Anyone have any recommendations for the following characters or new characters that I haven’t heard of that you would like to recommend from the 80s and 90s?
Aquaman
Batman
Flash
Green lantern
Green arrow
Justice league
Titans
Nightwing
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With Batman, perhaps you could try “Blind Justice” by Sam Hamm:
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Honestly, I like a lot of '90s Batman stuff, so I could provide a much longer list, but Venom springs to mind.
The 1987 series is consistently really good starting with #62, but if you want a specific arc, #73-79 and #95-100 are highlights.
People like The Longbow Hunters and the Mike Grell run from the 1988 series (#1-80, but we’re missing a bunch of it for some reason). I like Where Angels Fear to Tread from #0-100 (the #0 issue coming between #90 and #91), but annoyingly, the actual conclusion of that story is, as far as I can tell, in the following issue, which we don’t have.
The whole original run of the 1986 series (#1-60) is great, but the arc that stands out to me is #14-21.
In the '80s, there’s New Teen Titans. I’d say read #30-44 of the first series and #1-5 of the second series (the difference between the two series is complicated and largely unimportant; it’s the same writer and artist). And honestly, I’ve read the entirety of both series, and if those two arcs are all you ever read, you’re not missing much.
The '90s were a rough time for the Titans, but the 1999 series is pretty good for like the first half of it. It’s just that most of that is in the early '00s, not the '90s.
The best thing to do for Nightwing is to pick up the 1996 series with the first issue and not stop until you reach #70. Then stop. Definitely stop.
It’s all kind of interconnected, but if you want a specific arc as a sampler, #13-15 works reasonably well on its own.
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And here is the post-Crisis 80s-90s Aquaman reading order:
- Aquaman 1986 miniseries
- The Legend of Aquaman special
- Aquaman 1989 miniseries
- The Atlantis Chronicles miniseries
- Aquaman 1991 series (13 issues)
- Time & Tide miniseries
- Aquaman 1994 series (81 issues)
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Batman: Anything from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989-2006), as it features a wonderful medley of stories from Batman’s past and present.
Justice League: Anything from Extreme Justice, JLA or Justice League Task Force. JLA is the best Justice League ongoing ever, so of these three series, start there.
Titans: Teen Titans (1996). It’s by Dan Jurgens and is a criminally underrated ongoing, both in the annals of the Titans franchise and DC in general.
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I would recommend Justice League International. The entire series.
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From my super hero genre history
1980s covered but assume you know about Man of Steel Wonder Woman JLI Suicide Squad and Batman year One
1993 Comic Book Death High Cost of Living The Trade includes Death’s First Appearance in Sandman 8, 1991, Sound of Her Wings Neil Gaiman
1993 Comic Book JSA The Golden Age by James Robinson. Era after World War II to beginning of Silver Age. Main characters Justice Society and other DC Golden.Age characters
1993 Comic Book Batman Adventures 12. Harley Quinn first appearance. Also.Poison.Ivy Barbata Gordon Batgirl Harley introduced on TV Batman’ The Animated Series.
1994 Comic Book. Batman Adventures Mad Love Harley Quinn Joker Paul Dini and Bruve Timm
1994 Comic Book Aquaman 2 Arthur loses hand, replaces with harpoon. Long Hair and attitude influenced Justice League and Aquaman movies decades later. Start of Aquaman as Bad Ass, no Longer a Joke Hero who could only last an hour outside water, whose only power was to tslk to fish… Peter David.
1994 Comic Book Kyle Rayner becomes new Green Lantern
Hal Jordan becomes Parallax
1994 Comic Book Starman Jack Knight, son of original Starman, by James Robinson.
1996 Comic Book Kingdom Come Waid Ross
1996 Comic Book Supergirl 75 to 80 Peter David. Linda Danvers Supergirl meets Silver Age Kara el Supergirl
1997 Comic Book JLA Big Seven return.with epic plots. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Long haired Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Wally West Flash, Kyle Rayner Green Lantern. Grant Morrison.
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One of the best of the '90’s: The Flash: The Return of Barry Allen.