Jump to content
TSM Forums
Sign in to follow this  
UseTheSledgehammerUh

Help Catch Me Up On DC Comics

Recommended Posts

Okay, so...

 

I've been out of the DC Loop big-time for years.

 

What's must-read now?

 

I used to read: JLA, Young Heroes in Love, Green Lantern, Detectice Comics, Nightwing, Batman Adventures, and most of the DC Crossover Events.

 

I loved GL Kyle Rayner and his GF Jade.

I saw that Hal Jordan came back as The Spectre or something and is now the GL. And Kyle is something called Ion.

 

JLA looks sharp now. I'm reading #1-10.

 

So what essential stuff should I get between, say 2000 and 2007?

 

I have "Identity Crisis". Great art, good story, ehh ending.

 

What's the deal with Infinite Crisis, One Year Later, 52, etc.?

 

What's happened with Flash?

 

What major heroes are repackaged, dead, reborn, etc.?

 

Who are, say, the "Top 10" heroes of DC, in terms or importance, good books, and being likeable?

 

What's this Amazons Attack stuff?

 

I realize I can wiki this, but I'd rather here "pass over it", etc. from fans and get a brief summary.

 

I'm looking to start reading:

 

Justice League

Justice Society

Legion of Superheroes

Flash

Green Lantern

Superman

Batman

All-Star Batman

All-Star Superman

Robin

Teen Titans

 

So tell me, what's up with those books? All good?

 

Reccomend me some shit. I pretty much read every single Marvel book except the "cosmic" stuff. I read a little Wildstorm (Gen 13, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Stormwatch). I read Walking Dead.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Tsukuyomi

Okay, I guess I'll respond because I relaly pay attention to DC :) :

 

JLA and JSA are great ones to start reading, but their little crossover is a bit confusing if you don't know much about the Legion of Superheroes or Kingdom Come. I'd recommend Kingdom Come anyways, because it's a great story, but it helps if you've read it to understand what the hell is going on with Starman.

 

Detective Comics is, simply put, one of the top 3 comics out there today. Paul Dini (Co-Creator of Batman, the Animated Series) writes all the characters to their absolute potential, and most of the stories are one-offs, but there is a loose continuity working with them. You can pretty much pick up any of them and jump right in.

 

Batman is a bit eclectic. I'd say pick up a TPB at Borders to see if you like Grant Morrison's style, or download a few of them before reading.

 

Nightwing had a pretty miserable restart, but the most recent arc by Marv Wolfman (And the Annual, written by Marc Andreyko, who is an absolutely brilliant writer) are starting to put some direction on the classic character.

 

The most recent Flash was Bart Allen (aka Impulse aka Kid Flash), aged again after entering the Speedforce (Sort of... it's a bit confusing), but he was recently killed off by the Rogues after the Speedforce was drained from him. I'd d/l the first part of the short 13 issue series because it was absolutely MISERABLE, but buy the second half which was a bit closer to the Bart Allen we all used to know.

 

Amazons Attack is Wonder Woman's mom coming back from the dead after she died back in the 90s, and attacking the US for imprisoning her daughter. The whole storyline is pretty damn forgettable, so I'd skip it.

 

Infinite Crisis was basically the biggest crossover of Century 21 (Yes, bigger than Civil War). It's pretty much a must-read to get into the DC universe at the moment. There are 4 tie-in comics (And a collection of the one-shots that came out DURING the Crisis). I'd recommend getting the TPB of the Crisis and reading the tie-ins at a Borders before you decide on buying them. The only two ones that are really necessary are Villains United and The OMAC Project (Which includes the prologue to the entire Infinite Crisis event), but Day of Vengeance is kinda fun. Rann-Than is utterly forgettable, though. If you loved Jade, though, you are going to want to read Rann-Thanagar War. But again, I wouldn't buy it. :\

 

OYL was DC skipping a year ahead while 52 was going on. 52 covers the year inbetween, when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were MIA, and lesser-known heroes picked up the slack. OYL isn't really a series as a designation of a book that had made the skip while Infinite Crisis was still going on. 52 is a series to pick up, as it's pretty damn good for a weekly that HAD to come out on time every week.

 

Major Heroes Repackaged or Replaced:

 

- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) is dead, replaced by Jamie Reyes, a teenager from El Paso controlling technology given to him by the Scarab. I'd check his wiki page, because I don't know how to describe him quickly without

- The Atom (Ray Palmer) was replaced by Ryan Choi, and it's a pretty funny little comic that is now taking a much larger part in the Universe. Palmer is also becoming a much larger part of the universe.

- Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) has changed... but read Infinite Crisis and Day of Vengeance to find out more. I'm not going to spoil what happens there. I'd also pick up "Trials of Shazam" online somewhere. It's another fun little book, but not for everyone.

- If you want to know who is dead, I'd pick up Infinite Crisis. Most of the deaths that have occurred, occurred there. 52 has a few important ones as well, but I'm not going to spoil it for you.

 

I can't give you a 'Top Ten of Heroes' exactly, but I can tell you what to read or at least d/l or check out at Borders (I test read a lot of things before buying them).

 

- Anything with Green Lantern in the title. Green Lantern Corps and Green Lantern (Vol. 4) are both FANTASTIC reads. I saw your comment in the Sinestro Corps thread, and while funny, that special is so beyond anything that has been written all year it's amazing. It changes EVERYTHING. Geoff has taken a hero concept that was cool, and is maxing out its potential. THIS is the Event of the Year, not Amazons, Countdown, World War Hulk, or Annihilation. I'm dead serious when I say that. Also pick up the Ion mini-series, which has serious implications in this as well.

 

- Justice Society is another great book. I don't always agree with IGN, but they have it exactly right when they (consistently) call this the best team book out there. Justice League is another good read.

 

- Teen Titans had a good return, a low point second arc, but it poised to have a new writer. I think it'll recover, but I'm not too sure about it.

 

- Checkmate. Read this, and love it. A great political thriller (Recently doing a cross-book crossover with the Outsiders) involving well-known superheroes, political intrigue, and just intelligent writing.

 

- I haven't read much of Legion of Superheroes. There's a weird... continuity thing going on. I'll tell you that the crossover between the JLA, LoS, and the JSA doesn't deal with THIS Legion. But I don't want to spoil to much. To me, it's a pretty lackluster series.

 

- On the Flash, Mark Waid is going to be writing it again, so I'd say watch the continuation of the old Flash series.

 

- If you don't really care about Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Robin is an okay read. But if you do, I would skip it just to avoid getting angry. I'm not really a fan of it.

 

- All-Star Batman is a joke, and not a funny one. All-Star Superman is one of the best comics on the market.

 

- The current Superman comics arc (Camelot Falls) is a pretty interesting storyline, but I'd pick it up from the beginning (I believe the first part of the story is already in Trade Paperback format). I'd d/l the others to catch up. The Zod storyline with Geoff Johns was going great until delays have just punished it like the Ultimates. When that series gets back on track, it'll be a good pickup.

 

Other stuff you might want to pickup:

 

- Green Lantern Rebirth, Green Lantern Recharge, for the reasons listed for GLs above.

 

- Teen Titans, Vol 1, 2, 4, 5. 3 is a bit superfluous, unless you really like Beast Boy/Gar Logan. It's a damn good series, and a fairly cheap pickup.

 

- I think Batman: Hush was during this time. I'd pick that up, as it's kinda important to everything going on now.

 

- Gotham Central is a great pickup if you like Cop Drama and familiar characters. Basically written about the cops of Gotham, it was sad to see this series end. Highly recommended.

 

If you have any other questions, just PM me. I hope I've been a great help here. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'll add some that wasnt covered in the above...

 

Read Batman: Under the Hood vol 1 & 2 for the return of Jason Todd.

 

Donna Troy died, came back, died again and came back again. SHe's now the new Harbinger and the nexus point of all her alternate selves in the multiverse, which means she has the memories of everything pre-crises and beyond.

 

Bart Allen getting beat to death by the Rogues is one of the saddest and greatest moments ever, for me atleast. Ive always loved Bart, but man...All-Flash....The rogues are screwed.

 

Top ten in terms of Importance...Hmm...I dont know that I can name 10 heroes, but I can probably name ten people who are super important, storyline wise right now

 

Superman

Batman

Wonder Woman

Hal Jordan

Sinestro

Flash

Kyle Rayner/Ion/Parralax

Ray Palmer

Jason Todd/Dick Grayson/Donna Troy/somebody else I forget - all of whom "arent supposed to exist" according to the Monitors

The Monitors

The Anti-Monitor

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for your responses.

 

I have Kingdom Come. I liked it a lot. I currently am reading both JLA and JSA.

 

I started reading Detective Comics this month. I think Grant Morrison is an incredible writer, having loved his stuff with The Invisibles and New X-Men, among other books, so I'm checking Batman out, too.

 

I hear Nightwing is awful (comic boards, comicbookresources) and will pass.

I'm also going to pass on Flash.

Amazons Attack is a dud, I won't be reading it.

 

I'm going to pick up Villains United, OMAC Project, Rann-Thanagar War, and Infinite Crisis.

 

So INFINITE CRISIS ENDS. And then 52 immediately begins and lasts a year. Are the DC books labeled to say "Hey, right here we jumped a year ahead." ?

 

I'm reading GLC and GL now as well as All-Star Superman.

 

Thanks again, I got my regular DC to read.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Tsukuyomi

Yes, DC comics jumped one year after Infinite Crisis ended. 52 recounts what happened during that year.

 

The last two issues of Nightwing have actually been pretty good. The Annual is also a good backstory read. Anything before that, though, is pretty miserable. The new Vigilante RULES.

 

Another series that I have to change my opinion is the Outsiders, where Batman is now the leader and holding auditions. Nightwing and Captain Boomerang, Jr, just did theirs, and it was a really good read.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Another series that I have to change my opinion is the Outsiders, where Batman is now the leader and holding auditions. Nightwing and Captain Boomerang, Jr, just did theirs, and it was a really good read.

When did Batman get involved with the Outsiders? I know there was that big Outsiders/Checkmate crossover but I never read any of it, what's happened since then?

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Tsukuyomi

At the very end of Checkout, Nightwing says that he's a good leader, but he's not made to lead the Outsiders. So he offers it up to Batman. So the new series is Batman and the Outsiders, and he is currently holding auditions for the team. I'd highly recommend the crossover: Checkmate, right now, is a taut, well written and well-thought-out series, and it holds over into the Outsiders well.

 

To me, it looks great. The team needed a presence that Nightwing tried, but really couldn't provide. If these are the types of stories that are going to come out from the Outsiders, I'm going to start having to pick them up as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×