Where to start reading

I want to preface this post, like I subconsciously preface every post (and occasionally consciously), by saying that I'm no trusted authority on this matter. I should be. Don't get me wrong, I am. But the truth is there are people far more versed in Marvel than I out there. I have a pretty good base under me and a thirst for knowledge about this (inexplicably) and I have some thoughts on this and an internet connection and a shockingly low number of Monday posts lately so here goes.

Comics are hard to get into. There are plenty of reasons for this and no one reason to point to specifically. There are decades of backlog, there are hard-to-find stories, there are events that you might not catch if you're just reading a single book and not aware of the crossovers, there are tons of characters in the Marvel Universe and there is no simple way to pick up a book and just dive in. These are all problems but that's your first: starting. One of the other problems isn't an issue with the comics industry; it's a problem with the reader.

It's not you, it's me
Comics are plenty hard to read and they require a certain level of training, almost. I know, it sounds ridiculous and sounds even more so if you are an avid comic reader or someone well on the outside. If you're somewhere in the middle, you probably understand that a little more. On top of all the issues that I mentioned before that can definitely impact the speed at which you're able to dive in, you also have to understand how to read comics. There are multiple issues with suspension of disbelief, the way time passes in comics (Captain America was unfrozen in the '60s and has been active since then but he just spent ten years in an alternate dimension and has said that he has already spent more time in this alternate dimension than back and unfrozen in our time), death in comics, and so on. But even more basic than that, how do you read a comic? Physically pick one up and read it. Do you look at the pictures, do you scan the words, do you try to take everything in all at once, etc. I can't answer that. That's where you come in. That's where your considerable reading talents tell you what's best. The good thing, particularly these days, is that letterers are pretty phenomenal people. A good letterer (and most of them are these days) will draw your eye the right way to read a comic. He or she will create appropriate pauses in dialogue just by proper balloon placement. It's pretty incredible but, the truth is, a great letterer is the one you don't notice. Beyond that, the way you take in a panel is up to you. I know that I focus more on writing because that's who I am. My girlfriend takes a little more time to absorb the art than I do (even though I probably should do more of that). You develop a rhythm and you'll get into it. As that comes more naturally, you'll more naturally understand the comics you're reading and you'll more naturally enjoy comics.

Ignore continuity, at least to start
This is pretty tough to do later on so get it in while you can. Captain America has been around for 70 years and has changed hands too many times for me to count (literally for me to count; you're welcome to try it if you like). There are bound to be writers and artists who wanted to tell a story that conflicted with a story from Cap's past because all writers and artists just want to tell the best story they can. When Ed Brubaker took over on Captain America, one of the things he had Cap do was kill a bad guy. It wasn't a malicious kill, it was just a death that was somewhat unavoidable and that Cap possibly caused and certainly didn't stop. There are writers in Cap's past, recent writers, who would never have allowed Cap to kill a man. If he had, the weight of it would have been the focus of another several arcs. Brubaker's philosophy, though, was that Captain America was a soldier first. He has been to war and he has almost certainly killed people in fights. He wasn't about to pity a terrorist who had died trying to set a bomb off in New York. Writers can get tied down by continuity but it's an editor's job to make that final call. If it's in the story, it's in the story. There are times where, obviously, I'll fuss about this or that on the blog but I know I don't know the full history. By the same token, I tend to get more upset when a character's personality shifts dramatically. If Brubaker had made Cap someone like Punisher, a guy hungry for war, I would have taken issue. I really enjoy the moral dilemma so many comics present, the "am I a hero if I kill someone?" question. By the same token, I don't think Brubaker was wrong about Cap. I don't necessarily think other writers were wrong when they had him avoid killing or denounce it. Ignore some continuity. Read the story you're reading and enjoy it for that. There will be plenty of time to nitpick when you're eyeballs deep in X-Men stories (and if you are eyeballs deep, send me a picture because that's amazing).

Find a book or a character or a writer or an artist who suits you
Don't torture yourself to get into comics. If you hate what an artist is doing in a run on a series you're intrigued by, come back to it later. If you read a an issue of the Fantastic Four and you're bored to tears, pick up an issue of Daredevil and try that. If a writer's style annoys you throughout an entire story, look for a different writer on the character. Make no mistake, this isn't me saying "you tried, move on, it will never strike a chord with you." I can name any number of characters or writers or artists who I've changed my mind on over time because they've evolved or found their calling or hit their stride or I've evolved and found something new I love about comics. Nothing is permanent and that's a rule to live by in comics. If you think you'd like Daredevil but Frank Miller is a little too rough for you right now, pick up Ann Nocenti and see how you feel there. Start with Mark Waid's run, even if you're afraid you missed Matt Murdock's first nearly fifty years in comics. There's no wrong way to pick up a book and start. Just be prepared to be frustrated by a few books first. It also comes back to what type of reader you are. I tend to recommend older stuff first, like the original origins. Not because I think it's important to start from the very beginning but because, if you're interested in it, you're going to want to read it first just because of the stylistic differences. Golden/Silver/Bronze Age comics are very different than today's comics and it can be hard to jump back and forth. As someone who adores comics, I sometimes have trouble jumping back to really early stories because they were meant for an audience that was wary of comics and that they needed to buy their book every week. Sure that last part's still true, but there's a lot more freedom for writers and artists these days. Reading older books you tend to get a lot of recap and a lot of explaining what's happening on the panel you're looking at. It can feel very inorganic and the blocks of text might turn you right off. If that's something that you know about yourself, skip the old stuff. Maybe you'll go back (you should at some point, if you love comics, if just to see the way the medium's evolved and to see, especially, the way the original artists left their marks on the universe). By the same token, starting today leads to typically darker comics and can definitely lead to comics which reference more stuff from the past and more villains and what not, which can be hard. There's no wrong way to start but there's also no right way, which makes this post a little useless but guys, we've already made it this far. Let's push forward.

Here are some suggestions
Okay, now that I've firmly told you why only you can figure out what to read, here's what to read. If you are starting in the modern times, one of my favorite arcs that stands pretty well alone is Daredevil: Parts of a Hole (temporarily out of stock at that Amazon link but that's what it looks like, anyway). This is probably a bit of a tricky one to read first as artist Joe Quesada uses three different types of art to tell the story, flipping easily between different perspectives in the art. If this is your first time reading comics at all, it could get a little frustrating. However, if you have some experience or if you feel like I'm condescending to you and you're up for it, it's a wonderful self-contained story with a brand new character serving as Daredevil's enemy...and love interest. I've talked about it a lot on here but Fraction and Aja's Hawkeye is a phenomenal comic and it keeps to itself, for the most part, meaning you don't need to know much that they don't tell you. The hardest part as a new comic reader is that Fraction likes to play with time a lot, giving us from issue one a narrative that bounces back and forth and that requires you to be on your toes. If you're confident about your abilities to do that, dive right in. Events are big, scary things in the Marvel Universe that have an unfortunate habit of sucking the whole universe up and leaving newcomers completely lost. That said, one of the most complete events happens to also be one of the most sprawling I've ever seen. Marvel's Civil War is a big deal in the universe and it did kind of take over every book for a little bit. It involves tons of characters from the Marvel Universe and doesn't often need to give an explanation for why they're there, which will definitely make parts of this story confusing for new readers. However, if you're willing to throw yourself into the fire, it's a great place to learn a lot about characters and about the Marvel Universe. Just be prepared to not know who everyone is. If you're looking to start in the early days of comics, the Marvel comics Essential books are probably the easiest way to jump in and you can get them for tons of different characters.

Look, I can't say it enough. There's no right way to get into comics. There's also no wrong way to get into comics. And me? I'm just this guy, you know? My tastes are probably different than yours and we could be attracted to completely different types of characters or books or writers. Just read comics, okay? That's what this boils down to. Read Marvel (dot blogspot dot com).