10 Best Comic Crossovers That Brought Together Separate Universes

Summary

• Batman/Spawn team-up vs Court of Owls and Joker/Violator alliance is filled with intense battles and unexpected alliances.
• Batman/Fortnite delivers action-packed Batman story with code for in-game skin, combining comics and popular video game seamlessly.
• Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern crossover adds new concept to Green Lantern mythos while providing an alternate sequel to the film.

The comic book industry has a long and proud history of bringing together different franchises to craft exciting and often epic adventures, with iconic stories like Marvel and DC’s JLA/Avengers. Drawing from movie properties, superhero universes and classic pulp fiction, these crossovers delivered readers some of the best stories for pop culture fanatics. From martial arts-focused action stories to sci-fi adventure, the likes of Batman, Wolverine and Godzilla have been roped into unlikely team-ups and feuds.

Comic book crossovers are an easy way for publishers to cash in on some of their hottest properties, while smaller publishers have an opportunity to showcase their best characters. For readers, these stories settle long-standing questions as to which random characters might win in a fight, offering up crowd-pleasing fights and team-ups. With star-studded creative teams and character rosters alike, these books are more than worth a look.

10 Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong

Brian Buccellato, Christian Duce & Drew Johnson

Over the years, the Justice League have made a habit of clashing with some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, from Predator to the Avengers. It was only a matter of time before they’d cross over with Legendary’s MonsterVerse. In Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong, they did exactly that. The story follows the arrival of the two titans to the DCU, where they wreak havoc upon cities like Metropolis, prompting the JLA to respond.

Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong is a great action series, one that doesn’t diminish the strength of its monsters in the face of Superman. With thee Man of Steel immobilized, the remaining JLA heroes, as well as other DC characters, must spring into action to save the world from the titans. The series plays up the differences between Kong and Godzilla, the former being more benevolent and the latter being a force of destruction. Capitalizing on he MonsterVerse at its peak, the miniseries is non-stop monster fun.

9 Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

James Tynion IV & Freddie Williams II

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follows the arrival of the Foot Clan to Gotham City, revealed to be working with Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Assassins. Hot on their heels are the Turtles, whose pursuit of their enemy leads to them crossing paths with the city’s Caped Crusader. After making their way to Gotham, the Heroes In a Half-Shell initially clash with the vigilante, only to come into the fold to bring down the alliance between the two secretive ninja clans.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made for one of the most exciting miniseries of the 2010s, continuing on the proud shared history between the mutant heroes and The Dark Knight. The miniseries, along with its sequels, show how compatible the tone of Batman and the TMNT universes are, featuring non-stop ninja action and some of the Caped Crusader’s best enemies.

8 Kings Cross

Jeff Parker, Jesse Hamm & Roger Langridge

First united as a team for a Saturday-morning cartoon, Defenders of the Earth, the three-way team-up of Flash Gordon, Phantom and Mandrake the Magician have made their way to comics. Initially created as disconnected Golden Age pulp comic strips, the trio were reunited under Dynamite for the Kings Watch and Kings Cross miniseries.

2016’s King’s Cross follows a new hero in the role of the Phantom as he, Mandrake and Flash go up against Ming the Merciless, who has an army of beast-men at his disposal. The series’ inclusion of characters didn’t end with its core three, but also included appearances from Jungle Jim, Prince Valiant and more.

7 Big Trouble In Little China/Escape From New York

Greg Pak & Daniel Bayliss

Under Boom! Studios, some of John Carpenter’s signature creations, namely Escape From New York and Big Trouble In Little China, have seen their stories continue. In 2020, Jack Burton clashes with Snake Plissken in a tale that unites their worlds as the former enters the dystopia of New York. Together, the pair navigate the future on the brink of war on a mission to prevent the president from igniting the apocalypse.

Big Trouble In Little China/Escape From New York merged two of the most iconic cult classic action films of their decade, blending fantasy and dystopia for an epic romp. The six-issue miniseries is one of the most satisfying uses of movie properties in comics, and is pure fan service for lovers of ’80s movies — especially the work of Carpenter and Russell.

6 Batman/Fortnite

Christos Gage, Donald Mustard, Reilly Brown, Nelson Faro DeCastro & Mikel Janin

Batman/Fortnite follows the Dark Knight into the world of one of the most popular games of all time. Suffering from memory loss, the hero is forced to navigate the strange world and its characters, finding Catwoman among the world’s residents as he must contend with the continuous reset of time. With Harley Quinn thrown into the mix, the situation becomes even more volatile as the hero meets Bandolette, Eternal Voyager, Magnus and Fishstick, delivering plenty of fan service.

Batman/Fortnite is far from the first comic created to promote other media, but it stands out nonetheless. Promotional comics often come across as lackluster stories, but this miniseries actually stood out as one of the most action-packed Batman stories of recent years. This battle royale story came with the added bonus of giving readers a code to unlock a Batman skin within the game.

5 Batman/Spawn

Todd McFarlane & Greg Capullo

In the 1990s, Batman and Spawn had two stories together, standing out as one of the best intercompany crossovers. After more than two decades of demanding a reunion, readers were finally satisfied with the team-up of Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo to tell the story of the duo in Gotham. There, they team up to take on the Court of Owls and the unholy alliance of Joker and Violator.

Batman/Spawn, in keeping with their shared history, includes a battle between the two antiheroes, only for the pair to find common ground in pursuit of their enemies. The one-shot features some of Greg Capullo’s best work since New 52 Batman, and featured the perfect use of characters from the heroes’ respective rogues galleries.

4 Planet Of The Apes/Green Lantern

Robbie Thompson, Justin Jordan, Barnaby Bagenda, Ethan Van Sciver & Dan Mora

The Green Lantern Corps have faced off against some of the best franchises in science fiction, such as Star Trek and Alien. However, their crossover with Planet of the Apes made for arguably their best story of the last decade. The story follows the arrival of the “omni-ring,” a weapon that can emulate the powers of the entire lantern spectrum, to the Ape world. Now in possession of Cornelius, who doesn’t understand his new abilities, members of the main corps make their way to the planet to try and recover the ring for themselves.

Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern brings the battle between the Red, Yellow and Green Lantern Corps to the dystopian ape-ruled planet, where Cornelius struggles to contain his powers. The miniseries added an intriguing new concept to the Green Lantern mythos, while delivering readers an alternate sequel to the original film.

3 Black Hammer/Justice League

Jeff Lemire & Michael Walsh

Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer quickly became one of the best new comic book properties after its 2016 release under Dark Horse. Set in a small town where a team of superheroes are trapped on a farm, the crossover sees the heroes finally freed from their prison — but with the Justice League landing in their place. As the Black Hammer heroes navigate their new roles as protectors of the DCU, the Justice League live out a quaint existence on the farm. As Clark Kent settles into his new life, Bruce attempts to find a way out.

Black Hammer/Justice League follows the Dark Horse heroes as they clash with DC heroes, who are eager to solve the fate of the JLA. When they realize Mr Mxyzptlk is responsible for altering the multiverse, the heroes confront him in an effort to put things right — and save the world in the process. Under artist Michael Walsh, the series strikes a perfect balance between the cosmic side of the DCU and the pulpy sci-fi tone of Lemire’s world, leaving readers with one of the best miniseries of the 2020s.

2 Predator vs Judge Dredd vs Aliens

John Layman, Chris Mooneyman & Glenn Fabry

While Judge Dredd has taken on Predators and Aliens in the past, it wasn’t until 2016 that the three franchises finally collided at once. The series begins when a Yautja arrives on Earth, where he’s abducted by animal-human hybrids under the control of an evil scientist, Dr Reinstot. After recovering the creature’s trophies, the scientist clones the Xenomorphs, intent on breeding his own army of the monsters. Responding to their comrade’s distress signal, three more Yautja arrive outside Mega City One, and begin tracking the other. Along the way, they clash with but later team up with Dredd and Anderson, setting aside their differences to wipe out the Xenomorphs.

Judge Dredd/Predator/Aliens is a great crossover, one that sets aside Dredd’s historic rivalry with the Yautja to deliver an unexpected but brilliant team-up. The miniseries lets all three of its franchises have their moment in the sun, presenting the Xenomorphs as then world-ending threat that they are. In Reinstot, the series has a brilliant villain, one whose experiments provide the heroes the threat of their lives.

1 Predator Vs Wolverine

Benjamin Percy, Greg Land & Marco Checchetto

Predator vs Wolverine follows an ongoing feud between a Yautja and Wolverine, a battle that spans decades as the hunter revisits its pursuit of Logan. Their fight spans from the wilderness to the X-Men Manor, with the Predator breaking its species’ honor code in its desperate fight to claim its enemy’s skull. When the pair finally face off with one another, it makes for one of Marvel’s best brawls of the Modern Age.

Predator vs Wolverine stands out as one of the most action-packed miniseries in recent memory, pitting two of pop culture’s most savage fighters against one another. The series stands out as one of the best crossovers in both characters’ histories, and served as a brilliant jumping on point for Marvel’s Predator run.