Getting back into comics after a year sabbatical

[Tyson]

Was wondering if Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Doomsday Clock or the new Dark Metal spinoffs are any good? Also, any word on when Milestone titles are showing up?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Was wondering if Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Doomsday Clock or the new Dark Metal spinoffs are any good? Also, any word on when Milestone titles are showing up?

Aquaman went monthly with an awesome new artist and is now Jason Momoa-fied. Only read the first issue of the new direction, but it looks good. Waiting for the trade on this.

The Flash just started a big storyline pitting Barry vs. Wally that looks to be great.

The Benson Sisters moved over to Green Arrow, so now might be a good time to start that title.

Doomsday Clock is shaping up to be a landmark story, but the long wait between issues is killin' me. Since you've got 5 issues to catch up on, you might be able to pace yourself though. The story is set one year into the future of the DCU, so you don't have to worry about anything being spoiled in other comics.

The Metal spinoffs are mostly shameless riffs on Marvel characters, but some are looking very promising, particularly Sideways. Terrifics also looks good, but doesn't appear to have any kind of stable art team. Immortal Men is drawn by Jim Lee, so I would trade wait that one, because it might not even get finished.

[Jekyll]

Flash has been consistently excellent and currently has a big story arc happening. Would definitely recommend the whole rebirth run.

[Flash Gordon]

AQUAMAN has been a really thrilling read. 100% reccomended.

[BatmanJones]

Aquaman went monthly with an awesome new artist and is now Jason Momoa-fied. Only read the first issue of the new direction, but it looks good. Waiting for the trade on this.

The Flash just started a big storyline pitting Barry vs. Wally that looks to be great.

The Benson Sisters moved over to Green Arrow, so now might be a good time to start that title.

Doomsday Clock is shaping up to be a landmark story, but the long wait between issues is killin' me. Since you've got 5 issues to catch up on, you might be able to pace yourself though. The story is set one year into the future of the DCU, so you don't have to worry about anything being spoiled in other comics.

The Metal spinoffs are mostly shameless riffs on Marvel characters, but some are looking very promising, particularly Sideways. Terrifics also looks good, but doesn't appear to have any kind of stable art team. Immortal Men is drawn by Jim Lee, so I would trade wait that one, because it might not even get finished.

Our tastes are remarkably similar. I almost could have written this post myself. I wonder what you think of Tom King and, in particular, his Batman. I love it beyond words but I know a lot here really don't.

[New World Order]

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[Tyson]

Our tastes are remarkably similar. I almost could have written this post myself. I wonder what you think of Tom King and, in particular, his Batman. I love it beyond words but I know a lot here really don't.

Surprisingly, I've never been a Batman fan.

My favorites have always been the Vic Sage Question, Hitman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and the Milestone characters.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Our tastes are remarkably similar. I almost could have written this post myself. I wonder what you think of Tom King and, in particular, his Batman. I love it beyond words but I know a lot here really don't.

I am not generally a Batman fan, but I really like Tom King's Batman, although it did take me a little while to warm up to it. Same with Mister Miracle and Omega Men. His work dances on the line of being incredibly pretentious, but also good enough to justify it. And then he's also self-aware enough to take the piss out of himself regularly.

[Slim Shady]

Was wondering if Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Doomsday Clock or the new Dark Metal spinoffs are any good? Also, any word on when Milestone titles are showing up?

I'm in the same boat as you, actually it's been over a year for me. Right now there seems to be some pretty good jumping on points for a lot of titles. So for me anyway, it's a good time to get back into things. I'm probably going to get caught up with Doomsday Clock, it seems to be worth it.

Flash. I just started this with the current Flash War story. It's good. To help myself get caught up I picked up the previous issue which was road to Flash War and the Flash Annual #1 which was the Flash War prelude. Both are good and helped out a lot before jumping into the main story arc.

Aquaman is one I really want to read, I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. But I think there is a new writer taking over very soon? I'm still up in the air on what to do about it.

Green Arrow is the same for Aquaman for me. Wanna read it and heard a bunch of praise about it, but it's in the middle of getting a new creative team. I'm probably gonna wait for both new teams to take over and give them a chance I guess.

I don't know if you like Deathstroke but I've been jumped on that current run with Christopher Priest, I've really enjoyed the few issues I've read so far.

That's all I got right now. I also jumped back on Superman with Action Comics #1000 and the new Man of Steel mini-series. It's off to a good start if you like SM.

[KC]

In my opinion, Rogues Reloaded is where the Flash book started to get good (I think it was just ok before that) and it was good up until the Negative story arc and it has been bad since then. I think the current story arc "Flash War" is shaping up to be the worst storyline of the series.

Aquaman was one of the best books of Rebirth at the start, but I think the current story arc is dragging quite a bit.

[BatmanJones]

I am not generally a Batman fan, but I really like Tom King's Batman, although it did take me a little while to warm up to it. Same with Mister Miracle and Omega Men. His work dances on the line of being incredibly pretentious, but also good enough to justify it. And then he's also self-aware enough to take the piss out of himself regularly.

I'm a diehard Batman fan and I had a similar experience. It took me a while to warm up to King's Batman (same with Omega Men though I was an immediate fan of Mister Miracle) and then once I did I've just been nuts about it. He's become my favorite Batman writer of all time which is saying a LOT. I don't disagree with anything you said. I don't view him as pretentious though I can see why you'd say that. I view him more as always trying something new which could make him seem pretentious for sure. So I get that, I just don't feel it myself.

Thanks for the reply!

Our tastes are similar enough that if you recommended a series to me I hadn't read, I would read it.

[BatmanJones]

I'm in the same boat as you, actually it's been over a year for me. Right now there seems to be some pretty good jumping on points for a lot of titles. So for me anyway, it's a good time to get back into things. I'm probably going to get caught up with Doomsday Clock, it seems to be worth it.

You cannot go wrong here. The delays are a major drag but the series itself is SO worth it.

Flash. I just started this with the current Flash War story. It's good. To help myself get caught up I picked up the previous issue which was road to Flash War and the Flash Annual #1 which was the Flash War prelude. Both are good and helped out a lot before jumping into the main story arc.

Another excellent choice. Flash comics haven't been this exciting in a dog's age.

Aquaman is one I really want to read, I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. But I think there is a new writer taking over very soon? I'm still up in the air on what to do about it.

I think Aquaman has been good but not remarkable. I'm an outlier in this. Most DC fans are loving the heck out of Aquaman lately. I preferred Geoff Johns' New 52 relaunch of Aquaman (w/Reis!) and would highly recommend that one while I'm lukewarm on the very popular current series.

Green Arrow is the same for Aquaman for me. Wanna read it and heard a bunch of praise about it, but it's in the middle of getting a new creative team. I'm probably gonna wait for both new teams to take over and give them a chance I guess.

I'd recommend checking out GA Annual #2 and seeing if you enjoy it. The Benson sisters wrote it and will be writing him going forward. I personally loved the annual issue and am looking forward to getting back to buying GA when they come on. His Rebirth/current series hasn't been remarkable up to this point.

I don't know if you like Deathstroke but I've been jumped on that current run with Christopher Priest, I've really enjoyed the few issues I've read so far.

I actively disliked Deathstroke before Priest's run. He made me a convert. For the longest time Priest's Deathstroke felt like the best surprise hit of the Rebirth "refresh."

That's all I got right now. I also jumped back on Superman with Action Comics #1000 and the new Man of Steel mini-series. It's off to a good start if you like SM.

I agree. Superman was already in incredible shape though and I'd highly recommend Superman by Tomasi/Gleason and I'd give a somewhat lesser recommendation to Jurgens' Action Comics. Both were very good and brought classic Superman back to the DCU. Putting Bendis on these titles is a case of fixing something that wasn't broken and I don't know Bendis' other work but I did enjoy Man of Steel #1 quite a lot and have high hopes for his run.

[Slim Shady]

You cannot go wrong here. The delays are a major drag but the series itself is SO worth it.



Another excellent choice. Flash comics haven't been this exciting in a dog's age.



I think Aquaman has been good but not remarkable. I'm an outlier in this. Most DC fans are loving the heck out of Aquaman lately. I preferred Geoff Johns' New 52 relaunch of Aquaman (w/Reis!) and would highly recommend that one while I'm lukewarm on the very popular current series.



I'd recommend checking out GA Annual #2 and seeing if you enjoy it. The Benson sisters wrote it and will be writing him going forward. I personally loved the annual issue and am looking forward to getting back to buying GA when they come on. His Rebirth/current series hasn't been remarkable up to this point.



I actively disliked Deathstroke before Priest's run. He made me a convert. For the longest time Priest's Deathstroke felt like the best surprise hit of the Rebirth "refresh."



I agree. Superman was already in incredible shape though and I'd highly recommend Superman by Tomasi/Gleason and I'd give a somewhat lesser recommendation to Jurgens' Action Comics. Both were very good and brought classic Superman back to the DCU. Putting Bendis on these titles is a case of fixing something that wasn't broken and I don't know Bendis' other work but I did enjoy Man of Steel #1 quite a lot and have high hopes for his run.

Thanks for the breakdowns! With Doomsday Clock delays, I figure by the time I get caught up it might be on track

I don't know what to do about Aquaman. From the little I know about the new writer, I'm no too excited, I'll still probably give it a chance and if I don't like it then I'll go back and check out the first part and see if I like that. And yeah, I was a huge fan of Johns run. Possibly my favorite run during the entire new52.

I just might check out that GA annual. I haven't read GA since Lemire's run so I'm looking to get back into him. Not familiar with the new creative team, sisters huh? Sounds pretty cool. And I like getting writers I've never read before, especially if it turns out I like their stuff.

I'm with you on Deathstroke before Priest. Not that I didn't like Deathstroke, I love him, one of my favorite characters. But I always liked him as a straight up bad guy. The Terminator. So I never really got into his solo books. But I'm really enjoying this run.

I'm a big fan when Tomasi/Gleason work together, so I've always thought about reading their run. Yeah, I never read Bendis before so I went into Action 1000 and Man of Steel 1 not knowing what to expect. I like it. I'm all in with his run.

[Skedatz]

Flash is never a bad call.

Aquaman has been really good as well.

Terrifics isn't bad, and Sideways is pretty interesting. Damage is take it or leave it for me.

[BatmanJones]

Thanks for the breakdowns! With Doomsday Clock delays, I figure by the time I get caught up it might be on track

I don't know what to do about Aquaman. From the little I know about the new writer, I'm no too excited, I'll still probably give it a chance and if I don't like it then I'll go back and check out the first part and see if I like that. And yeah, I was a huge fan of Johns run. Possibly my favorite run during the entire new52.

I just might check out that GA annual. I haven't read GA since Lemire's run so I'm looking to get back into him. Not familiar with the new creative team, sisters huh? Sounds pretty cool. And I like getting writers I've never read before, especially if it turns out I like their stuff.

I'm with you on Deathstroke before Priest. Not that I didn't like Deathstroke, I love him, one of my favorite characters. But I always liked him as a straight up bad guy. The Terminator. So I never really got into his solo books. But I'm really enjoying this run.

I'm a big fan when Tomasi/Gleason work together, so I've always thought about reading their run. Yeah, I never read Bendis before so I went into Action 1000 and Man of Steel 1 not knowing what to expect. I like it. I'm all in with his run.

Great reply, thanks.

As for current run of Aquaman I'd go with the majority and say that even though it's not blowing me away, it IS blowing a lot of people away so I'd recommend checking it out and seeing where you land. There are far more that love it than only think it's okay (my response to it). Also I fell hard in love with this series when Stjepan Sejic took over on art duties. He could make me love any comic.

Highly recommend the GA annual. It's just a lot of fun with great art. I enjoyed it enough that I'll start picking up GA again when they come on as the regular team.

Also highly recommend Tomasi/Gleason's Superman. If you're a fan of them and a fan of Superman, I think you'll love it.

A few more recommendations, because they're my favorite books DC is publishing lately...

Tom King's Mister Miracle

Tom King's Batman (actually my very favorite among many favorite things DC is putting out lately)

Mark Russell's Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles which just ended its 6 issue run

Gerard Way's Doom Patrol - all of Way's Young Animal imprint has been fantastic and the whole imprint is sadly going on hiatus soon but Way's DP is up there with Morrison's for me. Other great YA books are Eternity Girl, Shade, and BUG! The Adventures of Forager.

And though they aren't DC books, Dark Horse's Black Hammer universe (by Jeff Lemire) owes so much to DC lore and is absolutely fantastic. I've only gotten through the first two volumes of Black Hammer (10 out of 10) and the first 3 of 4 issues on Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows (also 10/10) which is a real love letter to the JSA and Starman in particular.

Happy reading!