After unveiling the full slate for DCU Chapter One: Gods & Monsters earlier in the week, James Gunn has provided further aid for budding DC detectives looking to decipher the direction of the rebooted franchise. Thanks to projects such as Superman: Woman of Tomorrow and Creature Commandos already having titles lifted wholesale from comic books, we already knew where to start with digging into the relevant source material, but now Gunn has pointed us to exactly what we should be reading to uncover his secrets.
Gunn took to Twitter today to name the four key comic books that he stresses are the major touchstones for the new DCU. “That doesn’t mean we’re adapting all these comics,” he noted, before fans got the wrong idea, revealing that it is rather “the feel, the look, or the tone” of these classic DC stories that will act as guiding lights for Gunn and his team as the franchise takes shape.
So what are these comics? First up, we have All-Star Superman by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Gunn has already championed this particular work on social media. Next, there’s The Authority Omnibus by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch. Again, another obvious pick there, considering The Authority movie that was just announced.
Thirdly, Gunn highlights another Grant Morrison effort — their run on Batman alongside artist Andy Kubert. It was during this run that Damian Wayne first appeared on the scene, so we can expect these comics to be a big influence on The Brave and the Bold. Last but not least, there’s Absolute Swamp Thing, Alan Moore’s groundbreaking DC debut that changed the titular character forever.
That’s a lot of pages of comics goodness Gunn has outlined there, so that should keep DC fans plenty busy while we wait for the DCU to officially kick off with Superman: Legacy on July 11, 2025.