What happens when your greatest failure comes back to haunt you? We’ve seen that theme throughout the history of great fiction, not the least of which is in superhero comics. Batman’s greatest failure, of course, is Jason Todd, the second Robin who was killed at the hands of the Joker (we’ll get to that later).
So when he returned from the great beyond as Gotham City’s new Red Hood to enact his revenge on the Joker, inevitably he would come face-to-face with his former mentor. Their battle was actually pretty brief, but Todd’s confrontation with the Dark Knight about the latter’s inability to avenge the former’s death was powerful enough to get a spot on this list.As Seen In: Secret Six #36
There’s nothing more badass than anti-heroes having a final showdown; one last hurrah to really test their mettle. In the series finale of Gail Simone and J. Calafiore’s criminally underappreciated Secret Six, the surviving members of the team have their very own Butch and Sundance moment as they stand their ground against nearly every single superhero in the DC Universe.
They were defeated and jailed (later to be freed courtesy of a continuity reboot), of course, but that doesn’t make their final stand any less entertaining. Best of all, it showed how much of a threat they truly were, forcing all of DC’s big guns to show up and stop them.As Seen In: Final Crisis #6
Batman made a promise that he’d never use a gun, but when you’re going up against a world-killing New God, sometimes your options are limited. With Darkseid’s terror reigning over the DC Universe, regular-guy-dressed-as-a-giant-bat- Bruce Wayne uses a Radion bullet -- one that was fired back through time to kill Darkseid’s son Orion – to severely weaken the tyrant. A human standing up to a New God is unthinkable, but hey, this is Batman we’re talking about.
Of course, Batman’s actions result in him getting hit with the Omega Beams and appear dead to his friends and allies. Of course, that wasn’t entirely the case, but we’ll get to that soon enough.As Seen In: 52 #42
Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, was in a rough spot following the events of his wife’s tragic death. In the weekly series 52, he spent most of the year trying to find a way to resurrect Sue, but instead fell into a pit of despair. At wit’s end, he finally reached the Tower of Fate, where we learned that Felix Faust was, in fact, manipulating Ralph the entire time.
The good thing is that Ralph knew it, too. Effectively sacrificing himself to trap Faust and co-conspirator Neron inside of the Tower of Fate – his death meaning that no one can reverse the spell that’s keeping the villains trapped -- Dibny rid the DCU of two its most notorious bad guys while once again proving he was one of the DCU’s greatest thinkers.As Seen In: Blackest Night
A crux of Geoff Johns’ expansive Green Lantern saga, Blackest Night saw long-dead friends and enemies of the DCU’s greatest heroes come back to life as rotted corpses with powers like never before. Forced to confront great loves and forgotten enemies, Blackest Night was an epic of zombie-like proportions but with far more emotional resonance than something like Marvel Zombies was ever able to deliver.
Black Hand ushers in the return of Nekron, the Lord of the Unliving, and with him the Black Power Battery that unleashes legions of Black Lanterns upon our heroes. Ultimately, the different Lantern Corps are able to come together and unleashed the White Lantern Rings, defeating Nekron and his army of Black Lanterns.
As Seen In: 52 #52
At the end of 52, it was revealed that the Multiverse was very much alive and that the nefarious Mister Mind had taken control of Booster’s trusty robot sidekick, Skeets, and was about to destroy each and every universe in existence. In a bout of cosmic genius, Rip Hunter, Booster, Supernova, and Skeets concocted a plan to save the fabric of reality by trapping Mister Mind inside of a fortified shell and launching him back in time to the very beginning of 52 itself, using 52 seconds of missing time as a time loop that would imprison Mind forever.
Though Booster had battled long and hard throughout 52, it was this final Hail Mary play that fortified him as one of the DCU’s greatest heroes.As Seen In: The Mainstream, Until Recently
Aquaman hasn’t enjoyed a very healthy or positive life in the mainstream. Consistently made the butt of superhero jokes, Arthur Curry might have appealed to the hardcore DC Comics fans but always struggled to make a significant impression on the general public. It’s been a constant PR battle for Aquaman to get even the residents of the DC Universe to take him seriously. Talking to fish? Cool, bro.
Thankfully, the character has found his footing in the mainstream in a huge way in the last few years, thanks to Geoff Johns’ revamp of the character in DC’s New 52 reboot. Addressing the stigmas of the character head on, Johns quickly proved why Arthur Curry is a force to be reckoned with. Better yet, he did it while making Aquaman a top-selling comic book for DC, even outselling all of Marvel’s books at one point.As Seen In: Batman #244
After faking his death in pursuit of Ra’s al Ghul, Batman arrived to al Ghul’s lair in Switzerland to find him dead. As an al Ghul is wont to do, Ra’s was soon rejuvenated in a Lazarus Pit by his daughter, and the resulting battle came in Batman #244. It’s not so notable for its dramatic weight so much as it is for the era-defining artwork by Neal Adams – complete with a shirtless (but not cowl-less) Batman battling arguably his greatest nemesis with a sword.
It’s also notable for being the first duel between Batman and Ra’s, not to mention an early example of the forbidden romance between Bruce and Talia, who would ultimately save Batman’s life at the end of the battle.As Seen In: Superman: Sacrifice
Superman and Wonder Woman are besties (and currently lovers), so the Sacrifice storyline that led to Infinite Crisis was intense for its dramatic implications. Mind controlled by Maxwell Lord, Superman is wreaking havoc on the DC Universe and Wonder Woman is the obvious choice to contend against him. Her loyalty unwavering, she is willing to kill Superman in order to stop him.
The duo have a knock-down, drag-out brawl that rages across the DC Universe, but finally ends when Diana makes a decision that would reverberate throughout the years to come: she snaps the neck of Lord as it’s broadcast on global television. It’s brutal to be sure, but also a nice touch of displaying the warrior that Diana is, willing to do what is necessary for the greater good.As Seen In: Justice League #5
When you challenge Batman to hand-to-hand combat, you best be fully prepared. Guy Gardner learned this the hard way when he successfully goaded the Dark Knight into fisticuffs in Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire’s now legendary run.
In what’s become something of a meme in the DC Universe, a hot-headed Guy was ready to fight Batman and was laid out in one punch. This led to not only Blue Beetle shouting “One punch!” over and over again, but also one of the most referenced panels in modern comic book history.
As Seen In: Infinite Crisis #4, #6
Superboy vs. Superboy, you say? Sounds like Silver Age silliness on the surface, but the implications of two characters that both consider themselves the “true” Superboy is just too good to ignore. A bloody and brutal battle that starts in one issue and finally ends in another, Connor Kent versus the bratty Superboy-Prime is one of the greatest one-on-one battles in DC event comic history.
Tragically, Connor wound up sacrificing himself to defeat Superboy-Prime and save the very fabric of the universe, cementing his place in DC lore as one of the greatest heroes the world would ever see.As Seen In: Superman #199
Probably the friendliest battle on this list, this for-charity race between the Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster finally answered the big question that was brewing for decades: who is faster? Naturally, the two duked it out (on foot) while stopping to help citizens across the globe.
Fittingly, neither hero actually came out on top – instead they mutually agreed to cross the finish line at the same time and keep the focus on what really matters: raising money for charity.As Seen In: Action Comics #775
This classic story that finds Superman squaring off against some hard-justice dealing super beings called The Elite demonstrates not only one of Superman’s best tales, but also one the hardest fought battles in the history of the DCU. Superman has to use his wits rather than his muscle to win this battle and show the people of Earth why vigilantes like The Elite (or, meta-textually, The Authority) aren’t to be celebrated or admired; that violence isn’t a means to an end.
Superman’s fought his share of giant robots and aliens, but like Aquaman has had to battle public perception, the Man of Steel has had to battle a false idea of irrelevancy. It was this one-shot tale by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Lee Bermejo that redefined what Superman could mean for the modern world.As Seen In: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
When Batman faced off with Darkseid (see #23!), little did he know that his greatest battle was only just beginning. Shot back through time courtesy of Darkseid’s Omega Beams, Bruce Wayne woke up in caveman times and discovered that he’d have to literally fight his way back through the time stream until he could make it back to modern day Gotham City, learning along the way that he couldn’t undertake the Batman mission alone, thus forming Batman Incorporated.
Batman’s battle though time is probably the most fantastical story he’s weathered in the modern era of comics, but it was also a true showcase of how powerful and brilliant the Dark Knight is. Always prepared for any situation, Bruce Wayne showed us all that even a regular human being can endure the greatest trials in the DC Universe.As Seen In: All-Star Superman #12
The big finale of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman finds Superman weak and on the brink of death while Lex Luthor parades across Metropolis with all of Superman’s powers, only moments away from achieving his ultimate victory. As Superman is wont to do, he uses his wits instead of his brawn and finds a way to defeat Lex with a device called a gravity gun that essentially sucks away the remaining time on Luthor’s artificial powers.
Most potently, the sudden draining of his powers causes Lex to see the world as Superman does, instilling in him a revelation of the good he could do before he passes out. It’s a great battle with quite possibly the most potent moment between the two characters throughout their long history together.
As Seen In: Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War
One of the major stepping stones of Geoff Johns’ embellishment of the Green Lantern mythology, the Sinestro Corps War found Hal Jordan’s former mentor returning to the forefront of the DC Universe with his very own Lantern Corps. Using fear instead of willpower, the Yellow Power Rings recruited those that were able to instill the greatest fear, including big gets like the Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime, and Cyborg Superman.
The ensuing battle for Earth – let alone the entire galaxy – was hard fought and one of the most rewarding events in DC Comics history. It was epic and organic, a complete story in its own right that build upon years of plot threads and spun the mythology into a whole new direction that would reverberate for years to come, continuing through today.As Seen In: Tales of the Teen Titans #42-44, Annual
Betrayal is the cruelest of sins, but that’s exactly what the Teen Titans suffered in the classic storyline The Judas Contract by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. When new recruit Terra sells out her partners to Deathstroke, the Titans are left to suffer the meticulous hunting of Slade Wilson as he takes them out one by one. To add insult to injury, Terra herself brutally beats down Changeling, who had previously enjoyed a healthy dose of puppy love with his new teammate.
The story returns Dick Grayson to superhero action as Nightwing who, along with Jericho, helps rescue the Titans from Deathstroke and Terra’s clutches. Sadly, during the battle Terra loses what’s left of her mind and winds up trying to kill everybody, Deathstroke included. Instead, she winds up only killing herself. Worse yet, the Titans later let a blissfully unaware Geo-Force, Terra’s brother, believe that she died a hero. Dark times for the Titans indeed.As Seen In: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #2
One of the hardest fought battles in Batman’s history, Frank Miller’s pitting of the Dark Knight versus the Mutant Leader in Dark Knight Returns is a brilliant showcase of Batman’s resolve even when his body is screaming in pain. A sample of both physical and mental prowess, the battle with the Mutant Leader is significant because it’s essentially a stage for Batman and Gordon to show the Leader’s followers that their savior can be broken by an old man.
It’s a bone shattering showdown, but it also shows Batman’s acceptance of needing help once in a while; a feat that’s especially impressive in the context of Dark Knight Returns itself.As Seen In: Batman #406
One of the most iconic moments from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One (and recreated in Batman Begins), Batman’s first stand-off with Gotham City’s finest finds him using a clever remote controlled sonic device to call in a flock of bats from his Batcave that serve as a distraction for his escape from a building in one of his early adventures.
The early days of Batman found him facing off with the cops more than he’d like, but it was moments like this that let these battles go down without serious injury. Plus, it’s simply one of the most badass moments in the Dark Knight’s history.As Seen In: Superman Annual #11
One of the most emotionally disturbing Superman tales, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ For the Man Who Has Everything played a mental game with the Man of Steel courtesy of the villainous Mongul. The throw-down comes once Superman snaps out of it and is left to get out his frustration for losing an entire lifetime of memories by beating the baddie into submission, ultimately leaving him to the very same cruel fate that had been intended for Superman himself.
The passion and intensity is what makes this battle so memorable; the pure unadulterated motivation that Superman has to defeat this enemy that has gotten under his skin like no one ever had before.
As Seen In: Batman #428
As we explored in entry #25, Jason Todd is Batman’s greatest failure, and it’s this iconic battle that shows us why. Searching for his birth mother, Jason finally finds her only to discover that he’s been set up by her and the Joker in a bid to get to Batman himself. Robin engages the Joker on the losing end of a crowbar, beating him savagely before blowing him up, resulting in one of the greatest tragedies of the Dark Knight’s life.
This battle is also notable for the reader voting that took place, wherein readers could call a phone number to vote if Jason would be killed off or not. Unfortunately for him, the readers wanted him gone, and so he went. Harsh.As Seen In: Batman #497
The war between Batman and Bane is much more than a physical battle, but it was in Batman #497 that their epic confrontation finally took place. Of course, the issue didn’t end well for the Dark Knight. Raised above Bane’s head only to be crashed down over his knee, Batman’s spine was shattered as Bane finally realized his ultimate dream of breaking the Batman.
This is a moment that has become synonymous with the greatest moments in Batman’s history, as it kicked off one of the most challenging periods of the Dark Knight’s career. He would of course eventually recover and take the fight to Bane, but the intensity of this battle set into motion one of the most memorable eras in Batman’s history.As Seen In: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #4
The age-old question of who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman, was tackled in the concluding chapter of Frank Miller’s Batman epic, The Dark Knight Returns. At first thought, one would consider that the clear winner would be the Man of Steel, no question, but Miller proved otherwise. Batman’s resourcefulness and brilliance proved to be Superman’s undoing here, as the former friends squared off in Gotham City’s Crime Alley, where Bruce’s parents were murdered decades previous.
Even with Batman’s victory and subsequent “heart attack,” Bruce holds the ultimate final victory as it’s revealed that he faked his own death in order to better fight the injustices of the world from behind-the-scenes. It’s a fitting conclusion to a battle with years of resentment behind it, finally leaving the World’s Finest in a place of mutual respect.As Seen In: Superman Vol. 2 #75
1993 was a rough year for DC superheroes, with Bruce Wayne getting his back broken and Kal-El kicking the bucket. It was this final fight between Superman and the monster Doomsday in Superman #75 that would define a whole generation of comic book fans, as the pair rampaged throughout Metropolis in a wondrous issue that was made entirely of splash pages. Punch after punch, Superman and Doomsday shattered windows and destroyed buildings until they finally, literally, punched each other to death.
It was the most epic one-on-one battle ever seen in the pages of DC Comics, and one that reverberates to this day, penetrating even the line-wide continuity reboot of recent years. This is a fight that even the non-comics reading public as read. Truly a clash of titans that is unlikely ever to be matched.As Seen In: Crisis on Infinite Earths
The first, and arguably greatest, line-wide crossover event of such epic proportions was DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, an attempt at streamlining the complex and confusing continuity that the DCU had acquired in its many decades of existence. Multiple versions of characters, conflicting origins, multiple Earths, and more all converged as a reality-destroyer known as the Anti-Monitor appeared to do away with the Multiverse in its entirety. It took the coming together of the DCU’s infinite Earths and infinite versions of its greatest heroes to stop the Anti-Monitor, which resulted in the collapse of the Multiverse into a single New Earth.
It was mind-blowing to see all of these characters team-up at once, let alone the death of heroes like The Flash and Supergirl, and would forever change the way the DC Universe – and event comics as a whole – are structured.
Cliff Wheatley is a freelance writer and a fiend. Follow him on IGN.