A little help for a returning comic fan...

[Muki]

Jeez, a guy takes a few decades off and everything gets all crazy. :)

Seriously, I can't even begin to figure out where to start. Are there compendiums of good story lines (I've seen references to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, 52)? And how about some nice series I can enjoy reading to my 5-year old without fear of too much blood?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Shellhead]

How much money do you want to spend to catch up? If the answer is less than $500, you probably want to get selective about what you buy. The absolute minimum to get into current continuity would be the Infinite Crisis trade paperback, the 52 trade paperbacks, and then the weekly issues of Countdown, which started at #51 and is counting down to #0. I think they are currently on issue #32 or so. Infinite Crisis wasn't very good, 52 was very good, and Countdown is a terrible mess that practically requires readers to get a bunch of other comics to follow what is really happening.

Some people will tell you that Identity Crisis is mandatory, but they are wrong. It was a polarizing mini that generally provoked strong like or dislike in fans. Some will tell you that you also need to buy the four mini-series that tie into Infinite Crisis, but that's only if you feel the need to follow four stories of varying quality that are fairly tangential to the main action.

EDIT: I just re-read your post and saw that you are decades behind. In that case, I highly recommend that you pick up the Crisis on Infinite Earths tpb before anything else. It was written for DC fans who were reading comics before 1985, and is an important reference point with respect to subsequent DC continuity. It should be safe reading for your kid, which is not the case with any other comic I've mentioned so far in this post.

For kid-safe comics of high quality, I recommend the recent mini Shazam! Monster Society of Evil which is expensive but worth it. And there is the excellent bi-monthly All-Star Superman which is maybe on issue #8 so far. They both have great artwork and writing, and are entertaining for kids of all ages.

[vazel]

Why should you even care about continuity? Concentrate on the good stories like The Long Halloween and read up about basic continuity stuff on Wikipedia.
And how about some nice series I can enjoy reading to my 5-year old without fear of too much blood?'Shazam! Monster Society of Evil' is a fun treat for all ages.

[Lorendiac]

Jeez, a guy takes a few decades off and everything gets all crazy. :)

Seriously, I can't even begin to figure out where to start. Are there compendiums of good story lines (I've seen references to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, 52)? And how about some nice series I can enjoy reading to my 5-year old without fear of too much blood?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Something that might amuse you, and might even be (at least marginally) helpful . . .

I once wrote about a (purely fictional) fan in a predicament remarkably similar to yours! Almost two years ago now, I wrote and posted something I modestly called:

Twenty Years of DC Continuity in a Nutshell (http://www.geocities.com/lwhomer.geo/LorendiacSuperheroWritings/DC-Nutshell.htm)

A humorous dialogue. The basic premise was that a fan who was a teenager in the mid-1980s had somehow spent the last twenty years in suspended animation, ever since "Crisis on Infinite Earths," and was trying to catch up on what, exactly, had changed in the DCU during his very long nap. A modern fan named Steve was trying to bring him up to speed.

Now, granted, my target audience for that piece was actually people who already had a pretty good idea of what had been going on from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, but it's at least remotely possible that if you read it, you might find that some of the things mentioned in it will actually help you fill in some blanks regarding just who's done what when your back was turned. Maybe?

[DayWing]

Something that might amuse you, and might even be (at least marginally) helpful . . .

I once wrote about a (purely fictional) fan in a predicament remarkably similar to yours! Almost two years ago now, I wrote and posted something I modestly called:

Twenty Years of DC Continuity in a Nutshell (http://www.geocities.com/lwhomer.geo/LorendiacSuperheroWritings/DC-Nutshell.htm)

A humorous dialogue. The basic premise was that a fan who was a teenager in the mid-1980s had somehow spent the last twenty years in suspended animation, ever since "Crisis on Infinite Earths," and was trying to catch up on what, exactly, had changed in the DCU during his very long nap. A modern fan named Steve was trying to bring him up to speed.

Now, granted, my target audience for that piece was actually people who already had a pretty good idea of what had been going on from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, but it's at least remotely possible that if you read it, you might find that some of the things mentioned in it will actually help you fill in some blanks regarding just who's done what when your back was turned. Maybe?

Nice. Do more....do more

[Lorendiac]

Nice. Do more....do more

Well, a few months after I did that one, I did a sequel, which I posted here on CBR and which is also archived on my website now:

Twenty Years of Marvel Continuity in a Nutshell (http://www.geocities.com/lwhomer.geo/LorendiacSuperheroWritings/Marvel-Nutshell.html)

That's as far as I ever went with the concept, though. I remember I toyed with the idea of doing Image -- but there wasn't any Image in the mid-80s, and that bothered me. I also toyed with the idea of Star Wars -- but never wrote anything down for that one.

[marshal99]

He's talking about reading to a 5 year old , i can't imagine how you can read the likes of COIE or Infinite crisis and explain clearly to a 5 year old without his head exploding and why there's so many people dying. :p

Nowadays , a lot of comics are too violent , DC and Marvel alike. You probably should just stay with the american cheesecake superman comics. It's relatively safe there , superman doesn't kill. ;)

[Christopher Cross Is God]

He's talking about reading to a 5 year old , i can't imagine how you can read the likes of COIE or Infinite crisis and explain clearly to a 5 year old without his head exploding and why there's so many people dying. :p

Nowadays , a lot of comics are too violent , DC and Marvel alike. You probably should just stay with the american cheesecake superman comics. It's relatively safe there , superman doesn't kill. ;)

Or perhaps some Captain Marvel? Not Trials of Shazam or the 52-related stuff, but rather the recent works of Darwyn Cooke, as well as the upcoming Shazam series which has been advertised.

Wouldn't some of the Alex Ross/Paul Dini books that came out a few years ago be good as well? Especially "Shazam! Power of Hope."

[Shellhead]

He's talking about reading to a 5 year old , i can't imagine how you can read the likes of COIE or Infinite crisis and explain clearly to a 5 year old without his head exploding and why there's so many people dying. :p


The death thing may be a problem, but at least COIE wasn't gory like Infinite Crisis was. No eye-gouging or decapitations. As for complexity, my first issue of JLA was this one:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/45019795106.100.gif

It featured an alternate reality, two sets of heroes with overlapping identities, time travel, magic, advanced technology, shapeshifting, Aztecs, and lost heroes from another world. I was only 5 years old, and while I couldn't pronounce Crimson Avenger's name properly and I didn't know who the Aztecs were, I did understand the concept of Earth-2 and the alternate versions of Flash and Wonder Woman and the rest.

[Zero Hunter]

For the little ones you can always go for the books that came from the cartoons. You have Teen Titans Go!, Legion of Super Heroes in the 30th Century, and I belive Justice League Adventures. I hear that they are all pretty good. Be a good way to get them into the characters without a lot of baggage.

[Muki]

I want to thank all of the you for the replies. I have quite a list to follow up on! On a related note, where do you find comics nowadays? Barnes and Noble? Online? Are there still comic book stores out there?

[lawman]

I want to thank all of the you for the replies. I have quite a list to follow up on! On a related note, where do you find comics nowadays? Barnes and Noble? Online? Are there still comic book stores out there?
There aren't as many comic book stores "out there" as there once were, but there are still quite a few, depending on where "out there" you happen to live. If it's a major urban area, you shouldn't have any problem (here in Chicago, I have at least five within three miles of my door). If you're out in the boonies, then there are plenty of online vendors; the home page here at CBR carries ads from some of the established ones. If you prefer browsing before buying, both B&N and Borders carry a good selection of collected editions, and Borders even carries individual issues of a few titles. Have fun shopping!

Edited to add suggestions of my own:
You don't say exactly when you dropped out, but if it was before 1985, let me toss a few more recommendations your way. In addition to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths (http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Infinite-Earths-Marv-Wolfman/dp/1563897504/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190532567&sr=1-1) (which others have mentioned), I don't think you'd go wrong picking up the 1986 Man of Steel (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Man-Steel-Vol-1/dp/0930289285/ref=sr_1_2/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190532648&sr=1-2) collection (some of it's not quite in continuity any more, but it's a fun reintroduction to Superman anyway, and it's one you can share with your kid); JLA: Year One (http://www.amazon.com/JLA-Year-One-Mark-Waid/dp/1563895129/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190532686&sr=1-1) (likewise); Batman: Year One (http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Year-One-Frank-Miller/dp/1401207529/ref=sr_1_2/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190532686&sr=1-2) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Knight-Returns-Frank-Miller/dp/1563893428/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&qid=1190532686&sr=1-2) (perhaps wait until he's a few years older); The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore (http://www.amazon.com/DC-Universe-Stories-Alan-Moore/dp/1401209270/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190532417&sr=8-1) (a miscellany by a top-notch writer); and -- not a DCU story, but absolutely worth reading -- Watchmen (http://www.amazon.com/Watchmen-Alan-Moore/dp/0930289234/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/002-0255665-2793668?ie=UTF8&qid=1190532417&sr=8-1) (but wait 'til your kid's a teen to share this one).