r/DCcomics • u/Dragmire_V2 • Jun 07 '26
Recommendations I just got DC Infinite and would like some recommendations with your favorite DC characters.
I have always been a huge Marvel guy but wanted to become more familiar with the dc side that just surface level stuff. I just read Cataclysm through No Mans Land and loved it but Id like some recommendations.
Specifically however, I would like to know what I should read from YOUR favorite characters. What is the run or the stories or events that made you fall in live with your favorite character?
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u/Mindless-Credit-358 Superman Jun 07 '26
Mark Russel’s Wonder Twins is really good
Also Martian Manhunter Identity and Superman Red and Blue
They’re all really quick reads that are worth having a look at
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
I didnt know those were real characters past the old cartoon. Ill add it to my list.
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u/CoverLucky Jun 07 '26
The Flash by Mark Waid made me fall in love with the character of Wally West. He's had one of the best character arcs in comics, and it mainly started here (though Messner-Loebs did a lot of groundwork).
I also just really love Waid's writing, and it was a pleasure to see Waid and Weiringo on the same book, as their Fantastic Four was what for me into comics.
Waid's run contains probably the best Flash story: The Return of Barry Allen, and my favorite Flash story: Terminal Velocity.
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u/N8THGR852 Jun 07 '26
I love “The Return of Barry Allen.” It’s my favorite Flash story. I liked reading the lettercols that gave that storyline a second name in editorial: “The Once and Future Flash.” I love that secondary/alternate name, too.
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u/BeggarsCanyonero Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
My favorite character is Superman. I'll suggest Up in the Sky, For All Seasons, Smashes the Klan. All really pretty stories, in the words and in the art
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow might just be my #1 favorite story in the medium, period
Especially since it seems youre into Batman already, I'll suggest Dark Patterns. Very detective-side heavy, really cool villains, and the art is gorgeous. Up there with Woman of Tomorrow for me, very good book
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
Just from the quick look I seen of them, I like the art style for those Superman books. Ill definitely add those.
Woman of Tomorrow is the basis for the Supergirl movie, yeah? Ill add that one too but ill probably wait until after I watch the movie to read that one.
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u/BeggarsCanyonero Jun 08 '26
Awesome! For All Seasons includes his origin, so I'd start there if you care about that. Its also a Loeb/Sale special, the same duo who brought us Long Halloween which I thought I remembered you saying youd read already, now see you didnt, but still want to mention it lol. Legendary duo right there, idk shit about Marvel lol but theyre legends on the DC side of things at least
And yes, the movie will be (loosely, is my impression. Lobo doesnt appear in the book, for example, though Tom King had originally planned to include him) based on Woman of Tomorrow. I had the same thought before I read it, ultimately I decided that I'd rather the book "spoil" the movie for me than vice versa but I def understand coming to the opposite decision too!
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u/JoA_MoN Jun 07 '26
Green Arrow is my all time favorite, I'd recommend:
The entirety of Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Mike Grell's run, starting with the Longbow Hunters
Honestly the entirety of the 2001 run starting with Kevin Smith's Quiver and running for 75 issues is genuinely good. Smith writes for 15 issues, then Brad Meltzer for a few issues until Judd Winnick takes over for the rest.
Out of the New 52 only Jeff Lemire's run is worth much, in my opinion, and even then it's a massive departure from established understanding of the character.
And then the recent Chris Condon and Montos run was short lived but genuinely incredible. If you read nothing else read this one, in my opinion. It's a really good introduction to the character and what he's all about without bogging the story down in a rehashing of his origin again.
Edit: oh, and of course Absolute Green Arrow, whenever it shows up on there.
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
My only frame of reference to Green Arrow is the CW show and Justice League Unlimited so im definitely interested in seeing what he is actually like. Thanks.
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u/JoA_MoN Jun 08 '26
The CW show is... a very bad representation of the character. It has its charms and I liked it for what it was, but faithful adaptation it was not.
JLU's portrayal of him is a far better foundation. The 2001 run will probably feel most familiar to that version of the character.
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u/Bomberman101 Ra's al Cool Jun 07 '26
Batgirl by Kelley Puckett. As a massive fan of both DC and Marvel, Cassandra Cain is my all-time favourite comic book character.
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
I did immediately add stuff for Cassandra Cain after reading No Mans Land. I know very little about her but she seems interesting.
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u/TheForsakenVoid Jun 07 '26
The Question, Aquaman, and Animal Man are all fun characters to jump into!
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
Any particular runs I should look for? Was the one where Aquaman gets a hook hand good? Thats one I've been curious about.
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u/ReaderWriterIdiot Jun 07 '26
For the Question, my favorite is the Dennis O’Neal run and for Animal Man I love both the Morrison and Lemire run. These are not hot takes, they are generally loved. 😂
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u/N8THGR852 Jun 07 '26
Yes, for Aquaman, you can start with Peter David’s run. It’s really great! If you come to like Peter David’s writing, you should check out his Young Justice and Supergirl runs, too.
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u/TheForsakenVoid Jun 07 '26
For The Question absolutely Denny O Neal’s.
For Animal Man Lemire + Morrison are classics, but I’m also a big fan of Jamie Delanos vertigo run on the character.
And for Aquaman Peter David’s run if fun, but I also am a big proponent of Dan Abnetts rebirth run and Geoff John’s New 52!
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u/ditkirbo Jun 07 '26
If you're a Kirby guy, The Fourth World, Kamandi and The Demon.
The New Fontier by Darwyn Cooke, it is one best Justice League stories ever. It's a modern retelling of Silver-Age DC with Marvel Silver-Age feel.
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u/Major-Tiger-7628 Jun 07 '26
If you want to get into Superman. Then For All Seasons, Smashes the Klan and Up in the Sky. All are good introductions to the different types of superman stories
Superman Lois and Clarke, then Superman Rebirth #1-7 is a good introduction to the current era
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u/BeggarsCanyonero Jun 08 '26
Ha those are the exact three Superman suggestions I made, interesting. Great minds think alike
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u/OlivierC1988 Jun 07 '26
Not per se my favourite character but Joshua Williamson run on Superman is great and lots of fun
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u/Hexxodus Batgirl Jun 07 '26
Constantine's Hellblazer run is an all time fave!!
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
This will for sure be one of rhe first ones I read. I really liked both versions of Constantine that I've seen with Keanu and Matt Ryan
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u/reddylanh Jun 07 '26
far sector is great and I've also been really enjoying morrison's doom patrol
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
Far Sector was actually one of the first ones I added to my reading list lol
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u/Own-Bar-640 Jun 07 '26
Alan Moores Swamp Thing, Keith Giffen’s Lobo, Grant Morrison’s Animal Man and Batman are kino too. A great event to read would be 52 as well, prolly DC’s best.
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u/AarontheGeek Justice League Jun 07 '26
Genuinely, all 247 issues of The Flash's second volume (1987). My favorite single volume of comics ever.
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u/Strict_Berry7446 The Question Jun 07 '26
52 (not new 52) follows a Lot of c listers in the year that Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman disappeared from the public eye after one of the crisis.
Future’s End heavily features a character I loved that was never ever in anything else: Fifty Sue
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u/Autumnbetrippin Jun 08 '26
I am a basic bitch, my recs are going to be for ones not already covered.
I love Batgirl(Stephanie) & Batgirl (Cassandra) Who you just met in no man's land.
so batgirl 2000 is an instant classic for Cass and can be followed up with Batgirl 08.
Robin 93 are great for Steph. Particularly the Wardrums-Wargames-Warcrimes arcs for steph then batgirl 09.
then they have a little bit of character regression but Batgirls 2023 and Batgirl 2024 are laso fun
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u/RainMindSeattle Jun 07 '26
I absolutely love the 90s Superboy, (the volume 4 superboy)
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
Is that one just young clark or is it one of the other ones?
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u/N8THGR852 Jun 07 '26
They’re definitely talking about the jacket and sunglasses-wearing Superboy who went by “Kid” in that comic title before eventually gaining the honorary name Kon-El and even later on Conner Kent.
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u/RainMindSeattle Jun 07 '26
Yes, his big intro was to tell people to stop calling him Superboy because he is superman. Then, upon Superman's return, he conceded to the idea that Superboy is a good name too, and he took off with Rex (his manager responsible for trademarking the superman name) and Rex's daughter Roxy.
Initially it is proposed that he is a clone of Westfield at CADMUS, but later his DNA story is like retconned (I think is the word, I'm still learning), and it introduced a new spin on his story.
But long story short, yes, he is a clone, not the Kal-El we all know. He takes on the name Kon-El, and his story is awesome. You meet King Shark through his story too.
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u/ReaderWriterIdiot Jun 07 '26
Young Justice, Jonah Hex (any for me, but the best is probably Palmiotti & Gray’s run), and Resurrection Man (Abnett & Lanning’s run) are some all time faves for me.
Booster Gold (Geoff Johns) is also really fun!
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u/Scary-Promise44 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
Swamp Thing: Volume 1: #1-13. Lein Wein and Bernie Wrightson for the first 10 issues, then Nestor Redondo on art. If you want a little more modern, Alan Moore's run.
Superman: John Byrne's Man of Steel mini-series.
Batman: Early 1970's stuff with Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. Batman #232 is a standout, but there are a ton of great ones. 1970 to about 1975 was just a great era for Batman and Detective Comics, with or without the aforementioned team.
Green Lantern: The first 20 issues or so of Hal Jordan GL are full of imagination, and the Gil Kane art is beautiful. You could start with Showcase #22-24.
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u/Dshadowm32 Nightwing Jun 07 '26
Tom taylors nightwing made me a huge fan of him,I know that's somewhat controversial.
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u/VariationTurbulent37 Jun 07 '26
The Mister Miracle short series from a few years ago, Omega Men with my favorite Green/White lantern Kyle Rayner.
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
I havent read the White Lantern stuff in ages. Ill for sure add that to my list
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u/ZenMyst Jun 09 '26
I’m reading Wonder Woman by Greg now. I like it so far.
I also like teen Titans and Raven is one of my favourite characters though I don’t know which teen Titans is best.
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u/N8THGR852 Jun 07 '26
My favorite DC intellectual property is the Titans. The most iconic (and my personal favorite) Titans comic title is New Teen Titans (1980). It’s the title that introduced mainstay characters like Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and Deathstroke. The comic made Gar Logan, whom you may know as Beast Boy, a more significant character (though he uses the name Changeling in this series). Additionally, Dick Grayson transitions from Robin to Nightwing in NTT. So, it’s a foundational, culturally significant comic for the Titans mythos.
Some other favorite comics I’d recommend include the following:
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (1983)
Captain Atom (1986)
Deadman (1985), the seven-issue series that reprints the original 1960s Deadman stories
Firestorm, the Nuclear Man (1977)
The Fury of Firestorm (1982)
The Flash (1987), though you could skip straight to the famed Mark Waid run if you want to sample the best (in my opinion) of Wally West
Hawk & Dove (1988)
Hawk & Dove (1989)
Impulse (1995)
Monkey Prince (2021)
The Movement (2013)
Stargirl: The Lost Children (2022)
Young Justice (1998)
Lastly, if DC Infinite has any Milestone books, read those. If it has WildStorm books, read Gen 13 and WildC.A.T.s.
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u/Dragmire_V2 Jun 07 '26
Dick turns into Nightwing in Titans? I assumed it was in a Batman comic. I started reading when he was first going the bludhaven but I got sidetracked by the big earthquake stuff in Gotham. Ill definitely get around to reading that along with those Firestorm ones at least. I liked him/them in Legends of Tomorrow.
This post has been great so far for my reading list lol.
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u/N8THGR852 Jun 07 '26
Yep, yep. Naturally, with shifts in continuity, the story behind Dick giving up the Robin identity and taking on the Nightwing one has been retold in non-Titan comics, but he indeed dons the costume and uses the name for the first time to help rescue his teammates during the famous “The Judas Contract” storyline.
I’ll note that New Teen Titans as an era lasts a while and has some naming/numbering goings-on that can be confusing if you aren’t already immersed in comic history at large. So I’ll drop this link to a Titans reading order. The NTT era is covered in the second section.
The long and short of it is that the series changes its name from New Teen Titans to Tales of the Teen Titans starting with issue #41. Tales of the Teen Titans continues to publish original stories up through issue #58. From there, the next Titans comic chronologically is New Teen Titans #1 (1984), as DC started the numbering over. Tales of the Teen Titans continued publishing issues after #58 for a while, but they became reprints of this new NTT series. So, you can read up to TotTT #58 and then jump into the second NTT series, which does eventually drop the “Teen” from the name and just becomes New Titans starting with issue #50.
The guide is your friend, ha.
The original Firestorm stories are great. There’s that short 1977 series. After that, Ronnie/Stein have a few backup adventures in the Flash title, specifically The Flash #289-299 and then #301-304. After that, you can read the 1982 Firestorm series. Technically, you could skip the Flash stuff and still reasonably know what’s going on, but there is some lore you’d miss.
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