Tom Taylor's Best Comics: Injustice, Dark Knights of Steel & Nightwing

The Worlds Tom Taylor Built - Walt's Comic Shop

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Written by Petar

Wanted to be an astronaut, ended up exploring comics instead.

To be honest with you guys, I was never the biggest fan of DC cosmology. Not because I think it’s boring or silly (which I don’t), but because I always felt like it’s very messy – and I wasn’t around for a big chunk of it. Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis, Infinite Earths and Prime Earth, Flashpoint and New 52 and Rebirth… it’s a lot! And while I’ve learned to find my way around it (I know the order of things, at least), I was never clear on where in the multiverse their Elseworld stories fit – and DC has quite a lot of them, unlike their competition.

Why am I even talking about this? Because if there’s one guy I think of when it comes to DC Elseworld stories, it’s Tom Taylor. He’s behind most of the modern DC "what ifs", but he’s actually so much more than that!

Discovering Tom Taylor: DC Elseworlds, Marvel Icons, and Stories with Heart

A fact that many people might not even know about Tom Taylor is that this Australian is not just a comic book writer, but also a celebrated and multi-awarded author and playwright. As someone who basically grew up in the theater, this makes my heart do a little dance whenever I think about it! But today, I’m diving into his comics writing – what makes it tick, what makes it special, and what makes it oh so popular?

Well, I believe it’s two things – interesting dialogue and lots of heart. And this is exactly why I brought up the playwright fact in the first place – the man just knows how to write good dialogue. As you probably know, this is one of the main components of any play – and also a big part of what makes a good comic. While silent issues can be spectacular, it’s the wacky antics of our protagonists, the quips and jokes, and the heartfelt confessions that make them near and dear to our hearts – and I think Taylor truly excels at these.

The second is, of course, his character work. He’s able to find the humanity in even the mightiest heroes, no matter who he’s writing – from the powerful X-Men to Superman. Taylor’s stories ooze empathy, belief in people, and great representation of different walks of life – he’s the go-to person for everyone! So, let’s see what this man has cooked up over the years!

Tom Taylor’s Injustice: The Epic Story Behind DC’s Most Shocking Alternate Universe

In 2013, fans were overjoyed to get a fighting game set in the DC universe. Here, heroes and villains alike could bash each other up in the most brutal style of Mortal Kombat, with mechanics similar to the Killer Instinct series as well. The question was – how do you justify this senseless bloodshed?

Let me take you on a trip to Earth 49, where we’re met with a reality much bleaker than that of Prime Earth in DC Comics (for the purists – the numbering was assigned much, much later, but let’s not get into that conundrum). In this reality, the Joker gets tired of constantly losing to Batman and sets his sights on another target – the shining hero of Metropolis, Superman. His scheme ends in the tragic death of Lois Lane and her unborn child, leading Superman to take a drastic action – murdering the Joker.

Five years later, we find ourselves in a world where Clark has become a tyrant, with most of the Justice League siding with him, and Batman leading an insurgent group to stop him.

It was up to Tom Taylor to weave the dramatic story of what happened during this five-year gap – and he delivered spectacularly. The story is split into five arcs, one for each year, with Taylor writing the first three and Brian Buccellato finishing the series. Each year explores different aspects of the DC Universe and how they reacted to the events – from the Lanterns, to magic users, to the gods of Olympus. There was also a prequel series, Zero Year, which followed the fall of the JSA before the events of the main story.

It’s a thrill ride from start to finish – a roller coaster that grips you and never lets go. If you’ve played the game, you’ll already know the major players. But if you dive into it without any prior knowledge (like I did), you’ll be surprised by the deaths and betrayals waiting for you in these pages.

And it was up to Taylor to give us a different view of Superman – one who’s not as moral, but still makes decisions we can understand. It’s not easy to move the paragon of truth and justice in this direction, and yet, Injustice Superman remains one of the fan-favorite versions of the character when it comes to alt-universe takes. What’s more, (annoyingly) those who don’t really like mainline universe Clark or find him boring often point to this Superman as an example of exciting storytelling. That’s the impact of Taylor’s writing – and it propelled him into the mainstream of comics.

Five years later, he revisited the story with Injustice 2, following – you guessed it – another game release. Just like before, the comic fills in the time gap between the two games, picking up after the end of the first one. It follows several plot threads, with the overarching one being Ra’s al Ghul’s attempt to seize power by assembling a group of villains.

It’s a bit difficult to talk about the art in these books due to the huge variety of creatives who worked on them – Jheremy Raapack, Bruno Redondo, Mike S. Miller, Xermanico, Juan Albarran, and Tom Derenick, to name a few. I found it enjoyable for the most part – with some panels still deeply ingrained in my mind because of what happens in them, even though it’s been a decade since I read them. If that’s not praise enough, I don’t know what is!

And the best part? You can collect this story in so many different formats! I (of course) opted for omnis – Injustice Gods Among Us Volume 1 and Volume 2 cover the first story, while Injustice 2 Omnibus got released just recently. If you prefer something a bit less chunky, then compendiums are the way to go – Injustice Compendium 1 is already out and covers Taylor’s material, while Injustice Compendium 2 is nearing its FOC date. If you want to go even smaller, then you can grab the complete collections which cover each year separately:

Surviving the Anti-Life: Tom Taylor’s DCeased and the Heart of Heroes

As if the world of Injustice wasn’t bleak enough, let me take you to Earth 55, which was ravaged by something completely different. (It’s like Taylor has a penchant for post-apocalyptic Earths – and honestly, that feels like something people are into these days. Just me? Okay.)

In this sort-of-but-not zombie apocalypse, the Anti-Life Equation (yes, the one Darkseid desperately wants to use to destroy the world) gets corrupted and transforms into a techno-virus. Patient Zero? Cyborg. Anyone with access to a screen gets infected and turns into a mindless, rage-filled zombie hungry for flesh. You can probably picture the rest, given the world we live in – and the title of the book.

I found the story fantastic. It’s scary, it’s shocking, it takes some really fun twists, and it builds tension in a very engaging way. But at its heart, it’s a story about families – something Taylor loves writing about. The Bat Family, the Kents, the Justice League – all of these family units are shaken to their core and changed forever.

The art is handled by Trevor Hairsine on pencils, Stefano Gaudiano on inks, Rain Beredo on colors, and Saida Temofonte on lettering. Together, they deliver a gritty and grimy look that fits the tone perfectly, with heroes drawn in more human proportions – even Superman isn’t a god in this universe. This choice works beautifully to show just how powerless even the most powerful heroes are in the face of this tragedy. Meanwhile, James Harren takes on the Apokolips segment of issue one, with artwork that feels very reminiscent of Daniel Warren Johnson – hyper movement, skewed anatomy, and some delicious colors.

The series spun off into multiple sequels and spin-offs, all written by Taylor with art by various talented teams. Unkillables explores how some antiheroes and villains respond to the crisis, focusing on Deathstroke and Red Hood. Hope at World’s End takes us back to the original invasion and presents an anthology of stories from around the world. Dead Planet serves as a follow-up to the original story, with the survivors receiving a distress call – maybe the planet isn’t as dead as we thought? Finally, War of the Undead Gods brings the saga to a close.

The original run was just released as a DC Compact Edition: DCeased. Similarly, DCeased Omnibus is hitting the shelves this month! The stories were also released in trade paperbacks as a part of a DCeased Box Set or individually (all of these are available as hardcovers too!):

DCeased
DCeased: Unkillables (only available as hardcover at the moment)
DCeased: Dead Planet
DCeased: Hope at World’s End
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods

Game of Thrones Meets DC: Inside Tom Taylor and Yasmine Putri’s Dark Knights of Steel

The next stop on our multiversal ride takes us into the past, and it won’t be that grim… for now. Welcome to the medieval ages of Earth 118, where science is just a myth and superstition runs rampant. Tom Taylor and artist Yasmine Putri (with Arif Prianto joining on colors from issue #2) give us a version of Clark and Bruce unlike anything we’ve seen before – young men in their late teens, learning to be knights. It’s Game of Thrones set in the DC Universe, with court intrigue and secrets that eat the characters from the inside out!

This was also the first time I saw Yasmine Putri’s work – and her first time doing interiors at one of the big two (though her covers were already impressive!). She absolutely knocks it out of the park – dramatic angles, lovely composition, and action to die for (and many do die for it). It’s explosive, emotionally charged, and stunningly beautiful. I highly recommend picking up the Dark Knights of Steel Deluxe Edition HC – it’s a story you’ll read in one sitting, and the art deserves to be experienced in the oversized format. (Although I did grab the Dan Mora DM cover, since Mora’s art is just chef’s kiss.)

Nightwing Reborn: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Acclaimed Run

The work that really defined Taylor’s recent years is his beloved run on Nightwing, with Bruno Redondo on art. For Dick Grayson, the past decade has been a wild ride. Nightwing Rebirth put him in a good place, back in blue and black, and back in Blüdhaven. Until Tom King’s Batman run took all that away, ushering in one of the most infamous eras for the character (I am NOT talking about “Ric” here!). Then, Tom Taylor took over and gave us the second rebirth of Nightwing, putting Dick right back where he belongs – as one of the best superheroes in the DC Universe.

Starting from Nightwing #78, Taylor built an overarching story around the supervillain Heartless, while also having Dick Grayson inherit a large sum of money and put it to good use. In a move that sparked some debate (depending on where you stand), Taylor brought Barbara Gordon back into the series and reunited the couple, all while reestablishing Dick’s place in Blüdhaven. While there are some aspects that could be stronger (Dick does seem to tackle many of his problems with relative ease), Taylor quickly found a strong voice for the character and delivered a fun, heartfelt romp.

But it’s really the art that makes this run stand out so much! Bruno Redondo, together with colorist Adriano Lucas, delivers one of the best-looking comics on the stands. The figurework is gorgeous, the movement is fluid and clear, and they make the city feel alive – which is narratively important for this run as well.

Nightwing #87 is especially a standout – an entire issue of splash pages that all connect horizontally into one massive sprawl. It’s insane to look at, and I can’t even imagine the effort that went into it. Another very cool issue is Nightwing #105, done entirely from a first-person perspective – you ARE Nightwing.

Nightwing by Tom Taylor Omnibus is coming out this month and I could not be more excited. The story has also been collected in a series of seven trade paperbacks and hardcovers:

Tom Taylor’s Enduring Impact: Heart, Humanity, and Heroics Across Comics

And there you have it – some of the coolest, hottest things Taylor has written. He’s also done a lot of work for Marvel over the years – writing X-Men Red, a very strong run establishing Laura Kinney as the All-New Wolverine (and introducing the lovely Gabi!), contributing a story to the upcoming Return of Wolverine Omnibus, as well as a fun romp in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

He’s established Jon Kent as the bisexual king that he is, and he’s currently the writer for Detective Comics. Whatever he takes on, he infuses with heart and humanity – and that’s where his talent truly shines. He’s able to combine heartfelt moments with wild action, making him one of the top creatives in the industry today.