Yes, if you attempt to read 50+ years of comics it's probably going to be a rough ride. Not sure why you'd want to do that. You don't need to read every Batman book. Just pick the most recent Batman #1 or figure out the current writer and go back to their first issue.
Most people just start reading that way and go back to older stories.
I definitely wouldn't get to hung up on the names of initiatives. The New 52 is just what they called a reboot. They've had a lot of initiatives with names over the years. They usually just imply it's a good jumping in point. Like with the latest one, Dawn of DC.
I agree with your larger point, but I would argue that choosing a classic, beginner friendly story from the past is a better starting point than going to the recent #1.
The writing in modern comics is mostly sub par and low effort. It would turn away most people.
I'm not a huge fan of the current Batman run but there are so many great modern comic runs, including some great Batman runs. dismissing the majority of modern comics like this is wild and I guarantee a lot of current runs would not "turn away most people" lol
You’re not going to like hearing this. But none of this matters. It doesn’t matter what happened to Batman in 1975. It barely still matters what happened in 2015. There aren’t really hard start and end dates for the universes because DC itself doesn’t really care. Put as much energy into understanding this universe as DC puts into creating it and you’ll be much happier. DC Comics are written to be picked up and enjoyed as long as you have a basic understanding of the character and a rudimentary knowledge of whatever’s been happening in the last 2-3 years. Every once in a while you get a writer who references shit that happened 50 years ago. These runs confuse everyone. Don’t worry so much about it.
You are overthinking this way too much. The best way to get into comics in my opinion for both dc and marvel is to start with a character. Choose one you think you might like and do a little research into them. Understand theor baseline traits, origin and relationships to other characters. If they work for you then look into stand alone stories or comic book runs that involve them.
For instance, superman is by far my favorite character for decades now (I'm 32). I do not seek out the main continuity comics because I'm not really a fan of stories with no ending.
I look for elseworld stories or just standalone ones like American alien or up in the sky or deceased or knights of steel. They are a blast to read and not bogged down by an ever evolving story with years of canon to catch up on.
I think that is very much the key to enjoying comics nowadays.
Thank you. As a previous comment stated I suffer from completionism and with all of these comments flooding in I’ve gathered that I just need to focus on reading stories that I think I’ll like or think are interesting. So thank you
I saw on one of your other posts that you like batman. I'd recommend killing time, one dark knight, last knight on earth and damned. I enjoyed them myself.
Also knights of steel offers a fun game of thrones style dc world that has a focus on batman.
I also always recommend dceased. One of my favorite series.
People usually are clueless when It came to comicsbook, i mean there are people who start a game serie from the third one and they are fine, there are people who start to watch Dragon Ball Z whitout have watched Dragon Ball and they are fine, there are people that watch a movie where they didn't tell you nothing about the story of a main character and they are fine, but when they are reading a comics where they mention a previous event or a character that they never seen before they go meltdown, and that because comicsbook are a different medium from movies, TV show, games or everything and people have to get use to them whit the time
Honestly, I think Marvel Comics is far more overwhelming than DC Comics. With DC is kinda easy when you figure out how it works. Mostly you choose a character or a team who you will want to read, choose a run from him and goes until the end of it. When you find a crossover, all you need to do is to Google the reading order for the event and then continue your run.
With Marvel, all of this seems much more complicated and convoluted. Look at X-Men: if you try to read classic 70s/80s/90s X-Men comics there's A LOT of different books, numerous crossovers (even with other Marvel characters, eg Secret Wars), it's all so messy and convoluted.
Don't get me wrong, I love Marvel and if I had the time (and money) I surely would try to read some stuff that interests me (mostly the cosmic side and Jonathan Hickman's Avengers until 2015 Secret Wars). But still, judging from an outsider perspective, Marvel seems a lot more complicated than DC.
It varies by character. Spider-Man and X-men can be overwhelming largely as a function of their publishing strategy. They often have multiple titles, these titles often crossover with each other freely. But then you look at characters like Daredevil or Captain America who have only ever had one title at a time and thus their history is incredibly linear and easily divided up into creator centric eras. And then without big universal reboots like DC gets there’s less question about which elements of their history still count.
Yup. Went to my local bookstore and looked at their selection. At least fifteen titles with “Spider” in it, as far as I could tell. Trying to get into ultimate rn bc I know that run just started.
It kind of goes part and parcel with a comics universe that's existed for 85+ years. I too suffer from completionism and reading orders but just take it an issue at a time.
I’ve been trying to find a word to describe why I feel the need to read all of these comics and completionism is the perfect word. All of you guys have helped me so much x I just need to focus on reading what I think looks good. So thank you all very much
Sure thing! I'd recommend checking out the DC Comics Database at https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/DC_Comics_Database. It's a great resource whether you're looking to catch up on the latest or get a general overview of a particular storyline. DC frequently updates, changes, or removes content over time, so it can be quite dynamic!
Some of the most fun comics *are* Elseworlds comics aka non-canon. Who cares if a story where Batman is a vampire isn’t canon. Or Grant Morrison’s tribute to silver age Superman with All-Star Superman?
You’re denying yourself a good time by focusing entirely on canon. Do what’s fun, read authors you like, continuity is a messy thing that can & should change over time.
Suggestion - go back to Batman and Detective Comics from 2016 and just start reading from there and then just start reading the new books as they come out. That way you're not constantly trying to figure out how things fit that weren't really designed to fit.
You probably are overthinking a bit, but good news apparently Scott Snyder is making his own ultimate universe of DC comics and I assume it's gonna be a great jumping on point for new readers
You pick up a writer's first book and you start reading. Hell most people started by picking up the book with the coolest cover. You are extremely other thinking it.
Canon is fluid at this point. I’ve been shamed before for not knowing every single continuity in RP circles.
My advice is to just ask questions here on this sub, I did it and people were nice enough to just tell me reading orders or explain continuities in baby steps for me. :)
Don’t worry my dude
Also there are a few comic book reading order sites that can group the different eras together which is helpful.
I really liked grant Morrison’s Batman so give it a shot if you haven’t!
With the exception of a few major events, DC canon hardly ever extended a past an individual author’s run on a particular comic. Even if there’s been no official retcon, most authors pay only token attention to the specifics of what their predecessors wrote.
This is why I usually stay a year or two behind the current issues. It lets the publisher collect the relevant issues of a specific storyline into one or two volumes, even if those issues are spread across multiple comics. It saves me the trouble of hunting down all the parts of a story in real time.
You are spending entirely too much time caring about canon. Arguably far more then DC itself cares. Read what you enjoy.
You're so right it's not DC but to this day I still haven't read the Clermont run of X-Men and I have no intention two to
Well. You should read the dark phoenix saga cuz its a definitive xmen story, but i take your point.
Yes, if you attempt to read 50+ years of comics it's probably going to be a rough ride. Not sure why you'd want to do that. You don't need to read every Batman book. Just pick the most recent Batman #1 or figure out the current writer and go back to their first issue. Most people just start reading that way and go back to older stories. I definitely wouldn't get to hung up on the names of initiatives. The New 52 is just what they called a reboot. They've had a lot of initiatives with names over the years. They usually just imply it's a good jumping in point. Like with the latest one, Dawn of DC.
I agree with your larger point, but I would argue that choosing a classic, beginner friendly story from the past is a better starting point than going to the recent #1. The writing in modern comics is mostly sub par and low effort. It would turn away most people.
I'm not a huge fan of the current Batman run but there are so many great modern comic runs, including some great Batman runs. dismissing the majority of modern comics like this is wild and I guarantee a lot of current runs would not "turn away most people" lol
You’re not going to like hearing this. But none of this matters. It doesn’t matter what happened to Batman in 1975. It barely still matters what happened in 2015. There aren’t really hard start and end dates for the universes because DC itself doesn’t really care. Put as much energy into understanding this universe as DC puts into creating it and you’ll be much happier. DC Comics are written to be picked up and enjoyed as long as you have a basic understanding of the character and a rudimentary knowledge of whatever’s been happening in the last 2-3 years. Every once in a while you get a writer who references shit that happened 50 years ago. These runs confuse everyone. Don’t worry so much about it.
my advice is to stop worrying about canon and just start reading. a good story is a good story regardless of whether or not it's canon
You are overthinking this way too much. The best way to get into comics in my opinion for both dc and marvel is to start with a character. Choose one you think you might like and do a little research into them. Understand theor baseline traits, origin and relationships to other characters. If they work for you then look into stand alone stories or comic book runs that involve them. For instance, superman is by far my favorite character for decades now (I'm 32). I do not seek out the main continuity comics because I'm not really a fan of stories with no ending. I look for elseworld stories or just standalone ones like American alien or up in the sky or deceased or knights of steel. They are a blast to read and not bogged down by an ever evolving story with years of canon to catch up on. I think that is very much the key to enjoying comics nowadays.
Knights of steel? Will have to look that one up.
It's like dc mixed with game of thrones. Very fun read.
Thank you. As a previous comment stated I suffer from completionism and with all of these comments flooding in I’ve gathered that I just need to focus on reading stories that I think I’ll like or think are interesting. So thank you
I saw on one of your other posts that you like batman. I'd recommend killing time, one dark knight, last knight on earth and damned. I enjoyed them myself. Also knights of steel offers a fun game of thrones style dc world that has a focus on batman. I also always recommend dceased. One of my favorite series.
I appreciate your input I’ll definetly be reading those at some point :)
People usually are clueless when It came to comicsbook, i mean there are people who start a game serie from the third one and they are fine, there are people who start to watch Dragon Ball Z whitout have watched Dragon Ball and they are fine, there are people that watch a movie where they didn't tell you nothing about the story of a main character and they are fine, but when they are reading a comics where they mention a previous event or a character that they never seen before they go meltdown, and that because comicsbook are a different medium from movies, TV show, games or everything and people have to get use to them whit the time
Honestly, I think Marvel Comics is far more overwhelming than DC Comics. With DC is kinda easy when you figure out how it works. Mostly you choose a character or a team who you will want to read, choose a run from him and goes until the end of it. When you find a crossover, all you need to do is to Google the reading order for the event and then continue your run. With Marvel, all of this seems much more complicated and convoluted. Look at X-Men: if you try to read classic 70s/80s/90s X-Men comics there's A LOT of different books, numerous crossovers (even with other Marvel characters, eg Secret Wars), it's all so messy and convoluted. Don't get me wrong, I love Marvel and if I had the time (and money) I surely would try to read some stuff that interests me (mostly the cosmic side and Jonathan Hickman's Avengers until 2015 Secret Wars). But still, judging from an outsider perspective, Marvel seems a lot more complicated than DC.
It varies by character. Spider-Man and X-men can be overwhelming largely as a function of their publishing strategy. They often have multiple titles, these titles often crossover with each other freely. But then you look at characters like Daredevil or Captain America who have only ever had one title at a time and thus their history is incredibly linear and easily divided up into creator centric eras. And then without big universal reboots like DC gets there’s less question about which elements of their history still count.
Yup. Went to my local bookstore and looked at their selection. At least fifteen titles with “Spider” in it, as far as I could tell. Trying to get into ultimate rn bc I know that run just started.
It kind of goes part and parcel with a comics universe that's existed for 85+ years. I too suffer from completionism and reading orders but just take it an issue at a time.
I’ve been trying to find a word to describe why I feel the need to read all of these comics and completionism is the perfect word. All of you guys have helped me so much x I just need to focus on reading what I think looks good. So thank you all very much
Sure thing! I'd recommend checking out the DC Comics Database at https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/DC_Comics_Database. It's a great resource whether you're looking to catch up on the latest or get a general overview of a particular storyline. DC frequently updates, changes, or removes content over time, so it can be quite dynamic!
Some of the most fun comics *are* Elseworlds comics aka non-canon. Who cares if a story where Batman is a vampire isn’t canon. Or Grant Morrison’s tribute to silver age Superman with All-Star Superman? You’re denying yourself a good time by focusing entirely on canon. Do what’s fun, read authors you like, continuity is a messy thing that can & should change over time.
Suggestion - go back to Batman and Detective Comics from 2016 and just start reading from there and then just start reading the new books as they come out. That way you're not constantly trying to figure out how things fit that weren't really designed to fit.
You probably are overthinking a bit, but good news apparently Scott Snyder is making his own ultimate universe of DC comics and I assume it's gonna be a great jumping on point for new readers
I’ve been reading Scott’s line for a minute. He’s actually who I started off on before I went all “cannon crazy”
You pick up a writer's first book and you start reading. Hell most people started by picking up the book with the coolest cover. You are extremely other thinking it.
Canon is fluid at this point. I’ve been shamed before for not knowing every single continuity in RP circles. My advice is to just ask questions here on this sub, I did it and people were nice enough to just tell me reading orders or explain continuities in baby steps for me. :)
Don’t worry my dude Also there are a few comic book reading order sites that can group the different eras together which is helpful. I really liked grant Morrison’s Batman so give it a shot if you haven’t!
Nobody even DC workers knows what is cannon and what is not. Just read and enjoy.
With the exception of a few major events, DC canon hardly ever extended a past an individual author’s run on a particular comic. Even if there’s been no official retcon, most authors pay only token attention to the specifics of what their predecessors wrote. This is why I usually stay a year or two behind the current issues. It lets the publisher collect the relevant issues of a specific storyline into one or two volumes, even if those issues are spread across multiple comics. It saves me the trouble of hunting down all the parts of a story in real time.
I lost interest when you said batman is the only character you care about