Best standalone DC books?

[your_name_here]

As the title suggests, really. I’m primarily Marvel oriented (have read some DC) and wanting to expand to DC a little more. Are their “defining” stories or done-in-one books that tell a full story without much prior knowledge??

[Multiverse]

DC: The New Frontier

[K7P5V]

Superman Annual #11 ("For the Man Who Has Everything..."):

[superduperman]

Catwoman: Lonely City. Nightwing: New World Order. Supergirl: Being Super. Superman Smashes the Klan. Superman: Secret Identity. Batman: Year One.

[James Cameron]

Kingdom Come
DC One Million
Great Darkness Saga
52


Huge books, massive implications, narratives that encompass vast elements of the DCU, but can be read completely standalone and enjoyed without prior knowledge of the lore or characters

[caj]

Clarification - by 'stand alone', do you mean a single issue or a storyline?

[Stingo]

As the title suggests, really. I’m primarily Marvel oriented (have read some DC) and wanting to expand to DC a little more. Are their “defining” stories or done-in-one books that tell a full story without much prior knowledge??

You would be hard-pressed to find any better than James Robinson's drop-the-mic love letter to DC's first generation of mystery men and women, The Golden Age. Sheer poetry which continues to define those characters to this day.

[K7P5V]

SHAZAM!: The Monster Society of Evil

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Black Adam by Christopher priest.
The Vigil.
Swamp Thing by Ram v.
Spirit World.

[The Frog Bros]

Up in the Sky, Tom King

Batman/Superman: Archive of Worlds, Gene Yang

[K7P5V]

The Long Halloween

[Mai Zen]

Justice 2005

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Starman by James Robinson.