Gaming World Forums
General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: Grogrog on July 11, 2008, 01:42:21 am
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So I've always had an admiration for comics, but I never so much really got into them, so that's basically what I'm looking for here, advice. I was wondering if anybody could give me a starting place to look into for DC comics. Things I'm interested in reading about are Batman, Flash, and the Justice League, or any other general recommendations anybody can give me. Any help appreciated. :)
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When you say getting into comics, do you mean like reading some trade paperbacks and shit or going to the comic store every week to buy new issues?
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When you say getting into comics, do you mean like reading some trade paperbacks and shit or going to the comic store every week to buy new issues?
Anything really. I like buying comic books, but I want a place to start out (where I'll probably just read stuff online). Like there is no point in me going every week to buy a new issue when I haven't read any previous issues of a series, or any earlier series. I want a starting point.
Like "Oh you like batman you should read this series and then move onto this one if you like Flash" or stuff like that, if it makes sense. D:
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it's not s good time to get into DC at the moment since every series seems to be in the middle of some big story, and final crisis and shit. It's all too continuity heavy rihgt now. I mean going back a year or so you could check out the Sinestero corps war in Green Lantern, and try and check out 52. They're the two best things DC've done lately. but everything out at the moment is kinda based on what happened in other stories.
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it's not s good time to get into DC at the moment since every series seems to be in the middle of some big story, and final crisis and shit. It's all too continuity heavy rihgt now. I mean going back a year or so you could check out the Sinestero corps war in Green Lantern, and try and check out 52. They're the two best things DC've done lately. but everything out at the moment is kinda based on what happened in other stories.
But that's my point I guess, I'm looking for a starting point, so I can lead my way into where it currently is. I want to read the slightly older stuff so I can follow the older stuff. I just need recommendations for a place to start.
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well if you wanna catch up, yuo kinda should read...
Identity crisis
infinite crisis
52
sinestro corps
blah blah but I guess a lot of what's going on could be worked out with a quick 20 minutes on wikipedia.
For Batman I'm kinda out of date but there's batman and son and the ressurrection of ras al ghul which're kinda essential reading to get what's going on now. Also Gotham Underground is pretty great.
Flash I dunno, I only really read about him in JLA, his own comics never really appealed to me.
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It's always a good point it start whenever some big event starts, because right after it drops off you'll be on the same page as everyone else. I did that when I first got into comics with House of M. But if you start doing that you'll be buying a dozen $3 comics a week. And well, DC is a mess so...........
Personally I recommend going to a (knowledgeable) local comic store and asking the clerk for what to buy.
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Comics that I always recommend to other people:
Watchmen
Everyone will recommend this to you so I'm not going to say much about it. You can google it and read all the fanboy dick sucking. It's a good comic if you haven't read it check it out but I bet you've read it already.
Black Hole
This is my favourite comic. It's about teenagers in like SEATTLE SUBURBIA 1970 or something experimenting with sex and drugs and this strange disease breaks out among teenagers forcing them to go and live in the woods and shit. It's crazy as hell but it's mad atmospheric and really cool if you can get over some of the SUBTLE SAFE SEX MESSAGES.
The Invisibles
Steel recommended this to me and I never finished it because it is kind of the comic book equivalent of repeatedly hammering your face off a brick wall but getting pleasure from it at the same time (this is what I told idiotkid.) It is cool that this shit happens and they end up dragging the marquis de sade out of time itself and all sorts but it is also HEAVY GOING if you are not into that shit. I started to find it a chore to read in places but OVERALL GOOD.
100 Bullets
Yeah this is cool. It is about this guy (agent graves) who comes to these people who have been wronged and says HERE IS 100 UNTRACEABLE BULLETS FOR YOU TO GET YOUR REVENGE. CAN YOU KILL? WILL YOU KILL? and the story that then stems from that character either taking or not taking these 100 bullets and whether or not they have the stones or can morally go out and take revenge. It's pretty good, I'm only about 3 volumes in at the moment though.
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Grab anything by Paul Pope if you want to see good comics.
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well if you wanna catch up, yuo kinda should read...
Identity crisis
infinite crisis
52
sinestro corps
blah blah but I guess a lot of what's going on could be worked out with a quick 20 minutes on wikipedia.
For Batman I'm kinda out of date but there's batman and son and the ressurrection of ras al ghul which're kinda essential reading to get what's going on now. Also Gotham Underground is pretty great.
Flash I dunno, I only really read about him in JLA, his own comics never really appealed to me.
So I'm in this same boat as Grogrog and maybe I'm just stupid but this is not any help to me at all. I need issue numbers of something. I tried going on wikipedia and looking it up but it is all so confusing! So more specific details please!
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I honestly don't know how anyone can follow Marve and DC continuities. I usually grab one-shots and limited series from the big 2 but all that final crisis and 52 and earth 616 and crazy shit that's been happening for the past 30+ years baffles me and constant retcons piss me the hell off.
With that said, if you're looking for some straight up indie material I'm the man to talk to. As far as mainstream shit goes, here's what I recommend that's already available in TPBs and collections:
Invincible - I think the hiatus is over and new issues are starting but I'm not 100%. All I remember is the massive (yet awesome) cliffhanger but I stopped caring after 2 months of nothing.
Kingdom Come - I can't follow DC's continuity but this is one of their better stories which is about this dude that has a chance to prevent the superhero apocalypse of sorts.
Batman: Hush/The Dark Knight Returns/Year 100/The Killing Joke - screw serials, Batman SHINES in miniseries.
Superman: Red Son - a really awesome miniseries about Superman landing in the Soviet Union instead of America.
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Also does anyone have recommendations for Marvel comics?
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Also does anyone have recommendations for Marvel comics?
Marvel is a really really broad universe. Right now it's secret invasion so I recommend you just pick up everything related and start from there. You won't understand like half the shit that's going on but once it drops off it'll be easy to adjust. I did the same thing with House of M. But that's only if you really want to start collecting comics and shit.
As for TPB I can't think of anything from the top of my head. You want to read Alex Ross's work on Marvels, The Punisher MAX series is really good. Uhhhhhhhhhh.... Frank Miller's Daredevil run is great, the stuff revolving around Bulleye and Elektra. Of course you want to pick up da essentials. Pick up Daredevil V2 also.
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To put things simply enough the stories are turning into massive soap operas and the DC universe is all about who's fucking who and the Marvel universe is all about who's a skrull it's ridiculous.
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So I'm in this same boat as Grogrog and maybe I'm just stupid but this is not any help to me at all. I need issue numbers of something. I tried going on wikipedia and looking it up but it is all so confusing! So more specific details please!
Identity Crisis 1-6/7 (I forget)
Infinite crisis 1-7
52 1-52
Sinestro corps checklist (http://david.ely.fm/davextreme/2008/03/green-lantern-s.html)
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So I'm in this same boat as Grogrog and maybe I'm just stupid but this is not any help to me at all. I need issue numbers of something. I tried going on wikipedia and looking it up but it is all so confusing! So more specific details please!
Start reading batman by picking up every single comic on the BATMAN R.I.P checklist going on now, so when it's done you're on track.
Yeah you're really better off asking the dude at your local comic store man. It's not hard.
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Marcus do you not feel Invincible is a little empty and teen-based sometimes? For a superhero comic it is pretty cool but after a while I got really sick of him going through all this TEEN EMOTIONS stuff.
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Marcus do you not feel Invincible is a little empty and teen-based sometimes? For a superhero comic it is pretty cool but after a while I got really sick of him going through all this TEEN EMOTIONS stuff.
Honestly I'm pretty mixed up about how I should feel about it because the original selling point was based on the fact that it was like a silver age Jack Kirby/Stan Lee style story and the art was fun and colorful with some pretty witty and well written dialog.
Then Omni-Man started ripping people in half and beat the shit out of Invincible (literally) and it was a pretty big "WTF" moment. After that I reanalyzed the series and realized that it doesn't take itself too seriously so I shouldn't do the same and now I find it both humorous and entertaining so it gets my money.
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Yeah I really enjoyed the beating the shit out of and tearing people in half but I just think, Invincible doesn't need to protect his identity. Having a costume is cool but he doesn't NEED to go to college and hang out and shit and have this pager. Why does the government not just put him on full time payroll, why do they keep up the charade of I AM A NORMAL KID.
Anyway the last I saw of it was when him and his dad were fending off GIGANTIC SPACE STRONG MEN who came to invade earth. I'm kind of torn though, I just feel it is a little teen angsty sometimes.
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One of the best comic books I read was Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics".
That is, if you are into that "informative non-fictiony" type of thing.
(It did make me want to read more comics, I just need to find the opportunity.)
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Marvel tends to deliver really great space stories. I guess it's mainly due to the unimportance\nonexistence of status quo. It also explains why they go down the drain when Earth is involved (World War Hulk for example)
Planet Hulk - it was really good and made me like Hulk, whom I found uninteresting beofre.
Annihilation - giant space bugs versus everyone, great fun!
Nova - the main guy from Annihilation having some good time with his supercomputer mind friend.
Other than that, seriously read some Watchmen, now with the movie quickly on its way and all.
Invincible is great and is going places right now, I just wish they would make deadlines.
You should also try some Sandman or things from its universe (Which is basically DC, but not really). House of Mystery just begun with 2-3 issues out, and it looks promising (the 1st was disturbingly great, th 2nd had it's moments as well).
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Also if you're not only interested in Marvel and DC, I would heavily recommend Mike Mignola's Hellboy, which I'm sure you've heard of.
Another comic, similar to Hellboy, is called Atomic Robo. Volume One came out recently, which is a compilation of the first six or so comics, and it's around 200 pages for like $15. It's written by the guy who makes 8-bit Theater, and the art is really nice too, so I highly recommend this as well.
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I'm too impatient to read the whole topic so I don't know what advice you got besides good shit like Watchmen and others...
Now, about regular superhero comics... I WILL STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST READING REGULAR CONTINUITY BOOKS.
The reason is that due to the constant change of writers and other stuff, they usually suck balls and are pretty dumb. And when they not, they usually fire the writer and the new one will make sure he takes care of the character becoming dumb. (For reference check Morrison's run on the JLA and compare it to the latest JLA... (Morrison's is v3, we're on v4 now I think)
I will, however, recommend certain lines of comics and generally specials can be good.
1) Elseworlds are good. Most of them are pretty decent, basically stories in where characters are taken out of their setting or where something in the setting changes enough to affect the story... Some are pretty ingenious.
2) If you want to get into Batman... Read Batman Year One and then check the entire Legends of the Dark Knight series (I think it's 214 or 215 issues)... This series is basically short stories (Anywhere between 1 to 5 issues each, usually 3) by different writers and artists... The stories are generally non-chronological, non-canon and self-contained... Some of the greatest Batman tales are on this series. I will also recommend important landmarks like Batman: Images and Batman: The Killing Joke, both about the Joker.
Also... Try the new "Joker's asylum" series... In it, the Joker basically narrates a story about himself (In the first issue) or another villain in subsequent issues. I've read Joker, Penguin and Poison Ivy so far... And all have been atleast above par.
For the Justice League, like I just said before... Check the JLA v3... It's in my opinion the best incarnation.
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Do not read Batman year one. It may be millar's best comics but it's not up to Batman scratch(it's Sin City in pointy ears). Killing Joke, Death in the family, Arkham Asylum, Hush and Venom are great.
Morrison's JLA is the best run it's had for sure. New World order and Rock of ages being prime examples of books to pick up.
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And all have been atleast above par.
i never understood this phrase. shouldn't it be below par because in golf above par is losing?
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i never understood this phrase. shouldn't it be below par because in golf above par is losing?
Above is generally accepted to mean "better", so you could substitute above with better.