Help a DC Newbie

[JoeMD]

The majority of comics I read are from Marvel. This is not because I necessarily like Marvel's books better than DC's it's simply because I've found Marvel's books are easier to get into for we newbies. I'd love to get into DC's character more but I haven't really found the right opportunity.

I have been getting a bunch of mini series such as Batman and the Mad Monk, I've also been buying All Star Superman, the new Wonder Woman (which would be SO much better if it came out more regularly then ever decade) and have ordered the new Bold and the Brave series.

However, my question is, what trades/ comics should I check out to get myself versed in DC characters or at very least so I am comfortable within the regular DC Universe (I still feel like a bit of an outsider). I've bought myself Batman: Year One and Batman: Hush which seem to be THE Bat books to get from what I have read, but is there anything else you guys could suggest?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[JoeMD]

Sorry, that title is supposed to be HELP a DC Newbie. Sorry for the error.

[SoulStar]

The majority of comics I read are from Marvel. This is not because I necessarily like Marvel's books better than DC's it's simply because I've found Marvel's books are easier to get into for we newbies. I'd love to get into DC's character more but I haven't really found the right opportunity.

I have been getting a bunch of mini series such as Batman and the Mad Monk, I've also been buying All Star Superman, the new Wonder Woman (which would be SO much better if it came out more regularly then ever decade) and have ordered the new Bold and the Brave series.

However, my question is, what trades/ comics should I check out to get myself versed in DC characters or at very least so I am comfortable within the regular DC Universe (I still feel like a bit of an outsider). I've bought myself Batman: Year One and Batman: Hush which seem to be THE Bat books to get from what I have read, but is there anything else you guys could suggest?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Good picks there actually. Other trades I would suggest are the identity crisis tpb. You might also like the teen titans tpbs that started in 2004 I believe. Also try any one of the superman/batman tpbs. Those are my suggestions.

[Killer Bee]

Contrary to popular belief, Marvel books are very difficult to get into compared to DC stuff since DC cleaned up its universe.

I would recommend Detective Comics since they're such great stand alones, JSA, JLA, and Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters.

Identity Crisis is great, but you might want a little backstory reading before getting into it.

[Karl O'Neill]

Green lantern:Rebirth
Green lantern: no fear
Green lantern:Revenge of the Green lanterns

The Flash:
Rogues
Rogue war
Blood will run
iron heights
The secret of barry allen
ignition

52: get them all

justice society of america

all the above by Geoff johns

grant morrisons current batman

[Infra-Man]

Though neither is canon history for the DC universe, I'd suggest picking up The Golden Age (aka JSA: The Golden Age) written by James Robinson and illustrated by Paul Smith and the DC: The New Frontier written/illustrated by Darwyn Cooke. Both are interesting looks at characters from the DC Universe's past, many of whom are still doing the hero stuff today. The Golden Age concerns the lives of golden-age superheroes after World War II and features Justice Society members such as the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott), and the original Hourman. DC: The New Frontier is essentially about the birth of the silver age of comics, with The Flash (Barry Allen) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) as two of the main characters.

For three really good trades for The Flash prior to Geoff Johns' run, you can't go wrong with these Mark Waid-penned Flash stories: The Flash: Born to Run, The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen, The Flash: Terminal Velocity.

With Batman, if you haven't read Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween, or Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, those are three great, idespensible Batman stories. Do NOT bother with the sequel to The Dark Knight Returns -- it is practically unreadable.

For Superman, I'd probably suggest Superman for All Seasons, Superman: Up, Up, and Away!, DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore (which includes the two excellent Superman stories "For the Man Who Has Everything" and "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?"), and Superman: Secret Identity (the best non-Superman Superman story ever, imo).

And as more and more of them are coming out, the black and white Showcase Presents collections are a great bang for the buck and the ones I've read so far have been really fun.

[Frizey]

I don't really read a lot of DC comics apart from Batman so I would recommend: Batman: Death in the Family. It's an absolulte must read if you're a Batman fan. Although Jason Todd was later resurrected [yeah thanks for that DC:mad:] this story is absolutely thrilling. Great art and an intense script!

[Bat-Mite]

If you like Morrison's All Star Superman, you might wanna check out his JLA trades

JLA: New World Order
JLA: Paradise Lost
JLA: Strenght in Numbers
JLA: Justice for all.
JLA: World War 3
JLA: Earth 2 (this one also has art from Frank Quietly)

Or Morrison's Doom Patrol and Animal Man trades too.

If you liked Wagner's Batman and the Red Monk mini, there was also a Batman and the Monster Men mini, which has already been put in a trade, and a Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman mini called Trinity. He also had a Doc Mid-Nite mini also available now in trade.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

I also suggest Batman: A Death In The Family. Fantastic storyline, even with the recent retcon of Jason Todd being alive now.

And I HIGHLY suggest these:

JUSTICE (12-issue limited series which is on issue #9 now)....This is a stand-alone story not particularly related to the current DC Universe, but it's a great storyline with different, yet breathtaking, artwork.

Birds Of Prey #56-up (Some of the storylines are sold via trade paperback)
Secret Six (Limited Series)
Villains United (Limited Series)

Secret Six & Villains United are both sold via trade paperback as well, I believe.

I haven't read much of JSA (Justice Society of America), but what little I have read seems really good. There are trade paperbacks of some of the more integral storylines, such as the one where Black Adam forms his own group.

I've recently gotten into 52, and I think it's a good suggestion in that you become acquainted with a wide variety of characters. It's several different storylines in a weekly-release format.......And they have 2-page back-stories consisting of origins (I think from issue #13-up), as well as back-stories explaining the history of the DC Universe in issues #1-12 or so.

And these below are Elseworlds storylines, but you MUST get them as they're just absolutely fantastic:

The Nail
Another Nail
Kingdom Come
Superboy's Legion (2-issue storyline)

The Nail, Another Nail, and Kingdom Come you can get in collected formats.

[TheLazy]

Anything by Geoff Johns, he is DC's version of Bendis, but better.

Morrison had a good run on JLA, and Waid before him. I recomend getting one of the team books written by them three to get good stories about good characters. Between JLA, JSA, Teen Titans, and The Outsiders, and Birds of Prey you've got most of your A and B listers covered.

:)

[Magneto Rocks]

Contrary to popular belief, Marvel books are very difficult to get into compared to DC stuff since DC cleaned up its universe.

I have to heavily disagree with that, though maybe it's the titles I chose.

Still, I think DC's policy (I assume it's a policy?) of not using "The Story So Far..." pages is very stupid and goes a long way against getting new readers, especially if the story so far will be constantly referenced.


Anything by Geoff Johns, he is DC's version of Bendis, but better

Well they both wrote horrible Avengers' runs, but yes- Johns was mildly better ;)

[comicstar100]

Kingdom Come is a great trade, amazing art and story. I totally agree that DC should do Story so far pages, I really don't understand why we still don't have them. Rebirth is a must of your a GL fan. I also recommend Ion, seems something big is going down with the DCU and I'm guessing Kyle will be a direct cause of it. Justice League just stared a new run so you could find the first few issues of it rather easily. As far as anymore trades I would recommend JLA:Strength in numbers
JLA: World War III
GL:Emerald Dawn
Batman: Year One
Batman: Red Hood
The always classic crisis on infinite earths

[JoeMD]

Wow, thanks for all the help folks, this is brilliant! I owe you all one! :D

Also try any one of the superman/batman tpbs

I'm sure my library has at least one of those, so I'll check it out.

Contrary to popular belief, Marvel books are very difficult to get into compared to DC stuff since DC cleaned up its universe.

I'm just going off my experianc here, but I found Marvel a lot eaiser ot get into. When you say "cleaned up their Universe" do you mean with all the One Year Later stuff? I tired the Flash series that is supposed ot be One Year Later and I felt completely lost and gave up after three issues. However I did pick up the Wonder Woman book and am loving it!

With Batman, if you haven't read Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween, or Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, those are three great

I have read these, but only own Y1. Actually, I didn't like DKR all that much. Superman For All Seasons is brilliant. I was never much of a fan of the character until I read that.

thanks again everyone,

Cheers!

[Trey]

Alot of stuff mentioned, for a newbie, not so good. 52? yeah right
the morrison JLA, you'll be going, what? Same with JSA

Start with New Frontier, just look at the art first, as its very different, but dam is it wonderful.

I myself was a noob about 2 years ago.

For Batman's world: Anything is accessable, I recommend Catwoman by Brubaker for another aspect of the Gotham world.

For Superman: Birthright by Waid and Yu

As someone mentioned, Teen Titans v1 A Kids Game

Avoid Identity Crisis, good God was that bad. But after you've got some knowledge, Infinite crisis is real good fun.

[JoeMD]

Thanks for that Trey!

[stealthwise]

To be honest, I'd probably go through Wikipedia to find out background on characters, as a lot of the recent DC history is somewhat interesting, but the result of some fairly lackluster, mediocre stories (ie. Teen Titans).

[Bat-Mite]

The Morrison JLA is one of the first DC things I read. What the heck it has that is so complicated? They are the JLA, they defend the world against the weird evil stuff that tries to destroy it. End of story.

[MaxofSteel]

Pick up All-Star Superman. Great read. Great art. Really in keeping with the "classic" feel of the Superman mythos. I highly recommend it.

Also the regular Superman title and Action Comics are kickass as well.

[kal_el21]

JSA/JLA: Virtue and Vice

If you want to start picking up monthly titles you really can't miss with: Justice Society of America, Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, and Justice League of America.

JSA and JLA are on their opening arcs so are very accesible. BoP just hit a new arc too and should be easy to get into.

[JoeMD]

Cool, thanks.

[dupersuper]

The suggested so far are mostly great. I'd also recommend Action 775 and 800, Look, Up in the Sky, Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Index, The Kingdom, the year1 annuals from the mid-90's, Legends of the Dark Knight, Legends of the DCU, Secret Origins, Who's Who, Moores' Swamp Thing, History of the DCU, JLU, Kirbys' 4th World books, Sandman, Man of Steel, the early Byrne/Wolfman stuff in tpb, World of Krypton, World of Smallville, World of Metropolis, JLA: Incarnations, the World Finest 10 part series, Waids' Brave and the Bold and Silver Age mini's, Batman; Turning Points, Deadman; Dead Again, Zero Hour and the "0 month" books that followed, Perezs' Titans, Giffens JLI, the 4 or 5 part Origins story in Ostranders' Martian Manhunter series, Martian Manhunter; American Secrets, Batman Year 2, Catwoman Year 2, Batman Year 3, Batman; a Lonely Place of Dying, the Secret Files & Origins books that come out occasionally...

[JoeMD]

Cor, I'll take me my whole life to read all that! Cheers! :)

[Erebus]

52 might be confusing for a noob, since it spans almost the entire DC universe, and your going to be introduced to new characters and places so fast you might not be able to keep track of them all.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

The Morrison JLA is one of the first DC things I read. What the heck it has that is so complicated? They are the JLA, they defend the world against the weird evil stuff that tries to destroy it. End of story.

Nothing very complicated about JSA, either. Even 52, for that matter, has been very easy for me to follow.

To each their own, I guess.

[kal_el21]

Nothing very complicated about JSA, either. Even 52, for that matter, has been very easy for me to follow.

To each their own, I guess.

Your screen name scares me. Me thinks you may need an intervention.:p

[Belfast_Fanboy]

It depends really on what characters you want to read any of the tpb attached to the one year later jump that happened last year are a must read and retty much give a good starting point and an up to date short back history. Superman Up Up and away is a good book for the boy scout but it really depends what your cash flow is and who you already know?

[Christopher Cross Is God]

Your screen name scares me. Me thinks you may need an intervention.:p

Just wait until I make an avatar. You'll get to see a picture of Christopher Cross in his prime, overweight years each time I post. :D

[niall mc cann]

Alot of stuff mentioned, for a newbie, not so good. 52? yeah right
the morrison JLA, you'll be going, what? Same with JSA

Start with New Frontier, just look at the art first, as its very different, but dam is it wonderful.

I'd swap those; i think New Frontier is gonna bend your head if you don't know a little going in, but Morrison's JLA is straightforward: the big seven join forces to take on the greatest, most cosmic threats in the universe. Easy!:D

Totally agree about Birthright, though.

[jayeffscene]

i'd say you should check out 'The Dark Knight Returns,' and 'Batman: The Long Halloween.' for sure. If you like TLH get 'Dark Victory' too. Also, how is 'year one'?

[TheLazy]

i'd say you should check out 'The Dark Knight Returns,' and 'Batman: The Long Halloween.' for sure. If you like TLH get 'Dark Victory' too. Also, how is 'year one'?

Only the greatest Batman story ever told. It juxtaposes Bruce anjd Gordons arivial in Gotham to fight crime. The art it rough and grainy which suits the story perfecty. It funny in places too.

:)

[titanfan]

Neither DC or Marvel are really that hard to get into--with the proper motivation. No different than a new viewer just turning into the Heroes or LOST TV show. It might take you a few hours of looking up characters/stories online, but it's not hard to catch up.

I would suggest that you start to dive into the DCU team books. An important concept in the DC Universe is Legacy--and right now, the books that best for that (and are also really good) is Teen Titans and JSA. (JSA relaunch just started--so it's easy to catch up)

You'll probably be familiar with several of the characters already just because they are supporting cast members of books you do read. And once you're caught up to speed with the characters and supporting cast of Teen Titans/JSA--you'll be well equipped to read almost any DC title.

(From a personal standpoint, my favorite book is Checkmate though)

If you want to dive right in, just go ahead and pick of Infinite Crisis. Sure, it's confusing at first, but you'll be able to find annotations, character descriptions, online if you have to--and by the end of it, you'll know all of the major (current) players in the DC Universe.

[suttercain]

SUPERMAN SUGGESTIONS:
Birthright
Man of Steel Vol. 1
Superman/Batman Vol 1 & 2
Superman for Tomorrow Vol 1 & 2

OTHERS:
Supergirl: Power
Batman: The Long Halloween


SOME WORTH WHILE COMICS
The Newest "Justice League of America"
"Justice Society of America" - One of my faves.

[matt_hatyber]

the flash(old)
shazam the monster society of evil
teen titans
trails of shazam
ion
batman/superman
52

[JoeMD]

Thanks guys!

[joint venture]

DC The New Frontier will give you a huge insight of how the DC universe came to life. It is very well written, the sequential art by Darwin Cooke is quite a looker. It is a tpb you should buy to get an idea of who's who; beyond that you may choose your favorite from that lot and proceed to find out more about him/her.

Kingom Come is an apocalyptic version of what might become of the DC universe in the future. To build something so complicated, they had to deconstruct a lot of the DC Universe into a very inteligent script that shows you the character's and their evolutions. In a way, it shows the origins and motivations of the main characters in the DCU and the key to restore peace at "that" time.

I reccomend you trade paperbacks with relevant stories.

Picking up a monthly without previous knowledge of how the DCU clock ticks might give you a false impression and set you back from really enjoying DC comics and their titles.

:) Go buy them trades my man!

[JoeMD]

DC The New Frontier will give you a huge insight of how the DC universe came to life. It is very well written, the sequential art by Darwin Cooke is quite a looker. It is a tpb you should buy to get an idea of who's who; beyond that you may choose your favorite from that lot and proceed to find out more about him/her.

Kingom Come is an apocalyptic version of what might become of the DC universe in the future. To build something so complicated, they had to deconstruct a lot of the DC Universe into a very inteligent script that shows you the character's and their evolutions. In a way, it shows the origins and motivations of the main characters in the DCU and the key to restore peace at "that" time.

I reccomend you trade paperbacks with relevant stories.

Picking up a monthly without previous knowledge of how the DCU clock ticks might give you a false impression and set you back from really enjoying DC comics and their titles.

:) Go buy them trades my man!

Thanks mate, I'll check those out!

I picked up the first Superman/Batman HC from my local library. It was a fun book which I quite enjoyed so I'm looking to get the second volume, I might even buy the first TP.