# so, let's say I kinda wanna read a comic book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598 "2004-03-31T20:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/61 "2004-04-04T00:32:42Z")
> [@Selkie](#): > > Right artist, wrong website. It’s at [http://www.artbomb.net/](http://www.artbomb.net/) Thanks for the link. artbabe, artbomb…close enough that I don’t feel like too bad. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/62 "2004-04-08T21:01:10Z")
Finished “Black Panther: The Client” last night. Enjoyable, and I especially liked the vividness of the artwork, which was a completely different style than “Daredevil.” But I found the story a little harder to follow. A few more clues would have stood me in good stead. JLA hasn’t arrived yet, but Watchmen has. Am I ready? I feel like I should be taking an exam. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/63 "2004-04-08T21:16:43Z")
Before I read Watchmen I had only read Sandman and Preacher so I don’t know why everyone thinks you have to have comprehensive knowledge of the comic book vibe before reading it. It’s flat out a good read. It is very dense though. If it was a book it’d be comparable to Shogun or Dune. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/64 "2004-04-08T22:10:25Z")
FWIW, **Watchmen** was the very first comic I ever read. It hooked me on the medium instantly. I’ve developed a greater appreciation of it over the years as I read more comics and spot some of the references, none of which are essential to understanding the plot (it’s a completely self-contained work). There’s no reason why you shouldn’t read it now… … _except_ that the content violates the “no exploding heads” criterion you set forth in the O.P. It’s very dark and violent, in ways that are mature, intelligent, and important to the plot, but there’s no getting around that it’s the book that set the standard for grim 'n gritty superheroics. You may or may not like it because of that. Glad you liked **The Client** even if you found it a little hard to follow. The second book, **Enemy of the State** eases up on using the flashback technique a little, IIRC, so if you enjoyed it enough to read more you might want to pick it up. When you’re ready for some superhero comedy, played strictly for laughs, do check out **The Tick**. Lots of fun, and might be the perfect antidote to books like **Watchmen** and **Dark Knight Returns**. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/65 "2004-04-08T23:11:22Z")
> [@Selkie](#): > > When you’re ready for some superhero comedy, played strictly for laughs, do check out **The Tick**. Lots of fun, and might be the perfect antidote to books like **Watchmen** and **Dark Knight Returns**. Agreed, but only read the first twelve issues of The Tick by writer/artist/creator Ben Edlund. Everything that followed over the last 15 years or so is a pale imitation (although the cartoon series definitely has some classic moments). The Edlund issues are reprinted in The Tick Omnibus, Volumes 1-3. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/66 "2004-04-08T23:57:44Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Thanks for reminding me! Kyle Baker is one of the best cartoonists working today, and he has written several hilarious graphic novels. _The Cowboy Wally Show_, _Why I Hate Saturn_, _You Are Here_, and \*I Die At Midnight \* are all super-funny, entertaining reads, with beautiful art, illustrated like movie storyboards. Nothing to do with superheroes in any of them, but the latter two deal with “secret identities” of sorts. Baker’s been doing a bang-up job on superheroes working on the new Plastic Man series. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/67 "2004-04-09T12:50:28Z")
Has anyone published the Kirby/Lee **Fantastic Four** run in a trade paperback (with color, I hate black & white) ? That would be a run I’d reccomend. And the Ditko/Lee Spiderman. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598/68 "2004-04-09T16:39:01Z")
I can’t believe no one has yet recommended **Starman** or **H-E-R-O**. Starman might be a bit heavy for someone not yet immersed in the super-hero millieu, but the introductory story arcs stand well on their own, and the very human story of the relationships between Jack Knight and his father, and of the Knight family with the Mist family is amongst the best (and, in the case of the “sins of the Child” story-arc, innovative) story-telling in comics over the past ten years. Once you’ve read the first three books, you ought to be fine with the subsequent ones, which more heavily involve the rest of the DC Universe. Start on Starman by buying the book “Starman: Sins of the Father.” If you like that, follow it up with “Starman: Night and Day.” If you’re hooked, you’ll buy the rest, if not, those stories are fine without feeling the need for follow-up. H-E-R-O is a new comic which debuted last year, but the first two issues sold out, that’s how good it was. The first six issues are reprinted in the book “H-E-R-O: Powers and Abilities.” It’s the story of how ordinary human beings behave when granted super-powers by a mysterious device (which has a history in the DC Universe, but that’s not something a new reader needs to be familiar with - the issue that’s due out this coming Wednesday, though, brings the history into the current story), and it’s VERY, VERY well done. It takes a lot to make me want to start collecting a new comic series these days, but that’s proven to be worth it to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-lets-say-i-kinda-wanna-read-a-comic-book/237598.md?page=3)