DC Comics has inspired billions of dollars in movies and TV shows since Richard Donner's Superman in 1978 paved the way for comic book cinema. There has been a growing relationship between comics and their movie counterparts where comics publishers create tie-in books for the movies. While the success of these tie-in books is mixed, many great comics have spawned from movies and TV series.
Tie-in comics often have mixed reception, due to not taking place in main comic canon but also going unnoticed by many moviegoers. They could benefit from some better marketing and often from more superstar creative teams. These comics are among some of the best stories in print and are worth the read for readers and moviegoers alike.
10 Green Lantern: Abin Sur
Although the 2011 Green Lantern movie was a spectacular box office failure, its prequel tie-in comics weren't bad. They followed the various Green Lantern heroes who would feature in the movie, such as Kilowog and Sinestro. However, the best featured Abin Sur.
One of the best aspects of the comic was the highlighting of a lesser-seen Green Lantern, since Abin Sur's death preceded Hal Jordan joining the Corps. The story followed Abin Sur as he visited Earth and protected a young Amanda Waller from a destructive robot.
9 Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received a miniseries from DC/Warner Bros. The series gave context to Luthor's attempt to set up a fight between Superman and Batman, as well as the lives of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne in their cities before the film.
Batman v Superman's miniseries was especially worth the read for its art, but had a strong story too. It focused on Batman and Superman in their respective cities and established the tensions between the two heroes, from Batman's harsh methods to Superman's destruction in Metropolis.
8 Batman '89
Tim Burton's Batman '89 returned to the world of Michael Keaton's Dark Knight in a six-issue miniseries by Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones. The series was set amidst a backdrop of civil unrest in Gotham City and explored the friendship between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent.
Batman '89 provided the official origin story for the Burtonverse's Two-Face and his fight with Batman. The series did an excellent job of capturing the tone and style of Burton's gothic classic and gave fans a continuation of Batman and Catwoman relationship, as well as introducing a new Robin.
7 Shazam Fury Of The Gods: Family Matters
Shazam! proved to be one of the lighter DCEU entries, and managed to secure a sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods. The movie was given an anthology comic tie-in that flew completely under the radar for many of even the biggest Shazam fans, both of the movie and comic character.
The Shazamily Matters graphic novel included a story written by Zachary Levi himself, the star of Shazam!. The graphic novel followed a number of stories, including an adventure into Greek mythology and several solo stories of the members of the Shazam family.
6 Man Of Steel
Man of Steel's prequel comic was a rather star-studded project, with comics legends like Jerry Ordway, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns working on the book. Having mainstay DC creators who were used to writing Superman produced a great story to tie in with the movie.
Man of Steel was well-received by fans of Superman, and it gave an often underrepresented look at the planet Krypton, reimagined for the movie. It followed Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, as an explorer for Krypton before its destruction and showed how the planet's ship crashed to Earth as seen in the film.
5 Black Adam JSA Secret Files
Black Adam released in 2022 to mixed reviews. The film was given four prequel comics throughout the year that gave each of the JSA characters in the film their own story. These included Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher. Other characters had backup stories.
While all the tie-in books were worth a read, the Hawkman issue (by Cavan Scott & Scot Eaton) was especially action-packed and enjoyable. It followed Hawkman as he tried to prevent Intergang from stealing a priceless artifact. It was a welcome story just for returning Hawkman to print.
4 Batman: The Imposter
In the lead-up to the highly anticipated The Batman release, one of the film's screenwriters, Mattson Tomlin, wrote a prequel miniseries. Batman: The Imposter (drawn by Andrea Sorrentino) followed the new version of Batman as he solved a string of murders carried out by an imposter Batman.
Batman: The Imposter didn't just give fans a great detective story, it also set up a compelling love interest for Bruce Wayne. The story was an excellent preview of Matt Reeves' Gotham and, unlike many tie-in Batman stories, had a great mystery behind it.
3 Justice League Infinity
In 2021, the fan-favorite incarnation of the Justice League animated series returned to comics. The miniseries, by J.M. DeMatteis, Francis Tucker and Ethen Beavers, followed the Justice League roster of people's childhood as they faced some of their worst enemies, such as Darkseid.
Justice League Infinity was an excellent return of the classic cartoon, and even included some of their better characters, like the DCAU Amazo. The series included multiversal crossovers, brought in some new villains and was an overall fun adventure full of fan service.
2 Batman: The Adventures Continue
After Batman: The Animated Series ended, DC revived that continuity in its own series, Batman: The Adventures Continue. The series has held true to the cartoon, with an episodic feel to it that follows everything from Deathstroke taking on an apprentice to the DCAU's Red Hood.
Batman: The Adventures Continue is still ongoing, with its third season in print as of 2023. Under a creative team of Alan Burnett, Paul Dini and Ty Templeton, the series is an excellent Batman title in its own right, and goes beyond being a simple tie-in.
1 Superman '78
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When DC announced its two retro tie-in series, Superman '78 and Batman '89, the assumption was that the Batman series would be the best. However, Robert Venditti's great understanding of the Man of Steel instantly gained hype and praise for Superman '78, with it landing a sequel series.
The inclusion of Brainiac as the series' villain, given a Donnerverse makeover, captured the tone of the first film brilliantly. The series focused on the android villain capturing Superman and adding him to his collection, placing him in Kandor.