List 5 Must have DC TPB's for a Marvel guy.

[TransformersFan]

Title says it all. Picked up Morrisons All-Star Superman HC and JLA: Earth 2 and I really liked them because they were easy to read, self-contained and not deep into continuity. Looking for something similar. Was thinking of getting some of the following as well: Millers Dark Knight Returns, Superman: For All Seasons, Kingdom Comes, Superman/Batman: Aboslute Power.

Would these be something I'd like? And are there some others you could suggest?

Thanks.

[Ryan Day]

Definitely Dark Knight Returns. Great book.

In a similar vein, particularly if you're a Miller fan - Batman: Year One. Batman's origin story. A great crime story. Also a very heavy influence on Batman Begins.

Watchmen: Yes, it's as great as everyone says it is. Often imitated, never duplicated. (Not unlike Miller's Batman work, but even better.)

Animal Man: Grant Morrison's take on a C-list superhero. There are three TPBs of the series; I don't know if the first is the best, but it does have The Coyote Gospel, one of the best stories I've ever read. Lots of Morrison craziness, but it starts out fairly straightforwardly.

New Frontier: The story of DC's superheroes in the 50s and 60s. Everyone from Superman & Wonder Woman to the Challengers of the Unknown and Green Lantern. It might sound continuity heavy, but it's really not; a great, fun, self-contained superhero story. It actually comes in two TPBs, which I'm not sure is the best idea - the first half feels like a lot of setup, but the payoff in part two is fantastic.

[Smokeyjay]

Well Dark Knight and Kingdom come I think everyone should read. Even if your not a comic book fan, you don't really need to know any real backstory with the exception of the general mythos of Batman and Superman. I haven't read Superman/All seasons or Superman/Batman.

Kingdom comes got me into comics and made me see comics in a new light.

I like self-contained superman stories because he's such an iconic character that stories about him tend to be more powerful imo.

Superman Red Son- A "What if Superman landed in the Soviet Union instead of the USA"

Superman-Secret Identity- A modern and realistic look at a Superman character growing up in the 20th century.

[CaptainCanada]

Kingdom Come, Red Son, and several other good choices have already been mentioned, so I'll just say:

DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore - this trade collects Moore's (writer of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, etc.) 80s DC work; in particular, there are two classic Superman stories (For The Man Who Has Everything and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?) and one classic Batman story (The Killing Joke). Some of the other stories are pretty ordinary, but those three, plus a pair of really inventive Green Lantern backups, are well worth the cost.

[Bradley]

I would agree that Watchmen is a good choice if you're looking for a really good book-- though not if you're looking for five books that will introduce you to the best that the DC Universe has to offer.

I would suggest the first Animal Man trade paperback, Justice League: A New Beginning, Batman: Strange Apparitions, Batman in the Seventies, and Starman: Sins of the Father. I know others will say that Kingdom Come, The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman: Year One are more "significant" books, but I don't think those books are particularly fun, the way I think the my choices are.

Happy reading.

EDIT: I just saw that someone else posted the collected Alan Moore DC Universe stories-- I agree with that suggestion. So go ahead and knock Starman off my list.

[Will.S]

Soley DC Heroes:

Batman: Year One - Great Batman origin story. Very straightforward and self contained but if you liked Batman Begins, this is what inspired it. There are other great Batman books as well such as The Long Halloween, Hush isn't too bad either.

New Frontier - Another great modern classic. It takes the best of what makes guys like Barry Allen, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman and makes them timeless. Darwyn Cooke's art is simply gorgeous, sort of cartoony but not overly so that it distracts. Highly stylized.

The Dark Knight Returns - This was one of those inspirational "Last Hurrah" types of books that did it the best and even if you read it after Watchmen it'll hold up just fine. Great Miller art here, probably among my favorite alongside his 300 work.

Green Lantern Rebirth - Really good re-introduction of Hal Jordan and the current Green Lanterns. It makes references to older continuity but it recaps enough to fill you in, if you like this you'll definitely like the current GL series and maybe even the Green Lantern Corps.

Superman: For All Seasons - Similar to the way Darwyn Cooke does New Frontier and takes all the stuff that works in the Superman world and makes them come out in a very iconic yet honest way. Very good story about Superman as young Clark and his parentage as well.

Outside of that get the Absolute Watchmen. Don't just listen to people saying how great it is and whatnot, just start reading it and let it absorb you into the story.

[DavidAllred]

Title says it all. Picked up Morrisons All-Star Superman HC and JLA: Earth 2 and I really liked them because they were easy to read, self-contained and not deep into continuity. Looking for something similar. Was thinking of getting some of the following as well: Millers Dark Knight Returns, Superman: For All Seasons, Kingdom Comes, Superman/Batman: Aboslute Power.

Would these be something I'd like? And are there some others you could suggest?

Thanks.

Dude, everyone is saying get "Kingdom Come" but if you aren't a life long DC fan, you'll spend too much time trying to figure out who these people are. Morrison's All Star Supes is in fact one of the greatest TPB's we've had in years.

I am betting my last dollar that since you like self-contained stories, you'll like the following:

Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
Villians United
Justice League: "Tornado's Path" (It's the new Meltzer story)
Outsiders: Looking for Trouble

You will also enjoy Supes / Bats "Absolute Power" .... if you like what you've read so far, definiately give that TBP a whirl.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

Dude, everyone is saying get "Kingdom Come" but if you aren't a life long DC fan, you'll spend too much time trying to figure out who these people are.

I didn't know who most of them were, but I didn't mind. Didn't take away from the story, it was that well done.

My suggestions would be:

Kingdom Come
Villains United
Watchmen
The Nail
Another Nail

Only one of these (Villains United) is from the mainstream DC Universe. Kingdom Come, The Nail, and Another Nail are all Elseworlds storylines, and Watchmen has nothing to do with DC, really, aside from being published by the company.

I would say get JUSTICE as well, but so far it has been released in 2 separate hardcovers (With another on the way, after issue #12 is completed) instead of a collected tpb.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Watchmen - A must-read for anyone interested in the super-hero genre. It still holds up today, decades after lesser writers ripping it off over and over and over again.

New Frontier - One of my favorite comic series to come out in years and years. This is both a love letter to the birth of the Silver Age of comics and a scathing critique of 1950s America. New Frontier is, in many ways, the sequel to The Golden Age , which is about the final days of the World War II-era mystery men. If you like New Frontier, you'll like this.

Dark Knight Returns - For better or worse, this is THE Batman story. It's the high water mark for the character in the minds of many fans. If you like Batman, you owe it to yourself to read this story. If you like it, follow it up with Batman: Year One.

Kingdom Come - This is essentially what Dark Knight Returns was for Batman, but featuring the entire DC Universe. Beautifully painted, well-written and over-flowing with subtext and commentary into both the super-hero genre and the industry itself. If you like this, pick up Justice, which is a fully painted JLA vs. The Legion of Doom throwdown. A wet dream for any Challenge of the Super Friends fan.

[Sophisticated_Gamer]

Wow, I've been into comics for a while, but now I got some new ideas thx.

But IMO Watchmen weren't that great...I don't understand all the comotion...

[RichStanz]

I enjoy all the suggestions, but after seeing a couple of the same books keep coming up, I've realized: "Outside of the big 5 books, I don't have that many DC trades. What unknown or under-appreciated TBs are worth highlighting - to Marvel guys, comic novices, or new DC fans?"

So without naming Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Kingdom Come, or New Frontier - here are my 5 picks. Lesser known books that I think are great introductions to the characters/events/styles of DC.

Adam Strange: Planet Heist

Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty

Green Arrow: Quiver

JLA: New World Order

Plastic Man: On the Lam!

[The Shadow]

My five:

Kingdom Come
Watchmen
Dark Knight Returns
Green Arrow Longbow Hunters

And to add something new to the mix: Sgt Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place. A killer graphic novel by Azzurello and Kubert Sr.

A few others: Any Preacher or Starman or anything by Alan Moore.

A few to avoid: New Frontier (most overhyped, overrated and boring book in ages) and Green Lantern Rebirth (an unnecessary story that basically absolved Hal Jordan of everything for a YELLOW FEAR MONSTER! blah).

[Green Lantern wannabe]

I would say, "Batman: Year One", which is twenty-odd years old, but still one of my favorites. I didn't really like "Absolute Power", but maybe it's just me.

[Karl O'Neill]

Kingdom come
JSA -The next age
JLA-The tornados path

[cactusmaac]

Batman: Year One
Superman: For All Seasons
Kingdom Come
The Golden Age (better than New Frontier)
Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel

[Frankie Dennis]

1. Watchmen
2. Batman Year One
3. Kingdom Come
4. New Frontier
5. Superman For All Seasons

[dancj]

The Nail
Another Nail
I really wouldn't recommend these. The art is excellent, but the stories are quite mediocre.

My choices would be

The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Animal Man vols 1-3 (I know I'm cheating and making this one entry)
Red Son
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing books

I would have put Watchmen in, but it has no DCU connection

[Will.S]

Animal Man vols 1-3 (I know I'm cheating and making this one entry)
I keep wanting to get this but I get a looming feeling that they will collect it in some form of Omnibus.

I just wished DC used better paper for the sake of the art.

[Shade]

The Golden Age (better than New Frontier)


This the Golden Age would be my MUST have as well, and while I agree it's better than NEW FRONTIER ....get BOTH if you can because New Frontier is fantastic as well.

[Christopher Cross Is God]

I really wouldn't recommend these. The art is excellent, but the stories are quite mediocre.

To each their own. I liked both the art & stories in The Nail & Another Nail.

To me, Alan Davis is both a great artist and an excellent writer. Not that this has to do with The Nail or Another Nail, but the way he is able to make old storylines continue cohesively (his later issues in Excalibur, as well as "The Twelve" storyline in X-Men), without retcons, is fantastic.

[Ryan Day]

I keep wanting to get this but I get a looming feeling that they will collect it in some form of Omnibus.

I just wished DC used better paper for the sake of the art.

I don't know if there's a demand for an Absolute Animal Man. I'm not sure the art is great enough to really merit the oversized, glossy format: It's capable, and gets up to "pretty good" towards the end, but it's nothing special.

[zhivago]

My recommendations are:

Green Lantern: Rebirth
JLA: Year One
Batman: Year One
The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters

[Nintendite]

I must say that if you want to read some great Batman stories that aren't weighed down by continuity, read Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns. Jeph Loeb's Long Halloween is also good.

Kingdom Come is a must-read. Although it does have a bunch of stuff that only people who know DC's continuity would understand, these are about 95% in-jokes or cameos.

New Frontier can probably best be described as a "What If Superheroes premiered at roughly when they were first published?" type of story. The fact it is not as mentioned and as well regarded as Kingdom Come and some of the other stories is because... well.. I don't know why. It truly is the greatest comic I have ever read. It requires a bit more knowledge of continuity then Kingdom Come, but again, the continuity for the most part is only in in-jokes and cameos.

Superman/Batman: Absolute Power is fun (and is an unofficial starting point of the "Infinite Crisis" countdown), but not great.

JLA: Syndicate Rules would probably interest you, as it is both the sequel to JLA: Earth 2 AND the unofficial sequel to JLA/Avengers (dealing with the aftermath of all the cosmic craziness that occured during that series).

[Kid Kyoto]

An excellent questions I'll throw my 2 yen in.

Kingdom Come though it is filled with continunity Easter Eggs and in jokes it reads very well on its own. Probably the JLA at their best.
Justice though it is based on the old Super Friends cartoon and has tons of obscure characters the story-telling is clear and the action is first rate.
and now for some new stuff
Legion of Super Heroes Great Darkness Saga - This has the same cavits as before, a big cast, lots of new characters BUT well told epic battle pitting a group of future heroes against the god of evil and his 3 billion brainwashed slaves, each as powerful as Superman. It was the first epic story I read and still the best.
Batman and the Monster Men/Batman and the Mad Monk Two recent Batman stories by Matt Wagner both stand alone, both very well done, both based on some classic Golden Age stories.
Superman Batman Generations A very fun idea, what if Superman and Batman started their careers in the 30s and their stories continued to today. Each chapter was set 10 years apart. The characters age in real time, new characters appear and each chapter tried to tell a story in the style of the time, the 50s story is campy, the 80s is gritty, etc etc.

[Smokeyjay]

I actually got Kingdom come reasonably well and it was one of the first actual comic that I read.

I didn't know who the Marvel guy was or Green latern or who Orion was. I did know the main three, Joker, and Lex luthor. THat was pretty much it.

Apparently Kingdom come was also criticizing the violent nature that is glorified in some comics like and the appeal that many superheros lost there sense of morals-that fact kind of flew over my head because I wasn't reading comics beforehand so I didn't know the history behind it.

But you don't really need to know the characters indepth-just who is bad and good and what they were fighting for.

[FanboyStranger]

I would go along with The Dark Knight Returns, but would also throw in Batman: Year One and The Long Halloween as alternate choices. These books don't drag you down with a lot of continuity, which means they are a great introduction to Batman, although in the case of Batman, you probably have a good sense of the character via pop culture.

The Golden Age-- This is not only a great story, but serves as a great introduction to DC's Golden Age superheroes, which could serve as a gateway into another great book in Starman as well as JSA, if you're so inclined. I recommend it more highly that Kingdom Come which I feel is a lot more fun if you're already familiar with the DCU (not saying that it's not a good story, just not as good as The Golden Age.

Animal Man is a good pick as well, as are Morrison's Doom Patrol run, especially The Painting that Ate Paris, and his recent Seven Soldiers. Doom Patrol's a bit on the weird side and may or may not still be in continuity, but it is some mind-blowing stuff. Seven Soldiers, in my opinion, is the best achievement in super-hero comics in the past few years, although it strayed a little weak towards the end.

[Billage]

Kingdom Come
The New Frontier
Batman Year One
The Golden Age
Green Arrow:Archer's Quest

also..Justice when it's collected as well as All Star Superman

[Billage]

This the Golden Age would be my MUST have as well, and while I agree it's better than NEW FRONTIER ....get BOTH if you can because New Frontier is fantastic as well.

I always saw Frontier as GA's unofficial sequel.

[Paul Newell]

Really, you can't go past

1. Golden Age
2. New Frontier
3. Kingdom Come
4. Dark Knight Returns
5. Watchmen.

:)

[Lex]

I love seeing so many people recommending New Frontier. It really is a fantastic read, especially for new reader who aren't familiar with DC continuity.

So without naming Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Kingdom Come, or New Frontier - here are my 5 picks. Lesser known books that I think are great introductions to the characters/events/styles of DC.

Adam Strange: Planet Heist

Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty

Green Arrow: Quiver

JLA: New World Order

Plastic Man: On the Lam!
Great idea! You've brought up some good ones with Adam Strange, Gotham Central and Plastic man. I'll try to think of some others.

Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets - This is later in the Gotham Central run, but I recommend it because it has one of the best Joker stories I've ever read.

JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice - This is an original graphic novel all about a team-up between the Justice League and Justice Society. It's a good story with lots of action. And I think it's pretty well-written. It does touch on some continuity, but not in a way that would confuse newer readers.

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia - Another original graphic novel. It's a very interesting read, dealing with a runaway who wants Wonder Woman's protection. And then Batman gets involved (with a great fight scene between him and WW). This story is filled with Greek mythology, which is one of the reason I love it so much.

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga - One of the best Legion stories ever written. Also one of the only Legion stories ever put into a trade. Definately worth checking out.

... and those are the only ones I can think of right now.

[Maestro]

The best Batman trades in reading order

Year One
Batman and the Monster Men
Batman and the Mad Monk
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Blind Justice
The Dark Knight Returns

also

Batman: Hush
Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 1-5
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies
Green Lantern: Rebirth
JLA Vol. 1-9 by Grant Morrison
Catwoman: When in Rome
Gotham Central Vol. 1-5
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

[FanboyStranger]

The best Batman trades in reading order

Year One
Batman and the Monster Men
Batman and the Mad Monk
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
Blind Justice
The Dark Knight Returns



I would put Wagner's Faces on the list before either ...Monster Men or ...Mad Monk, both of which I loved. I was not impressed by Blind Justice at all.

That said, Catwoman by Brubaker, Cooke, Rader, and Stewart is excellent, particularly Relentless with Cam Stewart (helps to have followed the story from the beginning of the series, however). If you're a Marvel guy who loves Bru's work on Daredevil or Captain America, then you should love this book.

[Beacon]

1. Golden Age
2. Kingdom Come
3. New Frontier
4. Superman: Secret Identity
5. Watchmen

Honorable mentions for Starman, Sandman, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, the Loeb/Sale collaborations, a number of Justice League stories (especially by Morrison and the small handful of Giffen trades out there), the Dini/Ross collaborations, Batman: No Man’s Land, various “Year One” books (Batman, JLA, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing), and some others that are either not quite top five material or are too long to fit.