via tacitoz (originally marvelconfessions-deactivated20)
‘I honestly think Marvel needs to take a note from DC and reboot.’
I am going to go and say…. No
You don’t need to reboot anything to get into a comic or character, seriously why are people intimidated by the long history of comic or a character? My first Marvel comic was a JMS Spider-Man comic and I went in knowing nothing about the character’s continuity except what I knew from the Spider-Man cartoons… And guess what? After two issues or so I caught up pretty quickly and knew what was happening and it wasn’t confusing at all. Pretty much all you need to know is covered in the Marvel movies, and if they aren’t you can just hit a Marvel wiki and you’ll be up to date.
DC reboots every once in awhile because that’s their thing.
Exactly.
Also rebooting willkindof confuse you even more IMO because then you’ll have to research what happened before which reboot and which things they kept intact and what they chose to omit. Right now people are still confused as to what has happened in the rebooted universe and what hasn’t.
And yes, thanks to the internet it’s incredibly easy to at least get a rough understanding of a character’s history. A friend wanted to read Avengers comics and she knew nothing and had only seen some movies, I had found a list of avengers comics and linked it to her (I think I found it on your blog, thanks :D) and then she just picked one and started reading it and she enjoyed them. Often times there’s plot summaries in the beginning of a book, or little yellow boxes telling us what we need to know and if you just go with it and don’t worry about every little detail it works.
AGREED. NO REBOOTS. Marvel creates universes.
Hey!! :) I was in your situation around 2000 when the first X-Men movie came out. Looking back, it’s not the best movie ever, but it’s what got me into reading comics. I also loved X-Men the cartoon series growing up, so it launched me into finally reading comics. So, for the past decade or so I’ve been reading DC comics, X-Men, solo character comics, etc.
Here are some suggestions from experience I’ve gathered over the years:
- Stick with material that’s come out in the past two decades or so. Comics are like movies and tv shows and have their place in time. I’ve found that new comic book readers enjoy the modern style of narration rather than the old style seen in older comic books.
- Don’t let continuity get in your way. Comic books came out almost 50 years before I was born and there’s no way I can read them all. It’s not a prerequisite. It’s like catching the second half of a game after I missed the first half. You’ll get the story line in no time. Plus, comics tend to have a summary or recap page.
- WIKIPEDIA and the MARVEL WIKI are life savers. There are some people you’ll encounter who will think, “You use wiki? You’re not a real comic book fan.” SCREW THEM! These are awesome resources to read up on character bios, places, and events in comic history. Never hesitate to look up an entry. You will be more knowledgeable because of it!
- Get to know the writers and the illustrators of the comics you read and follow their work. It’s like following Stephen King or another prominent author. Don’t hesitate about juggling different series at the same time.
- Go for the trades aka the book versions of the comics. If you go to your nearest comic book store, you’ll see the most recent issues on one side, the trades somewhere in the middle, and the back (old) issues somewhere in the back. The book versions pile comics that have already been published into book form and that is a much easier way to get into comic book reading.
Since The Avengers is a big thing right now, people want to get to know these characters and story lines before the movie comes out. They want to dive into this different world of storytelling, like yourself! :D
So finally, where to start?!
- The first thing I did was to check the Wiki to get an overall feel for what comics had been published.
- I started with New Avengers, then went to the Ultimates, and now I’m going back to the beginning because I’m a weirdo and that’s what I do, lol!
- See how I jumped around and wasn’t scared to do so? That’s what new comic book fans should do.
I’ve done this by checking out the Marvel masterwork volumes that you can probably find in your local library, definitely in your comic book store, and most definitely in the Marvel Digital Comics database. If you can afford the Marvel Digital Comics database subscription (which is actually a really good price considering how much money you would spend on actually buying comics), then you’re set!
If you can’t commit to the full year subscription, try out one month which is only $10 (I think) and get a feel for it. I promise you won’t regret it! :)
I feel like I’ve written too much already, haha, but I promise to sit down tonight and write a post on which comics to start off with if you did want to familiarize yourself with The Avengers universe (I’m assuming that’s what you want to read, right? lol! I’m so Avengers crazy myself that I assume everyone is ;P)
Deal? :D
