Real Heroes & True Comics (1941)

One of the first series of comics dedicated to educational topics was True Comics, published by Gworge J. Hecht’s Parents’ Magazine Press, beginning in 1941. Designed to convey not only information but also wholesome attitudes, the series covered a variety of materials, but many issues were devoted to patriotic stories from American history or to biographies of famous American (and occasionally non-Americans, such as Winston Churchill) from the past. The series also included stories of the exploits of the FBI, designed to heroize law enforcers and demonize criminal. These fact-based comics were enough of a commercial success that the series ran until 1950.

Morbius: The Living Vampire (2013)

The ALL-NEW Michael Morbius? Morbius, is back, but on the run and desperate to quell his vampiric tendencies. But has the midnight son really changed? As Morbius tries to stay under the radar, a new threat arises, and they want Morbius dead.

Micronauts – Image (2002)

In June 2002, a new Micronauts series by Image Comics was published for eleven issues before its cancellation in September 2003. The same year saw a four-issue limited series featuring Baron Karza’s origin and his relationship with the Time Traveler entity.

Resurrection Man (1997)

Mitch Shelley made his debut in Resurrection Man #1 (1997). The monthly series was structured to follow a grand story arc planned by Abnett and Lanning, with stories following Shelley as he wandered America, having adventures while searching for the truth behind his past and his transformation. During this, he is pursued by “the Lab”, its former director Hooker, and the bounty hunters known as the Body Doubles.

Punisher V8 (2009)

Marvel relaunched The Punisher War Journal in 2009 as simply Punisher, with a thematic link tied to the events of the “Dark Reign” storyline. As part of his work on the character, Rick Remender wrote the one-shot title Dark Reign: The List – Punisher, which, as part of the “Dark Reign” storyline, shows the character dismembered and decapitated by Daken.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1995)

In 1987, Dark Horse Comics acquired the rights to Godzilla and for the next 12 years published various comic books and trade paperbacks based on the character. These ran the gamut from back-up stories in anthology titles, to one-shots, to miniseries, to an ongoing series, as well as various reprints in the trade paperback format.

In 1993, Godzilla was featured in the anthology series Dark Horse Comics in issues #10 and #11 (parts of Dark Horse Comics #10’s story and artwork would be slightly altered twice in both Godzilla, King of the Monsters #0 and the trade paperback Godzilla: Age of Monsters).

Action Comics (2020’s)

After learning of an enslaved race with mysterious ties to Krypton, Superman and the Authority leave earth and travel across the galaxy to liberate Warworld. Think it’s that simple? Think again.

With Superman captured on Warworld and banished to the lower catacombs, he’ll need to team up with other enslaved gladiators to turn the hordes of Warworld against their masters. As the Warworld Saga reaches a breaking point, battle lines are drawn between the two towering forces at odds: Mongul and Superman.

Which heroes will survive the conflict and what will be the fate of the citizens of Warworld?

Web of Evil (1952)

From the people who brought you Captain Marvel comes horror. Web of Evil was an anthology horror comic published by Quality Comics, and was acquired by DC Comics when DC bought Quality in 1956. It rivaled EC’s horror comics, often considered the measuring stick for greatness in this genre. With its smart writing, consistently high-end artwork, and willingness to push-the-envelope with its, violent, graphic depiction of scenes of the macabre, Web Of Evil, as with several EC horror titles, ended up getting Quality Comics in hot water, metaphorically.

 

Swamp Thing V2 (1980’s)

In 1984, editor Len Wein assigned Swamp Thing to British writer Alan Moore. When Karen Berger took over as editor, she gave Moore free rein to revamp the title and the character as he saw fit. Moore reconfigured Swamp Thing’s origin to make him a true monster as opposed to a human transformed into a monster. In his first issue, he swept aside most of the supporting cast Pasko had introduced in his year-and-a-half run as writer, and brought the Sunderland Corporation to the forefront, as they hunted Swamp Thing and “killed” him in a hail of bullets. The subsequent investigation revealed that Swamp Thing was not Alec Holland’s consciousness transformed into a plant but actually a form of plant life that had absorbed Holland’s consciousness after exposure to his work, with Swamp Thing’s appearance being the plants’ attempt to duplicate Holland’s human form.

Witchblade V1 (1990’s)

Witchblade is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.

The Witchblade comic was adapted into a television series in 2001, as well as an anime, a manga and a novel in 2006. A feature film based on the comic, titled The Witchblade, was announced for a 2009 release, but was never produced. A second Witchblade television series was announced for development in January 2017.