How should I start reading the New 52 comic line.

I don’t read much n the way of comics. I would like to read the New 52 era but don’t know where to start. If it helps I really like Batman, Superman Krypto the super dog, and Jason Todd

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New 52 is a weird one because it does three annoying things simultaneously!

  1. Either very good or very bad series.
  2. Very connected events with everyone is a given group of superheroes getting involved
  3. Being confusing with continuity

If you like Batman, go read Batman (2011) #1-6 at a minimum. The arc is an all time classic story that captures what makes Batman such a great character. Superman doesn’t have a good story in New 52. Jason Todd has Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011) which is a decent title.

On Superman, the rebirth titles are some of the best Superman’s runs ever. (Action Comics (2016), Superman (2016), and Super Sons (2016))

New 52 is easy to get into. Start with the very first series and issue of it:

Justice League #1. It’s got the things you like, minus Krypto.

Superman has good stories in The New 52. Superman Unchained is but one of them.

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I disagree! It’s not my type of Superman Story. However, if you liked it, that’s good for you!!

I’m a Grant Morrison fan and dug what he did on Action Comics (New 52) for New 52. I believe it expamds on themes from All-Star Superman while in the context of a younger Clark and is successful in reintroducing many parts of the mythos. It even has a little Krypto in it.

The Scott Snyder run on Batman (2011) is becoming a classic. While it wasn’t often to my taste story-wise (big exception to the Riddler/Zero Year arc), I became a Greg Capullo fan and followed the whole run out for the art. About to sit down to Last Knight on Earth #1, which will be a little bookend to that Batman (2011) series and have been eagerly looking forward to it.

The Justice League (2011) is cracking fun, as with anything Johns writes, but the real treats of the New 52 are some of the more obscure titles. If you’re willing to try something off the beaten path, my favorite of the lot was Lemire’s Animal Man (2011). It brought a real pathos to the character, expanding on his family that was once killed by Morrison because “…it’s easy to get a cheap emotional shock by killing popular characters.” In particular, Maxine Baker, Buddy’s daughter became a particular favorite of mine (if anybody at editorial catches wind of this please bring Maxine Baker into the fold in some way, shape or form. If I’ve missed an appearance after Lemire run ended let me know please!) Anyways, his powers are cast in a similar light to Swamp Thing’s, and the two series crossed over quite often, which makes it an interesting counter point to the upcoming Swamp Thing series. Anyways, Animal Man is a pet character that’s had a couple of classic runs, but may be too odd to adapt into other media, but then again, I had thought the same thing about Doom Patrol.

Whatever you choose, have fun and happy reading!

@DeadmanBrand I agree that some of the best New 52 titles were those that featured lesser known characters.

Blackhawks, Demon Knights and Threshold (a seriously fun and underrated series) are some of my favorite New 52 books that featured lesser known characters.

As others have said, Batman and Superman (in Grant Morrison’s Action Comics run) both get some good New 52 stories. Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman series is pretty great too. But my favourite series from that era are the horror ones: Animal Man, Swamp Thing, and Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Also, Green Arrow starts out terrible but gets amazing once Jeff Lemire takes over as the writer.

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Best new 52 for me

Aquaman
Demon Knights
Frankenstein
Earth 2
Worlds Finest

Early issues of Morrison Action Comics were interesting but i dislike this Superman

Others like Batman and Wonder Woman

New 52 is a great place start! There was a lot of great titles that came from it. I truly think it was one of the best relaunches in comics history, we got so many great runs from it.

Batman by Scott Snyder, this dude came outta nowhere and gave us one of the best Batman runs ever. Court of Owls, Death of The Family and, Zero Year one after another. And it all starts with issue #1. Him and Greg Capullo truly cemented themselves as all-time greats on Batman. Snyder is probably my favorite writer at DC right now and it all started with his New 52 Batman run.

Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello. Azzarello is one of my all-time favorite writers, and I think his run on Wonder Woman was incredibly underrated. The writing and art, this was easily one of my favorite runs from the New 52.

Action Comics by Grant Morrison and then later- Greg Pak. I think this whole run was great. The other commenters have talked about it, Morrison provides us a good look into a “younger” Superman and the world isnt quite use to.

Justice League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The animated movies, Justice League War and Throne of Atlantis take great influence from this. Johns is an alltime favorite at DC, he did wonders for characters like Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash, Shazam. This JL run is another great run of his imo, through and through.

Aquaman by Geoff Johns. The live-action movie, Aquaman, took a ton of influence from Johns reinvention of the character. It really elevated the character’s status and how he is viewed among comic fans. Aquaman is a badass king, the whole world of Atlantis is so cool too.

Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire starting with issue #17(I think). Lemire is another fan favorite, most people thought his Animal Man run was one of the best titles of The New 52 and you’ll find no arguement from there but I also think his Green Arrow run was fantastic.

Swamp Thing and Animal Man by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire. I really think if your gonna read either of these series, your better off reading both. The payoff with the cross-overs is also greater if your reading both. Swamp Thing and Animal Man were two of DC’s best horror titles in the 80s and 90s. I think Snyder and Lemire really brought both these characters back to their horror roots and classic fans and new fans will both enjoy these series.

Honorable Mentions:

Batgirl by Gail Simone
Green Lantern by Geoff Johns
Superman Unchained by Scott Snyder
Batman Eternal by Scott Snyder
Batman and Robin by Peter Tomasi
Batman Incorporated by Grant Morrison
Omega Men by Tom King

Once you get past the Forever Evil event from Justice League, you should start Grayson by Tom King. Grayson was one of my favorite titles and really put Tom King on the map for me and other fans. Dont worry if you havent been reading Nightwing, you just need to know what happens in Forever Evil before you read Grayson.

Long post. I know. I hope it helps.

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@MajorZuma Long post? Yes. Highly appreciated? Also yes =)

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Im happy to help @Vroom

Also OP, while New 52 is Batman’s best run in years, Rebirth Superman was Superman’s best run in years. And it features quite a bit of Krypto. And Rebirth also has an excellent series called Red Hood and The Outlaws, its much more liked than the New 52 iteration.

I personally havent gotten around to reading it though Im almost there on my list.

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Okay… Batman, Batgirl, Superboy (UNDERRATED), Action Comics, literally anything by Paul Cornell, Multiversity, and Grayson.

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Also, I mentioned Grayson, but, like, everything Tom King wrote. So, Omega Men and stuff.

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