Quote Originally Posted by jb681131 View Post
Sorry for my wording, but that's a stupid reasonning.
Why? Enjoyment is subjective. The plot is not.

Quote Originally Posted by Clark_Kent View Post
Yikes lol Don't listen to that guy. If you want to only follow Dr. Manhattan, then you don't need to go back any further than the Rebirth special, unless you have not read Watchmen. You can skip Flash of Two Worlds, all the various Crisis stories, and Before Watchmen (I enjoyed Before Watchmen very much, but I'm 99.9% sure it will never be referenced in the Dr. M Rebirth story).

Basically, read Watchmen if you haven't already, and then start with the Rebirth Special. All of those other stories are great, no doubt, but if you wanted a Dr. Manhattan mega-arc to read, they are not even relevant to things.
Okay, since there are differing opinions on back stories, let me explain how I view this first so you all can adjust your recommendation.

Most characters are not aware of Manhattan's existence. The ones who do only saw glimpses and don't know his name. In this case, Watchmen as Manhattan's back story is only relevant for Doomsday Clock. I already read Watchmen and Doomsday Clock is on the list, so this one's a non-issue.

Next, these are what I know about the other back issues and their relevance to current story arcs.
Darkseid War is relevant to Wonder Woman, who is fighting Grail, Darkseid, and finding out about her brother.
Death and Return of Superman provides context to Doomsday and The Anti Superman Team.
Flashpoint is relevant to The Button and Flash War.

Now since the story I want to prioritize is The Manhattan Mystery, we cross reference The Manhattan Effect List everybody else already contribute with The Back Stories List.
Wonder Woman hasn't been connected with Manhattan, so for now her book and Darkseid War are out... or... in, since Batman was talking about the Mobius chair, but I already know what that is, so for me it's out.
Batman and The Flash have been affected by Manhattan, so their series and Flashpoint are in.

I can see the list changing once I actually read the books or when I get new info, but for now that's how we're going to narrow it down.