Over DC Comics' seventy-five years of stories, there have been more than just a few that have overlapped, overwritten, and even flat-out changed existing material. In the comic book industry, this is called a retcon, where new material is established to change or overwrite outdated or ill-received content. DC Comics is famous for its huge events that rewrite the history of the DC Universe or flip everything fans know about their favorite heroes on its head.
Of course, no hero is safe from these changes if the situation calls for them to be altered or tweaked to better serve the current state of the universe. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have all gone through a series of changes of origin, personality, and motivations. For the most part, the retcons and reboots of the DC Universe are for the better. They adapt to the times and expand or contour the universe as needed. These retcons turned out for the best.
6 Cyborgs New Apokaliptic Origin
Cyborg has been a prominent fixture in the DC Universe for over forty years after being created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Cyborg first made an appearance in DC Comics Presents #26, where he debuted as a member of the Teen Titans. Over the years, Cyborg has fluctuated in the DC Universe across comics and animation. Originally, Cyborg was a star football player who was gravely injured; his scientist father fused his body with advanced technology to save his life, turning him into a half man, half machine.
However, when DC management made the decision to elevate Cyborg to the Justice League, his origin was also tweaked in the New 52 continuity. Cyborg's creation now involved him being merged with a mother box from Apokalips. This came with a laundry list of new abilities and a much stronger bond between him and the rest of the founding members of the Justice League during Darkseid's invasion. This change is much more popular and shines a fair amount of spotlight on the character, which was also adapted into his first ever live-action appearance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
5 Creation Of The Multiverse
DC Comics has some of the most incredible heroes in comic book history. Over the years, they have defined the superhero archetype and created immortal characters that will be remembered for decades to come.
Unfortunately, at one point, DC Comics had too many characters and too many versions of the same characters that caused readers along with writers to become quite confused. In the 1960s, the Golden Age versions of famous DC characters were almost indistinguishable from their Silver Age counterparts.
As it became more and more taxing to keep continuity in check, a solution was created in The Flash #123 comic, where both Barry Allen and Jay Garrick would appear in the same comic together. This comic birthed what would come to be known as the Multiverse, which would go on to encompass all of DC Comic's characters in all their different universes, creating a separate world for them all.
4 The First Crisis On Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths serves as one of DC Comic’s most spectacular events. When a cosmic being of unimaginable power and origin, known as the Anti-Monitor, sets his sight to destroy all of creation, it is up to DC's greatest heroes to fend him off and protect the entire DC Universe.
Crisis on Infinite Earths engulfed every world within DC’s multiverse and paired multiple versions of characters with each other – two flashes, several supermen, and a sea of other doppelgangers flooded the pages of the event and ended in a thrilling conclusion that sent shockwaves throughout the entire DC Comics world. In addition, this event triggered the constant shuffle of origins, personality shifts, and constant alterations of some of DC Comics' most famous characters.
3 Alfred Pennyworth's Origin
Alfred is widely known as the first partner to the world's greatest detective and the long-time mentor and caretaker of Bruce Wayne since he was a child. Alfred Pennyworth is an unwavering juggernaut of the Bat-family who is always there to mend the Caped Crusader and guide him on the right path. Alfred Pennyworth is as iconic a character as Batman himself, having been by his side since the beginning, but that has not always been so.
At one brief moment in DC Comics, Alfred was not and had never been the Wayne's family butler who adopted Bruce after his parent's murder. Instead, Alfred was a new hire that arrived well into Bruce Wayne's career as a vigilante. In Batman #16 in 1943, Alfred arrived as a disheveled valet who had come to serve Bruce by request of his father's dying wish. The change to Alfred being at Bruce’s side from the beginning created a dynamic that would define the man and the Bat for a decades-long friendship.
2 The Tale Of Three Jokers
The Joker has been the figurehead of Batman’s rogue gallery since his debut in 1940 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson. The age-old war between the Dark Knight and Clown Prince of Crime has been one of the most influential and defining rivalries in comics and fiction writing alike. The Joker stands at the apex of villainy in the world of DC Comics.
The grin of the Joker has plagued DC Comics for over seventy years and has tormented nearly every hero within the DC Universe, scarring some of them for life. Over the decades of the Joker’s reign of terror, he has had many different origins, identities, and reincarnations.
While this is generally due to the character changing hands to various writers over the years, DC Comics changed everything when it was revealed that there had been three Jokers all along: the Clown, the Criminal, and The Comedian. The Three Jokers' storyline caused chaos throughout the DC Universe and much to the Joker's enjoyment, the real-world comic community as well.
1 The Doomsday Clock
One of the most inventive events in recent DC Comics history is DC Rebirth. The event served as a full toppling of the dominos that had been erected on the heels of the New 52. DC Rebirth saw the old version of characters return, some vanish entirely, and the entire world of DC Comics shifted and merged with another that contained that of the Watchmen Characters.
In the Doomsday storyline, the mystery surrounding the recent string of strange changes and reality-altering occurrences was caused by the omnipotent being, Dr. Manhattan. As a result, Batman and The Flash set off on a mysterious adventure that would blow the lid off of one of the greatest kept secrets in all of the multiverse.