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Across the Spider-Verse has captivated audiences worldwide. The mind-bending storyline centered around multiple Spider-people, from Gwen Stacy to Miles Morales, has left audiences itching for more multiversal action. Fortunately for fans, comic books are no stranger to crossing over multiverses.
From the Infinite Earths concept pioneered in DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, to the original Spider-Verse comic series, numerous comics across Marvel, DC, and even independent publications like IDW have thrown their hat into the ring. Thus, fans will be relieved to learn of the several comic multiverses that they can explore in popular multiversal comics to scratch that post-Across the Spider-Verse itch.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Across the Spider-Verse and the comics discussed. All opinions are solely the author's.
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10 multiverse comics as spellbinding as Across the Spider-Verse
1) Crisis on Infinite Earths
The original massive DC crossover event comic is guranteed to make it to any list featuring multiverses since it deals with their destruction. The basic plot of the story concerns a wave of antimatter that is destroying the DC multiverse, and The Monitor gathers heroes and villains from across the various Earths to prevent their mutual destruction.
This event from DC Comics is a love letter to decades' worth of DC history. It also changed everything about the DC universe up until the New 52 reboot. History was changed with characters like Donna Troy and Jason Todd, while some were forever erased, like Infinity Inc. The comic also started the DC reboot trend.
2) Power Rangers: Shattered Grid
The Boom Studios version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has been praised by fans of the original series for bringing new ideas to the table, with Shattered Grid being one of them. An evil version of Tommy Oliver, renamed Lord Drakkon, has broken through various timelines and is stealing the powers of Power Rangers to twist reality to his whims.
The story is remarkable for involving practically every single Power Rangers team at the time it was published, which means a good 20 years' worth of Ranger teams uniting to fight a greater evil. This includes the Mighty Morphin group teaming up with future and alternative versions like the Beast Morphers, Dino Charge, and Samurai teams.
3) Transformers: Shattered Glass
The concept of the mirror universe, a universe where everything is backward, is nothing new in science fiction and dates back all the way to the original Star Trek and before. Transformers have had a comic book franchise since the 1980s, under various publishers, so one of these was bound to happen sooner or later.
When the Autobot Cliffjumper accidentally stumbles into a portal after a routine patrol, he emerges into a twisted and fractured world where the usually friendly Autobots have become part of a tyrannical empire, and the normally nasty Decepticons are the force of good.
4) Spider-Verse
A list involving comics similar to Across the Spider-Verse could not be complete without the original Spider-Verse comic. It proved to be one of the most popular and successful Spider-Man comics in history and inspired Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse via its introduction of Spider-Gwen and many others.
The basic plot is that every Spider-person, from the Superior Spider-Man to Spider-Gwen, are under attack by villains called Inheritors, who are seeking to consume them. It's a spellbinding, universe-jumping thrill ride that should be on every Across the Spider-Verse fan's list of required reading.
5) Dark Knights Metal
A much darker story, but no less worthy of being on the list of multiversal comics, is Dark Knights Metal. This intriguing look at a Crisis story may center around Batman, but it affects all the Earths involved and the Justice League as well. In this story, the Justice League finds themselves under attack from several dark versions of Batman from horrifying negative versions of Earth.
A breakout story that began at the end of the Rebirth Initiative, Dark Knights Metal is recommended for people that love horror and alternate versions of characters. It puts a neat spin on the idea of "what if a canon event went wrong" that Spider-Man 2099 is worried about in Across the Spider-Verse.
6) Secret Wars
A story that involved the cataclysmic destruction of the then state of the Marvel Universe, Secret Wars' 2015 version is what led to many of the current characters like Miles Morales being integrated into the prime Marvel Universe. It also destroyed various realities like the ones seen in the Age of Apocalypse and House of M.
In this multiversal crossover, entire worlds are all crunched together to form Battleworld. The multiverse is collapsing, thanks to the Beyonders, and various Avengers need to work together to fight them and God-Emperor Doctor Doom. By the end of the story, the comics was re-launched into All-New, All-Different Marvel.
7) Flashpoint
The phrase "dammit Barry!" was popularized, thanks to DC's Flashpoint, the comic that kickstarted the New 52 reboot. Barry Allen goes back in time to stop his mother from being killed, and the result is a cascade of horrifying events that Barry needs to stop, like Atlantis going to war with Themiscrya.
The comic has plenty of tie-ins to it, showing off how this alternate reality works. From Martha Wayne becoming the Joker after Bruce's death to the backstory of an emaciated Superman, Flashpoint absolutely hits the idea of canon events going wrong, like the one Across the Spider-Verse's Spider-Man 2099 is worried about.
8) Exiles
Time and multidimensional travel aren't exactly the easiest things to manage, though it helps when your boss isn't an arrogant jerk, like Spider-Man 2099 in Across the Spider-Verse. The Exiles comic focuses on this concept, akin to Crisis on Infinite Earths but with Marvel comics and stars lesser-known heroes.
The lesser-known heroes Morph, Thunderbird, Nocturne, and others like Mimic are summoned by The Timebroker to fix various problems in reality. The problems include stopping a dictator Iron Man, preventing an evil Professor X from eradicating humanity, and an alternate Dark Phoenix Saga where Jean Grey kills everyone.
9) What If? and Tales from the Dark Multiverse
Two stories for the price of one entry is what we get for these anthology compilations from Marvel and DC. What If? focuses on the same things the animated series deals with—alternate events in the Marvel timeline like "What If Flash Thompson became Spider-Man" and more.
Meanwhile, Tales from the Dark Multiverse is a horror and Halloween-themed anthology that focuses on dark retellings of DC storylines. An example of this is "What if Terra lived through The Judas Contract" where she kills all the Titans, Slade, and even Superman. While What If? has dark stories, Tales personifies dark stories.
10) Spider-Men
A multiversal comic that's more in line with Across The Spider-Verse, is the Spider-Men comic. This comic is considered a milestone celebration of Spider-Man's 50th anniversary, serving as the first crossover between the mainstream and Ultimate Marvel universes. It's when Peter and Miles first met.
Spider-Man's foe Mysterio creates a world-bridging portal that threatens to rip both the mainstream and Ultimate universes apart, and Peter and Miles team up to stop him. Into the Spider-Verse was loosely based on this story as well as the original Spider-Verse.
Across the Spider-Verse is already an amazing film, with plenty of Spider-People to see and root for as Miles takes his first steps into the wider multiverse. For fans of Across the Spider-Verse and multiverse shenanigans as a whole, these 10 comics should provide something to tide fans over before Beyond the Spider-Verse comes out.
There are undoubtedly many other comics that fit the genre of Across the Spider-Verse, and these are just a few that deal well with the multiversal aspect. If any readers have more that fit the mold, let us know in the comments below!
