Even if you're already the fastest man alive when it comes to the comics
you need to know Where To Start.
WOOF WOOF! Hey guys, it's me, Marcus AKA The Maddogg and we're back with another video! Now
when i've done where to starts in the past it seems like i can't do one about a dc character
without recommending dc the new frontier and the flash is going to be no exception
this is a phenomenal book it's about the transitionary period between the golden
age and silver age of dc comics so if you are looking for an introduction into the flash even
though we've had quite a handful of them over the years you know we've had wally west we've
had jay garrick we've had barry allen we've had bart allen and there's probably even more than
that that i've forgotten about this time around we are looking at barry allen and i just think
that this would be the perfect entry point for somebody that maybe wants to get into the flash
but maybe you haven't read dc comics before but admittedly if you're looking to specifically
get into this universe i have to know where to start on dc comics but it's pretty much at the
time when i created this channel and even though it isn't a strict flash book i still think it's
got more than enough of the scarlet speedster to get you invested into this character and also this
universe as a whole next up and this was my first introduction into the flash and single issues but
you had to know that this one was gonna make it onto this video because it's the flash
by mark [ __ ] wade now mark wade is a legend if you hear his name you know that you're pretty much
going to be in for a good time he does not write a story if he doesn't know a lot about the character
and the flash is no exception in my opinion i think the flash might be mark wave's best
long run and yep i know i probably said something similar when i talked about him and where to start
fantastic four i think he really managed to define wally west as his own character and help
him to step outside of the shadow with barry allen and you just get to see him on this journey that
takes place over years there's so many different great stories you see how he interacts with other
members of the flash roster and also with other members of the dc universe so if it is that you
really want to get into a classic flash story maybe it's the case that you don't want anything
to do with barry allen for some reason and i think mark wade's time on this title would be the best
option for you and you're probably wondering that if it's so great and so many other people like it
as well it must be available in some kind of omnibus nope whilst i'm riding the mark wade
hype train i might as well talk about jla year one if you like the sound of dc the new frontier but
you wanted it to be a bit longer and also feature a bit more of the flash then this is a title that
i'd recommend and i think having a story like this if it is you're looking for an origin point then
anything that says you won is pretty much going to be good for you this is also more of an ensemble
team piece and it doesn't really focus too heavily on the three core members of the justice league so
instead you get to see how characters like barry allen did integrate into the team
and it's also just really fun and enjoyable and i think if you are trying to get into comics they
are the two main things that you should be looking for this isn't going to bug you down too heavily
in continuity even though it is set at pretty much the starting point for these characters in
the justice league it still doesn't require you to know too much about what was going on during
that time and this is one that i would definitely recommend if maybe you don't want to jump straight
into a flash title now you know i had to mention him at some point because it's impossible to talk
about any dc character in starting points without mentioning jeff jones now when it comes to him he
has done quite a few good jumping on points for this character but starting it off we're just
going to talk about his initial run again yes i am recommending wally west no i don't have anything
against barry he's definitely gonna appear in this video the only thing that i would really
say which is something that took me by surprise is that this does take a story arc or two to really
hit its stride and get some momentum going like ironically his run on the flash is a bit of a
slow burning there's just so many great moments throughout this book i remember when the flash
didn't have any power when he ended up in some kind of parallel universe and if i'm remembering
right i think this is the run where there was some kind of like weird cult that was killing
people that the flash had interacted with and there's just a great ensemble of artists that
are featured throughout this book you can collect this and trade paperbacks and i know that they
recently re-released it in omnibus the third volume of which should be coming out soon i've
already done a video talking about if you need to pick that up if you've got flashpoint if that
wasn't me advertising enough you can already pre-order this book from the channel's sponsor
organic price books they've got great packaging amazing customer service and the flash would
probably struggle to keep up with how quickly they deliver books and just a little secret between you
and me if you use could we you'll get two dollars off your order and kind of like how it seems like
the flash is always going to be around you can use that code as many times as you like but if
you're looking for something a little bit shorter even though it might not be the best one that the
flash has ever had i would definitely recommend the series the fastest man alive this was 13 or
so issues and it came out after infinite crisis and even though bart allen is now in the mantle
of the flash this is still just a great little story that features a character there's also a
few issues that deal with like the history of the flash so if it is that you're looking to catch up
to speed which again yes quite ironic then this one probably would be good for you i don't think
this is going to be one of those runs that you'll remember for years and years to come and it does
seem like it's kind of falling off the map a little bit but like i said i'm trying to give
you as many different recommendations as i can and just hoping that one of these will work for
you but if you're looking for an easier way to get into this character i would recommend going with
the flash that most people tend to forget about but maybe you're wondering to yourself who is this
bart allen character and is there a way that i can get into his series well then i would recommend to
you if it wasn't already evident that you could read that flash series the impulse series that
took place before that and again yes this was also written by mark wade i swear that the only two
people that i'm going to talk about in this video are him and jeff johns even though i know in the
past bart allen's personality has rubbed people up the wrong way which is something that i'm
very familiar with he is still a great way for a younger reader to get into the flash universe he's
got this really fascinating history being from the 30th century and also having connections to the
flash lineage but at the same time it doesn't have the baggage of following one of the normal flashes
there was also a lot of crossovers with the main flash so if it is that you're looking to get into
that character by proxy then this would be a good entry point for you and while you're here i might
as well tell you a little topical joke what's one thing that me and the flesh have in common
we're both on a good amount of speed yeah i hate myself but it's not fair to recommend
another mark wade brooke without recommending a jeff john's title and i'm gonna go with flash
rebirth but barry allen had long been dead before this series came out and it seemed like he was one
of those characters that would never be brought back however the man that could do that without
fail that nobody even seemed to question when it got announced was jeff jones and the flash rebirth
is a really interesting five issue mini series that somehow is great for people who know a lot
about the character but also for people who want to start reading it geoff johns is an absolute
master of being able to combine years and years of history the personality of the character but
also telling a unique and original story that's pretty much open for anyone it's the one that
was pretty much created for people who wanted to start reading this character but they didn't know
where they could begin and from here barry allen stayed in the universe this isn't something that's
set outside of continuity you can then jump into his other comics that have come out since then
and have a pretty good grasp of what's going on however following that up i'm gonna recommend the
12 or so issues that came out after that that was titled the brightest day era that led all the way
into flashpoint this was the first flash single issues that i deliberately picked up from a comic
shop and this is a really really extremely highly underrated run on the flash but the dastardly
death of the rogues then leading into flashpoint which would carry you into flashpoint and then
into the new 52 which yep is still my jam it's so fun and he's full of so much energy he's got this
unique art style by francis manapul i think it's just great that there's these modern stories with
barry allen that people like myself can enjoy that maybe didn't know him when he was first coming out
mainly because of the fact that i wasn't born but to be able to look back on this now and realize
how great it was for me as a new reader to get introduced into the flash is the reason why i'm
going to recommend it on this video now a bit of a curveball because i don't just use where to start
to recommend comics and i genuinely believe that the first season of the flash tv show would be a
great introduction into this character even though it isn't that old it feels like it's
built in a similar way to shows like smallville because it had about 24 episodes per season and
side note if you're wondering why my voice keeps breaking it's because i'm doing this after work
and i am very tired even though i feel like the costume is a little bit dumb i think in a way of
introducing us into this character and also this universe then why not start with something like
this if it is that you're gonna enjoy it and it's gonna be a good entry point for you then
that's all that really matters it doesn't matter if other people say they isn't a great show or
it doesn't make you a real comic fan and i've said this before and i'll say it again but anybody that
will tell you that you're not a real comic fan is not somebody that you want to have a conversation
with and if we're being honest there's not many people who do have conversations with them
now back to the comics how can i do a where to start on a dc character without recommending the
flashes run from the new 52. this one here that was done by francis manapul and brian bucheletto
and i think that's the way that you say his name was phenomenal i think this even made it into
my top 10 best one and done dc omnibuses and i'd still stand by that because there's a lot of great
action the art is phenomenal throughout so if it is that you're just looking for a great barry
allen story where there isn't a lot of baggage or stuff that you've got to know already then i think
this is the run for you even though it seems like a lot of people don't really remember it exists
and the flash kind of has this label as being a guy that can just run really fast for the
majority of these runs that i've recommended are about more than that it's not just looking at the
guy who is running fast but knowing why they're running fast why are you running and i think
that the new 52 is no exception to that i think it's got a great amount of heart to it you just
have to flip through this book and if you aren't sold already then i don't really know what i can
recommend to you now when i do me where to start videos i try to not recommend a lot of golden and
silverage stuff because i don't think it's going to be that accessible to a new reader that maybe
hasn't read comics before in saying that though i do think that there's a lot of enjoyment that
you can get from reading something like the flash of two worlds there was a deluxe edition of this
a few years ago i'm not sure if it's still in print i haven't really done a lot of research
like i literally finished work about an hour ago and i need to be in bed for work tomorrow
about 10 minutes ago but this was such a pivotal moment for the dc comics universe and probably
the concept of multiverses in general in the flash of two worlds is the moment where he
really became the most important character in this universe that's why i recommended him so heavily
in the top 10 best dc characters for beginners and the flash of two worlds even though it has
got that dated storytelling by today's standard it's still something that holds up because of
the fact that he is quite short it does cut to the chase and if it is that you're a bit
confused about how there's so many different flashes or maybe just the continuity of the dc
universe then this is an easily digestible way of getting a bit of a grasp on that however if you
are looking to be introduced into jay garrick of a character and that's the flash that you
really want to go with and i would recommend jeff johnson's run on jsa but the jsa is the justice
society of america and they work in a similar capacity to the jla but they've got more golden
and silverage heroes in the roster and this is an absolutely phenomenal run i still need to go
back and finish out the last part of it but it's a shame because i haven't really seen a lot of
jay garrick in standalone series in the past 20 or so years that i've been reading comics
maybe it's me just not looking in the right places but when i think about him as a character i always
go back to jsa so if that's the flash that you're looking for that would be the starting point that
i'd recommend but just a little quick one there was an issue that was called flash secret files
and origins but if you're just looking for a one issue recap something that isn't really going to
tell you a great story start to finish but is more just information about the characters and
also just a brief version of the origin story then this one issue should catch up to speed pretty
quickly and then you should be confident enough to read some of the other titles now my penultimate
recommendation again i am cheating because yes that's what i do in all of these videos
is gonna be jla titles now i spoke early about jla year one and dc the new frontier but maybe
it's the case that you like a team-based book and that's okay if you do eventually want to branch
into the flash then his jla titles would be a good place to start now yes i'm going to plug
another video because i've already done where to start on the justice league but off the top of my
head i definitely recommend stuff like the one that was done by grant morrison the new 52 run
and also tower of barbel all of them do feature the flash in some capacity obviously it depends
on which one you read and also which arc it's on which will depend on how much flash you actually
get in the book we've always been a staple of this team whether it's being barry allen or wally west
you can see how he's treated amongst them or if he comes across as quirky or funny and then if
you like the barry allen or the wally west that you see of that era then you can move into the
flash solo series that was probably going on at the same time but my last recommendation for this
video which i'm hopefully gonna get through before i lose my voice is gonna be the flash rebirth no
not the flash rebirth threat i've recommended previously i'm talking about the one that came
from the rebirth era yep it gets pretty confusing but when dc decided to rejig the continuity once
again after the new 52 he decided to make some great jumping on points for new readers
i think this would be the best jumping on point for any reader that wants to start today
it's got pretty much everything that you'd look for in a flash run because it's gone on for a
couple of years now but the same time it's not overly long to the point where you don't feel
you can jump into it it's got great action it's got a lot of emotional beats you get to see him
in interesting stories and he also feels a bit set apart from the rest of the universe and oftentimes
it can feel quite daunting to just jump into the run that's happening at the minute but when it
comes to the flash i think this would be a great choice for you and then you can learn about this
character and you can work backwards from there so that's the one that i'm going to leave this
video on in the comments section below let me know what the first flash story was that you ever read
but if you could do me a massive favor and share this video where you can that would be a great
help because i'm trying to keep this series going if you like this video give it a thumbs up and if
you didn't like this video why did you get this far and i guess that's the video but until next
time just make sure that you stay safe and stay mad all you dogs woof woof see the next video