• Crisis on Infinite Earths | Marv Wolfman
  
• Identity Crisis | Brad Meltzer
  
• Infinite Crisis | Geoff Johns
  
• 52 | Geoff Johns, et al.
  
• Final Crisis | Grant Morrison
  
• Blackest Night | Geoff Johns
  
• Flashpoint | Geoff Johns
  
• Forever Evil | Geoff Johns
  
• The Multiversity | Grant Morrison
  
• Darkseid War | Geoff Johns
  
• DC Universe: Rebirth | Geoff Johns
  

This is the reading order for a modern Barry Allen. If you're interested in the best of the best Flash stories and the greater Flash mythos, Flash in the 90's to mid 2000's is the best era of the Flash. Mark Waid's Flash currently has 1 trade out with trade 2 coming out May 2nd. The first trade is an origin story about Wally West, the second trade is a story called "The Return of Barry Allen" which is the best Flash story of all time. Waid's run is the best Flash run of all time and the third trade is coming out in the Fall. Grant Morrison and Mark Millar wrote a short zany run in the middle of Waid's run. It's one trade long and worth the read. Lastly, Geoff Johns Flash run is phenomenal. It's the second best of the three and there are currently three trades out. It's a bit more serialized than Waid's run, which is a plus. Waid writes Wally a lot better than Johns but what Johns has over Waid is phenomenal and relatable villains.



Flash Rebirth brings Bary up to speed with the world and shows him dealing with being a man out of time.




The Flash Dastardly Death of The Rogues is the best Barry Allen story, it is a must read




Flash: Road to Flashpoint. This story is pretty alright, the collected version has a lot of interesting one shots and such and it directly leads into Flashpoint. This doesn't get recommended often, but I enjoyed it and I think it should be at least mentioned




Flashpoint kicks off the New 52 and is a decently written Barry Allen story. This leads into the New 52 series




The Flash New 52 Vol 1-4 Collected in this omnibus. This has absolutely stunning art and it's the same art team that did Dastardly Death of the Rogues, the artists also double as the writers and they capture a good Barry Allen in my opinion. This run is great but everything after is pretty mediocre




DC Universe Rebirth is a great story and Barry and a certain other speedster are very relevant to the story




The Flash Rebirth (2016) is the current ongoing, you can digitally purchase it or buy the issues individually from Midtown Comics (The website) or your LCBS. I'm linking the first volume of this run.

Check out The Flash: Rebirth. Next, read the series by Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul, and Scott Kolins (2010-2011). It's collected in two volumes. After that, read Flashpoint, and then read the New 52 series.

Here's a breakdown:

• Flash: Rebirth
  
  
• Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
  
  
• Flash: The Road to Flashpoint
  
  
• Flashpoint
  
  
• Flash Vol.1: Move Forward
  
  
• Flash Vol.2: Rogues Revolution
  
  
• Flash Vol.3: Gorilla Warfare
  
  
• Flash Vol.4: Reverse
  
  
• Flash Vol.5: History Lessons
  
  
• Flash Vol.6: Out of Time
  
  In addition to these, you can check out a list of some more recommended Barry Allen reads here.
  
  EDIT: Don't be discouraged if you find The Flash: Rebirth very continuity-heavy - it is. This was one of the first non-Batman comics that I read when I was getting back into comics, and I had no clue what was going on. The thing is, that frustration only encouraged me to dig deeper and understand more about this world. I hope you (or anyone for that matter) takes that approach when something comes along that doesn't seem to make sense.

Superman: Red Son, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Flashpoint (and the world of, especially Batman ) are three obvious and good ones

edit: also, Batman: Year 100

edit 2: I can't believe I forgot one of the most important examples! Definitely check out DC:The New Frontier

If you're interested in Suicide Squad, I'd recommend you just start it. It was the first comic I read that got me interested in them, and now I've spent far too much money (or not enough.) I love the series. The first volume is called Kicked in the Teeth

If you like Harley in that series, I'd absolutely recommend her new solo series, the first volume of which just launched recently.

If you're wanting Flash, his New 52 run was made to be a jumping in point for fans. It's a great place to start if you're new to Flash.

If you want to try something slightly different, but still relating to the overall Justice League, Flashpoint rocks my socks every single time I read it (Or watch the movie)

And if you want something completely different but is one of the most awesome/entertaining things to read, you can't really go wrong with Demon Knights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_The_Flashpoint_Paradox

Book

Movie

took 30 seconds, buut dont worry I got you.

Just read it. It is well worth it here is the link.

Also I'm pretty sure it's on Netflix.

I just finished this yesterday and it was really great, all around.

The artwork, which was already really cool to begin with, was colored in a way that contrasted between the parts of the story that took place in Russia vs America.

The nods to the "alternate" universe (the one we all know and love) like when Lois and Superman first see each other and immediately feel something like a familiarity was a neat touch.

Anarchist Batman was a really cool idea and his patchwork costume with the bat ears on a typical Russian winter hat was fun. The time adjustment for the looks of Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern were also cool and added to the self awareness of the story.

If you haven't read it yet, you may want to stop reading this post. Be assured though, it was a really good story and you should definitely check it out.

I really enjoyed how Superman was ethically the same character. He really just wanted what was best for his people, and even with all the influence assuring him that Marx's vision of a utopia was the only way to go, he still struggled with the concept for most of the story, often choosing to follow his altruistic intuition over the principles he was raised with. Superman is just pure like that. However, in the end, the concern for Superman being too powerful was realized and it was totally necessary for the story to keep being interesting.

The whole book was really well written and drawn and I think if I had to pick out one bad thing about it, it would be the very last page. I liked the progression of the Luthor lineage basically starting a new "Kryptonian-like" humanity and even the baby Luthor being rocketed off into space moments before the red sun destroyed the planet, but I feel like it should have ended right there. Even still - very fun read.

Edit for next week's discussion vote: Flashpoint

Regarding Superman, don't worry about him, I hated him when I started reading comics (started with Batman) because to me it also seemed too OP for his stories to make sense, maybe I stayed too much with my vision of him instead of giving him a shot. He did grow on me, and is now one of my favourite characters. The stories that really helped for me to love him are Superman American Alien, All Star Superman and Superman Peace on Earth among many others. Don't worry if you still dislike him, it won't diminish your fondness of the rest of the vast DCU nor will it spoil you stories, just don't go into every story with a "ugh I hate him" and give him a few tries. Being such an important figure in the DCU you will cross paths with him several times, like him or not, better to make the most of it and not be too stubborn.

Regarding Watchmen, Watchmen is a story that deconstructs a lot of superhero tropes and cliches, so the best way to take the most of it would be to have read a lot of comics and really understand what this story is trying to break. So yes, you could read it now and like it, or you could read it in a few months worth of comics and really love it. At least I know that I love it a little bit more on every re-read, having read lots of comics in the interim.

---
And now the important stuff, where to start:

Yes, both New 52 and Rebirth are two completely perfect starting points, one being 5 years older than the other. Rebirth serves as a continuation of the N52, but starting on it right away won't diminish anything, it's a perfectly valid starting point and I recommend you to start there. The reason being that you have much less to catch up (no more than a year and a half). So what I would recommend is:

• Start with Rebirth, with DCU Rebirth #1 and then read every character's rebirth series that you are interested in. Lets say Batman? Currently there's been only two volumes of Batman Rebirth released (vol 1 and vol 2 with the third one on september). Just pick his volumes, and after you have read this "Trade paperbacks" (collection of single issues), you can read the series on a weekly basis, buying the 2.99 single issues (or 'floppies'), which are currently in between the #10th and #25th issue.
  
  
• After you have cought up with Rebirth as much as you like (you don't need nor have to read every character, just read whatever you like) you can both retroactively read the New 52 series and go on with the Rebirth ones. So let's say you finished every Rebirth volume you were interested in and crave for more, you can read, with Batman as an example, his 10 New52 volumes.
  
  ---
  As for where to read stuff, that's completely up to you. If you have a cool Local Comicbook Shop (LCS) near you, you should go and check it out, they have really cool people that can guide you in a much humane way than an internet stranger. If you don't, don't worry, I read most of my stuff online, so check out Comixology with all of their weekly sales! And the third option is to order everything online and get it delivered, some good sites are Amazon, InStockTrades and Bookdepository. Check out all of your options!
  
  If you are in the US go to your local library and check out Hoopla a really great way for you to read a lot of stuff for free!
  
  ---
  

  TLDR
  

  
  You want to start with the New 52?
  
  

• Flashpoint (completely optional) -> pick a character -> read his volumes
  
  Here is a list of the first half of the New 52 (couldn't find a complete one)
  
  You want to start with Rebirth?
  
  
• DCU Rebirth 1 -> pick a character -> read his volumes
  
  Here is a list of them all. Check out the "Road to Rebirth" tab, which has optional, stuff for you to read
  
  What would I do?
  
  Pick Rebirth, after finishing, read the New52 stuff while continuing with Rebirth

Geoff Johns had two runs on the Flash

One on Wally West starting from here. There are three omnibi, but this is the first

Or Barry Allen Flash which includes this [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Vol-Dastardly-Rogues-Comics/dp/1401231950/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1BVB4GQBM31399T5XNVT) and [this] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Flash-Vol-Flashpoint-Comics/dp/1401234488/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y) ending with [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Flashpoint-Geoff-Johns/dp/1401233384/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=01YDR9NHFX8JAG9HQYS5)

Just search on Amazon for the Flashpoint comics, or google Flashpoint reading order (but that's a massive list of 60+ comics).

Flashpoint

Flashpoint: World of Flashpoint: Batman

Since you're interested in The Flash, I'd recommend starting with Flashpoint, the event which lead directly into the New 52.

After that, start with The Flash Vol 1: Flash Forward, Batman Vol 1: The Court of Owls, and Green Arrow Vol 4: The Kill Machine.

I'd also recommend Justice League, Wonder Woman, Action Comics, Superman/Wonder Woman, and Superman Unchained.

Barry Allen started his carrier in the comics in 1956 until 1985 and then he was absent on until 2009. His modern-age series called The Flash: Rebirth when he returned. After that 2 trades came (In comics, a trade paperback (often shortened to trade) is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme.) called The Flash Vol. 1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues and The Flash Vol. 2: The Road to Flashpoint.

After these, a HUGE event came that changed everything called Flashpont that "reset" the continuity and started the New 52 age and it's first story-line called The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward or alternatively The Flash: Starting Line (DC Essential Edition (collecting the first 2 trades in 1 book) This series (New52) lasted till Spring 2016 and collected 9 trades (the show you watched is based on this era).


In early 2016 DC Rebirth came (only name change, everything is continued from New52) but a huge exception: a long missing character came back to the grand scene who was missing for so long. Rebirth's first trade is The Flash Vol. 1: Lightning Strikes Twice and currently the latest is The Flash Vol. 9: Reckoning of the Forces, but that's not the end, the series is still ongoing. Alternatively you can buy "The Flash Rebirth Deluxe Book(s)" that collect 2 trades per book in an affordable price/way.


So if you are interested in Barry (overall) start with The Flash: Rebirth and move onward to Flashpont, but you can just start with The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward or DC Rebirth followed by The Flash Vol. 1: Lightning Strikes Twice, then read everything up to today. (the current story-arc called Year One coming out just right now, starting with issue #70)

But if you are interested in old material, the best place to start is The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 1, the first comics where Barry showed up. (but beware, the art and the story is really different than what's today's standard)

(there is an omnibus on sale at the moment (a collection of multiple trades) called The Flash By Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato Omnibus that collects the first 4 trades of the New 52 era.

I'd recommend starting out with the first trade paperback of The Flash (New 52). The New 52 rebooted DC's entire comic line in an attempt to make it easier for new readers to jump on board. This will keep you up to date with what's currently going on in the comic verse. It's deffo been one of the better comics I've read from the N52 too.

Here's the Amazon link for you

If you get up to date with the current stuff you could also go back and read some of the classic stuff like Flashpoint - Set before the reboot of all of DC's titles though so things aren't technically canon anymore (most of the time)

is it just the 5 issue one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flashpoint-TP-Geoff-Johns/dp/1401233384/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427665929&sr=1-1&keywords=flash+point

First step is to figure out what characters you think you might like, then find out what the recommended reading is for those characters.

The sidebar is a good resource for that.

My person recommendations:

Batman: Death of the Family: You can't go wrong with Batman, and this is a great Joker story. It is the third Volume of Batman New52, this collects Issues #13-17. #1-13 is also worth your time if you're a Batman fan.

Batman Eternal Vol.1: A great on-going series, following the wake of Forever Evil, which was a recent big event.

Green Arrow: The Kill Machine: Vol. 4 of Green Arrow New52, this collects #17-24, and is a great arc, Vol. 5 Outsiders War collects #25-31 and is also amazing. Other essential Green Arrow books: Year One, Longbow Hunters.

Flashpoint: This is a large scale book, it is the event that led to the creation of the New52 universe, worth checking out, but if you want to save time, there is an animated DC movie that covers this story pretty reliably. Justice League: War is another decent DC movie which covers Vol. 1 of Justice League new52.

Stories outside of the New52 world:

Batman: The Killing Joke: an amazing Batman/Joker story from Watchmen writer Alan Moore.

The Flash: Rebirth: This is an essential pre-new52 Flash story that covers Barry Allens return to comics after being dead for a very long time.

Kingdom Come: A very interesting older book. Good story, and unique art.

Injustice: Year One: This is a comic based on the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, but it has turned into so much more. Absolutely amazing on-going elseworlds book.

If you're looking for darker themed books, check out:

Hellblazer, Vol. 1 Original Sins: Very different from classic hero comics, in this series Constantine deals with magic, demons, etc.

The Sandman Vol. 1 Preludes & Nocturnes: Another great book, this follows the story of Dream, younger brother of Death, and sibling to the other Endless.

Lucifer: Book One: Lucifer Morningstar started out as a side character in Sandman, but received his own book later. This series begins where his character left off in Sandman, having resigned his post and abandoning his kingdom of Hell he lies low on Earth, however things change when he receives an offer from his father, God himself.

I'll add some more if I think of anything, or if you even find this helpful. I imagine it is pretty overwhelming. Good luck.

Sadly, I can't speak for DC Rebirth. I haven't read any of it. I can say that I loved the New52.

Batman list, in order of what I would read first.

• Batman, Year One is a great story of Bruce's first year as the Batman. I loved seeing the way Batman evolved & the lessons he learned. I highly suggest this as your first read.
  
  
• The Long Holloween was also a fantastic story. It reads a lot like a mystery novel. The ending is surprising and all around, this book is satisfying.
  
  
• Batman New52 is a great storyline. It is a "reboot" aka a nice starting point for a series. If you love this story, read on with the New 52 & slowly get the "iconic" other stuff later.
  
  
• The Dark Knight Returns is an interesting spin on things. Bruce is old and has hung up his mantle. But for reasons mentioned in the book, he dons the cape yet again. This, in my opinion, is a really great read after Year One & The Long Halloween. Those three just flow nicely IMO.
  
  
• The Knightfall series (Vol1 Vol2 & Vol3) explain why Bane is one of the greatest villains Batman has ever had. If you're looking for a complete story arc, this is where you want to start.
  
  Staples for Batman
  
  
• The Killing Joke is an iconic storyline that I would put on a must read list for Batman.
  
  
• Hush is also a very great mystery story.
  
  
• A Death in the Family is a pivotal story for the Bruce Wayne Batman.
  
  
• Arkham Asylum is a really cool & unique story about Batman going into Arkham Asylum after it is taken over (sounds a lot like the first batman game of the recent trilogy). It is a really cool perspective & you should read it at some point.
  
  Flash list (I don't know as much about the Flash)
  
  
• The Flash: Rebirth is a really great place to start. The world is established but this is a nice way to jump into the comics.
  
  
• Flash New52 is where I would go after reading Rebirth. They flow nicely. I would read Vol 2 & Vol3.
  
  
• Flashpoint, as you know if you watch the CW series, is a big moment for Barry. It's a similar story but done in a very different way. Reading this will feel fresh, even if you know the tv show.
  
  Batman/Flash related things
  
  
• Catwoman New52 is amazing. I'm not sure if you're a huge Catwoman fan or if you hate her (seems most Batman fans go one of those directions) but if you are, her series is one of my favorite New52.
  
  
• Justice League New52 was pretty cool.

Ahh gotcha. I'm surprised because I thought Flashpoint was like $13-$14 on amazon, which is $6-$7 cheaper than COIF. Regardless, you should definitely check out Flashpoint next time you stack up and can swing it for sure. You will enjoy both books all in due time!

...Which, in turn, was from the comic series Flashpoint. (Though I hear the animated version is quite similar.)

So I’m assuming this is the 5 mini series collection? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1401233384/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521031646&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=flashpoint&dpPl=1&dpID=61CQ6NauJ0L&ref=plSrch

If you want the complete history of Barry Allen, then I'd suggest:

• The Two Silver Age graphic novel collections available right now
  
  
• Crisis on Infinite Earths
  
  
• Final Crisis
  
  
• The Flash Rebirth
  
  
• Flashpoint
  
  
• The New 52 Flash run
  
  
• DC Universe Rebirth
  
  
• and now Flash's DC Rebirth Series

You should be able to just jump in. If you want some background there used to be this series called Secret Origins that was just each issue had origins for the characters. There's 2 trades for it that you can find right here

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Origins-Vol-New-52/dp/1401250491/ref=oosr

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Origins-Vol-New-52/dp/1401253431/ref=oosr

Afterwards you can continue on and if you see a character you like there might be a comic tied to them which you can find on the "everything you need to know" thread.

I'd also recommend picking up JLA: Earth 2 and Flashpoint.

Earth 2: https://www.amazon.com/JLA-Earth-2-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401251358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464651887&sr=8-1&keywords=jla+earth+2

Flashpoint: https://www.amazon.com/Flashpoint-Geoff-Johns/dp/1401233384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464651940&sr=8-1&keywords=flashpoint

Superman: Red Son

All Star Superman

Superman: American Alien

Batman and Superman Number One

Throne of Atlantis from Justice League and Aquaman

If you haven't yet Watchmen is a must for any reader, comics or not

Anything Geoff Johns wrote for Green Lantern (Frankly anything he's written for DC). He has 3 Omnibuses (Very Large Collections with MANY stories). Particularly look for:

Green Lantern Rebirth

Flash Rebirth

Flashpoint


Blackest Night

In Brightest Day

Geoff Johns Omnibuses

Or always Peruse other Trades/Omnibuses to see what piques your interest

Also, I know it's a DC sub, but if you're okay with adult themes: Saga

If you aren't sure what stuff she's already read, you can't go wrong with getting her a Funko (everyone loves them), or she'll soon be at Flashpoint.

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: Flashpoint


|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|




This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting). The thread for feature requests can be found here.

https://www.amazon.com/Flashpoint-Geoff-Johns/dp/1401233384

Here buddy I know your budget is tight but I'd start here