Help Getting Into Comics

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Falcon123

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Aug 9, 2009
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To make a long story short, when I was younger, my parents refused to allow me to read comic books because they believed I would be made fun of for it and things would get worse from a social perspective than they already were (I was made fun of for being a dork basically starting from birth, so I somewhat understand from where they were coming, but the damage of telling me that being who I wanted to be was wrong by saying it would only hurt me and banning me from even just having them around was damaging to my young psyche and took me a while to overcome, but I digress). Now that I'm going off to college this fall, I finally have the ability to do something I've wanted to do for so long: become a comic book fan.

Here's the rub: I know absolutely nothing about comic book superheroes that wasn't explained in movies started from 2004. Since they've been withheld from me, I have no clue where to begin. And this is why I'm turning to you, my fellow escapees, to help me sink my teeth into the comic book world.

This is what I know: As a college student, I have a pretty limited income, so I can't afford to do anything that would break the bank (though I do have a job, so I'm not completely dead in the water). I would prefer a series in which I can get started and understand what's going on, so if I need a master's thesis to understand the plot, it might great later, but not for the first comic series I'll ever read. As far as preferences are concerned, I've always enjoyed Batman (the only comic I've ever been able to read, at summer camp of all things. I couldn't tell you which one it was, or even what happened--I was only 8--but it was really cool) and I've loved the Avengers movies and X-Men First Class that Marvel Studios have been churning out recently (especially Thor).

Any help pointing me in the right direction is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help in advance
 

Kolby Jack

Come at me scrublord, I'm ripped
Apr 29, 2011
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DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

But if you're dead set on Marvel... change your mind! Marvel sucks. (<--IMO)
 

Fwee

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Sep 23, 2009
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Some of my favorites include Preacher, The Maxx, The Sandman, and Transmetropolitan.
I'd suggest checking local libraries to see if they have any trade paperbacks to check out. It's usually a good place to find decent comics you might not have heard of before.
Keep an eye out for the writers of the comics. My suggestions:
Mark Millar
Garth Ennis
Warren Ellis
Neil Gaiman
Joss Whedon
 

ChromeAlchemist

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Aug 21, 2008
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Well damn, the first part of your post made me sad...

But anyway! It's actually quite difficult to point you to a "start off" book for comics, but I can probably recommend a few.

Batman:

Batman: Year One
Broken City
The Killing Joke
The Dark Knight Returns

X-Men

Astonishing X-Men (the entire run isn't long)

Marvel:

Runaways
Ultimates

There's a comic book group available for you to ask questions and whatnot. If you check back on there and drop a message, I can suggest more, or if you have questions about the Marvel or DC universes (it can be daunting at first) don't hesitate to ask.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Comic-Book-group

Enjoy! I'll edit some more into this post in a bit.
 

Falcon123

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Aug 9, 2009
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Jack the Potato said:
DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

But if you're dead set on Marvel... change your mind! Marvel sucks. (<--IMO)
So everything is literally going back to square one? That's... incredibly convenient for me if I understand correctly. Out of curiosity, how are the DC fans handling the news?

Oh, and since you are a DC fan, which series that are being rebooted would you recommend?
 

Falcon123

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Aug 9, 2009
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ChromeAlchemist said:
Well damn, the first part of your post made me sad...

But anyway! It's actually quite difficult to point you to a "start off" book for comics, but I can probably recommend a few.

Batman:

Batman: Year One
Broken City
The Killing Joke
The Dark Knight Returns

X-Men

Astonishing X-Men (the entire run isn't long)

Marvel:

Runaways
Ultimates

There's a comic book group available for you to ask questions and whatnot. If you check back on there and drop a message, I can suggest more, or if you have questions about the Marvel or DC universes (it can be daunting at first) don't hesitate to ask.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Comic-Book-group

Enjoy! I'll edit some more into this post in a bit.
Thanks for the heads up on the group; I'm definitely going to head there now. Really appreciate your help :)
 

The Bucket

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May 4, 2010
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(especially Thor).
Ive just read the first Thor: The Mighty Avenger trade and it is brilliant. Not steeped in much lore (some semi-obscure characters show up but its explained very well what you need to know about them) and it is hilarious.
 

XDravond

Something something....
Mar 30, 2011
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hmmm not the rigth person to ask (have a waaaay to week spot for disney yea that company...) but I started to like "Atomic Robo" and "Chew" when i looked into comixology on my ipod touch (think they exist for android to..)... if your at it I guess a look at "Vision machine" is worth it..

All of them have FREE parts (for some reason free is the best) you can check out if nothing else "free comic book day" might be worth noting...
Remember I am no real expert or very much into "real heavy" (like batman black and white) comics ;-) /my taste
 

Varanfan9

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Mar 12, 2010
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Well I too recently got into comics and I will just say this. Go to the store and pick whatever catches your eye. If it looks like it interests you it probably will. Plus if you want to find out the back story of a character, wikipedia is a really easy source to catch up on stuff.
btw I am a Marvel fan so this is speaking from a Marvel person's perspective. The whole catching up thing will not apply if you go with DC since they are doing the whole restart thing.
 

Illmad

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Mar 23, 2011
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Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. Best comic i've ever read. And it's only 10 volumes long, so it's not a money sucking infinity-storyline like the superhero stories.
 

Vault Citizen

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May 8, 2008
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Falcon123 said:
Jack the Potato said:
DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

But if you're dead set on Marvel... change your mind! Marvel sucks. (<--IMO)
So everything is literally going back to square one? That's... incredibly convenient for me if I understand correctly. Out of curiosity, how are the DC fans handling the news?
Personally I was pissed at first, then I found out that not everything is being undone and that it wouldn't mean a disappearance of all the side characters I'd grown to love so I wasn't too upset. Then I found out Red Hood was getting his own time and I became excited.

The only thing that really bothers me are the costume changes, I think I've only seen one so far that I've liked.
 

ReservoirAngel

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Nov 6, 2010
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DC is rebooting their shit. New origin stories, new... everything. Redesigned characters, new continuity, right from scratch. That'd be the obvious place to start since, you know, you don't have to memorise the pants-on-head ridiculous continuity (see Big Picture's "Going Green" two-parter for samples of the lunacy).

If you really want Marvel...don't. Just... don't. I tried it, never looked back. It's kinda shitty. At least in my opinion. It's just too... ugh, I don't even know. It just lacks something that DC has.

Vault Citizen said:
The only thing that really bothers me are the costume changes, I think I've only seen one so far that I've liked.
Been meaning to ask a DC guy about this. Is there somewhere I can find all these redesigns? I've only seen Superman's so far.
 

Sonicron

Do the buttwalk!
Mar 11, 2009
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Illmad said:
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. Best comic i've ever read. And it's only 10 volumes long, so it's not a money sucking infinity-storyline like the superhero stories.
Quoted for absolute truth.

In short, it's a comic book about a brilliant lunatic of a journalist in future America (exact time or place are never specified), who (through a series of events) ends up trying to bring down the presidency. Drugs, tits, violence, unfiltered surreal hilarity, and a ray gun that makes people explosively void their bowels - what's not to like?
 

frizzlebyte

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Oct 20, 2008
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I've just started getting into comics myself, and have to agree with Varanfan9. Just pick what looks interesting. I just picked up some copies of Grimm Fairy Tales at Fry's Electronics the other day. They are basically adult-oriented versions of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, like cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Alice in Wonderland (not Grimm's, obviously, but whatever. It's a pretty freaky retelling).

Of course, your other bet is to find some graphic novels. The classics are Watchmen and V for Vendetta, but there are so many more it's not even funny, so you could have a blast at Barnes and Noble.

Good luck with the search! It's always fun to find a new hobby. I am happy for you.
 

Dr. wonderful

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Dec 31, 2009
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Jack the Potato said:
DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

But if you're dead set on Marvel... change your mind! Marvel sucks. (<--IMO)
*Sniff*

You are my hero.

I say, look up some of the Encyclopedias that Both Marvel and DC put out over the years That's a good start. Look up superheroes on Wikipedia. That how I started out, looking up the histiores on Batman and the Batclan.

But again, Marvel is really, really hard to get into.
 

Harkonnen64

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Jul 14, 2010
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Jack the Potato said:
DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

But if you're dead set on Marvel... change your mind! Marvel sucks. (<--IMO)
Ah yes, Marvel, a.k.a. Retcon Inc.
 

cmikenike

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Sep 23, 2010
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The current run of Amazing Spider-Man has been good, as is the entire Hickman run of Fantastic Four and the followup title FF. If you want a general intro, Marvels been releasing the x.1 issues for people just getting into it. Avengers has been pretty good, and though there is a fair amount of continuity based stories lately, they tend to give you enough info to enjoy it. Avengers Academy is also good, and if you find the issues of the most recent Spider-Girl, which has unfortunately been canceled, I recommend you pick them up, because they are just fun. Also check out the Incredible Hercules trades sometime if you like great, funny, and mythologically pretty spot on stories. It's recently started again with just Hercules, and it's pretty good, too, and only a few issues in. I don't read a whole lot of DC, and none of what I do read is getting picked back up post-Reboot, so I can't really say much there.
 

Ignatz_Zwakh

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Sep 3, 2010
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Check "The Umbrella Academy" by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba. It's up there in the grand pantheon of awesome superhero comics. Also, anything by Ed Brubaker is mad awesome, especially his Captain America stuff.