Comic book superheroes are stories in which the reader must strongly suspend their disbelief. There are superpowers, there is spandex, there is tremendous devastation, and specifically in regards to DC, there are a lot of continuity changes. Sometimes, though, comics go the extra mile by creating a character who can’t suspend their own belief – and decides to break the fourth wall.
Comic book characters with meta-awareness are often fan favorites. By making inside jokes directly at the readers, as well as altering the story to better suit them, they are a fantastic storytelling device that also always brings a lot of laughs. The first character that comes to mind under these stipulations might be Dead Pool, but DC is full of meta-characters with these 15 characters who know they’re in a comic book.
15
Harley Quinn
DC’s iconic mermaid often wonders about her role in the DC universe
There’s no better place to start than the famous Harley Quinn. A trickster through and through, she’s been known for breaking the fourth wall for years. And in “Harley is totally down” by Bruno Redondo, Harley Quinn shows her ultimate power as she monologues to the reader about her history and questions her modern role in the DC Comics Multiverse.
It’s actually an understandable question, considering how confusing her journey has been so far, from evil sidekick to antihero to heroine in her own right, with dozens of stops along the way.
14
The Joker
The Clown Prince of Crime loves performing for his invisible fans
As Harley’s original partner, it’s no surprise that Batman’s greatest enemy, the Joker, has shown signs that he knows he exists within a comic book, just playing the part for laughs. Every now and then, the Joker’s eyes land directly on the reader, almost as if he’s looking at them, breaking the fourth wall like an actor trying to see if the audience is enjoying his show.
In Giant 80-page Batman by Peter Miriani and Szymon Kudranski, Joker admitted to having imaginary fans, who are implied to be comic book readers. Nothing would make more sense for a mind as complicated as the Joker’s and to fit Grant Morrison’s so-called “Super Sanity” than for Joker will reach a stage of psychoconsciousness that would allow him to realize that he is fictional. Just like Harley, he puts on a show. Only this one is much, much darker.
13
Night Mite
The Imp’s Pranks Dick Grayson’s Wedding Fans Are Begging For
On a lighter side, Nite-Mite is a magical imp from the fifth dimension, as a counterpart to Nightwing, just like Bat-Mite and Batman. For Nite-Mite, the entire DC reality is simply a comic book he is reading, speaking like a typical comic book fan who gets the chance to talk to his favorite characters. For Dick Grayson, that means “shipping Nightwing with Starfire” and even taking on the responsibility of moving Nightwing’s relationship with Batgirl forward.
Manifesting a complete marriage, he plays the role of a comic book fan writing fan-fiction, but this happens in real time and disrupts the character’s life. It’s a great meta-dialogue moment for Nite-Mite to suddenly rise to the post of DC Editor and try to fix all the problems he sees in Nightwing’s ongoing series. It also mostly teases the plot point of a wedding that fans have been patiently waiting for for decades.
12
Mr.
This famous imp takes his tricks to the next level
Taking fifth-dimensional fun to more ridiculous places, Mr. Mxyzptlk is one of Superman’s most dangerous villains. A mischievous imp, his powers far exceed Nite-Mite’s and even cause catastrophic scenarios for the Man of Steel. But since his debut in Superman #30he acts like a cartoon character, breaking the fourth wall and commenting on how effective Superman comics are (and how well they are selling).
There’s even evidence he makes cross-cultural jokes about Marvel, like when he referenced the Infinity Stones. Not only commenting on the meta nature of comics, but also bringing in other industries and being aware of them is a fantastic power. The implication here is that any fifth-dimensional being is not just a part of DC, but is from a world outside of all comics, jumping in and out of a franchise at will (or randomly).
11
Lobe
The protagonist went so far as to remove a volunteer from the audience
While breaking the fourth wall can be used by both heroes and villains, it’s never been used as outlandishly as DC’s antihero parody Lobo, created by Keith Giffen and Roger Slifer. With occasional asides for comic book readers as well as meta-references, Lobo has a long history of being fully aware that he’s in a comic book since his debut.
The most specific example appears in Wolf: Bounty hunting for fun and profit, a one-shot by Alan Grant and Frank Gomez, where Lobo begrudgingly describes becoming an interplanetary bounty hunter like himself. To do so, he takes a comic book reader named Leslie out of his world and into the comic panels, only for him to meet his end in a particularly brutal way. The powers of meta-awareness, it turns out, can be deadly for real people, not just comic book characters. Never meet your heroes.
10
Darkseid
The Lord of Apokolips renounces the anti-life equation… to become an editor at DC Comics?
Lobo isn’t the only DC assassin on the list who has dabbled in the real world. The ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid, has done everything he can to rule the DC Universe through the Anti-Life Equation. One attempt was the most random, however, as he entered the real world and became editor of DC Comics.
Apparently, if Darkseid couldn’t conquer the universe the old-fashioned way, he’d accept a little cheating, a backdoor pass, and tweaking the story. As editor, he suggests that the other writers let Darkseid win this time, which only blows his cover. (Who would wish the Justice League dead?).
9
Psycho-Pirate
The Fourth Wall Broke Almost Destroyed Roger Hayden’s Mind Too
Not all fourth wall consciousness powers mean jokes and references. With a powerful mask that allows him to manipulate people through their emotions, Psycho-Pirate hasn’t been able to control himself since the first comic book game-changing DC Crisis. Upon discovering that the DC Universe was made up of infinite parallel realities, including one where he is just a comic character, he lost control of his sanity..
This heavy knowledge has been a key component of his character ever since. Unfortunately, this only led to him being another villain. Constantly influencing this fictional world from the outside, Psycho-Pirate refuses to become the main part of any story, but is continually tormented by what he cannot unsee.
8
The strangers
Heroes Visited DC’s Literal Purgatory for Reconnected Characters
In a dark metanarrative, a DC comic answers the question of what really happens to all the abandoned ideas and overwritten continuities, revealing the graveyard of DC’s ever-changing timelines. It seems like there is a world between the comics where all the deleted DC characters go, making the entire comic break the fourth wall, in THE Strangers #6by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Robert Carey.
While some characters compare the “Place Between the Pages” to a prison, some “Recently Erased” characters try to put a positive spin on the world. This is a fantastic subversion of DC: instead of pretending things don’t go unnoticed, the writers recognize how often they erase characters. More than that, they found a clever way to bring erased characters back into continuity: breaking the fourth wall.
7
The Flash
Wally West and Dr. Fate need YOUR help to stay alive
Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin present a plot that involves readers as active participants in The Flash#776. when Doctor Doom pulls the curtains back from Wally West’s eyes, to show him readers reading his own comic book. From there, comic book readers are fantastically recruited to help their heroes reach the end of the comic in one piece, physically turning the book sideways or turning the page at the right moment.
At its best, a comic tells a story that can only be told in that illustrated medium. Showing Flash and Doctor Fate crawling across the page’s panels is something that cannot be replicated in any other medium. So not only do the Flash and Doctor Doom break the fourth wall, they turn it into pure art.
6
Forever Girl
Caroline Sharp falsified her entire editorial history
For a meta-approach to metafiction in general, Eternity Girl arrives in a fictional world from another fictional world. Born out of the “Milk Wars” event, Caroline Sharp, or Eternity Girl, is a shapeshifter who slips between DC and the Young Animal brand, with seemingly no place to rest her head and no real backstory behind her. Before having her own series, she was seen on Milk Wars looking directly at the reader and telling them that the wrong page was printed.
In her own self-titled miniseries years later, by Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew, she reinvents her own publishing history (the previous one exposed as false). In a meta-twist, she was a character who broke into the comics, practically enlightening readers that she had been a part of DC since the 1950s. Considering her shape-shifting capabilities, she could be anywhere in DC right now, and no one would know.
5
Ultra Comics
Grant Morrison’s Metahero Is the Living Comic Book in Your Hands
Coming from the many halls of the mind of Grant Morrison, whose work in these entries is numerous, Ultra Comics is a character that doesn’t just break fourth walls: he is the fourth wall. During Morrison’s most bizarre crisis event, Multiversity, the Ultra Comics hero is created as the very pages of the comic being read and the essence of the narrative.
More meta than Eternity Girl, Ultra Comics is our world’s hero, Earth Prime, in the only way he can exist – on paper in a comic book. With the reader’s help, he tries to stop Gentry, a Lovecraftian entity from beyond the Multiverse, from destroying the comics. Ultra Comics is the prototype of the duo Doctor Fate and Flash, albeit a prototype with more cosmic horror, which involves a partnership between the hero and you as the reader.
4
Superboy-Prime
The alternate Kal-El is trapped on our earth
Hailing from Earth Prime, Superboy-Prime is one of the most complicated villains in DC history. Originally coming from an environment where he is the only super-powered meta-being in a universe of normal people, he quickly took a dark turn as all of DC’s strength was needed to stop him during Infinite Crisis, by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, George Pérez and Ivan Reis.
The Flash Family couldn’t stop him, the Green Lantern Corps couldn’t stop him, so the only option was to trap him back in his own universe, Earth Prime, without his powers and as a normal boy. After discovering the world of comics, Superboy-Prime reads about the crisis that destroyed him and has a fourth-wall-breaking moment that shocks readers to this day. Not only does he have to live with himself as a villain, but he also has to read about it!
3
Mr Nobody
The villain of Doom Patrol is the Absurdist God of Breaking the Fourth Wall
Grant Morrison returns to one of the most omniscient and omnipotent characters in DC history. No one is the Joker with nth-power godlike powers, and if the Joker had too much fun messing around to actually do anything. Nobody is the main antagonist of Doom Patrol, although his plan was never to kill and destroy, but to render everything meaningless in the style of 90s Dadaism.
No one does quite that like an absurd villain whose powers are beyond definition, as he can literally do whatever he wants. He is not subject to comic book rules. Constantly attacking the comic itself, ruining panels, and making a mess while having fun, Mr. Nobody stands out as the most interesting villain DC has ever created. He would certainly be the most powerful if his nihilism allowed him to care enough. But he saw beyond the veil, and everything became an absurd game for him.
2
Ambush bug
DC’s answer to Deadpool, before Deadpool even debuts
While some characters break the fourth wall at their own peril (or sanity) and others are simply too powerful to have their own title, the teleportation-powered Ambush Bug appears on screen, useless and hilarious. Ambush Bug is DC’s answer to Deadpool. Created by Lobo creator Keith Giffen as a troubled, meta-aware Bugs Bunny destined to anger Superman, he turned over a new leaf and became an antihero akin to Deadpool.
Everything about it is nonsense. Even your reason for fourth wall consciousness is a joke, as there is no reason at all. He shows the ability to distort comics with flexible physics, and his luck is also incredible. He’s in and out of superhero teams (if anyone can put up with him long enough), and when he’s not needed, he disappears like a cartoon character. Even in a tense DC crisis, it’s nice to have someone make a joke, knowing it’s all just a comic book.
1
Animal Man
Buddy broke the fourth wall before it was cool (and also met his maker)
Grant Morrison returns one last time to his landmark work in Animal Man. Buddy Baker is a C-List superhero who has an affinity for animals and can summon one attribute of any animal at a time. His arc begins dealing with animal rights activism and vegetarianism and soon falls into the realm of aliens. So it’s just a jump to Animal Man drinking ayahuasca in the desert and discovering he’s in a comic book. Not only that: following the death of his family, Animal Man travels to find his own writer, Grant Morrison, to talk to him about why his family had to die and the nature of comics itself..
This is the ultimate example of metafiction – while other characters may joke around and break the fourth wall, Animal Man fully enters the real world and talks to his own divine creator. From then on, Animal Man had a secret – and if a reader looked closely during a crisis, they would find Buddy Baker (and a few other characters) looking across the panel to see their fans reading about them. Because these fourth wall breakers They are nothing without their fans laughing at their jokes and cheering them on.