So young padawan, you have decided for whatever reason there is that you want to know more about the world of comic books? Saw one of the latest superhero movie and thought ” man, I’d like to know more about that guy!”? Well, congratulation first of all on seeing the light, I promise you won’t regret the ride.
With so many superhero movies coming out in the next few months, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier who just came out about a week ago, X-Men: Days of Future Past ( I might cry and faint in the theater, that’s how big of a nerd I am), and Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s the perfect time to start looking at their comics.
Yes? what is it? You tried by yourself to look at a few comics and it didn’t end well? You felt overwhelmed, lost in the sea of series, characters and publishers?
Sit down you poor soul, and take some notes because this guide is exactly for you then. With the help of various comic books lovers and experts, and with my humble knowledge, I put together a simple and easy guide full of pointers to make your experience enjoyable.
Hold on to you tights and cape, and Allons-y!
Keep Calm and Carry On
Like I just said, many people are overwhelmed the first time they visit a comic book store, or when they start looking online for what to read. Do not fret my friend! We all started there, looking like lost children searching for their mother in a crowded mall, it’s perfectly normal. Bottle down this fear of the unknown, take a step outside your hobbit hole, and go on an adventure!
The abundance of comics might look like something that will make your choice harder, but instead see it more as a wider range to choose from.
Think of What you Want, and go for What you Like
If you start looking blindly at what to read, then you really will get discourage and give up.
Just to give you an idea, Marvel has more than 9 000 characters. Yes, you read that right, 9 000 CHARACTERS. And that’s only one franchise, so I will let you all imagine in total what it adds up to.
If you are a millionaire who doesn’t really need to work, and have no particular interest for social interactions then be my guest you lucky bastard, and have fun looking at the loooooooong and never ending list of characters and their universes to decide on who you’d like to read about.
But for the rest of us, poor mortals with busy lives, and even more for the ones like me with the attention span of a hamster on caffeine, that list is a ‘ not in a million year’ type of list.
So what do we do then to decide on what we will read?
Well, starts with the basics. You’ve watched Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr. and thought it was great? Go for Iron man.
You like the mix of fantasy and mythology brought up in Thor? Try it you.
” People that come into my shop and ask for suggestions expect that I will just throw titles at them. No, my job is to make your experience enjoyable and find something that YOU will like and will want more,” said Myles Charon from Captain Quebec Store. ” Comics are first and foremost a visual media, and when we settle on something you might like then we start looking into drawing styles. If you don`t like a certain type of art, we go to a different artist.”
Comic book picking isn’t an exact science, there’s a lot of trial and error. Sometimes you’ll fall on the first try on something you love, and sometimes you will despise it. I read a lot of comics that made me question my life choices and morals, but I also read a lot that were piece of arts, compensating for the bad ones. All padawans must starts somewhere to be jedis. ( or evil Sith lords, I won’t judge)
Start at the Beginning
I can see you rolling your eyes at me, thinking I’m a moron for even writing this. But, let me tell you that in the universe of comic books, beginnings can be a royal pain in the butt to find. You change storyline, you go back in time, crossovers, characters die than come back to life…To this day, I still have nightmares about the X-Men. Starting to read in the middle of a series is like turning on the TV and starting to watch episode 10 of a show. You’ll eventually catch on to what’s going on, and with the beautiful thing that is the internet it’s pretty easy to look up what you missed, but why make things complicated when you can start at issue one and avoid the headache when you can?
In Doubt, Just Batman
As of preferences, I always was more of a Marvel fan than a DC one. I grew up with the X-Men and the Avengers, love their universes and find their storylines in majority well written.
Everyone knows Batman. He’s an iconic superhero. He’s a dark hero, and doesn`t have super powers like the other Justice League members, he relies on his technology, his strengths and his intelligence.
If you really don`t know where you want to start, and have no particular interest toward a specific character or universe, try Batman.
” Batman is probably the biggest well known character ever. People can relate to him easier than with the other superheroes because he’s human, he’s flawed and it makes him an approachable character with an incredible list of storylines.” Said Alex from Carsley’s Comics.
To push you down onto the gotham world, here are three titles that are perfect to begin with.
First, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Chris Nolan’s movie does take inspiration from this comic, but it is not the same story. This comic was what reinvigorated the character and gave him this dark, not-simply-for-children look we have today.
Batman: Year One is another perfect comic to start with. After Miller did the later years of Bruce Wayne, here he goes to the very beginning of it all in a broody, dark and frankly quite brilliant storyline. If when you read it sounds familiar, Batman Begins was inspired by the comic right here.
Last but not least, Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. This is one of my favourite, as I just love the Joker as a villain, and I think he’s one of the greatest no matter the franchise. This story explores the relationship between Batman and his nemesis, bringing together nearly every interpretation of the two since then. Moore pokes at their dynamic until it’s as raw and open as a flesh wound, and I don`t think I`ve seen another Batman as intense and psychological as this.
Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy once said Fitzgerald, and it is indeed very fitting of Batman.
Not really a capes and spandex suit person?
That’s really isn`t a problem my friend! Thought it might seems comic books are only with superheroes ( and you wouldn’t be technically wrong as most of them are), more and more graphic novels are coming out with none power stories.
” If someone comes in and say I want to read something but I’m not a huge superhero fan, I’ll recommend Preacher without a single thought.” Said Brian Grindrod, Co-owner of Omnibus Library.
” For me it would be The Walking Dead. Great series, good illustration and people heard about it through the TV show.” Added Vito, his business partner.
There’s a wide range of graphic novels to choose from these days with amazing stories that are not about super human strength or eye-shooting lasers.
If you love history, then Maus is a must read in a life time. Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust comic is a work of art portraying the life of his father during WWII where all the characters are portrayed by various animals. For example, Jewish are portrayed as mice, Germans as cats and Americans as dogs and so on. It truly is a must read, and is often label as one of the best 20th century literature work.
Recommended titles by yours truly
recommending titles to read is really just a never ending list, because there’s so many that a new one always comes to mind.
In a desperate attempt to help you in a more concrete way, I strolled to my geek shelf and look at what I read when I started just like you are now, and try to add some titles to the one I already mentioned abouve.
I hope these will inspire you, and remember the main objective is to have fun and enjoy what you are reading. And no one can decide that but you. May the force of comics be with you!
As I said earlier, Days of Future Past is coming out soon, and it’s a fantastic comic to read. X-Men can be a hard one to get into at first, but it is so worth it in the end. Joss Whedon ( yes the creator of the Buffy TV show) also worked on The Astonishing X-Men, which if you liked the style of Buffy, you will love that series and it’s well… astonishing.
Neil Gaiman’ Sandman has become incredibly popular with a ground-breaking story worth getting lost in. Taking myths and legends from all around the world, it’s an epic tale worth your time and money. And ladies (and some gents), Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to play in the movie adaptation, so keep an eye on that!
Alex's findings 
Pretty Deadly! Volume one comes out in trade on April 30 – that gives two weeks to set aside the $20 or so it’ll cost to buy it, and schedule a few blocks of an hour or so each to read it, re-read it, re-read it again, with time to think about it between each reading, because it’s just that damned good.
More generally, I think my biggest piece of advice is not to sweat the details. The recap pages will tell you what you need to know. Other things will often be filled in during the comic itself. If a reference isn’t explained, it’s because it’s not important. So even if you start a story right in the middle of an arc, anything you need to know will be explained, and anything that isn’t explained is something you don’t need to know, so there’s no need to worry about it.
Also, British writers. Read British writers. For some reason, British comic book writers are just ridiculously good. Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing – British writers just seem to be crazy, and crazy-talented.