Originally conceived as National Allied Publications back in 1934, DC Comics has stuck around long enough to become one of the two biggest and hottest comic book companies in America. It's home to some of the most iconic characters in all of pop culture, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. These characters have slowly transcended the superhero genre to the point that it’s rare that you go a day without seeing a person walking down the street in either a Superman or Batman shirt.

DC is much more than a few nice looking symbols on T-shirts, though. Along the way, the company has produced some of the best comic books ever, with many of them receiving high praise from TIME Magazine and The New York Times. Unfortunately, the company has lost touch with the general public in recent times. Reading DC comics has become more and more like a chore every week, and while hardcore fans still pick these books up, it's purely out of habit. Luckily, DC has noticed these slipping sales and waning interest, and decided to shake things up.

Starting this September, the company is rebooting its entire line of comics and restarting all of its ongoing titles. Everyone from Batman to Plastic Man is getting a complete makeover from the company in order to survive in this new generation. In celebration of the last full week of DC releases before the relaunch, we’re taking a look back at where the company came from, and the characters that are getting rebooted, with The Top 25 DC Comics Of All Time!

Most of the time, comic book crossovers are simply a way for publishers to pump some extra money out of fans. They’re usually bloated, highly priced, affairs that depend on cheap publicity stunts to gain attention, as opposed to solid storytelling. 2007’s Sinestro Corps War bucked that trend by featuring killer art and a deep story that actually had a reason for existing.

When Sinestro broke apart from the Green Lantern Corps, he was obsessed with brining his unyielding brand of justice to the universe by any means necessary. And after years of failing on his own, the clever killer from Korugar created his own Yellow Lanterns Corps in order to combat the Green Lanterns. Gone was the moustache-twirling Sinestro of the Silver Age, as this new version of the character was modeled after Adolf Hitler and other historical dictators in order to provide some much needed depth to the story. 

Writer Geoff Johns brought cosmic action back to comics with a plot that was dense enough for hardcore fans, yet relatable to everyone. Once again, DC proved that you don’t need pervasive violence, bloodshed, or rape to bring in readers, only good stories and fantastic art.

Grant Morrison’s most startling issue on Animal Man came just five issues into the series in a story called The Coyote Gospel. In it, Morrison introduced the world to Crafty, a former cartoon character that gets sent to the world of comic books. It turns out that Crafty made a deal with his cartoon world’s “creator” to end the cycle of violence in his world, but the creator forced him to suffer in the world of comics in exchange for the peace of his world.

Morrison made Crafty an allegory for Christ as he was made to suffer in order to bring peace to his people. While most comic fans may not think of religious metaphors when they pick up these books, Morrison put it in anyway and, in turn, crafted one of the most intelligent single issues of a comic book ever.

Feeling that the Green Arrow had grown stale over the years, DC hired writer/artist Mike Grell to reimagine the character in a grittier light, similar to Batman in Batman: Year One. Grell stripped the character of his Silver Age trick arrows (such as the boxing glove arrow and the soda can arrow) and gave Oliver Queen a more realistic costume to fight crime in. The idea was to appeal to fans of the more street-level vigilante books that had been a rousing success in the marketplace.

Grell’s first story on the character, titled The Longbow Hunters, places the Arrow in Seattle, as opposed to the fictitious Star City, as he fights against serial killers, the CIA, and a mysterious assassin named Shado. The Longbow Hunters is an extremely graphic and violent story that not only shows the Green Arrow actually kill his targets, but also features the brutal torture of his girlfriend, The Black Canary. Despite the overwhelming violence, The Longbow Hunters is one of the best reboots ever for a superhero, and stands out as being more than a simple “gritty” crime story.

Featuring high-octane superhero action at its finest, Earth 2 pits the Justice League against its twisted counterpart from a parallel Earth, The Crime Syndicate. This team is comprised of evil versions of Justice League stalwarts, such as Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, and plenty of others. In addition to some widescreen action, this book also breaks down the logistics of alternate realities.

Writer Grant Morrison explores the very nature of these alternate Earths and explains that good can never truly win on an evil alternate Earth, yet, on the other hand, evil can never win on the Justice League’s Earth. It’s a much headier read than most people might expect, but Earth 2 is a flawless example of a modern superhero story that forces you to think, while satisfying your urges to watch the bad guys get thoroughly pounded.

Incredibly brutal, yet surprisingly moving, Identity Crisis was a seven-part mystery that was written by famed author Brad Meltzer and drawn by Rags Morales in 2004. The story began with the death of Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny. This sent shockwaves throughout the superhero community as other characters soon began to get murdered as well, such as longtime Flash villain, Captain Boomerang, and Jack Drake, father of Time Drake, a.k.a. Robin.

Meltzer ties this all together in a gripping story that goes way back to the early career of the Justice League as Batman discovers a long history of deception and brutality that changes the team's dynamic forever. Along the way, there is copious amounts of violence, mind wiping, and, of course, a brutal rape scene, which seems to be obligatory in almost every modern comic nowadays.

Need any more proof that Batman is an unapologetic sociopath? Then look no further than Tower of Babel, a story that reveals that Batman has a collection of files on his computer that describe exactly how to defeat every member of the Justice League. Unfortunately these files get compromised by the eco-terrorist Ra’s Al Ghul, and he soon begins taking down the Earth’s most powerful heroes one-by-one, thanks to Batman's paranoia.

Written by Mark Waid, this story delves deep into the scarred psyche of the Caped Crusader, but it also shows how prepared Batman is for any eventuality, even if it means betraying his team’s trust in the process. Make no mistake about it, the title says it’s a Justice League story, but Tower of Babel is one of the most comprehensive studies of Batman’s personality to ever be released.

There are currently about a dozen or so retellings of Superman’s origins. Comic books, TV shows, movies, and novels have all tried their hand at reimagining the early days of the Man of Steel, but only one book combines the best of all of them into one concise story: Superman For All Seasons. It’s nostalgic, iconic, and infinitely relatable, as writer Jeph Loeb cherry picked the best of the best from past comics and movies to flawlessly illustrate how Clark Kent became Superman.

Narrated by different members of Superman’s supporting cast (Pa Kent, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and Lana Lang) For All Seasons attempts to humanize the Man of Steel by presenting him as a simple farmer’s son from Kansas, as opposed to the unstoppable demigod that he had become. And it also doesn't hurt that Tim Sale brings a Norman Rockwell approach to the sweeping cornfields of Kansas.

Using a similar approach to Watchmen, James Robinson’s The Golden Age takes a nostalgic look back at the heroes from the '40s and '50s and gives a somber portrayal of their final days. Drugs, bitter divorces, and nervous breakdowns all play a part in the retirement of some of the Justice Society’s most unflappable heroes, and it’s shocking to see these once upstanding citizens succumb to the same temptations as the rest of us.

Characters such as the Hourman, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, and Starman are all portrayed as woefully human and tragic in this story, but no hero has it worse than the original Green Lantern, who is blacklisted during Joe McCarthy’s Senate hearings. The team eventually has to rally together to take down the threat of the Ultra-Humanite, who is masquerading in the body of former hero, Tex Thompson, a.k.a. The Americommando.

It may sound a little over-the-top, but The Golden Age is a unique blend of politics and superheroes that asks the question: What do these heroes do when their careers are over?

What if baby Kal-El’s rocket missed the Kansas cornfield it was supposed to land in and, instead, crashed in the Soviet Union? This is what Mark Millar asks readers in his Elseworld title, Superman: Red Son. With Superman seated next to Stalin in his inner circle, it is up to Lex Luthor, an American genius, to come up with a way to destroy Stalin’s new “Man of Steel.”

It may be a “What If?” style of story, but Millar’s slanted take on the Superman mythology is so much fun that it supersedes most of the in-continuity Superman tales of the last decade. Red Son also features twisted versions of other DC heroes like Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Batman, who sports a stylish ushanka in the comic.

Millar presents time and space as very fluid, and argues that any slight change in trajectory can forever alter reality. But besides all that metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, it’s just great to see Superman call everyone “comrade.”

Taking place after the events of Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween is a detailed murder mystery written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. Together they wound up creating a complex story rich in great character development and dynamic action perfectly crafted by Sale’s atmospheric sensibilities.

The plot deals with a serial killer that would commit a murder on every holiday. Simply dubbed “Holiday,” this killer is scantly seen, yet has an enormous impact on the plot as the bodies begin to pile up and the stakes begin to rise. Littered with super villains and mobsters, Loeb takes readers into the mind of the Dark Knight and shows his thoughts on the increasingly psychotic maniacs populating Gotham City.

Blending big screen scope with some intimate character relationships, The Long Halloween has the perfect ratio of plot to character to action. Any Batman fan would willingly give up their right arm to read this book, and even the most jaded of comic book fans would be hard pressed to find too many things wrong with The Long Halloween.

After the Wes Craven movie was released and the Swamp Thing comics failed to catch on, DC decided to place a young Alan Moore on the fledgling title, not expecting the book to even last another year. What followed was a groundbreaking run on the book that not only changed the character, but comics themselves.

Alan Moore stripped fans of every preconceived notion that they had for the title, and drastically changed the mythology of Swamp Thing. No longer was he a bland scientist turned monster thanks to a horrific accident; instead, Moore turned Swamp Thing into the physical embodiment of nature and opened the door for more socially conscious stories. And this second installment of Moore's run, appearing in The Saga of Swamp Thing #21, is still one of the first mainstream comics not to be afraid to add beauty and intelligence to the medium. 

As they enter to Fortress of Solitude to give Superman his birthday presents, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Robin find the Man of Steel in a vegetative state with a large alien plant attached to his chest. As they try to remove it, the heroes are surprised by the alien warlord, Mongul, who reveals his plans to kill Superman once and for all. He explains that the plant is called the Black Mercy, a piece of alien vegetation that attaches itself to a victim and creates a dreamlike fantasy world in the person’s head; however, as it creates this psychic Utopia, it also slowly kills its victim.

Written by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons, For The Man Who Has Everything is a brutal, yet poignant, tale that sets out to humanize Superman. Superman is usually presented as unflappable, but this story perfectly illustrates the desire that he has to meet his long dead parents and live a normal life. Never before had any writer attempted to give Superman hopes or dreams. It’s that type of emotional baggage that Moore brings to these characters that makes his writing so much more meaningful than the other comic book talent in the industry.

After Stan Lee took credit for all of his ideas and robbed him of the royalties, Jack Kirby jumped ship to DC Comics and created The New Gods; a sprawling space-opera that took abandoned ideas from his Marvel days and adjusted them for a new mythology. Introducing the world to characters like Darkseid, Highfather, and Orion, The New Godswas a beautifully dynamic book with a ton of action and a complicated character list with more nuances than the Lord of the Rings.

The New Gods was sci-fi storytelling at its best, but Kirby always took great care in making the stories very universal in tone. There are elements from the Bible and Norse mythology present in the series, and some aspects of the story are as deep as any fantasy tale on record.

Kirby’s work on New Gods was spread across multiple books, but DC has collected everything into easy to find collections recently. That’s a good thing because New Godsis a great read for anyone who doubts that comic books have some of the deepest mythology in all of America literature.

In 1989, the Caped Crusader became a household name yet again with the release of Tim Burton's big budget blockbuster Batman. Not wanting to sit idly by and present stories that readers have already seen, DC rode Batman’s wave of momentum and released the groundbreaking long form graphic novel, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth.

Written by Grant Morrison and beautifully illustrated by Dave McKean, Arkham Asylumbecame one of the most successful titles ever at the company and further bridged the gap between comic books and literature. There is never a moment in this book where you feel the creators phoning it in; every panel is rich in detail and story.

Following Batman’s attempt to quell an uprising at Arkham Asylum, he is forced into a game of hide-and-seek by the Joker. Along the way, Batman finds himself exploring the asylum as he delves deeper into the psychotic minds of his adversaries. Morrison also concurrently tells the tale of the asylum’s twisted founder, Amadeus Arkham, which is a Psycho-inspired bit of horror that raises this book above just being a simple Batman story.

It’s sick, twisted, and completely engrossing and beautiful. Arkham Asylum is like taking the express train through the most twisted aspects of Batman’s rogue’s gallery and it’s nearly impossible to ever look at these characters the same way again.

During the '70s, writer Denny O’Neil and artist Neal Adams attempted to add social commentary and political thought into the slumping title Green Lantern. Teaming the right-wing Emerald Warrior up with the liberally minded Green Arrow, O’Neil and Adams had the duo fight more than just costumed psychopaths; they fought social injustice and worldwide cruelty.

Their most famous story was in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85-86, when it was discovered that the Green Arrow’s former ward, Speedy, had become a drug addict. Arrow and Lantern quickly headed off to take down the dealers who provided Speedy with the heroine, but they soon found out that a corrupt CEO was behind the whole drug trade. The story treats the drugs believably, rather than as a plot point, and portrays the addicts as victims as opposed to criminals.

Not only did this story shatter people’s expectations of a superhero tale, but it was actually commended by former New York Mayor, John V Lindsay, for being socially relevant for the youth of America.