more reading order help...

So I'm up to...in terms of major arcs

Countdown to Final Crisis
Batman R.I.P.
Batman Last Rites
Final Crisis

I like to finish off one arc before starting the next so in what order are these read?

Is FC before or after RIP & Last Rights... and should I read countdown before RIP or after RIP?



On a side note... just read the first 2 arcs of Batman Confidential... does this get better or am I going to be between meh and mad after every arc? The first was only ok, but the 2nd was trash both for cannon purposes and for character overall understanding of the characters...also not to mention the placing of it being like a month before the first arc is stupid >.>

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You've got the order pretty much right. Although, honestly... you might want to just skip Countdown altogether. Grant Morrison more or less tossed it all out the window when he finally sat down to write Final Crisis, anyway.

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There is an art, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. --The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

may as well disregard Countdown to FC almost entirely. as Haz already pointed out, not only does Grant Morrison ignore the series when he writes Final Crisis, but it's just frakking horrible and only gets worse as it goes on. a better set up for what goes on in Final Crisis is the Seven Soldiers of Victory series. it helps make some of what happens in FC make some piece of sense.

in terms of continuity, Final Crisis comes after RIP and Last Rites, and the Countdown happens more or less at the same time as the two Batman stories. also, the way i understand it, Batman Confidential is the new version of Legends of the Dark Knight. meant to tell stories that happen whenever during Bruce's history as Batman. so with a different team on each arc, quality is going to vary from one arc to the next.

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The few scenes I have read of Countdown I find funny and I'm curious about what happens during it so i'm probably going to suffer through it even though every source i've heard from says it's terrible.

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Wow...before investigating a bit I didn't know this would be this difficult...

Because the tie-ins are not part of the main story, but are obviously important and are arcs in themselves...

So...if I figured this out....

#1. Countdown
#2. Detective Comics RIP issues
#3. Nightwing RIP/Last Rites issues
#4. Batman RIP/Last Rites issues
#5. Detective Comics Last Rites issues
#6. Final Crisis

Does that sound right? (I've already read through Robin which is why his tie-ins aren't in that)

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looks about right, though anything labeled Last Rites i wouldnt read until after reading Batman RIP since i think LR takes place afterwards, but before Final Crisis.

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