by the Superman-centric event “House of Brainiac,” as Clark’s nemesis Brainiac finally returns for an all-out attack on the superfamily. Brainiac kidnaps Metropolis’ metahumans and Lex Luthor in order to bring his ultimate creation, Brainiac Queen, to life. While aboard Brainiac’s ship, Lex began working with Brainiac to save his daughter Lena.
However, Lex betrayed Brainiac, and he and Lena searched for Brainiac’s hive mind core. Rex found it and connected his mind to Brainiac’s core in order to erase his memory. Rex succeeds and causes major damage to Brainiac’s ship. Unfortunately, Rex also erased his own memory in the process, completely forgetting who he was. Rex has not yet regained his memory and there are no signs that he will return soon.
5
The emotional spectrum created a lantern powered by sadness.
Location: Green Lantern #13, Jeremy Adams, Fernando Pasarin, Auclair Albert.
Green Lantern faced one of his worst threats in the form of Lord Saaros, the leader of the United Planets who took over command of the Corps. Under Saros’ leadership, he destroyed the central power battery of all other factions on the emotional spectrum, causing anomalies throughout the DC Universe. At the same time, Hal Jordan’s ex Carol Ferris left her fiancé Nathan Bloom at the altar in order to be with Green Lantern once more.
Being dumped in public in this way had a profound effect on Nathan, and his deep feelings of sadness manifested in shocking ways. He actually became a lantern, but it was powered by sadness, an emotion previously unrelated to Spectrum. Since taking on the nickname Thoreau, Nathan has begun to use his newfound powers to hurt others just as badly as he himself.
4
Superman’s son was turned into a biological weapon
Location: Absolute Power #2, Mark Waid, Dan Mora
Amanda Waller worked in the shadows for months to hit Earth’s metahumans where it hurt. And after kidnapping Superman’s son and modifying him with alien technology, Waller rains hell on the heroes in Absolute Power #2. The uncaptured heroes gathered at the Fortress of Solitude to formulate a plan, but their rest was interrupted by the Queen of Brains and Jon Kent, who began defeating the heroes one by one.
Superman was the most shocked and disgusted by what happened to Jon. Superman attempts to contact his son, but finds that the Queen of Brains is strangling Jon. Jon seemed to be on the verge of breaking Waller and the Queen’s control, but the young Superman was recaptured and forced to continue fighting against his friends and loved ones.
3
MonsterVerse’s Kong becomes Green Lantern
Cast: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #7, Brian Buccellato, Tom Derenic, Christian Duce
The MonsterVerse and DC Universe have collided in the outrageous crossover Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong. It wasn’t official history, but it was an incredible experience. The event came to an epic conclusion in issue #7 of the miniseries, which featured giant robots, monsters, and Titans in all their forms. The situation worsens when Ra’s al Ghul brings a revived Skull Devil into battle, and Kong is nearly killed. Thankfully, the power ring made its way to Kong, turning the Eighth Wonder of the World into DC’s newest Green Lantern.
And yes, Kong was smart enough to build with his new weapon and forge a replica of his beloved battle axe. But even though his time as Green Lantern was short, this moment remains one of the coolest things to happen in 2024.
2
Absolute power wreaks havoc on DC’s heroes
Location: Absolute Power #1-4, Mark Waid, Dan Mora
Amanda Waller did everything she could to cause trouble in 2024. From blackmailing heroes like Dreamer to utilizing assets like failsafes, Waller tried his best to fight Earth’s metahumans and was successful. Waller used a group of Amazos to steal the powers of nearly every metahuman on the planet, imprisoning any heroes or villains unfortunate enough to cross her path. And if it weren’t for the determination of a few heroes, Waller would have won it all.
But thankfully, her Amazon was destroyed and her powers returned to the metahuman. That means most people had at least that power. Some heroes, such as Fire and Ice, have accidentally swapped powers with other heroes. To make matters worse, the other heroes have yet to obtain their powers, forcing the newly reborn Justice League to form the Atom Project and track down the missing powers.
1
Darkseid is dead and a dark new DCU is born.
Cast: DC All In Special #1, Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, Wes Craig
The DC Universe got even wilder after the end of Absolute Power, as seen in DC All In Special #1. Realizing he was cut off from the multiverse, Darkseid went insane and ended up merging with the Specter in a misguided attempt to resolve things. Specter brought Darkseid to the Justice League, where the new god’s body was destroyed and his energy dispersed throughout the multiverse and imprinted on an entirely new universe.
Darkseid’s energies completely reshaped this new Earth, creating a world that reflected his cold ideals. The Absolute Universe as we know it is the same as the one DCU fans know, but with even more adversity for our heroes to conquer. Even now, Absolute Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman all know how hard they have to go to keep the DC Universe from descending into absolute hell.
