Overwhelmed - where to start?

General Discussion Comic Books
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I really do not know the DC universe very well - now that I have all these comics available through Unlimited, where do I start?

I’d like to read the foundational and best comic runs - I’m fine going back to the 1970s and working forward. I could start with the New 52. I could read some epic runs like Green Lantern Darkest Night. I’m overwhelmed.

As a lifelong Marvel guy I know those characters inside and out. From the few DC comics I’ve read in the past few months I am loving these characters. I want to dive in. I want to know how the different Earths work, who Darksied is, how man Robins Batman has had, who are the Amazonians, how does the Green Lantern Corps work, how do they all cross over…mind blown :slight_smile:

Can you make any suggestions? Perhaps give me a list of ‘must read’ comics that are available in the Unlimited package? My goal is to be a complete DC fanboy by the end of the year.

Thanks for any advice and help - I’m loving this new, deep universe and cannot wait to experience decades of story.

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Being a DC fanboy by the end of the year is a great goal! Stay persistent, drink your milk and read oodles of great stuff! By the time 2020 is a comin’, you’ll be a big fan =)

Are you wanting recommendations of titles just from the Comics section here? Or that, and DC titles in general?

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One recommendation is the Secret Origins series on here since each issue covers the backgrounds of major heroes and villains. As far as the different earths go that more or less works the same as with Marvel though with fewer digits. Its not on here but if you subscribe to Comixology Unlimited I believe Grant Morrison’s the Multiversity is free to borrow. I’d check that out as I believe the trade version should include the guide book which breaks down either all of the earths or the main ones. DC can’t seem to decide whether their multiverse is 52 earths or an infinite number.

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If you want to dive into the legends of the Green Lantern Corps, definitely read the run by Geoff Johns, which will take you through epic story arcs like Sinestro War and The Blackest Night. There’s no better starting point for the green lantern stories IMO. However, not all the issues are covered in Comixology Unlimited.

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Why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed.

(Sorry, I had to get it out of my system :slight_smile: )

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Thank you! To respond:

Vroom: Maybe you could suggest a few titles to follow. For example you could say ‘Comic X’ is awesome - go back to issue 177 and read from there. Or maybe I need to check out ‘comic y’ but its best run was 230-285 so read that storyline. There are so many titles that look good I spoiled and do not know where to start :slight_smile:

TheDemonEtrigan: Cool! I’ll check out Secret Origins. Do you have any other favorite titles? How far back should I go in any of your favorites?

Emeraldlantern: Thank you! I usually love stories when Geoff Johns is attached. I’ll check out those Lantern runs.

Coville: I think if I can get a few good titles to read I’ll go back to just whelmed.

And lastly - any advice on how to follow comics in 2019 in general? I am 50 years old. I am used to going to a comic book store once a month and picked up my books. Now with Comixology and this new DC Universe I do not know the best way to follow comics. How do you guys do it? Sub through Comixology? Is there a way to organize them all in this new DC Universe? I’d just sub to a bunch but man it gets expensive fast.

Thanks so much.

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As how to follow comic books

Google ‘Comic Book Roundup’ to see the average rating of the major titles published, predominately DC, plus a summary of each review. And the ability to click on the detailed review.

If you click on Series for a current issue, you can see the rating for prior issues and click to see the same info as above for those issues.

With Comixology Unlimited, you get 15% off for most titles. Buy 10 issues a month, and the monthly fee pays for itself.

Sometime each Wednesday, not a midnight, Comixology lists the new comics, by date and then alphabetically - use ‘see all’, to get all titles for that day.

Before this, You can Google’ Comic books this week or next week’, to get all. DC titles. Copy and Paste and eliminate titles you don’t want. You can look at Comic Book Roundup to see if you missed anything or if an issue got a terrible review.

Then when in Comixology click all the comic books you want, which will be put in a shopping cart

Click on cart, to get titles and total price. l f total is too much, you can still remove titles at this point

Then ‘complete’

Then smart lists allow you to download titles

‘On device’ allows you to look at your downloaded titles.

I sort by series and remove from device issues I have finished.

You could consider waiting for the Graphic Novel version, but the 15% off is not guaranteed.

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There is a lot missing from the app, but the first few issues of 2011s aqua man are fantastic, and, though I have yet to read it, I hear that flash rebirth (2009) is a great jumping on point for the character. It all really depends on where you want to start. 2011s justice league is also a great reference point

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@Greg

Sadly alot of my favorites are not on this service and a lot of the stuff I like on here isn’t stuff that wouldn’t neccessarily appeal to a new reader unless you’re into really old comics from the 30s thru the 60s

The best stuff I can recommend that’s available thru DC Universe is the Flash (2011) and Wonder Woman (2011) series. Death of Superman and Saga of Swamp Thing are also really good though the way they have them posted actually requires a bit of effort to read in the right order.

A couple really good books to check out that aren’t available to stream are Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier and Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly’s All Star Superman.

One thing to be aware of coming from Marvel: DC’s continuity is a lot more flexible. While stories will occasionally reference something that happened back in the thirties ( Grant Morrison does this ALOT) the expectation is usually not that anyone will have read anything (outside of maybe the stuff written in the period between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis). Usually these things are more like fun easter eggs.

Once you know the basics of who tue characters are you can pretty much just assume that unless something directly references something else they occur in different parallel universes.

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@greg.j.lyons, here’s a few “New to DC” recommendations that you can jump right in on:

-Batman: Hush
-Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday
-Justice League v1: Origin (issues 1-3 out of six total for the first arc are in the Comics section)
-Superman v1: Superman and Son (this is the first volume of the Rebirth Superman ongoing series; the Superman Rebirth one-shot and the first issue of Superman are here)
-New 52 Wonder Woman (the first year and change of it is available here as of this writing)

None of those titles require anything else to be enjoyed but a desire for adventure and quality entertainment. Hope you enjoy those and more!

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The only part of Justice League Origin that’s still here last I checked is the first. Comixology Unlimited has the first two trades however

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Many members started with the animated series, all of which are in our library.

Here is my short version of DC History

1938 Golden Age starts with Superman, then Batman, then Wonder Woman

1960s Silver Age, new versions of Golden Age heroes appear.

1961 Flash 123, Flash of two worlds, older heroes live on parallel world, Earth 2
Superman still first hero on Earth 1 and 2

1985 Crisis on Infinite Earth, result is one earth.
Flash, Supergirl dies
New Wonder Woman
Superman only survivor of Krypton, Starts career as adult, not first super. hero

2011 Justice League 1, New 52, complete reboot, characters much younger, loss of marriages, many characters deleted from history. Superman with Wonder Woman, not. Lois Lane

2016 DC Universe Rebirth Comic, in library, legacy characters, history starts to reappear Legion of Super heroes, justice Society missing Dr Manhattan from Watchmen series responsible.

Knowing that, there are many threads in this Comic Book Forum that can help you find comic books to read, depending on your interests.

Notes: Many comic book cited as being in our library, are no longer there.

There will never be many recent comic book in our library, 2011 and above

Also Important Graphic Novels won’t appear either, but you don’t need most of them yet, except perhaps for New Frontier.

Comixology Unlimited purpose is to get you to buy comics. It will never be complete either

Threads are

My two step guide to getting started reading DC Comics, starting with Batman, Year one,

Can someone recommend any good comics for beginners, New 52 and within library

I’m looking for a starting point, Batman

Can you guys give a few recommendations on what to read, 1980s to 2000s

Top 10 New 52 Comics

All time Favorite Comic Series or Runs, Silver Age to Now.

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Also Chronological Reading Order thread.

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I hadn’t noticed the change for N52 JL. Last I looked 2 and 3 were there. Maybe they’ll return when everything there gets finalized.

CU is the next best bet. Or hoopla.

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I think its highly unlikely we’ll ever see all of a Justice League arc on here unless this site lasts long enough for Snyder’s current run to surlass Johns’ as the new definitive take and that will take years. Personally I’m just hoping they add issue 0 so we at least have the complete Shazam story before the movie comes out but given that we never got Throne of Atlantis when Aquaman launched I’m not going to hold my breath.

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Here soon, im thinkin there will CAPTAIN MARVEL books aplenty. From both sides, heh heh

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The Multiversity Guidebook is now on here as well as well as CU. I’d check that out if you want a quick rundown of the core worlds of the DC multiverse.

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I just bought the Shazam Graphic Novel from Comixology Unlimited. It wasn’t free, but I think it cost about $5.09, with two discounts.

Billy really starts out mean, with some good qualities underneath, like not liking bullies.

I am liking it.