So as someone who's just gotten into DC recently (I really like the whole batfamily dynamic the most) where do you think is best to start with the comics and where could I get them online you think? I'm in the UK so I cant access that DC website that has the whole comic library sadly it sucks.
I…Um. Oh. Haha. Tough question, first of all, I have no idea how you can access them online. I get them every month (and in France we unfortunately don’t have a third of what is actually published so I also get a lot of things via specific comics book stores). I buy the physical copies, I’m not a fan of digital things. But I’m sure there’s a lot of websites and you can probably find them with a quick google search ! I’m sorry I can’t help you on that front. I’m sure though some people reading that post can help for that !
As to..Starting with the Batfam…it’s kinda up to you to decide which origin story you prefer…I always have a little trouble to give advice on where to start, because there’s many different beginnings haha. But here’s me trying :
In the DC timeline there has been 3-4 eras with 2 major reboots and rebirth (aka : my worst nightmare) :
1938 to 1986 : the golden age followed by the silver age (”pre-crisis”)1986-2011 : the modern age (”post-crisis” or sometimes “pre-flashpoint”)2011-2016: the new 52 (”post-flashpoint”)2016 (june)-ongoing: Rebirth, which it is an event that revives the modern age heroes (while keeping the few good things about new52…haha makes me actually miss New 52 at times. I remember how I was like “oh this isn’t very good” and then got my hopes up with the beginning of Rebirth only for it to become WORST than New 52 haha…)
So you probably guessed the three major reboots. :
1986 : Crisis on infinite earths (my favorite)2011 : Flashpoint (I like it)2016 : Rebirth (also known as “the-one-we-do-not-talk-about”. I hate a lot of things about it, if not everything. BUT the beginning was good, it just went downhill at some point for some reasons…
Each era can be read seperatly. And it’s kinda up to you to decide what you prefer and what you want to forget and pretend it’s not part of canon (Ric who ?).
Here’s a few rec I’d have if you wanna get familiar with Batman’s world :
Batman: Year One - Batman origin story
The man who laughs - Joker origin
The long Halloween - Two-face’s origin
Dark Victory - Long Halloween sequel
Robin: Year One - Dick’s origin (First Robin)
Batgirl: Year One - Batgirl’s origin
Nightwing: Year One - Nightwing’s origin
The killing joke - Oracle’s origin
A Death in the Familly - Jason’s origin (Second Robin)
A lonely place of dying - Tim’s origin (Third Robin)
Batman: Sword of Azrael - Azreal’s origins + Batman/Oracle
Vengeance of Bane - Bane’s origin
Knigthfall (Knigthfall/Knightquest/KightsEnd) - Big Batman/Azrael/Bane arc
Prodigual - Dick Grayson substites for Batman
No man’s land - Big post Apocalyptic arc
Hush - Hush’s origin
Detective Comics #647-649 - Introduction arc of Steph (fourth Robin)
Birth of the Demon (Son of the Demon + Bride of the Demon + Birth of the Demon) - Ra’s Al Ghul and Talia Al Ghul’s origins
Under the hood - Red Hood’s origin
Batman : No man’s land - Cassandra’s first solo series, and also one of my fav. She appears before, but I think it’s good to start there.
Batman & Son - Damian’s origin (fifth Robin).
Batman: R.I.P - Dr Hurt and the Black Glove’s origin
Final Crisis - Death of Batman
Batle for the Cowl - How the Batfamilly deals with the death of Batman
Batman Reborn - Dick Grayson is Batman partroling with Damian
Batwoman: Elegy - Batwoman’s origin
The return of Bruce Wayne
Batman Incorporated (Batman Inc. + Demon stars + Gotham’s most wanted) - Creation of a Batman Franchise
Batman: Court of owl (court of owl + night of owls) - Court of owl’s origin
Batman and Robin (new 52) - Bruce/Damian relationship - Read trades 1-3 before the end of Batman Incorporated
Batwoman new 52 (6 trades)
Batman : Endgame, We are Robin and Robin War - would be a good introduction for Duke.
Batman rebirth special
And yeah. That’s just a good way (in my opinion) to start to get a grasp of what is going on…It’s a bit of a mix of eras (and again, it comes down to YOU choosing your favorite origin stories and stuffs really) but..yeah. If you want specific arcs that centers on the family, then I’ll make a separate list ! But if you’re just getting into the World, I think it’s good to get acquainted with characters first, and their World ^^’.
PS : Anyone, feel free to add things that you think are important to learn about the characters or the World :). This is just a quick list I wrote before work, and of things coming to my mind, so I’m probably missing important stuffs without noticing it !
PPS : important to say when I put “origin”, it implies “one of the origin”, just thé ones I chose because it’s usually the most liked (not particularly by me) and acceptéd (again, not particularly by me haha).
