Master Thread: "I'm New to DC Comics! What Should I Read?"

Jesus, scare the newbie off why don’t you guys. A Harley Quinn head dive needs more attention! Truss as the kiddies say…

Titans would be my next stop on the bus. Then if you like the serial set up, Doom Patrol or Swamp Thing. This is considering what you put down as genre preferences.

As for animation destination one should be Death of Superman or Doomsday. Followed up by Dark Knight 1 and 2. Any Justice League Dark! Son of Batman, Batman vs Robin, into Teen Titan Movies…

Then Hit the JL series starting with Doom to Apokolyps War.

Young Justice then Legion of Super Heroes

Then go back in time to the live action movies. Start from the beginning Superman, Batman, etc… to today!

Enjoy the journey… Read Crisis on Infinite Earths, it is a must! And enjoy all the great comics!

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So I have been a long time comic reader and love DC, my wife… not so much with the reading. She loves all comic book movies and TV shows (dc universe and regular cable shows), but has never really gotten into reading comics. I cant think of where to start her off. She’s agreed to do a book club with me where we read 1 issue a week. Any suggestions?

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Start with something that feels like a movie. For instance, there are two Superman origin stories that feel particularly cinematic: Birthright and Secret Origin.

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Ask her which is her favorite character and start with an acknowledged run, or start at the origin of that character.

Or an interesting idea would be to start with a limited elseworld run like Injustice or Gotham City Garage where you can familiarize her with a wider cast of characters in the context of one story.

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Those are great options! Thank you!

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I didnt even think of that! Thats a good idea

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Spoiler alert!

When I first started reading comics years ago, I started with buying Batman: The War Years 1939-1945, this hardcover really gives you a great introduction to Batman. It has some major keys like Detective Comics #27, which is the first appearance of Batman, Detective Comics #33, which tells you the origin of Batman, and many other great and Classic stories throughout the rest of the book. You can purchase this hardcover online, it’s pretty cheap

Another book I recommend for people who want to read classic Batman stories is Batman: A Death in the Family, it is a classic tale about the death of Jason Todd, this story really sets up the origin for Red Hood. And the awesome Jim Aparo artwork really makes this story special. You can read the full story here on DCU!

Okay, here it goes.
:muscle:t4:Action: All-Star Superman
:family_man_man_girl_girl:Team-Ups: Justice League: The New Frontier
:male_detective:t2:Mystery: Batman: The Long Halloween
:rose:Romance: Batman: Hush
:japanese_ogre:Horror: The Saga of the Swamp Thing
:sparkles:Magic/Fantasy: Fourth World by Jack Kirby
:joy:Humor: Tiny Titans
:books:Classic: Crisis on Infinite Earths
:iphone:Modern: Dial H for Hero by Sam Humphries

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Those are fun recommendations, @TheRealDetectiveChimp! All-Star Superman would be right near the top of my list of recommendations for a new DC reader, that’s for sure. :slight_smile:

Hello everyone. I’m new here. In your opinion which story lines are a MUST READ to understand the current DC Universe? Thanks!

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Hey there, @GosiGat! Welcome welcome!

I’m sure plenty of our users here can help point you in the right direction, but the Let’s Build a DC Comic Book Library might be a good place for you to start poking around! :eyes:

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There are two answers here

If we are talking about the current DC Universe

After Dark Nights: Death Metal, the DC Universe goes into a possible future, with the “Future State”, then to the Infinite Frontier

The Dark Night Dearh Metal series
Rebooted the DC Universe

So that everything in the more than 80 year old history of the DC Universe actually happened.

Before the heroes and villains didn’t remember everything

But that series would be very confusing to a new reader

But
The Dark Night Death Metal 7
pages 26 to 36

Infinite Frontier 0

Might be enough

Here are the major
Starting points since that series ended

Justice League 2018 59
Wonder Woman 2016 770
The Flash 2016 768
Green Lantern 2021 1
Action Comics 2016 1029
Batman 2016 ( Tynion starts at 86 (maybe 101 is new start))
Detective 2016 1035
Batman Urban Legends 2021 1
Joker 2021 1
Catwoman 2018 25
Swamp Thing 2021 1
Harley Quinn 2021 1
Nightwing 2016 78
Suicide Squad 2021 1
Teen Titans Academy 2021 1
Wonder Girl 2021 1
Superman Son of Kal el 1
Batgirls 1

If you are talking about understanding the entire Comic Book Library here

First
Watch
Secret Origins the Story of DC Comics

In that hour and a half you will get a good overview of most of our comic book library. It was filmed in 2009 so of course can’t talk about newer than that

This is my complete list for New DC Readers. It is intended to introduce most of the major characters of the universe at a basic level. It is by year

This is my
Batman for new readers

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Reddit’s list of the top DC Comics runs:

(Text list and “runners-up” here.)

This is pretty close to what I’d consider to be the standard, community-approved “canon” of essential DC & Vertigo comics. It’s runs-only, so there are some key one-and-two issue stories that are missing. But aside from those, and with the “runners-up” included, these are pretty much all of the titles that I see repeatedly on almost every “Best of DC Comics” list. A new reader could do worse than simply picking a character or cover from this graphic that looks interesting to them and just start reading (heck, it’s what I did with Nightwing).

I’m curious what others think of this list. I’m less interested in the specific order that these were placed in, and more so in which titles made it and which didn’t. Is there anything super important missing? Or any titles on there that you didn’t expect to see included?

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Nearly a year later, here are more recommendations ganked from Reddit. Credit to u/wargaluk for compiling these:






More here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/13ouyxk/a_collection_of_recommended_reading_lists_that_i/

https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/11s4prl/i_compiled_ten_extensive_lists_of_recommended/

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For someone stepping brand new into the world of DC, I would suggest starting with a trade paper back, for team ups i would say any of the Worlds Finest, Batman/Superman. For Green Lantern fans, not knowing where to start, I would suggest the TP of Green Lantern and Green Arrow. for a smash up of Horror, Magic and Fantasy, I would say the TP of Death Metal, Action I would suggest the TPs of Sean Murphys White Knight series.

and basically for anyone who says well this hero is my favorite, again, go find the current last releases in TradePaper back for that character, so you can then transfer over to single issues in a subscription.

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I think it would be helpful to refine things a bit from the base list we started this off with in 2019. Some people have put things which I would term (and which Comixology and Bezolandia, as well as other sites) would also collect under SLICE OF LIFE, for humor. Likewise, some suggestions can cover multiple areas. And we may need to define some things more.

For example, are team books always TEAM-UPS, or is a team up something like DC Comic Presents or the Brave and the Bold, or the rare special, or mini-arc, where a hero cross-over over into a self-title of another hero. And are we talking brief or what? For example, Double Date is definitely a a bit of cross-over with Lois and Clark joining Bruce and Selina but is it really a team up since no real action happens and nothing Bruce and Clark are doing is actually a Superman/Batman thing. Obviously, Worlds Finest is clearly a team-up. but a JLA issue or arc that predominantly features say Superman and Batman investigating something (therefore also MYSTERY) with the occasional, few panels help of say Oliver or Mr. Terrific or someone else, is that a team up or is it just a team book, and falls just under MYSTERY or just under ACTION.

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currently, there is no justice league title so I would recommend the current justice society title as a good start (the golden age justice society did precede the silver age justice league). To get to know the characters purchased from other companies, can start with the current wildcats title.

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A fun breakdown of New Reader Recs!
:muscle:t4:Action: Batgirl: Stephanie Brown
:family_man_man_girl_girl:Team-Ups: Birds of Prey by Gail Simone
:male_detective:t2:Mystery: Batman Year One
:rose:Romance: Batman 78-79 (bonus issues Batman 24, 32, Annual 2, 36-37, 44, 68, and 85)
:japanese_ogre:Horror: Batman: The Black Mirror
:sparkles:Magic/Fantasy: Hawkman by Robert Venditti
:books:Classic: Superman: The Man of Steel
:iphone:Modern: The Flash by Jeremy Adams

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