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If this is what you're referring to, that's actually from the current JL arc, set five years ago. The founding members of the League unite for the first time to fight him.

Overall I've had a mixed reaction to the changes. There's some things like Grant Morrison's Action Comics (Super jeans) which despite being extremely from the Superman I'm used to, is really well written and easily one of my favorite books. The change to Wonder Woman's origin as well as Azzarrello's style of story had made Wonder Woman comics interesting to me perhaps for the first time. I'm upset that many classic elements of The Flash have changed, yet Manapul stills spins a good yarn. JLI could've been great, but the current story is just sorta petering out for me. And it doesn't really have anything to do with changes really, just not particularly exciting a tale. With Aquaman nothing really changed yet continuity wise, the new badass-ness is just a shift in writing tone. As for Batman, that whole Catwoman fiasco I totally avoided. I'm only reading Batman, which has Scott Snyder on board. Amazing writer.

There's a few books that the changes have completely turned me off though. I read the first issue of Blue Beetle, and while it seemed good to me, I just couldn't get past how much they completely changed. Unless the Superman book gets a better story going and/or gets Lois and Clark back together again, I probably won't be touching it.

On the plus side there's a number of great books. Batwoman has a great story and even better art (though you'll do well to read Batwoman: Elegy first). This, much like Green Lantern, had absolutely no continuity changes whatsoever. In fact the series was meant to debut a good few months before Flashpoint. Swamp Thing and Animal Man are killer, and ought to be read simultaneously as there's a crossover coming. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and I, Vampire I've also heard a lot of good about. Justice League Dark is a pretty fun book, and Stormwatch is an offbeat pleasure of mine. It's somewhat hard to follow, as it throws several Wildstorm characters at you as well as several original Stormwatch characters just invented for the DCU, and barely spends the time to introduce them or give any backstory. The current plot and the kinds of things the team faces are also out there. But I really have been enjoying the wild ride. Demon Knights I dropped after a couple issues after deciding it wasn't really my kind of story, but it is still well written and pretty broadly enjoyed. It's best described as The Magnificent Seven in the Middle Ages, but with magical characters.

The approach I've been taking with most New 52 books is to look at them in a vacuum, not as necessarily a continuation of something (many aren't), or something that's tied into a greater universe wide story or tied to several other books or events. I kind look at it like a whole bunch of out of continuity ongoing series, like All-Star Superman. It allows me to accept whatever changes they've made to old characters, provided the story itself is good enough to warrant it. It's also got me into things I never thought I'd be reading monthly like Swamp Thing, Animal Man, and Stormwatch.

EDIT: I'm guessing the skinny Waller thing is influenced by the Green Lantern movie. With Nightwing I remember in some odd Morrison Batman issue Dick commenting that he never felt totally at home as Batman. I think he might've said this to Dick. In any case though, Batman Inc. still definitely happened as did most if not all of Morrison's Batman. Dick just decided to go back to Nightwing. I couldn't explain to you why he's red instead of blue suddenly though.

>I'm interested in reading the avengers or the guardians of the Galaxy, as they were my favorite marvel movies, but I get that I might want to start with the individual character's stories rather than jumping straight to the team up. Is there any series in marvel's line up that are must reads?

If you've seen the movies, I don't think you need to read individual stuff before you read a team-up book. There are some things different between the comics and the movies, but they're much more similar than they are different. The Avengers series by Jonathan Hickman that's currently ongoing is really good, here's the first collection: Avengers by Jonathan Hickman vol. 1: Avengers World. For the Guardians, the 2008-2011 series by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning is considered the best. Start here: Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning: The Complete Collection, vol. 1.

>I love the x-men movies, although Even the little I've read about the comics on other sites has got me confused, since there are some that can hold goddesses or something, does that have something to do with their mutation?

There are no X-Men that hold goddesses. Storm was worshipped as a goddess when she was younger, but she's not actually divine. There are a few mutants who also have supernatural gifts/abilities, like Magik and Pixie, but they are not a result of their mutations.

>Some mutations I get like ice powers and fire, but then there are some that can bend reality? Can a mutation allow that?

Mutations can allow anything the writers decide to allow. Storm controls the weather. Nightcrawler teleports. Mutations have nothing to do with reality.

If you want to read some good X-Men stuff, I recommend starting X-Men with Grant Morrison's New X-Men. It's good stuff, and it's easy to get into. There's three volumes, starting with this one: New X-Men vol. 1. After that, you should pick up Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon, which is really good and picks right up where New X-Men leaves off. There's four volumes, starting with this one: Astonishing X-Men vol. 1.

>Captain america certainly appeals to me, since I am, well, american, and Thor also seems like a badass, but I'd really read anything from marvel, as all their superheroes seem great.

>Also, all the dead pool panels I've seen here are hilarious, but I don't know much about the character.

Here's some good starting points I recommend for Marvel heroes:

• Captain America by Ed Brubaker vol. 1: The Winter Soldier
  
• [Thor: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron vol. 1: The God Butcher](http://amzn.com/1846535336
  )
  
• Deadpool by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn vol. 1: Dead Presidents
  
• Iron Man by Matt Fraction vol. 1: The Five Nightmares
  
• Indestructible Hulk by Mark Waid vol. 1: Agent of SHIELD
  
• Hawkeye by Matt Fraction vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon
  
• Black Widow by Nathan Edmonson vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread
  
  Now, I would recommend checking your local library first, they may have a lot of these available to check out. I'd also want to let you know that Marvel has a digital subscription service called Marvel Unlimited which has every comic I just mentioned available to read for $10/month or $70/year. It's a real good deal.

100% good decision. Too many people spend a lot of time on superheroes and never get around to what the rest of the medium has to offer. I mean superheroes are cool but there is so much out there

Ultimate Spider-Man is definitely a great place to start. Digital and print

If you like fantasy and are ok with nudity, read Saga. Digital and print

>Is there a difference between Marvel and DC except for the different superheroes?

Less than some would like you to think. Honestly its hard to say there's any meaningful difference between them because its hard to make a statement that is true about all of their comics from all periods, because they put out so. many. books.

Generally, Marvel centres around concepts and characters made by Stan Lee (Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil), Steve Ditko (Spider-Man, Dr Strange), or Jack Kirby (Captain America, Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men and most importantly the Machine Man), or a combination of those three. DC characters have been created by a lot of different people over a much longer timespan. But even that isn't really true since 80% of the street level Marvel characters like Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones were created over a very long time, and the best X-Men were created in the 70s/80s by Len Wein and Claremont

Also, over the last decade Marvel's stuff tends to be much more intertwined thanks to shitty line-wide events, while DC's is, generally, more separate. But even that isn't true since in the New 52 DC's continuity was quite close together, even without events

The biggest difference between them is that at any one time one of them is in the shit, while the other one is doing well. Generally. Sometimes they're both shit. Sometimes they're both ok

edit: also what country do you live in? if you're buying print books I could try and give recommendations for websites to use

I second the Marvel Adventures line and Superman Adventures.

I'd also recommend:

• The Batman Adventures - It ran from 1992-1995 and was the predecessor to the Gotham Adventures series you mentioned, and the companion title to Superman Adventures.
  
• Bone - A ridiculously fun to read fantasy/adventure story published from 1991 to 2004. Great art, great humor, and it truly appeals to all ages. The colorized version is published in nine digest-sized volumes that are extremely easy to find and very affordable, especially if you buy them used. The original black-and-white version is also available in one volume, but from what I hear there is a lot of gutter loss due to its size and the pages are easy to tear since they are so thin.
  
• Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil - Good little story from the creator of Bone. I'd especially recommend this for kids who like Superman since it features a similar character. From 2007.
  
• Thor: The Mighty Avenger - Non-canon story about a young Thor. Not only a great kid's comic but one of the best Thor stories ever written. Beautiful artwork, great romance, fun adventures, and lots of appearances from other Marvel characters including Captain America and Iron Man. It ran from 2010-2011 and was sadly cancelled early. Available on Marvel Unlimited.
  
• Ultimate Spider-Man - Not good for smaller children due to lots of dialogue and a moderate amount of violence and sexual content, but excellent for adolescents and teens. I'd recommend it up to issue #128. It's currently being reprinted in this "Ultimate Collection" format which is so far up to volume 6 at issue #71. It ran from 2000-2011 and all of it is available on Marvel Unlimited.
  
  If you're open to older comics (Silver and Bronze Age), then many volumes from the Marvel Epic Collection line are also a good bet, but do a little research since some won't be very kid-friendly. They're fairly affordable reprints of classic stories that aim to reprint the entire history of Marvel's major characters from their inception to usually the mid-nineties (but they're not published in chronological order). They typically retail for around $35 for 400-500 pages of comics.
  
  I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting, but I hope this helps!

These are all the modern Barry Allen Books in the order they occur. If you want to read the best of the best Flash stories The Flash by Mark Waid volume 1 is out and The Flash by Geoff Johns volumes 1-3 but these feature Wally West as the Flash who (in most people on this sub's opinion) is the best Flash. Wally is also my personal favorite comics character. So here's my Barry Allen reading order with brief explanations:

•Flash Rebirth brings Bary up to speed with the world and shows him dealing with being a man out of time. This story kind of demeans Wally as character in my opinion, it makes him seem incapable of doing much and shows Barry doing things Wally can't do in this story despite Wally showing he's convincingly surpassed his mentor. I'd talk more about this but this isn't he post for that.

•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 very well 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. This easily my favorite run on the character and it's very beginner friendly. If you want to just get one thing on this list, get this.

•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.

You're absolutely justified in being confused about how comics work from the outside looking in. It's intimidating and doesn't compare to how much easier other hobbies are to get into. You browse a physical or online store and find a cover/title that seems interesting. You notice a few details: some people's names, a big title, a price, a number (that doesn't usually say issue or episode or anything recognizable), another big title (a series? season? brand? wtf?), ANOTHER title (maybe this one's the title of just THIS book?)... There's no order to this madness! I'd love it if they did something like:

Series: Batman

Continuity: Weird Universe 6

Season: 2

Episode: 3

...explicitly on the back or something for every issue, tpb, hardcover, etc. They also do renumberings and title changes for weird comic sales purposes. Anyway, it sucks, but here we are.

I really don't recommend people worry about canon or continuity when starting out. You should focus on GOOD STORIES. Inherently, the good ones will give you most of the information you need anyway. If it still bothers you, start out with self-contained graphic novels instead.

You may think you want to start reading ONE character from the 1960's all the way to present.. but you don't, I promise. In fact, go ahead and decide if you even want to read older comics (<1990) so you can narrow your list tremendously. Personally, I avoid older comics because the dialog is dated, colors are limited, they are usually less "mature" or progressive, and read like patronizing encyclopedias. I will only read a few highly-reviewed stories like Daredevil Born Again or Spider-Man Kraven's Last Hunt.

I'll keep using Iron Man as an example. When pairing a creative team with a title for however long they worked on it, that's called a "run". Warren Ellis' Extremis is a single story arc (usually about 6 issues or 6 months of comics) collected into one book like this. Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man run is like having 60+ issues or 4+ years worth of monthly comics divided into ~12 story arcs = 12 trade paperback books starting with this. I got so frustrated keeping track of this shit that I had to create more detailed breakdowns of comic books in runs like this. Note the two "Omnibus" that put 3 of the smaller books into 1 for convenience. These are some of the best modern series for Iron Man (they even used some of these stories for the movies). Here's another example using one of the best Captain America "runs" with Ed Brubaker for like 5 years worth of comics. I'll just add this too: crossovers/events are the WORST. They are mediocre to begin with and the tie-ins are never collected correctly to make a complete story (they're also shoehorned into some of your favorite stories sometimes!).

Just to be clear, the point here is that you can read all of these without having to read decades worth of other comics. Some people will insist you have to read issues x, y, z to under stand character B, then OTHER people will say that's crap and you should read character C's j, k, l issues to get a better history, and then others will say just hop right in. For new readers, I'm in that last category. Wiki if you absolutely have to. Worry about collecting/reading everything AFTER you've read some of the best stories to get you hooked first. It's a fucking rabbit hole and you can't see just how deep it goes yet. Also, if nobody has said it yet, there is more to comics than superheros. In fact, my favorite comics are made by other publishers like Image, Vertigo, Darkhorse, Humanoids, etc.

If you're looking for standalone Spider-Man check out Spider-Man Blue. Great story that remasters the Silver Age tales of young Pete and his classic crew, but framed with the tradegy of future Pete recounting this tale.

Other Marvel recommendations:

Truth: Red, White, Black - Haunting tale of the history of the Super Solider formula. Robert Morales draws a lot on the real-life history of experimentation on black soldiers; the references he gives at the end of the volume are good reads themselves.

Marvels - An Alex Ross classic that explores the history of the Marvel Universe as seen by an ordinary photographer, right up until the end of the Silver Age. Gorgeous art and spectacular writing that pays homage to all the big Marvel beats.

X-Men Legacy (Marvel NOW) - 4 volume series that follows David Haller aka Legion, as he struggles to maintain a grip on his chaotic powers while finding his legacy in the wake of his father's death (dad being Charles Xavier). Great exploration of someone dealing with mental illness, touching first love, awesome action and humor. Great series that does not get bogged down in X-Men continuity.

Honorable Mention: Mini Marvels - Small gag comics that occasionally ran in Marvel comics some time ago. Cute art with beats that poked fun at the the current state of the Marvel U.

I’m assuming you probably heard or read a lot of these already but their worth repeating on the chance that you haven’t.

• The first four volumes of Superman/Batman are probably the best stand alone team up stories those two characters probably ever had. Between the four they deal with the kind of stories that only superhero books have done well. Things like multiple universe, massive crossovers, time travel, and introductions of legacy characters. They are also just damn good reads.
  
  
• Kingdom Come is another story that really could only be done well in a superhero book. If you haven’t read it then you really need too.
  
  
• Volume One and Volume Two of DC: The new Frontier are timeless superhero stories that really exhibits what makes them so special.
  
  
• All Star Superman shows what a modern version of a Silver Age story would like. This has the special sauce that made comics good back in the 60s and 70s and its one of the best Superman stories ever told.
  
  
• Superman: Red Son best example of an Elseword or Alternate universe story. Really good.
  
  
• Marvel’s Secret Wars should be required reading. Kind of like how Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird is in public schools. It’s a corner stone for comics.
  
  
• Crisis On Infinite Earths: If Secret Wars is Catcher in the Rye then Crisis is War and Peace. It is a tuff read for a new reader but it is masterpiece in terms of craft, storytelling, and the weaving of continuity.
  
  
• Identity Crisis was mentioned before but I’ll repeat it because it is the superhero story the deals with issues typically never addressed in superhero books. It is controversial for some of the things that happen but ultimately very good book.
  
  
• Superman: Our Worlds at War is probably a bit difficult to find at the point but it is a massive phone book size trade that show what a good multi author/artist collaborative crossover event can be like.
  
  
• The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are two timeless Batman stories. I don’t care for Batman comics but these books are so good that even I like them.
  
  
• Astro City just started back up again so a new printing of the first story should be just around the corner. It is a celebration of everything that make superhero comics great. Keep an eye out for this one.
  

I understand why you are weary to ask for specific books, but there are some books that are important to the marvel universe or comics in general which would be pretty safe bets.

For Instance:

• Marvels, which is the history of the marvel universe through the eyes of a reporter for the Daily Bugel. Shows events from the Namor and the original Human Torch, to Captain America, to the X-Men, to Spiderman, to Galactus. Really cool depiction of the marvel universe.
  
• The Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos tries to take over the universe. Very well recieved event that the 3rd and 4th Avengers movies will be "based" on.
  
• Secret Wars, much older than the other books so much campier style, but it was (I believe) the first big crossover book from any publisher. Its also where spiderman gets the black suit that turns into venom and great moments throughout.
  
• Annihilation (All three books), Was a relaunch of Marvel's Cosmic line and sets up for all of the cosmic books for many years to come. Very cool book. Can read with no prior knowledge whatsoever.
  
• Watchmen, Good book, very important to the comic medium itself. Published by DC but not set in that universe.
  
• The Dark Knight Returns, Again published by DC but very important to Batman and comics in general. And who doesn't love Batman.
  
• Any charcter has at least one trade that is good standalone and is important to the character, but without knowing your preferences I can't recommend specifics
  
  Even if these arn't your absolute favorite books, they are relevant to the history and there is a pretty high chance that you will want to read them at some point.

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.

This site has a lot of really great info, especially for your boyfriend when deciding what to read and make sense of it all. I've used it a fair amount. This wikipedia article might help if he's into the big crossover stuff.

As far as another big one, Civil War is always a popular choice. It's one of the better comics of the last couple decades. He'll have heard all about it and seen the movie, so it might be neat to see what he's missing.

As far as other good stuff, a sort of out there one is the Authority. It's in a completely other comic universe with people he probably won't know, but it's really great. It was one of the first to show the gritty, flawed heroes, plus it supposedly inspired how a lot of the movies were shot. It's also by my favorite writer, Warren Ellis. I typically choose comics by writer.

Speaking of great writers, you could pick up the first volume of either Y: the Last Man or Saga, which are both pretty ubiquitous in the comic world.

And here's the link to Secret War. I included the links for clarity, but do please go to a local comic book store if you can. It's great to support them and they will typically give solid recommendations. Or be assholes. Or both.