Hey /co/, I'm a first time poster and first time comic reader, so feel free to hate me for it if that's what you guys do here. I told my friend I wanted to get into Marvel comics, and he recommended the Civil War series so I'm going to try to start that tonight. Is there any reading I should do before I start for background information, or will knowledge of the MCU be enough for me to mostly know who's who? I know it's pretty different from the movies and that's the main draw for me.
>>81761701
The more you know, the worse it's gonna be, and it's not very well structured to begin with, hinging on some pretty stupid behavior.
It's basically a michael bay movie.
Yeah . . . I'd recommend starting elsewhere.
Find a character you like and ask about their best stories.
>>81761881
I'd prefer a series with many big characters, that might be why he recommended Civil War. If that's a bad choice, do you have any advice for a better starting point that isn't just a single character comic? Also thanks for not being a dick, I'm kind of surprised
>>81761701
Here's how you get into superhero comics.
Find a character/genre/writer that you are interested in. Ask for recommendations here. Give a few of the titles a shot.
Despite the general stereotype, most comic stories are arranged in arcs that can be read on a fairly self-contained basis and will provide context, editors notes, or recaps to summarize backstory, or shit that happens in other books (and point you to where you can read them usually as well). Start at the beginning of a specific story arc (most trades will contain an entire continuous arc from beginning to end) and read until you get to the end or don't like it any more.
If you like what you read, you'll start filling in the gaps behind as you continue reading and then won't need our help as much to figure out what to look for next.
>>81762137
Civil War is pretty shit because it relies on people being hilariously out of character and stupid for the sake of keeping up the hero vs. hero drama.
Honestly, check out Marvels by Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek. It's a neat history of the Marvel universe from the perspective of a photojournalist.
Avengers/New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman
Uncanny Xforce/Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender
>>81762137
Then, for Marvel, you'd want Avengers runs and related teams.
To start with, as an introudction to it all, I'd pick up JLA/Avengers. Kurt Busiek and George Perez in top form with both the Justice League AND the Avengers in a massive crossover epic.
>>81762341
Marvels is a GREAT recommendation/Introduction to the big events of Marvel.
>>81761701
>I told my friend I wanted to get into Marvel comics, and he recommended the Civil War series so I'm going to try to start that tonight.
Your friend hates you, CW is a HORRIBLE comic book.
So here's the deal. Civil War is an "event". An event is a story that appeals to new readers, because it contains lots of characters getting together to do Big and Important things. Those Big and Important things are planned out by a committee consisting of the company's editorial department, reps from sales and accounting, the publisher, the president, and a liaison from the parent company. Once that committee has a basic outline of what they want, they gather all the writers together, they tell those writers to drop whatever stories they were planning on writing, and to instead write their part in the event. Any writer that doesn't want to take part in the event is fired. Because the writers don't want to get fired, they agree to write their segment of the event, but they half-ass the job because they don't enjoy it. Because of this, 99% of events are half-assed jumbles of confusing storypieces that don't quite fit together in a coherent, enjoyable manner.
For example, Civil War is trash.
I recommend that you don't read Civil War and that you don't read any other events recommended to you by your friend.
>>81762137
If you don't want to read comics that are actually good, if you just want to know what lots of characters are doing, just read Wikipedia.
>>81762461
JLA/Avengers kind of relies on recognition of characters to deliver on its final act though. As a DC fan who was just getting into Marvel when I picked it up it was a pretty cool gateway though.
>>81762244
>>81762341
>>81762345
>>81762461
>>81762473
>>81762476
>>81762511
I really appreciate the advice, thanks guys. Gonna make sure to not listen to this friend's opinion on comics anymore.
>>81762585
Your friend is fine, the problem is you.
They didn't recommend a good comic because you didn't ask for good comics.
>>81762585
Ten bucks he hasn't actually read Civil War and he's just recommending it because of name recognition.
Pro-tip, it's defunct and out of date now, but there's a bunch of recommendation lists for different creators, genres and characters over here: http://comraderecs.tumblr.com/
>>81761701
If you must start with an event, read either the original Secret Wars or the Infinity Gauntlet saga.
>>81762748
There's also the Annihilation saga, but that doesn't use any "big" names unless you really fucking loved the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
>>81762697
Now that's the kind of stuff I was expecting to hear haha. I asked for something like that as a jumping off point, so that I could get into the comics and see what characters I would like to read solo series of. If that's the wrong way to go about it, point me in the right direction.
>>81762697
This.
Comics are a medium, not a genre, not two publishers, far more than that. Do you have an interest in the medium or just want more superhero stuff?
>>81762728
>Ten bucks he hasn't actually read Civil War and he's just recommending it because of name recognition.
Either that, or he's read it and likes it. This is common with casuals.
>>81762975
Honestly, it's better to go about it the opposite direction, find individual characters that you're interested in first and then jump onto different things when they intersect with other characters or properties.
>>81762975
Ask your friend for good comics, regardless of how many characters are in them or what the story is about.
See if their answer changes.
>>81762975
CW isn't even good for that, read an Avengers book or something for that not a clusterfuck
>>81762975
You don't need to be exposed to characters beforehand. Any story worth it's salt will give you what you need within it's own context.
What you're asking is like "Hey, I'm looking to get into movies. My friend recommended I start with Expendables because it gives me a taste of a lot of movie stars".
Tell us what you like in your media. What tones and genres are you into? What sort of stories do you like?
>>81762975
Very rarely do big events actually have anything to do with the characters, and in fact often have characters acting wildly different just to facilitate the assfuck-retarded story and derail the existing plot of the comic.
It's an easy mistake to make, but remember this; most comic book authors are not good writers, and most are very prone to taking writing shortcuts.
Instead, look at superheroes and think about which one you might be interested in reading about.
>>81763070
I have a legitimate interest in the medium. I've read comics before, just nothing superhero related. I realize that there's a lot more to it than one genre or a couple of publishers, and that's why I'm looking for advice on where to start.
>>81763245
>What you're asking is like "Hey, I'm looking to get into movies. My friend recommended I start with Expendables because it gives me a taste of a lot of movie stars".
That makes a lot of sense, I was clearly going about this the wrong way.
Thanks for all the help, people. I'm definitely going to rethink this before starting with something that's terrible. Gotta abandon thread though, as I work in six hours and need to sleep. Also thanks for being cool and giving me actual advice instead of just hate for being new to the whole thing.
I am so fucking ashamed of /co/ right now. Jesus christ. You deserve this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbHm-jnSK8
>>81763573
>fucking ashamed of /co/ giving well-reasoned and polite recommendations
Oh you're one of THOSE people.
>>81763568
Not a problem man. I'm the guy you responded to both times there, and I hope I wasn't coming off dickish.
I'd be more than happy to throw some recs your way if this thread is alive in the morning/whatever, but would need some guidelines like what sort of genres/themes/moods/character types/settings you're into and such. Comics are as varied as anything. There're great romance books, great thrillers, wonderful war stories, action/adventure, anything you can think of. While superheroes/action adventure do dominate in American publication, I'd argue the medium is about as varied and diverse as you can get.
>>81761701
>Heroes versus other heroes
>Some beloved hero dies or hangs the cape
Is this Marvel's gimmick? That and having soap operas among the heroes.
Marvel's events typically start out strong and then become shit in the second half. Unlike most of the responses you've gotten, I'd recommend you pick it up. It definitely helps to know the characters decently before reading, but it's not required if you have a basic knowledge of the major Marvel characters. You'll just miss out on the importance of Goliath and shit like that. Start reading and you'll see where it starts to turn the shit, but I found the beginning fun. You should pick up some of the Civil War side arcs as well. Just figure out which character stories seem the most interesting in the main event storyline then look for their separate Civil War issues. Pic related.
>>81764214
Dude the whole premise is so cringey, Cap and Tony are so OOC and the event that sparks it is so small scale compared to other shit
>>81764413
>Dude the whole premise is so cringey
That thread is here >>81681021
>>81764413
Eh, it's fun to laugh at Speedball's self-loathing and cutting phase. I don't think Cap gets out of character til a ways in. Tony and his trio in charge of the registration side are always a bit forced, I agree with you there.
You know America, people lose their shit over kids dying.
