Getting started with comics can be a daunting process for someone going into it without much knowledge of the media itself, which is one reason why I am writing this guide is to help people take the first steps into comics. With the DC comics re launch coming this September it is a great time for people to start collecting comics as everything will be start back at #1, so you don’t have to feel worried about reading a backlog of stories to understand what is currently happening.
As a bit of a background, I started collecting comics a about two years ago and back then I found it a little difficult to find some of the information I wanted at first. As time went on I found some really useful places to get that information which helped me so through this so I will be sharing the things I found which I believe will be helpful to new readers. This information can be summed up into reviews, character timelines, where I should start with character, the general basic of collecting.
As a bit of a background, I started collecting comics a about two years ago and back then I found it a little difficult to find some of the information I wanted at first. As time went on I found some really useful places to get that information which helped me so through this so I will be sharing the things I found which I believe will be helpful to new readers. This information can be summed up into reviews, character timelines, where I should start with character, the general basic of collecting.
What characters should I start with ?
A good question is what characters should you start with, my advice would be pick up whatever catches your eye, if you like the look of Nightwing give it a chance. Films such as The Dark Knight or Green Lantern are a good place to start as it will give you a good idication if like those characters and are interested in reading more. For the DC re launch I do recommend that you try out the following comics featured below, they are a mix of key DC titles along with two team up books which allows you to get a feel for some of the characters in the DC universe also click here for the full list of the 52 new number 1 issues
Justice League
This is a great start for people as it will be telling the story of how the Justice league first formed and their first encounters with one another. Most of all for new readers you get a taste of multiple characters, so if you start reading Justice league and you like The Flash or Aquaman give those titles a try.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Action Comics
Superman is a staple of the DC Universe and Action Comics which will be written by Grant Morrison will be telling the story of the early years of Clark Kent and his rise to being the icon which is Superman. If you want to read Superman pick this up as you can go in fresh for a whole new origin for the character.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Superman
Unlike Action Comics which is telling the origin of Superman this series will be following what Superman is doing now. Accompanied with Action Comics it should give a nice blend between the two distinct stories being told, this will be good for new readers as you get to see Superman in his prime.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Green Lantern
Geoff John’s run on Green Lantern has been some of the best material I have read in recent years and he is carrying on with the series through the re launch, give the series a try the Green Lantern mythos is very rich and engaging which offers something remarkably different from other books.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
A good question is what characters should you start with, my advice would be pick up whatever catches your eye, if you like the look of Nightwing give it a chance. Films such as The Dark Knight or Green Lantern are a good place to start as it will give you a good idication if like those characters and are interested in reading more. For the DC re launch I do recommend that you try out the following comics featured below, they are a mix of key DC titles along with two team up books which allows you to get a feel for some of the characters in the DC universe also click here for the full list of the 52 new number 1 issues
Justice League This is a great start for people as it will be telling the story of how the Justice league first formed and their first encounters with one another. Most of all for new readers you get a taste of multiple characters, so if you start reading Justice league and you like The Flash or Aquaman give those titles a try.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Action ComicsSuperman is a staple of the DC Universe and Action Comics which will be written by Grant Morrison will be telling the story of the early years of Clark Kent and his rise to being the icon which is Superman. If you want to read Superman pick this up as you can go in fresh for a whole new origin for the character.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Unlike Action Comics which is telling the origin of Superman this series will be following what Superman is doing now. Accompanied with Action Comics it should give a nice blend between the two distinct stories being told, this will be good for new readers as you get to see Superman in his prime.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Green LanternGeoff John’s run on Green Lantern has been some of the best material I have read in recent years and he is carrying on with the series through the re launch, give the series a try the Green Lantern mythos is very rich and engaging which offers something remarkably different from other books.
Click here for more information about this issue from DC Comics
Detective ComicsThe flagship title of DC comics, it is written by Tony S Daniel who has been working on Batman titles for some time. This is continuing on from the current Batman time line but you won’t need to read anything previously.
BatmanFor Batman fans this is the book to get written by Scott Snyder there is a lot of expectations riding on it, Batman is a dark gritty character with the best array of villains in comics. For people getting started on Batman pick this up along with Detective comics as you will encounter the rest of the Bat family.
Wonder WomanPart of the DC Trinity of Batman Superman and Wonder Woman, the book is written by Brian Azzarello. The character is very under appreciated and misunderstood by many but with the re launch it will be interesting to see what direction they take the character.
Useful Information and Links
Below are a few useful resources to check out for comic news, reviews and release information.
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| Keep an eye out for this |
DC Comics Release Schedule
List the full set of releases of comics and trades through the year and is handy of keeping track of when comics are coming out especially if you are picking up quite a few for the re launch.
Comic Vine and IGN
Great places to find news on comic coverage and also Comic Vine has a great database of character details so if you want to read up on a few characters historys before the re launch this is a good place to go.
Andrew Cutter Youtube
This guy posts up a lot of great content covering comics from reviews to character timelines , he will be reviewing single issues come September so check out his channel.
Trades or singles issues ?
Comic collectors usually have a preference over what they prefer to collect and it comes to two choices the single comic book issues or the trades which are collected story arcs. The trades usually release up to a year after the first issue was released so by collecting purely trades you may feel left behind and more open to spoilers. Before news of the re launch I was content in collecting trades and hardcover’s purely for the fact I was starting at the beginning and I wanted to get a complete history of Batman. I didn’t want to jump into what was going on currently without reading what previously had happened.
With the re launch coming in September I will be moving to the single issues for a few reason one I will be able to keep up to date with characters like Batman without having to wait for the issues to be collected into trades. Also I will be picking up issues for more characters and giving a few characters a try to see if I like it, seeing as buying one story arc for a character won’t be breaking the bank it is a good time to dip into a few characters that you are a little unsure about but are still interested in.
That wraps up this part of getting into comics, I will be posting up a few more covering, taking care of your comic, I hope this helped and if you have any question or things you would like me to cover just leave a comment below.
With the re launch coming in September I will be moving to the single issues for a few reason one I will be able to keep up to date with characters like Batman without having to wait for the issues to be collected into trades. Also I will be picking up issues for more characters and giving a few characters a try to see if I like it, seeing as buying one story arc for a character won’t be breaking the bank it is a good time to dip into a few characters that you are a little unsure about but are still interested in.
That wraps up this part of getting into comics, I will be posting up a few more covering, taking care of your comic, I hope this helped and if you have any question or things you would like me to cover just leave a comment below.
Thank you very much for this introduction! I just learned about the reboot today and while as a kid I loved Archie comics, I never got into these types. With the refresh I feel like i have a clean slate to check them out and not have to read back issues to help understand. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteThanks I'm happy you found this helpful the new 52 is a great time to jump in keep checking back for the rest of September I will be posting up reviews for a lot of the new titles.
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