Your favorite/Must read before you die DC Stories

[Lightning Rider]

It would be really cool if the forum could compile a top 100 fan favorites list through a voting system. I would trust the users on here to create the most definitive list possible.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Loads of my favourites mentioned already but here are most of my top pics, DCU only (no Watchmen)...

All Star Superman
JLA: Year One
Kingdom Come
The Flash by Mark Waid (Born to Run to Race Through Time, and The Dark Flash Saga at least)
Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison
Superman: Secret Identity
Supergirl by Peter David
Young Justice by Peter David
JLA by Grant Morrison
JSA (until the end of Dark Reign) by Johns et al
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Flash and Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold
Swamp Thing by Alan Moore
Superman by Alan Moore (differnt titles but are usually collected in one trade)
Hitman
Starman by James Robinson
DC: New Frontier
JSA: The Golden Age
Blue Beetle (1-25 by Giffen and Rogers)
Justice League by Giffen and DeMaittes

[CaptCleghorn]

I could copy a lot of the stuff already listed, but i want to add Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan's Question as well as the O'Neil/Adams GL/GA relevance stories.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Forgot:
Justice League: The Nail and Another Nail
JLA: Year One
All Star Squadron from about issue 15 to 50.
New Teen Titans Titans Hunt
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Legion of Three Worlds

[Nomads1]

I'll try to stick to story arcs, instead of runs.

JLA Year One
Kingdom Come
Legion Lost (DnA and Coipel)
All-Star Squadron - The Ultra Humanite Saga
JLA - Incarnations (Ostrander. Perfect companion for Waid's Year One)
Teen Titans - Judas Contract
The New Titans - Titans Hunt (the original)
Legion of Super-Heroes - The Great Darkness Saga
Batman - Long Halloween
JLA - New World Order
JLA - The Obsidian Age
The Flash - The Return of Barry Allen.
The Flash - The Dark Flash saga (Mark Waid and Paul Pelletier. Why the hell isn't that yet in TPB?)
Supermam - Death, Funeral, Return trilogy.
Justice League The Nail and Another Nail
The Golden Age
The New Frontier

And many others.

Peace

[madmodpoetgod]

Peter Milligan's Shade the Changing Man
Peter Milligan's Enigma
Grant Morrison's the Invisibles
Grant Morrison's All Star Superman
Grant Morrison's Animal Man
Keith Giffen & Levizt's Legion of Super Heroes
Giffen's Legion 5YA

[The Whovian]

im looking for new stories to read, hit me with your favorite epic must read stories!

-Morrison's Batman run
-Batman Year One
-Tomasi's Batman & Robin run
-The Dark Knight Returns
-James Robinson's Starman
-DnA's Legion run
-LOSH "The Great Darkness Saga"
-Morrison's JLA run
-Lemire's Green Arrow run
-Kirby's New Gods run
-Walt Simonson's Orion
-All Star Superman
-Crisis On Infinite Earths
-Planetary
-Fables
-Puckett's Batgirl
-Batman The Long Halloween
-Batman Under The Hood
-Geoff Johns' JSA

[Orujo-man]

I add a few more to my list:

-All-Star Section Eight
-Priest's Deathstroke (yes, it's so good, i don't mind if the run it's not finished)
-Priest's Unknow Soldier
-Ennis' Unknow Soldier
-Batman: The Cult
-Batman: The Court of Owls
-Grayson

[Grim Ghost]

Great Darklness Saga : Legion of Superheroes

That old Mordru story from Legion of Super Heroes...it was pre crisis and it involved them having to basically hide from him in the past. Maybe somebody can help me out with the name on that.

[gadzooks]

thanks guys

[Lee Stone]

Swamp Thing by Alan Moore. #20-64 and Annual #2. Highlights: #20-24, 28-31, Annual #2, #32, 33, 37-50 and 56.
Note: #28 and 56 were the first two issues I read and they got me hooked. Both are single issue stories and work good as as samplers. And #32, another single-issue story, is just as good as a sampler and the story in that issue was very touching.

Death: The High Cost of Living.
This one mini-series really represents what early Vertigo was all about. You cannot help but feel a bit existential after reading it.

Books of Magic, the mini-series by Neil Gaiman.
No one has really dealt with DC's magic corner with quite the sincerity and thoroughness as Gaiman in this one series. I think the closest to reach that level was the American Gothic story in Swamp Thing (#37-50, sbove) that introduced Constantine and brought a major change to Zatanna's world.

Batman #400.
Anniversary issue that best represented the pre-Crisis/pre-Dark Knight Batman.

Seven Sodiers of Victory, by Grant Morrison.
A great piece of work featuring seven interconnected mini-series and two bookend specials.

The Prisoner: Shattered Visage
This sequel to the tv series by Dean Motter and Mark Askwith is still in my collection. However, it may require you to be a fan of the cult show to really appreciate it.

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga
New Teen Titans: Judas Contact
Watchmen
Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
-the five best, and essental, trades from DC's '80s era.

100 Bullets
-helped revive interest in non-superhero crime comics. If you like stuff like Tarantino, you'll most likely enjoy it.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World. The original Kirby-written and drawn titles from '71.

Omega Men, the original series.

[Lee Stone]

Great Darklness Saga : Legion of Superheroes

That old Mordru story from Legion of Super Heroes...it was pre crisis and it involved them having to basically hide from him in the past. Maybe somebody can help me out with the name on that.

Was that the story that ran in Superboy and the LoSH #241-245?
Or the annual JLA/JSA team-up issues of JLA #147 and 148?

[Lightning Rider]

Totally forgot Year One. Definitely must-read.

[Caivu]

52
Batwoman: Elegy
Gotham Central

[Vilynne]

52
Batwoman: Elegy
Gotham Central

Oddly,.this is the only selection I 100% agree with.