I've read only a few issues of the Sinestro Corps, but that's it. Any really good way to start off the GL comics for a relatively new DC reader?
Honestly, I'd start with Sinestro Corps War. It's the strongest, most entertaining GL story in the current run and does a great job explaining the basics of everything you'll need to enjoy the story. I started reading GL a little bit before SCW started, but that storyline was what got me hooked on the title and I found it very friendly to a newer reader. The three SCW trades (Volume 1, Volume 2 and Tales of...) have the entire main story and all of the necessary tie-ins (not sure if they have the Blue Beetle issue). After SCW, I'd suggest getting the Secret Origin trade. It's a flashback that provides Johns' version of Hal's origin, some set-up for Sinestro (Johns' full version of his origin has yet to be told) and a lot of set-up for the subsequent arcs. That should provide all the information you'd really need to move on to Rage of the Red Lanterns, Agent Orange, Blackest Night and the current storylines. As far as going back into the pre-SCW issues, most of them aren't all that necessary. Rebirth is worth a read at some point although, IMO, it's fairly weak. It's basically six issues of retcons and "OMG, Hal's so awesome!!"; more getting the players set up for future stories, rather than a good story in and of itself. I read the first three issues of Rebirth when it first came out, dropped it and didn't bother finishing it until after reading SCW. After Rebirth, the "No Fear" arc isn't very important, especially since it spends so much time introducing Hal's supporting cast, most of whom virtually disappeared after SCW. "Revenge of the GLs" is another story written around a series of retcons, while "Wanted: Hal Jordan" was just filler, IMO. There are a few pre-Rebirth stories that had important events in them, but the important beats of those stories are summed up in Rebirth and/or SCW, so they aren't vital to understand what's going on. Outside of the main GL title, the post-SCW arcs "Ring Quest", "Sins of the Star Sapphire" and "Emerald Eclipse" in GLC are great stories but aren't essential to understanding the overarching direction of the GL franchise.
1)Rebirth 2)Sinestro Corps War 3)Blackest Night Geoff Johns has compared his run on GL to Star Wars, Rebirth is a new hope, Sinestro Corps war is the empire strikes back and Blackest Night is Return of the Jedi I collect the singles post Blackest Night and Im dropping GL in January, it reads far better in tpb format
I just got done reading Secret Origin, which I got today. FANTASTIC. I really can't wait to get some more. I have to say, that was a great start. I think tomorrow I'll go pick up the first issue of the Sinestro Corps War. I really do think it was probably the perfect way to start off reading Green Lantern. How much do you have to know about the DC Universe before you read it? This was honestly the first of DC I've ever read.
I can't think of too much DC history that you'd absolutely need to know before going into the story, honestly. There's some (at the time) recent history that's touched on briefly at the beginning, but none of it is really necessary to understanding the plot. You should be able to jump right in and get most of it, although the 'reveal' at the end of the first issue may not have much impact for you. That said, one character in particular ( Spoiler Superboy-Prime ) has a lot of convoluted backstory and two others ( Spoiler Antimonitor and Cyborg-Superman ) have a bit of history to them, as well. The first character's history isn't reviewed until ~75% of the way through the story, just around the point that he starts to become relevant to the plot. It's hard to say too much without spoiling things, but if you're reading the story in TPBs, there's a point where you'll have to stop reading the main story in SCW v2 and jump over to Tales of the Sinestro Corps to read that character's one-shot tie-in issue before continuing with the main plot; if you're reading single issues, I think that point is right after GLC #18. Partially to make sense of who that character is and why he's significant and partially because, without reading that one-shot, he just re-appears in the main plot out of nowhere. Some basics of the second character's backstory are provided in the same one-shot. The third character has his own one-shot issue which explains his history, although it isn't as essential to the main plot. In that case, it's probably better not having much pre-existing knowledge of the character, since the one-shot retcons a few things anyway.
I'd actually start with Green Lantern chronicles vols 1 and 2. Then work my way through Emerald Twilight and Day of Vengeance then start with Green Lantern Rebirth....proceed from there.
it's funny i was just about to start this topic! my wife saw the GL trailer the other day and wanted to learn more! i'm not nowhere near new to comics, just new to GL comics.
I got Sinestro Corps War volume 1 today. Really amazing, I loved it. My Borders had Rebirth too, but I'm still unsure of it. They didn't have any of these though. :/
I read sinestro corp wars first, and i got to tell you, some of the best stuff I have ever read. since then, I just hopscotched around the GL paperbacks and all them were good....really good. GL got me back into reading DC.
The TPB for Emerald Twilight/New Dawn is out of print, so you'd probably need to check a comic shop or something for that one. Day of Judgment has, as near as I can find, never been collected in TPB, so you'd need to hunt down the individual issues for that one.
ran across these: how accurate are the order listings for reading & is anything omitted that should be included?
I started with Sinestro Corps War, which I was pretty much glued to the whole time. Though I still need to pick up Volume 2. Getting back into GL kinda led me back into Green Arrow, which has been my current reading (Quiver, Sounds of Violence, Archer's Quest, Year One). My fingers are crossed for the Blackest Night hardcovers for Christmas. I feel I need to read that before I can dive into the Brightest Day issues I've picked up. Can anyone recommend the Green Arrow/Green Lantern team-up TPBs?
i dont understand any of the DCU really with all these different earths and whatnot, why cant they just have 1 earth with 1 continuity
So I asked my parents for the Blackest Night for Christmas, and I saw that this is the one they got. Is this one any good? I know that there are different collections out there.
That one is a collection of the Blackest Night tie-in issues in the Green Lantern title proper, not the main miniseries. The GL tie-in issues were pretty good, but they weaved in and out of the main BN miniseries very tightly, so that collection might be a bit disjointed without the main series as a companion. As far as the various collections: - Amazon.com: Blackest Night (9781401226930): Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis: Books - Blackest Night main miniseries - Amazon.com: Green Lantern Corps: Blackest Night (9781401227883): Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason: Books - Green Lantern Corps tie-ins - Amazon.com: Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1 (9781401227845): James Robinson, Various: Books - BN: Batman, BN: Superman, BN: Titans tie-in miniseries - Amazon.com: Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2 (9781401227852): James Robinson, Various: Books - BN: Flash, BN: JSA, BN: Wonder Woman tie-in miniseries - Amazon.com: Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns (9781401227890): Geoff Johns, Various: Books - "Resurrected" cancelled title tie-ins
DC isn't really all that difficult to understand. The multiple Earths don't really play too much of a part in anything. 99% of what DC publishes takes place on Earth 1. The last time I remember any other Earth being mentioned is during the JSA storyline where Power Girl was sent to the universe she supposedly originally came from (turned out she wasn't). So don't let DC's multiverse scare you off. It really isn't that big of a deal.
