Reddit reviews The Flash Omnibus Vol. 1

I prefer non-Big 2 comics. Try them out whenever you can.

I'm hoping you said "No matter the age" because you've seen the differences in art, story-telling, and dialog from say the 60s vs 00s. If that's true, then you still need to pick out some favorite characters for starting point recommendations.

Here are some "old comics" starting points/first appearance examples (You didn't specify format, so I'll just include Amazon links to Trade Paperbacks.):

MARVEL

Character/Team | Starting Point | Creators | Year
---|---|---|---
Avengers | Avengers #1 | Stan Lee & Jack Kirby | 1963
Daredevil | Daredevil #158 | Frank Miller & Klaus Janson | 1979
Doctor Strange | Strange Tales #110 | Stan Lee & Steve Ditko | 1951
Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four #1 | Stan Lee & Jack Kirby | 1961
Hulk | Incredible Hulk #1 | Stan Lee & Jack Kirby | 1962
Spider-man | Amazing Fantasy #15 | Stan Lee & Steve Ditko | 1962
Thor | Journey into Mystery #83 | Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby | 1952
X-Men | Uncanny X-Men #94 | Chris Claremont & Cockrum, Byrne | 1975




and/or read Kurt Busiek's Marvels (1994)

DC

Character/Team | Starting Point | Creators | Year
---|---|---|---
Batman | Detective Comics #27 | Bill Finger & Bob Kane | 1939
Flash | Showcase #4 | Robert Kanigher & Carmine Infantino | 1956
Green Lantern | Showcase #22 | John Broome & Gil Kane | 1940
Justice League | Brave and the Bold #28 | Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky | 1960
Superman | Action Comics #1 | Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster | 1938
Swamp Thing | Swamp Thing #21 | Alan Moore & Bisette, Totleben | 1984
Teen Titans | Brave and the Bold #54 | Bob Haney & Bruno Premiani | 1964
Wonder Woman | All Star Comics #8 | Gardner Fox & various | 1941

I'll be completely honest, you should probably not start with most of these as a new reader. I can post a modern starting point list upon request.

They are repriting the silver age first

http://www.amazon.com/The-Flash-Omnibus-Vol-1/dp/1401251498

Silver Age Flash is my favorite, I believe they just released a new Vol 1 of that.

Edit: Found two recent releases on Amazon both on sale:

Flash: The Silver Age Vol 1-12 issues

The Flash Omnibus Vol 1- 32 issues

They're usually paperbacks. However, those "volumes" are actually collected story arcs (like six, seven issues). And even the volume 1 of the omnibus won't contain every issue from the Barry Allen years (which is Vol. 1, issues 105-350).

Important to know: there are two meanings to the word "volume": there is publication volume (The Flash Volume 1, in this case, is every issue from 1940 to 1985, even though it was called Flash Comics until issue 104, and The Flash from 105 onwards), and the "volumes" they actually sell, which are collected issues from a specific story arc.

Basically, this as well as the money it would cost are the reasons I "acquired" the Flash comics by other means.