It would be an understatement to say that the superhero roster over at DC Comics is stacked. Stacked may sound like overused hyperbole, but the foundation of superhero culture can be traced back largely to the DC Universe. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman – the original pillars of the comic book community’s Golden Age were all founded under the DC banner.
What’s most impressive about DC Comics, beyond how many of the founding heroes of comic culture rest under their brand, is that the brand continues to deliver quality characters year in and year out. When the likes of Superman and Batman set the bar, it would be easy and even understandable to decide when enough is left in the tank. In lesser companies, the creative tank would be empty, but over the last decade alone, DC continues to debut quality, fascinating, and utterly powerful heroes into their lexicon.
10 City Boy
Debuts in Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special’s “City Boy and the King of Cities” by Greg Pak, Minkyu Jung, Sunny Gho, and Wes Abbott
Cameron Kim was ushered into DC as the company launched its Dawn of DC era. He stood out as one of the more original conceptions for a character, and even today, City Boy’s powers read as increasingly unique. City Boy has the power to talk to and control cities as if they were alive. This doesn’t just go for literal cities, but even something as minimal as an ant colony can be conquered by the City Boy. On paper, powers so complex may be difficult to understand and control, but they have deemed Cam so powerful that the villainous Darkseid tried to recruit him.
Thankfully, Cameron instead opted for taking mentorship from Nightwing and taking team-ups from the likes of Swamp Thing to help him improve. As the Dawn of DC comes to a close in favor of DC going All-In, hopefully this doesn’t mark the end of City Boy’s journey when he continues to spark intrigue.
9 Nix Uotan
Debuts in The Multiversity #1 by Grant Morrison, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Nei Ruffino, and Todd Klein
Nix Uotan is best described as DC’s Doctor Who equivalent character, as The Superjudge is the last of the Monitors. Unlike past Monitors, he uses his powers and skills for good. He’s the son of the Proto-Monitor, Novu, and lived as a normal teenager until being made aware of his true origins. Upon becoming the Multiversal Monitor, Nix officially became the protector of the multiverse for the DC Universe.
That would be a big responsibility for any normal man, but Nix Uotan is literally touted as being a Super-God. The Monitors have powers and capabilities that reach beyond imagination, and having the multiverse in the palm of his hands adds another anecdote to his growing prowess.
8 Jon Kent
Debuts in Convergence: Superman #2 by Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Brad Anderson, and Tom Napolitano
It’s actually wild to think that for all the character has experienced and for how etched into DC history is in now, the Jon Kent character is still under a decade old. In about 9 years, readers have watched Jon born as a baby, grow to understand his powers, shine through his friendship with Damian Wayne in adolescence, abruptly get kidnapped, and then return as a young man. That barely scratches the surface as far as everything he’s done and accomplished, but more relevantly, he’s shown how he could be even more powerful than his old man.
He’s new electric blue powers have already proven to be an immense power upgrade for the young Kryptonian of House Kent, but when he juices them up with the power of the sun, he’s canonically stronger than Clark. When he does this, he can – for the most part – one-shot an entire Justice League – or Injustice League – from another universe.
7 Trinity
Debuts in Wonder Woman #800 by several artists led by co-writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad
Much like Yara Flor before her, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Prince emerged into the DC Universe with large amounts of potential on her shoulders, debuting as not only the daughter of Wonder Woman from a potential future, but a potential future leader of the Justice League. As a result, most of her appearances have been constricted to one-off one-shots and back-up stories featuring her best friends Jon Kent and Damian Wayne, a.k.a. the next-generation Trinity of DC. However, the skills Lizzie has shown in these stories are significant enough to warrant a deeper dive into DC’s main storylines.
In moments where she is seen to conquer entire landscapes across history, this future Wonder Woman is destined to literally change the future.
6 Dreamer
Debuts on Supergirl episode “American Girl”, Enters DC Comics Canon in DC Pride #1’s “Super Pride” by Devin Grayson, Nick Robles, Triona Farrell, and Aditya Bidikar
Dreamer has the distinction on this list of debuting before ever reaching a panel, as she was previously a staple of CW’s Arrowverse for years. Once that TV-shared universe concluded, DC took steps to integrate Nia Nal into the DC Universe, with many of her stories overseen and masterminded personally by the actress behind Nia, Nicole Maines. Rather than needlessly shoe-horn a popular television character into the comics, DC has gone out of its way in its attempt to reinvigorate a familiar hero in fresh ways.
One of these ways to freshen Nal up was to upgrade her powers through the “Lazarus Planet” event, allowing to see the future in real-time. The power she holds put her on the radar of Amanda Waller, who forces Dreamer into making her an unwilling member of the Suicide Squad. It also didn’t help that she blackmailed Waller as well, but it’s decisions like these alongside the manifestation of her new powers that are molding Dreamer’s increasingly complex character development, even if it is sacrificing her herohood.
5 Jessica Cruz
Debuts in Justice League #30 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Doug Magnke, Scott Hanna, Rod Reis, and Dezi Sienty
Jessica Cruz’s backstory ranks among the DC Universe’s most fascinating and also the most tragic. Watching her friends shot and killed in front of her whilst narrowly escaping death herself was enough to give the young 20-something a bad case of agoraphobia. This lasted for four years until an Earth-3 power ring forced itself onto Jessica’s finger. The power proved too immense for Jessica to control, nearly wiping out everything around her, possibly with the rest of the planet. If not for Batman showcasing his greatest strength for her, the Justice League may have had no choice but to kill her.
By now, Jessica has a better sense of control over her Green Lantern powers, so much so that she’s even tried other rings to become a Yellow Lantern for the Sinestro Corps.
4 New Swamp Thing
Debuts in Infinite Frontier #0’s “The Flash” by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi Design, and Troy Peteri
It’s often forgotten, or maybe even simply overlooked how the Swamp Thing name gets passed down as frequently from generation to generation as other legacy acts in the DC Universe. The latest Avatar of the Green arrives as a young scientist in India named Levi Kamei. Once connected to The Green, he carries all of the classic abilities that makes every Swamp Thing a powerhouse (like immortality, super strength, etc), but he does have one unique power that distinguishes him from the rest.
Unlike other Swamp Things, he isn’t plagued by his transformation, as he is able to return to human form when necessary. It’s largely because a series of rituals performed on him when he was younger, priming the Green to connect with him when the time was right. This puts his power on a whole new level as he has a better grasp on how to control his new powers on this level.
3 Yara Flor
Debuts in Infinite Frontier #0’s “Wonder Girl” by Joëlle Jones, Jordie Bellaire, and Troy Peteri
Upon her debut, Yara Flor was immediately primed for greatness. The demigod had adopted the prestigious Wonder Girl namesake with the adage that she was being foreshadowed to eventually be the Wonder Woman of the future one day. Even more importantly, she had the nickname attached to her of Amazon of the Amazons. Most characters tend to fall into obscurity when they fail to live up to such hype, but Yara Flor is not like most characters.
She has the pedigree and the power to back up her hype as she’s already accomplished a lot in a mere two-year run. Not only that, but she’s cocky enough to believe her accomplishments supercede that of Diana, arguing that Wonder Woman is her sidekick, a Robin. Some would say that Yara needs to eat some humble pie, but others would say that anyone as skilled and powerful as Wonder Girl has every right to be so confident. It’s the kind of confidence befitting of, say, a future Wonder Woman.
2 Osul-Ra
Debuts in Action Comics #1038 by Philip Kennedy Johnson, Miguel Mendonca, Adriano Lucas, and Dave Sharpe
Both Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra debuted in DC as the youngest of the Phaelosian race on Warworld upon their Super-Family induction, but between the two of them, Osul-Ra has the higher ceiling and future potential of the two. Unlike his sister, this half of the Super-Twins carries the power of a god within him. Before adopting the children, Superman saved Osul-Ra’s life on Warworld. The boy died and Superman used the Fire of Olgrun to bring him back, with the risk being that the boy now carries enough essence of the Mad God to make him a vessel for the god’s return.
However, in small glimpses of rage, specifically when his sister is in danger, Osul-Ra unleashes an unruly fury akin to that of the legend of the Red Son. If there is a future where he can get enough control of that power to use it at will, then the DC Universe could have its newest, most powerful hero on its hands.
1 Avery Ho
Debuts in The Flash #3 by Joshua Williamson, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia, Steve Wands
There’s a Speed Force Storm that runs rampant throughout Central City, causing locals at random to develop speedster abilities. One of these unsuspecting citizens is Avery Ho. Ho is visited by Barry Allen, who not only offers her advice about how to slow down, but also invites her to S.T.A.R. Labs to teach her how to use her new powers, as he does with other new speedsters in the area. Avery’s training progresses far enough to become the official Flash of China.
In just a couple of short years, Avery establishes herself as powerful enough to replace Barry Allen, as when he goes missing, she’s chosen to take his place within the Justice League Incarnate. Ho is recognized as one of the fastest, strongest Flashes that DC Comics has to offer, and her fans would argue for how she’s earned the high praise.
