DC Superhero TV Comics Reading Guide

This article was originally published in the Den of Geek SDCC Special Edition Magazine. Click here to view the full issue!

We’ve reached that point in the summer when fans of superhero television start getting antsy. You’ve blown through a rewatch of the latest seasons of Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, and there’s still a solid two months to wait until they’re back on your screen.

This is now the perfect time to get hooked on DC Comics. Thanks to their recent Rebirth relaunch, these superhero books are now much more accessible to new readers and will keep you busy until October.

SUPERGIRL

There are more entry point options for Supergirl comics than for some of the other DC characters, but Supergirl: Reign of the Cyborg Supermen by Steve Orlando, Emanuela Luppachino, and Brian Ching is probably the easiest way into Kara’s comic book world. It’s certainly the moment when things become the most recognizable to fans of the TV show, with the Danvers family and Cyborg Superman getting new, reader-friendly makeovers and the reintroduction of Cat Grant to the comics world, this time as a mentor to Kara.

Buy Supergirl: Reign of the Cyborg Supermen on Amazon

Your other option is to go a little further back and check out 2011’s Last Daughter of Krypton. While this is earlier in Kara’s comics history, the villain introduced in this volume, Reign, is the big bad of Supergirl Season 3. Consider this a little homework to get you through until the show returns in October.

Buy Supergrl: Last Daughter of Krypton on Amazon

THE FLASH

If you’re a regular viewer of The Flash TV series, the last thing you need is an origin story, right? Good. Instead, Lightning Strikes Twice reads like a future season of the show. You already have a pretty good handle on Barry Allen and his world, and this volume gives you everything you need to navigate the comic book version, which isn’t all that different from what you get each week on the tube.

Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico are crafting Flash stories that should feel immediately familiar to TV fans, but they also play with the entire scope of Barry Allen’s 60-year history in the DCU. Lightning Strikes Twice is the perfect gateway into the Speed Force, and introduces a powerful new villain to the mythology. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the evil Godspeed on our TV screens one of these days.

Buy The Flash: Lightning Strikes Twice on Amazon

ARROW

Arrow fans don’t need a tutorial on how Oliver Queen became Green Arrow. We’ve had five seasons of TV tell us all about that. Nevertheless, if that’s what you’re in the market for, Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Jock is the volume that inspired the first season of the TV series.

Buy Green Arrow: Year One on Amazon

If you prefer some fully-formed superheroics, then Green Arrow: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen is for you. Green Arrow and Black Canary are finally reunited in a story that brings both characters back to basics and has plenty of the high-kicking action you’d usually tune in for. Benjamin Percy’s lively dialogue will appeal to TV fans, and the art by Juan Ferreyra and Otto Schmidt makes this one of DC’s best-looking books right now.

Buy Green Arrow: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen on Amazon

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

There has never been a Legends of Tomorrow comic that deals with the TV show’s particular group of heroes engaged in their distinctive brand of offbeat superheroics. So what’s a Legends fan to do? Time travel 30 years into DC’s past to check out Justice League International Volume 1.

Buy Justice League International Vol. 1 on Amazon

This isn’t your average Justice League comic. Instead, the team consists of mostly B-listers who can hardly stand each other and spend as much time bickering as they do fighting supervillains. Hilariously written by Keith Giffen and JM Dematteis, and with expressive, equally fun art by Kevin Maguire, Justice League International is the spiritual ancestor of Legends of Tomorrow and a great intro to the wider DC Universe.

Read and download the full Den of Geek SDCC Special Edition magazine here!