Beginner Comics

[Dark Phoenix II]

I finally came into some money and I was wondering, if I wanted to start reading Bat comics, is there a particular issue, tpb, collection that I should pick up first? I don't think DC makes "Essentials" like Marvel does...

[Jesse321]

DC makes several Graphic Novels for the Bat titles ... some of the better ones are

These have basically the whole Bat family of charactors:

Contagion
Cataclysim
No Man's Land
Bruce Wayne Murderer
Bruce Wayne Fugative
there are also several BOP Graphic Novels collecting most of the major storylines.

Individual Graphic Novels that I would recommend:

Batman / Huntress: Cry for Blood
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper
Hush


Individual comics right now:

Batgirl Year One is REALLY good
Birds of Prey # 56 ... which comes out next week and starts the new team of Gail Simone (Writer) and Ed Benes (Penciler) both of whom are REALLY good !! Huntress will be a recuring charactor in BOP now.
Birds of Prey Secret Files which comes out on June 25th.

Go to any local comics shop in your area and ask them what they would recommend and finger through them .. I'm sure they will be happy to help a new person who could become a regular customer.

[Impulse]

I like Batman Gotham Knights. I heard that they were doing a backstory on the other Robin that died: Jason Todd. Birds of Prey too.

[Jesse321]

ITS the next issue coming out Impulse .. there is a thread with the cover in it ... its a story told in retrospect from Bab's about Jason.

[Impulse]

I know :D

[Jesse321]

Thank you Impulse.

[Kea]

Dark Phoenix II I have to highly recommend Batman / Huntress: Cry for Blood! I really enjoyed that one. (It was the first comic I read and I could not put it down until the end!)
Good story about Huntress. You see Barbara as well (she has a small part!).

I also just read Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey and I liked it. Its really funny to see how Black Canary and Oracle interact. I especially liked the Manhunt story line at the end! When Catwoman, Huntress, Black Canary and Oracle team up! Really funny!

Ok I'm hooked now I know I know!

Hey Jesse question! :D Cataclysim is the one that leads up to No Man's Land right? Just checking. (Seeing as how NML is 5 books long! Better start saving!)

Also is Huntress going to start appearing already in #56 or not? Thank you! :)

[Jesse321]

Kea ... yes to both ...

Catalysim is where the Earthquake that basically destroys Gotham takes place ... which is the leadin to all the No Man's Lands storylines ... the reason its so long is that basically EVERY SINGLE Bat book was involved for the duration of the story so there is lots to read ... but I gotta tell ya its one of the better stories ... if your going to read them read Cataclysim first .. that way once you hit NML you will know all the pre-stories.

According to all i've read on the DC boards and heard in the shops .. it looks like Huntress will be a regular in the BOP books for issue 57 on .. issue 56 will get the Canary kidnapped by Savant and in the end of that issue (I'm assuming) is when Bab's calls Helena in to help.

They have already started advertsing BOP in all the DC books with a full page spread picturing Huntress, Oracle and Black Canary .. so they are REALLY pushing this book into the mainstream. I'll see if I can get a scan of it so I can post it here tomorrow for you.

[Kea]

Thanks Jesse. I really want to read NML because I was reading about what Huntress does. But I'll take your advice and get Cataclysim first. I think it would spare me from questioning you to death as well! ;)

I know I can't wait to read 57.
So do you think they were planning on making Huntress a regular in the Bop books or do you think the TV series also had something to do with the decision? (Just wondering?)
And I will look forward to the picture. :)

[Dark Phoenix II]

Originally posted by Jesse321
Go to any local comics shop in your area and ask them what they would recommend and finger through them .. I'm sure they will be happy to help a new person who could become a regular customer.

See, that's a problem for me...We only have once comic shop and they don't like me, because I'm the only girl that goes in there to buy *real* comics and not Barbie ones. ::rolls eyes:: They don't like me even more because I know what the hell I'm talking about...

But is there somthing that will give like a character background, this is how it all started kinda thing? I don't like coming in mid-story without knowing what's happened in the past...Why I like Essentials so much...

[MUZBNUTS]

Westchester, NY? Go to Central Avenue in Yonkers. Check out either Dragon's Den or 1 If By Cards 2 If By Comics. Most places will let you subscribe. Or check out tfaw.com (www.tfaw.com) . Glad to help out a fellow New Yorker who just happens to be a BOP fan as well! ;)

[Dark Phoenix II]

Umm...That's a fake location. That's where the X-Mansion is. Y'know...X-Men?

[Jesse321]

Kea .. I think that the show may have had something to do with it ... but more than likely I think that its just that no one really knows what to do with Huntress (as shown by the recent storylines) and Gail seems to REALLY like her.

DP ... you can hit the DC Comics web pages and hit the Secret Files Sections ... there is tons of information there ...

WWW.dccomics.com

DC doesn't have Essencial colletions like Marvel does but they do have collected editions called ... "The Greatest Storys Ever Told" each of which focuses on a certain charactor .. but they are rather expensive since they are hardcover books. There really isn't anyway not to jump into a storyline mid way, especially with the Batman titles, as most of them have been being printed for years now ... even I had jumped into them years ago when I first switched from reading Marvels to DC. I was lucky that I jumped into Crossgen from day one ... now there is some REALLY good stuff there.

I can't beleive there would only be one comcics shop in NY even in Yonkers .. have you checked your local Yellow Pages ?? there must be something else around you. If not hit Mile High Comics online.

[super85]

Dark Phoenix II

The comics that I recommend for if you want to start reading the Bat-universe

Batman Year One = Frank Millers brilliant take on Batman's origin, one of my alltime favorite comics. Read it.

Jeph Loeb's and Tim Sale's "Batman:The Long Halloween" and "Batman Dark Victory" cover the early years of The Batman's career, you can argue that they aren't strictly in continuity (even if the last few issues of Batman suggest othervise) but are cleary the best takes on Batman's early years, there's also the Catwoman:Her sisters keeper story that I recommend for you to pick up.

[Jesse321]

Batman Year One is one of Frank's better works .. Year Two wasn't nearly as good.

They also have a Robin Year One too.

And don't forget Batgirl Year One which is in publication right now.

The Long Halloween is one of my personal favorites as well ... though it does very little (if anything) to enhance anything going on in the books right now, its more of a stand alone story as is Dark Victory.

[Impulse]

Sorry, Jesse. Never meant to be rude.

Anyway,
I know what you mean, I'm a girl that always goes to my favorite Comic Book shop and everyone looks at me weird. I know this sounds weird, but I would check Batman Adventures, they're animated like the old ones and the cartoon series but they have all the original villians.
Joker
Harley Quin
Two-Face
etc. etc.

I got the first one free on Free Comic Book day on May 3rd.

[Dark Phoenix II]

LMAO. Guys...I don't live in New York. I put it down as a fake location. I live in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California...LOL

And thanks guys for the lists. I'll try looking for those. :D

[Jesse321]

OMG LOL ... I dodn't catch that ... well your in trouble then LOL ... I would suggest Amazon.com then .. they always ahve a decent stock of books and deliver pretty quickly.

[Kea]

Dark Phoenix II my advice is if you want the Graphic Novels try Amazon.com! That's where I got mine. They are cheaper then in the comic book stores, good service and if you purchase over $25 dollars worth of items its free shipping and handling. Also BN.com has some as well.


And thanks Jesse. Whatever the reason I can't wait. I really like Huntress. :)

[Dark Phoenix II]

Actually, I stopped by the B&N we have. I picked up Bruce Wayne: Murderer? They didn't have Year One...:(

[Jesse321]

DP .... I'm sure they will order them .. I know for a fact that they have all of them in their database .. it may take a while but they will get them.

Murderer is the first part ... Bruce Wayne Fugative is the second ... both are REALLY good .. let us know who you liked them when you finish reading them.

[Dark Phoenix II]

Question: Who's Spoiler?

[Frostbite]

Spoiler is the daughter of lame villain Cluemaster and the occasional romantic partner of Robin.

[Impulse]

Robin as in Tim Drake. Not Dick Grayson.

This info is from Gotham Knights and Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight:

Spoiler (like Huntress) always sought Batman's approval. Her name: Stephanie Brown. At the time of the Catacalsym (sp?) she was pregnant (not by Tim though) and gave her child up for adoption.

[Jesse321]

Here's the full deal on Spoiler from the DC Comics Secret Files section.

Real name: Stephanie Brown
Occupation: High School Student
Base of Operations: Gotham Heights
Marital Status: Single
Height: 5' 5"
Weight: 110
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
First Appearance: DETECTIVE COMICS #647 (AUGUST, 1992)

Only Stephanie Brown knows exactly why she dons the purple and blue costume of the Spoiler to prowl the street of Gotham Heights in search of adventure. Is it the rush of adrenaline? The thrill of teaming with the boy wonder Robin, for whom she does little to conceal a crush?
Or perhaps in some small way to redress the sins of her father, Arthur Brown, the criminal Cluemaster? Whatever the reason, the Spoiler's activities as the unofficially sanctioned vigilante of Gotham's suburbs would certainly be called to question by Gotham's true guardian, the Batman himself, if he knew just how often Stephanie has rushed into the fray, either solo or along side the Dark Knight's own apprentice. But it may be only a matter of time before Spoiler realizes Robin's secret fear: that she might get in over her head and encounter a menace which she lacks adequate training or technique to overcome.

[Impulse]

that's way better than my info.

[2face]

Even tough its not a "real" Batman story , someone has to bring it up...

Batman : The Dark Knight Returns

The Frank Miller classic about an aging Bruce Wayne who pulls on the tights on last time to clean up a Gotham thats dirtier than he left it and go out in a blaze of glory.

[DrayvensCrow]

Just to lend a helping hand for those lurking or otherwise, If you can't find your comics store or want to find any others in your town, call1-888-comic-shop. It is a locator service for comics shops, provided by the good people at Diamond Dist.The big drawback to it is that it does not list the regular book stores, like B. Dalton's or Hastings.

[Jesse321]

Thats so COOL .. thanks Dray .. I didn't even know about that service.

[Dark Phoenix II]

Well, I read it. Very disappointed that I spent $20 on a book that took me less than two days to read. And even more disappointed that I'm now going to have to spend $30 to get the next two parts.

Truth be told--it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Entertaing. Maybe a 3.5 out of a 5...

[Jesse321]

DP .. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy the GN .. I think the problem with them is that you don't get the entire storyline ... sure you get the main arch of the story but there are factors and subplots that lead up to that point and all those focal points are lost.

If you were disappointed with that one (and I know I'm going to get yelled at for this) I would advise you to quit while your ahead if you don't have the money to spend ... if money isn't an issue give the others a try.

[Dark Phoenix II]

I'll probably keep going when I get more cash. I'll just be smart and buy 'em off eBay. I can get things 75% off there.

In the back of the TPB there were a listing of various Bat TPBs. A few of those were what they called "The Archives" which said that they had issues dating all the way back issue 28 of Detective Comics. Has anyone heard or seen these?

[Frostbite]

I've hear of them and see them all the time. There's archives for just about every Pre-Crisis DC comic. The only archive I own, though, is New Teen Titans Archives Volume #1.

[Jesse321]

I've seen those too but never bothered looking into them as I ahve most of the books from way back in the day anyway ... I think the only one that I would be interested in is the Legion of Superheros ones.

[2face]

I've got a few Archive books. They're great if you want to brush up on your DC Golden age. They come hardbound, in color, and cost $50 bucks a pop. They're an expensive, fancier counterpart to Marvel's Essentials series.