Potentially repressed comic book reader looking for advice

[mlsterben]

I will do that. Oh! I forgot to mention Batman: Year One. I read that one too.

[IsaacMahomie]

Batman: Death in the Family is a classic because they're bold enough to kill off Robin, but it's honestly the most poorly written Batman story I've ever seen. If you know what happens, I'd actually advice against reading it. (The whole Joker/Terrorist thing left a bad taste in my mouth). I liked A Lonely Place of Dying much more. Still classic nostalgia dealing with Robin's death but better written.

I recommend Batman:
Going Sane
Prey
Terror (sequel to Prey)
Hush Returns (not as good as Hush, but a good installment)
War Drums, War Games 1-3, War Crimes (excellent series that's very underrated in my opinion. And a great lead-in to Red Hood.)

Superman: Birthright
Alan Moore's DC TPB. (collected The Killing Joke, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, etc.)


Old Man Logan (just read this. you guys were right, it was awesome.)

[IsaacMahomie]

Oh, and awhile back someone mentioned wanting to read stories focusing on the villains. I picked up JLA: Salvation Run from my library and loved it. It's about a government agency that rounds up all the super-villains (Lex Luthor, Joker, Vandal Savage, etc. etc.) and exiles them on an alien planet. It shows the villains trying to work together and fend off the vast amounts of indigenous predators and fighting amongst themselves. Some nice character work too. "the critics" seemed disappointed in it, but I really enjoyed it. A word of warning, if you aren't familiar with Justice League, then you'll probably be confused about some of the characters here.

[Silv3r]

Personally I found Hush Returns to be a massive waste of my time and money. Its is the least favourite of all the batman trades I own. That said, I have been pretty picky with what batman trades I have though.

[IsaacMahomie]

Hmm. Your opinion isn't unique, there's a lot of people who were very disappointed in it. Perhaps I set my expectations so low I enjoyed what I saw.

Hush is one of my favorite storylines, so I'm biased toward anything with him in it. Just a terrific villain. Sadly, Hush's character progression after the switch to Gotham Knights is shaky (This is where the TPB Hush Returns picks up), a couple good storylines but overall a waste of potential. Jeph Loeb was originally supposed to write this storyarc, and I wish we could've seen what he did with it.
I liked how Hush's return shakes up everything in Gotham. It also connects the dots between Hush and War Games, so reading Hush Returns in canonical order is valuable.

It depends on what you like. If you want the best of the best, then skip it. If you'd like to read more of his story, try the local library or snagging it on ebay for $5.

[mlsterben]

With Batman, I'm more of a Riddler fan. Hush was ultimately satisfying in that regard, but I want to see Riddler making some ridiculous puzzles for Batman to solve.

[mlsterben]

Just read Under the Hood. It was... kinda okay. Nothing was resolved. It felt like a book where everything gets fixed was missing.

[IsaacMahomie]

well, sorry to break it to you dude, but that's the nature of comic books. Characters grow and adapt, but they conclude without resolving everything. Too much resolution can be a bad thing for superheroes (Spider-Man 3, anyone?) There's some place in our imagination that keeps the idea that the superheroes are still running around someplace, doing good and catching the bad guys.

As for Red Hood, yeah the explanation for his resurrection was dumb and some other things were off (the movie was much better about that), but the emotional impact on Batman was fantastic.

[mlsterben]

I figured that was the case. The other books I've read might have been more bookish, like one-shot deals (like Arkham Asylum) and not stuck in a running continuity. It just seemed like the other ones I've read, even if they weren't, still offered some resolution. Like Maximum Carnage: it ends with Carnage presumably killed. This just ended with "so Red Hood may be Jason Todd. Welp, time to get back to whatever it is I do."

Not saying everything leading up to it was bad, I'm just not used to reading running stories like that.

[IsaacMahomie]

hmm. yeah. I get where you're coming from. Because I read in order Batman: Murderer/Fugitive, Hush, and War Games storylines which prelude Red Hood, it felt like an emotional jaunt for Bats. You've gotta remember that reading ongoing comic books is more like a tv show than it is a movie.

[mlsterben]

hmm. yeah. I get where you're coming from. Because I read in order Batman: Murderer/Fugitive, Hush, and War Games storylines which prelude Red Hood, it felt like an emotional jaunt for Bats. You've gotta remember that reading ongoing comic books is more like a tv show than it is a movie.

Funny you should mention that. I just watched Batman: Under the Red Hood and, in terms of the overall story, I liked the movie a lot better. There was an actual ending, rather than Batman saying "Welp, Red Hood is definitely XXXXX XXXX."

[IsaacMahomie]

If you enjoy a good change of pace, I've been reading DC: New Frontier and love it. Its a second look at the Silver Age heroes, this time including the McCarthy era and war in Korea. Superman and Wonder Woman sign on as Government lackeys, Batman is a fugitive, etc.
They made it into a DC Animated Movie, but the book is much better. Lots of characters, great art, good subplots.