The Joker (1975)

DC Comics was a hotbed of experimentation during the 1970s, and in 1975 the character became the first villain to feature as the title character in a comic book series, The Joker. The series followed the character’s interactions with other supervillains, and the first issue was written by O’Neil. Stories balanced between emphasizing the Joker’s criminality and making him a likable protagonist whom readers could support. Although he murdered thugs and civilians, he never fought Batman; this made The Joker a series in which the character’s villainy prevailed over rival villains, instead of a struggle between good and evil. Because the Comics Code Authority mandated punishment for villains, each issue ended with the Joker being apprehended, limiting the scope of each story.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1977)

From 1977-79, Godzilla starred in a 24-issue run of comics written by Doug Moench, drawn by Herb Trimpe and published by Marvel Comics entitled Godzilla, King of the Monsters. The series thrusts Godzilla completely into the Marvel Universe. In a nod to King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla first appears by bursting out of an iceberg near Alaska; although how the prehistoric creature came to be trapped again in ice is never revealed (although it is stated in the issue that this “will doubtless be determined in the future.”). Over the course of the series, he crosses the continental United States and eventually ends up in New York City.

Spawn Simony (2003)

One-Shot. Published in 2003 by Semic of France, McFarlane allowed the creators (Jean-François Porchero and Alex Nikolavitch) to create an original Spawn tale without using Image comics. Spawn: Simony involves former Hellspawn and current Spawn mentor Cogliostro in a scheme to rid himself of his Hellspawn curse.

Archie’s Mad House (1959)

The first 18 issues featured the “Archie gang” in stories that were a bit more “off the wall” than the normal Archie series. The idea was to produce stories that made no sense. The title Mad House was written as two words instead of one to suggest a false connection to MAD Magazine and recapture its success. Beginning with issue 19, the Archie gang was dropped (though it was still called Archie’s Mad House), and the title began featuring monsters, space stories and other wacky short stories. The gags in the comics often parodied the latest fads and popular culture. For a time, it would focus on stories with what were intended to be one-off characters. There were, however, exceptions to this rule. Characters becoming popular enough would appear again.

Many Deaths of Laila Starr (2021)

With humanity on the verge of discovering immortality, the avatar of Death is fired and relegated to the world below to live out her now-finite days in the body of twenty-something Laila Starr in Mumbai. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila hatches a plan and soon discovers a way to be placed at the time and location where the creator of immortality will be born . . . But will Laila take her chance to permanently reverse the course of (future) history, or does a more shocking fate await her within the coils of mortal existence?

Black & White (1994)

A cross between super-heroics and James Bond-style adventures, black-and-white is the story of Whitney Samsung and Reed Blackett, hired to defend Whitney and thereafter cast into the role of bodyguard/guardian as she refuses to listen to reason and throws herself headlong into trouble.

Justice (2005)

Coming off their previous project, Earth X from Marvel Comics, Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithwaite started on Justice, a 12-issue bi-monthly series. Ross described the series as a full-on superhero war, the Super Friends versus the Legion of Doom, to the death. In many ways, Justice is a follow-up to Ross’ and Paul Dini‘s The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes.

Ross had stated that, following Kingdom Come, he wanted to break away from the 1990s fixation with superhuman wars, and focused on The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes. It was only following that that he could return to the war stories he is known for, like Kingdom Come.

Sabertooth Mini (1993)

Home is the Hunter, script by Larry Hama, art by Mark Texeira;  The Hand wants Sabretooth’s head! With no back-up to speak of, Sabretooth must face an excruciating fight, both physically and mentally. Sabretooth is tied down to an operating table with a bomb placed inside his chest; Tribune wants him to kill Mystique. The story takes place after the events in Wolverine #64.Wolverine appearance.

Justice Society of America V1 (1991)

Fan interest resulted in the revival of the JSA in 1991. An eight-issue Justice Society of America limited series featuring a previously untold story set in the 1950s was published in 1991. In the final issues of the four-issue Armageddon: Inferno limited series, the JSA returns to the modern-day DC Universe when Waverider transported the “daemen” of the interdimensional Abraxis to Asgard as a substitute for the JSA in the Ragnarök cycle, allowing the team to return to Earth.

The Good Asian (2021)

Following Edison Hark-a haunted, self-loathing Chinese-American detective-on the trail of a killer in 1936 Chinatown, THE GOOD ASIAN is Chinatown noir starring the first generation of Americans to come of age under an immigration ban, the Chinese, as they’re besieged by rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes.