Notable Limited Series
See also: List of limited series| Title | Publisher | Year | Number of issues | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerebus the Aardvark | Aardvark-Vanaheim | 1977 | 300 | Creator Dave Sim had the idea of creating a 300 issue series (and make sure that this was the fixed number of issues). As well as being the first official limited series, it is also the longest limited series of all time (in terms of both number of issues and time span), spanning 300 issues released from December, 1977 to March, 2004. |
| World of Krypton | DC | 1979 | 3 | Originally scheduled for Showcase #104-106 to coincide with the premiere of Superman: The Movie. The storyline was rescheduled for Showcase #110-112, but by then Showcase had been cancelled. |
| The Untold Legend of the Batman | DC | 1980 | 3 | First miniseries created especially for the format. |
| Tales of the Green Lantern Corps | DC | 1981 | 3 | |
| Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes | DC | 1981 | 3 | Detailed the origins of each member of the Legion of Super-Heroes; revealed that R. J. Brande is Chameleon Boy's biological father |
| Camelot 3000 | DC | 1982 | 12 | First "maxi-series" |
| Contest of Champions | Marvel | 1982 | 3 | Marvel's first limited series |
| Green Arrow | DC | 1983 | 4 | |
| Ronin | DC | 1983 | 6 | Comics icon Frank Miller's first solo series. |
| Secret Wars | Marvel | 1984 | 12 | A major Marvel crossover series. |
| Secret Wars II | Marvel | 1985 | 9 | Arriving at about the same time, Secret Wars II and Crisis on Infinite Earths introduced the idea of limited series as company-wide crossover events. |
| Crisis on Infinite Earths | DC | 1985 | 12 | A pivotal series that re-shaped the entire DC Universe. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Returns | DC | 1986 | 4 | First use of the "prestige format" |
| Watchmen | DC | 1986 | 12 | One of Alan Moore's highly praised comic limited series, recently adapted into a film. The series won the Eisner Award for "Best Finite Series" in 1988. |
| The Shadow | DC | 1987 | 4 | |
| Hawkworld | DC | 1989 | 3 | |
| From Hell | Kitchen Sink Press | 1991 | 10 | |
| Bone | Cartoon Books, Image Comics | 1991 | 55 | |
| Sin City: The Hard Goodbye | Dark Horse | 1991 | 13 | The first "yarn" of Frank Miller's iconic Sin City comic series, released in thirteen parts as part of the anthology comic book Dark Horse Presents. |
| Hellboy: Seed of Destruction | Dark Horse | 1994 | 4 | The first solo series for hit character Hellboy. |
| Marvels | Marvel | 1994 | 4 | Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross burst on the scene. The series won the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series in 1994. |
| Kingdom Come | DC | 1996 | 4 | The series won the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series in 1997. |
| Marvel vs. DC | Marvel/DC | 1996 | 4 | |
| 300 | Dark Horse | 1998 | 5 | |
| JLA/Avengers | DC/Marvel | 2003 | 4 | Culmination of idea first hatched in 1979. |
| Identity Crisis | DC | 2004 | 7 | |
| Infinite Crisis | DC | 2005 | 7 | |
| Marvel Zombies | Marvel | 2005 | 5 | |
| House of M | Marvel | 2005–2006 | 8 | |
| 52 | DC | 2006–2007 | 52 | Weekly series lasting for one year, with events detailed in real time. Follows Infinite Crisis. |
| Civil War | Marvel | 2006–2007 | 7 | |
| Countdown to Final Crisis | DC | 2007–2008 | 51 | Weekly series lasting one year, events detailed in real time. Titled "Countdown" for its first 19 issues. Numbered in reverse. Follows 52. |
| The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite | Dark Horse | 2007 | 6 | The series was written by singer Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, who teamed up with critically acclaimed Brazilian comic artist Gabriel Bá. It also won the Eisner Award for "Best Limited Series" in 2008. |
| Secret Invasion | Marvel | 2008 | 8 | |
| Blackest Night | DC | 2009 | 8 | |
| Brightest Day | DC | 2010-2011 | 24 | The follow-up to Blackest Night. |
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For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)
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