What are the good ongoing DC books on the shelf right now ? What makes it good ?

[sabongero]

What are the good ongoing DC titles currently on the shelf right now ? What makes them good ?

Maybe it's cool storylines, and cool concepts being introduced by the writer. Just wanted to know for new readers, old readers who can go back to reading up DC again.

I was wondering what's a good DC read lately, as it seems to have a lot of negative comments regarding DC over the last couple of years.

[Schornforce]

Well, good is of course, subjective, but here are my current faves:

Wonder Woman- it's not for everyone, but I enjoy seeing Gail Simone's take on the Amazon princess so far. Not my favorite per se, but interesting.

JSA- since I'm a Kingdom Come fan, I really am digging the current storyline and am glad to see that Alex Ross's initial idea for Gog is being implemented. Also, Black Adam!!!

Detective Comics- I actually like that Harley Quinn and Riddler had reformed and think that Paul Dini does an infinitely better job with this title than ...bleh... Countdown.

Catwoman- I really love Selina's book. I think she's been turned into a compelling and interesting character and I also rather enjoy the art and writing.

Booster Gold- This book really surprised me. I picked it up cuz I enjoyed 52, but the stories are terriffic-- not a clunker yet. I love how it hits points in a few of DC's big 'events.'

Recently cancelled, but worth a look see is Justice League Unlimited. I enjoyed that Johnny DC title immensely and think it's an entirely boneheaded move of DC to cancel a likeable comic that showcases a slew of cool characters that aren't bogged down with needless crises and deaths/dismemberments. I also enjoyed Teen Titans Go! ....which was also, sadly cancelled.

Hrm.


Also, I keep hearing great things about Green Lantern, but haven't picked it up myself. I keep meaning to get the Sinestro Corps TPBs, however and see what the fuss is about.

[Ilash]

Forget the negativity. Yeah, DC has made plenty of stupid editorial decisions lately (about half of them all having to do with the Flash family of characters) but they have so many good titles out there. Here are some:

Geoff Johns' corner of the DCU

Justice Society of America is by a mile his worst title because too many characters means too little focus but it is a very good read nonetheless. It's currently in the middle of an enjoyable storyline that is a semi-sequel to Kingdom Come and its sense of legacy is still pretty cool.

Booster Gold is basically a time travel book and though it threatens to fall into the usual "continuity porn" that turns so many people off DC books but it never does. It has great characters, a solid concept and fun storylines. Plus some slightly old fashioned but rock solid art from Dan Jurgens.

Action Comics and Green Lantern are two of the best comics on the stands right now. GL has been great throughout but Action Comics have only recently really started to kick ass. What's good about them? Everything. Characters, concepts, storylines and incredible art. Both of these are absolute must buys.

The rest of the DCU

Green Lantern Corps, a good companion to the main title. Not quite up to it but it's some really enjoyable space opera.

Blue Beetle is still a very underrated, underlooked book. It's hard to tell how good it will be in the future as it is currently undergoing a creative team change but it hasn't dissapointed me yet. Excellent characterization; witty, genuinely funny dialogue and plenty of action are all to be found in this gem of a book. The art's great too.

Batman and Detective Comics have both been really good for a while now. I prefer Grant Morrison's more out-there Batman but is brilliantly balanced by Dini's much more down to earth Detective. It's in the middle of the RIP event so it may be a bit hard to catch on to what's going on with Batman but I gladly recommend most of Morrison's run (except the Joker prose issue and the Ras Al Ghul crossover with the other Bat books) and Detective has been all done in one (or two) stories so it's easy to jump on there and it is about to start tying in more with the RIP thing.

Brave and the Bold Great old school superhero team ups by Mark Waid and George Perez (for the first 10 issues) and a bunch of other top drawer artists. It's not really tied into what's going with the rest of the DCU on the whole and stands as its own thing: a great little superhero comic with superb characterization and a real sense of fun to it. JMS will be starting a run on it later on in the year and it's relaly up in the air as to how good that will be but for now, it's a very cool comic.

[Dorsai]

Blue Beetle is currently one of my favorite titles. Although a book about a teenage superhero, it doesn't read as immature. The first 24 issues contained an overreaching story arc that had a nice steady build with a great ending. There are almost always a few humorous moments although this book isn't meant to be a humor book. Although the character himself is extremely powerful (I don't think we have yet seen the limits), it is still a pretty down to earth title. I really can't say enough good things about this book.

I read Manhunter in trade and picked up the first issue after the break and it was also quite good. Like Blue Beetle, Manhunter is a legacy hero but also like Beetle, there is not a lot in common with previous incarnations. I've thought the title was well written, the art has consistently been good, and the stories and plots seem to flow naturally. Also, like Blue Beetle, this book doesn't really need a lot of knowledge of continuity to be enjoyed. Most of the time, you are reading about something that happened in this title and in this volume. I've gone to Wikipedia a few times but only to see if someone that has shown up was an existing character. The one story arc that might be an exception involved Wonder Woman but even then, what was needed was provided in the title.

I have also been enjoying Booster Gold for the most part. I picked this up in the wake of 52 and thought the series started off strong. I thought there might have been an issue or two that didn't quite grab my interest but overall, this has been a solid title. This might actually be a decent chance to jump on as there is only one issue left in the current arc.

[Schornforce]

D'oh! I can't believe I'd forgot the Brave and the Bold! Good call, Ilash! :smile:

[sabongero]

Well, good is of course, subjective, but here are my current faves:

JSA- since I'm a Kingdom Come fan, I really am digging the current storyline and am glad to see that Alex Ross's initial idea for Gog is being implemented. Also, Black Adam!!!


Holy S..t ! I didn't know **SPOILER** is going to be part of JSoA again. That's a surprise indeed. I hope he comes in as high and almighty and high strung and written to butt heads with the JSoA chairman, or chairwoman in this case.


Blue Beetle is currently one of my favorite titles. Although a book about a teenage superhero, it doesn't read as immature. The first 24 issues contained an overreaching story arc that had a nice steady build with a great ending. There are almost always a few humorous moments although this book isn't meant to be a humor book. Although the character himself is extremely powerful (I don't think we have yet seen the limits), it is still a pretty down to earth title. I really can't say enough good things about this book.

I read Manhunter in trade and picked up the first issue after the break and it was also quite good. Like Blue Beetle, Manhunter is a legacy hero but also like Beetle, there is not a lot in common with previous incarnations. I've thought the title was well written, the art has consistently been good, and the stories and plots seem to flow naturally. Also, like Blue Beetle, this book doesn't really need a lot of knowledge of continuity to be enjoyed. Most of the time, you are reading about something that happened in this title and in this volume. I've gone to Wikipedia a few times but only to see if someone that has shown up was an existing character. The one story arc that might be an exception involved Wonder Woman but even then, what was needed was provided in the title.

I know about Manhunter's return to the shelf, and Andreyko's work is solid and speaks for itself. But is the Blue Beetle a good series basically because it's not dragged into the crossover events like the other DC books, and that it's in its own little pocket universe in the whole DCU.

[Schornforce]

Holy S..t ! I didn't know **SPOILER** is going to be part of JSoA again. That's a surprise indeed. I hope he comes in as high and almighty and high strung and written to butt heads with the JSoA chairman, or chairwoman in this case.

That would be awesome. I can't recall if those two have exchanged blows in the past or not.

[Raker616]

Green Lantern, month in and month out it's has not only great writting but interesting stories and since it's relaunch, has helped remind me why I fell in love with Hal and the GL mythos when I was a kid in the first place.

[rZi]

Action Comics is pretty much consistantly good.

Frank delivers great art with Johns always hitting home runs on the writting. His Green Lantern is also good but for someone like me who doesn't know alot about the mythos/history behind it all it's confusing at times.

[Ilash]

I know about Manhunter's return to the shelf, and Andreyko's work is solid and speaks for itself. But is the Blue Beetle a good series basically because it's not dragged into the crossover events like the other DC books, and that it's in its own little pocket universe in the whole DCU.

No it's a good series because it has wonderful characters, plenty of heart, fun action scenes, plenty of humour and has, to date at least, been really well written and drawn.