5 Comic Book Reboots That Totally Worked (& 5 That Failed)

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Marvel and DC Comics dominate the American comic book world, and they’ve been influencing each other since the very start. DC initially pioneered the superhero genre by blending action, mystery, and science fiction. Over time, both companies have increasingly relied on a tactic called a ‘reboot’ – essentially a fresh start for characters, teams, or even entire universes, sometimes going all the way back to the beginning. Today, especially with Marvel, reboots often happen with each new first issue of a comic. They’ve become a key strategy in the world of superhero comics.

Some reboots of beloved series have been huge successes, leading to fan-favorite comics. Others, unfortunately, haven’t worked out so well. Here’s a look at five reboots that really hit the mark, and five that completely missed.

10) Failed: Heroes Reborn

The 1996 event called “Onslaught” resulted in a famously unsuccessful reboot of several classic Marvel characters. In the 1990s, heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four were struggling in sales. Marvel offered the creative control of these four titles to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, co-founders of Image Comics, hoping to boost readership with a year-long revamp called Heroes Reborn. Despite a lot of initial hype, the reboot proved to be a failure. While Jim Lee’s Iron Man and Fantastic Four were slightly better received than Rob Liefeld’s, all the books were poorly reviewed. Liefeld was eventually removed from the project, and the series concluded with a crossover event involving Lee’s WildStorm Studios in the 13th issue. This reboot was widely disliked by fans and is now remembered as one of the worst in comic book history.

9) Succeeded: Heroes Return

The strong reaction to Heroes Reborn proved fans still loved Marvel’s iconic characters, prompting the company to refocus on its classic heroes. In 1997, Heroes Return brought Captain America, Iron Man, Avengers, and Fantastic Four back to the main Marvel Universe (following the surprisingly well-received Heroes Reborn: The Return). These comics featured a talented team including Mark Waid, Ron Garney, Kurt Busiek (who penned Iron Man and Avengers), Sean Chen, George Perez, Scott Lobdell (later replaced on Fantastic Four by X-Men legend Chris Claremont), and Alan Davis (who left Fantastic Four and was succeeded by Salvador Larocca). The Mighty Thor, initially by Dan Jurgens and John Romita Jr., joined the lineup later in the year. These books were a return to classic storytelling, and fans responded enthusiastically. While Avengers, The Mighty Thor, and Captain America were particularly popular, all the titles performed better than previous iterations and set the stage for Marvel’s success in the 2000s.

8) Failed: The New 52

The New 52 was a significant attempt to revitalize DC Comics. When sales began to lag in the early 2010s, then-DC head Dan DiDio opted for a complete reboot of the DC universe. It initially boosted sales, but the project suffered from a lack of long-term planning, leading to internal problems and frustrated creators. Though intended to be fresh and contemporary, the reboot ultimately didn’t connect with fans. While some strong titles emerged thanks to talented writers, DC experienced a decline in popularity that took years to overcome.

7) Succeeded: Post-Crisis

The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a hugely important event in comic book history, and it resulted in one of the most successful overhauls of a comic universe ever. The 12-part series dramatically reshaped the DC Universe by destroying the multiple Earths that existed and merging them into a single world. DC Comics carefully planned this event over several years, starting with John Byrne’s Man of Steel. This led to fresh starts for characters like Wonder Woman and Batman, a new take on the Justice League, and even storylines like the British Invasion. It updated the DC Universe for the 1980s, took characters in exciting new directions, and ultimately led to a long period of success for the publisher. Many consider it the best universe reboot of all time.

6) Failed: Dan Jurgens Teen Titans (Vol. 2)

The original New Teen Titans comic was incredibly popular in the early 1980s and remained a fan favorite for much of the decade. However, its popularity declined over time due to increasingly complicated storylines and changes to the team. In 1996, DC tried to revive the series with a new lineup created by writer and artist Dan Jurgens. This new team – Risk, Argent, Prysm, and Slager – was led by the Atom, who had been physically de-aged in Jurgens’ Zero Hour story. Although New Teen Titans co-creator George Perez contributed artwork, the series still struggled. Ultimately, readers weren’t interested in the new characters, and the revamped comic lasted only two years.

5) Succeeded: JSA

The Justice Society of America was the very first team of superheroes. After initially appearing in comics, the team disappeared in the early 1950s, then returned in the early 1960s. They continued to have their own comic series, set on Earth-Two, throughout the 1970s and 80s, until the storyline Crisis on Infinite Earths. Things were difficult for the team after that event, but interest in its original members was revived in the 1990s thanks to the comics The Golden Age and Starman. This led to a new series, JSA, launched in 1999 by writer James Robinson (later joined by Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer, and Stephen Sadowski). JSA was a hit with fans, brilliantly blending the team’s history with modern stories. Under Johns’ guidance, it became one of the most popular team books of its time, and the Justice Society has remained a fan favorite ever since.

4) Failed: Avengers (Vol. 8)

The Avengers comic books were very popular from 2005 to 2015, but surprisingly, their sales began to decline even as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) made the characters incredibly well-known. Despite the popularity of the MCU films, people weren’t buying the comics. In 2018, coinciding with the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel relaunched the comic series, aiming to align it more closely with the movie universe. The new team included Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther, along with She-Hulk (who hadn’t appeared in the MCU yet) and Ghost Rider. However, this didn’t translate to increased comic sales. While the book initially sold decently, readership quickly dropped, and it never became a top seller, even with the successful movies. This five-year run, led by writer Jason Aaron and a team of artists, wasn’t a hit with readers, proving that simply connecting to the MCU isn’t enough – strong storytelling is still essential.

3) Succeeded: JLA

Following the major revamp after Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Justice League International was formed and initially successful, but its popularity eventually waned. As the 1990s progressed, fans grew tired of humorous Justice League stories featuring lesser-known heroes. Writers Grant Morrison and Mark Waid proposed a solution: return to the core, iconic team – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter. Waid first brought them together in Justice League: Midsummer’s Nightmare, and then Morrison launched JLA with artist Howard Porter. This new series delivered the large-scale, exciting superhero action fans had been craving, and JLA ran from 1996 to 2005. The team was rebooted again after Infinite Crisis, and the series is now considered one of the best team books ever created.

2) Failed: The 2015 Inhumans Reboot

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby during the Silver Age of comics, the Inhumans – particularly the character Black Bolt – gained a dedicated following, though they never had a major hit series of their own. When the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became popular, Marvel shifted its focus to the Inhumans because they didn’t have the film rights to the X-Men. In 2013, a storyline in Infinity saw Black Bolt release a Terrigen Mist, leading to a reboot of the Inhumans series by writer Matt Fraction. Charles Soule took over in 2014, and after the Secret Wars event in 2016, Marvel greatly expanded the Inhuman line, with the Terrigen Mist causing people worldwide to develop Inhuman powers. They were positioned as the new mutants of the Marvel Universe, and many new books and characters were launched. However, this push only lasted until 2018, with Ms. Marvel being the only truly successful title. Ultimately, fans weren’t interested in the Inhumans as a replacement for the X-Men, and the line has remained largely absent from Marvel publications since.

1) Succeeded: The Krakoa Era

Even while Marvel was focusing on the Inhumans, they continued to publish X-Men comics, but these were often created by less prominent writers and weren’t included in major events or marketing. Surprisingly, the X-Men books still sold better. Then, when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, the rights to make X-Men movies returned to Marvel. Marvel then brought in acclaimed writer Jonathan Hickman to completely revamp the X-Men, launching the groundbreaking Krakoa Era. This new direction gave mutants their own sovereign nation – the living island of Krakoa – and allowed for exciting new stories and creative freedom. Though some feel the era ended poorly, it started incredibly strong and maintained a high quality with titles like Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red, Wolverine, and X-Force (and yes, those last two were excellent!). It’s been the most successful Marvel reboot in years and is highly regarded by X-Men fans.

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2026-02-09 23:17