Amph Getting started with DC comics.

Kara Zor-El = Supergirl.

 

Kara Zor-El is the cousin to Kal-El, aka Superman.

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You'll find her origin in "The Supergirl From Krypton" by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner.

 

I finished Face the Face, i was very happy with it. It was a little cobfusing at times, i don't know much about the penguin or two face, but i still liked it. The art was good, it would've been nice to see it on nicer paper.

I see JMS is going to be writing the brave and the bold. What is that series about? It looks like some sort of rotating team up book.

 

Ah, the Penguin and Two-Face. You're in luck.

The Penguin.

Two-Face.


DC's Heroes & Villains. These are taken from the back-up features from "52" and "Countdown To Final Crisis".

 

That's pretty cool that dc was made little mini comics for all of the characters. Thanks for pointing that out.

I just read detective and death in the city. At first i wasn't thrilled with the one and done format, but this series is awesome. I like the fast pase and ecconomy of the stories. I also like how the idividual stories build on each other without being dependant on each other.

 

They don't have an entry for Superman, because DC has modified his origin back in 2004 with "Birthright". In 2006, following "Infinite Crisis", Superman writers Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek have gone back and made changes. Combining bits and pieces of history and showcasing them within the pages of the Superman books and other DCU books. Action Comics Annual #10, Action Comics #848-850, #852-854, #856-859, #862-863, Superman #659, #665, #669, #671, Superman Annual #13, Justice League Of America #0, #8-10, Justice Society Of America #5-6, "Tales Of The Sinestro Corps Presents: Cyborg-Superman" #1 and "Tales Of The Sinestro Corps Presents: Superman-Prime" #1. Mainly presented as flashbacks within the narrative. Next year, Johns and new writer James Robinson will delve even further.

 

I noticed that they didn't have an entry for superman.

I know JMS is going to be writing for dc, and i know he is a huge superman fan, he also has stated that he would love to write supes. I wonder how he'll fit into the superman reshuffle you described. Maybe he'll get dibs on all star once morrison finishes his run on it.

All of the stuff about the crisises and x character prime and so on sounds facinating, but it also is a bit intimidating. For now i think i'm going to stick with batman and green lantern. Hopefully i'll get a teaching job in the fall so i'll have some more money to throw around, that way i'll be able to buy into the whole crisis arc, and then maybe start picking up some dc books on a monthly basis.

I hear trinity is going to be fairly self contained, have you heard that?

 

JMS will be writing "The Brave & The Bold" which will allow him to touch upon every DCU character, without being bogged down by continuity. Meaning it'll be very open to anyone who hasn't read every DCU book and know all that's gone on. The book will still feature Batman as a main character, but it'll continue the current slate of having other DCU characters take over certain parts of the story. With Batman often being the thing that ties them together.

"Trinity" is very self contained. The series won't crossover like "Countdown To Final Crisis" did. It'll be more like "52" in format, except the story won't be confined to the days of the week like it was for "52". It'll be more open ended like "Countdown To Final Crisis". It'll be a good way to get to know the Trinity while learning about other DCU characters in the back-up tales. Once you've gotten used to the DCU characters and know the basics, I think it'll be easier to look at certain books. Like Teen Titans or Blue Beetle.

 

I may buy trinity in issues, Busiek is a good writer.

 

I read green lantern rebirth and green lantern corps recharge. I really liked both books. They remind me of star wars which i obviously like. The art in rebirth was very strong as well. I'm looking foreward to reading the rest of the series. NO fear should be out in paperback today, so i'll pick that up soon. I've got the second book of the sinestro corp preordered. Now i judt want my copy of the resurection of ras al ghoul to get here.

 

Ivan Reis did a stint on Action Comics during "The Wrath Of Gog" and "In The Name Of Gog" arcs. Darwyn Cooke, who did the origin recap for "No Fear", has also done the popular "New Frontier" series, as well as wrote the script. A good read and doesn't impact on continuity.

For additional GL stories worth reading, you should consider reading "Emerald Twilight"/"New Dawn" which featured the debut of Parallax and Kyle Rayner. "Zero Hour: Crisis In Time", which is when everyone else finds out what happened. "The Final Knight" featuring Hal's sacrifice. "Emerald Knights" featuring a young Hal Jordan meeting Kyle Rayner and learning of his future. "Green Lantern: The Power Of Ion" which is the debut of Ion.

 

Thanks for the info about reis and green lantern.

I finally got my copy of resurrection of ras. I was happy with it, but it wasn't what i expected. It was a good story by 4 good writers. It was nice to read something by fabian nicezia other than cable and deadpool which kicks ass. I knew that this was a bat family crossover, but i was surprised by how little batman was actually featured. While i would've liked more batman, robin, night wing, and alfred were able to carry their part of the story.

I've read some other stuff recently: Superman/batman vol 2, Batman detective, and batman death in the city. In supes/bat, loeb again does a good job of contrasting the two main characters. Wonder woman was featured in this arc as well. I liked the interaction between the three of them. Michael turner's art was awesome. My only complaint was that super girl looked a bit too manga-ish for my liking. The two bat books primarily by dini were awesome. Dini was able to efficiently tell a story in one issue that stood on it's own, but was also a peice of a larger story. The issues reminded me of a tv show which is no suprise given dini's background in tv. Don kramer's art was good. My only complaints are that the non dini story were placed in the same trades as the dini ones. The fill in issues were good, but i feel that their presents were disruptive to the flow of the story. I think that it would've been better to publish three trades, two with only dini issues and one with the fillins. I know it would've messed up the trade schedule a little, but in reality, if dc handled their trade releases more efficiently the books would've probably reached the shelves around the same time.

 

That's kinda what happens when you have a crossover into solo books like Nightwing and Robin. Many past Bat crossovers featured all the characters based in Gotham and have had solo titles. Robin, Nightwing, Azreal, Catwoman, Batgirl, Harley Quinn and Birds Of Prey were all known for being tying in as part of the storylines that were going on. The focus would always be on the main character(s) of that book, with Batman serving as the guest star.

As for other Fabian Nicezia, you can catch him as the back-up writer for "Trinity". He also wrote two of the tales found in the Superman trade known as "Redemption", which is also written by Kurt Busiek. He, along with Busiek and Geoff Johns contributed to Action Comics #850 which is being collected in "The Third Kryptonian" trade due out in August. Nicezia, I believe, also wrote a back-up tale which will be featured in the trade. It was first seen in Superman Annual #13.

Yeah, that's kinda the problem with Turner. I perfer Renato Guedes, Barry Kitson, George Perez and Ed Benes versions of Kara. The third trade has art by Carlos Paceho, who does a better job. And the fourth is by Ed McGuiness.

 

well i've read a lot of dc stuff in the past two months. I've read john's run on green lantern up to the second volume of sinestro corp war. I'm caught up on detective, i read the first JSA trade, and i read the third JLA trade. I'm sure i've read some other stuff tpp, but these are what sticks out in my head. I'm really pleased with johns work on green lantern. It's an awesome series.

I'm a bit confused about the legion of super heroes, and all of the 31st century stuff. The first thing that i read that they were mentioned in was lightning saga. Then i read JSA 1 and saw the set up with starman and it made a little more sense. I see that there is an arc going on with them in action comics, and i'm half way done with superman batman vol 3 and i see people from the 31st century in their. How does it all fit togehter?

 

Here's what the deal is.

-In Adventure Comics #247, from 1958, we were first introduced to the Legion in a Superboy adventure. Clark was inducted into the Legion because of who he is and what he will become as Superman and years after his death. He's an inspiration for the Legion, being teenage heroes, but also because his work as Superman lead to their future.

-In "Crisis On Infinite Earths", the Anti-Montior nearly destroyed all of the positive matter universe, which was the original DC Multiverse. During a critical battle at the dawn of time, history was altered and the ripple effect would result in only one universe being created, rather than multiples. Also, a lot of people would have their lives changed up until the time of the present day battles in Crisis.

-In the "Man Of Steel" mini-series, Superman's origin was changed in many ways. One such change was that his powers developed slowly as he grew up, which resulted in his never being Superboy. He wouldn't have all of his powers until he was 18 and he would not start using them to save lives until after he finished high school.

-In "The Greatest Hero Who Ever Lived", Superman meets the Legion but he has no memory of their previous adventures. We the readers discovered that history has indeed changed for them. We learn that one of their enemies, the Time Trapper had discovered the changes in history and decided to exploit it. He created a pocket Earth, which is a universe kept separate from the rest of the cosmos. Here, he altered history to his own suiting by eliminating the events that would create all of that world's heroes and villains and removing all other alien life except for Kryptonians. He created a Krypton that would give birth to Superboy. Whenever the Legion went back to the past, they interacted with this Superboy. At the end of the story, Superboy is killed trying to stop the Time Trapper.

-In later Legion stories, their history would be altered again and again by both the Trapper and by Glorith. In "Zero Hour", time is being destroyed at both ends by Parallax and Extant. For the Legion, the younger and older versions meet up and at the end, they are merged together creating a new timeline. One in which the Legion are teens again, but are inspired by the heroes of the late 20th century. Superboy/Kon-El/Conner Kent, a clone of Superman, would meet with this Legion and have a couple of adventures with them. Several members of that Legion came to the past and took part in "The Final Night".

-In 2004, a Teen Titans/Legion crossover ended with Legion history changing again. A new history was started with a different Legion. Ones who have no traveled into the past and are not really inspired by the heroes of the early 21st century. They're rebels fighting against a system that's rather strict.

-In 2005-06, "Infinite Crisis" happened and in issues five and six, the Multiverse is resurrected by Alexander Luthor. But a fight between Superboy and Superboy-Prime, ended with Superboy's death and the Multiverse collapsing into one Earth. We learn in "52" that the energy used to revive the Multiverse was so strong that it created a second Multiverse. One composed of 52 different realities. Also, the histories of certain characters were altered, most notably Superman's.

-After "Infinite Crisis" and "52", Supergirl winds up in the future and has several adventures with the 2004 Legion. In Action Comics #850, while observing the past through a device created by Brainiac 5, he and several other Legion members witness Clark Kent talking to Martha about the Legion. And that he hadn't seen his friends in a while, since he finished high school.

-In "The Lightning Saga" and later in "Superman & The Legion of Super-Heroes", we learn that there are three versions of the Legion. The first version is based on the Legion from 1958 through 1987. Clark states that he last saw them shortly after the first Crisis. He was Superboy in his teens, but only operated openly when he was with the Legion in the future. In his present day, he operated secretl

 

Thanks for the explanation. You've been a big help with my exploration of the dc verse.

 

I read kingdom come last night. Damn was it awesome.

 

Now, you can read "Justice Society Of America: Thy Kingdom Come" vol. 1 and 2 which follows up on it. Though you should check out "Justice Society Of America: The Next Age" first to get a good grasp on the characters as it leads into "Thy Kingdom Come".

 

Yeah i've been eying up the justice society kingdom come stuff. It is on my list.

I've read so much DC in the past few months i'm not sure where to begin. I've read all of the geoff johns post infinite crisis superman stuff and loved it. I've read most of the kurt buseick superman stuff from that period too. It's very good. I really like camalot falls. I read infinite crisis and was happy with it. I've been happy with final crisis. I read under the hood a few days ago and was blown away by it. I've read gothic which was awesome. I also read all of the loeb batman stuff. It was good.

What do you guys think of the following trades/story lines? I have a finite amount of money and am trying to figure out what to buy next. Batman: Death and the maidens, city of crime, a death in the family, turning points, Year One - Ra's Al Ghul. Superman: Unconventional Warfare, That Healing Touch, Ruin Revealed.

 

Death and the Maidens was severely dark and depressing. City of Crime leaves you with the impression that Gotham is so messed up that they very ground the city is built on is trying to kill people.

The whole ruin arc in superman was worth it for the Myxlplyx issue.

 

Sorry I've been away for a while. I cannot comment on the Batman trades, but I can on the Superman ones. Rucka's run was pretty well recieved and felt like old school Superman from the early 90's. So I'd go with them.

 

Hey guys thanks for the advice. I just picked up the first 2 trades in the rucka superman arc for 5 dollars each at the encounter in Stroudsburg pa. I haven't read them yet, but i hope read them tonight or tomorrow.

I also picked up the back in action trade for 5.

As for the batman books i decided against city of crime, and ended up ordering death and the maidens and snow from barnes and noble.

I bought batman ra's al ghoul year one last week. I was happy with it. The art is good and greyson does a good job with ra's. The whole book is narrated by ra's in the form of a letter. She portrays him as intelligent, sincere, well meaning, insane, and extremely dangerous.

 

I read unconventional warfare, and that healing touch last night. They were both awesome!. I order ruin revealed, and i hope it comes in soon. The stuff with the guy from the 5th dimention was really funny, they should do a 1 shot where he teams up with bat-mite.

 

Funny story. True story. They have.

-"World's Funnest" prestige format comic.
-"Superman/Batman: With A Vengeance" TPB.
-"Superman & Batman: Generations" volume one.


Though, Bat-Mite's origin seems to have been covered in "Batman: R.I.P.", while details about Mxy are revealed in "JLA: Crisis Times Five".

 

ok wow.