Think about your favorite DC character. If you were introducing someone else to them, where would you have them start? Choose one comic, and one piece of media outside of comics. (If your character has never had an appearance outside of comics you’d recommend, pick two comics. If they’ve never had an appearance inside comics you’d recommend, pick two extended media options.)
For instance, I’d go:
THE QUESTION
Comic: The Question (1986)
Media: Justice League Unlimited
Supergirl
Comic: Action Comics 252
Reason: I think knowing where it started is key.
The fundament for who Kara is can be found in these very few pages. Kara’s story is about the ultimate loss of everything except your life. Kal like me personally doesn’t have ties to the place of his birth. The formative years are crucial. Kal is a Kansas boy at heart. If the whole country I was born in would be gone tomorrow, it would be a horrible loss, but not for me personally. I have no one I know there. I have few emotional bonds. But Kara doesn’t come from there, she comes from losing everything she has known. Yet the first thing she wants to do is fly out and help. This is key for the character, a compassion and yearn to help that is larger than life. This issue introduces Argo and Midvale, places that will be part of the DC Universe forever. It introduces Alura and Zor-El whose stories will be retold 60 years later and change the El family tree forever. This issue introduces the complex bond between Kara and Kal that will show itself again and again. Despite being the last of their kind and being cousins, Superman has an obligation to the world that prevents him from being the support that he should have been. These 8 pages hold more importance than most whole runs. Recommending another random good comic can easily be a minefield. I am sure someone would say Red Daughter. It’s a good run, but it’s not a good representation. It’s an ephemeral gimmick. The Kara we see in Action Comics 252 is the one we always return to again and again. There was no other choice for me than this comic.
The other media is harder. I’m going to pick something unexpected, but one close to heart.
DCSHG - The Fortress of Solidarity
Reason: Despite always being there for others, Kara carries a loneliness inside that would break anyone. I think that this christmas animation is amazing in that it uses a setting where we understand and can begin to empathize with that loneliness that she keeps inside. Among all this Captain Cold craziness is a really heartfelt story about being alone and about friends looking out for you and carrying you when you need it.
Superboy (Conner Kent)
Young Justice issues #19 and #20 Sins of Youth
TV: Young Justice Series
I also love Azrael (Jean-Paul), but I went with Conner cuz I can’t think of much in other media.
Hawkman
Comic: Hawkman (2018)
It’s helps solve the origin story debacle for the rest of his comics.
The Flash/Arrow crossover that first introduces Carter and Kendra.
The Flash (Barry Allen)
Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: The Animated Series.
I feel like that really should’ve been a lot harder than it was.
Barbara Gordon
Batgirl Year One seems the obvious choice here, but I think I’d actually say Batgirl #0 by Gail Simone. The one shot is straight to the point, shows who Babs is and how awesome she is.
For other media, I’m torn because I immediately thought of Batman '66 with Yvonne Craig, but that show is a very particular version of those characters. I’d have to watch BoP again before I could recommend that version of the character (although I remember liking her), so an animated version makes sense to me. As a kid, I loved her intro in BTAS, but I think The Batman actually spends more time with Barbara. So from a ‘get to know Babs’ standpoint, I think I’d go with The Batman, Batgirl Begins.
JASON TODD
Comic: Batman: Second Chances
Movie: Under the Red Hood
Fall in love with him as Robin, then get your heart shattered into tiny pieces. Come on, it’ll be fun.
JESSICA CRUZ
Comic: Green Lanterns, Volume 2
Movie: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five
Green Lanterns was what made me fall in love with her, and JL vs. the Fatal Five captured that same feeling so well. I was literally crying during the Lantern oath scene.
Going to pass on my other known favorite, Cassandra Cain, because while Batgirl (2000) is a work of art, I don’t really have anything to list for her media-wise, since she’s only really gotten the one YJ episode and has no movies.