Tratchet said:
Cool, already lots of good suggestions. I really like, I've seen the walking dead at the book store, but I think I'll give it a try. A number of these I'm more or less familiar with from searching TV tropes and looking through the bookstore, but I don't think I've ever heard of Bone, and it looks pretty interesting. I'll have to check it out. Also, I've had my eye on Hellblazer, so I might check that out as well. Also, are the Dresden files books good? I've heard a good amount of references to them, and I might check them out.
Kpt._Rob said:
Well, the Walking Dead is pretty amazing.
And may I ask if the thing that turns you off to DC and Marvel is the continuity? Because I hear a lot of people say it, and it's something that used to scare me too. But it's like learning to swim, all you really have to do is jump into the deep end of the pool, and your need to survive will do the rest. Hell, I've found that the continuity is one of the best parts, the DCU (which is what I read from) is the biggest single continuous story ever written (possible exceptions for the Marvel universe, I don't know which is bigger). Once you jump in, you find it all but impossible not to be tantalized by the unbelievably huge back story. Just a thought.
I won't deny, the continuity is a part of it, It's fairly daunting, but there are a couple of other reasons why I don't feel Marvel and DC superhero comics are right for me. One of the biggest is that if I started to get into a universe as expansive as these I'd want to know everything about the universe. while this would most certainly be possible, it would take a very long time and a lot of money, which I can't spare at the moment. Another big thing is that, from what I understand, books featuring the same characters are often written by different people (I'm not sure about this, tell me if I'm wrong). This is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine, as it would only take one crappy writer to completely ruin a character that I've grown to care about. I think the last thing is the knowledge that the big series are unlikely to ever end. But who knows, maybe someday I'll get into it, especially taking into account DC's upcoming reboot.
Hate to break it to you friend, but Hellblazer is a DC property. One of my favorites actually. But even in his early days John Constantine hung out with other DC characters like Swamp Thing. Hell, right now he's in a miniseries (which, incidentally, is awesome) where he's working with Batman and Zatanna (and supposedly Superman will show up at some point, since he was on the cover of the first.) to try and find Swamp Thing because of the events occurring at the conclusion of Brightest Day. And after the DC relaunch
(1) he's going to be in a running series,
Justice League: Dark, alongside Shade: The Changing Man, Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, and Deadman.
Anyways, you may underestimate the depth of the DCU if you think that understanding it in its entirety would be possible even with unlimited funds. However, if you've watched any of Movie Bob's Big Picture episodes (especially the one called Containanity) you're probably aware that DC has on multiple occasion seriously altered the continuity of the DCU, meaning that large portions of the history aren't even cannon anymore. That can be good or bad, but it can also seriously help with one of the pet-peeves you mentioned. Yes, it is true that heroes are not always written by the same author (in the case of some, like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman the original authors are dead). And every now and again a bad author does get ahold of a hero. But you can take solace in the realization that these sections of history often get retconned out of continuity.
The history of the DCU itself is a living breathing thing, capable of change. To understand it in its entirety is all but impossible. You can let that turn you off to it if you want (I'll admit that it turned me off to it at first), however, and I can't emphasize this enough, it would have been a mistake in my case to let that fear of never knowing the whole story prevent me from enjoying what I could. Comics have become one of my big joys in life. The anticipation I feel waiting for comic book Wednesdays is almost palpable at times. I love getting just one more hit of the story. Can I promise you that you'd feel the same if you gave it a chance? No, absolutely not. But I can say that if you are capable of enjoying these stories as much as I am, it'd be a shame for you to miss out on one of the most unique storytelling forms around.
(1) As a quick aside, it's actually not a reboot, it's a relaunch, which may sound the same, but there are some important differences. Things aren't just starting over. Right now, there's a big event going on in the DCU called Flashpoint. I don't want to give away too much of the amazing plot, but the big point is that Eobard Thwayne (the Reverse Flash) is messing with history. The end result isn't going to be that the characters all start over at the beginning, but instead it's going to be that they all end up at a place where it's really easy to pick up their stories and it won't require deep knowledge of continuity, but some events occurring before Flashpoint will probably remain within continuity. For instance, Blackest Night and Brightest Day will probably remain cannon.
