I'm not american and I want to get into the 'comic' culture. Where do I start? THere are multiple versions of every famous comics series that it's kindof overwhelming. Please recommend newbie comics stuff to me.

If you're after big time superhero stuff, there's two which totally changed the playing field yet are easy to get into, and both written by the same guy. Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman and JLA are simply amazing comics that just grab you by the balls and fling you into pure comic heaven. JLA brings you galactic threats and a non-stop high octane storyline, and All-Star Superman shows you prettymuch what the perfect comic could be. Morrison's other stuff gets pretty out there, though Vimanarama and We3 are straight forward enough and totally fun!
But All-Star Superman is just a MUST READ for anybody, even if they don't like comics, they should be made by law to read that.

My idea is to suggest anything by the king of comics, Jack Kirby (peace be upon him), however for many newcomers, his stuff can be really daunting, because it's about 500 different new ideas thrown at you on each single page, written in a wagnerian style with artwork so jaw-droppingly orgasmic, you'd have to cover your eyes with sunglasses just to look at the cover. When I rule the world, every island will have a mile high statue of Jack Kirby made out of solid gold, and he will be high-fiving a mile high solid gold statue of Frank Zappa (still can't get over the fact that my two idols were also good friends ​). Kirby's kinda like, if you get him, you're in love. If you don't get it, you don't like and refuse to read (my brother refuses to read Kirby, even though he loves many of the concepts The King introduced)

Ultimate Spiderman is a good run to start if you're after a kinda generic superhero stuff. Nothing of any depth or content just some pretty boys and pretty girls flying around. It is pretty fun, but gets really shitty after they change the team behind it, and avoid Ultimatum like it's the fucking plague. One of the worst things ever written.

Justice League International (not the modern relaunch, but the old 90's one) is a good lighthearted well drawn and well written comic series which I would recommend reading as it introduces you to a load of characters, and is totally lighthearted and never takes itself too seriously, leading to such timeless scenes as the Batman vs green Lantern 'one punch' moment.

I know from other people, that Spawn had helped them get into comics, and to be honest, it's quite allright. It's grim, gritty and 90's enough for kids who think they're cool to get into, but has the amazing artwork of Todd McFarlane, which basically looks like somebody has vomited after just eating a bowl of Shreddies, and used that to draw the images.  Spawn has served as a good introduction to many people.


You may notice that I am heavily promoting DC Comics, the reason for that is that Marvel haven't really done anything of much merit in many years. Their G.I. Joe run (1982-1995 or something) was their best non-Kirby comic, and likewise Marvel UK's Transformers were also well written. However Marvel have mostly been obsessed with rehashing their old ideas and haven't come up with anything new or exciting. Whenever anything interestign EVER happens in Marvel comics, it is always just A CLONE or A DREAM or something. Don't waste your time with Marvel, they became naff when they lost Kirby.

Also DUHHHHRRR for forgetting, but The Walking Dead is very in right now. I started following it when it first came out years ago (fuck you trendwhores just getting into it now) and it started off really well, really well written and unpredictable. It stays that way for quite a while, but then... it gets repeative further on. I haven't read it in a while now because well, the problem with a genre comic is that it's defined by the genre. If the genre is ZOMBIE SURVIVAL then there's only so many scenarios and character archetypes to go through before they repeat themselves and you just lose all interest in the characters.
It is an excellent comic at first, the first 6-7 volumes of the tpb are good. Just after that it's all same old same old.
With the TV series on air, and the tpb's being pushed in every bookstore, it'd be a no-brainer really.

Kaworu what's a good Moebius primer?
 
I don't think I've ever read Spawn but it was probably just one of the first comics those people read. I got into comics by picking up bits and pieces of the Spiderman Clone SaGa as a kid and those were universally terrible. Quality isn't a huge issue at that point.
 
Also would second Grant Morrison and Jack Kirby for superhero stuff, would recommend "Doom Patrol" by the first and "OMAC" by the second (they're what got me into both, anyway). Don't read superhero stuff in general tho since it is all mostly terrible. I spent years on em before realising this and now I pass this knowledge on to y o u
I hear DC's old "Herbie" comic was pretty great but I haven't read it yet.
Jim Steranko's "Nick Fury" comics rule but IDK how easy they would be to pick up / if they're collected into one easy book or whatever.
 
Started writing a post on Comix I Like but I dunno how many of them would count as good introductory ones so it all felt kind of masturbatory. May resume soon ? ? ?

- any of George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" comic collections. They're all fantastic and very mysterious!! I can't recommend these amazing comics nearly enough!!
 
- Acme Novelty Library #19 by Chris Ware is really good and should be easy enough to find. That and the Acme Novelty Library Joke Book collection of filler strips are prolly my favourite things by him. they're all DEPRESSIVE WHITE PEOPLE comics but he's good enough at it to be worthwhile regardless.
Same with Eightball #23 by Dan Clowes?? this concludes the section on "comic people most likely to appear in the new yorker".
 
- i liked "From Hell" by Alan Moore most out of all the stuff he did.
 
- double autobio rec:: any collection of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor and also One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry
 
- You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation by Fletcher Hanks is a good sumup of Golden Age comics.
 
- I actually like the old William Marston Wonder Woman comics from that period too. Strange mixes of mythology and bondage fetishism and oddly ornate art give this kind of dreamlike atmosphere. Odd arbitrary rules and conflicts. Still seems to sum up a kind of strangeness and more overt perverseness that got repressed in later Super Hero Comix, and consequently still seems much fresher and better than any of them.
 
- The "Frank" series by Jim Woodring is good and weird. here are some cool Jim Woodring interviews: http://www.tcj.com/the-mind-of-a-worldly-man-is-like-a-fly-a-jim-woodring-interview/ http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-woodring,42888/ he's an interesting guy. The latter one features the only interpretation of the whole Hero's Journey thing that has ever seemed interesting to me.
 
- also any R. Crumb stuff (with the possible exception of his adaptation of the Book Of Genesis??). there's a lot of collections out there but stuff from his sixties work is probably the best known and the best starting point. the documentary movie "Crumb" is good.
 
- I'm actually reading Garden by Yuichi Yokoyawa right now and liking it a lot so that too I guess!! Also Multiforce by Mat Brinkmann!!! they're both exciting comics. well, so long.
 
IDK what else I'd recommend. I have a bunch of comics but most of them were apparantly entirely unmemorable. o well

tank girl

what's the ideal comic rec for earl chip? zombies stink. ketchup, mustard, pizza

Thanks, I'll strt searching for those on the net now. There's no way I could get those here in our place so I hope it's slightly justified.

Also I have read a comic that is about these kids of supervillains that runaway from home to stop their parents. Forgot the title. But it was pretty good up until the part that they  have guest artists I guess, which broke it for me. I wasn't used with that thing and thought maybe it's a normal thing to do with comic books. But yea, only the first few 'seasons'(?) are good. I think it's Runaways or something.