Where to start reading DC Comics?

[jkarateking]

I'm 15 and have never really read comics. For my birthday I was bought a book full of Judge Dredd comics and I really enjoyed it so I decided I want to start reading comics. I enjoy films based on DC comics more than Marvel films so I would like to start reading DC Comics.

I hardly know anything about the DC Universe so I would like to buy comics that can get me to know the characters and the storylines but ones that are also fun to read. I am interested in characters like 'Batman', 'Nightwing', 'Superman', the villains from batman and most other good DC characters.

I don't like comics where it's easy for the hero to overcome the problem. I like there to actually be a challenge for the hero. Such as in Judge Dredd, in some of the comics he beat the enemies really easily with no challenge and that felt boring to read but in other comics he was beaten up and it was a challenge for him to beat the enemies and I enjoyed reading them.

So based on what I have said, which comics should I get that can help me get into the DC Universe, it's characters and its storylines?

Thanks in advance

[Panfoot]

For some classic stories that are their own thing without need to read previous material I would recommend Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, All Star Superman, and Superman: For All Seasons. If you want to go with the current stuff, it's actually a pretty good time to jump right in as pretty much all books are starting off on a new story line(for the characters you listed, Bruce Wayne is "dead" so there is a new, police funded Batman right now(which is Jim Gordan in a mech suit), Superman's identity was revealed to the world while he's also been mysteriously losing his powers, and during previous event about a year ago Nightwing's identity was revealed and he was "killed" so while thought dead he's been a double agent for Bruce while working at a spy agency). For those you'll want to look for Batman and Batman: Detective Comics #41-42, Superman and Action Comics #41-42, and Grayson #9-10, which shouldn't be hard to find. Alternately you can go back and start from the beginning of the new 52(which was a reboot of the universe about 4 years ago) and pick up the first trades of those series(I highly recommend Batman Vol 1: The Court of Owls).

[manduck37]

Well, there have been a few shake-ups in the world of DC lately, but this is actually a pretty good time to jump in. Plus the earlier stories are collected in trades that are pretty easy to get. So if you like Batman, Nightwing, and Superman, you have some really good options.

For Batman, the regular Batman title is really good. Currently, Batman is missing and Commissioner Gordon is filling in in a robotic Bat suit. There is a bit of a mystery as to what's going on with Bruce Wayne and the whole situation is temporary. So worry not, as the Batman you know and love will be back soon. Plus the earlier stories are a lot of fun. You also have Detective Comics, which can be hit or miss. Though it's tied into what's going on in Batman, loosely.

For Nightwing, that's the biggest change. Dick Grayson isn't Nightwing anymore, as a group of villains revealed his secret identity. Though Batman helped him fake his death so that he could help Batman infiltrate a spy organization. So now you have the comic titled Grayson, where Dick Grayson is a spy. It's one of the best comics out there and still pretty early in. So it's easy to catch up.

For Superman, you have Action Comics and Superman, both of which are really good right now. The big shake-up there is something or someone is blocking Superman's powers and his secret identity was revealed to the world. So he's trying to put his life back together. Action comics has been great for a while now. Superman is finally picking up some steam.

The Batman and Superman books launched their stories with issue 41. You don't need to really need to know anything going in, as most of what you need to know is covered in the books. The earlier trades of Batman and Action Comics are well worth checking out. I believe the first arc of Grayson was just collected in a trade as well.

You may also like Batman/Superman. It's not that far along yet and has both characters you like. It seems like some big changes have happened lately, but things usually have a way of leveling off and going back to normal. So just jump in and see what you like. You can always back track from there if you like. It's particularly easy if you like going digital with your comics.

Hope that helps and didn't confuse you

[jkarateking]

Well, there have been a few shake-ups in the world of DC lately, but this is actually a pretty good time to jump in. Plus the earlier stories are collected in trades that are pretty easy to get. So if you like Batman, Nightwing, and Superman, you have some really good options.

For Batman, the regular Batman title is really good. Currently, Batman is missing and Commissioner Gordon is filling in in a robotic Bat suit. There is a bit of a mystery as to what's going on with Bruce Wayne and the whole situation is temporary. So worry not, as the Batman you know and love will be back soon. Plus the earlier stories are a lot of fun. You also have Detective Comics, which can be hit or miss. Though it's tied into what's going on in Batman, loosely.

For Nightwing, that's the biggest change. Dick Grayson isn't Nightwing anymore, as a group of villains revealed his secret identity. Though Batman helped him fake his death so that he could help Batman infiltrate a spy organization. So now you have the comic titled Grayson, where Dick Grayson is a spy. It's one of the best comics out there and still pretty early in. So it's easy to catch up.

For Superman, you have Action Comics and Superman, both of which are really good right now. The big shake-up there is something or someone is blocking Superman's powers and his secret identity was revealed to the world. So he's trying to put his life back together. Action comics has been great for a while now. Superman is finally picking up some steam.

The Batman and Superman books launched their stories with issue 41. You don't need to really need to know anything going in, as most of what you need to know is covered in the books. The earlier trades of Batman and Action Comics are well worth checking out. I believe the first arc of Grayson was just collected in a trade as well.

You may also like Batman/Superman. It's not that far along yet and has both characters you like. It seems like some big changes have happened lately, but things usually have a way of leveling off and going back to normal. So just jump in and see what you like. You can always back track from there if you like. It's particularly easy if you like going digital with your comics.

Hope that helps and didn't confuse you

Thankyou for the help.
Is the regular batman title just called 'Batman' as when I search it up there are lots of different batman comic series?

[Darth Kal-el]

The title is Batman by Scott Snyder.

I also recommend Justice League by Geoff Johns. They just started an epic story line with issue 41. But I recommend collecting from the beginning with Justice League Secret Origin

[manduck37]

Darth Kal-el beat me to it, but yes it's Batman by Scott Snyder. Any action comics by Greg Pak is also great. I'd also like to second Darth's recommendation for Justice League by Geoff Johns. The new arc is amazing and the stories that came before it are sure to entertain.

[AAXL98]

I'm 15 and have never really read comics. For my birthday I was bought a book full of Judge Dredd comics and I really enjoyed it so I decided I want to start reading comics. I enjoy films based on DC comics more than Marvel films so I would like to start reading DC Comics.

I hardly know anything about the DC Universe so I would like to buy comics that can get me to know the characters and the storylines but ones that are also fun to read. I am interested in characters like 'Batman', 'Nightwing', 'Superman', the villains from batman and most other good DC characters.

I don't like comics where it's easy for the hero to overcome the problem. I like there to actually be a challenge for the hero. Such as in Judge Dredd, in some of the comics he beat the enemies really easily with no challenge and that felt boring to read but in other comics he was beaten up and it was a challenge for him to beat the enemies and I enjoyed reading them.

So based on what I have said, which comics should I get that can help me get into the DC Universe, it's characters and its storylines?

Thanks in advance

For Batman read: Batman The New 52 Volumes by Scott Snyder, and also Batman: Hush and Batman: The Long Halloween

Nightwing: Read the New 52 Nightwing Volumes

Superman, read "All Star Superman" "Superman Birthright", avoid reading The New 52 Superman and Action Comics.

[greenish lantern]

Read the Batman classics first (Batman Year One, The dark knight returns,Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum, Long Halloween, Dark Victory), Then All the Superman Classics (Superman: Birthright, For All Seasons, Red Son, Secret Identity, the two Alan Moore superman stories, Kingdom Come and finally All-Star Superman, the greatest superman story). These stories are stand alone, you didn't need to know anything about the continuity. These are some of the best stories.
After you've read those, start reading Grant Morrison's Batman run, stop before the final part (Batman INC) and start reading the current Batman new 52 run (and I highly recommend the first Batman and Robin volume).
For Superman read the first 3 Action Comic volumes and skip to vol 5, and just keep on reading .
The new Justice League run is pretty great as well, even though the first 2 volumes aren't very good (it get much better).

[HsssH]

I wouldn't recommend first 3 Action trades to new guy, Morrison does some "non traditional" things there and it might be hard to follow for someone who has little experience with him.