where to start in the DC comic universe??

If you want to sample Batman, try the "decade" books (Batman in the 60s, Batman in the 70s, etc). They have great stories from across the decade. The Batmna Chronicles features the early stuff, but don't expect complex stories. The early ones are kind of guesome, but very simplistic in their storytelling. There are some great Batman gimmick stories from the late 40s and 50s. Batman: Tales of the Demon covers some of the best stuff from Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. There are also the DC Showcase black & white reprints, which are very affordable.

For DC proper, try some of the "Greatest (fill in the blank) Stories Ever Told." They have nice encapsulations of excellent stories for particular eras or characters.

There are methods for obtaining large chunks of DC and Marvel material, viewable on a computer, but they are copyright violations, so be aware.

Really, if there is something particular that grabs you, start there and expand. The original Brave and the Bold comics are generally available for reasonable prices and have some great stories, and allow you to explore great characters without tight continuity.

"Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!"

Since this is on a Batman forum i'm going to recommend some Batman collections to start with. I'll give you the title of the book and a link to it's Amazon page.

First off i hiiiiighly recommend you start with 'Batman: Year One'. It's probably my favourite Batman story of all time and it neatly shows Batman's origin. http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Year-One-Frank-Miller/dp/1401207529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375083824&sr=8-1&keywords=batman+year+one

Recently (September 2011) DC Comics rebooted their whole universe ending every series and then relaunching them all with new number 1s. So you're coming in at quite a good time. Luckily for Batman fans one of the best titles to come out of this reboot was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's 'Batman'. It is a marvelous tale which is (as of writing) on issue 22. The first 2 collections are out now and from then onwards you could perhaps pick up the series digitally through the app? Vol 1: http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Vol-Court-Owls-New/dp/1401235425/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375083915&sr=1-1&keywords=batman+court+of+owls Vol 2: http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Vol-The-City-Owls/dp/1401237770/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Other famous, fantastic collections include:

Batman: The Long Halloween: a massive 13-issue arc mystery thriller set near the start of Batman's career http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Long-Halloween-Jeph-Loeb/dp/1401232590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375084133&sr=8-1&keywords=long+halloween

Batman: Hush: another massive story written by the same guy which is also a mystery including many characters http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Hush-Jeph-Loeb/dp/1401223176/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375084199&sr=1-1&keywords=batman+hush

Batman: The Killing Joke: a very, very, very great story written by the legendary Alan Moore highlighting a fantastic battle with Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Killing-Joke-Deluxe-Edition/dp/1401216676/ref=pd_sim_b_4

I hope this is good enough to get you started. Any questions feel free to ask!

Honestly, I have no idea. I'm still getting used to this universe myself.

I can only say that "The Killing Joke" was the first Batman comic I read. After that, it was "The Dark Knight Returns," "Batman: Year One" and "The Long Halloween."

Just fair warnings--these are all much darker than "The Brave and the Bold." So just be prepared. But I just felt like being honest here, this is how I got introduced into the DC universe*.

*: This is the funny thing--I believe most of these words are officially non-canon, in the sense that they aren't considered to be binding for the prime Batman storyline, because they inhabit alternate universes. The exception to this is "The Killing Joke," which for reasons baffling to me *is* considered total canon, even tho I think it's silly--clearly Alan Moore didn't consider it that way, and IMHO what happens at the end of the graphic novel isn't canon at all. But there you are.


"The future cheats us from afar" -- Lord Byron

If you want to really dive in - Crisis on Infinite Earths. The collected edition is cheap, widely available, and will give you a real crash course in DC history (up to 1985) that also happens to be a pretty good yarn of a tale. It also happens to be the most important event in DC history, even if most of it has been retconned by now.

You get to see a wide swath of characters in the story, and if you've watched B:B&B you will recognize a lot of them as they have tended to gravitate towards older golden/silver age characters from the 40s-70s for the show. There are annotated notes online, and they will help you when things get a little... dense.

Further Crisis stories are good as well. Particularly Infinite Crisis (read COIE first though!) The Absolute version if you have about a hundred bucks to spare and a lot of time to read (and a strong lap... the book is thick as hell) is one of the best DC purchases you can make, but the truly world shattering COIE is the best place to start.

Collections are a good start,but if your new,you might as well kick off the New 52 series. DC started 52 different classic characters from scratch,with modern storylines.

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