Need some help with TPBs

[Prancetron2000]

Hi everyone, I used to collect comics pretty heavily a few years ago but had to stop because I would spend over $70 a month on them. I collected almost all of the Batman family titles and it became such a strong addiction that I had to quit, cold turkey. I quit after I bought a bunch of Hush #1 issues (I have around four or five of them).

Anyhow, I miss my comics, especially the Batman ones, so I want to try to start collecting TPBs (or graphic novels, if you prefer); all of the good Batman family ones since around Hush.

So where should I start? I'm thinking about picking up the two softcovers of Hush, but I'm hesitent because I expect DC to release a nice big softcover collecting both volumes. Think that'll happen? And after that, where do I go from there? I'd really appreciate the help.

[Thundra Man]

Death in the Family and then No Man's Land or The Killing Joke :joker:

[Assassin]

well you prob missed war games, Spoiler died by the way, there now you dont have to waste your money on it like i did.

[Elijya]

well, there's not too much to catch up on. broken city was alright, but there's tons of non-batman tpbs you could check out if you want to broaden your horizons

Broken city was the arc right after hush you may want to check out

[Ben Urich]

Broken City - Best Batman story since DKR and easily Top 5 all time.
I **** you not.
Skip the No Man's Land comics and grab the novelization by Greg Rucka.

[Prancetron2000]

Starting with Hush, people, Hush. I'm pretty sure that NML is pre-Hush. ;)

So War Games is no good, huh?

I'm asking for advice in the regular Batman monthly contuinity, collected TPBs since Hush. I have The Killing Joke and all of those other essentials. :)

So I'll start with Hush, then get Broken City, and skip War Games... or should I? Was it really that bad? Is there anything else aside from Hush and Broken City that I should get? From all of the Bat family books since Hush.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

And don't worry, I love plenty of other comics aside from Batman. :D

[TheCorpulent1]

War Games wasn't terrible, but it was pretty bland. Even the death of Spoiler was kind of boring in its execution.

[Prancetron2000]

Hmm. Still worth it though?

[TheCorpulent1]

Given how long it was, I'd say no. I mean, if you really want to read everything important to Batman in recent history, it would qualify because it has created some major repercussions, but I can't really recommend it solely on the basis of the story it tells. It just wasn't that great.

[Prancetron2000]

Hmm, thanks for the advice. Could you give me the precise order of the Batman TPBs, starting with Hush? I have it figured out like so:

Hush
War Games
Broken City
uh, anything else?

[TheCorpulent1]

Hush
Broken City
War Games

Batman: Death and the Maidens is in TPB form and is supposed to be really good. I haven't read it myself, but I plan to.

[Prancetron2000]

Cool, thanks. Is that an original graphic novel or a trade?

[Anubis]

You should check out Identity Crisis if you haven't. What happened in that is very important to whats going on with Bats now.

[Prancetron2000]

Identity Crisis? Thanks, when does that take place?

[TheCorpulent1]

Cool, thanks. Is that an original graphic novel or a trade?
It's a trade of a mini-series.

[John Constantine]

Don't forget, in-between Broken City and War Games is As the Crow Flies, the first arc written by Winick that basically sets up stuff in War Games and some of the future stuff in Winick's run....

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh yeah, that was an all right story. Not really that great, but not bad. Much like all of Winick's Batman work.

[John Constantine]

It was an okay story. The art by Dustin Nguyen bugged me though.....:confused: :(

[TheCorpulent1]

His Robin looked like he was about 10 years old. :(

[John Constantine]

At least the current artist on Batman is a bit better :up:


I'm totally dreading the sequel to Whore Games this August though....:(

[TheCorpulent1]

Mahnke's one of the best artists DC's got. :up:

[Prancetron2000]

Ok so here's how I currently understand it, and please help me fill it out if you can. :)

Hush
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
War Games
Infinity Crisis

Batman: Death and the Maidens---> where does that go?

[John Constantine]

TheBatSquad puts Death and the Maidens right after Hush and Superman/Batman:Public Enemies but before Broken City...

:confused:

[Elijya]

oh, Gotham central and Arkham Asylum: Living Hell are only batman related, but damn good

[Prancetron2000]

What?

[Elijya]

They're two other good tpbs you should look at

[Prancetron2000]

Sorry, my "what?" was directed at John Constantine. :)

Is DC going to release vol.3 of Gotham Central anytime soon?

[Anubis]

Identity Crisis? Thanks, when does that take place?


I think it takes place just after War Games. About one week later.

[TheCorpulent1]

Sorry, my "what?" was directed at John Constantine. :)

Is DC going to release vol.3 of Gotham Central anytime soon?
I think they just released vol. 2. It's unfortunate because Gotham Central is by far the best Batman-related title around. I'd recommend it before all else, unless you really, really want pure Batman superheroics.

[Anubis]

Well, I would like to warn you, Batman is in Idenity Crisis, but its' not really about him. But something big is reavealed that happened with Batman and the League. The trade isn't out yet, but it should be coming pretty soon. Before the new Crisis.

[Prancetron2000]

I think they just released vol. 2. It's unfortunate because Gotham Central is by far the best Batman-related title around. I'd recommend it before all else, unless you really, really want pure Batman superheroics.

Yeah I have the first few issues and love it, but that's when I had to stop collecting monthly comics.

[Prancetron2000]

This look right?

Hush
Death and the Maidens
Superman/Batman:Public Enemies
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
War Games
Infinity Crisis

[Anubis]

Yeah, looks okay to me. And it's Identity Crisis. Wouldn't want you accidently looking for the wrong thing.

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Infinite Crisis doesn't come out for like 3 months.

[Prancetron2000]

Ah, ok. That TPB isn't out until September though, it seems. But that's okay, I have a lot to catch up on. :)

Thanks for the help, everyone.

[Anubis]

Anytime man.

[Elijya]

This look right?

Hush
Death and the Maidens
Superman/Batman:Public Enemies
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
War Games
Infinity Crisis

hey, I recommended Gotham Central and Arkham Asylum: Living Hell :(

[Prancetron2000]

Oh I'll definitely get those, but that list was for the TPBs in contuinity starting with Hush. :D

Gotham Central fits in there somewhere, I know.

[Bat-Mantis]

Hush
Gotham Central (the arc with the Sniper, it takes place alongside Broken City… you can see a discarded newspaper with the Gotham Sniper headline in Broken City. Not sure if the trade’s out yet)
Broken City
Death and the Maidens
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
As The Crow Flies
War Games (and I agree with the rest, as a whole it’s not worth the money. It’s too long… interesting, sure, but worth the money you’d spend on it? No chance)
Identity Crisis (which has had infinite reprints, so finding the individual issues may not be hard at all)


Identity Crisis is a mystery that involves the entire DCU and Batman plays a fairly large role. He doesn’t have a lot of page-time, but the character is very important, especially near the end (and not for obvious reasons). The events of Identity Crisis affect Batman in a big way… it has repercussions that carry on to the OMAC Project mini that’s going on now, which leads to the Infinite Crisis (which is DC’s huge mega-event that will cross over to every single book and will have a large impact on those books) at the end of the year.

[TheCorpulent1]

"Soft Targets" was the Gotham Central arc. It was the Joker sniping people.

[Anubis]

I think that was the best arc I've read in Gotham Central.

[TheCorpulent1]

It's my favorite, too. :up:

[The Riddler]

identity crisis comes out in hardcover this september.

i personally can't wait. :)

[Prancetron2000]

Sorry for bumping this thread but I thought it might be better than creating a new one. :D

More than a year after I made this thread, the only book I picked up was Death and the Maidens. I got a bit sidetracked, you see. But I'm about to make a big TPB order and in addition to all of the Gotham Central trades I wanted to catch up on Batman stuff. And Superman stuff, if there are any notable collections from the last year.

So if you guys would be so kind once again, could you help me complete this list?

Superman/Batman:Public Enemies
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
War Games
Identity Crisis


If you think I should skip any of these books and just get caught up to speed via wikipedia I'll do that.

[hippie_hunter]

Superman/Batman:Public Enemies
Broken City
As The Crow Flies
War Drums
War Games
Identity Crisis
The OMAC Project
Under the Hood Vol. 1
War Crimes
Infinite Crisis
Under the Hood Vol. 2


The OMAC Project and Under the Hood Vol. 1 occur around the same timeframe.

Under the Hood Vol. 2 occurs during the Infinite Crisis

[Prancetron2000]

Gracias!

So do you think any of these are worth skipping and better off just read in summary form?

[hippie_hunter]

The War Games (including War Drums and War Crimes) series is worth skipping. And if you are fine with the resurection of Jason Todd, Under the Hood is awesome.

[Prancetron2000]

Thanks.

I looked at wikipedia and their summary of War Games is extremely brief. Know where I could find a more extensive one, that includes the two other "Wars"?

[WallCrawl]

This is going to sound silly, but has IC and all titles its touched been collected into a trade yet?

It's been a while since I've been in here.

[Elijya]

I agree with skipping War Drums, Games, and Crimes

again, I MUST recommend Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

[Elijya]

This is going to sound silly, but has IC and all titles its touched been collected into a trade yet?

It's been a while since I've been in here.
The countdown miniseries (Omac, Rann/Thanagar, Villains United, andDay of Vengeance) have been, but nothing else

[WallCrawl]

I agree with skipping War Drums, Games, and Crimes

again, I MUST recommend Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

I agree. Living Hell was an extremely enjoyable read. :up:

[Prancetron2000]

Anyone know where I can find a good recap of War Games, etc.?

[hippie_hunter]

This is going to sound silly, but has IC and all titles its touched been collected into a trade yet?

It's been a while since I've been in here.

Adam Strange: Planet Heist, Identity Crisis, The OMAC Project, Rann/Thanagar War, Villains United, Day of Vengance, Superman: Sacrifice, JSA: Power Girl, Teen Titans/Outsiders: Insiders, Teen Titans/Outsiders: Death and Return of Donna Troy and Crisis of Conscience (the titles that lead up to Infinite Crisis) are out in trade now.

The tie-ins: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Outsiders, and Teen Titans are out in trade. JLA, JSA, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Firestorm, Gotham Central and others have not yet been collected.

The main Infinite Crisis series is not out in trade yet.

[WallCrawl]

The countdown miniseries (Omac, Rann/Thanagar, Villains United, andDay of Vengeance) have been, but nothing else

Is that the 80 page prelude to IC, the one with the Alex Ross painted cover over Jim Lee pencils? If so, then I have that.

[hippie_hunter]

Is that the 80 page prelude to IC, the one with the Alex Ross painted cover over Jim Lee pencils? If so, then I have that.

No, it's included in the OMAC TPB though

[WallCrawl]

No, it's included in the OMAC TPB though

Awww, crap. Then I bought the prelude for nothing. :(