Civil War from the perspective of the underground Avengers: the team divided and holed up in secret, living in illegality, doubting if they did the right thing. Perfect setup for Secret Invasion. It's Bendis at his most intimate, and central reading to follow the logic of Marvel 2006-2010. Art by Leinil Yu.

After Avengers Disassembled, Bendis relaunches the title with a heterodox roster (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Woman) and turns the Avengers into Marvel's most commercial team. Beginning of a decade of Bendis domination of the title: Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege start here. David Finch on art.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 2 is Geoff Johns turning the launch-era League into the spine of DC's event machine. Trinity War, Forever Evil and Darkseid War make the team less a simple superhero roster and more the point where Lex Luthor, the Crime Syndicate, the Anti-Monitor and the New Gods all collide.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 1 is the flagship book of DC's 2011 relaunch: Geoff Johns and Jim Lee rebuilding the League from first contact, suspicion and Darkseid-scale pressure. It matters because the team is being invented inside a universe where superheroes are new, feared and not yet trusted.

Closing of the Snyder-Tynion run with Year of the Villain and Justice/Doom War. Perpetua, an entity that predates the creation of the DC multiverse, threatens to rewrite the entire reality. Jorge Jiménez pencils epic compositions that define the current Justice League aesthetic. End of the Snyder cycle at DC.

Closing of the longest run ever written about the Hulk: 12 uninterrupted years of Peter David on the title. It collects the final arcs of the run, the process of defusion of the Hulk's personalities and the narrative closure of all the threads that David had opened for more than a decade. End of the cycle.

The moment when Peter David merges the three personalities of the Hulk into a single entity: Professor Hulk. Body of the original, intelligence of Banner, cunning of Grey. Considered by many to be the best Hulk ever written and the version Marvel Studios adopted for Avengers: Endgame. Dale Keown on the art.

Peter David takes Hulk in 1987 and plants the thesis of dissociative disorder: Savage Hulk, Grey Hulk, Banner as separate personalities. This theory was adopted as canon in later film, television and comics. Art by Dale Keown, one of the key names in the Hulk aesthetic of the 90s. Beginning of one of the longest runs ever written about a Marvel character.

The era that transformed Daredevil from a minor title to one of Marvel's most respected comics. Frank Miller creates Elektra, reinvents the Kingpin, introduces the Hand Ninjas and writes Born Again: considered one of the 10 best superhero comics ever written. Miller also draws the seminal story — his art on Daredevil is raw, urban and unlike anything else in 1980s Marvel. Direct basis for the Netflix series and the Daredevil reboot.

Batman: No Man's Land Omnibus Vol. 2 closes the ruined-Gotham saga after months of gang borders, collapsed institutions and Bat-family survival. Lex Luthor enters with reconstruction money, the Joker delivers one of the era's cruelest final blows and Batman has to decide what saving Gotham means after the city has already been abandoned.

52 Omnibus is DC's weekly experiment after Infinite Crisis, a year without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman at the centre. Booster Gold, Renee Montoya, Black Adam, The Question, Steel and Ralph Dibny carry the universe while Johns, Morrison, Rucka and Waid make the absence of the Trinity feel like a narrative engine. It belongs in Events, not under Batman.

Batman & Robin By Tomasi and Gleason Omnibus collects the New 52 father-son run where Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne become the emotional center of the Batman line. Across 1248 pages, Tomasi and Gleason turn Batman and Robin into a story about grief, training, trust and what family means in Gotham. It is essential for readers following Damian after Grant Morrison, because it turns the Robin role into a lasting Bat-family pillar rather than a simple sidekick position.

Following DC Rebirth in 2016, Tomasi and Gleason write a father Superman: not a loner or a Clark Kent in crisis, but a man who has to teach his son Jonathan Kent what it means to have powers. The most emotionally accessible Superman of the last decade and an answer to anyone who ever wondered how to tell a story about the character that isn't a fight.

The second volume of Morrison's run executes his riskiest move yet: kill off (apparently) Bruce Wayne and let Dick Grayson take up the mantle. The Dick-Damian duo Morrison builds here is one of the best Batman and Robin ever written. Art by Frank Quitely, Morrison's long-time collaborator on All-Star Superman and We3.

One of the most ambitious periods ever written about Batman begins here. Grant Morrison rewrites the character based on a radical thesis: everything published since 1939 is canon. Damian Wayne appears for the first time as the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. The seeds of Batman R.I.P. begin to take shape. Andy Kubert provides spectacular art that handles Morrison's densest plotting with visual clarity. The beginning of a seven-year run that would transform Batman mythology permanently.

Agent Venom Omnibus is the moment Venom stops being only Spider-Man's nightmare and becomes Flash Thompson's second chance. Rick Remender turns the symbiote into a black-ops weapon with a damaged hero inside it, built around addiction, military trauma and the desire to be useful. The run works because Flash is never simply cool in the suit: Secret Avengers missions, alien violence and the symbiote's hunger keep pulling against his attempt to control both the mission and himself.

Batman by James Tynion IV Omnibus Vol. 2 continues the Gotham shake-up through Joker War fallout, Ghost-Maker, Clownhunter, Fear State pressure and the question of whether Batman can still operate the way he used to. Its value is the transition from classic billionaire infrastructure toward a more vulnerable modern Batman, with new characters and city politics changing the shape of the mission.

Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee join forces for the event that's been talked about for years: someone is manipulating all of Batman's villains from the shadows, someone who knows him personally. Each issue brings a classic villain under Hush's control. The story that defined the modern look of Batman for a generation.

Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 3 is the recovery volume: Bruce Wayne returns, Jean-Paul Valley loses himself inside the Batman symbol, and Gotham has to decide what the mantle actually means after Bane broke the old order. KnightsEnd and Prodigal make this more than an ending; they show the Bat-family absorbing the damage left by AzBats.

Wonder Woman by Phil Jimenez Omnibus collects one of Diana's most character-rich modern DC runs in an 856-page oversized hardcover. The volume follows Wonder Woman through Gotham, Washington, Themyscira, family conflict, public responsibility and the wider DC Universe, with Phil Jimenez shaping the book as both writer and defining artist.

Zatanna by Paul Dini Omnibus works because Dini understands Zee as both performer and real magician: charm, stagecraft and danger all occupy the same space. The stories move through Las Vegas glamour, supernatural threats, family legacy and team-ups without losing the warmth that makes Zatanna different from DC's darker occult characters. This should point to Zatanna, not Constantine; the hook is Zee's voice, her backwards magic and Dini's character-first approach to DC's magical world.

Birds of Prey by Gail Simone Omnibus Vol. 1 is the team book where Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress become a precise DC machine: strategist, field leader, maverick and found-family support system. Simone's run works because trust is never automatic. Missions, secrets and injuries all test whether these women can rely on each other without becoming interchangeable heroes.

The Flash by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol. 3 shifts from Wally West's long emotional architecture into Barry Allen's return, Rogue revenge and the road toward Flashpoint. It is a transition volume, but an important one: Johns uses Final Crisis, Blackest Night and Flash: Rebirth to re-center the Flash mythology around legacy, resurrection and the cost of bringing an icon back. Francis Manapul, Scott Kolins and Ethan Van Sciver give the book both modern polish and familiar speed-force intensity.

Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo Omnibus Vol. 1 is Dick Grayson choosing a different kind of power in Bludhaven: money, attention and trust redirected toward people rather than weapons. It is a modern Nightwing run built around hope, motion and community. The volume is Nightwing as heart, organizer and survivor: Taylor and Redondo build Bludhaven around Dick's optimism, public responsibility and the cost of being visible.