Let Me In to DC!

[Elaniel]

Hi all,

I've recently gotten back into comics after being away for a few years.
I've started picking up a few Marvel series and would like to try a few DC ones.

I did read a few books when the New 52 started but didn't stick around for too long.
Ones I really enjoyed were Red Robin and Nightwing. Really don't like Green Lantern. Also a huge fan of Jim Lee's art but see he is on a Superman book now. Was never a huge fan of Superman's though.

Over at Marvel my pull list consists mostly of X-Men.


I've looked at the solicitations for July and see the following that interest me. Any recommendations and advice? I do not wish to go back too far in back-issues either.

Grayson 1
Teen Titans 1

Others that interest me are:
Justice League
Batman
Batman & Robin
Detective Comics
Green Arrow

Would it be best on these titles to wait for the Future's End stuff to finish before picking them up? I don't see a "jumping on point" at the moment and don't want to start getting weekly series. Also, don't want to pick up too many books in the same area, so any advice on which of Batman, Batman & Robin, and Detective Comics are the best?

Thanks everyone.

Also to note, nice not seeing loads of $3.99 books like Marvel has!

[ImprobableQuestion]

Let's start with your Batman question. Best place to jump on for vanilla Batman would be issue 34 in August. Zero year will have just wrapped and the team will be writing present-day batman for the first time in a year. On tbe other hand Batman #30 is the start of the third Zero Year arc, so you might like that as a starting point. Detective just got a new creative team. Their first issue came out last week. Batman and _____ is in the middle of the Hunt for Robin, so I'd either wait until Robin Rising in July or go back to the Aquaman issue (29 I think.)

As for quality, I've only read Batman, which is consistently excellent lately. Batman and ___ has been a team-up book for about a year. The creative team is pretty good, but I don't know much else. Detective's first issue under the new team is getting good reviews. Someone else can probably reccomend it for you.

As for price, only Batman and ___ is 2.99. The others are 3.99 but the Batman team likes to do double sized issues to end each arc.

[Elaniel]

Thanks for your reply.
So what exactly is Robin Rising? It looks to be a mini. What does Aquaman have to do with it? I assume there was a crossover?

[ImprobableQuestion]

Have you been keeping up with Batman news over the last year? Because both questions pertain to a thing from last spring that wasn't really kept under wraps but could constitute a spoiler if you care to go back and get caught up.

[Elaniel]

Not kept up with much at all in the DC'verse. Don't have a huge urge to go back and get caught up.

[LoneNecromancer]

Out of the ones you're interested in, Justice League and Batman and... are both in pretty long stories at the moment that might be hard to get into.

Teen Titans, Grayson, Lemire's Green Arrow, Batman (Zero Year), Detective Comics under Manapul & Booch should all be fine.

[ImprobableQuestion]

Okay then. Damien Wayne died last year in the pages of Morrison's Batman Inc. Ever since then Batman and Robin has turned into a team-up book where Batman is joined by a new character. First it was various Bat-family members, then it was "Batman and Two-face" for a few issues, and then Ra's al Ghul stole Damien's and Talia's bodies from Wayne Manor.

Now Batman is chasing him to get Damien's body back. Issue #29 was "Batman and Aquaman" and last month's was with Wonder Woman. Robin Rises is indeed a mini, but I don't know much about it. I do know that after July the title will go back to "Batman and ROBIN," so someone will be Robin by the end of the year.

[LoneNecromancer]

Okay then. Damien Wayne died last year in the pages of Morrison's Batman Inc. Ever since then Batman and Robin has turned into a team-up book where Batman is joined by a new character. First it was various Bat-family members, then it was "Batman and Two-face" for a few issues, and then Ra's al Ghul stole Damien's and Talia's bodies from Wayne Manor.

Now Batman is chasing him to get Damien's body back. Issue #29 was "Batman and Aquaman" and last month's was with Wonder Woman. Robin Rises is indeed a mini, but I don't know much about it. I do know that after July the title will go back to "Batman and ROBIN," so someone will be Robin by the end of the year.

It's a bit difficult to get a new-ish/relapsed reader into that, I imagine.

[ImprobableQuestion]

It's a bit difficult to get a new-ish/relapsed reader into that, I imagine.

Definitely. I had trouble recalling all that myself. But he asked about Batman and Robin, and I figured that was where to start.

[Red_11]

The current Green Arrow arc wraps up with ish 31 I believe, so 32 should mark a pretty good jumping on point. GA is currently one of DC's top titles IMO.

[toddx77]

Out of the books you listed that interested you I would say Green Arrow would be a great book to start reading. I would recommend getting it starting with 32 since that is when the new story arc is. Batman would also be a good book to get starting with 34, no point in jumping into Zero Year now since it is in its third act. Detective Comics would be a great place to start now with Batman since Manapul's run just started. Also Batman Eternal had been great and is only 4 issues in and is great so if I can track down the first issue give it a try. I would hold of off on Justice League right now since there is one more Tie in with Forever Evil so wait one more issue for Justice League. Grayson and Teen Titans look good so get those.

As for other books you might like Superman will have Johns as writer and Romita Jr as the artist in a few month so I would recommend reading that if you want a good starting place for Superman. Superman/Wonder Woman is also really good but the Doomed crossover is starting at the moment. Aquaman is a great book and you can jump on with any issue.

[mysterygeekboi]

I've found the 6 and 8 issue collections to be a great way to get into DC stuff without having to get into back issues. I've found Flashpoint to be a great place to start, followed by Action Comics vol 1, Justice League vol 1, Action Comics vol 2 and 3, Det. Comics vol1. From there the flagship books - Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Batman and Justice League are very good. I also like the mystical books like Constantine and JL Dark which start a little later.

[toddx77]

I've found the 6 and 8 issue collections to be a great way to get into DC stuff without having to get into back issues. I've found Flashpoint to be a great place to start, followed by Action Comics vol 1, Justice League vol 1, Action Comics vol 2 and 3, Det. Comics vol1. From there the flagship books - Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Batman and Justice League are very good. I also like the mystical books like Constantine and JL Dark which start a little later.

The only reason I didn't mention graphic novels is because the poster said they didn't want to have to go too far back, but Elaniel if you don't mind, start with the graphic novels since the only 52 will only be 3 years old this September. I know DC graphic novels take forever to come out, but the volume 4's are just coming out now so you can read story arcs that ended in August 2013 or so.

[Elaniel]

Thanks everyone for your replies and recommendations! They're all appreciated.

I do prefer to read going forward and then if something grabs my attention, I will go back and grab the back issues since the relaunch.

I've decided to start with these:
Green Arrow 32
Batman 34
Justice League 30
Superman 32
Grayson 1
Teen Titans 1

Do those numbers sound right for where to start? Or would it be best for Injustice League to finish first and then start around 34? (As 33 is supposed to be the conclusion).
Also, is Superman better than Action Comics? What about between Detective Comics and Batman?

I'll hold off on Batman & Robin until Robin comes back, would the Robin Rises 1-shot in July be a good start do you think? As it states the story carries straight over into Batman & Robin 33.
Also, as I was a fan of Red Robin I take it that's him in the new Teen Titans series?

[toddx77]

Thanks everyone for your replies and recommendations! They're all appreciated.

I do prefer to read going forward and then if something grabs my attention, I will go back and grab the back issues since the relaunch.

I've decided to start with these:
Green Arrow 32
Batman 34
Justice League 30
Superman 32
Grayson 1
Teen Titans 1

Do those numbers sound right for where to start? Or would it be best for Injustice League to finish first and then start around 34? (As 33 is supposed to be the conclusion).
Also, is Superman better than Action Comics? What about between Detective Comics and Batman?

I'll hold off on Batman & Robin until Robin comes back, would the Robin Rises 1-shot in July be a good start do you think? As it states the story carries straight over into Batman & Robin 33.
Also, as I was a fan of Red Robin I take it that's him in the new Teen Titans series?

Yes those sound like great starting places. Start with Batman 34 since it will be the first post zero year arc. At the moment Action is better than Superman, but that might change with 32 when Johns begins as writer. I am not currently reading Detective but Manapul is a great writer and artist so I am sure it is good, but Synder's has been writing Batman since issue 1 and hasn't disappointed yet. I am not reading Batman and Robin so I can't say anything about Robin Rises, but yes that is Red Robin, Tim Drake, on the Teen Titans.