How to Start Reading Comics: 5 Easy Tips

Photo by Ruth Orkin

I debated for a while about making this type of post - primarily because I am by no means a comic expert and I wasn’t sure I was qualified to speak on this topic. BUT - who better to help you navigate the confusing and sometimes intimidating world of comics than a fellow newbie. I never read comic books as a child or teen so once I was in my 20’s I just assumed the door had been shut on that world - I didn’t know what the hell to read?? I didn’t even know where to go to buy comics. There are so many different characters, and plots, and artists, and story lines and it’s ALL SO CONFUSING and it makes you just wanna ...


The very first graphic novel/comic I ever read was Watchmen when I was 19 because the trailer for the movie had intrigued me. I was in school as an English major and I decided I should probably experience a different kind of "literary form", and I was happy to find out it was a one-shot sort of thing. I felt comfortable because I couldn’t fuck it up. There was one book, one story, one set of characters - which allowed me time to feel out the medium and understand the flow of reading a story that is focused primarily around art and dialogue.

My mind was blown - I couldn’t believe how the writers and artists worked together to pull together themes and symbols that were just as good, maybe even better than many of the “real books” I had read. In a way it lit a fire under my ass that made me really WANT to enter the world of mainstream comics and see what other amazing stories I had been missing.

But, now what do we do?

 

1) Try starting with a graphic novel!

This is not necessary by any means. But if, like me, you have never ever read a comic book before I would highly reccomend easing your way in with some of these books. No, it may not feature the popular “superheroes” that we have come to associate with comics, but I assure you these are amazing stories that will get you excited about reading more.

I did find it took me a few books before I really started to follow the order in which the panels were intended to be read and what elements were important to pay attention to. There isn’t really a way to explain it per se because there are nuances to every story, but after a bit it comes naturally. This also eliminates any need to do “research” or understand past references because the stories themselves are self-contained and function quite similarly to a standard multi-book series.

Civil War: Front Line - Paul Jenkins, Ramon Bachs, Steve Lieber, Lee Weeks (Review)

Summary: Civil War: Front Line is an 11-issue, limited series tie-in to Marvel Comics's Civil War event which started in August 2006. Part of the story is told from the perspective of two reporters embedded in the opposite camps of the war. Ben Urich follows the stories on Iron Man's side with the pro-registration heroes, while Sally Floyd investigates the anti-registration faction headed by Captain America. Writer Paul Jenkins was given carte blanche to have the stories reflect the current political landscape in the United States. The other half of the series is told from the perspective of Speedball of the New Warriors. It shows Speedball's struggles with survivor guilt, imprisonment, and relations to the victims of the Stamford disaster.

Rating:3.5/5

Review: So, to preface this review there's a bit of a confession I have to make. I'm not a huge comic buff. At least not yet. Any reviews from this point forward on comics are coming from someone who has very minimal exposure to them - this is my disclaimer! So please take these reviews with a grain of salt if you are an avid reader, some of my criticisms may largely be due to ignorance of the art form and/or past storylines.

With that said, I have taken it upon myself to become more immersed in the genre, and thus far my journey has been pretty terrific if I do say so myself. Now, Civil War is my FIRST MARVEL COMIC. This is big girl stuff right here. I still may be partial to DC (again, this is all based on my very small bouts of exposure, so it's possible that opinion will change) but ever since Avengers fever hit everyone (myself included) I thought it was the appropriate time to try it out.