How to get in to comics?

[Shoggoth2588]

Hello all, I thought this would be the best place to ask but I'm a 23 year old male and I have very limited experience in comic books. I read some at a young age, mostly Sonic the Comic and The Simpsons Comics and I also bought an issue of the Metal Gear Solid 2 comics but that was a one off thing.

Basically I want to get into comics but I have no idea where to start or what is for me, I wouldn't know what I like but obviously Superhero comics are the most popular and hey I like some of the films and some of the characters involved from kids TV shows and said films so where best to start.

Are there any comic books not already bogged down in so much continuity that I won't know what references what? What would you recommend as a good starting place and what exactly to get?

I know there's the New 52 stuff and I was thinking about it but advice is needed, thanks!

There is no 'right place' to start really. Moviebob has talked about this a lot and I've found that he and Linkara and other comic critics are right when they say "find something that looks interesting and jump right in". If you're interested in the new 52, there are a bunch of collections available now on amazon and as digital downloads so really, take your pick! If you're worried about continuity, that's what wikipedia is for and if you find something interesting in your research then there's a new book for you to seek out.

Recommendations...Apparently there is going to be a crossover comic featuring Mega Man and Sonic so I would suggest keeping an eye out on that. As for New 52, Earth 2 is an absolute must look at (my opinion). I liked World's Finest featuring Power Girl and, Huntress was alright. Justice League is worth a look (because they do very well in making Aquaman a bad ass...also team dynamic). For Marvel, my favorite books are to do with the Infinity Gauntlet. Outside of Marvel and DC...I don't have a lot of experience honestly. I kinda fell out of comics recently and am waiting for more New 52 collections to come out while also looking for some DC collections. Blackest Night is apparently good and the 3 story JSA arc was excellent if you happen to stumble upon it.

If there's a comic shop near you, definitely check the place out. Take some time to look around and see if anything catches your eye. Failing that, Amazon + super hero of your choice and look for anything that personally interests you. Happy Hunting!

 

[Blunderboy]

[b/]non-super hero stuff[/b] off the top of my head
Preacher
The invisibles
V for Vendetta (which I think is just one book and a good starting point...if a bit dark)
sandman
100 bullets

I think I love you.

I would also add the following.

Y - The Last Man.
Fables.
Hellblazer.

 

[Queen Michael]

Runaways is very easy to get into, because while it's part of the Marvel Universe, all the main characters are new and it's well-written and well-drawn. It's about six kids (friends, not siblings) who discover that their parents are supervillains. It's one of my favorites ever.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

This has, no doubt, already been said a million times before, but don't worry and start anywhere. Just pick a hero you like and start reading their comics. New 52 would be a good place to start, you could order the back issues and start from #1s at relatively small expense. I read about half of the current DC series, so if you've got questions about any particular series, feel free to ask, there's about a 50% chance I could give you an answer.

Having said that, if I were to suggest one really solid series, Batgirl is amazingly well written, and you absolutely couldn't go wrong with it.

 

[Brainwreck]

The best have already been mentioned.
I'd suggest not reading V for Vendetta because I thought it was lame (personal opinions, ho!)
And add Hitman into the list, because it had the best Superman story ever in it.

 

[Lewg999]

Got my first comic for Christmas , Kingdom Come. You dont need much continuity and any you don't get can easily be googled. Basic premise is that 20 years after classic superheroes ( Superman , Batman , Wonder woman etc ) either fell out of favour of stopped being as publicly prominent a new breed of more violent , more radical heroes became more popular. After an incident with them causes the destruction of the entire state of Kansas the old heroes feel the need to step in. Twas a very good read.

 

[Auberon]

I'll shamelessly plug (Absolute) Sandman, although as early Vertigo it's radically different from mainstream. DC had a reboot relatively recently, so you don't have to learn 70-80 years of continuity.

 

[Froken Keke]

I see no need just focusing on american superhero stuff, there's so much more out there. But I guess that's what flies here.
Really, there are a lot of more easy stuff to start with elsewhere, selfcontained books and such. I usually find more pleasure in the books that end with "The End", rather than "To be continued...", but that's just my preferences.

As a kid I never even saw a superhero comic, and really got started with Tintin (I'm delightfully european), though I had read a lot of stuff before that. I generally find the French-Belgian stuff great starting points for comic readers, especially young ones. The visuals are not too complicated, but they still have depth, and the stories aren't braindead violent crap.

The thing is that comics are a medium like any other. It's a little hard to know what works for you, and what doesn't, when it's such a broad subject. Just like literature, movies, music, games, etc.

I also saw some people above disregarding manga, because somehow those are not comics. (?)
Fascinating stuff.

 

[Queen Michael]

The best have already been mentioned.
I'd suggest not reading V for Vendetta because I thought it was lame (personal opinions, ho!)
And add Hitman into the list, because it had the best Superman story ever in it.

How could I forget about Hitman? Thanks for mentioning it. It doesn't really get good until the end of book one, but from there on it's awesome. So I'd recommend getting book one and two at the same time, because otherwise you might get a bad impression of an amazingly good series.

 

[Queen Michael]

Batgirl is amazingly well written, and you absolutely couldn't go wrong with it.

Seconded. It's a great series with really good writing.

 

[Vault101]

Try to find a trade paperback that others recommend. Something simple. Batman: Hush

I dont know about hush for a first time reader....it wasnt bad but it really felt tangled in its effort to have "shocking twists" in a comicbook world of retcons and reboots...I wouldnt be surprised if all the revelations there have been rendered undone by now

Having said that, if I were to suggest one really solid series, Batgirl is amazingly well written, and you absolutely couldn't go wrong with it.

is that new 52 batgirl? I was thinking about that one (right now I'm reading new 52 wonder woman and supergirl) though somone else here said it might be cancelled or the writer got fired...

aside from that whats with this "death in the family" arc? is that like a crossover?

 

[JimB]

Go to Barnes & Noble to the comic shelf. It'll be right there by the sci-fi aisle. Grab whatever collected paperbacks catch your eye, go over to the chairs, and start reading. If you like the book, make a note of the writer and/or artist, depending on what you liked about the book; then go to your local comic shop and tell them you're a newbie wanting to get into the hobby because you like [the names on your list]. They should help you out by telling you what those people are currently involved in, how long they've been doing it, and where to start.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Try to find a trade paperback that others recommend. Something simple. Batman: Hush

I dont know about hush for a first time reader....it wasnt bad but it really felt tangled in its effort to have "shocking twists" in a comicbook world of retcons and reboots...I wouldnt be surprised if all the revelations there have been rendered undone by now

Having said that, if I were to suggest one really solid series, Batgirl is amazingly well written, and you absolutely couldn't go wrong with it.

is that new 52 batgirl? I was thinking about that one (right now I'm reading new 52 wonder woman and supergirl) though somone else here said it might be cancelled or the writer got fired...

aside from that whats with this "death in the family" arc? is that like a crossover?

Yeah, New 52 Batgirl is the one I'm talking about.

As for Death of the Family, it does involve all the Bat Family characters (but they interact so frequently I hesitate to call it a crossover), but it's much more exciting than just that. At the end of the first New 52 issue of the mostly underwhelming Detective Comics, the Joker disappears, leaving behind only his face, which had been surgically removed. Death of the Family marks his return to the DCU a year after his disappearance to enact the plan he'd been working on since disappearing. It's really damn good too.

 

[Queen Michael]

is that new 52 batgirl? I was thinking about that one (right now I'm reading new 52 wonder woman and supergirl) though somone else here said it might be cancelled or the writer got fired...

I think you're talking about how Gail Simone, the writer for Batgirl, got fired from it. And yeah, that happened, but what she did write is really good.

 

[WolfThomas]

There's just way too many good comics out there to say read this, read that.

Simply find a comic that looks interesting, if you read it and enjoy it, try to find out more. Use wikipedia to fill in gaps if necessary, if another character gets introduced who you think is cool, look them up. So and so forth.

My entry into comics was Cable & Deadpool, because I had read Cable comics as a kid. I've read like 8,000 issues of everything and anything by this point in time.

 

[DeimosMasque]

There's just way too many good comics out there to say read this, read that.

Simply find a comic that looks interesting, if you read it and enjoy it, try to find out more. Use wikipedia to fill in gaps if necessary, if another character gets introduced who you think is cool, look them up. So and so forth.

My entry into comics was Cable & Deadpool, because I had read Cable comics as a kid. I've read like 8,000 issues of everything and anything by this point in time.

THIS! Comics were hard to get into a dozen or so years ago. But with Wikipedia, wikia's for every company and easy search engines it really goes for "Start with an interesting book and go from there."

Last Year DC rebooted their entire line (I'm not a fan of the change but gave it a shot) while Marvel is doing a relaunch right now (they didn't reboot just created jumping on points) so right now is probably the best time to do it.

 

[Loonyyy]

Find character you like. Get Trade Paperbacks, or Compendiums. Read. Trade Paperbacks and Compendiums contain more issues, and since they're listed in order, it gives you a good starting point.

I started The Darkness and The Walking Dead a couple of months ago. Loving it. Although The Darkness Compendium #1 misses Darkness V Batman, which is actually kind of important. Which is incredibly annoying about 3/4 of the way through.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Step 1: Go to comic book store/bookstore/online and buy comic of favorite super hero.
Step 2: Read.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit / try again.

I don't read physical comics. But the best way I know of is to just search and try. You get to form your own opinions on things without a possible bias.