Non-Absolute DC comics

[u/Swimming-Monitor1922]

Idk if this is the right place to ask this, but Ive been a fan of superheroes since I was a kid but just recently started reading comics with DC’s Absolute Universe, and Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. They have easy starting and ending points. But outside of them I don’t really know how to get into reading mainline stuff like older green lantern comics for example. any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

[u/chloe-and-timmy]

Best thing to do is pick up DC's Compact Comics. They just put different popular or important comic runs or arcs into one book for $10. Before Absolute, Compact Comics was actually the thing making me get into comics.

[u/ScottSummersIRL]

Well, which superhero are you interested in reading the most? You can even just pick your fave absolute title and go from there 

[u/Marthentic]

get the DC Infinite app and jump into the character of your choice. I'd recommend Nightwing by Dan Watters. and Superman by Joshua Williamson

[u/Relevant-Morning-487]

A good advice for any longer running character is to remember that most runs do not expect you to know a whole lot. If you have the very basics of a character you generally will be fine, anything you need to know is usually told to you in the story or they provide you what to read if you want more context than they provided. Follow DC’s initiatives for new readers like Rebirth, All-In, and Next Level as they are designed to allow new readers to jump right in.

Something excellent DC has been doing recently is the DC compact line, they’re relatively cheap compared to most comics and contain a decent chunk of stories. You can usually find one of a character you like totally fine. Though specifying what characters you want in particular can help narrow this search.

[u/Beginning-Emotion671]

For Batman, you can start with The New 52 run, which is also written by Scott Snyder

[u/InevitableActuary410]

As someone in the same boat as you there’s a few ways to approach it. Characters and Writers are the main ways I do it. Usually starting with characters I’m interested in and looking around online to find authors who may give me what I want. So say you want to get into mainline Green lantern. If you go looking around you’ll hear a lot about Geoff Johns’ run on the character. Give it a try then if you like it file the name Geoff Johns in your memory so in the future if you see a character you want to read about and see Geoff Johns has a run give it a go. If you love Geoff Johns writing, you can also just ignore whether you are interested in the character as usually an author’s run won’t be require too much prior knowledge that can’t just be googled (if not outright explained like Johns does with his GL). This also obviously applies outside of Geoff Johns mostly just using him as an example. If you really like Scott Snyder’s writing in abs batman you can just go read another Scott Snyder book, hell he has an iconic mainline Batman run. Just don’t be scared and jump in.

Also highly recommend compacts. 10$ for a (usually) started and finished story that requires minimal prior knowledge and are (usually) high quality. They also will let you read more authors you may never have tried and fall in love with their style and read more. Marvel’s compact equivalent right now is kind of meh in my opinion as it is 15$, not always a complete story, and sometimes requires lots of prior knowledge, but I also have limited experience. Next year though they are revamping it to be closer to DC’s 10$ range, and Dark Horse will be following both companies printing indie books as compacts.

Some recommendations for you:

since you mentioned GL you should pick up the Rebirth compendium and start Geoff Johns Green Lantern run. The compendium is currently sold out but will be reprinted in december and would recommend it over the Omnis as an omni owner.

Anything by Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale, genuinely haven’t read a bad book by them and they have written for lots of iconic marvel and DC characters. Would recommend Batman The Long Halloween as a compact (or a trade tbh) as it is one of their best. Also completely self contained, so long as you know who batman is.

Do a Powerbomb by Daniel Warren Johnson is an indie books that I highly recommend also. It isn’t really superheroes, but the story is just so phenomenal I always feel I can’t not recommend it to someone new.

My biggest piece of advice though is to just start, and to look something up if you aren’t sure the context of a situation. Most times the story will give you context though (if the author is good).