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Where should I start in The New 52?
I've read quite a few comics on and off occasionally, but now that I have a shiny new kindle and a little extra money, I think I'd like to jump into The New 52, specifically Batman and related characters like Nightwing, Batwoman and Red Robin (I'm also somewhat interested in the Super family). My question is where should I start? I looked it up on Amazon and there are three different Batman comic volumes starting at issue #1, and knowing how convoluted comics can get if you haven't kept yourself up to date on what's going on in their world at the time, I'd rather not jump into a volume where they reference recent events I have no clue about.
Also, is The New 52 really a place where new readers can jump on, or is DC just saying that? Are there going to be a bunch of references to events before The New 52, or are they really giving new readers a chance not to have their minds turned to soup by their usual convoluted storylines?
3 Answers
- 8 years agoFavorite Answer
New readers could have started before the New 52; you just have to know when a story arc begins and ends. The relaunch was to wipe out past continuity so readers can jump in without prior knowledge.
The only ones that still had most of its history are Green Lantern and Batman. As for why, the writers for both, Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns, may had convinced the editors otherwise.
Currently, most series has 19 issues, and one Zero issue.
If you are interesting in Batman and the other Bat books, you can start reading at Issue #18, when most of them just started a new story arc. Here are some suggestions
Batman
Batman and Robin
Nightwing
Batwoman
Detective Comics
Aquaman
Action Comics #19
You will find references but only to stories in the New 52. There are some minor references to the Pre-New 52 stories like the Death of Superman and Animal Man meeting writer Grant Morrison, but nothing major that is required reading.
That has been, and there will always be a problem with continuity in comics, but that's how it is. For example, as a Batman fan, I honestly can't tell you if the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents was ever arrested, or killed. There have been several stories in the last 30 years where he is alive, dead, in jail, or was never identified.
Just a reminder, the quality of the writing is pretty much the same before and after the New 52. A relaunch is not going to suddenly turn a bad writer into a good one.
Also, when you are reading a comic by Grant Morrison, expect comic book references from the 70s and so forth. He is the only DC writer that can get away with continuity breaking.
- RhysLv 78 years ago
The New 52 is pretty bad in my opinion. As the other guy said, there's not much issues for New 52 so you might as well start at the beginning.
Batman is decent enough. Nightwing is more drama than action (right now). Justice League is a bit "meh". The chemistry b/w the characters isn't as great as it used to be.
New 52 is a good place to get into the DC universe. Most of the character origins changed, so you don't have to know that many references and stuff.
I've stopped reading New 52 and just went for the animated movies. But you can give it a try and see if you like it.
- rickn23Lv 78 years ago
I'm not a fan of DC's New 52 (so keep that in mind). But no one else answered your questions, so I'll give it a try.
The New 52 is only 20+ issues, so starting at the beginning (issue #1) makes sense. I don't know what Batman volumes you saw, but the titles should be different. Remember the New 52 started at the end of 2011.
DC intended for the New 52 to be a starting point for new readers and have restarted most of the series (not the Green Lantern or Bat stories), and for the most part changed (rebooted) the nature of their characters. So it is a jumping on point for new readers as a lot of history may have been wiped out and is not needed for reading current stories.
The stories are as convoluted as ever, without the added benefit of knowing what has occurred in the past. Wiping out the past continuity hurt continuing readers.
