With all the different universes, and characters, I'm really lost here. I'm looking to grab a bunch of canon stuff in chronological order, so I can play catch-up and gain an understanding of the state the universe is in before I jump into any recent stuff, so I'd appreciate a guiding hand here.

Thanks!
Munchy

The majority of the New 52 from DC can be picked up & understood straight from #1 (possibly Green Lantern & Batman books might need a little bit of back reading as they are continuing storylines from the previous runs).

As for Marvel, the Point One (.1) issues are supposed to be jumping on issues for new readers - explaining who & what everything is and setting up the new storylines - but I can't testify to that as I hardly read any Marvel nowadays.

I KNEW that I wasn't the only one being stumped by Batman! I got the #1 issue of that and I was like "Whaa?" Thanks, Spaced! Much appreciated.

Munchy

I'm a total n00b, but jumped on with the New 52. Previous to that i always enjoyed the DC animated films, so had a limited understanding of the universe and origin storys.

What i did was grab all the #1's from the new 52 here, and see which one's i liked. I'm down to around 28 now that i follow. But from these i really enjoyed some of the characters, so then i went back and i'm currently catching up on Batgirl, i've read All-Star Batman & Robin, and some others.

I don't know much about Marvel, so i've gone on what has been recommended on review sites, and i've started the new Wolverine series (the one where he goes to hell) which i'm enjoying. And apparently the new Wolverine and the X-Men is supposed to be fantastic too.

I've also strayed away from the main 2 publishers, and i'd recommend Luther Strode and The Cape. The Cape is quite dark, but something brings me back to it. I'm also enjoying the Executive Assistant series by Aspen Comics. Reading a smaller run series makes it much easier to read, without needing to know years of back story.

Enjoy

I would start from old good spiderman or superman. but I hate old superheroes!