so, let's say I kinda wanna read a comic book

Cafe Society
1

I am an avid reader, but I’ve never read a comic book or graphic novel or, well, anything with pictures aside from Dr. Seuss.

The movie version of “Daredevil” might have been awful, but it managed to interest me in reading the source material. Then I saw the two X-Men movies and became more interested. But I know absolutely nothing about any of the superheroes and, well, have no idea where to start.

I don’t even know what to call them. “Comic books”? “Graphic novels”? Are these synonyms? Are they always about superheroes, or do I have to specify that I want ones about superheroes if I do, which I do (at least I think I do!)

I read a review of “The Ultimate Essential Uncanny X-men” (sorry for perhaps throwing in an extra adjective), which said it was a collection of the very first X-Men stories. Is that where I should start? Is it best to go back to the beginning, or to pick up any of the lines at any point?

And how in the world can I figure out what’s what? Do I need a degree? Why are the X-Men collections sometimes Essential, sometimes Ultimate, and sometimes Uncanny?

I don’t mind bizarre, but I don’t particularly like exploding heads. Do these things generally involve or not involve things like exploding heads? I like humor. Is there humor?

[best Fly voice] Helllllp meeeeeeee! [/best Fly voice]

2

Comic books are more than superheroes in spandex. Best advice: try the library. Since graphic novels have appeared - either collections of individual comic books or original novel length stories - more libraries have been willing to buy them. You can sample a wide of genres before you spend your money.

For advice on comics worth reading, you might try Johanna Draper Carlson’s website Comics Worth Reading.

3

If Daredevil and X-Men piqued your interests, let’s start there. Some of the best Daredevil stories (and in fact the ones the movie was based upon) were written by Frank Miller. There are three or four trade paperbacks (TPB’s) that collect his works on Daredevil. They are called Marvel Visionaries: Frank Miller - Daredevil, or something similar. Usually they can be found in the “D” section of graphic novels at the book store.

If you want to check out X-Men, don’t bother with the originals. There is too much back story to get caught up on right now. The movies are most closely related to the relaunched Ultimate X-Men. The series has only been around for about 3-4 years and there are several collections of story arcs out.

Actually I’d suggest all of Marvel’s Ulitimate series. There’s even an Ulitmate Daredevil & Electra TPB.

Don’t forget though, that superheroes are only one genre of comics. There is sci-fi, fantasy, horror, real life, something for anyone.

4

I also like to stand in the bookstore and read comics, and I would never be called a comic fan simply because I don’t spend any money on them. I do read every comic thread that comes up on the SDMB, and will talk about them any chance I get when the subject arises.

And I can answer this:

Don’t forget New. They’re different books, and usually involve different characters. But Ultimate is an entirely different universe - they’re rewriting the entire series to be more up-to-date and flashy. For instance, everyone’s teenagers living in our current time period. There are other Ultimate titles in the same world - Ultimate Spiderman, The Ultimates (who we know as the Avengers) and some really crappy minor stories that everyone hates. The Ultimates is fantastic, and the others are pretty decent for newbies like us. They start out at the beginning of the comic’s history, so you don’t need to read thousands of comics to learn the backstory.

5

jsgoddess, it’s good to hear from a “civilian” who is even interested in reading comic books. I was in a similar position several years ago - lured into comics by the first X-men movie, but not having much of a clue where to start. I’m now a comic book junkie with a huge library.

It sounds like you have some intrinsic interest in the superhero genre, which is great. If not, don’t worry, because there are many other genres available, geared toward a variety of ages levels, from crime to horror to humor. If a genre exists in film, books, or any other medium, there are probably comics available in it too, although they’ll probably be harder to find than superheroes. Fortunately you have the SDMB available at your fingertips for recommendations.

“Graphic novel” has become the generic term of choice for comic books in a bound format (i.e., like regular books) rather than stapled (your classic “comic book”). You’ll see a variety of other terms used, like “trade paperback” (a squarebound book consisting of material previously published in single issue form as comics) or “original graphic novel/OGN”, for a bound book of material not previously published. Don’t let the terms scare you off - the distinctions are generally unimportant.

Marvel has inflicted a huge variety of X-titled books over the years. If you’re looking for any of them to be as good as the movies, well … I personally think Singer took the best of everything, put it in a blender, and came out with something better than anything that appeared on the printed page. Other people’s views will differ. For what it’s worth, his source material was pulled primarily from Essential X-men volume 2.

Fortunately, there are a lot more interesting Daredevil books on the shelves. Personally, I’d go with This recent volume by Bendis and Maleev. but you can’t go wrong with any of the classic volumes by Frank Miller, such as Born Again

Good luck, happy hunting, and feel free to ask lots of questions. If there’s one thing comics fans like to do, it’s gab about their favorite titles.

6

A few more recommendations:

Black Panther: The Client, as well as its almost-as-good follow-up, Enemy of the State, are both outstanding books that contain a lot of humor.

Magic Pickle

I second the nomination of Comics Worth Reading as an excellent review site. Others worth the time are The X-Axis and, for non-superhero books, Artbomb.

7

If you want X-Men backstory, the definitive one is X-Men: the Dark Phoenix Saga, by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin.

You can order it at a bookstore under ISBN: 0785111476.

Might spoil the third movie for you, though. But at least you would know what we fanboys were arguing about. :wink:

8

Watchmen is, at least in my non-comic-fan opinion, the apex of the genre. There are others I like nearly as well (Elektra: Assassin) or even better (Bill Sienkiewicz’s Stray Toasters), but none that I’d make a semi-objective argument for as being the best of what’s out there. Aside from anything else, it deals with the logical consequences of a world in which superheroes really do exist – our world, with just that twist – in a thoughtful and clear-eyed way that (to my knowledge) hadn’t ever been done before. Emphasizing the “human” in “superhuman” had become almost a cliche by the time Watchmen appeared, but it was always focused on the implications of being human for otherwise superhuman characters. Watchmen turns that on its head, emphasizing the implications for the rest of the world (i.e., you and me) of the superhumanity of otherwise human characters.

9

Essential X-Men should be all the Silver Age and classic X-men stories. I stopped reading Essential anything a long time ago, b/c I couldn’t get past the writing style. The Ultimate line, as others have stated, is a modern re-telling. Personally, I gave up on Ultimate X-Men, as I finally decided that I just don’t like the X-Men (some stories, not withstanding). The old stuff is a pain to read (then again, all old comics are); the new stuff (Ultimate X-Men) is so hokey and tries to hard to seem “next gen.” I like New X-Men (Grant Morrison writing), but there are parts that are hard to follow, and it isn’t that accessible to new readers. Try to stick to 80’s and 90’s X-Men, even though a majority of that is crap (sorry, hard to explain that). The other Ultimate stuff is phenomenal.

If you’re more into literature (I’m not sure what kind of stuff you read), you want to try anything by Neil Gaiman, and Y the Last Man, and maybe Lucifer. Both are totally non-superhero.

10

I think I can say at this point that I’m definitely more interested in the superhero type story than anything else. I’ve always loved secret identity stories, but I don’t know why it never occured to me to look at comics. I blush at my ignorance.

Er, would this X-men be a good starting place? My library system is fairly limited:

The essential X-men
ISBN: 0785102566
Description:
1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill ; 26 cm.
Notes:
"Giant-size X-men #1.
X-men #94-119
Featuring Chris Claremont & John Byrne
I have requested “Black Panther: The Client” and “Daredevil, The Man Without Fear! Volume 2” which I think is what you were suggesting, Selkie, but the library doesn’t list the ISBN for some unknown reason and that “The Man Without Fear!” part is different.

I’m an obsessive sort, so I should be nervous about now. :smiley:

11

The “generally considered” best graphic novel, as rackensack said, is The Watchmen. Folks may like others more and are welcome to, but the Watchmen completely changed how people regarded comics - and it stands up today and to multiple readings. Start there.

Beyond that - other Alan Moore books -
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (nothing like the movie)
V for Vendetta
Miracleman
and a bunch of others.

Beyond that - The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is generally held up as the other book that revolutionized the genre, along with the Watchmen.

My recommendation - start with Watchmen and DKR and take it from there…

12

Okay, “Watchmen” is also on hold at the library. That gives me three to start, ignoring the X-Men for the moment.

I’d be delighted to hear further recommendations. I won’t be getting these until early next week, so I can’t get more specific recommendations yet.

13

In reverse order, that is what I would read. If you want all the back story, start from the top down. You probably won’t need the back story.

14

jsgoddess, I envy you. You have countless hours of discoveries ahead! I’ve been reading comics for over 20 of my 26 years, but I think there’s more good stuff being published today than ever before. Allow me to make a few recommendations more:

Hellboy. The movie is opening this Friday, so you ought to give the wonderful comics by Mike Mignola a chance. This month, there is a 25-cent issue of Hellboy available in comic shops, for the very purpose of introducing new readers like you to the character and Mignola’s unique storytelling style. The story is called Hellboy: The Corpse, and it borrows from Irish/Celtic mythology. Hellboy is always a great read: beautifully illustrated, sometimes scary (but never gory or “nasty”), and often funny. And for a quarter to sample a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end, you can’t go wrong. If you like it, the first trade paperback to read would be Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, although they’re all quite good.

If you like superheroes and humor, I would suggest Justice League International, which was published from 1987 into the ‘90s. It was new and groundbreaking at the time, for portraying DC Comics’ flagship team of superheroes in a less-than-serious light. What writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis created was essentially a superhero sitcom (with Batman forced into the role of “straight man” to a naive Captain Marvel, a mentally unstable Green Lantern, and assorted goofballs like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle). The humorous Justice League lasted through 60 issues, several title changes, and a spinoff called Justice League Europe, making collecting back issues confusing for newbies. But there are two trade paperbacks I highly recommend: **Justice League: A New Beginning ** (reprinting Justice League #1-6 and Justice League International #7), and Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord (reprinting Justice League International #8-12).

I second Selkie’s recommendation of Black Panther: The Client. She always has impeccable taste.

For Daredevil, **Born Again ** (by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli) is far and away the best TPB. But if you want to read the origin story of Daredevil in TPB form, there are two different stories out there that are both better than the movie: Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr., and **Daredevil: Yellow ** by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. The current work by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev is excellent, but new readers might find it a bit slow-moving. Several TPBs of Bendis’ Daredevil are available. If you like the comedy films of Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Jersey Girl), he also wrote a run on Daredevil that was collected in a TPB, Daredevil Visionaries: Kevin Smith.

Watchmen is probably the pinnacle of superhero comics, but it’s not the most uplifting read. Still, I can’t recommend it enough. As WordMan already said, you can’t go wrong with Alan Moore, who is usually thought of as the finest writer in comics. Even his “lighter” works like **Top Ten ** (a police comedy-drama about a futuristic city where EVERYONE has super powers) and Supreme (a loving tribute to the “Silver Age” Superman stories of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, which stood out when Moore wrote it in the grim-and-gritty '90s) are brilliant. There are two Top Ten TPBs and two Supreme TPBs, The Story of the Year and The Return.

Let me know what kind of tastes you have in movies, and I’ll recommend even more comics! Any other characters you’re interested in? I’m trying to stick to trade paperbacks, which can be ordered through Amazon or checked out of the library, as opposed to sending you to comb through back issue bins at comic book stores. But I recommend making a special trip for the 25-cent Hellboy issue anyway, as I have a feeling you’ll enjoy it.

15

A note on terms: Marvel has published several volumes of Essentials - Essential Fantastic Four, Essential Avengers, Essential Hulk, etc. These are black & white paperback editions of the original color comics at an affordable price - around $11. DC comics (Superman, Batman Wonder Woman, Flash, etc) went in another direction, releasing their early stories in Archives editions - color, hardcover for around $40.

For an historical perspective on DC heroes, these are good reads: Superman in the Fifties: S . . . in the Sixties; S . . . in the Seventies; Batman in the Fifties; B. . . in the Sixties; B . . . in the Seventies.

Final recommendation – Check out Oddball Comics - This week featuring one of the oddest of the odd - Herbie.

16

Hard to tell. For some reason, Marvel hasn’t subtitled all of the Daredevil books as they have with others, so it’s not always easy to tell them apart based on title alone. If I had to guess, what you just ordered from your library is one of the Frank Miller volumes, which is still good reading. If that’s the case, I strongly recommend seeking out the Bendis volume in addition, especially in light of your enjoying the “secret identity” aspect of superheroes.

17

Anything with the name Astro City is highly recommended! It’s got superheroes and spandex, but it’s so much more than muscled guys pounding on one another. And it’s great for new readers, too!

Doesn’t matter if it’s a one-shot single issue or a collected graphic novel, the name Astro City is your hallmark of quality! :smiley:

18

I’m going to second the nomination for Hellboy.

And you may want to check out a novel called The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (the author of which just released a comic called The Escapist, based on a comic mentioned in the novel).

19

The author of the one I put on hold appears to be Bendis. The cover looks the same between the library site and Amazon, so I’ll cross my fingers.

The description says, “Matt Murdock’s secret identity as Daredevil is exposed. Will he be forced to retire Daredevil for good?” So it looks like the same title. Yay.

20

Dammit! I hit send when I meant to respond to you, Big Bad Voodoo Lou.

I should have mentioned that it was a Hellboy trailer that sorta set me off on this quest. I can’t say that the movie looks all that appealing, but I’m a terrible judge of movies based on trailers. My husband had never heard of Hellboy, and I felt like such an expert because I could give him a very very basic plot just because I had read a review of one of the books a few weeks ago.

I am nothing if not amenable (or, as we say in the country, you can lead a Julie to water and damned if she won’t drink). It is on reserve.

I’m a baseball fan. I live for slow-moving entertainment! :smiley:

This one’s on reserve, too, but it may not be the best choice for me if it’s too grim. I tend to get hit pretty hard by depressing reads. If I bail, it isn’t a reflection on the quality, but on the impact it seems to be having on me.

My taste in movies rather than my taste in books? Well, my first choice is nearly always going to be a comedy, though I run the gamut from infantile humor to Oscar Wilde.

A few favorites:

“Pride and Prejudice”
“Monty Python’s Holy Grail”
“Better Off Dead”
“The Awful Truth”
“Charade”
“The Importance of Being Earnest” (the one from the 50s)
I don’t like horror (because I don’t like to be grossed out. I don’t mind being scared). I don’t like tearjerkers. I don’t like biopics (though I saw “Hidalgo” and kinda liked it). I like some action movies, like “Die Hard.” I am a fan of both Star Trek and Star Wars, though more the former than the latter, and TOS over TNG though Data kicks forty kinds of ass. “The Lord of the Rings” was amazing. I like Pixar films. Er, is this helping?

Honestly, I don’t know. As a child, I read The Scarlet Pimpernel and fell in love with the idea of someone hiding their true identity. I enjoyed that theme in the “Superman” movie, too, which I would have seen around the same time. So, I think that secret identities are probably where it’s at for me right now. Does that narrow anything down?

Thank you all so much for all of your help in this. I was lost, but now am found. Or something like that.