Guardians of the Galaxy V3 (2013)

After Star-Lord’s father visits him in a bar to tell him that it is forbidden for any alien species to visit Earth, Iron Man is attacked by Badoon appearing to attack Earth. The Guardians and their newest member Iron Man defeat the ship; however, London is still attacked. The Guardians defend London and finish off the horde of Badoon but learn that, for violating the “Earth-is-off-limits” rule (the Spartax Earth Directive), they are to be placed under arrest by the King of Spartax. The Guardians manage to escape with the help of Groot, who had recently regrown after being destroyed by a Badoon ship’s explosion. The team includes Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, and Tony Stark. In April 2013, it was announced that Image Comics’ Angela (Spawn) would join the Marvel Universe as the result of a legal battle between Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane. After appearing in Age of Ultron, she joined the Guardians. Captain Marvel and Agent Venom have also joined .

Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)

By September of the same year, Dark Horse Comics brought out the first issue of a comic book series called Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team with writer Cullen Bunn and illustrator Miguel Valderrama. Several other comics set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 have also been released by the same publisher, including Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams, which won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic in 2023.

The Stand (2008)

based on Stephen King’s 1978 novel of the same name. Based on the 1990 Complete & Uncut version of the novel, the comic adaptation was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with art by Mike Perkins and Laura Martin. Its thirty-one issues, divided into six story arcs, completed the telling of the unabridged novel. Stephen King served as Creative and Executive Director of the project.

Supergirl V7 (2016)

The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the setting and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52’s modern recreations, bringing DC’s heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl’s new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was pencilled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl’s costume in reference to a more classic look.

S.W.O.R.D. (2020)

S.W.O.R.D. was relaunched in December 2020 as part of “Reign of X“. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Valerio Schiti, the initial team consisted of Abigail Brand, Cable, Frenzy, Fabian Cortez, Magneto, Manifold and Wiz Kid.

S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Directorate) was restored when Abigail Brand resigned from Alpha Flight after the Alliance-Cotati conflict feeling that the space program wasn’t properly utilized and when the mutant nation repowered the abandoned Peak space station. In cooperation with the Quiet Council of Krakoa, it became the mutant nation’s representative to the outer universe.

Gideon Falls (2018)

Jeff Lemire set out to create an intelligent horror story, not one driven by gore, but by exploring the nature of evil. Sorrentino described the central character, Norton Sinclair, as inheriting the worst from himself and Lemire—nihilism from Sorrentino and obsession from Lemire. Norton is based off a character Lemire originally created in 1996 for a short film during film school in Toronto. The Black Barn from the series was somewhat inspired by the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, though Lemire assures readers he’s going somewhere very different with the concept. The story came from two separate stories that weren’t working on their own, but finally clicked when Lemire put them together.

Monster of Frankenstein (1973)

The first appearance of Frankenstein’s Monster in the Marvel Comics Universe came in the five-page horror comics story “Your Name Is Frankenstein”, by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely in Menace #7 (Sept. 1953), from Marvel’s 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics. The following decade, a robot replica of Frankenstein’s Monster appeared as an antagonist in The X-Men #40 (Jan. 1968), by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Don Heck, and was destroyed by the titular team of mutant superheroes. The actual Monster first appeared in Marvel Comics continuity in a cameo flashback in “The Heir of Frankenstein” in The Silver Surfer #7 (Aug. 1969), by writer-editor Lee and penciler John Buscema.

The character received an ongoing series, titled Frankenstein in the postal indicia and initially The Monster of Frankenstein (issues #1-5) and later The Frankenstein Monster as the cover logo, that ran 18 issues (Jan. 1973 – Sept. 1975). This series began with a four-issue retelling of the original novel, by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog. Several more issues continued his story into the 1890s, until he was placed in suspended animation and revived in modern times.

The Goon – Dark Horse (2003)

The Goon is written and drawn by Eric Powell. The series mixes both a comical and violent atmosphere with a supernatural slant, which pit the titular character against undead creatures/zombies, ghosts, ghouls, mutants, skunk-apes with an unnatural hunger for pies, giant squids, mob/gang leaders, extra-dimensional aliens, mad scientists and robots.

Legion of Super-Heroes V1 (1980’s)

Paul Levitz returned to write the series with #284. Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson illustrated the title for a short time before Keith Giffen began on pencils, with Patterson, and then Larry Mahlstedt, on inks. The creative team received enhanced popularity following “The Great Darkness Saga“, which ran from #287; #290–294; and Annual #3, featuring a full assault on the United Planets by Darkseid. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that “Working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of Legion into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth.”

The Legion celebrated issue #300 (June 1983) by revisiting the “Adult Legion” storyline through a series of parallel world short stories illustrated by a number of popular Legion artists from previous years. The story served to free up Legion continuity from following the “Adult Legion” edict of previous issues.

Detective Comics (1970’s)

Writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams had their first collaboration on Batman on the story “The Secret of the Waiting Graves” in issue #395 (Jan. 1970). The duo, under the direction of Schwartz, would revitalize the character with a series of noteworthy stories reestablishing Batman’s dark, brooding nature and taking the books away from the campy look and feel of the 1966–68 ABC TV series. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that “O’Neil’s interpretation of Batman as a vengeful obsessive-compulsive, which he modestly describes as a return to the roots, was actually an act of creative imagination that has influenced every subsequent version of the Dark Knight.” Adams introduced the Man-Bat with writer Frank Robbins in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970). O’Neil and artist Bob Brown crafted Batman’s first encounter with the League of Assassins in Detective Comics #405 (Nov. 1970) and created Talia al Ghul in issue #411 (May 1971).

After publishing on a monthly schedule throughout its run, Detective Comics became a bi-monthly book from issues #435 (June–July 1973) to #445 (Feb.-March 1975). Issues #438 (Dec. 1973-Jan. 1974) to #445 (Feb.–March 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format. O’Neil and artist Dick Giordano created the Batman supporting character Leslie Thompkins in the story “There Is No Hope in Crime Alley” appearing in issue #457 (March 1976). Writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers produced an acclaimed run of Batman stories in Detective Comics #471–476 (Aug. 1977 – April 1978), and provided one of the definitive interpretations that influenced the 1989 Batman movie and would be adapted for the 1990s animated series. The Englehart and Rogers pairing, was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian Robert Greenberger as “one of the greatest” creative teams to work on the Batman character. In their story “The Laughing Fish”, the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with a rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal trademark on them, only to start killing the bureaucrats who try to explain to him that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible. Writer Len Wein and Rogers co-created the third version of the supervillain Clayface in Detective Comics #478 (July–Aug. 1978). The original Katherine Kane also known as “Batwoman” was killed in the lead story in issue #485 (Aug.–Sept. 1979) by the League of Assassins.