Main Character Comics

[AAXL98]

Hello everyone, there are a couple of comics I want to read based on characters I like, I usually stick to Batman and his side kicks and villains but there are a couple of other characters I'm interested in but I don't know what Books I should get.

- Huntress
- Spoiler
- Arrow
- Flash
- Black Canary

Can you please give me Book recommendations for those characters? Thanks

[Immortal Weapon]

You can check out Stephanie's Batgirl series if your interested in her as a solo character.

[Hilden B. Lade]

Spoiler never had a solo as Spoiler, but she did star as lead of a good Batgirl solo.
Flash - read the Wally West Flash issues written by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns.

[MajorHoy]

Hello everyone, there are a couple of comics I want to read based on characters I like, I usually stick to Batman and his side kicks and villains but there are a couple of other characters I'm interested in but I don't know what Books I should get.

- Huntress

Which one? Post-CoIE/pre-New52 Helena Bertinelli or post-Flashpoint Helena Wayne, originally from Earth 2? Or are you really interested just in the character as seen on the TV show Arrow?

- Arrow

Do you want Green Arrow the comic book character, or are you specifically interested only in the Oliver Queen version from the TV show Arrow?

- Flash

Again, are you really just interested in the TV show character, or do you want to read a version from the comic books that came before the TV show stuff?

If you expect the comic book characters to have any connection to the TV show characters, they don't really. (Not unless you read the comic books specifically based on the TV shows).

[Lee Stone]

- Huntress -current: there's two Helena's running around DC at the moment - Helena Wayne, which is a reboot of the original Earth 2 Huntress, had a great mini-series near the launch of New52; Helena Bertinelli, a reboot of the Post-Crisis Huntress has only appeared in Grayson, as far as I know.
- Spoiler -never read her
- Arrow -since you're using the TV name, the only thing I could recommend would be the Arrow digital series that are collected in print.
- Flash -I would probably also recommend the digital series for this one, too. Especially if you're more familiar with the show. The blond Barry in the regular comics feels like a whole other character.
- Black Canary -her current series is pretty much it. The start of the Gail Simone Birds of Prey was really good, but that got rebooted.

[AAXL98]

You can check out Stephanie's Batgirl series if your interested in her as a solo character.

Thanks for the recommendation. I purchased that series 11 days ago and it's currently on it's way here

[AAXL98]

Spoiler never had a solo as Spoiler, but she did star as lead of a good Batgirl solo.
Flash - read the Wally West Flash issues written by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns.

Yeah but aren't there any Bat books with Spoiler in them? and Yeah I'm going to read her run as Batgirl pretty soon.

and oh I'll definitely check out the Wally West Flash run, thank you.

[godisawesome]

Hello everyone, there are a couple of comics I want to read based on characters I like, I usually stick to Batman and his side kicks and villains but there are a couple of other characters I'm interested in but I don't know what Books I should get.

- Huntress
- Spoiler
- Arrow
- Flash
- Black Canary

Can you please give me Book recommendations for those characters? Thanks

For Huntress, I'd immediately recommend the Paul Levitz trade trade from the New 52, HUNTRESS: CROSSBOW AT THE CROSSROADS; it effectively features both version of Huntress, since it was written for one of them and wound up being retconned into the other. It's also got beautiful art from Marcus To. If you can't find that, try for any collection you can get written by Denny O'Neill. Also, you should consider any BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND collection if you see the character in there, or BIRDS OF PREY by Gail Simone.

For Spoiler, all the BATGIRL collections by Brian Q. Miller, supplemented by any ROBIN collections you can get by Chuck Dixon and at least some of the other BATGIRL books by a guy named Kelley Puckett, both of the last two whenever you see they feature the character in a substantial manner.

For Green Arrow, LONGBOW HUNTERS by Mike Grell. I'm not an expert on the character, but I've heard good things about that story. If you want to have some fun, try the GREEN ARROW: QUIVER story by Kevin Smith. It's a nice slice of comic insanity.

For Flash, my two biggest recommendations are FLASH: RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN by Mark Waid, and FLASH: BLITZ by Geoff Johns. Pretty much any other collection you can get with either author is also going to be good, it's just that both of these books are really, really good and both have a major impact on the TV show. They do feature a different main character than the show, though, you may want to consider other collections as well. I've heard good things about the first few New 52 collections from a friend.

For Black Canary, if you can find the JUSTICE LEAGUE collections by Dwayne McDuffie featuring the character, they show her a lot of respect, but the bulk of your reading should probably go to BIRDS OF PREY, by both Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone. The former author did a lot to solidify the character's place in a monthly without Green Arrow and introduced the Oracle friendship, but the latter seems to write the best stories for the character in the series.

[AAXL98]

Which one? Post-CoIE/pre-New52 Helena Bertinelli or post-Flashpoint Helena Wayne, originally from Earth 2? Or are you really interested just in the character as seen on the TV show Arrow?

Do you want Green Arrow the comic book character, or are you specifically interested only in the Oliver Queen version from the TV show Arrow?

Again, are you really just interested in the TV show character, or do you want to read a version from the comic books that came before the TV show stuff?

If you expect the comic book characters to have any connection to the TV show characters, they don't really. (Not unless you read the comic books specifically based on the TV shows).

The Huntress that appeared in the Arrow TV show is the one I'm looking for, Helena Bertinelli.

No, I'm looking for the Oliver Queen Version.

and Yeah, TV Show Flash is the Flash I'm looking for. I couldn't get into The New 52 Flash series, they just didn't live up to the TV Show.

Thanks!

[AAXL98]

- Huntress -current: there's two Helena's running around DC at the moment - Helena Wayne, which is a reboot of the original Earth 2 Huntress, had a great mini-series near the launch of New52; Helena Bertinelli, a reboot of the Post-Crisis Huntress has only appeared in Grayson, as far as I know.
- Spoiler -never read her
- Arrow -since you're using the TV name, the only thing I could recommend would be the Arrow digital series that are collected in print.
- Flash -I would probably also recommend the digital series for this one, too. Especially if you're more familiar with the show. The blond Barry in the regular comics feels like a whole other character.
- Black Canary -her current series is pretty much it. The start of the Gail Simone Birds of Prey was really good, but that got rebooted.

Can you link me to the Huntress mini series?

and yeah as for The Flash and Arrow issues, will they be collected in a volume soon? Because I can't stand reading digitally.

and yeah I've heard a few things about the Black Canary series, but the fact that she's in a band puts me off. I mean should it?

And I don't trust anything Gail Simone publishes, Batgirl and Tomb Raider were just bad.

Thank you.

[AAXL98]

For Huntress, I'd immediately recommend the Paul Levitz trade trade from the New 52, HUNTRESS: CROSSBOW AT THE CROSSROADS; it effectively features both version of Huntress, since it was written for one of them and wound up being retconned into the other. It's also got beautiful art from Marcus To. If you can't find that, try for any collection you can get written by Denny O'Neill. Also, you should consider any BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND collection if you see the character in there, or BIRDS OF PREY by Gail Simone.

For Spoiler, all the BATGIRL collections by Brian Q. Miller, supplemented by any ROBIN collections you can get by Chuck Dixon and at least some of the other BATGIRL books by a guy named Kelley Puckett, both of the last two whenever you see they feature the character in a substantial manner.

For Green Arrow, LONGBOW HUNTERS by Mike Grell. I'm not an expert on the character, but I've heard good things about that story. If you want to have some fun, try the GREEN ARROW: QUIVER story by Kevin Smith. It's a nice slice of comic insanity.

For Flash, my two biggest recommendations are FLASH: RETURN OF BARRY ALLEN by Mark Waid, and FLASH: BLITZ by Geoff Johns. Pretty much any other collection you can get with either author is also going to be good, it's just that both of these books are really, really good and both have a major impact on the TV show. They do feature a different main character than the show, though, you may want to consider other collections as well. I've heard good things about the first few New 52 collections from a friend.

For Black Canary, if you can find the JUSTICE LEAGUE collections by Dwayne McDuffie featuring the character, they show her a lot of respect, but the bulk of your reading should probably go to BIRDS OF PREY, by both Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone. The former author did a lot to solidify the character's place in a monthly without Green Arrow and introduced the Oracle friendship, but the latter seems to write the best stories for the character in the series.

Huntress: Crossbow at the Crossroads seems to have bad reviews? People claim it's boring and pointless. Is it worth reading?

What is Batman No Man's land essentially?

Yeah! I'm checking out Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl for sure. Thanks a lot for the reply and the great recommendations, I have a lot to decide on now haha.

[godisawesome]

Huntress: Crossbow at the Crossroads seems to have bad reviews? People claim it's boring and pointless. Is it worth reading?

What is Batman No Man's land essentially?

Yeah! I'm checking out Bryan Q. Miller's Batgirl for sure. Thanks a lot for the reply and the great recommendations, I have a lot to decide on now haha.

Here's the run-down on the Huntress problem: the miniseries was written for Helena Bertinelli. The character speaks like Bertinelli, uses Bertinelli's armor and M.O., and is, for all intents and purposes, Bertinelli. But, about halfway through, it was decided they'd stop using the Bertinelli Huntress and start using the Wayne Huntress. The story still finished as it was supposed to, but then the epilogue has her reveal who she now is, and the first pages of the sequel series involved revealing Bertinelli was dead. The actual miniseries by itself is a competently written and strong stand alone story, it just leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths. I like it, and it seems like an immediately affordable and good story.

Batman: No Man's Land was pretty much the apex of the Batfamily crossovers from the 90s to the 00s. Gotham gets hit by a huge Earthquake, and right in the wake of a biological attack too. Luthor pulls strings from behind the scenes to have Gotham legally removed from the US's territory and basically declared illegal territory. The legal premise is poppycock: people apparently aren't even allowed to leave the city. But the end result is a Mad Max style dystopian setting for Gotham, with the remaining civilians and officials divvying up the city into different fiefs.

Batman and Gordon have issues, so their initial alliance is practically non-existent, while some of Gordon's cops go rogue as their own, more fascistic faction and are allied with Huntress after Batman chew her out. Two Face is the biggest single warlord, but he has some awesome stories. Batman teams up with Ivy to free her and some adopted kids from Clayface in Robinson Park, Nightwing retakes Blackgate penitentiary from Lockup and KGBeast while also upgrading his flirtations with Babs to actual dating, and Cass Cain makes her first appearance and becomes Batgirl.

The endgame of the story ends up being pretty awesome. Two Face gets taken down when he puts Gordon on trial but Harvey Dent is convinced to be defense attorney in a very well written scene. Luthor arrives to use the chaos to increase his LexCorp holdings via hiring Bane for sabotage (one of the better Bane appearances, since he doesn't have to fight Batman and instead makes a deal with him), and to get enough good publicity by getting No Man's Land ended to become President. The former is thwarted by Batman, but the latter succeeds. And Joker, who has been largely neglected by everyone else since he can't get a big enough loyal gang, decides to kidnap every single baby born during No Man's Land.

One of the places Joker comes to last is the rogue cop stronghold where Huntress is. The rogue cop's leader is manipulated into going crazy and killing half his men by Joker, so Huntress has to take him down and defend the entire settlement by herself against heavily armed Joker thugs. She gets shot several times by Joker himself, but she holds the line. Hell yeah.

I won't tell you how Joker's last attack ends because it's...pretty heavy.

[zwixxx]

re: No Man's Land - something I cobbled together into a handy(?) A4 size form - the No Man's Land reading order. If you're thinking of getting into the story you might find it helpful

xxx nml reading order.jpg

btw: the Batman: Harley Quinn one-shot thing has been recently reissued at a right cheap price, so no need to eBay and original for silly money like I did - I'm such a dink.

[SkyMason21]

Yeah but aren't there any Bat books with Spoiler in them? and Yeah I'm going to read her run as Batgirl pretty soon.

and oh I'll definitely check out the Wally West Flash run, thank you.

Spoiler is going to be in issue #42 of Catwoman this week.

[MajorHoy]

. . . and yeah as for The Flash and Arrow issues, will they be collected in a volume soon? Because I can't stand reading digitally.

Arrow and Flash (the ones based on the TV shows) are in DC's "Digital First" format. That means they're originally released digitally, then shortly after that collected into a regular print comic book format.

For Arrow, there previously had been twelve print issues in 2013. Those have since been collected into two trade paperback collections.


Arrow Volume 1


Arrow Volume 2

Currently, DC is releasing Arrow Season 2.5 (which takes place between Season 2 and Season 3 of the TV show) and issue #10 of the print version will be released here in the U.S. on Wednesday.
http://www.dccomics.com/comics/arrow...w-season-25-10

The Flash TV show has the comic book The Flash: Season Zero. Issue #10 of the print comic book was just released this past Wednesday.