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 Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:39 am
Linda Lee Danvers In that, I mean that comics seem to actively try to turn OFF new people from reading. What can we suggest to you, when the companies try so hard to cater to the people who've read comics for 20,30, or 40 years and not to someone new who'd love to jump in, but doesn't know where?
- I started Daredevil with Guardian Devil and plowed through the trades until I caught up to the singles.
- I started Catwoman with Selina's Big Score and plowed through the trades until the end of Brubacker's run.
- My first Iron Man comic was Ellis' Extremis trade and I hopped straight into Fraction's Invincible from there.
- I started Batman with the first issue of Morrison's run and did fine.
- Oddly enough one of my smoothest jumping on points for a character was Power Girl, which is the most counterintuitive things ever, but there you go. I picked up the "Power Girl" trade, which is JSA Classified 1-4 plus a handful of classic appearances explaining her original origin, her company, and the whole Atlantean thing. Then I grabbed the first All Star Comics trade and proceeded to terrorize my LCS until Power Girl #1 arrived.
And so on. I've got a friend reading and loving both Zatanna and Black Widow whose only experience of Zee is my statue and Nat her appearance in Iron Man 2. I personally find it more of a problem what demographic they're pandering to than the level of knowledge required.
The other thing is that if you're struggling with a given character or title we've got wikipedia and Comic Vine now. Both are excellent resources. Also pretty much every Marvel comic and some DC ones give you a good preamble on the first page of the issue to explain what you need to know going into that issue.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:56 am
The primary difference between the two of you, though, is that you've been reading comics in general for most of your life. You intrinsically understand the storytelling and self-referencia that is in your typical story of today.
Heather doesn't know a "Crisis of Infinite Earths" from a hole in the ground. She is, literally, a brand-new comic reader. That your friend is diving in is great, and those are two titles that don't require a lot past having seen Batman: The animated series or Iron Man 2. Those types of titles are hard for a new reader to find, and with all of the different crossovers and miniseries' and whatnot available, it can be hard to keep track of what's what.
Especially when her husband keeps telling her not to read things because it will make other people mad! Stop doing that!
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Linda Lee Danvers Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:28 am
I didn't say that reading the new WW would make people mad! I said the new WW makes people mad!
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 4:18 pm
I feel like such a noob in this discussion and yeah, Linda's right. I don't know "Crisis of Infinite Earths" from a hole in the ground. (what is that? ). It seems that once I FIND a jumping off point, it's alright but it's looking at a comic that you know has a bajillion issues and knowing just where to jump off from. More often than not, I'll go "eh... there's too many of ____ issues to choose from" and then I'll either find something else or talk to someone who knows about it and ask them (like asking Linda about Superman heart ).
I'll also consider reading something that has been relaunched because I know I'm reading at #1 (like Green Arrow, the new BoP and I think there's a new Flash? )
When I joined Kapow, I had never read a single comic and that was only a few years ago. First one I owned/read was Fables. From there, I read Exiles, Jack of Fables, some old Hulk (which I did not like), Lois Lane, Birds of Prey (the old ones), Green Arrow, Green Arrow/Black Canary, a little of Strangers in Paradise, some Ultimate Spiderman, and Superman. I felt like I've learned a lot in a short time.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:01 am
If someone asked me "How do I get into comics?" I wouldn't say it was easy merely because I know where to point them; even from my point of view, well enough read and immersed in the "culture", I don't think it is easy. I think there are for every title multiple examples of "entry level material" (generally self contained trades or showcases) but when you're standing on the outside it all looks like the world's longest hallway of doors.
On the other hand there is a lot of stuff you don't need a "guide" to help you out with. Look up some Oni Press, Vertigo, manga titles?
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:51 am
Just read Secret Six. All the cool kids are doing it.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:27 am
Linda Lee Danvers The primary difference between the two of you, though, is that you've been reading comics in general for most of your life. You intrinsically understand the storytelling and self-referencia that is in your typical story of today. Quote: Heather doesn't know a "Crisis of Infinite Earths" from a hole in the ground. She is, literally, a brand-new comic reader. That your friend is diving in is great, and those are two titles that don't require a lot past having seen Batman: The animated series or Iron Man 2. Those types of titles are hard for a new reader to find, and with all of the different crossovers and miniseries' and whatnot available, it can be hard to keep track of what's what.
These days I've hooked myself into a fun little network of Twitter and Tumblr accounts that match my general tastes and I've already added two titles to my haul (Batgirl and Scarlet). The "dcwomenkicknass" tumblr account in specific is a brilliant little clearing house of information about all things DC with two x chromosomes. Right now she's running a series of "the five most important ____ covers" to give casual readers a better understanding of a given character's history. The most recent one was Steph Brown which was awesome for me because it illuminated parts of her history that I didn't know while I was reading the first trade of her new series. She also did a Dinah one as well as a whole series of posts of Dinah and her various motorcycles over the years.
I've always found that it's never a bad idea to keep your ear to the ground. Pay attention to what people are talking about at the LCS, lurk in forums, that kind of thing. The other half is just being fearless and diving in wherever something catches your attention. I had to read a lot of s**t before I really found what it was I wanted to read about most and learned how to spot it.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:40 am
Katherine Kane Yeah, I dunno about that. In grade school I read Archie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sporadically with the odd issue of Spider-Man thrown in. At age fourteen I read Danger Girl, Fathom, and Witchblade. From eighteen to nineteen I added on Daredevil, Street Fighter, and Y: The Last Man. I didn't know s**t beyond what I picked up from cartoons and issues of Wizard until I joined Gaia. That would make you exactly the type of person Linda is talking about.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:33 am
Katherine Kane These days I've hooked myself into a fun little network of Twitter and Tumblr accounts that match my general tastes and I've already added two titles to my haul (Batgirl and Scarlet). The "dcwomenkicknass" tumblr account in specific is a brilliant little clearing house of information about all things DC with two x chromosomes. Right now she's running a series of "the five most important ____ covers" to give casual readers a better understanding of a given character's history. The most recent one was Steph Brown which was awesome for me because it illuminated parts of her history that I didn't know while I was reading the first trade of her new series. She also did a Dinah one as well as a whole series of posts of Dinah and her various motorcycles over the years.
I've always found that it's never a bad idea to keep your ear to the ground. Pay attention to what people are talking about at the LCS, lurk in forums, that kind of thing. The other half is just being fearless and diving in wherever something catches your attention. I had to read a lot of s**t before I really found what it was I wanted to read about most and learned how to spot it. That is all a part of being "already immersed in the culture" though, isn't it? If you were not already floating around your local shop, heavy in online discussions/lurking; if you were ACTUALLY ENTIRELY NEW to the wacky world of comics - it can be difficult. If you can read, you can read a comic. If you've read a lot of comics, you are better at "finding" them. How do you decide what to read Heather? Are you following a character; do you want something new all together; do you want a genre? If you don't know, do what I do and don't care. I like to just go to a shop and look around. Something looks interesting either by author or character or hell, the cover - I'll buy it or at least ask about it. If I like it and it is the start of a series I'll get more. If I like it and it is in the middle of some title (say I grab a green lantern trade of some kind), I'll try and figure out what trade is before it or after it. Finding things "on my own" has generally been more rewarding then getting suggestions for the most part. xd
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:17 pm
I'm pretty weird with comics. For the most part, I like things that aren't entirely action. You know.. some interpersonal stuff thrown in. I think that's why I haven't fully embraced the new BoP yet. One of the things I like about Superman is that sometimes, it's not all about a**-kicking. Sometimes, it's an issue with a bit of comedy, like when Lois was sick or like now, when he's walking around getting back to his "do-gooder roots". I guess that's why I actually liked Green Arrow/Black canary when Brian told me that lots of people thought it sucked. In non-comic news, tomorrow I go to get my blood drawn. I'm also heading over to the hospital to donate all my teeny charity baby hats. Their PR person is making sort of a "big deal" out of it. She wants to escort me up to the "Family Birth Place" and take pictures of the event, yadda yadda. It's nice that they're excited, I'm just not sure how I'll feel tomorrow afternoon after being in a place like that. I think I have close to 40 hats to donate. I also made a baby bib for a mod who had a baby. Clicky to see the Lion Bib
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:28 pm
*butts in*
And she ADORES Fables...favorite issue was Snow marrying Bigby...
*butts out*
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:35 pm
heart heart heart
It's true! I'm such a sap.
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:46 pm
You are of course then reading The Unwritten?
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:38 pm
The Unwritten is lovely! Which reminds me I have back issues on several titles I need to track down... gonk
I'm pretty weird with comics too. I don't really have a rhyme or reason to what I do or don't pick up. I'm very all over the place with my comic reading. The only consistant thing is that I go through phases. I'll read a lot of mainstream stuff for a while, then suddenly get back into manga, then switch to something else completely, suddenly start reading by genre or character, pick up a few of the same creator, so on so forth until I repeat at some point.
Good luck on your baby hat adventure; just feel up lifted by the good you're doing!
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:46 pm
And life gets more strange every day. The founder of 4chan was in US District court explaining Internet terms.
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