So, I'm finding myself unsure of where to jump back into DC. Their [parasitic bomb] is too convoluted at times.
I'm figuring read Blackest Night then get into Brightest Day. For Batman, maybe start at.. Battle for the Cowl or just jump into the new Batman & Robin? Also, what about Gotham City Sirens?
NONONONONONONONONO.
DC continuity as of the present, must be followed through in one of two ways:
1- The Geoff Johns story, which is what's being done for Green Lantern, Flash and other DC heroes, and it follows the general DC Universe, concerning Blackest Night and Brightest Day
2- The Grant Morrison story, which takes place in the Bat-books, starting with Batman & Son, going through Final Crisis, his "death" and return, and will end with the Batman Inc series that starts this year.
They're both good stories (there's also stuff like the Superman family New Krypton storyline, and the Booster Gold/JLI stuff if you want to get into more detail) and they're pretty much THE continuity in DC at the moment, and what you need to read if you want to follow DC right now.
Lemme give you pointers on how to follow them:
Geoff Johns continuity (Blackest Night, Brightest Day...)
- Green Lantern: Rebirth
- Green Lantern Corps: Recharge
- Regular current issues of Green Lantern (V4) and Green Lantern Corps, which will take you through the Sinestro Corps War storyline, and the Prelude to Blackest Night)
- Blackest Night (along with GL and GLC tie-ins which are 100% necessary)
- Brightest Day (along with tie-ins if necessary, no idea so far which are more important, but GL will most certainly be)
The Geoff Johns storyline and continuity forms a great story, epic and anime-like in scope at times, with shiny colorful powers, a great cast of characters, and a very likeable plot. Fun for everyone.
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The Grant Morrison Continuity:
- Batman & Son
- Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul
- Batman: The Black Glove
- Batman: RIP
- Batman: Last Rites (generally included in RIP but part of Final Crisis)
- Final Crisis (just important for Batman's death but seriously, WORTH A READ. Best damn comic in awhile)
- Battle for the Cowl (not written by Morrison and not that good, but whatever, it's in-canon)
- Batman: Reborn (Issues 687-699 written by Tony Daniel. Not really that important, but fun in their own right)
- Batman & Robin (the continuity of all the previous titles was contained in the Batman book. This expands into its own comic. Currently ongoing)
- Batman #700 (not really completely in canon yet but awesome in its own right and seriously insane)
- The Return of Bruce Wayne (again, it's his own 6-issue miniseries)
- Batman: RIP The Missing Chapter (chronicles what happened between RIP and Final Crisis, the last moments of Batman's Life. Batman #701/702)
- The Return (separate series portraying Bruce's actual return and how it influences each of the characters around him
- Batman Inc
The Grant Morrison plot is absolutely brilliant, and pretty much the best Batman has EVER been in its entire existance. But it's not for everyone. The plot pays tribute to alot of old elements, it escapes from the broody and dark streetstyle to portray Batman as the amazing mind he truly is, and readers play detective as they read it and uncover tons of elements about Bruce's past, and the entire Batman mythos in an amazing way.
I can give you clear details of how to follow each and every single one of the plots. And download links by PM if you need.
tl,dr: Don't just follow storylines haphazardly. There's a beautiful, rich storyline behind it all, and it's amazing once you know all of the elements. And doesn't take that long to go through it, really.