What DC titles are worth getting?

[abyss]

Ok guys...so im looking for suggestions for DC titles I should pick yup. I'm not a DC fan boy I read msotly Marvel. But I do read a handful of DC titles im I'm jsut wondering what other titles are really good. I do buy all my reads in trade form which makes incredibly hard to read DC ttitles because they are nto every good at colelcting issues in trades promptly.

So right now im reading:

Birds of Prey
Nightwing
Gotham Central...but thats is ending so I need to repalce that title.
Green Arrow
Manhunter
Firestorm
Seven Soilders

I do pick up Batman on occasion depending on who the creative team is. And I am going to be picking up the Shadowpact ongoing. Also thinking about picking up the new Wonder Woman when it comes out but still unsure. Is the Ruka WW worth picking up his trades it looks good?

Thanx for your suggestions.

[The Wayner]

Green Lantern
Jonah Hex

[Adem]

As The Wayner suggested Jonah Hex is a great read and is always at the same level of excellence.

[Maleficentogre]

I'd say give supergirl a try, and I'm a huge fan of blood of the demon.

[onenatv]

Dude, Greg Rucka wonder woman run is very good! Eyes of the gorgon arc was amazing. I recommend you get all of his run on trade. You might want to consider Wonder Woman the HIKETEIA too it's a great read by Rucka.

As for other title,
Supergirl(which Rucka will take over next issue)
Legion of superheroes.
I also have to second green lantern and Blood of the demon.
JSA
JSA (classified)
and I can't believe you're not reading All star Superman, it's awesome!

[matt levin]

these are my DC choices for May-- largely based on my current choices (!):

All Star Superman (un*'d titles available right now, go buy them...!)
Checkmate* (*= coming in April/May)
Jonah Hex
Shadowpact*
Ex Machina**V (**I enjoy this title a LOT; V=Vertigo)
Red Sonja/Claw*
Matador**
Fables**V
Hellblazer**V (current run)
Loveless
Lucifer**V

Matt

[The Wayner]

...I'm a huge fan of blood of the demon.

That's a good book, too. Some wild imagery to be found in those pages.

I'll add another title and suggest MANHUNTER.

[Watchman]

Justice
Jonah Hex
JSA Classified

IMO, those three are a must. Even though Justice is a bimonthly/12-issue thing.

[Apathy Boy]

Since you're reading GOTHAM CENTRAL and MANHUNTER, I assume you like things in a crime fiction vein. I'd recommend HARD TIME. Not a DC Universe book, but it's an extremely well-written story about a 16-year-old kid who's sent to maximum security prison for 50-years-to-life and discovers he has super powers. A book that's chockful of interesting characters and heavy on the politics and rules of surviving on the inside.

[Roads]

I'll add another title and suggest MANHUNTER.


She's not a bad character but the rest of the book is very dull. I got all 19 issues only cause I was giving Marc a chance on a new Hero. I'm glad she killed her man, didn't care for seeing two men in after sex pillow talk, and the rape of her ex was in bad taste too.

Plus any one who writes in their stories a dog get slamed through a window and killing it, then not letting a former hero (Manhunter I) go out in a blaze of glory is just wrong.

Manhunter is a could've been. And a waste of money but thats my fault. You win some and you loose some.

I wouldn't recommend Manhunter to a friend.

[abyss]

Wow..Manhunter is like my fav DC title out of all the ones I've read so far.

[lonesomefool]

Here's what I say

Hard Time-You seems to dig more gritty, down to earth title and this book is just that. It follows the story of Ethan, a 15 year old kid who was involved in a school shooting (he never shot anyone) but is sentenced to jail at a maximum security prison, full of adults. Ethan has powers that he used to never be able to control, but now he can do a pretty good job of controling them. The book is written by Mary Skreenes and Steve Gerber, with art by Brian Hurtt.

Jonah Hex-This is a straight up Western book, written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and art by Luke Ross. Each issue is stand alone tale, so just grab an ish and you should be able to tell if you like it or not. To get a true taste of the book, grab any issues before #5. #5 is a issue with fill-in art by Tony Dezungia, who's art is pretty good, but not in the same league as the stuff Ross has produced so far.

Checkmate-THis book starts in April. It's written by Greg Rucka with art by Jesus Saiz. The reason I am suggesting this is that it is going be more in line with the work Rucka did on Gotham Central (mix of people with powers and people who dont) and his Queen and Country book which will toss in political intrigue. The art by Saiz should be very good for the tone of the book. While it does spin out of the OMAC project, you should be able to pick it up without having read that series.

All-Star Superman-I'm not a huge fan of Superman, but you like Morrison and this is Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly doing Superman. The best part is that it's great, mixing in a sort of Silver Aged tone of story, but totally modern.

Detective Comics-James Robinson just started his 8 issue run this past week, with #817. The story crosses over into Batman, but trust me it's worth getting if every issues was like #817. It's OYL so no backstory really and it leads into this summers creative team debuts. Paul Dini and Rags Morales will be taking over this title come July and each issue will supposedly be a stand alone, Detective tale.

Batman-Crosses over with Detective for the next couple months. After that Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert take over. Morrison has said his Batman will be much healther mentally and more in the line Denny O'Neil wrote the character as.

Catwoman-Will Pfeifer's run started out a bit slow, but around #50 it really hit it's speed and going into OYL it was one of DC's best books on the stands. OYL starts this month with #53 and Selina gives birth to a child, but who is the father? Art by David Lopez, and judging by the pages i have seen so far, it's his best work yet.

To answer your question about Wonder Woman. Personally depending on your budget, I would wait. Rucka's Wonder Woman was average at best IMO, and I often thought the stories were kinda dull. Plus, the last year of his run was nothing but crossovers and tie-ins, so avoid that IMO. I say try out some new titles first, and when you get some cash, maybe then grab them. Personally his best Wonder Woman was found in the Batman/Wonder Woman: The Hikitea OGN that he did with J.G. Jones on art.

And I would seriously just watch JSA:Classified. By that I mean buy it according to creative teams. The creative teams on the book change every 2-4 issues on average and as with every rotating creative team book it can be very uneven in quality. The arc that starts this month is written by Stuart Moore(Firestorm) with art by Paul Gulacy and focuses on Vandal Savage. That arc will run I think 3-4 issues. I dont think JSA:Classified is a pull list buy simply because it's WAY to inconsistent potentially on creative team quality to buy it month in, month out.

Outside of the DCU, I would say buy Ex Machina, and catch up on Y: The Last Man with trades. In the coming months Wildstorm is getting a MAJOR creative overhaul which will include Gen 13 by Gail Simone and Talent Caldwell, Authority by Grant Morrison and Gene Ha, WildCATS by Morrison and Jim Lee, Deathblow by Brian Azzarello and Carlos D'Nada, and Midnighter by Garth Ennis and Chris Sprouse. From Vertigo, I would say for sure grab The Exterminators by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore. A great mix of horror and dark humor. American Virgin by Steve Seagal and Beck Cloonan is starting this week as well and if your interested in a book that will focus on sex and love in todays society I would grab that as well.