Noobs guides to comics

[Joose]

I have been thinking for a while of writing some little article type things on comics aimed at people who don't know anything about comics. Mostly this is because I know of at least a couple of people who have said to me that they would if they had the slightest idea where to start. The idea would be to take a handful of different subjects that commonly cause confusion and try to explain them as briefly and simply as possible using noob friendly language.

Ironically, the main reason I haven't done it yet is because I don't know where to start. Theres the thread about non-superhero based comics, but thats more a kind of mini-review thing. Some of the subjects I was thinking of covering are:

• How to get into mainstream comics - How the hell do you start reading a comic when the story has been going continuously since the 50s?
  Where to get comics from - what shops, physical vs digital, being a bit naughty about it
  Brief primer on terminology - What the hell is decompression? What is the Marvel Method? What's the difference between a splash and a spread?
  Marvel vs DC - Whats the difference and what are the alternatives?
  Writers - The big names and recommended reading from them

First off, would any of this be of any interest to anyone here, or would it be a complete waste of time? Secondly, any suggestions in addition to the above, or requests of what to do first?

[HereComesPete]

I have tried so many times at the first one you've listed and never fully succeeded. I generally stick to the other stuff like Y or Wasteland as a result of trying to cram all the twists and turns into my head then getting to the inevitable 'aah, fuck this shit' moment.

Teach us your ways Joose!

[FatherJack]

Sounds interesting, with more complexity there than I'd imagined, so would like to hear about what those things mean.

I've always been a little perplexed at the scene as viewed from the outside, with first-edition versions being valued like priceless works of art - why!?. You've previously corrected me on my stupid Marvel vs DC assumption that they're somehow mutually exclusive.

I think the biggest barrier is the one you mention about how to pick things up when series have been running for decades, along with the implied snobbery (from the prices) that the old ones are the best, even though in all likelihood they are probably not.

Recent, or completed series, or those which lend themselves best to the creed Star Trek, Scooby Doo (and earlier Doctor Who) episodes vehemently stick to that each episode should be its own story not requiring any overall understanding other than the general theme might seem easy ways in, but could lead to dissatisfaction at the lack of an overarching story, which most modern series now employ (with greater or lesser success).

Given that, I understand Pete's frustration and echo his call - how does one pick up a long-running (ie: probably, statistically good) series and immerse yourself in it without actually spending more time reading Wiki articles about it than the stories themselves? I even kind of feel a little excluded watching a movie adaptation, as while they are specifically designed to include the widest audience (because: money) they still contain nods to the fans I just don't get.

It seems a minefield that you just don't get in purely textual novels where you can easily just read the full story. Iain M Bank's Culture novels being a prime example - you can pick them up in any order and feel you're filled in pretty quickly about what the Culture is all about, without being bored on reading a second novel in the same setting.

[Anery]

I don't buy comics on a week by week basis but I do like the buy the "event" compilations that Marvel do - the Civil War event was a rather good one - I think these are a quite good place to start.

[Joose]

ok, so I have gone a bit mental with this and have now written thousands and thousands of words. Im not sure what the best way to publish this is going to be. Seperate thread for each subject is what I was originally going to go for so that I could answer any questions that come up, but theres bajillions of subjects now, and I dont want to flood the forum with comics thoughts. I could just post one a week or something, and make a sticky thread to keep track of them all. Any better suggestions?

[fabyak]

I'd be interested!

Do we still have the wiki?

[Joose]

I had considered the wiki, but its not ideal for discussion. How about this:

1) Article gets posted up here as a regular thread.
2) Discussion is had, maybe edits are made as a result.
3) When the discussion starts to die down, the article gets copied over to the wiki for reference and we ruturn to 1) for the next article.

Sound sensible?

[buzzmong]

What about the 5punk front page?

[Dog Pants]

What about the 5punk front page?

Yay!

[Anery]

I would be interested in reading your words, do you also cover things like failed and not so failed TV and movies?

[Joose]

I certainly can do. I shall add that to the list.

I shall attempt to press my words on to the frontpage. Wish me luck.

[Joose]

That went well. Wordpress seems to shit itself if I try and post a post from this laptop. I shall try again later when I have access to a less shit computer.

[Joose]

Ok, I have finally gotten around to trying posting this to Wordpress again, and I think it worked this time. Just needs reviewing. And possibly some editing.

Also, I don't appear to be able to add pictures, so if someone who can do that wants to do that, feel free.

[Dog Pants]

Oh piss. I'll have a look at the permissions. Last thing I want to do is discourage people from posting.

[Dog Pants]

Everyone is set by default as contributor, meaning anyone with a registered account can write articles. However, as well as not being able to publish articles, contributors can't upload images. So I've made you an author, which should let you upload images and also self-publish. I didn't want to make self-publishing the default for registered accounts (or file uploads, now I think about it) in case of spammers/trolls, but I have no issues with normal 5punkers doing either. So if anyone wants to write something give me a poke and I'll bump you up to author.

[Anery]

I offer up two reviews of things here that are not acually comics, but are connected in a way.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
Documentary from the guy who supersized himself, with the help of Stan Lee and Joss Whedon. Follows a bunch of con-goers during one years SDCC. There's the group of folks entering the masquerade costume competition, the collector, the comic book seller, the couple in love and the wannebe comic book artists.
It's a good documentary, saccharine at times, overly dramatic in places it doesn't need to be and it certainly loves the geek. Commentators are a who's who of geekdom, Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Seth Rogan, the other Seth, Frank Miller, that fuckhead who did spawn...
Watch if you like comics - you will assosciate with a lot of what is said and the people featured, if not totally you will at least sympathise. Watch if you don't - you might learn something.

Marvel Unlimited
I don't have the time or the inclination to peruse comic book stores, there are none nearby and I don't really want to be assosciated with the type of person who frequents a comic book store (I have the same problem with Games Workshop, I prefer to pocket my merch without a bag and leave quickly) Marvel Unlimited is perfect for people like me, it offers up the entire Marvel back catalogue to be read either online or downloaded (12 issues at at time) to be read later. It is the Love Film for comic books.
It costs $9.99 a month which sounds like a lot but I have read over $30 worth of story already - Deadpool's got mooves - a yearly pass will set you back $99.99.
Back catalogue is only available from six months ago, if you want to read recent comics then you will need to enter the dungeons of Travelling Man or the depths of Forbidden Planet to get the latest and greatest. It'll all be available online in 6 months, I can wait for it.
One note about the app itself - it is flakey, I have the android version and it really needs some polish. It crashes frequently (every 5 issues read, rough average) the library and downloaded issues feature can be unweildy and so can the organisation and search funtion - this last point I can forgive, we are talking about over 60 years worth of material which criss crosses and twists with one another here.
Fo

[Roman Totale]

Marvel just announced a shitload of new titles. Artwork looks nice. No idea what the plots/themes are (not even started Secret Wars/Battleground yet), but I think that leads back to one of my main issues with this - there's too bloody much! I know that sounds like a strange criticism, but when you can't keep track of what's going on it's difficult to stay interested.

I fear a wiki session might be in order...

[Joose]

Short version:

Marvel decided that having two ongoing continuities (regular "616" Marvel and Ultimate Marvel) was bloody stupid, but they didnt want to just kill one off. 616 has all the history and most of the fans, but some aspects of the Ultimates universe are pretty cool too. So, instead, they did a big crossover event thing where all the different Marvel universes got all squidged together. I'm not entirely caught up on it myself, but I believe the idea is that it will end up with just one Marvel comics continuity, including the best bits of all the old continuities.

Its basically what DC did with the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths thing.

The good news of all this is that if you want to start reading Marvel comics, this is probably a good jumping on point.

Also: Holy shit Warren Ellis writing a Marvel book yes good hooray.

[Roman Totale]

New Cable and Deadpool series announced. Sweet.

[Joose]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat