So I'm thinking about getting into comic books...

Spawnbroker

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

Sentry

Find something you like, start collecting during a new story arc, buy some trades to flesh out your knowledge.

And above all, Wikipedia is your friend.

Hooraydiation

Any title outside the main set of ongoing titles and old characters is likely to be self-contained. Once you get into mainstays such as Uncanny X-Men or Action Comics, you can become bogged down with huge casts and extended storylines.

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.

Blackjack

Thank me later

Zeromus

If you're interested in Civil War, go ahead and pick it up. Though it incorporates tons of characters, it's a relatively streamlined story that can be enjoyed by pretty much any fan. Truthfully, Civil War is what got me into Marvel; I was always more of a DC guy. Now, I pick up Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, New Avengers, and Punisher: War Journal whenever they're released.

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.

HalleysComic

Personally I think Marvel is a lot better about being nice to new readers and not requiring a lot of research into the archives, it always helps though. I think most things in the Marvel universe is pretty straightforward right now as long as you read the Civil War stuff.
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!!

Balefuego

My reccomendations:

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.

Tremor

Since we are talking about Cival War, I am really interested in reading it. However, hell if I am going to hunt and peck 2 hojillion individual issues. Is any of it out in trades yet?

Spawnbroker

Thanks for the recommendations guys, I appreciate it. Do you recommend Amazon for most of these trades, or what? My local Books a Million has a bunch of them, but I'm not sure if they have the hard cover versions. Would local comic shops be likely to carry trades or just regular comics?

bobgorila

Preacher is pretty much the first graphic novel I read.

It's really awesome. You should read it too.

Hooraydiation

bobgorila wrote: »

Preacher is pretty much the first graphic novel I read.

It's really awesome. You should read it too.

Unless you're sensitive!

Regina Fong

The Marvel Ultimate Universe is great for those just getting into Marvel. It keeps the characters that you already know from cartoons, film and just pop-culture osmosis, but eliminates the years of complicated backstory.

Spawnbroker

So...my local comic shop has Runaways volumes 1 and 2 in hardcover...


...


...


...should I do get both, or just volume 1?

deadonthestreet

Start with 1, it has 18 issues in it. No need to spend all the money at once.

After you read the first one you'll want to buy the second anyhow.

MikeRyu

I've read comics and like to keep on top of public opinion through forums but I am not a regualar comic reader. One thing I've always wanted to ask is why do most comic readers seem to hate or are apathtic to current comics? At least that's what it seems to me reading other forums, there seems to be little excitement from fans. I know you'll find a lot of negativity on forums but even the movie boards aren't like this as you have people claiming their love for many new films. That's just the way it appears to me I may have it wrong.

Iroh

MikeRyu wrote: »

I've read comics and like to keep on top of public opinion through forums but I am not a regualar comic reader. One thing I've always wanted to ask is why do most comic readers seem to hate or are apathtic to current comics? At least that's what it seems to me reading other forums, there seems to be little excitement from fans. I know you'll find a lot of negativity on forums but even the movie boards aren't like this as you have people claiming their love for many new films. That's just the way it appears to me I may have it wrong.

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.

MikeRyu

That's good to know as I was starting to believe that most comic readers think that new comics are rubbish.

Regina Fong

MikeRyu wrote: »

That's good to know as I was starting to believe that most comic readers think that new comics are rubbish.

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.

DarkPrimus

If you are interested in World War Hulk, then you'll probably want to get the Planet Hulk hardcover, which is due out in June.

Target Practice

The third Runaways hardcover is coming out soon, too.

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.

Hooraydiation

Wait, what's going to be in the Third Hardcover?

Target Practice

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Wait, what's going to be in the Third Hardcover?

#13-24 of Vol. 2.

Davoid

It's always better to start with self contained stories, or you're going to have to be ready for a lot of archive spelunking.

This is assuming Superhero comics are your thing, naturally. There are alot of great alternatives out there as well.

bobgorila

Oh shit.

Invincible.

That's a really good book.

wwtMask

If mutants are your thing, the current run of X-Factor is on point, as is New X-Men.

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.

Psychotic One

I would also recommend from Marvel picking up Ghost rider. The Road to Damnation and Vicious Cycles, the first 2 story arcs of the new series. The rider will be appearing in World war hulk and I do like the new series of Ghost Rider escaping hell and fighting against Lucifer.

Target Practice

I hate buying singles. They're expensive, full of ads and generally too short.

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.

wwtMask

Target Practice wrote: »

I hate buying singles. They're expensive, full of ads and generally too short.

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.

Redeemer

Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men

For sure

Me Too!

For stuff that's easy to start on, try one of the Ultimate books. Those are fairly self-contained. As for non-Ultimates, go with Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, and Nova. Those are all old series that're being brought back, they explain the old stories, but you don't need to have read them to understand the new stuff. Ghost Rider's first arc is a TPB now, all three have Essentials out, and Nova starts next month.
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...

Redeemer

I find that I'm really enjoying Ultimate Fantastic Four, even though I never liked any of the previous titles that much

So if you even have a passing interest in see-through women it's recommended

Target Practice

I've tried reading both Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man. In both cases, they started out okay and then degenerated to awful.

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.

The main difference between 616 Gwen Stacy and Ultimate is that the latter goes to live with the Parkers after her Dad dies and eventually finds out who Spider-Man is. She still gets killed -- only by Carnage instead of Green Goblin, and as an utterly pointless random act of violence instead of a calculated plot by an evil mastermind. Oh, and now apparently she's back AS Carnage. Blech.

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)?

Me Too!

Target Practice wrote: »

I've tried reading both Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man. In both cases, they started out okay and then degenerated to awful.

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.

The main difference between 616 Gwen Stacy and Ultimate is that the latter goes to live with the Parkers after her Dad dies and eventually finds out who Spider-Man is. She still gets killed -- only by Carnage instead of Green Goblin, and as an utterly pointless random act of violence instead of a calculated plot by an evil mastermind. Oh, and now apparently she's back AS Carnage. Blech.

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.
GWEN HAS TO DIE. That's one of the biggest pieces of Spidey history, and to completely ignore it would be along the lines of keeping Uncle Ben alive.

Target Practice

commander wiggin wrote: »

Target Practice wrote: »

I've tried reading both Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man. In both cases, they started out okay and then degenerated to awful.

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.

The main difference between 616 Gwen Stacy and Ultimate is that the latter goes to live with the Parkers after her Dad dies and eventually finds out who Spider-Man is. She still gets killed -- only by Carnage instead of Green Goblin, and as an utterly pointless random act of violence instead of a calculated plot by an evil mastermind. Oh, and now apparently she's back AS Carnage. Blech.

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.
GWEN HAS TO DIE. That's one of the biggest pieces of Spidey history, and to completely ignore it would be along the lines of keeping Uncle Ben alive.

I don't mind Gwen dying, particularly, although I don't see why she "has to", other than it being another case of pointing to 616 and saying, "See! See! That's how it happens!!!", as though Ultimate wasn't supposed to be different.

What I mind is her dying in a thoroughly stupid way.

And the fact that apparently she's not "really" dead now.

Me Too!

I'm not going into her coming back, since she came back temporarily in 616. The Jackal cloned her, and Spidey, which was the inspiration for the original Clone Saga. And yes, it's supposed to be different. But some things have to happen. Uncle Ben and the Stacys die because Spidey fucks up. Norman Osborn is the Goblin. Peter and MJ hook up. Other than that, I don't really give a shit.

Dondums

Young Avengers got me into Marvel, I picked up the TPB Vol. 1 at Barnes and Nobles one day on a whim (I liked the art - and continue to do so). It's a relatively new-ish/sort of series and (if I recall) is on hiatus right now. There's 2 volumes collected (one's in TPB now, the other's due next month - though it's out in hardcover right now) and a 4-issue Runaways/Young Avengers Civil War arc. I really like YA. The end.

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.

Rabid_Llama

Buy Watchmen. If you are used to reading stuff with more literary merit than your average comic book, it serves as a tremendous transition peice. It is not only one of my favorite comic books of all time, but also one of my favorite books period. That and Frank Miller Batman are what got me into comics.

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.

Hooraydiation

As long as we're recommending stuff, yay X-Statix (the first two volumes are called X-Force)! It's a wholly self-contained series, and it's chock full of hilarity and moral subversion presented through the excellent art of Mike Allred. An excellent cast of characters too, and always rotating.

Regina Fong

Target Practice wrote: »

I've tried reading both Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-Man. In both cases, they started out okay and then degenerated to awful.

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.

The main difference between 616 Gwen Stacy and Ultimate is that the latter goes to live with the Parkers after her Dad dies and eventually finds out who Spider-Man is. She still gets killed -- only by Carnage instead of Green Goblin, and as an utterly pointless random act of violence instead of a calculated plot by an evil mastermind. Oh, and now apparently she's back AS Carnage. Blech.

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)?

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.

Beast dies.

The Shi'ar are made to be way less stupid.

Longshot: terrorist villain.

wwtMask

jeepguy wrote: »

Beast dies.

That's not going to be true as of the next issue, I think.

DeVryGuy

bobgorila wrote: »

Oh shit.

Invincible.

That's a really good book.

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.