Hey folks, looking for some more good comics

[BlackOpsTengu]

Ah, Christmas, that wonderful time of year where grandparents long forgotten give the precious gift of free money to their children. And what better use of these funds than on comics! Bear in mind, I'm only a moderate comicbook fan so some of the minutiae of the DCU will probably still go over my head.

I've been able to keep up with the most recent big events in comics pretty well. I enjoyed Infinite Crisis and a few trades are already on my 'to get' list. Up, Up and Away, Face the Face, the relaunch of Justice League, Checkmate etc. Sinestro War is also on the horizon for my trade collection. Final Crisis has me intrigued (Lord of the Rings of the DCU?).

So, I like the big three, some of the minor 'loser' heroes and the government paramilitary stuff. I've heard people say the old Hitman series is worth picking up, what do you think? Also, can anyone recommend a few, good 'classic' Flash stories with Wally in them? Justice League Unlimited made me a big fan of Wally, and it'd be nice to see him separate from the league. Also, is the upcoming Suicide Squad mini going to be put in TPB? I was pretty pumped when Flagg returned in Checkmate.

Also, can anyone tell me what comic this picture is from?

I like the idea of the Justice League fighting Darkseid and his minions, so is that story, or others like it collected in TPB or in individual issues?

 

[WompuM]

I'm guessing that's Crisis on Infinite Earths.

 

[BlackOpsTengu]

It's from one of those random Darkseid respect threads. This was about how even the JLA and JSA couldn't defeat Darkseid in open battle, just his minions.

Still looks cool as hell though.

Also, the SCU in Metropolis gets a lot of view time in Superman the Animated series, but not so much in the comics. Are there any good stories that feature Dan Turpin and the SCU?

 

[BlackOpsTengu]

Um, so, any recommendations? Stuff featuring military espionage forces, SCU, good Flash and New Gods stories?

 

[SouLeSS]

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are amazing.

 

[BlackOpsTengu]

Yeah, those guys have been growing on me recently. It's fun watching the big guns fight, and you'll always need them. But third rate heroes like Blue and Booster are fun because their struggles and triumphs are much more uplifting.

When I first got into comics about eight years ago, I started with the Death of Superman storyline, and was like, WTF are these guys? These losers are the Justice League? Even *I* knew the Justice League was supposed to have biggies like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman etc.

 

[Doc Destruction]

It's from one of those random Darkseid respect threads. This was about how even the JLA and JSA couldn't defeat Darkseid in open battle, just his minions.

Still looks cool as hell though.

That's because Perez is the MAN.

 

[Flash Facts]

Good Flash stories:

http://tplist.millarworld.net/flash.html

I recommend the following:

Born to Run (Waid's Year One-style retelling of Wally's origins)
The Return of Barry Allen (Great story by Waid)
Terminal Velocity (Waid)
Dead Heat (One of my favorite stories by Waid)
Race Against Time (Waid)
Wonderland (Johns)
Blood Will Run (Johns)
The Rogues (Johns)
Crossfire (Johns)
Blitz (Johns)

The best of those, for me, are probably The Return of Barry Allen for Waid and Blitz for Johns.

Unfortunately, there's a ton of other Waid material that DC hasn't collected into a trade yet, including the Walter West stuff. I believe his issues were around the #160s if your shop is good with back issues. Mine isn't, so I haven't been able to read as much of Waid's run as I'd like.

 

[BlackOpsTengu]

I'm quite glad they retconed Zoom killing Wally's two kids in the womb. Infinite Crisis was needed to reverse crap like that from happening. Some deaths are to be expected when you're a hero, but that's just going too far.

Anyone at least know what series it was that has the Parademon/Justice League show down?