The Multiversity: The Deluxe Edition

In this brilliant, engrossing collection, multi-Eisner Award winner Morrison introduces the new "New 52," DC's revised multiverse of 52 connected universes, many of which include alternate versions of the company's classic heroes. The framing story here brings together a black Superman, 1980s favorite Captain Carrot (an anthropomorphic superrabbit), and many others to battle the nightmarish Gentry, whose invasion threatens the multiverse. Some of the tales sandwiched within spotlight a trouble-free world full of aimless, decadent superbeings; a Nazi version of the Justice League; and a Watchmen-like take on the characters that inspired Watchmen itself. Morrison ramps up the metafictional ambitions he once showed in Animal Man to dizzying heights, with characters in one story reading the book's other stories and a scenario something like Sesame Street's "The Monster at the End of This Book." And just think for a moment about the phrase, "the Gentrification of DC Comics." He even suggests that reading endless superhero soap operas might be a waste of time. But when they're this thoughtful, this satisfying in conception, and this much fun, that's clearly untrue.