How to Start Reading Comic Books

 

I know a lot of people who conceptually like comic books but feel too daunted to make the leap and start actually reading them. It's really no wonder why, it can look really daunting. Walking into a comic book store and there's shelves of the things, it's really hard to have any idea where to start. If I've just described your experience, I've got some thoughts to share that might make things a little easier.

My first thought is the simplest. Literally just start. If you see a book that looks interesting to you, go for it. Sure you'll be missing some context, but for most of the big titles (Ms. Marvel, Black Panther, Wonder Woman) you're kind of going to be missing some anyway. Not fully knowing the history of a situation or character is a pretty normal experience, even for seasoned comic book readers.

 

Second, you could wait until a new series starts and go from there. There's lots of ways to find out what comics are coming out in future weeks (new comic book day is always Wednesday, by the way), but my favorite is to use the internet. Simply searching for "new comic books this week" should take you to a few resources. You won't find a new #1 issue every week of course, but publishers are often rebooting or starting new spinoff or original series.

Third, if knowing a complete story is really important to you then you might want to consider looking at omnibus collections or what are called "trade paperbacks". An omnibus is a large volume collecting all of the individual monthly comics from a certain story. Trade paperbacks are the same idea, but are usually smaller, collecting about six or so issues per volume. Buying trades can be a good way to find an entire story, or to quickly catch up with an ongoing series.

Fourth, you might want to consider digital comics. There's lots of apps out there that allow you to buy comics online, and there's even some subscription services that allow to read a HUGE collection of older books if you're not concerned about staying up on the newest stuff. Personally, I subscribe to Marvel Unlimited and it's been great for me to read series that are older and I've missed out on.

However you go about it, I hope this has been at least somewhat useful and you feel more confident about stepping into this world that I really enjoy.