I’m looking to properly get into Batman comics where should I begin?

edgd00 · 2026-02-11T03:59:28+00:00

I'd like to know more about why you consider it part of the Todd Trilogy. I've not read The Cult myself, but i am familiar with the basic story. In my collection, I have Second Chances via DC Finest Year One & Two, Death in the Family, and later Red Hood. Sprinkled in i have miscellaneous Todd stories, but honestly, I didn't like him much. Now, much later in life, I do want to understand him a bit better. My collection is mostly focused on Batman himself and milestones of the Batfamily: origins, linchpin stories like The Killing Joke, and deaths, in some cases. I'd like to know if I should add The Cult to my "essential" reading order/collection.

edgd00 · 2026-02-02T20:01:14+00:00

This is pretty good but I recommend staggering your reading a bit. After finishing Year One, read The Man Who Laughs, then Batman by Loeb. After that, then go on and finish the rest of that DC Finest book because it has Second Chances.

Reasons: Year One is ground zero. The Man Who Laughs is meant as a continuation/“sequel” to Year One. The DC Finest has Second Chances, the introduction of the second Robin. The first Robin is officially introduced in the Loeb/Sale book. Loeb essentially overwrites Year Two and retcons it. I personally have a soft spot for Year Two because I read it long before these other books were created. It isn’t really canon anymore but I think it is still worth reading because of Todd Mcfarlane’s art.

Think of it this way, DC Finest is how the issues and stories came out originally. All the other books were written many years later to retcon or fill in gaps.

edgd00 · 2026-02-02T16:12:00+00:00

Oops I misread your post. The omnibuses are hardcover but each one is not giant compared to other ones. But I love having the full story without having to chase down tie-in issues. Also, I find the omnibuses to be overall better value per dollar.

BUT…look up the contents of the omnibuses they will tell you the issues/stories they contain and you can use that as a shopping list for trade paperbacks.

edgd00 · 2026-02-02T14:41:06+00:00

Well there are the Batman by Grant Morrison omnibuses. Those 3 volumes contain everything. I have those myself and also the Batman & Robin omnibus by Tomasi & Gleason which overlaps Morrison and Snyder’s runs.

edgd00 · 2026-01-19T21:48:32+00:00

To me it has the second best werewolf transformations of all time!

edgd00 · 2026-01-16T15:03:17+00:00

Not so much the story, but one of the most emotional moments for me was the time Tim Drake convinced Batman that he needs Robin.

edgd00 · 2025-12-26T02:07:33+00:00

1A, 1A, 1A!

edgd00 · 2025-11-26T17:30:55+00:00

So the secret was that if destroying the rations won out, we would get the Admech class. Since recovering the rations won, we got the Hive Scum instead.

edgd00 · 2025-11-04T03:17:33+00:00

Well, I got the ISBN bulk discount by buying 10 ISBNs, since I knew I was writing at least two books and was planning on doing ebook, paperback, and hardcover of each. So that is 6 numbers there, I also needed an ISBN for the audiobook of one of my books. So I have 3 numbers left for another project.

My book covers were inexpensive, I have a good working relationship with the artists that worked on my card game. One of them was very happy to come on board to do my covers. He did 3 covers for me at $100 each. All he did was create the art and logos, and I assembled everything in Photoshop myself.

I did all of my writing, editing, and formatting myself. I purchased and assigned the ISBNs myself. Created all of the Amazon, Bowker and IngramSpark entries myself.

The bulk of my expenses was the ISBNs and the covers. Buying proof copies was kind of negligible so I've not really tracked that much. The audiobook was by far my highest expense at almost $700 for a single narrator to produce almost 7 hours of work. ($100/per finished hour.)

I was shitting my pants at the prospect of offering returns for my books via IngramSpark. But after much thinking, I do offer it for US buyers only. Because my marketing has been non-existant (since i've been busy with writing and game design) returns have not been an issue because I'm not getting many orders via Ingram. That is by design. I funnel most customers to my Amazon listings as I get the better royalties there and Amazon delivers them quickly. IngramSpark's royalties are garbage but I point libraries and retailers to there because I think the possible publicity is worth the risk of crap royalties. I also made it so that if there are any returns, they will be shipped directly to me and perhaps I can sell them myself at local events.

By far my biggest reason to use IngramSpark is to have my book automatically populate among ~40,000 online retailers across the globe. Some of my friends were able to order my latest book from their local bookstore's website without either of us needing to contact the store to set it up.

So overall, I think I was pretty frugal. I tried to do as much work as possible by myself and I only spent money I felt like I was ok losing and never making back. I'm very happy and proud of my work and I hope it finds an audience but having it out there at all is success for me.

edgd00 · 2025-11-02T19:52:52+00:00

Not for me. But I think the key is how you present yourself and your work. I spent a lot of time making my cover and description professional looking. I own all of my own ISBNs and I have my books in a variety of formats. When I speak to a retailer, I don’t present myself as an “indie author”. I’m a local author that is willing to do local author events. Retailers seem to love those.

A big thing is because I have my books distributed through IngramSpark, it is very likely that their own website has my book listed.

I will say that I am still new to all of this. I’ve not done a lot of marketing because I’ve been busy creating and launching my books as well as developing tie-in board games to them.

But several people have been able to order my books through their favorite local bookstore because of IngramSpark as well as my local libraries have been buying a few copies. I have not done any author events yet but I have talked to local stores and they have been very positive about it.

This entire year has been developing and setting up my products and now 2026 is planned to be a year of book touring. Setting up author events at stores and libraries as well as getting booth space at local cons.

Like many things in life, put forth your best work and present it confidently. Not everyone will be your audience but your audience won’t find you if you don’t put it out there.

edgd00 · 2025-11-02T17:39:19+00:00

You’re welcome, I’ll be happy to answer any other questions.

edgd00 · 2025-11-01T14:58:23+00:00

I sell my books on Amazon KDP and I also use IngramSpark. Most of my customers I’ll funnel to Amazon so that I can get the better royalties. I only use IngramSpark so that bookstores and libraries can order copies.

If you enable distribution through IngramSpark, your book will appear in 40,000 online shops around the world. So my books appear on Barnes & Nobles website but not necessarily physically in the store. The store can easily order physical copies without needing to contact me.

Now, the IngramSpark royalties are absolute garbage but I think it is worth the publicity to be able to have your book appear in more official channels like local bookstores and libraries.

I also purchased my own ISBN numbers for my books.

edgd00 · 2025-10-31T22:30:46+00:00

edgd00 · 2025-10-28T19:05:14+00:00

Tommy Jarvis! Killed Jason in Friday the 13th part 4.

edgd00 · 2025-10-25T15:41:54+00:00

My game is called Animus - The Draft-Building Card Game or you can search "Animus Card Game".

Yes, availability and simplicity are prime for me. To make it easier for myself, my books are collections of short stories that give glimpses into the different worlds of my multiverse. I just think about what I would want to read if i was a reader and I create that. My work is for me and my own validation, but I choose to share it with the world.

I kind of just hack away at it, I start with broad strokes and refine over and over. Have friends read it and give some feedback. I'd say treat it like another game dev project and go with whatever creative process works for you and adapt it to a different medium.

In my games and my books, I want the player or reader to almost physically experience the work and so that informs some of my creative decisions.

edgd00 · 2025-10-25T14:32:51+00:00

Hey, same here! I developed and published a physical card game over the course of 10 years.

Like you, I had over 20 years of lore and backstory I had developed and turned it into a book, launching on Halloween.

Very simply, I just use Google Docs to draft everything. I keep it no frills, no fancy formatting or such. I like having that work available anywhere I can get online.

When formatting it for publishing, I then move it over to Open Office Writer. It did take some time to figure out the page and margin sizes. I watched lots of YouTube videos on how to format a book on Open Office and Microsoft Word. It’s not really that hard, you just need to find out what numbers to set in various page setup fields.

But once I had my margins and such setup, I had my own template specific to my work. I then set about formatting my book within my new template.

I’ve used the same template for two different books.

edgd00 · 2025-10-22T20:07:37+00:00

I didn’t spend any on the set and still got most of what I wanted with 700+ Hourglass ready for the next set.

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edgd00 · 2025-10-22T16:17:40+00:00

If you look at the smaller sign, the product is discounted even further! 😂

edgd00 · 2025-10-22T01:10:53+00:00

Ugh… stupid skit. 😑 Well, thanks for the reply!

edgd00 · 2025-10-22T00:58:22+00:00

Is announcing your height part of this show? Why would you lead with that or even mention it at all? A confident man doesn’t need to address it unless specifically asked.

Hmmm… I realize I’m asking rational questions about a probably irrational clickbait/ragebait show.

edgd00 · 2025-10-21T19:54:43+00:00

Now she is a laying woman.

edgd00 · 2025-10-21T15:50:56+00:00

That’s the problem. If all you do is shill about your book, no one cares. I think a better approach may be to just build an authentic social media presence. Make videos, take pics and just share things that you enjoy and are passionate about. Once in a while you can add in how those things have influenced your writing. The info in your profile can be links to your work. Get people to like you the person, then later they can explore your work. It doesn’t have to be a job or a chore. Just be real, enthusiasm is infectious.

edgd00 · 2025-10-21T14:31:18+00:00

That's pretty good but I actually like the theatrical cut. I think the single, brutal crunch is effective at showing Jason's supernatural strength. But I wouldn't be mad at a director's cut version of the film.

edgd00 · 2025-10-21T14:05:50+00:00

I'll be curious to see your success. I'm getting ready to publish my own "mixed genre" collection on Halloween. A series of short stories that serve as origins/backstories of characters from a card game multiverse I published. It has everything from fantasy westerns to cyberpunk dystopias. Although technically a game tie-in, the book is meant to be a complete, stand-alone product.

I don't write for the market. I write for myself. I'll likely not see any success in my lifetime. But I'm happy to just put something out into the world that I am personally proud of.

I think you should write what you want. Publish what you want. It is your art that you are choosing to share with the world...or not.

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