With A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiering on HBO, we’re in a fantasy kind of mood. We’ve got a lot of swordplay and palace intrigue ahead of us in this newest series set in the world of Game of Thrones. But what about the weeks between each episode? What will we do then? The answer, as always, is comics. We’ve put together seven kingdoms of our own for you to visit in between the misadventures of Dunk and Egg.
CAMELOT
The most legendary (and public domain) of all English fantasy kingdoms, naturally, has had a significant presence in the DC Universe for ages. Whether it was the Silent Knight in the original issues of The Brave and the Bold, the Shining Knights of Leading Comics or Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory, the rhyming demon Etrigan in Jack Kirby’s The Demon, or the backdrop of the DC Universe of a thousand years’ past in Demon Knights, Camelot has always loomed large as one of the great sources of magic in DC’s comic book universe where all great myths are true. The groundbreaking Camelot 3000 even presents a Camelot reborn a millennium into the future, a twelve-issue event which defined the “maxiseries,” and how an epic saga can be translated into comic book form. Even in the modern DC Universe, Camelot’s bane remains ever present. Wherever dark magic looms in the DCU, you can never expect the reach of Morgaine le Fey to be far behind. Camelot is currently integral to DC’s latest all ages fantasy saga, C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table (perfect for fantasy lovers too young for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms).
ATLANTIS
Didn’t think we’d forget about this one, did you? As long as we’re here in the realm of classic mythology, Atlantis, as far as the DC Universe is concerned, is where magic and mystery all began. You’ll find traces of it across the Aquaman titles, sure. But for that pure, unfiltered fantasy, you’ll want to go back to Ancient Atlantis, in an age lost to time before the greatest city in history sank to the sea. Arion, Lord of Atlantis and The Atlantis Chronicles will give you what you need if you like your swords and sorcery a little moist.
SKARTARIS
Perhaps the most epic of DC’s high fantasies can also be considered its first great “isekai” story—Mike Grell’s saga of the Warlord, Travis Morgan. In 1975, United States Air Force combat pilot Travis Morgan was stranded in a plane crash in the world of Skartaris, where wizards and barbarians lived in a hellish jungle alongside monsters, lost technological empires and living dinosaurs. Warlord is remembered today as one of the greatest high concept comics of the Bronze Age, taking advantage of the visual medium of comics in a way that was almost entirely alien at the time. Each issue of Warlord is a thrill in its own right as it built together into the chapters of a greater legend.
GERANTH
Unless you’re really deep into this comic book lifestyle, you’ve probably never heard of Geranth. That’s because it largely only ever appears as the backdrop of Stalker, a four-issue dark fantasy series from the 1970s and one of the hidden gems of Paul Levitz and Steve Ditko’s careers. Geranth presents us with the tragic story of Stalker the Soulless, a warrior who trades his own soul for immeasurable power and instantly regrets the deal. The original Stalker saga can be read on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE, along with a reimagining for the 2012 Sword of Sorcery series.
GEMWORLD
The home of Amethyst, Gemworld is perhaps the realm most like Westeros in its complex dynamic between a multitude of kingdoms, if not in tone. A place of high fantasy and great darkness, Gemworld is the heart of magic to which many of the ancient Atlanteans escaped. Its destined savior: a princess living on Earth as a teenage girl who’s fated to return to her homeland and vanquish the evil that has dulled its light.
FELLSPYRE
Much like House of the Dragon, The Fellspyre Chronicles is a tale told across generations and arguably DC’s closest offering to the epic works of fantasy dreamed up by authors like Robert Jordan, Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson. Initially published as The Last God, Fellspyre was the first title under the DC Black Label imprint to be wholly original. (Today, it probably would be released as a Vertigo book.) Blending high fantasy with horror, where The Last God excels is in its desperate depiction of the archetypical ancient evil as a truly insurmountable foe with all the power of the universe at its call. Here, the night truly is dark and full of terrors.
EL
Look, we’ll level with you. If you’re coming into the DC library with a Game of Thrones mindset, there’s really one book you should be reading before anything else and that’s Dark Knights of Steel, DC’s Elseworlds-like chronicle of the shifting alliances, intrigue and war between the Kingdoms of El, Storms and Amazon. Set in a high fantasy-inspired take on the DC Universe, Dark Knights of Steel introduces us to a world where everyone is vying for power in their own right, no one is as they seem and anyone could be lost at any moment, no matter how safe you think they are. Here is where you’ll find Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent cast as brothers, familiar powers manifesting as dark magic, and John Constantine…basically unchanged. (Some things are universal constants.) This is the series that’ll have you feeling like you’re gazing across the battle lines of a war map as the cello kicks into the background to join the violins.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
