In the past couple decades, the number of anime fans has continued to grow within the United States. Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Naruto have experienced great popularity outside of their native country of Japan. Many anime are based off manga, which are the Japanese form of comics and graphic novels.
Comics have been popular within the United States for many years. Characters like Superman and Batman have been around for almost a century. Despite the popularity of anime, manga, and comics, there isn’t a lot of overlap with the discussions about them. A lot of times it feels like comics and anime exist in two separate realities, but there are comic stories that any anime fan would love.
10 New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract — Someone Tries To Destroy The Teen Titans From Within
The comic began release in 1984 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. The storyline served as the first appearance of Joey Wilson, who would later become Jericho. The story also features the first time Dick Grayson appeared as Nightwing.
The Titans began to be attacked by Deathstroke, who aims to assassinate the young heroes. Deathstroke is working with someone inside the team to destroy everything. The comic features elements of betrayal, with a story that can be compared to My Hero Academia and the supposed traitor at the school.
9 Superman: Secret Origin — Superman’s Story Is Told From The Beginning
Superman: Secret Origin began its run in 2009, written by Geoff Johns and featuring artwork by Gary Frank. The comic goes through key moments in the life of Clark Kent.
The story begins during Clark’s childhood in rural Kansas. It goes through him joining the Daily Planet and eventually truly becoming Superman. The comic sometimes has a slice of life feel, at times similar to Sailor Moon as they both deal with balancing hero life with regular life.
8 Event Leviathan — Batman Works With A Group To Stop The Mysterious Leviathan
Event Leviathan was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev and started in 2019. The story revolves around a mystery as several covert ops organizations have been dismantled.
Batman, The Question, Green Arrow, and Lois Lane band together to solve the mystery. They followed clues that led to an organization called Leviathan, and must work together to figure out who is behind it. Fans of mystery anime like Death Note would enjoy this comic.
7 JLA: The Nail — Imagining The Justice League In A World Without Superman
JLA: The Nail was an Elseworlds story that began release in 1998 by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer. The story explores who the Justice League might be if there was no Superman.
After Martha and Jonathan Kent get a flat tire, they fail to discover the orphaned extraterrestrial baby that had recently crash landed on Earth. Decades later, the Justice League is struggling to establish a positive relationship with the public. People like Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Oliver Queen stand against them. The story would be popular among Dragon Ball fans as it deals with heroes’ relationships to the people they protect, and also in visiting alternate timelines as Dragon Ball often does.
6 All-Star Superman — A Dying Superman Comes To Terms With His Own Morality
All-Star Superman began publication in 2005. The story was written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely and tells the story of a dying Superman.
Superman became supercharged with solar radiation after flying too the sun. Superman reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane and decides to spend his remaining time with her. The anime handles elements of death in a similar way to Naruto. Also like Black Butler, the anime tells the story of a tragic hero.
5 Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters — Oliver Queen Attempts To Stop A Serial Killer
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters began release in 1987. Mike Grell did the writing and artwork for the three-issue story which follows Oliver Queen as he moves cities to be closer to his girlfriend, Dinah Lance.
He tries to help capture a serial killer. The killer, nicknamed the Seattle Slasher, was specifically targeting prostitutes. Green Arrow’s attempts to find the killer might remind fans of Kirito’s attempts to stop the Laughing Coffin in Sword Art Online.
4 The Multiversity — Two Batmen Try To Stop The Destruction Of The Multiverse
The Multiversity was a limited series leading up to Convergence that began in 2015. The series was written by Grant Morrison and was worked on by a variety of artists, including Frank Quitely, Cameron Stewart, Ivan Reis, Chris Sprouse, Doug Mahnke, and Karl Story.
The series revolved around the Batman of Earth 17 and the Batman of Earth 42 as they tried to save the multiverse from invaders known as the Gentry. The two heroes bounce from world to world as they met various versions of themselves. The dynamic between the two Batmen is similar to the Elric Brothers in Fullmetal Alchemist.
3 Dark Nights: Metal — The Justice League Try To Save A Dystopian World
Dark Nights: Metal began release in 2017, written by Scott Snyder and featured art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO Plascencia. The story begins with the Justice League investigating the Dark Multiverse.
When Batman accidentally opens a portal and becomes trapped, the world becomes invaded by people from the Dark Multiverse. The comic is at times dystopian and hopeless, feeling similar in tone to anime like Attack on Titan.
2 Flashpoint — Barry Allen Wakes Up In An Altered Reality
Flashpoint was a crossover story line that began release in 2011. The story was written by Geoff Johns and featured artwork by Andy Kubert. The story revolves around Barry Allen waking up to discover the entire world has changed.
He quickly finds that the world is spiraling out of control and headed towards a terrible war. Once Barry regains his powers, he had to find a way to restore the world to its original timeline. The storyline shares some similarities with the popular anime, K.
1 Kingdom Come — Traditional Heroes Take A Backseat To Their Younger Counterparts
Kingdom Come is an Elseworld story that began release in 1996. The series was written by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, and Ross’ artwork on the series was given particular acclaim.
The comic is set in a world that has become dissatisfied with the typical heroes. After an anti-hero named Magog becomes popular, popular heroes become a little less noble. The old heroes are forced to come out of retirement and help the world. The story is tonally similar to anime like Psycho-Pass.
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