DC Comics
By 1985, with nearly half a century of disparate and occasionally contradictory stories contributing to its ongoing narrative, DC’s editorial staff felt that the DC universe had become too cumbersome and confusing for new readers. The 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez was essentially a reboot of the entire DC superhero universe, with a new continuity that was derived from, but not beholden to, that which came before. DC’s flagship characters were relaunched, John Byrne retelling and modernizing Superman’s origin with The Man of Steel (1986) and Frank Miller recounting Batman’s early adventures in his Year One (1987) story arc. The mid-1980s were also an exceptionally fruitful period for nontraditional comics at DC. Miller wrote and drew Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), a brave look at an aging Batman set against the backdrop of the Cold War, while Alan Moore breathed new life into Swamp Thing (1984–87). Moore teamed with artist Dave Gibbons on the graphic novel Watchmen (1986–87), which deconstructed the superhero genre to enormous commercial success and critical acclaim.