Originally posted by kai3345
I have been a Marvel reader, all my life. But my few freinds who read comics, most say DC is the better choice. But when I try to read DC, none of it really intrests me. But then came Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown, Planet Crisis- and I thought "Hey that looks pretty cool" But I didnt want to be confused going into those books, so what would be a good starting point to be able to read those without bieng confused, or just a good starting point to get me intrested in DC.
For Superman read Mark Waids Birthright, its a really good origin of Superman and is a LOT more linked to current Continuity than John Brynes Man of Steel stories, although i do recommend reading some of them to get back round info on characters such as Draksied, Bizaro, Lex Luthor and co.
I REALLY, REALLY recommend Grant Morison's run on J.L.A., that starts with New World order and finishes with the original World War three. This will allow you to get to grips with the 'big seven', who you have probably seen on the J.L.A. and JLU cartoons. I also recommend Mark Waids JLA tower of Babbel, where you begin to see the paranoia of Bruce Wayne AKA Batman, which is intrinsic to the most recent Crisis. I also recommend Terror Incognito (The 1st D.C. trade i ever bought) which gives you a great perspective of how powerful the league really is. Other trades i recommend include Joe Kelly's 'Trial by Fire' which gives you a LOT of info on the Martian Man hunters mythos.
Once you've read these J.L.A. books i would recommend reading some of the individual titles such as Geoff Johns and Mark Waids run on the Flash and Joseph Loebs initial run on Batman and Superman. I also recommend Loebs run on Batman, that includes Hush and the Long Halloween. For Tomorrow is a Very popular Superman book as well.
After you got to grips with the more mainstream D.C. characters, try and get hold of Geoff Johns run on the J.S.A., which was written just after Waids on the J.L.A. Although this follows some of D.C. more obscure characters, the stories is truly sublime through out. If you can find them id also pick up Geoff Johns Teen titans material, where you'll see characters seen on the other cartoons series.
After you have ALOT of back round knowledge, I EXTREMELY recommend picking up these FOUR BOOKS, that are generally regarded as the greatest D.C. stories ever written.
The Original Crisis (Crisis of Infinite Worlds), written by Marv Wolf man
The Dark Knight Returns, Written by Frank Miller,
The follow up, the Dark Knight Strikes again (see above)
KingDome Come, written by Mark Waid.
Although most of these are written in parallel universes, they are highly acclaimed as being some of the greatest pieces of comic literature ever written. With the back round knowledge accumulated by the books previously mentioned (And maybe a little help from wiki on the way) you'll really have no problem following them, and I'll guarantee you'll be hooked on D.C. Other critically acclaimed D.C. works include Batman year One (Written by Frank Miller), and Alan Moore's stories of D.C.
After reading these your 'ready' for Identity Crisis written by Brad Metzler and Green Lantern Rebirth (Written by Geoff Johns).
After Reading these you'll have Good idea about whats going on in the 'middle' crisis, and you can begin Reading the preludes, and the companions. These include the actual prelude (telling the death of Ted kord AKA blue beetle), the Om ac Project written by Greg Rucka, Day of Vengeance, The Rann Thanagar War (Dave Gibbons) and Villains United, and Superman; Sacrifice. After reading these you can fully enjoy the Actual Infinite Crisis, written again by Geoff Johns, and then 52 (Written once again by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid and Grant Morison. If you haven't noticed already, these names are reoccurring ALOT).
You can then begin to enjoy the One Year Later books, that include Kurt Brusieks Up, Up and Away Superman trade, and Camelot Falls. Id ALso recommend the New J.S.A and Green Lantern trades both written by Geoff Johns, and the new J.L.A. written by Brad Metzler. Id also recommend the Justice trades drawn by the great Alex Ross and All-star Superman written by Grant Morison. Both of which are set in parallel universes. After reading all this I'm sure you'll be as much of a D.C. fan boy as myself. You should though try and read these comics in the order provided to get the full enjoyment of what truly is the BETTER comic universe. P.S. pretty much everything mentioned above can be bought/collected in trade paper back
