When you realized that you need to learn more about past DC comics?

[tib2d2]

I can remember when I really started reading DC comics heavily and exclusively and weekly. It was around the Death of Superman which shortly after that was done, lead to Zero Hour. I was all-in with DC so of course I jumped on the event and even picked up tie-in issues. This was the first time I remember being confused to references of past comics I hadn't read. Seeing old versions of heroes, heroes from other Earths, etc. I didn't read older comics so I didn't understand everything.

Can you recall when you realized "uh oh, they are referencing things I don't know about, I need to go back and read this stuff"?

[married guy]

The Trial of Barry Allen got me hooked on the Flash.
Sure, in the overall scheme of things, it wasn't a great story. But at the time, I found issue #344 and realised I had to find out what lead to this!
Now, 30 years later, I'm buying the final two issues to complete my Flash collection - $105 and #112!

That one comic lead has lead to me now owning everything from Flash #105 to today.
I'm sure a drug habit would have been cheaper.....

[Gurz]

When i heard about Batman used to be light hearted... And saw that there are fans of that version. I read it and I hated it, those people are tastless, they don't look for any good read, they just want their childhood back.

[9th.]

Almost immediately, the first graphic novel I bought was a Teen Titans Infinite Crisis tie in. There was so much I didn't know and needed to find out.

[Lee Stone]

Who's Who introduced me to a lot of characters and teams that I wanted to read more of.
The Doom Patrol, Omega Men, Infinity, Inc., the Forgotten Heroes, Global Guardians...
Unfortunately, there wasn't a comic shop nearby. Back then I didn't know such places even existed.

Infinity, Inc., in particular, fascinated me at the time.
Aside from an issue of All-Star Squadron that had an ad in the back (i missed the actual issues they appeared in), my only other exposure to the team was in Crisis on Infinite Earths and their Who's Who entries.
Oh, and the cross-over with JLA that I missed half of because their title was only available in comic shops.

[dancj]

I read Crisis on Infinite Earths pretty early in my reading. That was a proper barrage of disparate characters. TBH though, I think that was a great jumping on point. I never felt I needed to read earlier stories of the characters.

[Güicho]

From the first issue, right off the bat, it was obvious there was a wealth of back story to discover, the whole love of the comic experience was immediately realizing you were not just buying upcoming comics, but into the past issues as well.
Of course it helped I had several shops that stocked them near by. (and once upon a time that's actually what comic conventions were for, at least that's what they were born out of)
The place to "start" was any issue that you bought, if you just wanted to earmark a place it was often buy as far back as when a new writer came on board.
This whole insisting on a "jumping on point" seems more like a modern utility based on the constant reboots, and the modern tendency of writing for packaged trades.
Originally (for me) the pleasure of tracking and buying back-issues was absolutely part of the comics buying experience from the go.

[Jim Kelly]

It was the difference between Batman on TV (Adam West, the first Batman I knew), the "New Look" Batman in the regular comics, the Batman in the bubble gum cards (by Powell and Saunders) and the "Old Look" Batman in the 80 Page Giants that left me confused and needing answers. I could understand him having different costume designs, but how did his chin go from looking like a cigar box to looking like an apple. I had to know the explanation. Turns out Batman isn't real and people make up the stories and sometimes they change their minds. This needed more research.

[Lightning Rider]

I just remember loving the cartoons and wanting to know more, so I would go on wiki and read the origins. Then I saw all these crises and formed a loose understanding in my head and bought a new classic every week for a few months. It formed gradually, my understanding of the history. But you don’t need much honestly.

[DevilBat66]

Right off the bat.

I started reading DC when the 100 page Giants were coming out and they were full of reprints and stuff that showed me all kinds of different characters that I wanted to read about.

Especially the Legion, Teen Titans, and Justice League. I wanted all their old stories so much.

[Mace Dolex]

Collecting DC comics in the mid-80's and looking over the various in-house ads for other DC properties sort of gave me an idea of DC's history, of course watching the Super Friends cartoon helped a lot too and while not many may agree Wizard magazine when it wasn't praising junk from Image and Valiant would on occasion have interesting articles on DC's past and various storyline recaps, it was via Wizard that I got a better understanding of what Crisis On Infinite Earths was as I missed that series.

[byrd156]

When I discovered comics.

[DCStu]

At some point in the last couple of years I realised I had to bone up on the Hal Jordan/Parallax stuff a bit. And I've only comparatively recently come to grips with the classic Geoff John GL run (and watch some YouTube vids to explain to me what actually bloody happened)

[failo.legendkiller]

When I discovered comics.

This.

Today more than ever, since the current DC universe is not really enjoyable.

[j9ac9k]

1 - I read the first issue of "The Dark Knight" then saw an issue of the "Outsiders" and was confused why Batman seemed young there.
2 - I saw "Legends" and Guy Gardner and wondered what happened to my favorite guy from "The Superfriends" (Hal Jordan)
3 - I was drawn to the 5YG Legion by Giffen's art, but the story, while almost impossible to understand, intrigued me enough to hunt down as many back issues of the "Legion of Super-Heroes" as I could find.