What if I wanted to start reading comic books?

Ohio

After having seen Iron Man last night, I'm interested in comics. I have a friend who's been real into them forever so he was telling me all the inside stuff about the movie, references to War Machine, Mandarin, etc. Got me interested.

So if I was going to start to get just a little into comics, where would I even start? I like Batman but not Superman. Superman seems too black-and-white for me. I like Spiderman somewhat. I like complicated stories and I think I'd prefer superheroes that aren't too over the top.

Should I start with just the monthly comics? I expect I'd be lost after the first page. But on the other hand, I don't want to spend money on some big anthology before I even know if I'd like it.

If I go to Borders, what should I look for just to dip my toe in the water?

Keep in mind I have pretty much NO knowledge or comics other than big-budget movies I've seen in the last five years.

Dava

Batman: The Killing Joke.

amateurhour

check out the graphic violence forum. There's a good beginner thread there.

Scooter

Wikipedia's a big help. When I got back into X-Men after 5-6 years there's a site, Mutatis Mutandis, which had all sorts of information to catch me up. It's pretty much impossible to catch up on decades of stuff just by reading it all.

ihmmy

your local comic shop should also have some anthologies, comic books that were re-released as big books with a multitude of comics in them to keep storylines together. Not sure how far back it goes for things like Batman, but I know that the Elfquest (phenomenal art) comics have done that

DasUberEdward

Since you're from Ohio. . .

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=50014

Regicid3

Where was there a reference to Mandarin in the movie?

smokmnky

Regicid3 wrote: »

Where was there a reference to Mandarin in the movie?

The group that kidnaps Tony is called "Ten Rings"

Improvolone

Don't limit yourself to JUST Marvel/DC stuff. There are so many unique series out there.
Fables for one, should always be reccomended.

Boutros

Ultimate Spider-Man and Invincible are pretty much what got me started reading comics. They are easily some of the best superhero books around and they should be readily available in trade paperback and hardcover at bookstores. They are also fairly self contained with only small references to other ultimate universe and image books, respectively (though Invincible did cross over with the 616 Marvel Universe in Kirkman's Marvel Team-Up). For less superhero-y stuff Fables and Y The Last Man are great and widely available in trades.

Psychotic One

If you want in on Iron Man and such I'd recommend Iron Man: Extremis and Probably Mighty Avengers vol 1. And if you want something made of Pure Win I'd pick up Astonishing X-Men vol 1 - 3 (I think 4 comes out soon) and probably Thunderbolts: Faith in Monsters. All solid picks in my opinion and get your feet wet in a couple diffrent regions of the marvel universe.

Seattle Thread

Consider some of these non-superhero books as well:

Planetary, Transmetropolitan and Desolation Jones, all by Warren Ellis
Sandman by Neil Gaiman
Jar of Fools and Berlin, both by Jason Lutes
Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
Bone by Jeff Smith
Buddy Does Seattle and Buddy Does Jersey, both by Peter Bagge
Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell, all by Alan Moore
Preacher by Garth Ennis
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison

Some of them are wildly colorful and over-the-top (Transpmetropolitan, The Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Invisibles), some are serious and from true-life accounts (Maus, Persepolis) and some feature a kid with an asshole for a face (Preacher). They're just a few suggestions to take a look at while browsing the comic shop.

Mustachio Jones

If you're into zombies, The Walking Dead is about as good as you're going to get. I haven't been keeping up with it lately, but the rule of thumb for that particular story is that if something seems bad, it's only going to get worse.

If you've got a local Borders or Barnes and Noble or a bookstore that carries graphic novels, best piece of advice I can give you is set aside time every now and then to go and read some stuff, pick out what you like and research it some more.

Ado-san

I'm not really a mainstream comics reader (I've never read Batman, Spider-man, Superman, X-men etc.) but when I do read them, I look for something that's different and quality of style, writing or unusual subject matter that stands apart from the mainstream.

I highly recommend:
Mike Mignola (Hellboy, B.P.R.D.)
Alan Moore (League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Watchmen)
and of course Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man).

They aren't really 'superhero' books in the typical sense but their distinct styles and of course their writing gives them a lot of literary significance and certainly a lot of cultural significance as well.

oldsak

I've never really been into comics either, but a friend did manage to hook me on a few I'll throw out there.

Justice League of America
The Invisibles
Transmetropolitan

If you like Batman, JLA has some Batman being a badass in it. The last two aren't your traditional superhero comics. They're definitely not for kids.

GoodOmens

If you're looking for old Marvel stuff, the Essentials series are a great way to get them cheap. They're in black and white and printed on super cheap paper, so you can get like 15 issues for 15 bucks or so. I'm enjoying Essentials X-Men right now, and marvelling (no pun intended) at how everything I knew was wrong. My knowledge of the X-Men came mostly from the 90's cartoon and the movies.

Needless to say, they're not exactly accurate.

Ohio

Thanks for all the recommendations. I am going to check out some of these.