Questions from a comic fan just getting into DC

[Marveluted]

I've been a lifelong comic book reader, but I've mostly stuck to Marvel and indie titles. Vertigo stuff (Fables, 100 Bullets, Y the Last Man, and Air) really pushed me over into finally giving DC a chance. I've always been a bit hesitant, largely because the main DC heroes (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash) don't really do anything for me.

But after a lot of resistance, I'm finally giving DC a shot. Here's the things I've been getting into to ease my way in: 52, Battle for the Cowl, Morrison's run on Doom Patrol. A lot of this was very strange to me as I've had really no exposure to the DCU, but some stuff I liked and want to dive into more: Metal Men, Doom Patrol, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Black Adam.

I have some questions though that kind of drill down to why I initially was avoiding DC. Help me out here, guys, 'cause I'm trying to learn!

1) Why are there so many "families" of characters? I've counted multiple Bat-people, Super-people, Flash-People, Lanterns, Captain Marvels, Wonder-people, and Hawkmen. There's probably more that I'm missing. Why is everyone in DC so quick to join up with some kind of tribe?

2) What's with this obsession with color? GREEN Arrow, BLUE Beetle, BLACK Canary, BLACK Adam, RED Robin, Booster GOLD. Is there any significance to having so many color-related characters?

3) Why is it that every other character can fly? There's A LOT of fliers in DC. Do they even need planes anymore? Some supes could just pull 747s through the sky on their downtime for extra scratch.

4) Roughly how many supes are there in the DCU, or at least the main dimension or Earth number? It seems like there's a really crazy amount of heroes, far more so than in the Image or Marvel universes. It's really hard to sort it all out.

5) Can someone explain to me all of this Crisis stuff? I tried to read Final Crisis and my brain exploded (and I like Morrison!). All of this multiverse stuff is really confusing to me, especially like how there's 3 versions of the Flash all running around at the same time.

6) Are there any good resources for sorting all this stuff out? I feel like DC has a really steep learning curve. The lack of recap pages is a bit off-putting too.

7) What are some good DC titles that I can jump into right now without too much confusion? The back issues have been cool, but I'd like to get more current.

I'm not trying to troll or anything, and I apologize in advance if any of my questions seem overly antagonistic. Chalk it up to new reader growing pains. I really want to ease into DC stuff and see what it's like. Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

[celticguy]

If you are looking for a couple of stand alone tittles to get your feet wet with I would go with Booster Gold, The Secret Six, and Green Arrow maybe a little Jonah Hex if you like a western.

Yu also could give some of the Bat tittles a go since it is a whole new Batman but those I would assume will lead you into more of the mainstream books.

I know you asked a shitload of questions but I statrted to glaze over halfway down the list.

[Marveluted]

I'm not so much into Westerns, but I'll definitely give Secret Six a shot. Just looked at a couple old previews, and it sounds interesting. Thanks!

[dumbstruck]

I've been a lifelong comic book reader, but I've mostly stuck to Marvel and indie titles. Vertigo stuff (Fables, 100 Bullets, Y the Last Man, and Air) really pushed me over into finally giving DC a chance. I've always been a bit hesitant, largely because the main DC heroes (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash) don't really do anything for me.

But after a lot of resistance, I'm finally giving DC a shot. Here's the things I've been getting into to ease my way in: 52, Battle for the Cowl, Morrison's run on Doom Patrol. A lot of this was very strange to me as I've had really no exposure to the DCU, but some stuff I liked and want to dive into more: Metal Men, Doom Patrol, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Black Adam.

I have some questions though that kind of drill down to why I initially was avoiding DC. Help me out here, guys, 'cause I'm trying to learn!

1) Why are there so many "families" of characters? I've counted multiple Bat-people, Super-people, Flash-People, Lanterns, Captain Marvels, Wonder-people, and Hawkmen. There's probably more that I'm missing. Why is everyone in DC so quick to join up with some kind of tribe?

As opposed to Marvel where everyone hooks up with the X-Spider Avengers? Seriously, in some cases, marketing. Attaching a new character to an existing franchise gives it an immediate recognition factor. Some have legitimate reasons. The Lanterns for example, were designed to be a galactic police force, so there should be a lot. Hawkman is a problem to explain simply. I'd wiki him.

2) What's with this obsession with color? GREEN Arrow, BLUE Beetle, BLACK Canary, BLACK Adam, RED Robin, Booster GOLD. Is there any significance to having so many color-related characters?

Never really noticed this, but I guess you have a point. But what's the big deal?

3) Why is it that every other character can fly? There's A LOT of fliers in DC. Do they even need planes anymore? Some supes could just pull 747s through the sky on their downtime for extra scratch.

Again, what's the big deal? So a lot of them can fly? It, along with super strength, are the powers most associated with super-heroes.

4) Roughly how many supes are there in the DCU, or at least the main dimension or Earth number? It seems like there's a really crazy amount of heroes, far more so than in the Image or Marvel universes. It's really hard to sort it all out.

I don't know that there's any kind of set number than anyone has come up. When your publishing history is approaching 75 yrs, and filled with a multiverse of characters, let's just say, a lot.

5) Can someone explain to me all of this Crisis stuff? I tried to read Final Crisis and my brain exploded (and I like Morrison!). All of this multiverse stuff is really confusing to me, especially like how there's 3 versions of the Flash all running around at the same time.

Final Crisis was probably the worst place you could have gone as a DC noob. Probably the simplist thing to do is wiki Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis to get a thorough explanation.

6) Are there any good resources for sorting all this stuff out? I feel like DC has a really steep learning curve. The lack of recap pages is a bit off-putting too.

wikipedia

7) What are some good DC titles that I can jump into right now without too much confusion? The back issues have been cool, but I'd like to get more current.

I guess that depends on what kind of characters you're being drawn to.

I'm not trying to troll or anything, and I apologize in advance if any of my questions seem overly antagonistic. Chalk it up to new reader growing pains. I really want to ease into DC stuff and see what it's like. Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

My advice would be to not try to start by figuring out DC history. Start with a couple characters you might be interested in, find a good jumping on point, and wiki anything you don't get. The history will come to you in time.

[Marveluted]

1) As opposed to Marvel where everyone hooks up with the X-Spider Avengers? Seriously, in some cases, marketing. Attaching a new character to an existing franchise gives it an immediate recognition factor. Some have legitimate reasons. The Lanterns for example, were designed to be a galactic police force, so there should be a lot. Hawkman is a problem to explain simply. I'd wiki him.

That's sort of why I've been looking to branch out from Marvel and try DC: too many Avengers/Wolverine/X-men stuff going on. The recognition factor is a fairly strong reason for character tribalism I guess. But how many characters does there need to be that do exactly what Superman or Flash do? I think I've just been thrown by the amount of similarities among characters and the whole character family focus.

2) Never really noticed this, but I guess you have a point. But what's the big deal?

It's not that it's a big deal. I was just wondering if there's any significance to the common naming convention.

3) Again, what's the big deal? So a lot of them can fly? It, along with super strength, are the powers most associated with super-heroes.
I've just been wondering about this is all. Yes flight and strength are pretty common traits, but the sheer amount of fliers seems extreme. Seems like it makes it less special. It must suck to be a regular guy in the DCU when you're stuck on the ground watching all of these heroes zip by overhead.

4) I don't know that there's any kind of set number than anyone has come up. When your publishing history is approaching 75 yrs, and filled with a multiverse of characters, let's just say, a lot.
Haha, well stated.

5) Final Crisis was probably the worst place you could have gone as a DC noob. Probably the simplist thing to do is wiki Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis to get a thorough explanation.
Are they worth reading? I'm always a little cautious about wiki-ing certain things because it often spoils the entire storyline.

6) wikipedia
Anything else? Like a DC guide or something?

7) I guess that depends on what kind of characters you're being drawn to.
In DC I've started to enjoy older Doom Patrol and the Metal Men stuff (weird and awesome). I like a lot of the Abnett and Lanning space stuff for Marvel, so I'm willing to try Green Lantern. I'm not really into the "Big 3" though. So what's good along those lines?

Thanks for the advice though. I'm trying to make my DC intro as painless as possible. I'll take your word for it and avoid the Crisis stuff until I've read a bit more.

[Kylun123]

Hey, I was a Marvel Zombie when I read comics regularly in the 90's (most specifically anything X-related), when I came back to comics with Civil War I expanded my interests and at some points was buying more DC than Marvel.

I'd like to think my experiences will be helpful. Firstly,

I've had really no exposure to the DCU, but some stuff I liked and want to dive into more: Metal Men, Doom Patrol, Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Black Adam.

Not really sure what to recommend based on those tastes exactly . . . although my interest in DC really started with Morrison as well (Animal Man, Arkham Asylum, Batman & Son) and I currently read Air and several other Vertigo titles as well.

Green Lantern: Rebirth is a great place to start with that character and then skip ahead to the Sinestro Corps War (at least that's what I did) . . .

Batman Confidential takes place in Batman's early years and isn't bogged down with the current continuity.
Batman & Robin seems like a good jumping on point for a Batman title as well(the first issue just came out this week). I know I just did.

Another title I have to recommend, especially if you have any cosmic interests is R.E.B.E.L.S. I had never read a comic book in my life that had anything to do with LEGION (which I think is cosmic superheroes from the future or somehting) and had no trouble enjoying this book.
It's got a good beat to it and a different art style and lots of action.

1) Why are there so many "families" of characters? I've counted multiple Bat-people, Super-people, Flash-People, Lanterns, Captain Marvels, Wonder-people, and Hawkmen. There's probably more that I'm missing. Why is everyone in DC so quick to join up with some kind of tribe?

I dunno . . . I never really saw it that way. I don't think there's any "reason" for it. Just a style I guess.
How many X-men titles are there in Marvel? How many solo characters are Avengers card-carrying members?
And Marvel is even getting into the legend characters (is that what they're called) as well, with newer characters taking on old mantles.

If anything, like the color question below the original DC creators though this was a better way to tell stories, by having everybody linked together, maybe making their world simpler . . .
I'll tell you it doesn't really take away from the characters. Like if you're reading Nightwing (when it was still around) you didn't need to be reading all Bat-titles to get the character or the plot.

2) What's with this obsession with color? GREEN Arrow, BLUE Beetle, BLACK Canary, BLACK Adam, RED Robin, Booster GOLD. Is there any significance to having so many color-related characters?

3) Why is it that every other character can fly? There's A LOT of fliers in DC. Do they even need planes anymore? Some supes could just pull 747s through the sky on their downtime for extra scratch.

Interesting. Never noticed. Maybe it was used as a plot device back in the day. Better than creating invisible airplanes or Bat-copters for every character.
Maybe it's part of the often-cited difference between the 2 universes. Marvel is often perceived as being more grounded (pun intended) in reality and in DC it's slightly more fantastical in nature . . . so everybody flies around.

Of the Big 7 (Superman, Bat, WW, GL, Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter) 4 fly, 3 don't.
Green Arrow, Robin, are other names that come to mind . . .

4) Roughly how many supes are there in the DCU, or at least the main dimension or Earth number? It seems like there's a really crazy amount of heroes, far more so than in the Image or Marvel universes. It's really hard to sort it all out.

I disagree strongly with this one.
Marvel seems to have it's fair share of super powers.
Especially before M-Day. Anybody could've been a superhero, you had mutants popping up left and right.

5) Can someone explain to me all of this Crisis stuff? I tried to read Final Crisis and my brain exploded (and I like Morrison!). All of this multiverse stuff is really confusing to me, especially like how there's 3 versions of the Flash all running around at the same time.

Again, I'll explain this as best as I can coming from a Marvel Zombie to a DC reader.
Now if you want to be bogged down in all the details, power to you, to each his own. Having not had an appreciation for the history the import of the criseseses didn't really make an impact, and I didn't make much of an effort to follow them through.

Crisis on Infinite Earths is the original (whether it or not is irrelevant) and the only important one. It merged the various versions of Earth into 1.

When DC started there were all these great characters Green Lantern was Alan Scott. Flash was Jay Garrick. and others.
As the years went by, new blood was infused into all these titles. So now there was no Alan Scott there was just a guy named Hal Jordan who found the original Green Lantern ring. And there was a guy Barry Allen who became Flash.
These all existed in parallel universes and that original COIE merged them all into one creating a somewhat new history. Where Flash & GL knew their predecessors, etc.

Anyhoo, long story short I don't like universe-spanning crossovers and stayed away from Final Crisis, and am enjoying the DC universe just fine.

6) Are there any good resources for sorting all this stuff out? I feel like DC has a really steep learning curve. The lack of recap pages is a bit off-putting too.

Again, find a title that interests you and dive in with a new arc or not. I find that even without a recap page I'll get a picture of what's going on and be fine the rest of the way. I just did that a couple weeks ago with SuperGirl.

Although wikipedia is probably a good resource if you see a character and want to know what they're story is.

7) What are some good DC titles that I can jump into right now without too much confusion? The back issues have been cool, but I'd like to get more current.

Any of the Bat-titles that just got revamped . . . Flash: Rebirth (GL: Rebirth was great jumping on point maybe this one is too?) . . . Secret Six, Booster Gold (I think that's an easy one to jump in on and people seem to like it)
My personal pull-list (as mentioned above) looks like: Batman & Robin, Batman Confidential, R.E.B.E.L.S.

[Marveluted]

Thanks for the good advice, Kylun123. I didn't know that R.E.B.E.L.S. was a space title. I'll give that a shot along with Green Lantern: Rebirth.

I definitely see what your saying about DC being that more fantastical universe. Is there a guide to the different fictional cities? I know of Metropolis and Gotham, but are there others? Where are some of these places supposed to be located?

Gotham sort of feels like a cross between New York and Chicago to me.

I still feel kind of in the dark about DC, but I'm starting to see a game plan to get up to speed.

[dumbstruck]

1) That's sort of why I've been looking to branch out from Marvel and try DC: too many Avengers/Wolverine/X-men stuff going on. The recognition factor is a fairly strong reason for character tribalism I guess. But how many characters does there need to be that do exactly what Superman or Flash do? I think I've just been thrown by the amount of similarities among characters and the whole character family focus.

A lot of the multiple versions speak to DC's "Hero Legacy". Flash being the prime example of this. Each Flash is meant to represent each subsequent generation. The Bat-Family is more of a group of non-powered heroes that Bruce Wayne has taken into his inner circle of crime-fighting.

2) It's not that it's a big deal. I was just wondering if there's any significance to the common naming convention.

No significance that I know of.

3) I've just been wondering about this is all. Yes flight and strength are pretty common traits, but the sheer amount of fliers seems extreme. Seems like it makes it less special. It must suck to be a regular guy in the DCU when you're stuck on the ground watching all of these heroes zip by overhead.

In retrospect, I think flight allows for a broader storytelling. If they didn't fly, the hero would always just happen to be in the same area where the villain is causing trouble. By having them fly, the hero could be doing something else halfway around the world before they hear of the villain destroying 12 city blocks.

4) Haha, well stated.

5) Are they worth reading? I'm always a little cautious about wiki-ing certain things because it often spoils the entire storyline.

Crisis on Infinite Earths is definately a must read for no other reason than it is such a seminal comic series. It's also 12 solid issues of George Perez. Bearing in mind of course, it does read like an 80's comic, and you might feel a little overwhelmed since it heavily relies on multiverse characters. However, when I first read it, despite the history behind the characters featured that I didn't know (this was back around 1990, so no wiki), I didn't really have any issues following it.

Infinite Crisis I guess is worth reading, since it is in essence a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Personally, I wouldn't worry about Final Crisis. Even as a longtime DC reader, I hated it.

6)Anything else? Like a DC guide or something?

I may be wrong, but I believe dccomics.com has profile pages for a lot of their characters. Not sure though.

7) I guess that depends on what kind of characters you're being drawn to.
In DC I've started to enjoy older Doom Patrol and the Metal Men stuff (weird and awesome). I like a lot of the Abnett and Lanning space stuff for Marvel, so I'm willing to try Green Lantern. I'm not really into the "Big 3" though. So what's good along those lines?

I've never really read Doom Patrol, so I don't know what might appeal to you in that regard. As to space stories, although they don't seem to be well received, I've been enjoying DC's space-heroes miniseries. Adam Strange: Planet Heist, Rann-Thanagar War, Mystery in Space, Rann-Thanagar: Holy War. They feature a lot of the lesser known DC space heroes like Adam Strange, Captain Comet, and The Omega Men. You might want to try Flash: Rebirth, which is currently up to its 3rd issue, just as an introduction to the character. Written by DC's golden boy, Geoff Johns. DC has also had a series of magic based minis. Tales of the Unexpected, Reign in Hell, Solomon Grundy. Again, these are featuring a lot of lesser known magical characters. Justice League has been, unfortunately, a sinking ship. Justice Society has been great, featuring a mix of Golden Age/Legacy characters.

Thanks for the advice though. I'm trying to make my DC intro as painless as possible. I'll take your word for it and avoid the Crisis stuff until I've read a bit more.

I don't want to say to avoid the Crisis stuff. But they are continuity heavy. Personally, I started reading DC with just Superman, and as I started branching out, the history comes to you. If you read them, just accept that they are a denser story that relies on history, and are not indicative of a regular monthly title.

[Kylun123]

Is there a guide to the different fictional cities? I know of Metropolis and Gotham, but are there others? Where are some of these places supposed to be located?

Yea, someone with more DC-knowledge will have to help you out there.

I used to always associate Gotham with NY and Metropolis with LA, so in my head they're always on opposite coasts. But I believe that in continuity they are actually supposed to be much closer . . . anyone?

I believe Flash lives in Keystone city (which personally I always believed to be in Pennsylvania, but I probably made that up bc its the Keystone state, at least I think it is . . . ).
Nightwing used to work out of a city called Bludhaven (I may have made that one up too . . . )
I know some action went down in San Diego. I think it's under water. Terrible tragedy . . .

I think most recently they've moved away from fictional cities and attempted to get new characters in recognizable cities, however have clearly been unable to remove icons from places like Gotham.

Not sure if that was any help . . .

[dumbstruck]

Thanks for the advice though. I'm trying to make my DC intro as painless as possible. I'll take your word for it and avoid the Crisis stuff until I've read a bit more.

Thanks for the good advice, Kylun123. I didn't know that R.E.B.E.L.S. was a space title. I'll give that a shot along with Green Lantern: Rebirth.

I definitely see what your saying about DC being that more fantastical universe. Is there a guide to the different fictional cities? I know of Metropolis and Gotham, but are there others? Where are some of these places supposed to be located?

Gotham sort of feels like a cross between New York and Chicago to me.

I still feel kind of in the dark about DC, but I'm starting to see a game plan to get up to speed.

Over the years, DC has published Who's Who series, A History of the DC Universe, and I believe there was also an atlas of the DCU. But with all the changes and retcons to continuity in the last couple of years, none of that would be relevant anymore. As far as I know, there isn't really an official book for this type of information that would really be up to date. The closest thing DC has done the last ten years or so is their Secret Files and Origins one-shots. They always feature profile pages for the the current characters in that particular book.

[dumbstruck]

Yea, someone with more DC-knowledge will have to help you out there.

I used to always associate Gotham with NY and Metropolis with LA, so in my head they're always on opposite coasts. But I believe that in continuity they are actually supposed to be much closer . . . anyone?

I believe Flash lives in Keystone city (which personally I always believed to be in Pennsylvania, but I probably made that up bc its the Keystone state, at least I think it is . . . ).
Nightwing used to work out of a city called Bludhaven (I may have made that one up too . . . )
I know some action went down in San Diego. I think it's under water. Terrible tragedy . . .

I think most recently they've moved away from fictional cities and attempted to get new characters in recognizable cities, however have clearly been unable to remove icons from places like Gotham.

Not sure if that was any help . . .


Not exactly sure where Keystone/Central City are supposed to be, but Metropolis, Gotham City and Bludhaven (before it was blown up) are all along the eastern seaboard somewhere.

[VeganWithaYoYo]

1) Why are there so many "families" of characters? I've counted multiple Bat-people, Super-people, Flash-People, Lanterns, Captain Marvels, Wonder-people, and Hawkmen. There's probably more that I'm missing. Why is everyone in DC so quick to join up with some kind of tribe?


Well, this is mainly because DC's storyline has been going on for so long that there are generations of heroes. The original heroes, the Justice Society, were around in the 1940s, and then the next wave of heroes were created based on them. When the two groups became part of the same universe, things were changed so that the newer wave of heroes had been inspired by the old generation.

Meanwhile, there was a time when just about every DC character had a sidekick, as Batman and Robin were so popular and other creators decided to jump on the bandwagon. Since this time, the sidekicks have been shown as growing up, and eventually becoming either successors to the original heroes or taking their places.

Finally, in a lot of cases, heroes have been reimagined for newer audiences. This has led to a lot of backlash from fans of the classic characters, and the solution has been to keep both the new versions and the classic versions in continuity. This naturally leads to a lot of yelling back and forth between fanbases on message boards, but it's also led to some interesting teamups and, yes, families of characters.


2) What's with this obsession with color? GREEN Arrow, BLUE Beetle, BLACK Canary, BLACK Adam, RED Robin, Booster GOLD. Is there any significance to having so many color-related characters?


No idea about the naming of heroes with colors. I'm guessing this was just something that was done in the golden and silver ages, since it wasn't limited to DC. Green Llama was a popular non-DC character back in the 40s, Blue Beetle was originally owned by Charlton, and Black Adam was originally owned by Fawcett. Why DC ended up owning all of these characters, and why they all got popular and stuck around while other characters without colored names didn't, is anyone's guess :)


3) Why is it that every other character can fly? There's A LOT of fliers in DC. Do they even need planes anymore? Some supes could just pull 747s through the sky on their downtime for extra scratch.


Actually, there's a reason for this! I'm sure it's not the complete answer, but DC once had a copyright on Superman that they were pretty staunch about. For a time, it was to the point that no non-DC characters could have capes for fear of infringement. Since Superman could fly, even though he wasn't the first comic character to fly (that'd be Captain Marvel, who was owned by Fawcett at the time), DC was pretty harsh with their lawsuits when it came to other characters flying. Since flying is a bit of a universally recognized superpower among non-comic-readers, I'm guessing that DC was the company most able to meet this demand, whereas Marvel had to create less characters that flew.

Over time, I have a feeling that most new DC characters had to fly, or they'd end up left behind when the fliers got together. Since Marvel had their characters already using planes, they didn't have that restriction.


4) Roughly how many supes are there in the DCU, or at least the main dimension or Earth number? It seems like there's a really crazy amount of heroes, far more so than in the Image or Marvel universes. It's really hard to sort it all out.


A lot. Too many, in some of our estimation! The reason this happened is that DC stories began as several different super-teams, or even universes of heroes, that didn't interact with each other. In the mid-80s, things were changed so that there was only one universe, and suddenly all of those characters were thrown together. Before this time there were usually only one or two main teams of heroes per Earth, with a few others who showed up but weren't really in the big leagues.

This actually came as a surprise to me when I started buying back issues from around this time - if there was a worldwide disaster, there was no big "all the superheroes come together" story, because the Justice League already brought most of the heroes together! In the first Crisis, when all the Earths got combined into one, there was even a line towards the end that the heroes were no longer unique, and that things were going to get crowded for them. It's not a plot point that was really mentioned again in the comics, but I think it hasn't gone unnoticed by a lot of fans.


5) Can someone explain to me all of this Crisis stuff? I tried to read Final Crisis and my brain exploded (and I like Morrison!). All of this multiverse stuff is really confusing to me, especially like how there's 3 versions of the Flash all running around at the same time.


Okay. Here goes:

Back in the 40s, DC had a set of heroes. They sold well for a while, but then the books got cancelled as superhero comics fell out of favor. In the 60s, the characters were re-imagined for a new generation, and similar-but-different heroes were made. A bit later, someone had the idea of the older heroes still being around, but on another version of Earth. On occasion, the newer heroes (the Justice League, on Earth 1) would meet up with the older heroes (the Justice Society, on Earth 2) to face a threat to both of their worlds. These stories were inevitably titled "Crisis on ____", and are where the name came from.

Another big breakthrough happened when a villain who'd been beaten by the JLA/JSA combination announced that if there were and Earth 1 and an Earth 2, he would surely be able to escape to Earth 3! From here, DC added on earths periodically. Some of the new earths were created for storytelling purposes (Earth 3 turned out to have an evil version of the Justice League, for example), and others were created when DC bought another company's characters and wanted to write stories about them (Captain Marvel and related heroes had their own earth, as did other groups of heroes). This was a good way to keep more characters without overcrowding Earth, but eventually it became too confusing for new readers.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was DC's solution to this confusion. All the heroes of all the Earths teamed up to fight the ultimate villain, who managed to kill the populations of most Earths, as well as some of the overlapping characters. By the time all was said and done, there was only one universe. Unfortunately, writers at the time weren't sure whether they should write characters as though they were brand new (which happened with Superman and Wonder Woman), or as if their decades-long history had happened (which happened with Green Lantern and, to some extent, Batman). You'll hear some of the longer-time fans referring to the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of a character when referencing DC history.

After a lot of time had passed and continuity became a bit awkward (in many ways because pre-crisis and post-crisis DC histories weren't clearly defined), DC decided to shake things up again with another Crisis. Then another. Every time this happened, little changes were made to reconcile the different back stories of characters. The result, unfortunately, has been that unless you've been following at least the big stories since the 80s or doing a lot of reading about DC history, any story that's continuity-driven can be pretty impossible to understand, and I definitely hear you there.

Final Crisis was a bit of an exception, actually. Although it had some of the same features of the prior Crisis stories, it didn't change history at all, and a lot of fans who were looking for a Crisis similar to the prior ones were left quite disappointed. It's definitely a convoluted story that drew on some of the weirder elements from DC history, but I actually don't think it needs much understanding of DC lore to read. People will disagree with this, but I'd say that it was hard to understand because it was based on a lot of subtext and surrealism rather than because it was based on prior stories, and that people who knew DC history well didn't really know what was going on more than people who were new to DC. The story eventually made sense, IMO, but it's definitely not everyone's thing.


6) Are there any good resources for sorting all this stuff out? I feel like DC has a really steep learning curve. The lack of recap pages is a bit off-putting too.


Despite its reputation for being inaccurate, I've found that Wikipedia is pretty great for this sort of thing. Any subject with a neurotic fanbase tends to be meticulously edited on Wiki, and DC continuity is no exception.

My advice for a new reader is to ignore DC history for a while so you can get to know the characters. A lot of DC's newer books, like Flash: Rebirth, are very continuity-heavy, but a few very good comics aren't. Superman has an interesting storyline going on, and if you just go with "Bruce Wayne disappeared somehow" as the backstory, I don't see the new Batman books being too crazy for a new reader.

Green Lantern has been building up a storyline for about 4 years now, and quite a few elements have come from prior stories... it's interesting, and it's definitely what DC fans are buzzing about of late. If you're okay with using Wikipedia to look up why some of the villains are a big deal and who the characters who are about to rise from the dead are, this is the big DC thing to get caught up in, and it might even act as a good primer to DC history.

[celticguy]

Most of the colors are due to the old days the hero was often named to reflect his costume. corny but it was a simpler time.

the families are also due to the length of time these characters have been around over 70 years in some cases, they have had various sidekicks and since nobody ever stays dead in comic the old ones stay around even with the new one come in.

[IMJ]

To address the "so many family of character titles question", it's simple: this is because the DC U has more C list and below uninteresting characters than they do A-listers.

DC's best book right now is easily the GL books, but even that character is a B-lister. SOOOooo DC has 3 A-listers and they milk the hell out of it with multiple books each month. What they don't seem to realize though is the reciprocating causation they've catalyzed.

For example, I don't buy Superman even if I wanted to because it's such a large buy each month. So they don't bring in new readers, but keep creating new family titles to compensate by soaking in the current readers into more books.

[Marveluted]

First off, big thanks to all of you. Your responses have been extremely enlightening.

VeganWithaYoYo, the reason for all the fliers is really interesting! That was probably one of the big things that bugged me about DC, but hearing it spelled out like that as a function of copyright authority leading into flying-as-a-necessity later sort of makes me oddly okay with the premise. Same thing with the number of heroes; I can see how the merger of teams into a shared universe plus all of the crisis stuff folding over could make for a ton of heroes. It's nice to hear that that was acknowledged at some point too.

dumbstruck, all three of those cities are on the East Coast? That's surprising. If anyone has a good grasp on the DC map or has access to some kind of up-to-date DC Atlas, that would be cool. The location stuff is pretty interesting. Do you guys feel that the fictional cities are analogues of any existing cities?

Two more dumb noob questions:

!)If there's so many different versions the characters running around, why doesn't DC have some kind of event to streamline or (dare I say) kill some of them off? Is that a function of character popularity or editorial madate or something? I realize it's comics and any writer can walk in and bring back any character though.

2) Of the main character families, is it possible to follow just the main character (Batman, Superman or whichever Flash is the main one now) to understand the story, or are all of the "family members" important to comprehension? Similarly (and I'm sure this is open to debate), which of the individual "family" characters do you think would be most interesting to follow?

[JumpingJupiter]

Try Flash: Rebirth. It's just cool. That simple.

[celticguy]

First off, big thanks to all of you. Your responses have been extremely enlightening.

VeganWithaYoYo, the reason for all the fliers is really interesting! That was probably one of the big things that bugged me about DC, but hearing it spelled out like that as a function of copyright authority leading into flying-as-a-necessity later sort of makes me oddly okay with the premise. Same thing with the number of heroes; I can see how the merger of teams into a shared universe plus all of the crisis stuff folding over could make for a ton of heroes. It's nice to hear that that was acknowledged at some point too.

dumbstruck, all three of those cities are on the East Coast? That's surprising. If anyone has a good grasp on the DC map or has access to some kind of up-to-date DC Atlas, that would be cool. The location stuff is pretty interesting. Do you guys feel that the fictional cities are analogues of any existing cities?

Two more dumb noob questions:

!)If there's so many different versions the characters running around, why doesn't DC have some kind of event to streamline or (dare I say) kill some of them off? Is that a function of character popularity or editorial madate or something? I realize it's comics and any writer can walk in and bring back any character though.

2) Of the main character families, is it possible to follow just the main character (Batman, Superman or whichever Flash is the main one now) to understand the story, or are all of the "family members" important to comprehension? Similarly (and I'm sure this is open to debate), which of the individual "family" characters do you think would be most interesting to follow?

With Batman it is harder there are 8 books not counting All Star and superm/batman which are not in cannon that feature him or some part of his brood. and some of them have and will again pop up in team books.

Superman has fewer plus supergirl and some team stuff.

WW/Flash/Green arrow just the tittle and some team books

GL 2 books and teams

The hawks are only in team books usually there really is no Beetle family just a legacy and he is only in a team book and as a back story soon in Booter gold.

[Karl O'Neill]

Secret six + REBELS.

[Rev. Calibos]

I'd like to mention Booster Gold and Brave and the Bold (hey, I'm a poet and didn't realize it....)

Both are extremely fun books and are perfect for newer fans to jump on.

Brave and the Bold is a great read because you're introduced monthly to characters you may never encountered teaming up with more familiar characters (like Batman or Superman for example.)

Booster Gold is a title that spans the entire history of the DCU. A time travel book, Booster is charged with protecting the timeline of the DCU and it's a great introduction to DC's rich history, albiet from a new perspective.

I'm enjoying the Superman family of books currently but for a new reader I'd say that Booster and Brave and the Bold are two of the best ones to jump into.

[bongoes]

dumbstruck, all three of those cities are on the East Coast? That's surprising. If anyone has a good grasp on the DC map or has access to some kind of up-to-date DC Atlas, that would be cool. The location stuff is pretty interesting. Do you guys feel that the fictional cities are analogues of any existing cities?


http://www.karridian.net/dcatlas.html
I'm not sure if it's accurate but most of it seems correct.

[JumpingJupiter]

http://www.karridian.net/dcatlas.html
I'm not sure if it's accurate but most of it seems correct.

Nothing in Canada? :(