Looking to catch up with DC rebirth

[Geralt of Rivia]

Hello everyone.

So after a couple of years of not reading comics I'm looking to catch up with the best of the best of DC rebirth and would appreciate recommendations.

Please no Superman, I just can't get into him.

I am aware that the core Batman book is basically a must read - and the one I'm most interested in anyway and it's already on my list.

Mainly I'd like feedback on these, but feel free to recommend anything that's really good:

Hal Jordan and the GLC - I see Venditti is still writing, his work post Johns was very much a mixed bag for me pre rebirth; Godhead was a highlight but the rest was of average to low quality. Yet reviews seem to favor his current run. Thoughts please?

Wonder Woman by Rucka and whoever took ok the book after him, I know this will be a good read; but I'm wondering what direction he took; for reference I prefered Azzarello's run to say Gail Simone's. To which does this lean closer? (I prefer to ask this here rather than the WW forum, I know people can be ... "passionate" over there.

How are Animal Man, Swamp Thing, John Constantine and Frankenstein faring? Are there any books like the Dark corner of the New 52 being published?

Is the Wild Storm reboot any good? Ellis is one of my favorites but he has been very much hit or miss in recent years.

Thanks in advance!

[adrikito]

Red Hood and the Outlaws... Bizarro here was a good signal..
Green Lanterns. Jessica and Baz.. They surprised me.. Her fanbase should be bigger than ever..
New Super-man.. Is funny this guy..
Deathstroke.. I like Priest Slade
Aquaman I follow this serie since N52.

[Assam]

Far and away the best run of DC Rebirth has been Gene Luen-Yang's New Super-Man. It is a modern classic and I don't think anything else comes close. My distant second favorite was Sam Humphries's completed run on Green Lanterns.

I am aware that the core Batman book is basically a must read - and the one I'm most interested in anyway and it's already on my list.

There are lots of people who hype it up and constantly give praise to it, but be aware that there are many who think King's run has been terrible. It's not amazing either, but I'd definitely recommend Detective Comics over it.

How are Animal Man, Swamp Thing, John Constantine and Frankenstein faring? Are there any books like the Dark corner of the New 52 being published?

Animal Man and Frankenstein haven't appeared at all in Rebirth (although I think Frankenstein is in a mini right now), Constantine's Hellblazer book is still going but it's by far the book I've seen the fewest people actually talk about and I think Swamp Thing has only appeared in a couple issues here and there.

DC just announced a new Justice League Dark book, with a roster of Wonder Woman, Detective Chimp, Man-Bat, Swamp Thing and Zatanna, with Constantine, Doctor Fate, Traci 13 and others also around.

Is the Wild Storm reboot any good? Ellis is one of my favorites but he has been very much hit or miss in recent years.

I haven't checked out the main Wild Storm book, but Bryan Hill's The Wildstorm: Michael Cray has been fantastic.

[Jackalope89]

Frankenstein popped up early on in Superman (or Action Comics?) Rebirth. But otherwise, he and several others are in limbo at the moment.

But the Super Family has had some pretty good publications. Though I recommend starting with Superman: Lois and Clark for backstory. It also leads into one of the best received runs of a new character in Jon Kent Superboy. The son of Superman and Lois Lane. He also teams up with Damian in Super Sons and becomes one of the few people that Damian actually likes and respects. And later on, even calls friend.

Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth has been, easily, one of the best titles. You have Jason Todd, of course, and then Artemis of Bana Mighdall Amazons, and clone Bizarro (a "Dark" Trinity if you will). The character interactions are top notch, with each character getting respect and backstory.

Wally West, the original, popped up and helped kicked off Rebirth, along with the return of pre-Flashpoint Superman. But not as much has been done with Wally (a lot of people still don't remember him, sadly).

[Geralt of Rivia]

Red Hood and the Outlaws... Bizarro here was a good signal..
Green Lanterns. Jessica and Baz.. They surprised me.. Her fanbase should be bigger than ever..
New Super-man.. Is funny this guy..
Deathstroke.. I like Priest Slade
Aquaman I follow this serie since N52.

Thanks

I'm more of a John Stewart and Hal Jordan + alien Corps kinda GL fan. Baz felt so meh to me when Johns introduced him, Jessica is somewhat more interesting.... and Im so over more GLs from 2814 I mean seriously...

Two mentions for Red Hood, maybe Jason Todd's latest is worth checking out.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Far and away the best run of DC Rebirth has been Gene Luen-Yang's New Super-Man. It is a modern classic and I don't think anything else comes close. My distant second favorite was Sam Humphries's completed run on Green Lanterns.



There are lots of people who hype it up and constantly give praise to it, but be aware that there are many who think King's run has been terrible. It's not amazing either, but I'd definitely recommend Detective Comics over it.



Animal Man and Frankenstein haven't appeared at all in Rebirth (although I think Frankenstein is in a mini right now), Constantine's Hellblazer book is still going but it's by far the book I've seen the fewest people actually talk about and I think Swamp Thing has only appeared in a couple issues here and there.

DC just announced a new Justice League Dark book, with a roster of Wonder Woman, Detective Chimp, Man-Bat, Swamp Thing and Zatanna, with Constantine, Doctor Fate, Traci 13 and others also around.



I haven't checked out the main Wild Storm book, but Bryan Hill's The Wildstorm: Michael Cray has been fantastic.

Umm interesting feedback highlighted... thanks!

[CoffeeCup]

Just stay away from Justice League and JLA.

Alot of people love Rebirths Deathstroke.

[Jackalope89]

Just stay away from Justice League and JLA.

Alot of people love Rebirths Deathstroke.

Though, JLA does return the REAL Lobo (well, it was from the Suicide Squad/Justice League crossover, but still). And the Justice League oneshots are certainly worth checking out.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Just stay away from Justice League and JLA.

Alot of people love Rebirths Deathstroke.

Yeah I'm aware of the sorry state for the Justice League books, I read they are getting relaunched soon so there's hope. Thanks for the heads up anyway.

[BatmanJones]

Yeah I'm aware of the sorry state for the Justice League books, I read they are getting relaunched soon so there's hope. Thanks for the heads up anyway.

OP was talking about time between CoIE and Rebirth, during which there are a TON of great JL runs... So many in fact that I could just re-read the ones that I'm listing here over and over and never tire of them. In my order of preference:

1. Grant Morrison's JLA
2. Mark Waid's JLA (on the heels of Morrison's)
3. Brad Meltzer's JLA (not his Identity Crisis which people love or hate and which I mention below but his run on the main book, which was glorious IMO, with #0 being one of the best single issues of JLA ever)
4. Geoff Johns' New 52 Justice League (probably best run of artists on JL(A) ever and I was a sucker for every single storyline)
5. Giffen/DeMatteis/Macguire JLI (the bwah-ha-ha comedy Justice League - so fresh, quite funny, out-of-this-world art - this series had many spinoffs)
6. Dwayne MacDuffie's JLA (much better than people remember it being)

Great JL(A) limited series:

1. Identity Crisis by Meltzer (at least 50% will have this as worst ever JL story; I have it as best)
2. Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
3. DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
4. Justice League: The Nail and JL: Another Nail by Alan Davis
5. Justice League: Year One by Mark Waid/Barry Kitson
6. Earth Two by Morrison and Quitely
7. Justice by Alex Ross
8. JLA/JSA Virtue and Vice by Goyer, Johns, Pacheco

The ones to be ignored/avoided are:

1. Bryan Hitch's JLA (New 52) and JL (Rebirth) both (great artist, utterly generic writer)
2. Orlando's shockingly bad JLA (Rebirth)
3. Any/all New 52 JL books apart from the main book by Johns and JL Dark which at least started strong. JLU and JLI were quite poor though.
4. Any/all James Robinson on JLA (from the historically stinky "Cry for Justice" to his actual run on JL that followed it)
OP asked about time between CoIE and Rebirth. That's 30+ years of JL comics, many of which were GREAT and almost all of which were better than the ones I listed above to avoid.

There's one short run, being published now, with Priest writing that is VERY hit or miss. Some issues feel like explorations of totally fresh territory and others are a slog to even get through.

Still, I'd rather see an extended Priest run than a Snyder one.

[BatmanJones]

Apologies. I conflated this thread with the one that did indeed ask about era between CoIE and Rebirth. This wasn't that thread though. Hope something in my suggestions is still helpful.

[adrikito]

Thanks

I'm more of a John Stewart and Hal Jordan + alien Corps kinda GL fan. Baz felt so meh to me when Johns introduced him, Jessica is somewhat more interesting.... and Im so over more GLs from 2814 I mean seriously...

Two mentions for Red Hood, maybe Jason Todd's latest is worth checking out.

I prefer Jessica too..

This time, the outlaws(jason, artemis, bizarro) are worth... Is talking someone who imaginated initially that Artemis will ruin this comic(because Bizarro was the HOPE of this comic) like Joker daughter the Redhood/arsenal run.. BUT I WAS REALLY WRONG..

[WebLurker]

I think Green Lanterns has been really good.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Apologies. I conflated this thread with the one that did indeed ask about era between CoIE and Rebirth. This wasn't that thread though. Hope something in my suggestions is still helpful.

No harm. Good suggestions, there are some you point out that I've been meaning to catch up with.

FWIW I also enjoyed Kelly's run post Waid.

[BatmanJones]

No harm. Good suggestions, there are some you point out that I've been meaning to catch up with.

FWIW I also enjoyed Kelly's run post Waid.

I did too. Just not as much as the others I listed. Great art by Mahnke too.