Where to start?

[predata]

Hi,

I'm a brand new person to the world of comic books. I have a few graphic novels and i really enjoy reading them however i want to get into different comic book series and start doing some collecting.

The problem is, I have no idea where to start. No idea what series to chose and even worse, with so many variations on series and reboots its really hard to know where to start even when I chose a series to follow.

Im a fan of both Marvel and DC. My experiences are with the movies and cartoons from the 90's.

The reason I am posting in the marvel forum is because I love x-men (I secretly love batman more, but x-men has so much more fantastical elements to it, from what i remember from the cartoon show ^^). So I was thinking that would be a good place to start. Its fun and has loads of characters and heroes working together.

I guess I answered my own question regarding a series to chose, now where do I start?

Also any recommendations on other series? (I know its a silly question as everyone has different tastes).

Also I don't think there is a 'comic book' store nearby, there are a few book stores but they mostly do little children's comics. Any other good reliable sources to get them?

I did consider digital comics but I think I would rather have the hard print copies ^^.

Thanks in advance.

 

[runawayboulder]

I'd read through the recommendations thread. It's the 2nd from the top of the forum. For some reason folks always miss it.

 

[predata]

I'd read through the recommendations thread. It's the 2nd from the top of the forum. For some reason folks always miss it.

D'oh, my bad. Sorry I didn't see it.

Hope this thread doesn't get locked though, someone might have a suggestion not in the recommendation thread.

Thank you so much, will check it out now ^^.

 

[Lord]

If you want to start from the very begining ou can try the X-Men Essentials and Marvel Masterworks that collect the stories from the 60 and 70s, if you prefer modern comics then you could try Ultimate X-Men, it's set in a different from the mainstream Marvel Universe and is part of the Ultimate Marvel line which was created during the begining of the 21st century as something for new readers that neber read other marvel comics befores, some stories are modern retellings of classic stories with a different twist, others are completelly original.

As for Batman i there's a lot of ways to start, there are even many threads about that, you could try Batman: Year One, Batman: Hush, Batman: The Long Halloween, and Batman Chronicles (for more of Batman you can simply search in the DC section.

More Marvel stories that i recomend are Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's Fantastic Four run which is collected in Marvel Masterworks and Marvel Essential volumes, Hickman's run of Fantastic Four is also collected and i recomend it too. Iron Man: Extremis inspired Iron Man 3 so i recomend it, as well as Iron Man: Demon in the Bottle.

Spider-Man: Death of the Stacys is also a good storyline to pick, if you like stories set in the 30s and 40s i recomend Marvel Project which basically tells the story of the Marvel history during the golden age, it's basically an origin for the Marvel Universe.

Last and not least i recomend Marvels, it's only one volume and it gives you the entire story of the Marvel history from the 30s to the 70s, one of the best ways to understand the Marvel universe better.

 

[predata]

Thanks ^^

I read Long halloween, man who laughs, and loved them.

Im going to check out your recommendations. Thanks, it really helped.

 

[JewishHobbit]

X-Men is a hard ship to jump on. They're in the middle of a HUGE event crossover with the Avengers right now for another month I think. After that there's a huge relaunch in the X-Men and Avengers world. It might be the best jumping on point for you. Look up the website comicbookresources.com or newsarama.com and read up on Marvel NOW (or look up the thread here) to see what's coming out. That'll help you figure out what to buy. Not a lot is announced yet but you can keep up on it.

The only X-Men book that's announced is one that will have the original 5 X-Men (Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, Iceman, and Angel) coming to the modern Marvel Universe and not liking what's become of them. I think the book's called X-Men Now but I could be remembering that wrong.

Some X-Men are also going to start mixing with the Avengers.

Oh, and a new Gambit ongoing series that's new reader friendly will be launching next month if that interests you.


As far as where to buy I'm not sure. Maybe a subscription through Marvel.com?

 

[JewishHobbit]

And, and as far as Batman goes... DC just did a big relaunch and Batman's about 12 issues into a new ongoing series. It's been fantastic. The next issue is a new arc featuring Joker (who's recently had his face cut off). There are a bunch of Batman books but I recommend the title that's just straight "Batman." Don't bother with Batman Incorporated because there's years of backstory that led to it. You'd be lost. Detective Comics also stars Batman but I don't read it. Batman & Robin is focuses on Bruce and his son, Damian (from Bruce and Talia Al Ghul). It's been good so far.

 

[Arach Knight]

If you just want to enjoy the characters and stories, I'd suggest starting with interesting arcs. If you are trying to get into the current books, then that is a different challenge. I'll give you suggestions for both routes.

1) If you love X-Men, here are some trades to consider

- The Dark Phoenix Saga
- Astonishing X-Men: Gifted
- X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
- Days of Future Past
- Mutant Massacre
- Fatal Attractions
- Age of Apocalypse

2) If you are interested in getting into the current events for the X-Men

- House of M
- Civil War
- Messiah Complex
- Second Coming

 

[ThDWgeek]

What you could try is going to your local library, bookshop or comic store and ask what the best <character's name> trade paperback is. Once you get home, sit with your computer or laptop as you read it, and then if you find any characters or plot points you're confused about, look them up on wikipedia for a more general overview, or the wiki of whatever company the character belongs to. Hope that helps

 

[Monstrosity]

If you like X-Men the new graphic novel X-Men Season One would be a good start. I highly recommend the other Season One books as well as its a modern retelling of the origins of some of Marvel's top characters such as Spiderman Season One. If your serious about collecting back issues I strongly suggest picking 3 of your absolute favorite characters and just buying those titles back issues and you can accumulate a nice collection in less time with fewer resources.