I Love The Hc That Danny Can't Help But Trigger This Innate, Subconscious Fight Or Flight Response In

So You Want To Read Batman Comics But Have No Idea Where To Start

So: you’re new to the DC Comics fandom and are interested in Batman and his family. Maybe you already know a bit about them and are just looking to figure out where to start reading actual comics. Maybe you know nothing. Maybe you know a whole lot about one character but want to start reading more about another one.

Whichever it is, I’m here to help! There’s a wide range of Batman/Batfamily comics (for all ages, moods, and types of people), and I’m happy to meet people where they are and help people dive into comics. On that note, brace yourselves, because this is going to be a long post. Recs start under the cut.

—IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT READING COMICS—

Superhero comics are traditionally written in what’s known as runs; an author gets to have an extended period on an ongoing (or limited) title where they (traditionally) write in 4-8 issue story arcs; think of these arcs as chapters in a potentially never-ending book. These individual issues are colloquially known as floppies. So when I talk about “Tom Taylor’s run” on the Nightwing title, for example, I’m talking about the (as of now) current writer, who’s been the main author on the Nightwing title since March 2021 and whose story arcs begin with Nightwing #78. Every so often, titles end, the principal author on the titles switch up, or they’ll have “guest/interim authors” come in to do single issues or a single story arc.

These story arcs are then collected in hardcovers or ‘trade paperbacks’ (generally referred to as trades, occasionally TPBs); both collect the entire story arc (plus bonus/behind the scenes material, in some cases) in a single paperback/hardback book. Trades are super useful if you want to read an entire story at one time, want to be economical about your comics spending, and/or want to read things in order. Occasionally, if a writer has a particularly long run on a title or a big company event happens, you get published omnibuses that collect an entire event or run (or part of it, if the event is big enough); omnis are very expensive up-front, but ultimately they tend to be good deals and are often curated well. These collections are all generally also released digitally. Frankly, unless you’re into comics collecting, want individual issues for their pretty covers, or are supporting a currently ongoing run, I would default to buying trades/omnibuses where possible. It’s simply cheaper and easier for reading.

List Notes: Each character list is sorted vaguely chronologically according to a combination of IRL publication dates and the character’s personal timeline. Big caveat that these are not all-inclusive reading lists nor are the inclusions inherently indicators of quality; I’m just trying to hit major character highlights. You should also note that many comics contain multiple Batfam members due to the ridiculous number of crossover events and the solid integration of the Batfamily as a whole into each others’ books in the post-90s era. Comic rec tl;drs are given at the end of each character’s list. Most of the links will take you to Amazon/Comixology, but I also talk about various ways to access and read comics at the bottom of this post.

Secondary Note: DC Comics works in three universes: the pre-Crisis universe (everything published from the beginning of DC Comics until the Crisis on Infinite Earths event in 1986), the post-Crisis universe (everything published between 1986 and 2011), and the post-Flashpoint universe (2011-now). 

In 2011, DC completely rebooted their universe following the ‘Flashpoint’ event. This new universe (interchangably called the New 52 universe, post-Flashpoint universe, or Prime Earth) drastically changed many characters’ histories, personalities, and relationships with each other (sometimes for the better, most of the time for the worse). The early years of the post-Flashpoint universe are an absolute incoherent mess continuity-wise; DC’s been trying to sort it all out over the past few years with the Rebirth and Infinite Frontier events (with varying degrees of success), and there are definitely some bright bits and pieces, but it is not my favored universe (though I will certainly recommend it where needed or when it’s good). 

Now: let’s get started, shall we? Lists below the cut (please click here to view the most updated version of this post on desktop via my blog instead of on mobile/the dashboard, for easy readability and formatting purposes):

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sigh i had an epiphany

book 4 is just a whole ass scooby doo episode huh

make shifting fun for you ♡

do you ever find yourself spiralling after every 'failed' shifting attempt? do you stress whenever you do your shifting method? or worry about what step is coming next, or worry whether you will shift? find yourself doubting your abilities?

shifting is supposed to be fun.

and this does not sound fun.

the number one thing i have been making sure to do when shifting, is to prioritise my comfortability and enjoyability when trying to shift.

i always try and make the process as enjoyable and comfortable as much as i can for myself.

shifting is supposed to be fun, right? it's exciting! shifting should be fun and enjoyable- heck, you're going to experience a whole other reality! a whole other life, a whole other self, experiencing your wildest dreams and fantasies!

how are you going to expect yourself to shift if you're still stressing over the process of shifting?

find or make a shifting method/process that'll make YOU enjoy shifting, and keep you motivated!

do things that you LOVE doing that will make YOU feel motivated to shift/more connected to your dr!

shifting should not feel like a chore. going to shift should not drain you. shifting should not be boring.

it should be a fun and exciting experience!

don't worry about what method is the most popular or most effective or easiest to the general community. ignore the trending shifting methods, subliminals, or guided meditations.

everyone has their own personal journey with shifting and there is no right or wrong way to shift.

focus on yourself first. work out what you like doing the most/what you enjoy doing the most, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and then work from there to find a method/process that works for you!

for example, whenever i shift, i always ensure that during my method, i:

a ) am feeling good! that i'm feeling excited, happy, good, comfortable and am enjoying the ride! i do not force myself to shift if i feel drained, tired, bored, or i feel that i am forcing myself to shift (you can still shift when feeling these things btw! but for me, i don't like to because personally i don't get good results when i do. however, remember that this is just a me thing!)

b ) that whatever method or steps i'm doing to shift makes me feel confident and assured that I WILL SHIFT. by the 'end' or at some point of my 'method' i truly feel that i am going to shift and i can shift, and this whole thing isn't just me 'attempting' or 'trying' to shift.

you love imagining random scenarios of your desired reality, but worried it's not 'proper visualisation' and you're just daydreaming or imagining? who cares! imagination IS reality and if it makes you feel closer to your dr, do it!

you hate visualising and you just want to say affirmations over and over again because that's what you're the most comfortable with and makes you feel confident, despite what other people tell you?

do it.

in my experience, all the times where i've just done whatever i feel like and makes me feel like i'm having the most fun, i end up feeling the most confident i ever will be in my shifting abilities! it's because when you're doing things you enjoy/love, naturally you'll shift to have a more positive and happier mindset!

it also helps me to stress less about the 'process' of shifting and rather, focus on the destination and anticipation of my desired reality!

however, this is just a small tip from me! please take this with a grain of salt 🌷

and if you've made it to the end, just know that YOU WILL SHIFT!

This question has come up a lot so I decided to make a post about it :)

Blind people must save a lot on electricity.

I wish fandom would be treated like the lighthearted niche hobby it is and not like… a form of political activism which you must use to show off how woke you are

a vent

cw ; lots of swears and curses , mention of grooming

if i see another pick me shifter discussing the topic of aging yourself up and down i will claw my ribcage open

SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

IM SO SICK OF YALL FOR MAKING PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING TO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT DR/S OR EVEN IDEAS THAN YOURS. LET PEOPLE FUCKING LIVE.

'it seems like i'm the only one that doesn't wanna be a groomer' WHENEVER THEY SEE A POST OF SOMEONE AGING THEMSELVES DOWN!!! WITH ALL THE DISRESPECT IN THE MULTIVERSE/S FUCK YOU!!!!

YOU ARE NOT JUST ONE BODY. YOU ARE EVERYTHING. YOU ARE YOUNG AND OLD AND DEPPRESSED AND EUPHORIC AND SHY AND BOLD AND HUMAN AND INHUMANE AND BLUE AND RED AND PURPLE AND ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!!!!

THIS REALITY IS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER FUCKING REALITY (UNLESS YOU DECIDE OTHERWISE) AND EVEN IF YOU DO DECIDE OTHERWISE YOU CANT FORCE EVERYONE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ALL SHOULD FEEL THE SAME WAY AS YOU!!!!

everyone will age, you will outgrow your favorite shows and cc/s, so what? are you gonna just throw away these worlds, people, and lifetimes just because you're not in the same age? you won't. and don't come here lying to me saying that you will abandon everything you've ever liked // loved just because you're 'too old' for it.

and what if you're 60 years old and still shifting, are you gonna only shift to 60s appropriate shows because hey you're too old to be studying at hogwarts? NO TELL ME BECAUSE I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW.

you will shift and be the same age you script yourself in unless you state otherwise. i can promise you, you won't pull an esther.

how can you preach that shifting is unlimited and tell me in the same breath that you will be an adult in a child's body? and that it's impossible for you to be a child in the FUCKING MULTIVERSE/S YOU DENSE FUCK.

how you can be immortal fucking IMMORTAL but woah buddy hold your horses you can't be a child it's a crime in this county to be a child 😇

and also, not everyone is shifting to date if that's your concern, GENUINELY not everyone is shifting to date, tons literally just wanna live for themselves and tons as well have lost their childhood due to plenty of reasons and are simply shifting to relive them or live better one/s, and IF for whatever reason they happen to date someone THEIR AGE you shut your damn mouth.

how is it fine for a minor to age themselves up but no no no god how fucking horrible and awful what an atrocity that an adult is shifting to be a child. OH HOW HORRIFIC HOW COULD THEY EVER DO THAT AS IF IT'S NOT THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE TO MISS YOUR CHILDHOOD OR MOURN IT.

stop treating this reality as 'the universe's calling', it's just a reality UNLESS you decide that it means more to YOU. either way, don't shove it down people's throats that this is the only belief and the only correct one. your cr is not any more real than any reality.

y'all are insufferable for constantly shaming people for normal fucking things just because you are too afraid to open yourself up for how unlimited shifting is.

live. please, i beg you to just LIVE and let people fucking live.

i thought this cat is a cutie so here's that

Software Decay💿

finally done with the series that's been plaguing my dreams for a month

Howdy 👋

I just wanted to share my experience with shifting. It's something that I feel could motivate others that are questioning if shifting is real/haven't shifted yet!

When I was sixteen, I shifted! It was not on a night that I did any kind of method, I just put on some general ambiance noises from my DR (mostly just to relax, not even with the intention of shifting) and I ended up waking up in my DR.

No method, no symptoms, no affirmations.

Just a soundboard app that I had some fun with creating what I might hear when I wake up in my DR. (The app is called Lonofi, if anyone's interested)

I woke up in my DR and checked the time. I didn't even realize that I had done the very thing I'd spent a year trying to accomplish. It felt completely normal. My hand looked like my hand, even if it was completely different from what it looks like in my CR. And I remember thinking to myself:

"Oh, I woke up early. I could go back to sleep and still wake up in time for docking shift." (In my DR, I'm a mechanic on a space ship, and it was one of my jobs to help 'clear' the cargo bay to ensure that everything was working properly to safely dock with another ship. Space is scary, y'all)

I then rolled over in my bed and WENT BACK TO SLEEP. I woke up in my CR, just as my alarm was going off. It all felt so normal that I didn't even realize I had shifted.

I had always been there, and so there was no surprise when I woke up on a spaceship in deep outer space. I can not say this enough. It was so real and so normal that I didn't even think once about it until I woke up in my CR. (I've never been so upset with myself for trying to sneak another hour of sleep in, lol)

I remember how everything felt. It was so real that I can hardly even believe it even though I experienced it first hand.

I called it 'mini shifting' for a while after that because I'd been led to believe by popular 'shifttokers' that it wasn't really the real deal. But it was!

I just wanted to tell people how real shifting is. And how normal it is. There's nothing difficult about it, and if you just allow yourself to shift, you will.

(Which I know sounds just as hard as any other method that you've heard a thousand times over, but the point still stands)

Shifting is so real. And so natural. It's not magic. There's no spell that you can chant or tea that you can drink that will be better than the limitless mind you have knocking around between your ears.

-🚀🔧

THIS IS SO COOL!! thanks for sharing anon!