James Gunn Reveals His Picks for DC Comics Collections Best Suited for New Readers

Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright had several elements used in Gunn’s Superman, so its inclusion among his choices is a no-brainer. The same goes for Tom King’s Mister Miracle, which is getting an animated adaptation soon. Another Tom King book is Strange Adventures, featuring 1950s sci-fi hero Adam Strange. Wonder Woman: Historia is a recent series by Kelly Sue DeConnick, retelling Amazon history through a modern lens. Could this be what the proposed Paradise Lost series is based on? As for Gotham City heroes, Gunn includes the excellent first volume of Nightwing from Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo. Seeing that Gunn is a big Dick Grayson fan is reassuring.

Gunn recommends four books from writer Alan Moore. Three of them are The Top Ten Compendium, The Tom Strong Compendium, as well as Promethea. These were written for the America’s Best Comics imprint for DC’s Wildstorm label, running from 1999-2010. Top Ten is about a police precinct in a city with only superhumans, and Promethea is about a young woman who channels a goddess. Tom Strong centers on a pulpy hero in the classic 1930s mold, which Gunn revealed was a big influence on Superman. From writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch is the first volume of The Authority. As this was one of the initial announcements for the new DCU (since put on hold), we already knew Gunn was a big fan. Plus, the Authority’s Engineer made it into Superman.

The fourth Moore title is Watchmen, which you have almost certainly heard of. Seeing as how Moore now seems to hate superhero comics, vowing to never work for DC again, we doubt any of these are getting a DCU adaptation anytime soon. And Watchmen has already had three adaptations in sixteen years. But Gunn is correct in noting that all of these are excellent starting points for new comic book readers. In the comments, a fan suggested Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier. Gunn quickly responded that this book is another great entry point. But each of these books is great, and if they can convert fans of Superman into comics fans, Gunn has done his job.