Help Getting Into Comics

[Flailing Escapist]

There is a series called "Fear Itself" from Marvel that I would highly recommend.
Or any deadpool comic, I'm sure he wouldn't mind breaking you in.
The first book of Kick-Ass is a good start too, it all just depends what you're into.

 

[Amondren]

DC is rebooting wait for it to happen and pick 1 up.

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

DC is starting the universe over again pretty soon, so if you start there you'll be exactly as caught up with everyone else.

Some of DC's characters are being left alone.

From what I've found, Batman's universe is basically untouched. Though I'm really upset they're getting rid of Red Robin.

OT: Batman, yep.

Batman: Hush
The Dark Knight Returns
The Long Halloween & Dark Victory
Arkham Asylum

Superman

All Star Superman
Superman: Red Son
Last Son
Earth One (don't listen to naysayers, it's good, I swear)

 

[WolfThomas]

Find a writer you enjoy, they're stuff is usually quite consistent across titles:

Some of my favourite writers are:

Warren Ellis (Next Wave: Agents of Hate, The Authority, Transmetropolitian)
Garth Ennis (Hellblazer, Punisher MAX, Preacher)
Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Animal Man, The Invisibles)
Mark Millar (Kickass, Ultimates, Superman : Red Son, The Authority)
Neil Gaimon (Sandman)
Brian Michael Bendis (Alias, Powers)
Mike Carey (Lucifer, The Unwritten)
Brian K. Vaughn (Y - The Last Man, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina).

 

[Varanfan9]

Hey me again. I was looking through some of the other responses after mine and I just wanna say this. Do not count Marvel out. Really which one you pick is a question of preference. If you want a whole new world pick DC. But if you want fantastical elements added in to the real world Marvel is the way to go. I'm not bashing DC but I always preferred Marvel because there stories were in real places and real world events happen in it (They did a great Spider-man story about 9/11 for instance). Just wanted to give a run down of the other guy.

 

[riverand]

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

My two cents:

~As for the money issue, many libraries carry comic books. I notice they tend to have more MANGA than American stuff in my library, but you should check yours out.

~Find a *cool* comic book shop where you can take to the people there and ask their advice. We have one here in NY (here is their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1523365116&ref=ts), but you may have one near you too.

~Treat comic books like books: find what you like and read it. My husband is the super-hero guy in the house, but I tend to go all over the place, and take him with me from time to time. You'll have a lot to read if you are trying to catch up with everything (this is kind of why I skipped out on a lot of the super-hero stuff, myself), but here are some other cool reads you may want to check out if someone can lend them to you, or if you library has them:
*anything by the Luna Brothers
*The Umbrella Academy
*Bone
*I Kill Giants
*Invincible
*Mage
...man, I know I am forgetting some great stuff right now, but I am sleepy, perhaps I will return in the morn'

 

[Greatjusticeman]

I was going to try, but I saw DC was doing a re-boot which I'm excited for. Brand new.

 

[Hawkmoon269]

I just recently got into comics, and here's where I started. I started with "The Ultimates". Its essentially the Avengers for the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Ultimate Marvel has only been going for a few years, its all new storylines for well known Marvel characters, so theres not too much back log of stories and continuity to worry about.

The Ultimates, is followed by a number of sequels (but not too many!) so you'd be able to read the whole story, and enjoy characters like Capt America, Thor, The Hulk, Giant Man and the Wasp, without spending crazy amounts.

Also, going on at the same time as "The Ultimates" story is Ultimate Xmen and Ultimate Spiderman, which are both really good, but have many more books to get through. Theres also Ultimate Galactus too which is cool. There was also Ultimate Thor, and Ultimate Iron man 1 and 2, which serve as prequels to The Ultimates, so they can be read without any prior comic knowledge whatsoever.

Once you've got your fill of the Ultimate section of comics, its finishes off that particular set of stories with "Ultimatum" - so you have a definitive ending point to aim for.

And after Ultimatum, Marvel relaunched its Ultimate line as "Ultimate Comics". A little confusing, but Ultimate comics are the current line, so you'd be right up to date.

For anymore questions about order etc, check out wikipedia. It's articles tend to explain what comes after what, &tc.

 

[Falcon123]

Thanks to all of you for the advice. For those of you who are DC fans, which of the reboots are you most anticipating? Since Batman isn't being rebooted, I'm curious to know which other DC franchises are worth looking into.

 

[Anachronism]

You need to read Watchmen. End of. Probably the best and most influential comic ever written, and it's only one volume, so you don't need to worry about expense.

If you want something that you don't need to know the backstory to get into, I'd strongly recommend Garth Ennis' Punisher books. Hell, I recommend those regardless; they're fantastic. It is an ongoing story, but all of the arcs are very self-contained and you don't need to know about what's gone before. The backstory is basically: the Punisher hates criminals, so he kills them. Boom. It's worth bearing in mind that the majority of them, particularly those published under the MAX imprint, are extraordinarily violent, but don't let that put you off. Punisher: Born, his origin story, is one of the finest comics I've read.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. For those of you who are DC fans, which of the reboots are you most anticipating? Since Batman isn't being rebooted, I'm curious to know which other DC franchises are worth looking into.

The reboot confuses me. DC recently launched the Earth One graphic novels, which are set in an alternate universe and are meant retell the origins of various characters. In the light of the reboot, they seem irrelevant, so I'm not sure what'll happen with them. I hope they don't get cancelled, since I was really looking forward to the sequel to Superman: Earth One. Which, incidentally, is very worth a read. Since it's a new spin on his origin, you don't need any backstory to understand it. It's a very good comic.

 

[aba1]

Thanks to all of you for the advice. For those of you who are DC fans, which of the reboots are you most anticipating? Since Batman isn't being rebooted, I'm curious to know which other DC franchises are worth looking into.

batman is being rebooted it is just keeping elements and such still but there bringing it to a place where it will be easy for new people to jump on infact thats what im doing ^^

 

[StBishop]

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)

I disagree.

Anyway. OP Spiderman is really easy to get into. You can buy (relatively cheap) reprinted hardbacks that include all the first 150 comics or something.
Although it's a large initial outlay, it's much cheaper than trying to buy them all individually and not to mention trying to find copies.

Also, find a comic book store where the staff don't hate you for not knowing about the same as them (You can't know more than them, it shits them even more) about comics.

 

[WolfThomas]

Hey me again. I was looking through some of the other responses after mine and I just wanna say this. Do not count Marvel out. Really which one you pick is a question of preference. If you want a whole new world pick DC. But if you want fantastical elements added in to the real world Marvel is the way to go. I'm not bashing DC but I always preferred Marvel because there stories were in real places and real world events happen in it (They did a great Spider-man story about 9/11 for instance). Just wanted to give a run down of the other guy.

I'll agree with this sentiment. I love two things about the Marvel Universe that are different from DC at the moment.

Super-hero identities are practically non-existent at the moment in the MU, only Spiderman and some minor characters still hide their names. Most superheroes, if not known to the general public, are known to the government and/or other superheroes. There's also very much the concept of the superhero as a celebrity and as a legitimite career path.

Secondly, killing. Most Marvel characters have a realistic approach to killing, most (except Wolverine and the Punisher) go out their way to avoid killing an enemy, but when in the heat of the moment with peoples lives are at stake Marvel heroes will kill a super-villain. This is a stark contrast to DC heroes (look at the whole Maxwell Lord thing).