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Help Me I'm New To Comics

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  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    Alright, in that case he might like Jeff Smith's Bone as well. It's a fantasy story with some cartoonish elements, but it's also fairly intricate and engrossing. There perhaps a couple of scary scenes, but nothing that'll traumatize a fairly mature 8 year old.

  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
    I think Marvel Adventures would be righ up his alley. It also couldn't hurt to pick up some classic comics, like some Jack Kirby Fantastic Four. I read the heck out of those when I was eight.

    Jeff Smith's Bone is also pretty great all-ages stuff.

  • HounHoun Registered User regular
    Actually, yeah, the Marvel Adventures is looking pretty good. Anyone have any personal experience with them? I'm sorta leaning toward Avengers, but that may just be movie anticipation.

  • AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Marvel Adventures Spider-Man is pretty dang good

    thirding Bone

    Antimatter on
  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Marvel Adventures doesn't dumb it down reading-wise, not sure on the others.

    And Marvel Adventures is really fun, ( half of this board is addicted to it, some as our break from dark/gritty)

    Also, thought about grabbing him a Calvin and Hobbes book? I loved those when I was a kid.

    edit: holy smokes look at all the marvel adventures chime in as I was typing this post!

    WiseManTobes on
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  • herojoeherojoe IndianapolisRegistered User regular
    Calvin and Hobbes is a masterpiece.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Along with Marvel Adventures, Mini Marvels is also worth a look, although for some sad reason Marvel hasn't reprinted the Ultimate Collection digest. Some of the jokes might go over his head but it's very clean and is very similar to Calvin and Hobbes in how kids and adults can love it.

  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    I'm not new to comics at all, but I haven't bought any for about 20 years.

    Tomorrow I'm going to a shopping centre and plan to pick up a trade paperback/graphic novel or two. I want to get back into comics a little. I know the 'big events' such as Civil War vaguely, so I don't think I want to read older stuff to get up to speed - I just want to find the best of the current issues.

    I love all of the classic Marvel teams/characters - X-men, Avengers, Thor, Cap, Spidey and so on.

    Now obviously I could just find some Ultimate trade paperback or the most recent X-men one, but what would people recommend? Not for any specific purpose, just what have been the best Marvel trades of 2011?

    Thanks.

    poshniallo on
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  • ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
    Brubakers run on Cap has been excellent. The Winter Solider trade is a good place to start his run with it. If you'll listen to a non-Marvel suggestion, then Astro City. It's amazing. Quid once told me that he hates capes. I gave him Astro City. He admitted he was in error. Busik's run on Avenger's is pretty good too. Avenger's Assemble would be a good place to start there.

  • MaximumMaximum Registered User regular
    I can’t recommend any X or Avengers stuff from 2011 as they’ve been dealing with big events and honestly haven’t been all that great.

    Spider-Man has been on a roll and there is some X-Stuff from a few years ago that I do like quite a bit though.

    Astonishing X-Men Volume 1 (There are 4 of these. Several years old but probably the best X stuff in a long time)

    Spider-Man: Big Time
    Spider-Man: The Fantastic Spider-Man

    Wolverine Weapon X: Volume 2 - Insane in the Brain (Volume 1 was good but the second arc was fantastic)

    Captain America: Winter Soldier Collection (This is the start of Brubakers run. Quite good and if you like this there’s tons more)

    Thor: The Mighty Avenger Volumes 1 & 2

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Best Marvel trades/hardcovers of 2011:

    Uncanny X-Force: Apocalypse Solution
    Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation
    Uncanny X-Force: Dark Angel Saga vol. 1

    Venom vol. 1

    Doomwar was phenomenal and you don't need to know anything going into it, it's all in the story.

    Marvel Universe vs. Punisher is another great read but more a What-If tale.

    But outside of that, they have New X-Men Ultimate collections (three of them) that collect Grant Morrison's run that really brought me back into comics 10 years ago. If you read comics in the 90's then went away, Morrison basically moved the X-Men forward more in three years than from the whole decade of the 90's. A lot of recent X-Men stuff I can't recommend that's in trade right now, but they just restarted the whole line with Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men if you want to pick up the regular issues.

    Like Thomamelas wrote Avengers Assemble is also a great place to start with Avengers, Busiek makes it incredibly easy to jump into the Avengers. It is definitely the best bang for the buck price to page wise of anything from Marvel in terms of recent stories.

    And I know you only mentioned Marvel, but I would be remiss if I did not plug Batman: The Black Mirror, it was easily the best all around story of the past year, 10 Tim Tebows and Aaron Rodgers put together.

    TexiKen on
  • MaximumMaximum Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Edit: Thank Tex, forgot about Uncanny X-Force. Buy those they are good.

    Stupid autodrafting....

    Maximum on
  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    I'll 2nd basically all of the above. Also Nextwave,might have some callbacks you won't recognize but enough that you will. and Spider-Island once it gets collected.

    edit: Oh, Planet Hulk! everyone should read Planet Hulk, it was awesome.

    WiseManTobes on
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  • TurambarTurambar Independent Registered User regular
    Ultimate Spider-Man
    All of it

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  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
    I'll enthusiastically second Wolverine: Weapon X. I love everything Jason Aaron has written.

    If you like Thor, check out the Thor: The Mighty Avenger collections. Fantastic, fun stuff outside of regular continuity.

    If you like Iron Man, check out Invincible Iron Man: The Five Nightmares, by Matt Fraction.

    If you want to check out something a little different, check out SHIELD: Architects of Forever by Jonathan Hickman. It's the story of how SHIELD is actually a centuries-old secret society run by people like Leonardo da Vinci and Nicola Tesla.

  • Duke PhillipsDuke Phillips Registered User regular
    Hey there, so I'm really interested in Dr. Doom as a character but haven't really read a lot featuring him. Are there any Dr. Doom focused trades out there?

    To a slightly lesser degree I'm somewhat interested in the Fantastic Four. What are some of the "must-have" (and preferably not long or big crossover event) stories out there?

    I'd really appreciate any suggestions, thanks everybody.

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  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Doomwar is all about how Doom is so evil yet so righteous he loops back into making perfect sense.

    The Mark Waid FF arc called Doom is really good at establishing Doom with his magics, it's part of the first Fantastic Four Mark Waid trade.

    If you don't start with Waid's run, you could start with Fantastic Four with the first Hickman trade, but outside of the first arc dealing with Reed it starts to get into telling a big story where you might want to just save up and buy all the trades to read at once.

  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    Thanks for the recommendations. The book shops turned out to be rubbish, but I could find one of the recommendations - Planet Hulk.

    So I'm happily reading that.

    I figure I could take a bear.
  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Double-post.

    poshniallo on
    I figure I could take a bear.
  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
    Planet Hulk was so fun.

  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Planet Hulk was excellent comics

  • SiegfriedSiegfried Registered User regular
    If I want to get into an ongoing Deadpool, which is the best/easiest to start with? I read all of Cable/Deadpool on Marvel DCU so I'm familiar with his shtick, I just don't know which to pick up because there a bajillion of them.

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  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Personally, I'm really fond of the cancelled Deadpool Team-Up. Each issue paired Deadpool with an interesting foil, told a complete story in 22 pages, and featured creative teams that were generally pretty good. I can only recall really disliking a couple of the stories.

    For Deadpool proper, I'd recommend you simply buy Deadpool: Dark Reign, which pits Wade against his sometimes-friend-sometimes-nemesis Bullseye, and Deadpool: Monkey Business, which features a monkey in a suit, who fires guns with his feet.

    The rest of his series is, outside a few good issues here and there, not worth reading.

    Primarily because he's only really interesting when paired with an Elmer Fudd to his Bugs Bunny, be that Cable, Bullseye, or Hit-Monkey. And unfortunately, his series has mostly been about him running around solo, and having uninteresting adventures.

  • TurambarTurambar Independent Registered User regular
    Siegfried wrote:
    If I want to get into an ongoing Deadpool, which is the best/easiest to start with? I read all of Cable/Deadpool on Marvel DCU so I'm familiar with his shtick, I just don't know which to pick up because there a bajillion of them.

    Uncanny X-Force

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  • Duke PhillipsDuke Phillips Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Awesome, thanks Tex.

    So if I was starting to get into FF then will Waid's run continue into Hickman's run?

    Also, I guess I didn't really mean I wouldn't be interested in a long story arc cuz I like investing time into a good story, but moreso I wouldn't want to track down a bunch of interweaving story elements for something to make sense like in a big crossover.

    Duke Phillips on
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  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Actually, after Waid's run, J. Michael Straczynski wrote about twenty issues, then Dwayne McDuffie did about ten issues, followed by Mark Millar who wrote about fifteen issues before Hickman took over. I haven't read them all, but I've been told that the JMS, McDuffie, and Millar runs are not required reading and are just not that good overall.

    a while ago I made a list of trade paperbacks with corresponding authors and issue numbers for knowledge purposes:
    Waid Vol. 2 503-513
    Waid Vol. 3 514-524
    McDuffie Beginning of the End 525-526, 551-553
    JMS Vol. 1 527-532
    JMS The Life Fantastic 533-535, Wedding Special, Dinner with Doom, Death in the Family
    JMS Road to Civil War 536-537, New Avengers: Illuminati, Amazing Spider-Man 529-531
    JMS, McDuffie Fantastic Four: Civil War 538-543
    McDuffie New Fantastic Four 544-550
    McDuffie Beginning of the End 551-553
    Millar World's Greatest 554-561
    Millar Masters of Doom 562-569
    Hickman vol. 1 570-574
    Hickman vol. 2 575-578
    Hickman vol. 3 579-582

    Centipede Damascus on
  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Waid's run is good, Duffie's is also pretty good, Hickman is great

    I found the JMS and Millar runs to be pretty much entirely skippable

  • herojoeherojoe IndianapolisRegistered User regular
    I've found most of the Deadpool issues very hilarious. All of the event tie-ins where he just lampoons the event are just great.

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  • InkyblotsInkyblots Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Haven't read a comic in a loooong time. Got 50 bucks to blow at a comic store, looking for some suggestions of TPBs. Thinking of getting the We3 deluxe edition, I already read it but it's such a great book. In interested in anything that's a good read basically, superheroes or not. Some of the comics I have read:

    V for Vendetta
    Watchmen
    Sandman Vol 1
    We3
    Invisibles Vol 1
    Hush
    Bone (one of my favorite reads)
    Fables Vol 1/2
    Walking Dead book 1/2

    Looking for a new story but something that I won't have to buy a bunch of volumes to finish. Went to look today and couldn't make a decision, saw Dark Knight Returns and the Killing Joke, and Y the Last Man. Also Chuck Jones book which isn't really a comic book but I'm a huge fan of.

    Also saw the Usagi Special Edition for 100 bucks which isn't even on Amazon, always seemed like something fun to read.

    Inkyblots on
  • UltimateInfernoUltimateInferno Registered User regular
    All Star Superman
    Batman: The Black Mirror

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  • InkyblotsInkyblots Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    I was so tempted to get all star superman I actually can't think of a good reason that I didn't other than I saw the film. Black Mirror sounds really cool, thanks!

    Inkyblots on
  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited December 2011
    Superman Birthright is the best Superman story ever.
    Batman Black Mirror is fantastic, it will be recommended a lot.
    American Vampire only has two trades out so far. Same with Unwritten only having three. Both are some of the best Vertigo books at the moment. And Locke and Key has a small amount of volumes out so far, these are all easy to get into without standing down 10-12 trades like Fables or Walking Dead have.

    TexiKen on
  • WiseManTobesWiseManTobes Registered User regular
    Locke and Key
    Chew
    Sweet Tooth
    PS238

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  • InkyblotsInkyblots Registered User regular
    Chew sounds amazing, I think I'm going to pick up the vol 1 HC as well as black mirror. Thanks guys!

  • HounHoun Registered User regular
    I will go to my grave recommending Preacher and Transmetropolitan to every single person I ever met.

  • KeiosKeios Registered User regular
    Houn wrote:
    I will go to my grave recommending Preacher and Transmetropolitan to every single person I ever met.

    This. Although I would also add Nextwave and Hitman to that list.

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  • SolarSolar Registered User regular
    Batman: The Black Mirror is really good

  • captainkcaptaink TexasRegistered User regular
    edited January 2012
    I'm in the mood for some comics. I tried the first trade of Runaways a couple months ago, it didn't really grab me. I'm looking at buying a couple of trades.

    Things I have liked:
    Y: The Last Man
    The Sandman
    Watchmen
    Lost
    Fringe

    I'm thinking either Powers, Fables, Planetary, or something else sci-fi or maybe a (relatively) standalone superhero.

    captaink on
  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    Fables is really good.
    American Vampire is also worthwhile.
    Batman: Black Mirror is a stand alone hardcover and you could then check out Snyder's current Batman work.
    Animal Man and Swamp Thing are also good series that still have that Vertigo hue.

This discussion has been closed.