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So I'm thinking about getting into comic books...
Spawnbroker
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Title says it all. Specifically, I would like to read Marvel, but it has such a tremendous backlog that, frankly, I'm intimidated. I really don't want to pick up a series and start reading it, and have it reference something so far in the past that I don't really know what's going on. I guess what I'm saying is 'where should I start?'
Civil War and World War Hulk sound pretty interesting, and they sort of got me interested in reading comics. Pretty much the only comics I've read so far are early issues of Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spiderman. Anyways, any help would be appreciated.
If this thread belongs in H&A, feel free to move it. I figured posting this in the comic forum would be appropriate
Civil War and World War Hulk sound pretty interesting, and they sort of got me interested in reading comics. Pretty much the only comics I've read so far are early issues of Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spiderman. Anyways, any help would be appreciated.
If this thread belongs in H&A, feel free to move it. I figured posting this in the comic forum would be appropriate
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And above all, Wikipedia is your friend.
So basically, look into any series with an issue #1 that you can still get through singles or trade. Even if it's starring someone like Spider-Man, a fresh start is still likely involved.
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Outside of that, though, what I did before I got into comics was pick out a character I was interested in and get trades from there. I started out with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, then went onto Year One, then The Long Halloween, etcetera. Eventually, I came across more characters that I was interested in, and began to read more about them and pick their trades up, as well. So, starting from just one character, I'm now rather affluent in the DC Universe.
Honestly, the best advice is to just not think about being intimidated with backstory and realize that they're just comic books. Dive in and have fun. Look things up on Wikipedia that you'd like more information on and go from there.
And as a final note, if you're really interested in Marvel, pick up some Punisher MAX trades. Easily some of the finest comic books I've ever read.
Also a lot of Marvel comics kinda "restarted" in the late 90s due to stuff getting way to convoluted. (Spider-man... Clone Saga... *shiver*)
Oh and I second Blackjack's comment!
Runways is kickass!!
Since you said Civil War made you interested, go ahead and pick up the core series of that.
Spinning out of that I highly reccomend both Mighty Avengers and New Avengers.
You also mentioned World War Hulk.
The Planet Hulk storyline is what leads up to this and is being released in trade soon, it is awesome and you should read it.
If you are interested in X-Men the Deadly Genesis mini-series leads into Ed Brubaker's current run which is self-contained from the rest of the X-books and is pretty good. And of course Astoning X-Men is amazing and you there's only a couple trades of catching up.
If you liked Ultimate Spider-Man I'd reccomend getting the rest of the trades, I've been reading since issue 1 and am still reading, Bendis' best work.
Runaways is amazing and everyone in the universe should be reading it.
It's really awesome. You should read it too.
Anally.
Unless you're sensitive!
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...should I do get both, or just volume 1?
After you read the first one you'll want to buy the second anyhow.
I don't know about you, but I have seen and participating in gushing over things like New Avengers, Thunderbolts, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist...I could go on forever. You get the idea. It really depends on what thread you step into and when. There are people here who piss and moan a lot, and it's harder to miss that than the small comments about how much or what we enjoy about a book.
A lot of the comics out there are rubbish to most readers. But everyone has their favorites or they wouldn't be in a comic forum to begin with.
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I really wish I hadn't bought the digests. I think I'm going to sell them to Bookman's next time I'm over there and buy the first hardcover.
Also, I'm not big on superhero comics, but I've enjoyed what I read of Planet Hulk. It's not the most scintillating writing in the world (or even in comics), but it's good fluff.
#13-24 of Vol. 2.
This is assuming Superhero comics are your thing, naturally. There are alot of great alternatives out there as well.
Invincible.
That's a really good book.
Anally.
Generally, though, I'd just spend some time in the bookstore sampling some of the current runs, or even flip through a few singles and just buy what looks good. It's a bit hit or miss buying singles, but I imagine that, if you take some of the suggestions here, you'll find a few books that entertain you enough to buy on a regular basis.
At the same time, I don't really want to wait for trades to come out, and there's also the issue that the publishers base a title's success largely on the singles (especially when the series has just started, obviously), and I don't want a series I like to be cancelled because I forewent the single to wait for a trade.
Yeah, it's the paradox of comic books. I do a mix of subscriptions, store bought singles, and trades. Usually the trades are of popular books that I'm pretty sure won't be cancelled but that I can wait on to read. The subs are for stuff I can't wait on for trades. The singles are for books I like that need the sales numbers, are unavailable through subscription, or I'm testing the waters on.
For sure
NOTE: For Ghost Rider geeks, look at the origin story in the original Marvel Spotlight, and then look at the retelling in issue 5 of the new series. So damn cool...
So if you even have a passing interest in see-through women it's recommended
I think the thing that ultimately (heh heh!) irritates me with the Ultimate universe is that they're not really doing much of anything new. Almost every character and storyline that's in the Ultimate books is just an updating or slight reimagining of one from 616. Gwen Stacy is a perfect example of this.
I realize, of course, that there'll be fan bitching no matter what they do, but it'd be nice if they did something other than recreate old characters in "hip" new ways. The only really new development I've noticed in Ultimate Spidey is that he was dating Shadowcat for awhile, and the only new thing in Ultimate X-Men was that stupid Magician character. And whose brilliant idea was it to do an Ultimate version of one of the most hated Spider-Man arcs of all time (the Clone Saga)?
A) Ultimate Clones was fucking awesome.
What I mind is her dying in a thoroughly stupid way.
And the fact that apparently she's not "really" dead now.
Mighty Avengers is new and looks to be pretty decent, so there's a good start. Another vote for using Wikipedia to flesh out any holes you may come across - you can spend hours reading comic book entries on there.
On a final note, I recently started Thunderbolts with #110. It seems like a good point to start it if you haven't been following it.
Of course, Watchmen might not be your thing if you just want a casual and somewhat mindless read, but if you pick it up I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
The Magician was stupid. Ultimate X-Men has gotten dumb, here's to hoping it gets better. A few good and newish things that they did do though:
Gay Colossus.
Dazzler is a tasty blend of 616 Dazzler and 616 Jubillee.
The Shi'ar are made to be way less stupid.
Longshot: terrorist villain.
That's not going to be true as of the next issue, I think.
I picked up the first volume of Invincible today. It does a good job of fulfilling it's promise as a modern "silver-age" book. I'll probably continue getting the trades.