that's part of the problem tho, something even disney failed to capitalize when the MCU was big - where to start?
I don't fault anyone for being intimidated by where to start, but honestly it simply comes down to picking a character/team that seems interesting to you and researching people's opions on what the best runs/stories for them are.
Though I must admit I fail to see the connection with the MCU. Where to start is easy, you begin at Iron Man.
after that at some point you have to follow the crossover shit, which might have started in another series you don't care about etc.
This touches upon something inherent to Marvel and DC's stories that one has to accept if they want to read them, and that's the fact you're either going to be okay with missing some content/context for things, or you're going to be autistic enough to read everything.
I'm sat somewhere in the middle. I try to read what has an impact on the characters/teams I'm interested in if it happens during or before a run I'm reading, but if it doesn't or it has no real impact then I don't tend to fret over it.
I agree though, the shift to crossovers and events as a driving force in the genre was catastrophic.
and even if it starts good the next run can be utterly ruined just by some dipshit as mentioned.
Completely agree here. Justice League International/America is a wonderful example of this.
DeMatteis and Giffen's run is one of my favorites I've read so far. Despite any flaws it may have (which it has many), it balanced superhero stakes with interpersonal dynamics, drama and comedy nearly perfectly. By the end, they managed to build the team from constantly being on the verge of killing each other to being an actual family.
Then Jurgens came in and shit all over it.
That being said, I wouldn't give up the experience I had reading it, even with knowing the direction it would go. Plus, the former writers' run ended in a great place, so I can easily stop there when re-reading it (though I know not every run has that luxury).
However, that's the one nice thing about comics having a revolving door of writers. Usually when their time on the book ends, it wraps up the plot threads it was telling well enough to where you can simply stop there. The mindset when going through them is very similar to that of going through an anthology.
But like I said before, all of this will only work for you if you're invested in the idea of these characters and their world. If not, you probably won't have the patience to deal with all of the bullshit that plagued it in various ways even during their heyday.
That or just watch the DCAU (Batman, Superman, Justice League, Batman Beyond, etc.). You get some pretty great representations of DC's characters there + a generally high bar of storytelling quality (given that they had to make it work for kids too) and without any of the crossover/event troubles. You start at Batman and either end with JL or BB depending on what you prefer.