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I was pretty sure there may already be a thread set up for this but looking through the forum I really can't find one and searching has also been unfruitful!

Bit of background first...

I've been a Batman fan for many years... but not always a comic book reader with any kind of regularity (not since I was a kid).

I read 2000AD as a young'un... and Dredd was by Batman as a kid... although there's many great characters in those pages.

When I got a bit older I was never that interested in picking up weekly comics but got into reading trade paperbacks and graphic novels.

I've read a lot of Batman's graphic novels and still own many of them but obviously with the advent of the New 52 there's a huge amount of overlap in stories and crossovers.

One thing it's done is really make me sit up and take notice of other characters such as Nightwing (personally I'm thinking he'll return at some point but we'll stick with Grayson for now).

I've picked up all of the New 52 Batman, Nightwing and Batman & Robin trade paperbacks to this point as well as Batman Incorporated as a follow on to Grant Morrison's pre-52 volume.

So I'm kind of interested in people's thoughts on these titles as well as the Detective Comics, Dark Knight, Batman Eternal titles etc... which ones should I pick up... which don't work for you?

I've been picking up digital copies of New 52 weeklies as a catch up for when there's a big gap to the paperbacks and the current weekly timeline.

I really enjoyed Talon although I think by the end it was losing a little of the early spark it had... nice to see a brand new hero brought into the mix though.

I've head that a lot of the writing for Catwoman was a bit iffy by Ann Nocenti although I'm keen to hear what any recent writing is like as well as any feedback on other related titles such as Batgirl, Batwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws etc.

One other series that I've always liked is Green Lantern. It was actually the first US comic I ever bought and I've liked it ever since.

I've read most of the Green Lantern series and I'm up to date with the Sinestro title (Sinestro is actually one of my favourite characters).

Would people recommend the other GL titles such as the Green Lantern Corps?

And then of course we have the rest of the Justice League and the Justice League Dark that I've barely mentioned (I'm sure we could have a whole thread devoted to just Hellblazer)

So there we have it... for any of the DC fans here on the forum I'm interested to hear your views... which titles you read... which you don't (and why).

I look forward to hearing all your thoughts.

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Hi, I am a huge DC fan and with that come a love for most of the characters Batman and Green Lantern being amongst the highest.

I enjoyed Batman Beyond Universe, and Zero Year.

And for GL, I really liked Green Lantern rebirth and the corps were also great.

Another I highly recommend is Forever Evil

As for Justice League, Geoff John's has done an awesome job with the new 52 title, and you get a lot for your money with the amazing character roster, it had some of the best story arcs of last year imo

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I got into comics about 10 months into the New 52 and I personally think it's great. I was always put off from comics due to the large back catalogue. However the New 52 allowed me to jump on and in the past 3 years I've gone back and read a lot of the old stuff. I've read Flash Rebirth , Flash point, Hush, All Star Superman, Dark Knight Returns, Year one, Battle for the cowl, Killing Joke, Red son and a lot more which is all thanks to the New 52, it's the perfect gateway drug into comics.

I'm slowly working my way through a lot of the New 52 but so far I've read:

Batman 1-37

Nightwing 1-30

Batgirl 1-7

Batman and Robin 1-7, 18, 30-37

Justice League 1-37

Justice league of America

Justice League United

Superman

Wonder Woman

Green lantern

Flash

Aquaman

SHAZAM

Suicide Squad

Green Arrow

Green lantern corps

Green lantern new guardians

Superman/Wonderwoman

And Action Comics.

Most of which have been brilliant, is certainly recommend SHAZAM, Superman/Wonder Woman, Forever Evil, Aquaman and Suicide Squad. I get a lot of my books in trade from a few sellers on Amazon some of the bargains are too good to pass up on. I manga fed to get Earth 2 vol 1 for £3.80, and I usually manage to get the other books for about £6 each.

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Oh I didn't realize I was supposed to talk about what I like/collect.

The only things I really collect is the Justice League series and the Arkham Manor series.

I have read though on the website I posted before alot of other different New 52 comics.

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I have a love/hate realtionship with the new 52 for sure. I started with the older batman stuff, which is what I recommend anyone do when reading comics. Some of the stuff I've read that I liked:

Knightfall. Wow, if you haven't read this do it. It lives up to the hype. By the time you get to the end when Bane invades the bat cave and breaks batman, your right there. All the pain and suffering that's happened for the whole book, you almost feel it.

Under the Red hood. I liked how they interwove how Jason returned into the main story it self. It also (along with War Games) cemented Black mask as a character I dispise.

The long Halloween. This is my personal favorite. Somthing about how the story takes its time and how the art blends and flows makes this my favorite. As I mentioned, I didn't think the art would look very good and ruin the experience but it some how works very well for the story.

No mans land. I just finished this, and it's pretty good, better then war games for sure. I see a lot of the stuff from the book Rocksteady used/easteregg-ed in Arkham city

Not batman but another personal favorite is Brightest Day. Sure it looses it's way a little in the 3rd volume but it's still a wonderfully illustrated book with a wide range of characters and mini stories. It also made Deadman a pretty cool hero. And... I really liked Hawkman and Hawkgirls journey/story :blush:

'Far as New fricken 52 goes I reaaaaly liked Court of Owls and City of Owls. Creepy and interesting. I'm not sure if this falls under the new 52 reader or not, but if you ever want to read a Batman comic that is so far from what it's normally depicted: All star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. Talk about a power trip. :laugh: Some of the new justice legue stuff is pretty neat, but I dislike how much Justice League Origns reminds of the Avengers movie.

Edited by Im a brickmaster.

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I'll hold my hand up and say that I found Knightfall really hard work... It's just something that I don't think has aged particularly well. It just needs reading as a definitive moment in the Batman timeline. Same as Death in the Family. I don't think either of those stories is blessed with particularly good art. That may be blasphemous for some but I understand their place in the Bat mythos.

Killing Joke on the other hand is a masterpiece and is penned by one of the greatest comic artists of all time, Brian Bolland while also being written by a legend, Alan Moore (both 2000AD stalwarts).

Son of the Demon was a good book if a little short but it's also important in tat it's the joining of Bats and Talia and the birth of Damian... And how it's hidden from Bruce.

I've recently picked up Black Mirror as it's had excellent reviews.

Snyder and Capullo's work on Batman so far has been excellent for me... From the Owl arc to Death of the Family on to Zero Year. I picked up the Joker volume of DOTF but after reading certain members of the Bat Family's chapters I traded it. Some worked much better than others and I have Bats, Nightwing and Batman & Robin's volumes.

Forever Evil is definitely something I'll be reading... The Grayson unmasking is an important moment... And I always like the idea of the antihero.

Damian has really grown on me so I'm interested in his resurrection and how the character evolves.

I'm interested to read some JL stuff but I've always had s slight aversion to Superman so I'll have to ease myself into that...

Anyone recommend some essential Hellblazer? As a fellow scouser I almost feel obliged to read him..,

Edited by Robianco

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I'll hold my hand up and say that I found Knightfall really hard work... It's just something that I don't think has aged particularly well. It just needs reading as a definitive moment in the Batman timeline. Same as Death in the Family. I don't think either of those stories is blessed with particularly good art. That may be blasphemous for some but I understand their place in the Bat mythos.

Killing Joke on the other hand is a masterpiece and is penned by one of the greatest comic artists of all time, Brian Bolland while also being written by a legend, Alan Moore (both 2000AD stalwarts).

Son of the Demon was a good book if a little short but it's also important in tat it's the joining of Bats and Talia and the birth of Damian... And how it's hidden from Bruce.

I've recently picked up Black Mirror as it's had excellent reviews.

Snyder and Capullo's work on Batman so far has been excellent for me... From the Owl arc to Death of the Family on to Zero Year. I picked up the Joker volume of DOTF but after reading certain members of the Bat Family's chapters I traded it. Some worked much better than others and I have Bats, Nightwing and Batman & Robin's volumes.

Forever Evil is definitely something I'll be reading... The Grayson unmasking is an important moment... And I always like the idea of the antihero.

Damian has really grown on me so I'm interested in his resurrection and how the character evolves.

I'm interested to read some JL stuff but I've always had s slight aversion to Superman so I'll have to ease myself into that...

Anyone recommend some essential Hellblazer? As a fellow scouser I almost feel obliged to read him..,

I haven't got round to reading Knightfall yet but Death in the Family is currently making it's way to me, through the UK postal force. But I understand your comments about artwork, for me it's a trial to get through Frank Millars artwork. Capullo's artwork is incredible and every batman story arc he draws feels unique. He's certainly one of the best artists working at DC at the moment.

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Personally, I think New 52 is fine. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. I do miss some of the old continuity, though (such as Wally West's existence...). For New 52, I've read Batman, JL, JLA, Green Lantern, Nightwing, and the first run of Teen Titans (the first story was great but after that it lacked). Since I started in Spring of 2012, that's whittled down to just Batman, JL, and GL (though JLU is really intriguing for the roster alone. Can anyone recommend it?)

Any of the New 52 Green Lantern titles are worth a read in my opinion (even though I think all but GL itself are ending in March). Particularly New Guardians is a good read since it focuses on the secondary lanterns like Atrocitus and Saint Walker. I am a HUGE Green Lantern fan and I have the full 90s run that includes the introduction of Kyle Rayner and the Hal Jordan/Paralax story line. I've also read the full Blackest Night run which I highly recommend. Like others have said, Green Lantern: Rebirth is excellent as well.

I've also read the entire run of Geoff Johns Aquaman for the New 52 and must say that I loved it just as much as GL. My father owns most all of the Aquaman issues produced (there's a few from the first run that neither he nor I have been able to track down), so I've been working my way through those. The spinoff series, Aquaman and The Others, is another series I would recommend, even though it's ending soon with only twelve or so issues.

Before I forget to mention it, Snyder's work on Batman in the past years has been exceptional. Court/City of Owls and Death of the Family are both fantastic reads, and though Zero Year did get to be a bit long, it was interesting nonetheless. Definitely give that run a chance if you haven't already.

As for the ongoing discussion about Death in the Family and Knightfall, I must say that though the artwork is outdated in comparison to the works of Jim Lee and Greg Capullo, the story does not suffer one bit. I loved every part about Death in the Family since Jason Todd's story has always intrigued me, and I still have to get through Knightfall (Let me tell you, it is loooooong).

Forever Evil is another long haul. Due to the 1-issue-per-month DC has, Forever Evil took really long to get started and to wrap up for me. The concept is awesome; How does the world deal without a Justice League when the greatest threat it has ever seen shows up? If you sit down and read it all at once, I'm sure it's nothing to extensive and would be much more enjoyable than how I chose to read it. It definitely shakes up the universe in a cool way, too, and I've always been a sucker for alternate dimension stories (Earth 2 is on its way right now).

As for other recommendations, definitely read Hush. If you're a hardcore Batman fan, read Hush. If you're a casual Batman fan, read Hush. If you're just a casual comics fan, read Hush. It is an absolutely terrific arc that brings together the entire Batman family, his rogues gallery, and even some Superman while still introducing new characters and not having the story suffer one bit. So many characters are involved, and it is still centered on Batman, his relationship with Catwoman/Selina Kyle, and each issue you read feels so different from the others, it's hard to distinguish as an arc except for a few things.

Also (though this goes without saying), read Watchmen if you haven't already. No further explanation should be necessary.

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I've been reading Batman, Detective Comics, and Batman Eternal. I'm not a big fan of Greg Capullo's faces- they all look the same to me. I'm enjoying Eternal, but won't really be able to grasp it all until I can read it in a trade.

I really wanted to like the new Harley Quinn, but I don't like what they've done with her. Especially that her skin is now dyed white permanently! I read it though, but started New Suicide Squad for a little bit of a different take on Harley. I think she was so much better pre- New 52.

I loved Geoff Johns' run on Aquaman. I hope that Aquaman will get some much needed respect in the next few years.

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Personally, I think New 52 is fine. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. I do miss some of the old continuity, though (such as Wally West's existence...). For New 52, I've read Batman, JL, JLA, Green Lantern, Nightwing, and the first run of Teen Titans (the first story was great but after that it lacked). Since I started in Spring of 2012, that's whittled down to just Batman, JL, and GL (though JLU is really intriguing for the roster alone. Can anyone recommend it?)

Forever Evil is another long haul. Due to the 1-issue-per-month DC has, Forever Evil took really long to get started and to wrap up for me. The concept is awesome; How does the world deal without a Justice League when the greatest threat it has ever seen shows up? If you sit down and read it all at once, I'm sure it's nothing to extensive and would be much more enjoyable than how I chose to read it. It definitely shakes up the universe in a cool way, too, and I've always been a sucker for alternate dimension stories (Earth 2 is on its way right now).

JLU is ok I read the first 4 issues and enjoyed it, I've decide to wait on the trade for it though. The rivalry between Animal man and Green Arrow is pretty funny and the Stargirl MM relationship is interesting.

I felt the same way about Forever Evil when it was being released in singles, when you add it up with the Villains month issues and the few titles it took over ( JLA,JL, JD, suicide squad, Nightwing and Teen Titans) it certainly felt long. However I recently reread the main series in trade and it's perfect as a Graphic Novel. It's so much more fulfilling reading it in one go, I'd certainly recommend reading some of the tie ins like Rouges Rebellion.

Earth 2 is pretty good but I've only read the first volume.

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Ahah have you guys read the latest Justice League issue, with the Amazo virus. Batman has to wear his HAZMAT suit that he is embarrassed to tell Superman what he and Robin call it. They call it the Hazbat :grin: ! I'd love to see that suit in mini figure form with the name and all!

That was one of my favorite moments, that and when Lex Luthor deduces that the only people on earth that would have enough time to be Batman would be himself and Bruce Wayne and then where he then confronts Bruce at his house, he pulls a gun on Bruce and Alfred puts a gun to Lex's head and they shoot the clock leading to the Batcave. I'm really hoping they have a seen like that in MOS 2!

Edited by MODOCTORDOOM

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Justice League of America is fantastic.

Batman and Two-Face run (4 issues in the beginning of New 52 was fantastic.)

Green Arrow and Batman are great (Capullo's art in Batman is phenomenal!)

But then there is a better series, Batman Eternal. If you haven't read this I recommend you pick up as much of it as you can find and try to catch up. Because it is just one huge mystery series. It's fantastic.

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I'll definitely check out the Eternal storyline... it's kind of been the one I've been thinking of reading now I'm up to date with Batman, Nightwing etc.

I read somewhere that Black Mirror was a definite plus before reading it and I have that so that's fine... I've also read that it's a bit hit and miss due to the amount of writers throughout but I'll just make my own mind up on it.

I loved Geoff John's run on Green Lantern so I'll take a look at Aquaman although he's probably the character I know the least about.

Thanks for the recommendations on the JL stuff... I'll move onto those in due course!

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I felt the same way about Forever Evil when it was being released in singles, when you add it up with the Villains month issues and the few titles it took over ( JLA,JL, JD, suicide squad, Nightwing and Teen Titans) it certainly felt long. However I recently reread the main series in trade and it's perfect as a Graphic Novel. It's so much more fulfilling reading it in one go, I'd certainly recommend reading some of the tie ins like Rouges Rebellion..

There are some huge events like Original Sin from Marvel last year that are easy to read as they're going on, but I think you're right about all the tie-ins. I can't separate the story that happened in JL from that of JLA from that of Forever Evil itself.

I loved Geoff John's run on Green Lantern so I'll take a look at Aquaman although he's probably the character I know the least about.

The really nice thing about that run is that it's very introductory. I came in knowing little to nothing about Aquaman, and still I feel like I know the character pretty well. Johns has an amazing way of reinventing characters like Black Manta and Ocean Master while still being able to introduce new characters like The Others.

Edited by K-Nut

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I think New 52 is pretty good. I am a huge Robin fan ( hence the name) and collect Grayson, the newest Teen Titans books, and occasionally Red Hood and the Outlaws. I also own Nightwing 1-30 ( my old Nightwing collection is growing too :wink: ) in both graphic novels and some of the actual comics. :classic:

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It's the New 52 that's made me appreciate Robin (well... all of them really).

I've now got all of the Nightwing comics in CBR and CBZ files including all pre-52 stuff.

After reading Batman 38 I'm now really interested to see where Snyder is taking the Joker and Batman relationship and how that's going to work from now on.

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I'm really enjoying Batman Eternal. It's nice seeing some lesser known villains(at least to me- Professor Pyg & Hush just to name a few-since I own, it haven't started reading Batman yet because I'm still looking for the individual issues of 1-8). The stories have been pretty exciting and you see a lot of the Bat family members as well, which is cool.

While its not exactly Batman, Gotham Academy is a decent read. I love the artwork, something about the 'realistic' art style gets me. I prefer the more cartoon style artwork. Being only a few issues, the story hasn't said a whole lot, but it's alright so far. It's a little Hogwarts-esque with going about the school, getting into trouble & figuring things out.

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I'm curious if there are any titles people do not recommend for some reason, or they don't like the new 52 version opposed to the old version.

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I'm curious if there are any titles people do not recommend for some reason, or they don't like the new 52 version opposed to the old version.

I havent read too much pre 52 outside of batman, but theres a couple, of new 52 series that weren't great. Detective Comics, Dark Knight, Trinity War, Futures end and Batman eternal are all pretty awful, plus the first few issues of Superman and Green Arrow are pretty dire aswell.

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Detective Comics was Okay, but I've heard terrible things about GA (at least the first twenty or so issues).

And in case anyone missed it, DC is starting (and ending) quite a few titles in June. I'm personally really looking forward to reading Martian Manhunter and maybe Dr Fate. :thumbup: Midnighter and Starfire both sound interesting as well, so I may be giving those a look as well.

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Detective Comics was Okay, but I've heard terrible things about GA (at least the first twenty or so issues).

And in case anyone missed it, DC is starting (and ending) quite a few titles in June. I'm personally really looking forward to reading Martian Manhunter and maybe Dr Fate. :thumbup: Midnighter and Starfire both sound interesting as well, so I may be giving those a look as well.

Martian Manhunter and Dr Fate sound pretty good, so does Cyborg. I'm pleased that its only a soft reboot snd not another full blown one like the start of the New 52 was, as far as im aware all the storys will continue over which is good. I'msuprised that there isn't a SHAZAM book in the relaunch since Geoff Johns has been building him up quite a bit in Justice League. Oh well at least he got the Thunderworld book as part of multiversity.

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Martian Manhunter and Dr Fate sound pretty good, so does Cyborg. I'm pleased that its only a soft reboot snd not another full blown one like the start of the New 52 was, as far as im aware all the storys will continue over which is good. I'msuprised that there isn't a SHAZAM book in the relaunch since Geoff Johns has been building him up quite a bit in Justice League. Oh well at least he got the Thunderworld book as part of multiversity.

Yes, it seems more akin to the "Marvel NOW" reboot from a few years ago, which is nice. I really wished that there was a Shazam book, seeing as he's one of my favorite characters. It would have made since, too, seeing as Johns is leaving his brief run on Superman as well.

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Yes, it seems more akin to the "Marvel NOW" reboot from a few years ago, which is nice. I really wished that there was a Shazam book, seeing as he's one of my favorite characters. It would have made since, too, seeing as Johns is leaving his brief run on Superman as well.

I'm a little bit suprised to see Johns only stick around for one arc on Superman, especially since he'll only be writing Justice League, and a couple of earth one Graphic Novels. All the revealed books add up to 49 so I'm hopeful that there may be 3 books left for SHAZAM. Also looking at the list I'm shocked to see how much they're condencing the Green Lantern Books down too, they've cut half of them out.

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Detective Comics was Okay, but I've heard terrible things about GA (at least the first twenty or so issues).

And in case anyone missed it, DC is starting (and ending) quite a few titles in June. I'm personally really looking forward to reading Martian Manhunter and maybe Dr Fate. :thumbup: Midnighter and Starfire both sound interesting as well, so I may be giving those a look as well.

That's an interesting list. Looks like they're giving the axe to a lot of good stuff, seeing as it's not on the list. My wallets okay with it, but I'm not...

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