The comic book market is over saturated
 

I've been wanting to get into comics lately, and in the last several months I've purchased several of the New 52 Batman, Detective Comics, Dark Knight books. But when I go to the comic store, I'm just overwhelmed with how much shit there is there. I've been interested in some other books besides Batman, like Nightwing, Swamp Thing, and Superman. But I don't know which books I should start getting into.

I know with the Batman/Detective Comics/Dark Knight books, I'm gonna get some of the hardcover volumes that are out to get caught up. They're like 10 dollars on Amazon.

I was also curious about some X-Men comics. Did they reboot any of the X-Men comic series? Which of those should I get into? Like I said the market is over-saturated. Especially for a noob.

Lately I just been buying up all the man-thing I can get my hands on

NTTIAWWT

i can't speak for DC, never followed that brand. I've got a post on here about the "new" spider-man. while i hate it, i like it. and it makes for an interesting read if you're into the history.
i used to read everything x-men related, but they did a dracula tie in awhile back, and i just didn't follow it. so i pretty much stopped right there.
i pretty much go the way of the trade paperback anymore. you can spend a little bit more money that route, but it collects all the chapters of (most) stories....

I like X-Men, but there are 823828502801 books out there involving them. Way too convoluted for a newb to get involved with. Seems somewhat the same with Spider-Man. With DC, the Batmans and all of those are still pretty much in their infancy, although they're somewhat convoluted as well. I guess there's plenty to choose from. It just seems to me that while an abundance of this stuff is good and fun, both DC and Marvel could use a little bit of "trimming the fat".

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/8409/iqxn.jpg

classic X-men in TPB form won't disappoint

I've been thinking about this recently. I follow comics and know what's going on, but I don't know how I would even begin to make a recommendation to someone who was looking to get into it. I tend to believe with long running comics you should just jump in and figure it out as you go along, but the way it is now you can't even figure out where you are when you jump in.

For example, one of the main X-Men comics is called Wolverine and the X-Men. But recently the writer and story lines from that book shifted to a new book called Amazing X-Men, and Wolverine and the X-Men is going to relaunch next year with a new #1 issue and different creative team. And there are six books with X-Men in the title right now. How is a casual fan supposed to keep track of that?

and this is why i quit the x-men. they are still bad ass. i just won't collect them anymore.

and back to spiderman. if you dare, just read superior spiderman. it's self contained. and it is awful in retrospect to the traditionalists. but it's pretty bad ass for those giving it a chance (and i still hate it, but i won't quit it because theres some shit really starting to go down. maybe.).

They just started a new title
Amazing X-men
they brought nightcrawler back
it's pretty decent
the 2nd issue came out today so it will be easy to get caught up

x-men gold blows though don't buy it

My kids have shown an interest in getting into some of the comics, but I've never been into them myself and have no idea where to begin. Can someone give me some direction on what I should be looking for to get them reading about Batman/Superman/Iron Man?

In the past six months I went from not caring about comics to having a pull list and a huge collection of older digital stuff. Even went out to the Free State Comicon which was a nice time. Here's my perspective.

- If you're just getting in, don't mess with single issues. Go with trade paperbacks (trades) or collections of digital stuff you find on the interwebs that have fallen off the back of a truck so to speak.
- Both Marvel and DC have the same problem of keeping the story lines and characters fresh. This leads to all of the confusion of who is who, what is going on, what time frame and what alternate universe you're in when you pick up any individual issue. I don't think that the New 52 has done anything to fix this.
- Some of the best story telling and artwork can be found outside of DC/Marvel. It's been like that for a long time, I suspect.

Here are some specific recommendations. Of course you'll want to flip through these before giving kids access to them. My parents were always really liberal with what they let me read growing up, but every family is different. Your mileage may vary. Price per pound based on the current value or pork bellies. The decision to pick a lawyer shouldn't be based on advertisements. Caveat emptor and all that jazz.

Two (well I guess four) Trades You Must Buy Now

- Hawkeye
- Saga

Hawkeye is so good for so many reasons. It's approachable in that it has nothing to do with anything else that's going on in the Marvel universe. It's funny because it's written by Matt Fraction and the artists do a great job of matching the aestic to the stories. The writing and art is so on point that one issue is written from the perspective of the dog. Trust me on this one.

Saga is best described as a Space Opera. Not for kids (as is made abundantly clear by the first page of issue #1) but is a really engaging and emotional story. I suspect that this will end up there with Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Maus and Y- The Last Man in terms of comics that end up with literary acclaim.

Current series that aren't too far along and are worth keeping up on

- Sex Criminals
- Velvet

Sex Criminals was named the best comic of the year by Time Magazine even though there are only three issues that are out. This is now on my pull list for hard copies. It's super funny and the artwork is top notch. If you're put off by the title, it's not creepy. It's about two people who can stop time when they have sex. So they do what anyone else would in this situation…they rob banks. It's AWESOME.

Velvet hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but I'm really liking it. It takes place during the Cold War and is full of spies and assassins. Issue 1 was great and issue 2 held up on the momentum. The third issue comes out in a couple weeks.

Traditional Character Story Lines and Trades

- All Star Superman
- Superman - Earth One
- Superman - Red Son

All Star Superman has gotten a lot of critical attention. I thought it was okay and is worth an afternoon read. Red Son is a three part series that answers the question of what would have happened if Supes had landed in Russia instead of Kansas. I'm not all the way through Earth One yet, but it was used as source material for the Man of Steel movie and is pretty good so far.

- The Dark Knight Returns
- Batman - Year One
- The Killing Joke
- Batman - Court of Owls

Batman is, of course, a dark character. I read The Dark Knight Returns when I was about 12 and it really warped my perception of Superman and solidified my love for Batman in general. I love the dark and gritty Batman stories. Court of Owls is every bit as dark and twisted as the other stories on the list which you've probably either read or have heard about.

- The Ultimates
- Winter Soldier
- Wolverine Origins

The Ultimates is a great way to get into the Avengers and was used as source material for the current Avengers movies. You can read the series without knowing anything else about the Marvel Universe which is great. Winter Soldier (written by the same crew that's working on Velvet) is obviously going to be used as some source material for the next Captain America movie. It's pretty good so far. I'm about half way through. The Wolverine Origins story arc is great for historic context. It's lengthy and I'm not a big fan of the mundane artwork, but is entertaining and a good escape when you don't want something as thick tough to muddle through as something like Watchmen or Saga.

How do I read my comics? I'm really loving the digital format.

I use the Chunky Comic Reader on a full size iPad with a Retina Display. I would imagine that the new iPad Air is almost the perfect experience since it likely weighs less than a big trade or a hardcover and can hold TONS of comics. Chunky does a good job of organizing the comics for you (if they're named in a sane and consistent manner) and makes everything look great. The details that are drawn into Sex Criminals almost require you read in digital…and trust me the details are worth it. You can even link Chunky to different cloud based storage accounts like Dropbox or Google Drive. That way you don't have to fill your iPad up with all your comics…you can just download the ones you're currently reading from Google Drive.

Image Comics makes their stuff available in DRM-Free formats like CBR or CBZ.

Hope this helps…

Now go buy Hawkeye.

Bro.

You can get Red Son and Old man Logan cheap in graphic novel form, both are amazing.

Another fun thing, netflix all the marvel movie, planet hulk is amazing. and next avengers.

If you are just beginning the Infinity Gauntlet Series is a mandatory classic get.

Of course its over saturated when many of the top movies are based off comic books. They all want to be the next big thing.

I can't agree more about Hawkeye. Its only drawback is that they appear to have problems getting the issues out there. The issue that was supposed to be out in October still isn't out.

Also, a big yes to the new Amazing X-Men, with the return of Nightcrawler. It's only two issues in and is pretty good. Same goes with Marvel Knights X-Men.

Other really good (but non X-Men) Marvel titles out right now are the new Mighty Avengers series (only three episodes in), Superior Foes of Spider-Man (only 5 in) and the Captain America and Thor: God of Thunder series.

Several good series are just ending, including Wolverine and the X-Men, but that one is due to be relaunched in (I think) March. They also will be coming out with Avengers Undercover around the same time, which should be good, and a Winter Soldier mini-series set in the late-60's Cold War spy era. Oh, and a Moon Knight series written by Warren Ellis.

I've also heard good things about the current Daredevil series, though I haven't gotten around to it myself.