Crisis Events for a New Reader

[Andru]

Thank you everyone has has shared input! I am going to pick up COIE and start there and see how things go.

Much appreciated!

[hawkeyefan]

Thank you everyone has has shared input! I am going to pick up COIE and start there and see how things go.

Much appreciated!

You’ll he fine! It’s a crazy cosmic event with multple Earths in danger and the heroes from those Earths banding together to try and save the day. That’s all you really need to know....the story will otherwise explain whatever you need. Just be aware that at times, something that is shown in COIE winds up getting resolved elsewhere....namely in one of the comics where the story spilled over into all the books DC was putting out at the time. So sometimes, you’ll be presented with some mibor cliffhanger, but then you won’t actually see how things play out (for example, it’ll say “What happens to Firestorm and Killer Frost? Be sure to check out his latest issue, on sale now!!!”). I don’t think any of those instances is all that severe, though. Just figure you should be aware of it.

Enjoy!

[Clark_Kent]

Well, I care.

Don't try selling something as "the final years of the 1940s characters from the Justice Society and All-Star Squadron" when it ISN'T. If you want to say it's a good read and an interesting story, that's one thing. But it's NOT what actually happened to those characters in main-universe DC stories. PERIOD!

He didn't say anything about "main universe DC" though. He just said the final years of 1940's characters, which it is.

[byrd156]

When I first started reading I jumped right into CoIE to prepare for Infinite Crisis, I started getting into the main ongoing stuff around then. Reading older comics or event comics now is so easy due to wikipedia, reading orders and character descriptions.

The best way to learn is to just pick books that look interesting and if certain characters or teams catch your eye follow them until something else comes along.

[MajorHoy]

He didn't say anything about "main universe DC" though. He just said the final years of 1940's characters, which it is.

But it's NOT their "final years" in main continuity; it doesn't affect anything that happens in other stories.
It's an alternate, "What If . . . ?" look at what could have happened (but didn't really happen)!

And if you present this to a new/inexperienced comic book reader, they'll get confused as to why this story isn't referred to in other JSA stories that take place in later years. It would be like all the people who discover DC superheroes through WB TV shows and then wonder why the comic book stories aren't written just like the TV show stories. (And sometimes, that just alienates new readers who like the TV shows and can't be bothered with comic book stories that aren't just like the TV shows they prefer.)

[hawkeyefan]

The Golden Age is great, I can’t fault anyone for recommending it.

Given the fact that each of the stories mentioned in the OP involves alternate versions of the same characters, I can’t see how The Golden Age would be considered confusing for anyone. And given the current state of DC continuity, who can say what impact any of these stories have had at this point.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Well, I care.

Don't try selling something as "the final years of the 1940s characters from the Justice Society and All-Star Squadron" when it ISN'T. If you want to say it's a good read and an interesting story, that's one thing. But it's NOT what actually happened to those characters in main-universe DC stories. PERIOD!

You're missing the forest for the trees. The Golden Age is the story was of the final years of the 1940s characters from the JSA and All-Star Squadron, just as The New Frontier is the story of the transition between that era of superheroes to the Silver Age characters during the 1950s. Do either of them fit perfectly in continuity of Earth-0? Nope, but many of their events and characterization were incorporated into the Jack Knight Starman title, the late '90s JSA revival, and many more. The events of Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns don't technically take place on the main DC Earth despite being hugely influential to both of those characters. Does that mean people shouldn't recommend them to new readers?

If you really want to be pedantic about all of this, most of the comics recommended in this thread, including the ones you suggested, are no longer in continuity because subsequent revisions have altered those stories so that they couldn't have occurred that way in the main DCU. So, what exactly is the point of restricting ourselves to comics that took place on Earth-0? They are all part of the DCU, which encompasses an entire Multiverse of Earths. Should we exclude any comics taking place on Earth-2 because it wasn't the main DC Earth? Should we exclude comics connected to Sandman because those characters tend to jump in and out of the main DCU?

Good stories are good stories and, sorry to break it to you, but none of them actually happened. They are all imaginary stories. If one of those imaginary stories makes as big an impact as Dark Knight Returns, The Golden Age and New Frontier did, they should be recommended to new readers, regardless of which particular Earth they took place on.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Thank you everyone has has shared input! I am going to pick up COIE and start there and see how things go.

Much appreciated!

Have fun! Remember, it's not important that you understand every last detail and every single character or event that is referenced. If something is bothering you because you are finding it unclear or confusing and you are worried about Wikipedia spoiling the story for you, feel free to come to these boards and ask and we can help you out.

Just let us know where in the story you are, and we'll do our best to help you out without spoiling the rest of the story for you.

[BatmanJones]

Who cares? Darwyn Cooke's superlative New Frontier, despite not having the Elseworlds logo, isn't a part of Earth-0 either but both The Golden Age and New Frontier heavily informed the mainstream DCU for years and years. They are imaginary stories, aren't they all?

Indeed. I've always found the phrase "imaginary story" funny. Even as a small kid, I was like, and the rest of these superhero stories are, what? Real? Then where's Ultraa, Julie Schwartz? Explain that. (I know Mr. Schwartz is gone. R.I.P.)

[Buried Alien]

I think the impact of reading CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS is greatly dampened if you didn't grow up reading Pre-COIE DC. COIE was, very much, the last hurrah for DC's characters and mythos as readers knew them from the Golden Age through the early 1980s. A new DC Universe would begin thereafter, but things truly would never be the same again. This is something difficult to experience retroactively if you're reading COIE for the first time today.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[MajorHoy]

I think the impact of reading CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS is greatly dampened if you didn't grow up reading Pre-COIE DC. COIE was, very much, the last hurrah for DC's characters and mythos as readers knew them from the Golden Age through the early 1980s. A new DC Universe would begin thereafter, but things truly would never be the same again. This is something difficult to experience retroactively if you're reading COIE for the first time today.

I agree somewhat with the idea that reading it for the first time these days may not have the same impact as it did for those of us who originally read it in single issues when it was first published. Back then, all the changes/plot developments seemed so radical and unexpected because this really hadn't been done before. Now, it may seem like "so what?" if people have been reading the various "EVENT" series that have followed in its wake.
(Also, comparing how deaths were handled back in CoIE compared to the way Geoff Johns handled mass casualties in Infinite Crisis is a tad disturbing, but things changed drastically in comic books (and the world itself) in the +/-20 years between the two series.)

[Jim Kelly]

COIE is the place where readers probably saw a lot of characters for the first time--because Perez crowded those panels with obscure characters. And then that was the last time.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

COIE is the place where readers probably saw a lot of characters for the first time--because Perez crowded those panels with obscure characters. And then that was the last time.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 was one of the first comics that really pulled me into the DCU as a long-time fan. I had no idea who most of the characters were, what the story was or why anyone was doing what they were doing, but it completely hooked me. Crisis on Infinite Earths is like jumping into the deep-end of a very deep pool, but it is worth it

[byrd156]

Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 was one of the first comics that really pulled me into the DCU as a long-time fan. I had no idea who most of the characters were, what the story was or why anyone was doing what they were doing, but it completely hooked me. Crisis on Infinite Earths is like jumping into the deep-end of a very deep pool, but it is worth it

It really is one of the best starting points. It's weird enough to introduce you to a larger world while still being a very straight forward plot that shows off everything DC has to offer.

[Buried Alien]

For a generation, COIE was a farewell to the DC of their childhood and adolescence. The only analogy I can think of is the 60s generation learning that the Beatles had broken up.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)