Writers and artists in the comic book industry continue to exercise their creativity by introducing new and exciting characters in the DC Universe annually. For 2022, there have been plenty of new characters that saw their debut. There is always room in DC Comics for representation of all kinds, and each character can be given a distinct personality and costume, with a life that hopefully sees many more years in DC.
There are character debuts in 2022 that already feature great heroes or great threats to existing characters. Popular and iconic heroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman would find new allies and villains in 2022, and thus the stakes are raised.
9 Angel Breaker
A villain doesn’t get scarier than one who is an ally to Talia al Guhl. Angel Breaker was also trained by Black Canary, making her a fierce combatant. No wonder this new character is a villain to Batman, she’s more than capable of fighting him, considering her training and allegiances. She was first introduced in Shadow War: Alpha issue 1 of March 2022.
Visually, Angel Breaker is rather striking, with her pale skin, exposed torso, and crimson lips. Readers certainly won’t want to be stabbed with her sword, as she seems very well-trained with such a deadly weapon. She’s also rather ominous, calling herself the “Demon’s Shadow”.
8 Devil Nezha
The 1050’s issue of Detective Comics saw the debut of the Devil Nezha in March 2022. This character was a Chinese warlord that roamed and conquered during the 16th Century BCE. Devil Nezha is rather menacing, from the armor they wear, and the fierce and demonic face that he wears. He embraces mysticism and magic and is known well for his cruelty.
After being killed, he was later resurrected and made immortal. Devil Nezha was a recent threat in the 21st century to both Batman and Superman, causing the World’s Finest to battle the demon with their combined might and stop Devil Nezha from seeking global rule.
7 Bat Walker
In more recent years, DC has not been afraid to introduce more fun directions into its comics. Thanks to The Jurassic League comic, DC saw the introduction of Bat Walker in July 2022. This character is an Allosaurus, who dresses himself up as a bat after the murder of his parents. It’s bizarre to see a Batman dinosaur, but it’s equally awesome.
It’s one of the many Batman variants, and it’s hard not to like something as cool as a Batman dinosaur. He is rather intelligent and even hides his identity. His cowl is well made, and his utility belt consists of bones to throw.
6 Bolt
The conflicted morality of Black Adam comes to haunt him in his dying age. Black Adam’s life is soon to extinguish, and before it does, he seeks his great descendant, a child called Malik-Adam. Black Adam provides this young man with the powers of Black Adam. Black Adam wants Malik to be known as “White Adam”, but he prefers Thunderbolt or Bolt.
This character was first introduced in Black Adam issue 1 which was released on June 21st, 2022. Bolt is a new and upcoming hero, and his inexperience and morality will be put to the gauntlet, especially with the powers of Black Adam. Hopefully, Bolt has an exciting future in the DC Universe.
5 Supersaur
Superman is an alien dinosaur. What more needs to be said? This character first appeared in July 2022 for The Jurassic League. He is an alien Brachiosaurus and was raised by humans. He is far more powerful than a mere tyrannosaurus and helps humanity build and thrive with new wooden structures made from trees he picks up with ease.
Supersaur has the powers one would expect of Superman. He can fly, he’s invulnerable, has super speed, and super strength, and can even communicate with both humans and dinosaurs. He’s one of the rare instances of a Superman character and continues to be a force for good.
4 Abyss
Lex Luthor and heroics don’t mix well, and in the case of Abyss, truer words have never been spoken. Abyss was a criminal whom same became a Batman villain thanks to Lex Luthor. His identity remains unknown as of his appearance in Batman Vol 3 issue 118, February 2022. However, as a Badhnisian man, he admired Batman and wanted to be like his hero.
Lex Luthor gave him his wish and helped train him with expensive gear, equipment, and experimental procedures. These experiments gave him darkness-based powers, but his lack of skill with them caused Lex Luthor to abandon him. After a confrontation with Batman, Abyss confessed to regretting his actions and disappeared.
3 Jokerzard
As if the Joker could not be a greater force of evil and terror, he goes ahead and becomes a dinosaur. This version of the Joker was a Dilophosaurus and was unique from his kin. Jokerzard was lanky, purple, and green with an iconic stretching grin on his dinosaur features. What makes matters worse, is that he was a carnivore that killed for pleasure rather than for food.
It’s an interesting and fun take on the DC mythos, and Jokerzard was introduced in The Jurassic League, in July 2022. He believed he was the vessel for Dark Embryo’s power, which soon bore and became that of Darkyloseid, a Darkseid dinosaur.
2 Failsafe
Many know of the infamous lack of trust that Batman has for his Justice League colleagues and superhero allies. He has failsafes in place for all his friends, even Superman, just in case they become evil. However, Batman is no hypocrite and built his own failsafe, that being an android called Failsafe.
Failsafe was a recent addition to the Batman mythos, making his debut in Batman Vol 3 issue 125, September 2022. Failsafe was created by the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh and will stop at nothing to defeat and kill what they consider to be a rogue Batman.
1 Gray Wolf
The 2022 Batman Annual released in July of 2022 saw the debut of Gray Wolf. Gray Wolf was a protector of Kazbek and was given his role by Lex Luthor. Gray Wolf has seen conflict with characters like Ghost-Maker but soon joined on the side of heroes as a Chechen member of the Batman Inc.
One of the reasons that Gray Wolf is so violent and careful is because of his installation as protector, and abandonment from Lex Luthor. Gray Wolf and Ghost-Maker helped cure the populous of Kazbek from the Lazurus Resin experiments and has been a Batman Inc. member ever since.