I agree with recommending Animal Man, that’s a great run. I would also recommend checking out Snyders Swamp Thing since the two crossover and it’s pretty solid stuff.
Aquaman is a big one, Highly recommend that one especially if you liked the film.
Of all the New 52 Bat Family titles, I would recommend Batgirl by Gail Simon the most. I think that one really had the best writing of all other titles and dealt with Barbra coming out of a wheelchair respectfully.
If you are interested in some Rebirth titles, I always recommend Superman by Tomasi and Gleason. One of the best Superman runs I’ve read in years.
yeah Gotham Academy was fun, it references robin war but is pretty much kind of on its own. its a fun Gotham mystery and Damian despite only appearing five times has actual character development
I like the Nightwing New 52 well enough, just for some of the character stuff, thought it’s hardly my favourite, but I liked them enough to own them in Trades. I second Aquaman. Some of the best work to come from New 52 right there.
I like the JLD forever evil “Blight” which was essentially adapted for JLD for the DCAU.
Oh, and in terms of Rebirth titles, I’d recommend:
Detective Comics by James Tynion IV, which is basically “what if Batman was written like an X-Men book,” with Batman and Batwoman training the likes of Tim Drake/Robin, Stephanie Brown/Spoiler, Cassandra Cain/Orphan, and Clayface. Yeah. Clayface.
Nightwing was also consistantly pretty solid. Tim Seeley did a great job in not only bringing back elements like Bludhaven, but making his world actually unique to Dick and not just “what if Gotham was somehow more corrupt?”
New Super-Man was really cool – basically what if a bully teenager from Hong Kong discovered he had the powers of Superman, but had to learn to not be an a-hole in order to properly activate them?
Aquaman continued to be pretty lit between New 52 to Rebirth, including an arc with Dan Abbnet’s run that includes GORGEOUS art from Stjepan Sejic.
Green Lanterns was great, following newbie characters Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz as they learned to trust each other and embrace their power. And if you’re looking for something with the old guard, Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps was also pretty good.
Deathstroke by Christopher Priest was also great, where they really took the character in some interesting new directions.
Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman has been my favorite run on the character between 2011 & now. Very heavy on the Greek gods stuff though, and I’m sure the whole thing was rendered moot with what came after it, so your mileage may vary.
No offense but that sounds horrible in concept, though I like the characters involved. I haven’t read enough Tynion to have an opinion on his work.
That wasn’t what I got out of Dixon’s Nightwing. I got that Bludhaven was the Newark to Gotham’s NYC- similar problems, but less of a facade of glamour and respectability and lacking any Bruce Waynes or Jim Gordons to help course-correct.
The others sound interesting but in any case Rebirth is a whole 'nother can of worms to New 52.
To each their own, but I’m not a fan of Tynion’s work with the Batfamily, myself either.
I’m not sure I’d have described it ‘like an x men book’ but his work is definitely not high on my list at all. When it comes to the Full Family, I’ll stick with rereading Gotham Knights and Morrison’s pre52 run.
I think the X-Men description is reasonably helpful, though certainly it’s not a copy of X-Men - just uses a lot of similar tropes in storytelling. I really loved the way he used the Batfamily, though I can see why others don’t enjoy it as much. But in general, I think he does a great job balancing nostalgia and new developments.
Morrison’s Action Comics books is one of his more accessible stories compared to many of his other works. You can throw All-Star Superman into that category as well.
As for New 52 suggestions, Wonder Woman was really good. There is different vibe but Cliff Chang’s art was perfect in that book.
