Help me get started

cannibalrector

I'm sure this has been done on this forum before, but I'm looking for timely suggestions and I'm new here so I thought it would be worth a new thread. I've been an on-again off-again comics fan for years, buying trades here and there as they caught my interest. However, I've always felt somewhat out of the loop with comics because I haven't been a dedicated reader for years, so a lot of the big events and characters are ones that I'm not familiar with.

So here's my request - pretend that I'm completely new to comics and am just getting started today. What would you have me start reading, and what books should I start buying like tomorrow? One small-ish caveat: I have a Marvel unlimited subscription, so I would prefer not to buy Marvel books but just read them digitally. So I'm really looking for some reading suggestions there and then for someone to point me in the right direction for some DC books that I should start picking up.

Hopefully, you all can have some fun with this thread and don't find it too annoying. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Deleted User]

Hey, Buddy... You've entered into a world of fun. Comics are awesome, and there's so much variety, you're bound to find something you love. I'm 50, and have read comics every day since I was 3.

Being out of the loop is ok. I don't read any "modern" comics. I just don't find most appealing, and the price per issue is prohibitive for me. However, I have a HUGE collection of trade paperbacks and hardcovers. I mostly enjoy reading the stuff I read (or missed) from the 70's, and 80's, and some great stuff from the 2000's.

I don't know what you're into... but here's some of my favorites...

New Teen Titans (Wolfman and Perez)
Popeye (Segar and Sagendorf)
Astro City
Bone
Cerebus (High Society collections)
Ultimates 1 and 2
Planetary
JLA (by Morrison)
Sandman
Watchmen
Little Lulu (by John Stanley)
Amethyst (by Ernie Colon)
DC Showcase volumes of House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and other horror comics
Nexus by Baron and Rude
Mad (the first comic book sized issues, in particular are brilliant)
The Tick
From Hell (Now being republished in color)
Marvels
Kingdom Come
X-Men (By Byrne, Coclrum, Clarement, Romita Jr.. Smith, etc.)
Darth Vader (Marvel, the first 25 issue series)
The Authority

Whew.

All of these are readily available in comics or bookstores as new trades or hardcovers. There's SO MUCH more. Have fun!

Brack

Forget DC & Marvel, the hot superhero comics are My Hero Academia and One Punch Man.

mwhitt80

I like @Brack suggestion. Go manga

One Punch Man
20th Century Boys
One Piece
Pluto
Golosseum

mwhitt80

Now if you don't want to read manga I'm going to throw out some series that are just good to read.

Hellboy - Darkhorse just started releasing Omnibuses that are pretty cheap and easy to follow.

Sandman Mystery Theatre - if you are okay with reading comics digitally then you can get the entire series on comixology very easily.

If you like weird westerns try The Sixth Gun which was really good.

If you want good standalone graphic novels that are slice of life-ish try Alex Robinson. Our Expanding Universe, Tricked, Too Cool to Be Forgotten, or Box Office Poison.

If you are looking for a different kind of superhero comic I would recommend Astro City, Ex Machina, or Hitman.

If you enjoy something along the lines of horror/Hellboy there is American Vampire.