The 6 Best Comic Book Crossovers of All Time, Ranked

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Crossover events are commonplace in the pages of DC and Marvel Comics, allowing for readers to experience characters and stories that they ordinarily wouldn’t read, and naturally expanding the worlds in which their stories take place. Whether these stories are major crossovers between a myriad of different comic book titles or just minor crossovers between individual characters, there’s nothing fans like more than seeing their favorite heroes and villains interact with each other in new and unexpected ways.

Sometimes, crossovers will last for many issues, even spanning years in some rare cases, and other times, single issues will be the full extent of a crossover between characters. One of the best aspects of a shared universe of comic book characters is the way in which readers can be suddenly surprised by a crossover they ordinarily never would have expected. The very best crossovers in comic book history are the ones that take full advantage of the crossover format and formulate a story that couldn’t be told in any other way.

6

Avengers vs. X-Men Was An Epic Crossover Event

The Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Uncanny Marvel Mutants Faced Off In This Miniseries

Spanning a core book titled Avengers vs. X-Men, as well as a plethora of tie-in stories in the pages of Avengers, Avengers Academy, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine & The X-Men, the epic crossover event between the Avengers and the X-Men was one of Marvel’s boldest stories in decades. Centered around a myriad of growing conflicts between the non-mutant heroes of the Marvel Universe and the mutant heroes of the X-Men, Avengers vs. X-Men saw many fan-favorite characters clashing in an all-out battle for supremacy. Fights between characters like Iron Man and Magneto, Juggernaut and Hulk, and Daredevil and Psylocke are just the tip of the iceberg with this epic event.

Boasting the epic return of the enigmatic Phoenix Force, the entity once held by Jean Grey that overcame her and eventually led to her first death, Avengers vs. X-Men is somewhat controversial with fans. There were certain aspects of its crossover storytelling that readers weren’t the biggest fan of at the time, but history has been kind to Avengers VS X-Men, and its faults have faded away with time, leaving something exciting and unique in its wake. Crossovers don’t often get as big, bold, and exciting as this, and the shocking events on each page kept fans coming back for more.

5

Knightfall Brought All the Bat-Books Together In One Epic Story

The Knightfall Saga Saw All of Gotham’s Heroes Coming Together In the Wake of Batman’s Defeat

The Knightfall Saga is one of the most iconic storylines in Batman’s entire comic book history, and it remains a highlight of the 1990s. Bringing together practically every Batman-related comic book title that was being released month-to-month, Knightfall painted a vast tapestry of Gotham City’s heroes dealing with the brand-new villain, Bane, and the aftermath of what he was capable of doing. The saga was one of the most shocking Batman stories ever produced at the time, with many fans speculating that Bruce Wayne would be hanging up the cowl for good in the wake of his horrible defeat at the hands of Bane.

With issues spanning between series like Robin, Detective Comics, Legends of The Dark Knight, Catwoman, and many more, the Knightfall Saga remains one of Batman’s definitive crossover events. Although some fans believe that the later No Man’s Land crossover storyline is superior, there’s just something about the simplicity of Knightfall and its related stories. It changed the Dark Knight and his allies forever, and although Bane has since ebbed and flowed in terms of writing quality, it was one of the single best introductions for a villain in DC Comics history.

4

X-Men: Messiah Complex Was a Mutant-Wide Crossover

The War for the First Mutant Born Since M-Day Brought All The X-Books Together

In the wake of the horrifying House of M event, the mutants of the Marvel Universe found themselves on the edge of extinction. With millions of mutants losing their innate abilities in an instant, the number of people with an active X-gene on Earth dropped to less than three hundred. This catastrophic event sent shockwaves through the mutant community that are still being felt in X-Men stories today. In 2007, the X-Men: Messiah Complex #1 one-shot kicked off a mutant-wide crossover that changed X-Men history forever. Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Men, and New X-Men were all part of the crossover, with each series containing a major portion of the storyline.

Although not as wide-reaching as something like Avengers vs. X-Men, Messiah Complex was perhaps the best X-Men storyline of the 2000s, featuring incredible artwork, terrifying villains, a genuinely emotional story packed with heart-wrenching twists and turns, and significant shifts to the X-Men’s status quo. With the arrival of Hope Summers, the first mutant born since Scarlet Witch decimated the population, Messiah Complex ushered in a whole new era for X-Men stories, and the entire modern landscape of mutant-based stories owes a great deal to this iconic crossover.

Heroes from Across the DC Multiverse Came Together to Battle a Terrifying New Threat

One of the defining events of the entire DC Comics Universe, Crisis On Infinite Earths was one of the first major crossovers that featured the vast majority of a comic book universe. Crossovers between individual characters and their series had been done before, but nothing on this scale had truly been achieved in the comic book landscape. Even Marvel’s Secret Wars couldn’t reach the heights of this iconic DC story.

Bringing together the most iconic and beloved heroes from across the DC multiverse, Crisis on Infinite Earths was a landmark event for DC Comics. It ushered in a new era of continuity for the DC brand, and it brought about some of the most dramatic and major shifts in the status quo of numerous characters. With the heroes of the DC Universe coming together to battle the Anti-Monitor, one of the most powerful beings in existence, there were bound to be casualties, and beloved characters like Barry Allen, aka the Flash, and Superman’s cousin Supergirl were just a few of the notable losses from the crossover event.

2

The Annihilation Saga Brought Marvel’s Cosmic Heroes Together

The Space-Based Crossover Event Led to The Guardians of the Galaxy That Fans Know Today

Containing both Annihilation and the follow-up, Annihilation: Conquest, the Annihilation Saga crossover event brought about a reinvigoration for Marvel Comics’ cosmic stories. Featuring stories in the pages of Drax the Destroyer, Nova, Super-Skrull, and more, the Annihilation Saga is one of the best events Marvel has ever released. It’s full of epic space-based action, incredible character work, and wonderful art. It also brought characters like Star-Lord and Nova back to the forefront of the Marvel Universe.

Revamping and reimagining long-forgotten heroes and villains, Annihilation made one of The Fantastic Four’s minor enemies a terrifying threat to the entire galaxy. Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest set the bar for the future of Marvel’s cosmic storytelling, and neither part of the saga has been rivaled by anything the publisher has released since. It’s one of the definitive Marvel crossover stories, and it deserves its place in comic book history as a major factor in reinvigorating interest in characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy.

1

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest Is the Latest in a Long Line of Ongoing Crossovers

The Ongoing Book Features Batman and Superman Team-Ups

There have been a plethora of Batman and Superman team-up books, and though all of them are worthy of adoration and acknowledgment, the currently releasing Batman/Superman: World’s Finest by writer Mark Waid has been a consistent breath of fresh air in the world of overly complicated comic books. New-reader-friendly stories featuring Batman and Superman are the name of the game with the ongoing book, and despite the fact that it is not an event, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest certainly qualifies as a crossover book.

Featuring characters that ordinarily fit within their own solo books, World’s Finest takes the best of Batman and Superman’s respective worlds and series and brings them together in a dazzling, wonderfully campy thrill ride. Bringing in heroes from across DC Comics history with each and every issue, it does exactly what a book like this should do, and it’s a treat to read each and every month. World’s Finest is a delight, and it is the definitive comic book crossover.

“}]] Some of the very best comic book stories are crossover events, where heroes from different books come into contact and team up against a larger threat  Read More