What Comic Books to Read (DC)

Here is the DC edition of my post regarding what comic books to read.  To start off, some of the specific reasons to read DC:

First, DC is full of established characters.  No, I'm not going to say that the characters in the other comic book company (Marvel) are not established but DC's characters are more established.  Little has changed for Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman.  If there has been any, it does not show.  Fans from the past can easily relate to what's in our present now.  What I'm driving at is there's not much catching up to do especially in the aspect of jumping in to the universe of the top characters in DC.  For me, this is one reason why there are (still) a lot of DC Comics fans.

Second, DC uses fictional cities.  While there's a wonder towards using real cities, there is also a creative strategy towards using fictional cities.  For one, the reader doesn't have to get worried that such a city like Gotham really exists.  The DC cities can be as violent or as peaceful as they want to be.  It's up to the story writer.

Third, DC has this manner of explaining everything just because it needs to be explained.  Hal Jordan's hair becoming gray?  There's an explanation to that.  How did the Justice League of America beat the crap out of a newly formed team of super-villains?  There's a complete description of how it happened.  This is not X-Files where you are left hanging.  Somehow, the editors of DC must insist that explanations must be given regarding "trivial" matters.  If this is your thing, DC will provide it for you.

Probably the last reason to put here is the Elseworlds universe of DC.  I don't know if they're still using the Elseworlds wording but I do know that the universes being used in Elseworlds are in the 52 remaining parallel universes.  DC explained (again with the explanation) it in the 52 series.

What to read in DC?  I'm reading only a few right now.  I want to get on started with Brightest Day, Vol. 1 but I still have to read up on Blackest Night.  With that said, I start off with:

1. Green Lantern

If Marvel has Deadpool as a superhero with a cult following, DC has Green Lantern.  Hal Jordan has just recently returned as Green Lantern.  There are now 4 Earth humans wearing the Green Lantern ring.  The best way to start reading on GL is to go with Green Lantern: Rebirth.  After that, you can work your way to Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1 and Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 2.  Slowly but surely, there's Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns, Green Lantern Corps: Sins of the Star Sapphire, Green Lantern: Agent Orange, until you get into Blackest Night.  You might have noticed that there's a certain pattern as to color and yes, there are other colored rings in the DC universe.  It's fun to read and as I said previously, DC loves to explain things and it's all explained well.  Credit goes to Geoff Johns for getting deep into GL lore.

2. Batman and Robin

No, it's not the movie with the same title.  That Joel Schumacher disaster is way lamer than the comic book.  In Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn, the new Batman (Dick Grayson) teams up with Bruce Wayne's son, who dons the mantle of Robin (the 4th Robin, if you didn't know).  They are not very good friends actually.  Robin wants to kill Batman and Batman would be happy to just be rid of Robin.  Their adventure is different from the usual Batman stories as Grayson tries to deal with the realization that he is now Batman.

I would want to read the other Batman titles but considering how I got lost over the numbering, I decided to just pick up on a new title.  See the death of Batman in Final Crisis.  Go over what's happening after his death with Batman R.I.P. and Batman: Battle for the Cowl.  And if you're not over exhausted over his death, read the Return of Bruce Wayne.  And yes, everything would be explained.

For the record, Batman is my second favorite character.  And why not?  Here is a character who shouldn't be considered a superhero because he's only human.  He does have a great mind and it's because of his great mind that his limited series comic books are always a good read.  More on that later.

3. Flash

I think I'm stuck to only 3 DC titles.  Flash is the last.  Just like Green Lantern, Flash has undergone sort of a rebirth as the original, Barry Allen, has returned to don the mantle.  Speedsters are always fun to read and it's unfortunate that Marvel has never had a cool speedster aside from Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff).  Flash is currently just starting out so you can just easily pick it up.

Just like what I did with Marvel, I'll put in some titles that are good reads (just in case you don't want to get into the whole universe thing).

1. Batman books (limited series)

There are quite a lot.  Where to start?  Batman: The Long Halloween is a great work by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.  Then, there's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller.  Batman: Hush showcases art by Jim Lee.  The list goes on and on.

2. Identity Crisis

I was blown away by the story of Identity Crisis (DC Comics).  It's got one of the best stories that I've read from DC.  And ever since I encountered the name Brad Meltzer, I've been keeping up with the novels that he's written.

I think these would be the books that I'd recommend out of recent memory.  I'd like to include Watchmen and Kingdom Come but I think I'd include it in another post.

Batman and Robin

It's just good.

Well, no spoilers here. Not much.

I read Batman: Battle for the Cowl and I did not expect much from it. But I got blown away with Batman and Robin.

Oh yeah. Not the Joel Schumacher movie with the crazy and cartoony dialogue that ruined the franchise.

Batman

The Dark Knight.

The World's Greatest Detective.

With the recent movie (hype) over The Dark Knight Returns, it occurred to me that Batman has always been one of my favorite characters ever since I started reading comic books. My brother was the Superman fan and I was "relegated" to the "lowly" Batman. Over role play, he was always Superman and I was Batman.

But what makes Batman such an attractive character (if not to you, it is to me)?

What has been left out from the movie is Batman the detective. Movie fans drool over his brooding personality, his "darkness" and the way he dispenses of criminals. In the DC comic books, Batman is one of the better thinkers of the DC Universe. Not exactly the wisest man, but intelligent and witty enough to solve even the toughest crime puzzles. He is known to be away from the other heroes as he works undercover (a third disguise, Malone, a gangster). At the end of the story, he pops out with the puzzle already solved a la Sherlock Holmes.

And then, it just dawns that he is only human. A bit superhuman because he has trained his body to be like an Olympic athlete but nevertheless just a normal human being with the cool gadgets and transportation. I might look at him as a dark James Bond in a cowl and cape. He lives the life as a millionaire playboy but goes into the night saving people.

And that I think is one of the reasons why the character is a favorite among comic book fans. His being human takes him closer to all of us. We are more likely to become Batman ourselves, one way or another.

As for the new movie, I haven't seen it yet but I plan to do so. Thankfully, the DC Comics company have transformed their movie characters into what they really are. No more cheesy comic book-like dialog that sucks too much (I'm talking to you, Joel Schumacher).

By the way, Batman comic books (especially the limited series) are always a good read. There are a rich set of characters that are involved in Gotham City, a city that doesn't seem to run out of criminals, especially the loony ones. And if you're a fan of psychology, you will notice that there are always psychological aspects to what happens in Gotham.

What I'm reading nowadays

It's been quite a few months that I've posted on my blog. Although I know nobody is reading this but if somebody happens to accidentally access my blog, thanks for the audience. I've been meaning to write about all the current comic books I've been reading for quite some time now. This post is basically a summary of what I'm currently reading nowadays.

In no particular order:

1. Amazing Spider-man - Brand New Day started out nice. I like the idea tremendously. But the story has not progressed as well as I expected. A lot of issues have been left hanging, most notably about the first villain (I even forgot the name) that Spidey faced. Seeing how Peter Parker deals with his teenager-like problems again has been delightful to experience once more but it has become redundant. There has to be some sort of progress to his situation otherwise he's still comparable to being a married man. And it seems that as the creative team changes, the whole story changes. There are just a few continued acts but the comic book is jumping from one story to the next without even finishing the previous situations. X-files anyone?

2. Batman books - Batman and the Outsiders and Gotham Underground. The interest on Batman has been existing since I started reading comic books. Batman is an attractive character considering that he's only a human without any actual superpowers. That said, he oftentimes relies on his brains to solve a mystery. The Outsiders comic book is being read because I started with the first issue and seemed to have gotten stuck with the succeeding issues. It's nice to see Batman lead a time. He's intriguing because trust is something that's difficult to come by with the time. An added attraction is Metamorpho, also a long time favorite. He's the comedian in the team. As for Gotham Underground, it's classic Batman at his finest. Wheeling and dealing punches and just using cunning to get through against a horde of supervillains.

3. Flash - Having followed the Bart Allen version, I feel obligated to follow this new series which is awkwardly numbered at a high issue number already. Nevertheless, the original (and more unique, in my opinion) speedster of the comic book fantasy world, is just an ordinary superhero. Take away the speed and he's a normal human being. Wally West and his family brings a little bit of reality to his fantasy.

4. Groo - the current series is Groo: Hell on Earth. I'm a huge fan of funny comic books and Groo is one of my favorites. Credit goes to my big brother who introduced me to this outstandingly stupid character. Hell on Earth is just like An Inconvenient Truth. In a way, the setting can be applied to our current situation where we are careless of the environment. Nicely done by Aragones and as usual, Groo is funny.

5. Iron Fist - The character appeals to me. Here's a rich dude (a la Batman) who's a master of martial arts. I think I got to the tournament match part (the current storyline) and it appealed to me more. But then, the story has tailed off. I miss the matches. Pure action. Some side stories here and there.

6. Justice League/Justice Society - Still yet another comic book that I've been "obligated" to read because I started from the beginning. Both series feature stunning artwork. The bump on JSA is that they keep on adding members to the team. Both series are great because of the whole team concept. Another bump: it seems redundant that no matter how unbeatable they supposedly are, they still get some licks but of course they win out in the end.

7. The Boys - by far, a kick-ass book that I'm enjoying tremendously. The story is the best out of everything enumerated here. It's just perfect. Here's a group of anti-superheroes figuring to be the police of rowdy superheroes. If it's Garth Ennis, there's going to be plenty of surprises and I can always afford to be surprised. Keep it coming!

That's all for the moment. There's more hopefully.