A Noob in Comics - What would you recommend as first read?

I have been a fan of comic book characters ever since as a kid but I only got to know them through TV cartoon series like the Uncanny X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Justic League Unlimited and more recently through the movies and of course the vast info from the internet. Hard to believe but I haven't read any comicbook EVER. So I'd like to ask for some recommendations on what I could pick up for my first comic book (series)? Preferably one from Dc and one from Marvel. Thanks!

Mods: Pls. move this if there is an existing thread for these types of topics.

The New 52 Batman series by Scott Snyder is amazing. Wonder Woman is really awesome right now to.

The New 52 was designed to help you. pick your favorite character and if they feature prominently in a series pick it up. over at marvel I'm partial to Amazing spider-man. If your intrested in superheroes that aren't just DC or Marvel I strongly suggest Robert Kirkmans Invincible series

The x-men can be hard to get into, but the trades for Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men should be coming out soon. WW and Batman have been goo too as stated above though my favorite new 52 title is Aquaman. Uncanny X-Force is popular and somewhat disconnected from the main X-Men bussiness.

The New 52 was designed to help you. pick your favorite character and if they feature prominently in a series pick it up. over at marvel I'm partial to Amazing spider-man. If your intrested in superheroes that aren't just DC or Marvel I strongly suggest Robert Kirkmans Invincible series

Dude go for the new 52 is the best way to start fresh in comics

New 52 I think you should try

Batman

Action Comics

The Flash

Wonder Woman

Swamp Thing

Animal Man

Justice League Dark

Blue Beetle

Green Lantern

Aquaman

All Star Western

BatWing

Batman and Robin

Nightwing

Red Hood Outlaws

@Kallarkz: Thanks, i agree that Invincible needs more readers.

@kit_fisto: @Katie24 said:

The New 52 Batman series by Scott Snyder is amazing. Wonder Woman is really awesome right now to.

^the new 52 Batman series is probably the most phenomenal run on comics I've read so far, If you want to take it a step back and get a little bit more of a grasp on Batman try Batman: Year One, Knightfall, Long halloween, and Dark victory. I liked the black mirror and gates of gotham with Dick Grayson as well. The new 52 timeline changed up what is cannon a bit, but if you can recognize whats going on and have a some sort of knowledge on the characters youll be fine.

As always, my personal recommendation: Green Hornet (great series)

also, the old Blue Beetle series if you can find it (should be on amazon)

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I really appreciate it! I think I'll start with the New 52 Batman and WW. As for Marvel I'll still be deciding on what will interest me once I visit my local comic book store. :)

@Superguy0009e: I really liked Phil Hester's run on Green Hornet and Matt Wagners Green Hornet year one was great.

New 52 Aquaman is great

For Marvel, Amazing Spider-man and Daredevil

Invincible

The Guardians of the Galaxy series

The Sinestro corps arc

Annihilation

Batman the Hush

I'll have to check some of these out too, as I am still trying to find my way in the comic book world. The range and diversity on offer can be a little daunting for us newbies. It's been hard to know where to start.

As a side note, I've noticed that some arcs are collected in a more graphic-novel format (I've seem several from Marvel, though I'm sure DC does something similar). Is it worth checking some of these out to get a bit of back story on certain characters and classic story-lines? I'm sure these aren't hugely valued by collectors, if at all, but I'm more interested in the stories at this point so that isn't an issue. I would be interested to hear what you guys think. Thanks.

@kit_fisto: It really depends what kind of hero you like. I'd suggest you do some research into some characters then pick the one that grabs you. If you want some recommendations here's a few of my preferred ones:

DC:

Batman

Wonder Woman

Red Hood and the Outlaws

Marvel:

The Amazing Spider-man

Scarlet Spider

DareDevil

Independent:

The Walking Dead

Invincible

The Darkness

Preferably one from Dc and one from Marvel.

@Katie24: never read year 1, but i have greatly enjoyed the series thus far

DAREEEEEEDEVILLLLLLL!!!!

and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man

DC:

• Batman
• Justice League
• Aquaman
• Flash
• Wonder Woman
• Green Lantern
• Earth 2

If you have extra money:

• Batman and Robin
• Nightwing
• Red Hood
• Animal Man
• Swamp Thing

Marvel:

• Amazing Spider-Man
• Daredevil

As you can tell, I'm more of a DC fan.