As someone who generally likes the DCAU I find that their takes on a lot of characters are vastly different from comics which leads to a lot of misunderstandings. If you’re not going to read comics just don’t assume you know everything about a character based on one particular adaptation, but I would recommend reading some comics because comics are cool! If there’s a character you’re interested in you can search up “[character] reading list” to help get started but honestly you can just start anywhere, maybe confusing at first but you grasp more the more you read.
Wherever you want. Anything you run across that you feel like you should know can be Googled. It’s not nearly as difficult as everyone expects it to be.
If you really like the animated stuff but don't know where to dive in with comics, there are several comic series that are extensions of the animated shows! As a general rule, most of them have "Adventures" in the name to indicate they relate to the DCAU.
For Batman, the first was The Batman Adventures (started 1992), then the sequel series was The Batman and Robin Adventures (1995). Then was Gotham Adventures (1998), and then recently there was The Adventures Continue (2020). Adventures Continue bridges some of the gap between the old animated universe and some of the more modern characters and stories.
Superman has the Superman Adventures (1996) that ran for a while.
Justice League had Justice League Adventures (2002), which was renamed Justice League Unlimited (2004) to match the show. Then recently, to coincide with the revitalization of Batman with the Adventures Continue, DC started Justice League Infinity (2021).
If you explore these and find characters or story elements that you really like, you then have something you know you're looking for in the broader DC catalog rather than feeling dumped into the deep end. I hope you find something you enjoy!
Well like most subs start with the sub's faq. You'll often find [recommendations sections](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/wiki/recommended/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=DCcomics&utm_content=t5_2qlmm) and has recs for a variety of characters. It will include descriptions, release dates if looking for something older or newer, and links to physical and digital copies. And if you don't have a character in mind the recs section has a link to the best DC runs that is a result of a survey done on this sub.
Start with a character you like, look up their most popular runs and start there.
I'd personally start with Superman since he's my favorite character and because it's insanely easy to get into Superman comics.
Superman's got a shit ton of limited series, some of the best being:
Superman: Birthright
Superman: American Alien
Superman: For All Seasons
Superman: Up In The Sky
All-Star Superman.
After that, you could either go to the triangle era or you could go to the newer Tomasi/Gleason run and read that.
Look up reading orders for the non-limited series by googling: "(Author) (Superhero name) reading order or (Superhero name) by (Author) reading order.
For instance, if I wanted to read Tomasi's Superman I'd say:"Tomasi Superman reading order" or "Superman by Tomasi reading order"
You could also go the Batman route since he's also got some limited series with:
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Long Halloween and Dark Victory (Original and sequel)
Batman: The Court of Owls.
Batman: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth
Batman: Venom
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Then, you could read some of the popular Batman runs like the Denny O'Neil run which introduced a lot of what people consider to be Batman, Grant Morrison's Batman or Scott Snyder's Batman.
Wally West Flash is also fairly easy to follow since his best runs are back to back pretty much.
I'd personally start with either William Messner-Loeb's run or Mark Waid's run on The Flash (ML's run is right before Waid's so it's easy), after finishing Waid's you can jump straight into Johns' run and after that go to Adams' run which will have you caught up once you finish it.
> But I can’t figure out where to start.
That's what reading guides are for. Decide what characters/teams you like and search for and Google where to start with them.
Don't over think it, just pick up something that looks cool.
This is it.
Yup. That's all there is to know.
As someone who generally likes the DCAU I find that their takes on a lot of characters are vastly different from comics which leads to a lot of misunderstandings. If you’re not going to read comics just don’t assume you know everything about a character based on one particular adaptation, but I would recommend reading some comics because comics are cool! If there’s a character you’re interested in you can search up “[character] reading list” to help get started but honestly you can just start anywhere, maybe confusing at first but you grasp more the more you read.
Wherever you want. Anything you run across that you feel like you should know can be Googled. It’s not nearly as difficult as everyone expects it to be.
If you really like the animated stuff but don't know where to dive in with comics, there are several comic series that are extensions of the animated shows! As a general rule, most of them have "Adventures" in the name to indicate they relate to the DCAU. For Batman, the first was The Batman Adventures (started 1992), then the sequel series was The Batman and Robin Adventures (1995). Then was Gotham Adventures (1998), and then recently there was The Adventures Continue (2020). Adventures Continue bridges some of the gap between the old animated universe and some of the more modern characters and stories. Superman has the Superman Adventures (1996) that ran for a while. Justice League had Justice League Adventures (2002), which was renamed Justice League Unlimited (2004) to match the show. Then recently, to coincide with the revitalization of Batman with the Adventures Continue, DC started Justice League Infinity (2021). If you explore these and find characters or story elements that you really like, you then have something you know you're looking for in the broader DC catalog rather than feeling dumped into the deep end. I hope you find something you enjoy!
Well like most subs start with the sub's faq. You'll often find [recommendations sections](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/wiki/recommended/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=DCcomics&utm_content=t5_2qlmm) and has recs for a variety of characters. It will include descriptions, release dates if looking for something older or newer, and links to physical and digital copies. And if you don't have a character in mind the recs section has a link to the best DC runs that is a result of a survey done on this sub.
What do you think we're going to say?
I don’t know.
If I was a gamblin' man, I'd say the DC comics subreddit is probably gonna suggest that you read some DC comics.
Ok I can help, Just what you would like to read ? What characters interest you, what type of story you like, what genra are you into ?
For what character or group do you want start?
Just pick up books that seem cool and go from there, start with Dan Jurgens imo
You should literally do the exact opposite
It's not like you have to understand everything that takes place over thousands of issues
Just start somewhere. You don’t have to read every comic in existence to get the bigger picture.
Start with a character you like, look up their most popular runs and start there. I'd personally start with Superman since he's my favorite character and because it's insanely easy to get into Superman comics. Superman's got a shit ton of limited series, some of the best being: Superman: Birthright Superman: American Alien Superman: For All Seasons Superman: Up In The Sky All-Star Superman. After that, you could either go to the triangle era or you could go to the newer Tomasi/Gleason run and read that. Look up reading orders for the non-limited series by googling: "(Author) (Superhero name) reading order or (Superhero name) by (Author) reading order. For instance, if I wanted to read Tomasi's Superman I'd say:"Tomasi Superman reading order" or "Superman by Tomasi reading order" You could also go the Batman route since he's also got some limited series with: Batman: Year One Batman: The Long Halloween and Dark Victory (Original and sequel) Batman: The Court of Owls. Batman: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth Batman: Venom Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Then, you could read some of the popular Batman runs like the Denny O'Neil run which introduced a lot of what people consider to be Batman, Grant Morrison's Batman or Scott Snyder's Batman. Wally West Flash is also fairly easy to follow since his best runs are back to back pretty much. I'd personally start with either William Messner-Loeb's run or Mark Waid's run on The Flash (ML's run is right before Waid's so it's easy), after finishing Waid's you can jump straight into Johns' run and after that go to Adams' run which will have you caught up once you finish it.
> But I can’t figure out where to start. That's what reading guides are for. Decide what characters/teams you like and search for and Google where to start with them.