How do I start reading dc and marvel

Avatar image for maikeila
Maikeila

4

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#1  Edited By Maikeila

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

Avatar image for quinlan58
Quinlan58

3709

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

You are going to have to be more specific. Any particular character you want to follow? How far back?

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

#3  Edited By jb681131

@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

DC has 4-5 eras :

  1. Gold / Silver / Bronze age - 1938-1986
  2. Modern Age - 1986-2011
  3. New52 - 2011-2016
  4. Rebirth - 2016-ongoing

DC is made of Several major heroes:

  • Superman
  • Batman
  • Wonder Woman
  • Flash (there has been multiple ones)
  • Aquaman
  • Green Arrow
  • Green Lantern (there has been mutiple ones)

DC has also other great heroes

  • Shazam! (aka Capitain Marvel)
  • Martian Manhunter
  • Plastic Man
  • Atom
  • Black Canary
  • Booster Gold
  • Cyborg
  • Nightwing (formerly the first Robin)
  • Batwoman
  • Power Girl
  • ...

DC has lesser known heroes that are a bit aside

  • Animal Man
  • Swamp Thing
  • John Constantine
  • Detective Chimp
  • The Watchmen
  • The Metal Men
  • ...

DC heroes have younguer apprentice, and other young heroes

  • Robin (there has been a few)
  • Superboy
  • Aqualad
  • Supergirl
  • Beast Boy (aka Chagelling)
  • Speedy
  • Starfire
  • Kid Flash
  • Raven
  • Wonder Girl
  • Batgirl
  • ...

DC has teams with these heroes:

  • The Justice League
  • The Justice of America (aka JLA)
  • The Teen Titans
  • The Titans
  • The Justice League Dark
  • The Suicide Squad (team of vilains forced to do good by the government)
  • The Green Lantern Corps
  • ...

What to read ?

  • You can read the main DC Events
  • You can only read stories from one hero / teams
  • Or you can read it all

Here are DC main events:

  1. 1931 - Flash of Two Worlds - creation of the multiverse
  2. 1985 - Crisis on Infinit Earths - recenter of the DC univers and start of the Modern age
  3. 1986 - Legends - creation of the modern Justice League and the Suicid Squad
  4. 1987 - Jutice League International - optional
  5. 1994 - Zero Hour: Crisis in Time - return of the Multiverse
  6. 2004 - Identity Crisis - events implying all of the DC's heroes
  7. 2005 - Infinite Crisis
  8. ???? - 52 - excellent - tells what happen in the missing year after Infinit Crisis
  9. 2008 - Final Crisis
  10. 2009 - Blackest Night - A Green Lantern Event - you should read the Green Lantern by Geoff Johns run
  11. 2010 - Brightest Day - Consequence of Blackest Night
  12. 2011 - Flashpoint - Flash disrupt time - start of the New52 era
  13. 2013 - Justice League: Trinity War - prequel to Forever Evil - optional
  14. 2014 - Forever Evil + Justice League: Forever Heroes
  15. 2015 - Justice League: Darkseid War - sequel to Forever Evil - optional
  16. 2016 - DC Univers Rebirth
  17. 2017 - Batman/The Flash: The Button - optional
  18. 2019 - Doomsday Clock - Should have read The Watchmen

Then for the different heroes here are the reading orders of the main and good stories:

Batman - appears mainly in 2 titles: Batman and Detective Comics

  1. Batman: Year One
  2. Batman: The Man Who Laughs
  3. Batman: The Long Halloween + Batman: Dark Victory
  4. The Killing Joke
  5. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
  6. Batman: Tales Of The Demon + Batman: Bride of the Demon + Batman: Birth Of The Demon
  7. Batman: A Death in the Family
  8. Batman Knightfall Omnibus (new version) vol.1-3
  9. Batman: Legacy + Batman: Contagion + Batman: Catclysm - sequels to Knigtfall and prequels to No Man's Land - but optional to read
  10. Batman: No Man's Land Omnibus vol.1-5
  11. New Gotham Omnibus 1-2 or Batman: Evolution + Batman: Officer Down
  12. Gotham Central vol.1-4 - optional but good
  13. Batman Murderer ? + Batman Fugitive
  14. Batman: Hush
  15. Detective Comics: Heart of Hush + Streets of Gotham: Hush Money + Streets of Gotham: House of Hush - optional but very very good
  16. Batman: Batman and Son or Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus
  17. Batman: The Black Mirror - optional
  18. Batman, Incorporated + Batman Incorporated New52 #1-2
  19. Batman & Robin New52 #1-7 or Batman & Robin by Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason Omnibus
  20. Batman: Court of Owl -> Batman New52 tpb vol.1-2
  21. Batman: Death of the Familly -> Batman New52 tpb vol. 3
  22. Batman: Zero Year -> Batman New52 tpb vol. 4-5
  23. Batman New52 tpb vol.6-10 - optional
  24. Batman: I am -> Batman Rebirth tpb vol.1-3
  25. Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles -> Batman Rebirth tbp vol.4
  26. Batman Rebirth tpb vol.5-... ongoing
  27. Detective Comics Rebirth tpb vol.1-... ongoing
  28. Batman: White Knight
  29. Dark Nights: Metal

Superman - appears in 2 title: Superman and Action Comics

  1. Superman: Red Son - elseworld story
  2. All-Star Superman
  3. Superman by Geoff Johns - the main stories are:
    1. Superman: Secret Origins
    2. Superman: Last Son
    3. Superman: Escape From Bizarro World
    4. Superman: Brainiac
  4. The Death of Superman + The Return of Superman
  5. Superman: For Tomorrow
  6. Superman: Doomed (2016)
  7. --- You can skip the New52 and Rebirth eras ---
  8. Super Sons Rebirth tpb vol.1-... ongoing

Wonder Woman - All runs can be read on their own

  • Wonder Woman by Geoges Perez Omnibus #1-3 - Wonder Woman pre-Modern Age
  • Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Omnibus #1-2
  • Absolute Wonder Woman By Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang vol.1-2 - Wonder Woman New52
  • Wonder Woman: Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1-3 (Wonder Woman Rebirth)

Flash

  1. The Flash By Geoff Johns Book #1-5
  2. The Flash New 52 tpb #1-4 - The Brian Azzarello run
  3. The Flash New 52 tpb #5-9 - optional, less good than what Azzarello did
  4. The Flash Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing or The Flash Deluxe Edition Book #1-... ongoing

Green Arrow

  1. Green Lantern / Green Arrow Omnibus - a great Bronze Age short serie
  2. Green Arrow New52 - A very good new start
  3. Grenn Arrow Rebirth

Green Lantern

  1. Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus #1-3 - Massive but very good and complete <- it is a new start for the Green Lantern, what comes before is optional
  2. Green Lantern New #4-8 - optional, to finish the New52 era started by Geoff Johns.
  3. Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps (Rebirth)

Aquaman

  1. Aquaman: Sub Diego + Aquaman: To Serve and Protect + Aquaman: Kingdom Lost - The John Arcudi run
  2. Aquaman New52 tpb #1-3 + Justice League New52: Throne of Atlantis + Aquaman New52 tpb #4 - The Geoff Johns run
  3. Aquaman New52 tpb #5-8 - optional but good to understand the Rebirth era
  4. Aquaman Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing

Animal Man / Swamp Thing / John Constantine / Justice League Dark

  1. Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age Omnibus (2017) - optional
  2. Saga of the Swamp Thing Book #1-6 - The Alan Moore run
  3. Swamp Thing by Brian K. Vaughan vol.1-2 - optional
  4. Hellblazer vol.1-21
  5. Lucifer: Book One-Five - optional
  6. The Animal Man Omnibus - The Grant Morrison run
  7. Animal Man by Jeff Lemir - Animal Man New52
    1. tpb #1 - The Hunt
    2. tpb #2 - Animal vs. Man
    3. tpb #3 - Rotworld: The Red Kingdom
    4. tpb #4 - Splinter Species
    5. tpb #5 - Evolve of Die
  8. Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder - Swamp Thing New52 part.1
    1. tpb #1 - Raise Them Bones
    2. tpb #2 - Family Tree
    3. tpb #3 - Rotworld: The Green Kingdom
  9. Justice League Dark by Jeff Lemir - Justice League Dark New52
    1. tpb #2 - The Book of Magic
    2. tpb #3 - The Deak of Magic
    3. tpb #4 - Rebirth of Evil
  10. Swamp Thing by Charles Soule - Swamp Thing New52 part.2
    1. tpb #4 - Seeder
    2. tpb #5 - The Killing Field
    3. tpb #6 - The Sureen
    4. tpb #7 - Season's End
  11. Justice League Dark: The Last Age of Magic - The Rebirth serie - ongoing

Have fun with that to begin with

If you want to know more about a specific hero, please tell us.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Bump

Avatar image for michaelbn
Michaelbn

4543

Forum Posts

2807

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Don't.

Don't read new stuff. Stick to good ol' stuff.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Don't.

Don't read new stuff. Stick to good ol' stuff.

Wrong. Aquaman and Green Arrow are better now than before. I agree the others are not better.

Avatar image for michaelbn
Michaelbn

4543

Forum Posts

2807

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jb681131: Old stuff are always better, I dunno maybe it's just because they weren't that influenced by media and agendas.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Avoid marvel...

Read Starman Dc comics

The original Teen Titans run..

Why avoid Marvel ?

Some of the Best ever Super-Hero comics are from Marvel:

  • Daredevil by Frank Miller <- The Best Super-Hero run I have ever read
  • The Kid Who Collects Spiderman - Amazing Spider-Man #248
  • Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
  • X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
  • Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar
  • ...
Avatar image for deactivated-5f08ae8f4ed63
deactivated-5f08ae8f4ed63

2688

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Yeah, avoid Marvel because DC is better! (this coming from a huge Marvel fan)

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

@jb681131: Old stuff are always better, I dunno maybe it's just because they weren't that influenced by media and agendas.

No, some old stuff are very bad and to avoid ! But these old stuff have been forgotten and are not findable anymore.

Agendas have always existed and don't think medias didn't exist back then !

People always idealize the past. But what people remember most of the past are the good things. They tend to forget the bads.

But I will agree that there aren't many excellent super-hero comics nowadays and that other titles are better.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Avatar image for faradaysloth
FaradaySloth

17429

Forum Posts

129

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Avatar image for ourmanuel
ourmanuel

15379

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

It’s simple

Don’t.

Avatar image for eto
Eto

5568

Forum Posts

6697

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

@jb681131 said:
@cassidydent said:

Avoid marvel...

Read Starman Dc comics

The original Teen Titans run..

Why avoid Marvel ?

Some of the Best ever Super-Hero comics are from Marvel:

  • Daredevil by Frank Miller <- The Best Super-Hero run I have ever read
  • The Kid Who Collects Spiderman - Amazing Spider-Man #248
  • Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
  • X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
  • Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar
  • ...

He clearly means current Marvel.

Avatar image for eto
Eto

5568

Forum Posts

6697

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

#17  Edited By Eto

@jb681131 said:
@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

Flash

  1. The Flash By Geoff Johns Book #1-5
  2. The Flash New 52 tpb #1-4 - The Brian Azzarello run
  3. The Flash New 52 tpb #5-9 - optional, less good than what Azzarello did
  4. The Flash Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing or The Flash Deluxe Edition Book #1-... ongoing

*Brian Buccellato.

Azz never had a Flash run.

Avatar image for straight-fire
Straight-Fire

31755

Forum Posts

6546

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

I'd never tell someone to avoid something because I personally don't like it. That's the personification of shoving your opinion down someone's throat.

Avatar image for kgb725
kgb725

24239

Forum Posts

227

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Marvel Unlimited.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

@eto said:
@jb681131 said:
@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

@maikeila said:

So I recently became a fan of the DC Rebirth

But I want to read all of the old DC Comics from reading order

Flash

  1. The Flash By Geoff Johns Book #1-5
  2. The Flash New 52 tpb #1-4 - The Brian Azzarello run
  3. The Flash New 52 tpb #5-9 - optional, less good than what Azzarello did
  4. The Flash Rebirth tpb #1-... ongoing or The Flash Deluxe Edition Book #1-... ongoing

*Brian Buccellato.

Azz never had a Flash run.

Indeed, I really messed up here, it's Francis Manupul's run. Sorry.

Avatar image for nucleon
Nucleon

4550

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#23  Edited By Nucleon

@jb681131: Epic post.

In the Superman essentials, I would add "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow", an adieu to the Silver age Superman by none other than Alan Moore and Kurt Swan.

Avatar image for jb681131
jb681131

4252

Forum Posts

8660

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

@jb681131: what about the Marvel version?

Well I don't know Marvel as well as DC.

But the few things I've read from Marvel haven't excited me much.

I'd only recommand:

  • Daredevil by Frank Miller - omnibus or 3 tpb - The Original Frank Miller's run <- and probably the best super-hero run ever
  • Daredevil: Born Again - also by Frank Miller
  • Daredevil: The Man Without Fear - again by Frank Miller - Daredevil's origins
  • The 3 Wizard Masterpiece Edition: Spider-Man, X-Men, Wolverin (not too hard to find)
  • Old Man Logan - the original story by Mark Millar (not the Old Man Logan serie)
  • The 4 origin stories by Jeph Loeb - the 3 first one exist as an omnibus
    • Daredevil: Yellow
    • Spider-Man: Blue
    • Hulk: Grey
    • Captain America: White
  • Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
  • Hulk: Future Imperfect tpb - the one that also includes Incredible Hulk: The End
  • Hulk: Planet Hulk - a very good story
  • Hulk: World War Hulk - a sequel to Planet Hulk - very optional
  • Captain America: Man Out of Time
  • Winter Soldier By Ed Brubaker
  • Civil War by Mark Millar - The tpb with only Civil War #1-7

That's all I'll recommand.

If you'r into Spider-Man or X-Men, I can recommend more if you'd like but above is really the best.

Avatar image for faradaysloth
FaradaySloth

17429

Forum Posts

129

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jb681131: thank you! I’m trying to get into comics more at the moment lol.

Avatar image for maikeila
Maikeila

4

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Avatar image for maikeila
Maikeila

4

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@quinlan58:

All of the dc characters from there’s first comics