How to start reading comic books now

**This goal of this post:** I wanted to share this with the books community because comics have meant just as much to me as great literature as I’ve gotten older, and I know comics can seem daunting to get into if you don’t know how. **You can start reading comics now**, like right now. There is no prior knowledge needed of any character, lore, or history. The easiest way to start reading comics is to suspend your disbelief, pick one up, and start reading. Your library has comics. Hoopla has comics. Most book stores have comics. In this post I’ll outline three easy ways to jump right into the comics hobby. There are images of some fun comics you can read that accompany this post found in this imgur album (no self promotion, just pics of my own collection, I promise): [https://imgur.com/a/J3LTxtv](https://imgur.com/a/J3LTxtv)
**1.)** Let’s start with the first and easiest way to dive in. Is there a character you’re interested in? Is there a movie you watched and you want to learn more about a specific team? Does a writer or artist you like also write comics? Did you answer yes to any of those questions? Great! Walk, don’t run, to your closest local comic shop or LCS for short, and **pick up the first comic you see with that character, story event, writer, or artist on the cover**. It’s really as simple as that. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a recognized psychological state of mind, not just what happens to you when your friends don’t invite you to a party. This can be seen all of the time in the comics community. You don’t need to know every bit of backstory for the character before you read a comic, most of it will get re-explained along the way. You also probably know more than you think, just from pop culture alone. The bottom line is, you have to start somewhere. There will be time to go in and fill in the gaps later.
**If you really want to get into comics, just go to a comic shop, grab what looks interesting to you**, grab the books that are new that week, and just start getting after it. It doesn’t even matter if you jump into the middle of a story arc, “the devil bites back part 3 of 5” so what? Just read it, and go from there, you can pick up the back issues (parts 1 and 2) if the shop has it, but you can probably figure out what’s happening on your own. The point is to have fun with it. Finish that story arc, albeit missing the beginning, and be there for the start of the next one. You’ll have a head start and you’ll be there from the ground floor for this one, ready to go. Eventually enough time will go by and you’ll have read a consecutive few months of comics! You’ll have gotten a feel for that creative team, those characters, and those relationships. You’ll have realized who you liked and didn’t like in the book, maybe you want to try a different book, maybe a different publisher. Maybe that writer or artist has an independent, creator-owned, book at Image that you want to check out, maybe in a different genre that suits your interests better, now that sounds fun! That’s how comics and comic discovery works. Now you have bonafide hobby on your hands, and your wallet feels your pain.
We comic fans get asked all the time “How can I jump into comics, it’s so daunting and I’m so overwhelmed.” Comics have issue numbers like Batman #647 and volumes like Spider-man Volume 11 Issue #81. How are readers supposed to know where to start? The industry certainly doesn’t make it easy. Every other year it feels like Marvel and DC are also doing universe wide reboots with a slew of new #1 issues to entice new readers into the shops as a marketing gimmick. What those new readers actually aren’t noticing is that half of those “first issues” are just continuing story lines from previous volumes, not that it even matters. That’s my main point, it doesn’t matter, just pick it up and start if you’re hesitant but eager. Marketing can simultaneously be helpful and very misguided, I know, I’ve made a career out of it.
Here’s perfect example from my own visit to my shop the other day. The ongoing Spider-man book is way too messy for me, I don’t love the art and I know I don’t want to jump in. But browsing around the other day I just saw this, the art grabbed my eye, it was a zero issue which has to mean it’s a starting point, and its thicker which means I’m gonna get my money’s worth. I just bought it on a whim because I’ve been craving some Spidey, and I like horror, that’s all it takes.
**2.)** Now that we’ve got the “just pick up a book” strategy out of the way, I’d like to outline the second way to go about getting started in this fantastic hobby. **This strategy is to ask your peers or the shop employees, or do research on the internet, to find a good jumping on point that suits your interests**. Oftentimes books that are coming out are not the best jumping on point for new readers. The new Wonder Woman title that just started is a great example of my first strategy, of just walking in and buying a book. New readers going to their LCS this time of year (in 2023) are in luck to find a new Wonder Woman #1 by Tom King (and its really good too). However, both the current Batman run by Chip Zdarsky and Detective Comics run by Ram V are currently in a rather long, twelve issue and counting story arc. Each of which started on convoluted numbers like Batman #125 and Detective Comics #1062. Not the easiest comics to know to pick up. Especially when the newest issues are #139 and #1076 respectively. How’s an eager reader to know what to buy? Here’s the tip: When browsing you’re local shop you can scout for new series that have low issues numbers, for instance, just like Tom King’s aforementioned Wonder Woman, The Flash, Wesley Dodds: Sandman, Alan Scott: Green Lantern, Batman the Brave and The Bold, and Titans have all had recent number one issues. So if you see a #2 or #3 on the shelf, chances are the #1 issues aren’t hiding too faraway on the racks nearby. Ask around or do some browsing to see if you can find new number ones. Eager fans looking to jump into this hobby often don’t realize that there are a plethora of “Bat” and “Supes” books (among others) running at any given time. There is typically a “main title” like “Batman” or “Superman” “The Comic”, but there are tons of mini-series or side books, one-shots, limited series, or maxi-series that you can pick up and just have fun with and enjoy reading. **You don’t have to jump right into the main DC or Marvel continuity timeline, it’s all make believe anyway**. More often than not these side stories are better than the main stories in the primary books anyway! So do some research, talk to people, find the side books, mini-series, or recent relaunched books that might interest you.
**3.)** Now for the third and final part of this recommendation post. The other two strategies all focused on how to walk into a shop and hit the ground running with some newer books. **My third recommendation is to dive right into the classics first**! There are tons of great resources and articles on which books you should read for which characters, you can also comment below and I’d be happy to give my recommendations. From “Allstar Superman” and “What to get the Man Who Has Everything” to “Watchmen”, and Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman”, there are a near infinite number of legendary comics that you can start with, if that’s more your style. You can also start with the new stuff and interject an older book in-between to help fill in some back story or lore that interests you. You can’t go wrong reading or re-reading Batman “Year One”, “Sandman”, “Watchmen”, or Grant Morrison’s “Doom Patrol” at any point in your life, alongside any new comic. You’ll always find new things to pick up in a re-read. **This strategy is my favorite because if you find yourself loving the way a newer writer is writing a character, you can go back and see how an older writer handled them as well and discover what you like or didn’t like about that version**. I’m only recently discovering that I’m really enjoying Leah William’s Power Girl run, currently two issues in, and it’s making me want to go back and learn more about her back story and Earth 2. Comics and comic history can be really fun.
In conclusion, I’ve put a picture in the album I linked at the top that shows a number of Batman books, single issues, mini-series, a few omnibus’, and key issues, tons of Batman comics really. The point is that this picture really exemplifies each of these three strategies. **You could pick up any one of the books seen in that picture and you’d be in a perfect start to your comics journey**. From Batman “Year One” and “Killing Joke”, to the start of Chip Zdarksy’s new run to the beginning of his third arc. From Scott Snyder’s #1 issue, or his completed collection, to “Batman and Harley Mad Love”. From Batman “Brave and The Bold” by Tom King, to “The Dark Knight Returns” or “Long Halloween”. Each comic you see here can be picked up with no prior knowledge. That’s the beauty of it. Be it a legendary book, the start of a new run, or the middle of an arc. **Just start reading comics today, it’s that simple**.

by TSAgoodness