Aquaman Vol. 1: The Trench
Geoff Johns produced the material that saw Aquaman once and for elevated to movie star status, and clearly that's why this collection is included.
Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls
I may not always be enamored of Scott Snyder's work, but he's clearly energized both fans and DC in general in ways that have been seldom experienced, and his Batman was the most consistently embraced facet of the New 52 era.
Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham
Readers may be gobbling up Tom King's comics, but so far DC's found it elusive to find that universal praise it keeps hyping. It may be a matter of time before King's Batman work is dropped from these lists in favor of his Mister Miracle.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Frank Miller's enduring legacy, even while his other seminal works begin to fall by the wayside. Fans might have begun questioning even this, based on sour memories of some of the sequel material, but the recent DK3: The Master Race seems to have begun mitigating that.
Batman: The Dark Knight - The Master Race
See?
Batman: Hush
Jeph Loeb's most enduring work is this bombastic collaboration with Jim Lee.
Batman: The Killing Joke
If it were up to me, this one would be dropped from the canon. I realize Moore's importance to superhero comics, but with Barbara Gordon officially not being depicted as paralyzed, a huge piece of its legacy has been removed, and all we have are an argument that it's the perfect Joker story, and that it's built around him doing a truly unnecessarily and truly uncharacteristic crime against Babs.
Batman: The Long Halloween
Loeb and Tim Sale established an enduring collaboration, although it seems to have collapsed over the years back to Long Halloween itself.
Batman: Year One
Frank Miller's origin story remains the most artful.
Batman Adventures: Mad Love Deluxe Edition
The more Harley Quinn goes mainstream, the longer she extends the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series.
Dark Knight: A True Batman Story
Paul Dini's harrowing account of recovery from a vicious mugging has given DC an interesting new way to celebrate Batman.
DC Super Hero Girls: Finals Crisis
A concession to young reader accessibility. Highly unlikely to have a long shelf-life.
DC Universe: Rebirth
Johns keeps getting shuffled in his lasting contributions, but this is hugely relevant to the modern comics, so of course it's listed.
The Flash Vol. 1: Move Forward
Influential as material for the current TV show, and one of the more accessible collections for the speedster.
Identity Crisis
Brad Meltzer's hugely consequential story, I think, might one day supplant Watchmen as the seminal superhero crime saga.
Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One - The Complete Collection
I don't know how many readers are that beholden to these comics, but the game has become a self-sustaining pocket universe of DC lore, and so perhaps has carved out a kind of enduring legacy. At least for now.
Justice League Vol. 1: Origin
The first collection of the Johns New 52 series, featuring Jim Lee art. No argument here. It's also nice to know that even though it ended up inspiring an unpopular movie (likewise called Justice League) it hasn't been dropped from the canon.
Preacher: Book One
Garth Ennis scored the biggest hit of the second wave of Vertigo comics, and the series has since been adapted into a TV show. I may find it to be crass nonsense, but this is what appeals to people...
The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
Unlike Justice League Vol. 1 a naked bid to get readers to read the whole thing, because if they were selecting the best overall collection this wouldn't be it. But deservedly still counted as a classic even though Neil Gaiman's legacy has begun to drift to other material.
The Sandman: Overture
As a standalone volume, even if it doesn't really reflect what was best about the original series, Overture may prove to be the easiest Sandman selling point in the future.
All-Star Superman
I find it interesting that this is what's being embraced as Grant Morrison's best work. Personally I infinitely prefer the later New 52 Action Comics material, as far as his Superman goes.
Superman Vol. 1: Son of Superman
Pete Tomasi and Patrick Gleason deserve their spot, though I wish it were for their superior Batman and Robin work.
V for Vendetta
Moore again, perhaps at his most pure: righteous anarchy.
Watchmen
The most consistently touted superhero comic of the past thirty-odd years. I may think it's overrated, but to a lot of fans it justifies the medium, and I guess that's not a bad legacy.
Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood
Brian Azzarello's work in the title may not have proven wildly popular, but it's arguably the most respectable work Wonder Woman has ever been featured in, and so DC's right to continue plugging it.
Now, clearly, most of this list is either to promote the material due to current relevance or because of its popularity. "Essential" doesn't necessarily equate "best of." My essential DC material would be a best of. To wit:
- 52 (Not merely the best weekly series DC has published, but some of DC's best material ever, period.)
- Air (G. Willow Wilson's best work.)
- Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina (Grant Morrison breaks the fourth wall.)
- Batman and Robin (Tomasi and Gleason's complete run.)
- The Challengers of the Unknown Must Die! (Loeb and Sale's best work.)
- Crisis On Infinite Earths (The seminal event comic.)
- The Final Night (Kesel and Immonen's introspective event.)
- The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen (Without Mark Waid, Flash would never have become as significant as he is today, and this is Waid's best material.)
- Flashpoint (After Waid, this is the essential Flash comic.)
- Geoff Johns' Green Lantern (The complete run.)
- Joe the Barbarian (Grant Morrison's best nonsuperhero work for DC to date.)
- Justice League Vol. 1: Origin (Johns and Lee establish a truly epic League origin.)
- Kingdom Come (Waid and Ross's epic vision of the future.)
- The Multiversity (Morrison's most epic superhero vision to date.)
- The Omega Men (Tom King's best work to date.)
- The Sandman (Arguably the best comic book ever written.)
- Seven Soldiers of Victory (Morrison's attempt at a Jack Kirby New Gods-style epic.)
- Sheriff of Babylon (Tom King's second best work to date.)
- Superboy and the Ravers (As-yet uncollected work of teenage comics genius.)
- The Death of Superman (The most important in-continuity comic ever.)
- Superman: End of the Century (Stuart Immonen's vision of Superman, concise.)
- Grant Morrison's Action Comics (His best Superman.)
- Superman: American Alien (Max Landis's Superman origin.)
- New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (Wolfman and Perez make the Titans cool.)
- Before Watchmen: Comedian (This is better.)
