DC Comics has been publishing Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman comics starting all the way back in the late 1930s (Whereas Marvel Comics has a relevant continuity dating back to a paltry 1961). If you want some context around Superman and Batman’s longevity, their creation predates World War II, the Cleveland Indians’ World Series drought (Go Cubs!), and TELEVISION.
As a result, DC Comics has a heckuva long publication history that can be a challenge for new readers to navigate.
There is no one correct way to get started with DC Comics, and unfortunately unlike TV series, there is no definitive “episode 1.” Comic books are spread across multiple series titles (ex: Action Comics, Detective Comics, World’s Finest, etc), and offer traditionally non-linear narrative paths as a result.
Nonetheless, below you’ll find some approaches for getting started with DC Comics, particularly for new readers starting in 2023!
1) Starting With The Newest DC Comics
Having discussed all that massive history behind DC, the reality of superhero universes is you don’t always have to crawl all the way back to the very beginning to catch up with the present. Sure, you can try to start with Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1, but that noble aim is going to very quickly turn into a miserable challenge feeling far too similar to homework.
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Fortunately, comic book publishers are perpetually attempting to make their universe accessible to new readers, and 2021’s Infinite Frontier and 2023’s Dawn of the DC Universe are the latest examples in the DC catalog.
To make a long story short: From 2011 to mid-2016, DC ran a controversial, and often reviled rebooted universe called the New 52. In my book, the New 52 has plenty of highly enjoyable comics, and is actually the most new-reader friendly major comics initiative of my life (we’ll get to that in a second… the initiative, not my life), but nonetheless, it was a public relations train wreck by 2016.
Enter DC Rebirth. DC finally ended the New 52, and brought back the history and legacy of their full continuity into all-new #1 issues across all their titles like Batman, Wonder Woman and Justice League.
DC Rebirth is designed as a logical starting place for new DC readers, and although it’s more indebted to the New 52 than DC would like to admit, it’s new reader friendly enough for most.
To get started with DC Rebirth you have a couple options.
First, you could check out my full DC Rebirth universe reading order. This will tell you about every single comic in Rebirth, and where you should read each story. So, if you’re not sure if you’re more interested in Suicide Squad or Cyborg, or simply want to read them all, I highly recommend the Comic Book Herald guide.
In its latter years, though, DC Rebirth ran into the same problems as the New 52 (it’s almost like history can teach us lessons? Nahhhhh). And the rise of Infinite Frontier in 2021 has already given way to the Dawn of the DCU, which promises a new era, off to an interesting start into 2023. For new readers, the Dark Crisis event leads in to Dawn of the DCU, and is the clearest on-ramp if you just want to catch up to the publisher’s current state of affairs.
The alternative is to simply pick a character or two that grabs your interest and start reading. Some of the most popular on Comic Book Herald are:
2) DC’s The New 52
Longtime DC fans are sharpening their pitchforks and grinding their teeth (would it be more efficient to just sharpen the pitchfork on your teeth?), but honestly the New 52 couldn’t be more accessible to new readers. In fact, it was DC’s New 52 publicity stunt that got me to start collecting ongoing comics in the first place.
Admittedly, for every really good DC Comic (see Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman) there are about three stinkers to take its place.
This leads us to your options. If you’re an absolute completest nut (join the club!), you can read the entire New 52 Universe in order using Comic Book Herald’s New 52 reading order.
Alternatively, I’d recommend you focus on a handful of books and focus on those series. My personal favorites are:
Batman
Wonder Woman
Swamp Thing
Justice League
Grayson
3) The Modern DC Fast Track: Essential Storylines From Late 90’s Through 2011
If you want to go back beyond the New 52 and start with DC Comics from earlier in the 2000’s, there’s a solid, clear essential fast track guide on Comic Book Herald that will take you through all the must-reads.
The fast track will take you through instant classic storylines like Identity Crisis, Batman: Under the Red Hood, and Flashpoint that are still frequently referenced in fandom and DC Comics today.
Comic Book Herald’s 25 trade fast track to the DC Universe!
4) The Best DC Comics of All Time!
For many new DC fans the best possible starting place is simply with DC’s greatest hits. Obviously over the course of 80 years publishing superhero comics, DC has published some of the best superhero comics of all time, and in some cases they can claim some of the absolute best comics of all time.
If you want to see a full list of my favorite comics of all time, and where these DC books compare, you can view the best comics of all time guide.
I also recommend checking out the fast track guide to the 40 Best DC Comics From 1942 to 2000!
Otherwise, I’ve listed out my 10 favorites here. Watchmen is debatably a part of the DC Universe proper at this point, but either way, if you haven’t read Watchmen and you’re looking for great comics, go read Watchmen!
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Starman
All Star Superman
Gotham Central
Batman: Year One
Batman The Long Halloween
Saga of the Swamp Thing
Batman (The New 52)
The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga
Hitman
JLA: A League of One
Where To Find DC Comics?
If you’re interested in learning how to find comics in general, I recommend Comic Book Herald’s guide on how to get into comics.
For DC specifically, you have a few good options:
For print, ongoing comics, check out your local comic book shop. Likewise, Amazon
For digital, DC has a growing array of options, including DC Universe streaming which includes both TV and comics. Now that DC Universe does include an enormous amount of DC’s publication history, I’d argue it’s your best bet for digital DC
Hoopla is also a particularly great option for new fans, as all you need is a library card to enjoy free DC Comics. You can read more about Hoopla Digital for comics here.
And there you have it: Your guide to getting started with DC Comics. If you have questions or comments, do what feels right to you in the comments below!
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Is there any interest for the Mystery in Space comics? All from the first series.
Please help inform this newbie.
Youve said that rebirth is beginner friendly but i started reading it. I started with Dc universe rebirth and i finished it and stared titans the return of wally west but didnt understand anything what should i do?
Should i go back to the new 52?
I think the thing that throws people off when starting to read comics is base context and understanding. You really have to roll with the punches, assuming you will be missing key details and just making sure you understand the gist. If you catch up, and THEN want to go back, by all means do it. I certainly now having read everything in Infinite Frontier find myself reading older stuff to get more context.
Getting into comics is a bit like jumping on a roller coaster mid-ride. There are moments where the roller coaster is slower and easier to jump into than others, but the train never stops moving. Continuity is a continuous journey since the 1940s, any starting point will hint at continuity from before. The goal though is to give you the best spots to start with, so that you can enjoy your experience without feeling *too* lost. Infinite Frontier is certainly a pretty good starting point.
Don't do that. New 52 is a lot. You would be very confused considering Rebirth did a soft reboot.
I wouldn't just because these changes are from post crisis, did you read the dc universe rebirth one shot?
Thanks for your efforts here, but for me, it's all a bit too late. I read DC Comics (and many others, of course) throughout at least 2013 or so, while I managed a comic book store and even for months after as they virtually let me use their weekly new comics as a personal lending library for months after that. All that being said, I found a lot of the material absolutely unappealing. Maybe it's the curse for someone who has been reading the comics regularly since 1960s that the continuity glitches, the revamps, the reboots, the added crises etc. just got me to the point that...nope. I just don't care anymore. I really don't. Tom King's work is more misses than hits, even Bryan Michael Bendis (is that his correct name?) who seems to enjoy writing clever dialogue...just does too much, and it slows down the storytelling (??) considerably. So...that's it. Done. I'm fortunate to still have occasional access to a lot of this more current material through friends' subscriptions and iPads but more and more...I just don't !@#$ing care. I prefer other publishers and works, or just reading some of the really older stuff, even up through maybe 2013 or so. Depending.
I'd give Infinite Frontier go then. Early Rebirth was great, but 2019-2020 were rough years to be a DC Fan. FORTUNATELY, the current era 2021- has been stellar, and fresh with Bendis not being super important to the line and King putting out niche, but incredible work on books like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.
Would be possible for me to jump straight into dark knights metal or is there certain books that I need to read before that ?
Thank you SO much, this is exactly what I needed!
Do you think I should start with the old DC fast track or the 2000-2011 one?
In what order should I read Rebirth Action and Superman?
If I remember correctly it's the DC Universe Rebirth issue, then the Rebirth: Superman issue, then Action Comics (he still has the beard at the start, and doesn't in Superman), then Superman. From there you can pretty much alternate stories in each book up until the Superman Reborn crossover.
I just want to read Flash, Green Arrow, Black Ligtning and Zatanna. Where do I start? I have always been a Flash fan I just barely remeber the comics or were to start.
Any New52 fast track guide comming soon ?