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Beginner's Guide to Comics: DC Universe

I know I've attempted this before, and I know it won't change many people's opinions, but I'm bored and just saw Kick-Ass. :p
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"Where do I begin?"

This is a question that a lot of people face when it comes to reading comics. Now the easiest place to start is elsewhere. Comic book characters are everywhere these days. Movies, TV shows, cartoons, video games. I think its the best way to get to know a character (s) and can help jump-start your comic reading.

Now once you have characters/stories or a universe you are interested in, then comes the hard part.

And that's what I (and others) are here for. This series will first start on the big events that the two major companies put out, and then will focus on reading individual characters.

First up is Crisis on Infinite Earth

Quote:

Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series (identified as a "12-part maxi-series") and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then-50-year-old continuity.[1] The series was written by Marv Wolfman, and illustrated by George Pérez (pencils/layouts), with Mike DeCarlo, Dick Giordano, and Jerry Ordway (who shared inking/embellishing chores). The series removed the concept of the Multiverse in the fictional DC Universe, and depicted the deaths of such long-standing superheroes as Supergirl and the Barry Allen incarnation of the Flash.

The title of the series was inspired by earlier crossover stories involving the multiple parallel Earths of the Multiverse, such as "Crisis on Earth-Two" and "Crisis on Earth-Three," but instead of lasting two to five issues and involving members from many superhero teams from many parallel worlds, it involved virtually every significant character from every parallel universe in DC's history.

Now many of us aren't old enough to have been reading comics before the event. But from what I gathered, the DCU was pretty messed up with alternate/parallel worlds, different characterizations. It was pretty hard to keep track of what was in continuity and what wasn't.

This series was commissioned to pretty much wipe the slate clean.

Quote:

Crisis was originally conceived to be a celebration of DC's 50th anniversary; however, Marv Wolfman and Len Wein saw it as a chance to clean up DC's rather convoluted continuity (which was thought to have put many new readers off buying DC titles) that had built up over that time. The term "Crisis" was a word used frequently in DC Comics of the time, as it denoted an inter-dimensional crossover, such as the yearly Justice League/Justice Society crossovers that began with "Crisis on Earth-Two".

Okay, that wasn't entirely true I guess.

The series did serve to clean-up the DC Universe though, which helps in making it the perfect starting point for any new reader. As everything before it is made irrelevant (unless you are Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns).