Is 52 (2006) a good jumping on point for D.C. Comics?

[jman1954goat]

I have barely read any D.C. comics as both Marvel and D.C's big shared universes put me off and I like self contained stories.

So I wanted to read some Batwomen comics and I saw the character first appears in 52 which is a 2006 comic about post Crisis ( I have no clue what crisis is lol please help.)

so is this a good starting point for modern D.C.?

if so what do I need to know before reading 52.

 

[Weiss]

52 is a really good story but it is steeped in continuity, chief among that being it's a sequel to a crossover event called Infinite Crisis where the cosmology and history of the DC Universe was heavily rewritten and afterwards all of DC's comics jumped forward one year, with 52 being a weekly series that explained what happened in that year.

It's also a 14 year old story and the changes and reveals it had don't really matter to DC anymore (since 52 there have been two whole universe rewriting reboots) if you're going into it expecting a story that establishes DC canon. Batwoman herself is only really a supporting character to the leads of one of 52s four concurrent storylines it's going through.

I wouldn't outright start with 52 and Batwoman has plenty of her solo titles and stories that heavily focus on her, but the thing about superhero comics is that there's never really a good place to start because these universes have been running non-stop for decades and even new characters are tied into older stories. You just gotta find the place you wanna start and go from there.

 

[kmfdmpig]

Batwoman Elegy will be a much better choice. 52 is great, but it is basically a lot of deep pulls and characters that you may not be all that familiar with. If you want Batwoman then Elegy is your best bet and it's still the best that Batwoman has ever been, IMO.
Tomasi's Detective Comics run would likely be your next best bet after Elegy.

 

[jman1954goat]

By the way There's way to many D.C. comics with the word Crisis in it.

 

[Weiss]

By the way There's way to many D.C. comics with the word Crisis in it.

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This is true and they're all bad. Avoid the lot of them.

 

[kmfdmpig]

If you want to dip your foot into non-Batwoman DC stuff then I think a great self-contained story is the New Frontier. It's basically a love letter to several different DC characters and does a great job of getting to the heart of what makes them great.

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

Detective Comics(2016) might be good. It's the latest continuity for DC/Batman(Rebirth), and should be pretty easy to follow. It's about Batman and Batwoman forming a team with younger members of the Batfamily(and a reformed Clayface). The first trade for it is Detective Comics Vol 1: Rise of the Batmen.

I definitely agree there is no perfect place to start. Don't overthink it. There's going to be parts where continuity is confusing and you don't know what is going on with characters or situations. Sometimes there is no answer, sometimes you gotta look it up on wikipedia. That's comics. It's part of the fun.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

52 is fantastic, but absolutely kinda leans on the reader being knowledgeable of DC continuity up to that point to get the most out of it. Gonna echo Elegy as probably the best jumping on point for Batwoman.

 

[Weiss]

Detective Comics(2016) might be good. It's the latest continuity for DC/Batman(Rebirth), and should be pretty easy to follow. It's about Batman and Batwoman forming a team with younger members of the Batfamily(and a reformed Clayface). The first trade for it is Detective Comics Vol 1: Rise of the Batmen.

I definitely agree there is no perfect place to start. Don't overthink it. There's going to be parts where continuity is confusing and you don't know what is going on with characters or situations. Sometimes there is no answer, sometimes you gotta look it up on wikipedia. That's comics. It's part of the fun.

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Detective Comics Rebirth is a great series and probably one of the best DC's put out in the last few years, but it does kind of expect you to already know Batwoman's deal going in.

 

[Dalek]

By the way There's way to many D.C. comics with the word Crisis in it.

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The term Crisis is a term in-universe that refers to a "reality-ending event". The recent Death Metal was referred to as a Crisis and referenced the other ones. It's a way of reshuffling continuity with a storyline to go with it.

 

[Sephiroth]

OP, unless you are going to somehow catch up and/or keep up monthly, just find stories that intetest you or ask for recommendations.

I recommend All-Star Superman to start.

 

[jman1954goat]

The term Crisis is a term in-universe that refers to a "reality-ending event". The recent Death Metal was referred to as a Crisis and referenced the other ones. It's a way of reshuffling continuity with a storyline to go with it.

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Why are there so many reality ending events?

as an outsider seems like these multiple crisis would get less special if they keep happening every few years.

 

[Ravelle]

Geoff Johns's Justice League run going over in to Darkseid War is my all time favorite comics run. Amazing art as well.

Check it out!

 

[Foot]

Why are there so many reality ending events?

as an outsider seems like these multiple crisis would get less special if they keep happening every few years.

Click to shrink...

Appropriately for this thread it's so that new people can come in without worrying about years of continuity!

 

[ManNR]

I have nearly zero familiarity with DC comics outside of my general understanding of the characters and larger story arcs.

However, around 8 years ago I picked up the first volume of 52 while browsing at a Books-a-Million, sat down in the cafe, and started reading. I read the whole story over a couple visits and loved it.

That is my story for what it is worth.

 

[Whistler]

Why are there so many reality ending events?

as an outsider seems like these multiple crisis would get less special if they keep happening every few years.

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That's 100% true. There's been some in-canon remarks on that, with one character stating 'I don't care." about the newest one.

But basically, DC was going a lot longer than Marvel and was a lot more sprawling. So every crisis is an effort to make the canon more streamlined and say what did or didn't happen. Combine that with the modern practice of constant relaunches for the temporary "Issue 1" sales boost and you get big crummy events all the time.

 

[jman1954goat]

Appropriately for this thread it's so that new people can come in without worrying about years of continuity!

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Ironically it kinda makes me more wary of jumping in because Why would I get attached to the current characters if D.C. might come in and reality erase them at any moment.

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

Why are there so many reality ending events?

as an outsider seems like these multiple crisis would get less special if they keep happening every few years.

Click to shrink...

because comics are madness.

correct

 

[kmfdmpig]

Ironically it kinda makes me more wary of jumping in because Why would I get attached to the current characters if D.C. might come in and reality erase them at any moment.

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Many of these characters are 80 years old at this point. If you approach the medium from the idea of reading everything or worrying about continuity then it'll be a slog. Just find stories/runs that interest you and don't worry about what's "real" or not. It's all just superhero fiction anyway, so whether an editor considers it "canon" or not shouldn't influence your enjoyment of it.

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

Letting go of worrying about what's canon will fix a lot of these problems. The truth is it's always fluid, even when they restart it they'll go back on that and start bringing up old stuff again anyway. It's often vague and nonsensical even if you're well versed.

Think of it this way. "Batman has fought Scarecrow many times in the past". In most Batman vs. Scarecrow stories that's all you actually need to know. There isn't a pool of Scarecrow stories that are canon, and the writers will almost always recap what you need to know. Often when they're talking about past events it's not even real old stories, it's just them making shit up.

 

[Bane]

Detective Comics(2016) might be good. It's the latest continuity for DC/Batman(Rebirth), and should be pretty easy to follow. It's about Batman and Batwoman forming a team with younger members of the Batfamily(and a reformed Clayface). The first trade for it is Detective Comics Vol 1: Rise of the Batmen.

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I just want to highlight and second this. It was a fantastic run with a definite ending, a great premise, and features Batwoman and other characters really well. I'd easily put it up there with other recent runs on he character that were much more famous.

 

[jman1954goat]

Many of these characters are 80 years old at this point.

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This is part of why I was interested in Batwomen as she only has 15 years to catch up on and seems like the most approachable Bat character ( I may be reading the situation wrong.)

I am looking for the sweat spot of characters new enough were reading the start of there journey is manageable but not so new that there comic just started and there is not much material to read yet.

 

[Weiss]

I have nearly zero familiarity with DC comics outside of my general understanding of the characters and larger story arcs.

However, around 8 years ago I picked up the first volume of 52 while browsing at a Books-a-Million, sat down in the cafe, and started reading. I read the whole story over a couple visits and loved it.

That is my story for what it is worth.

Click to shrink...

Yeah this is something to keep in mind.

Continuity is big and scary and OP seems hesitant to get into it, but that cannonballing into the deep end of the pool approach can be fun too. For me superhero comics when I was starting out were more interesting knowing that so much had happened prior. The universe was already created before I arrived.

 

[Dalek]

Yeah this is something to keep in mind.

Continuity is big and scary and OP seems hesitant to get into it, but that cannonballing into the deep end of the pool approach can be fun too. For me superhero comics when I was starting out were more interesting knowing that so much had happened prior. The universe was already created before I arrived.

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Yeah I was pretty new to DC when I read 52 and I just took it slow and read up on Wikipedia about all the characters that popped up.

 

[kmfdmpig]

This is part of why I was interested in Batwomen as she only has 15 years to catch up on and seems like the most approachable Bat character ( I may be reading the situation wrong.)

I am looking for the sweat spot of characters new enough were reading the start of there journey is manageable but not so new that there comic just started and there is not much material to read yet.

Click to shrink...

Elegy will give you the origin. Then some of her stuff is hit or miss until the Detective Comics run by Tomasi which started with Rebirth. The New 52 and Rebirth Batwoman titles are OK, but not great IMO.

 

[Dalek]

Elegy will give you the origin. Then some of her stuff is hit or miss until the Detective Comics run by Tomasi which started with Rebirth. The New 52 and Rebirth Batwoman titles are OK, but not great IMO.

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Great art though.

 

[kmfdmpig]

Great art though.

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Yes, that's for sure, although I'm not sure that any of the art will reach the highs of Elegy as that is, IMO, some of the most striking comic art of all time.

 

[jman1954goat]

Elegy will give you the origin. Then some of her stuff is hit or miss until the Detective Comics run by Tomasi which started with Rebirth. The New 52 and Rebirth Batwoman titles are OK, but not great IMO.

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Do you or anyone else have suggestions for other hero characters to read in addition to Batwomen? can be Marvel, D.C., Image or independent I don't care always love suggestions

Just want suggestions from the 2000's onwards.

 

[Weiss]

Do you or anyone else have suggestions for other hero characters to read in addition to Batwomen? can be marvel, D.C., Image or independent I don't care always love suggestions

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You ever heard of Kamala Khan?

Ms. Marvel is a comic written by G Willow Wilson that came out in 2014 when the previous Ms. Marvel changed her identity to Captain Marvel (that's the one who's got the movie) and basically Marvel's single most popular character introduced in the 10s, her comic regularly outselling other big Marvel series (including Captain Marvel herself) through massive trade paperback sales that appealed to an audience who basically only read her comic and few other Marvel series. It's a perfect entrance into the superhero genre and Marvel universe.

 

[cowtools]

For new readers I think 52 is fine, there is a lot of references to keep track of but that's sort of the joy of an ensemble story like it.
You are exposing yourself to a lot of characters/concepts that don't get too much shine in comics and can lead you down a cool rabbit hole.

As long as you expect to not know everything and let your curiosity guide you, you'll be fine.

The Rucka/Williams Batwoman stuff is great can't miss comics, but I think it could have wrapped up in a more satisfying way, and I think some of the central antagonists could've been better.

I'd recommend the "Detective Comics" run from the rebirth era that has Batwoman leading a team of Bat-adjacent heroes. It's really fun stuff, and is satisfying through and through.

 

[Osu 16 Bit]

This is part of why I was interested in Batwomen as she only has 15 years to catch up on and seems like the most approachable Bat character ( I may be reading the situation wrong.)

I am looking for the sweat spot of characters new enough were reading the start of there journey is manageable but not so new that there comic just started and there is not much material to read yet.

Click to shrink...

The problem with this mentality is that even though Batwoman isn't that old she's going to interact with old characters. Or "old" characters who didn't actually exist but have been retconned into the story. There's no way around this, you're not meant to see any of these characters as having one journey that you follow. Not over years and years. More often it's creative team to creative team. Like that run on Detective Comics I recommended. That is a relatively self contained story, from one particular writer. He took over the book, wrote one big story over the course of 2 years, then when he left the book it changed focus and the next writer went their own direction. It's about as close to a self contained story as you can get with a major character like Batman.


If you like the X-Men movies you might want to check out Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men.

 

[NeonZ]

52's story is actually mostly self-contained, focusing on its own cast. Didio, DC's editor in chief at the time, even complained about how the writers didn't focus much on the initial premise/selling point of the series (what happened during the skipped year that led to the relaunch of various books) - many of those explanations were all thrown into the World War 3 tie-ins separate from the main series due to its change of focus.

 

[Rob]

I got into DC with Blackest Night. Honestly, you just gotta find a good story to start from and then jump to characters you like from there. Also don't be afraid to open Wikipedia if you aren't too familiar with a story or character.

 

[jman1954goat]

a bit off topic but man is reading a western comic after reading lots of Manga Hard. My eyes keep going the wrong way.

 

[Tobor]

Intro into DC Comics:

Step 1: Read Mark Waid's run on The Flash
Step 2: Join us on team Wally and hate everything DC has done to him afterwards.

 

[Weiss]

Intro into DC Comics:

Step 1: Read Mark Waid's run on The Flash
Step 2: Join us on team Wally and hate everything DC has done to him afterwards.

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Mark Waid's Flash is a good example of a comic that uses continuity to its benefit.

You can't explain Wally as a character without getting into Barry and that his death lead to Wally carrying on the mantle. It is a comic steeped in DC's history by bringing back obscure Golden Age heroes and tying the past and future into an ongoing saga. Flash wasn't just a superhero adventure book, it was one that could only really exist in how the DCU ran at the time and how it arguably no longer does.

But the most important thing to remember is that Impulse was better.

 

[kmfdmpig]

Do you or anyone else have suggestions for other hero characters to read in addition to Batwomen? can be Marvel, D.C., Image or independent I don't care always love suggestions

Just want suggestions from the 2000's onwards.

Click to shrink...

All Star Superman
Ms. Marvel, as Weiss mentioned.
Vision by Tom King
Hawkeye (both recent volumes)
Jessica Jones (Alias first even though it came out before 2000)
Superman (starting with Rebirth 1)
Green Arrow (only the part by Jeff Lemire)

 

[Tobor]

Mark Waid's Flash is a good example of a comic that uses continuity to its benefit.

You can't explain Wally as a character without getting into Barry and that his death lead to Wally carrying on the mantle. It is a comic steeped in DC's history by bringing back obscure Golden Age heroes and tying the past and future into an ongoing saga. Flash wasn't just a superhero adventure book, it was one that could only really exist in how the DCU ran at the time and how it arguably no longer does.

But the most important thing to remember is that Impulse was better.

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I agree completely. It's actually something I've been thinking about in context of the MCU, and how now that they are moving to a generational phase, they have the chance to tell stories like this in the movies, with all of the weight and history that Waid had access to at the time.