So I finally figured out the problem with superhero comics

[aba1]

So the last issue of Amazing Spiderman will be issue 700 but the story won't actually be ending, the story will continue with issue 1 of the Superior Spiderman. So if Superior Spiderman is number 1 than that logically means that it should in fact be the start of the story with no knowledge of Spiderman needed to start but it won't be the start of the story which is incredibly misleading and really improperly labeled since it isn't really the first issue of the story it is actually the 701st. This same logic could be applied to just about all the DC's New 52 line minus a handful of titles.

Ummm another example I could use was something that came up just a few days ago when I was lending my girlfriend a few graphic novels. The problem was that the series was 4 novels long but none of them had a number on them or any indication of which came first or last or even if they were even associated at all since the base title alone in comics doesn't even guarantee that. In the end we had to start reading them at random just to figure out the order and in the end after she had read them all it turned out we missed the first one and that was why huge chunks of the story were missing for her.

"I'm trying to read Lord of the Rings, but I can't work out the order! I read the Two Towers and the Return of the King but it turned out there was one at the start that I missed and so I was missing huge chunks of the story! And don't get me started on the Narnia or Discworld series!
Why can't authors just keep the titles the same and put numbers after them so it's easy to work out?!?"

If you want to know the order of a story, look it up on Wikipedia, or another site and if a comic restarts as number 1, they're probably trying to tell you that you can start reading there without any real loss to the story. Let's face it, it's nearly impossible to start at the very beginning any more, there's just too many.

A great deal of the time Lord of the Rings is labeled for order and when they are not the first thing they say on back is the order. With comics most of the time they do neither and besides you should never have to do research just to get involved with a product all the information you need should be right there. This is like advertising and design 101.

 

[TehCookie]

Wait, you noticed this after you've been reading them? I noticed it when I wanted to try reading a few and had no clue where to start. Though that's probably a good thing since I wanted to start reading American comics since I love manga, but I doubt I could find something I like among American comics.

When you say "American comics," do you mean "superhero comics" or just American comics in general? Because if it's the latter, you should just chekc out Preacher or Transmetropolitan, or Chew. Good all of them, and there's a clearly marked book one.

I'll definitely check those out, since two of those are right up my alley. Thanks for giving me a place to start.

Wait, you noticed this after you've been reading them? I noticed it when I wanted to try reading a few and had no clue where to start. Though that's probably a good thing since I wanted to start reading American comics since I love manga, but I doubt I could find something I like among American comics.

theres plenty to like....even with superheros

I can't seemed to find stuff that interest me though, at least Queen Michael helped with that. Besides I'm not against superheroes, I'd be interested in a shoujo superhero comic just to see how America would handle it.

 

[GiantRaven]

And I've been reading Batwoman since issue #1, and as far as I can tell it's the same thing there. For the most part, it's just like before.

How is Renee Montoya in that series, just out of interest?

 

[Maze1125]

A great deal of the time Lord of the Rings is labeled for order and when they are not the first thing they say on back is the order. With comics most of the time they do neither and besides you should never have to do research just to get involved with a product all the information you need should be right there. This is like advertising and design 101.

And what should you do when your continuity becomes so large that you'd need an entire booklet with each issue to explain everything?
Should you double your printing costs to produce that booklet, or occasionally do a minor "reboot" and start again with issue "1" so as to indicate to consumers "Look, if you want, just start here. You won't miss much if you do."?

 

[Queen Michael]

And I've been reading Batwoman since issue #1, and as far as I can tell it's the same thing there. For the most part, it's just like before.

How is Renee Montoya in that series, just out of interest?

Not. She's not in it at all.

 

[Queen Michael]

You know, I actually like the continuity. It makes the comic book worlds feel real like nothing else could. Read the Matt Fraction Iron Man books? Interested in that guy, The Red Dynamo? Want to learn more about him? No worries -- his earlier fights with Iron Man have all been published and you can go read about them. When the GReen Goblin refers to his earlier battles with Spider-Man, that's not just talk. Every single one of them have been recorded on paper for us to read. The real problem is when series like Hellblazer take place in the same world as Final Crisis. Take a look at some new Hellblazer collections. Notice how nobody in London seems to be aware that the world was invaded by Darkseid a while ago. Yeah.

 

[Im_not_Akira]

While I do think this is a problem with comics I don't think it's the main reason for putting people off superhero comics but rather that their is such a large body of books for each character with no clear starting point.

It's easier to find a good starting point now thanks to the Internet but it still requires various time and money that other mediums don't require.