New Reader, where to start?

I’m new to comics and want opinions on where to start to dive into the DC universe? I love Batman and Teen Titans the most. Also Doom Patrol looks cool and getting to know Superman would be dope. Also interested in Flashpoint. Any suggestions on where to start?

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Hey, it’s the 3000th post on this board!

Anyway, a good Batman story for new readers (and not everybody likes it, but I think it’s pretty solid) is Batman: Hush. It starts somewhere around Batman #608 or something like that. More recently, people seem to like The Court of Owls (I’ve never read it, but it’s the opening arc of the 2011 Batman series). A personal favorite that’s long, but doesn’t take excessive homework to understand, is the Knightfall saga. It’s padded like crazy in the middle but the beginning and closing stretches are excellent, and a lot of the early Bat-Family books spun off from it, so there are a lot of threads to follow if you enjoy it.

For Teen Titans, a lot of people are going to recommend the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans series from the '80s, but honestly, it’s a little slow for much of the run. A good thing to have read, since most other Titans runs build off of the characters and ideas introduced in it, but a little dated and clunky in the presentation. It picks up around the Judas Contract storyline. People also like the '03 Geoff Johns series, but I don’t know if that’s particularly new-reader-friendly. My favorite is the '98 series, but it definitely isn’t new-reader-friendly. If you’re willing to do some reading up on relevant characters, it’s good, though.

I don’t know much about Doom Patrol, and Superman isn’t my strong suit, but John Byrne’s Man of Steel miniseries is a classic and leads into his run, which I’ve been enjoying.

Batman: Hush, which is issues 608-619 of Batman (1940-2011).

Doom Patrol: Most people would say Grant Morrison’s run, which inspired the TV show, but one of my favorites is the Doom Patrol series that ran from 2004-2006 and was written and drawn by John Byrne.

Superman: Three recommendations:

  1. The Man of Steel (1986), written and drawn by John Byrne.

  2. Superman Unchained (2013-2014), written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Jim Lee.

  3. Superman (2016-2018). Start with the Superman: Rebirth #1 one-shot and then move into the series proper with Superman #1.

Teen Titans: Most people will say The New Teen Titans, and for good reason, but I recommend the mid 90’s Teen Titans (1996-1998) as well as Geoff Johns’ run on the 2003-2011 volume of Teen Titans, which begins at issue #1.

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Batman: Year One (Batman 1940 #404-407), first 12 issues of Batman (2011) and more if you enjoyed it, Detective Comics (2016) which will introduce you to a lot of Batfamily characters very easily. Batman Long Halloween, Batman Dark Victory, Batman Hush, Arkham Asylum.

Superman: Superman: Secret Origin (2009), The Man of Steel (1986) (origin stories), Superman (2016), All-Star Superman (but if you like it DON’T read All-Star Batman and Robin: the Boy Wonder. It’s BAD)

Doom Patrol (1987) #19 till the end (Grant Morrison’s weird but awesome and rewarding run). And if you like what you see, check out Animal Man (1988) the best DC has to offer.

Teen Titans: You can check out first 20 issues of Teen Titans: Rebirth because it’s the closest to the team you know from the TV series in the last decade (I think) and I enjoyed the first arc. Raven, Starfire and Beastboy are here, Robin is here (but not the same you know, it’s biological son of Bruce Wayne) and Kid Flash instead of Cyborg. From what I heard you should NOT read 2011 and 2014 series.

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Working backwards

Flashpoint Use Search have 63 books main totle and all tie ins

Doom Patrol
1989 Comic Book Doom Patrol 19 Crawling from the Wreckage Grant Morrison

Superman
Superman Loos and Clark introduces Jon.Kent
Followed by Superman 2016

Teen Titans
2003 version
Graduated Day
Followed by Regular Title by Geoff Johns
Perhaps Outsider if interest in Nigjtwing
Basically Tim Drake, Superboy, Bart Allan and Wonder Girl from Young Justice become Teen Titans mentored by Starfire Cyborg and Beast Boy. Raven later appears as a teen age girl

Batman

Where to Start Reading Batman Comics
Joshua Lapin-Bertone
thursday April 11

shorted to just include stories

Batman: Year One
WHERE TO FIND IT: Batman
#404-407

Batman Year two

WHERE TO FIND IT Detective
Comics #575-578

Batman: Hush

WHERE TO FIND IT Batman
#608-619

“Daughter of the Demon”

WHERE TO FIND IT Batman
#232

Batman: The Long Halloween

WHERE TO FIND IT: Batman:
The Long Halloween #1-13

Batman: Strange Apparitions

WHERE TO FIND IT Writer
Steve Englehart comes on board
with Detective Comics #469-
479, but things really get
cooking when artist Marshall
Rogers joins him for issue #471
through the team’s fınal issue,
#476.

“The Court of Owls”

WHERE TO FIND IT: Batman
(2011) #1-7

“To Kill a Legend”

WHERE TO FIND IT Detective
Comics #500

HONORABLE MENTION
Batman: The Dark Knight
Returns

Resonates more powerfully if one has read a few of the above titles first.

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Also Detective Comics 2016

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Year One is a must.

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–For Batman–

The Untold Legend of the Batman (1980):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/series/the-untold-legend-of-the-batman-1980/6ecc64c2-7822-418b-a9c1-1e4a2f556cd2

Batman #1 (1940):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/batman-1940-1/fc38500e-f6d5-439f-9f72-a9aeee0d4d1f

Batman #408-411 (1987):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/batman-1940-408/473a652f-9f2e-4728-974e-0f26293c9322

–For Teen Titans–

The Brave and the Bold #54 (1955):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/the-brave-and-the-bold-1955-54/1847d2a7-d282-4b49-8e01-4960bf6dbfb9

Teen Titans #53 (1978):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/teen-titans-1966-53/ee116125-75e1-4ddd-ad70-476cfa26fccb

The New Teen Titans #1-10 (1980-1981):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/the-new-teen-titans-1980-1/10b6f1e3-27f0-4956-ad79-52c98b40f468

Tales of the New Teen Titans #1-4 (1982):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/series/tales-of-the-new-teen-titans-1982/9a3e8186-0c42-47eb-ba5e-aacf4c0b0199

Teen Titans Rebirth (2016):
https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/series/teen-titans-2016/01ffb5af-76fd-4b71-ac1f-f5a1778ede4f

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As for Batman, I’d say dive right into the entire Knightfall-Troika epic including a few prologues and epilogues. It’s an incredible blockbuster event that ran through the Bat titles for over two years in the mid 90’s. Along the way, you get to know most of the major Bat family and classic Bat villains.

You can find pretty much all of it here on DCU:

Batman: Vengeance of Bane # 1-2
Batman: Sword of Azrael # 1-4
Batman # 0, 484-515
Detective Comics # 0, 654-682
Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 0, 16-35
Catwoman # 1-13
Showcase '93 # 7-8
Showcase '94 # 5-6, 10
Justice League Task Force # 5-6
Robin # 0, 1-14
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 59-63
Batman: Turning Points # 4
Nightwing: Alfred’s Return
Azrael # 1-2

If you’re interested in the reading order, I’ll post it for you.

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Saga of Swamp Thing is incredible. Arkam Asylum living hell is so good too.

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I’ve been reading comics since I was eight years old. That’s thirty years of reading. I will give you the advice I give anyone that’s interested in starting to read comics. Just dive in. You may not know what’s going on all the time or catch every little reference but building a knowledge base is a big part of the fun. First, pick a character or two and find titles they are in. Second, find the most current storyline (google is great for this) and start from there. You can also buy a few more current trades to start. These are typically cheaper than it would be for the single issues. I care about getting the single issues but I’m old school. You have the great resource that is the Internet to help you navigate comic’s continuity. Putting the puzzle together is the most exciting part of being a new fan, in my opinion. Have fun!

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I wanted to jump in to thank everyone for jumping in to give your suggestions! It’s always so great to see this community come together and these are all truly awesome suggestions. :slight_smile: You are all amazing and we definitely take notice of these moments.

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