What are some key stories/comics to read?

[TheDragonKing]

I haven't really read any comics regarding DC and only know what I know through movies, TV show and animation. It would be greatly appreciated if you could recommend some key stories/comics that I could read to expand my knowledge.

[jb681131]

I haven't really read any comics regarding DC and only know what I know through movies, TV show and animation. It would be greatly appreciated if you could recommend some key stories/comics that I could read to expand my knowledge.

Here is what I recommended on another thread:

DC has 4-5 eras :

Gold / Silver / Bronze age - 1938-1986
Modern Age - 1986-2011
New52 - 2011-2016
Rebirth - 2016-ongoing

DC is made of Several major heroes:

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Flash (there has been multiple ones)
Aquaman
Green Arrow
Green Lantern (there has been mutiple ones)

DC has also other great heroes

Shazam! (aka Capitain Marvel)
Martian Manhunter
Plastic Man
Atom
Black Canary
Booster Gold
Cyborg
Nightwing (formerly the first Robin)
Batwoman
Power Girl
...

DC has lesser known heroes that are a bit aside

Animal Man
Swamp Thing
John Constantine
Detective Chimp
The Watchmen
The Metal Men
...

DC heroes have younguer apprentice, and other young heroes

Robin (there has been a few)
Superboy
Aqualad
Supergirl
Beast Boy (aka Chagelling)
Speedy
Starfire
Kid Flash
Raven
Wonder Girl
Batgirl
...

DC has teams with these heroes:

The Justice League
The Justice of America (aka JLA)
The Teen Titans
The Titans
The Justice League Dark
The Suicide Squad (team of vilains forced to do good by the government)
The Green Lantern Corps
...

What to read ?

You can read the main DC Events
You can only read stories from one hero / team
Or you can read it all

Here are DC main events:

1961 - Flash of Two Worlds - creation of the multiverse
1985 - Crisis on Infinit Earths - recenter of the DC univers and start of the Modern age
1986 - Legends - creation of the modern Justice League and the Suicid Squad
1987 - Jutice League International - optional
1994 - Zero Hour: Crisis in Time - return of the Multiverse
2004 - Identity Crisis - events implying all of the DC's heroes
2005 - Infinite Crisis
???? - 52 - excellent - tells what happen in the missing year after Infinit Crisis
2008 - Final Crisis
2009 - Blackest Night - A Green Lantern Event - you should read the Green Lantern by Geoff Johns run
2010 - Brightest Day - Consequence of Blackest Night
2011 - Flashpoint - Flash disrupt time - start of the New52 era
2013 - Justice League: Trinity War - prequel to Forever Evil - optional
2014 - Forever Evil + Justice League: Forever Heroes
2015 - Justice League: Darkseid War - sequel to Forever Evil - optional
2016 - DC Univers Rebirth
2017 - Batman/The Flash: The Button - optional
2019 - Doomsday Clock - Should have read The Watchmen

you should also read the following elswords:

DC: The New Frontier
Kingdom Come

Then for the different heroes here are the reading orders of the main and good stories:

Batman - appears mainly in 2 titles: Batman and Detective Comics

Batman: Year One
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Long Halloween + Batman: Dark Victory
The Killing Joke
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
Batman: Tales Of The Demon + Batman: Bride of the Demon + Batman: Birth Of The Demon
Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman Knightfall Omnibus (new version) vol.1-3
Batman: Legacy + Batman: Contagion + Batman: Catclysm - sequels to Knigtfall and prequels to No Man's Land - but optional to read
Batman: No Man's Land Omnibus vol.1-5
New Gotham Omnibus 1-2 or Batman: Evolution + Batman: Officer Down
Gotham Central vol.1-4 - optional but good
Batman Murderer ? + Batman Fugitive
Batman: Hush
Detective Comics: Heart of Hush + Streets of Gotham: Hush Money + Streets of Gotham: House of Hush - optional but very very good
Batman: Batman and Son or Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus
Batman: The Black Mirror - optional
Batman, Incorporated + Batman Incorporated New52 #1-2
Batman & Robin New52 #1-7 or Batman & Robin by Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason Omnibus
Batman: Court of Owl -> Batman New52 tpb vol.1-2
Batman: Death of the Familly -> Batman New52 tpb vol. 3
Batman: Zero Year -> Batman New52 tpb vol. 4-5
Batman New52 tpb vol.6-10 - optional
Batman: I am -> Batman Rebirth tpb vol.1-3
Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles -> Batman Rebirth tbp vol.4
Batman Rebirth tpb vol.5-... ongoing
Detective Comics Rebirth tpb vol.1-... ongoing
Batman: White Knight
Dark Nights: Metal

Superman - appears in 2 title: Superman and Action Comics

Superman: Red Son - elseworld story
All-Star Superman
Superman by Geoff Johns - the main stories are:
- Superman: Secret Origins
- Superman: Last Son
- Superman: Escape From Bizarro World
- Superman: Brainiac
The Death of Superman + The Return of Superman
Superman: For Tomorrow
Superman: Doomed (2016)
--- You can skip the New52 and Rebirth eras ---
Super Sons Rebirth tpb vol.1-... ongoing

Wonder Woman - All runs can be read on their own

Wonder Woman by Geoges Perez Omnibus #1-3 - Wonder Woman pre-Modern Age
Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Omnibus #1-2
Absolute Wonder Woman By Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang vol.1-2 - Wonder Woman New52
Wonder Woman: Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1-3 (Wonder Woman Rebirth)

Flash

Flash by Mark Waid Book One and Two - really the best
The Flash By Geoff Johns Book #1-5
The Flash New 52 tpb #1-4 - The Brian Azzarello run - some like, some don't
The Flash New 52 tpb #5-9 - optional, less good than what Azzarello did
The Flash Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing or The Flash Deluxe Edition Book #1-... ongoing - a good new starting point

Green Arrow

Green Lantern / Green Arrow Omnibus - a great Bronze Age short serie
Green Arrow New52 - A very good new start
Green Arrow Rebirth

Green Lantern

Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Vol.1-2 - optional
Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus #1-3 - Massive but very good and complete <- it is a new start for the Green Lantern, what comes before is optional
Green Lantern New tpb #4-8 - optional, to finish the New52 era started by Geoff Johns.
Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps (Rebirth)

Aquaman

Aquaman: Sub Diego + Aquaman: To Serve and Protect + Aquaman: Kingdom Lost - The John Arcudi run
Aquaman New52 tpb #1-3 + Justice League New52: Throne of Atlantis + Aquaman New52 tpb #4 - The Geoff Johns run - A very good starting point
Aquaman New52 tpb #5-8 - optional but good to understand the Rebirth era
Aquaman Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing - continues from Aquaman New52

Animal Man / Swamp Thing / John Constantine / Justice League Dark

Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Omnibus (2017) - optional
Saga of the Swamp Thing Book #1-6 - The Alan Moore run
Swamp Thing by Brian K. Vaughan vol.1-2 - optional
Hellblazer vol.1-21
Lucifer: Book One-Five - optional
The Animal Man Omnibus - The Grant Morrison run
Animal Man by Jeff Lemir - Animal Man New52 - tpb #1-5
Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder - Swamp Thing New52 part.1 - tpb #1-3
Justice League Dark by Jeff Lemir - Justice League Dark New52 - tpb #2-4
Swamp Thing by Charles Soule - Swamp Thing New52 part.2 - tpb #4-7
Justice League Dark: The Last Age of Magic - The Rebirth serie - ongoing

Have fun with that to begin with

If you want to know more about a specific hero, please tell us.

[lilyrose]

Wow, that's very comprehensive!

So the Superman rebirth isn't any good, huh? I was considering reading that one myself

[Jim Kelly]

I think if you read THE WATCHMEN, THE NEW FRONTIER, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, BATMAN: YEAR ONE and KINGDOM COME then you've read the big works that every DC fan has to read to get their driver's permit.

[Restingvoice]

Wow, that's very comprehensive!

So the Superman rebirth isn't any good, huh? I was considering reading that one myself

Good is subjective, but Superman and Action Comics Rebirth can be confusing for new fans since the premise is to bring back fan-favorite elements that were missing during the New 52 era, and they're doing it in the story by way of parallel universes and magic.

Basically, the first big arc is a transitionary period from New 52 to Rebirth.

[kjn]

New 52 and Rebirth can be more than a tad confusing. New 52 was a reboot, except that it wasn't for some characters. Like Batman, who is a character of some importance to the DC universe.

Rebirth was more of a reorientation based on New 52, except that it was a reboot for some characters. Like Superman and Wonder Woman, who also are characters of some importance to the DC universe.

Anyway, as jb681131 said, it's much easier to recommend stuff if we know the themes, heroes, or tones you are interested in.

[CPSparkles]

Wow, that's very comprehensive!

So the Superman rebirth isn't any good, huh? I was considering reading that one myself

Superman Rebirth was a fan favourite. it's an excellent run especially if you are a fan of family first husband and father Clark. It's pretty much what fans paid to see and expected from King's batman.

[Ishmael]

Wow, that's very comprehensive!

So the Superman rebirth isn't any good, huh? I was considering reading that one myself

Superman Rebirth is enjoyable if you've got the backstory for it. To do so you should read the 2 issue mini, Convegence:Superman and the sequel, Superman:Lois & Clark. They give you the set-up for Rebirth, as well as introduce Jon Kent, their son. I personally enjoyed them (and don't think you'll find it all that confusing).