Everyone can name all of the books that start strong and end in a whimper, but what are your recommendations for books that have a rocky start that improve greatly later on in the run?
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I might get a little hate for saying this, but I think “52” fits that description quite nicely. When I read through that series it felt like such a chore at the beginning. I mean, they go through and reintroduce all these B or C-listers, and a huge part of those early issues is just delving into the aftershock from Infinite Crisis. By the end though, each of the plotlines reaches a pretty satisfying conclusion (not to say that they all lived happily ever after).
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1987 Suicide Squad from issue 17 on. Villians forced by Amanda Waller to take on risky missions. Issue 23 has First Appearance of Barbara Gordon as Oracle, disabled Computer Whiz. Skip Janus Directive.
2018 Justice League Odyssey. Jessica Cruz From Issue 6 on. By Dan Abnett
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I have limited time. If a series starts terrible I stop there.
The biggest examples of improvement I have seen in a series are Justice League 2011, since it really hits the stride at Throne of Atlantis. I read from there, and then I finished everything before then.
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The B and C listers are my favorite parts of 52 lol. I love me some Frankenstein of S.H.A.D.E and Animal Man. Both of those books were absolutely awesome imo
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It didn’t start off terrible, but it definitely wasn’t great so I think this counts…
Impulse. I enjoyed the beginning issues, but my god, when it got to like the 5th issue I was obsessed!
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Nice, I’ll add it to my list. I know literally nothing about Impulse
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My favorite speedster btw.
I’m a little surprised nobody’s brought up Swamp Thing yet. Absolutely nothing against Len Wein’s vision of the character, but the first volume isn’t anything to write home about. In the second volume, though, Pasko pointed the character into a much better direction, and then Alan Moore came on for a historic run.
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