Don’t argue
If you argue about this point then this blog is not for you, because I’m going to ask you what genres you like and if superheroes are all that you want there are other “where to start” blogs that will probably be more your style. Also, I will not be giving specific book suggestions, this is supposed to be about you (the reader) choosing your own comics adventure.
Anyways, where to begin and how to get into comics. It can be intimidating to start reading comics especially if your goal is to feel comfortable and like you belong in a comic book shop. I will say this, no matter how many comics you read, stepping into a new shop can be intimidating. It’s like going into a new bar, you know a sort of what to expect but it’s still a different place with a new group of people. Anyways, I’m going to pose questions and give suggestions as this is not an absolute guide to getting into comics. Instead, it’s a way to think about what you want to get out of reading them and consider how and if you want to be part of a comics community.
It’s important to know the answers to these questions to understand what sort of commitment you are making. Comics do not have to be a commitment but it helps to understand what sort of “first books” you might be interested in, what sort of recommendation lists you should look for, and where you should be looking to get them. Knowing the answers to these questions helps to narrow down the infinite possible books to start with and the infinite places you might start to look for things. Also it's OK to pick up something and then not like it. That doesn’t mean that all comics aren’t for you, it just means that that particular book wasn’t for you. Comics are an infinite medium so unless you don’t like pictures and words together there is most likely a comic you’ll like.
These questions help you to decide what types of comics you are looking to get into as far as genre and length format. While we often think of comic books in their “floppy” single-issue form, many comics are published as complete graphic novels, single page web-comics, and digital or print strips. These are all valid ways to “get into” comics but each type has its own community and place to get those types of stories. And remember, manga and manhwa are comics too, they just have generally Asian-creators and the works are translated but that doesn’t make them any less valid than American style comics.
If short form, or very episodic, is your thing (aka you like comic strips or getting a new page of a story every week or few days) webcomics will be a good place for you to start. There are tons of great ones on websites like Tapas and on websites hosted by their creators. These are often more personal works and catered to the tastes of the creator rather than a particular market, as they are labors of love. This means you can find almost any possible story imaginable in this form. Also some of the more popularized ones (like Hark! A Vagrant) do have published compilations through Kickstarter or are being picked up by publishers like Oni press so you can get them in hard copy form as well.
My first recommendation in relation to this is once you know what you want out of comics and the stories you are interested in finding, search “comics” and those topics that you want to read about. You’ll probably get some Wikipedia entries, amazon ads, and maybe some blogs posts. These will all help you pick what you are interested in. If you have not selected web comics, or even if you have my next suggestion will always be your library, local or university.
Why? Because the library is awesome, librarians can help you find more cool stuff, there is a huge variety, and you can try everything with minimal financial commitment. Libraries are great places to be (they often have air conditioning) and allow you to browse what is available with no commitment to spend money. Once you know more of what you want you can ask librarians to help you find more stuff (comics or not) that you will be interested in. If you read quickly, like I did when I was reading manga, the library is a great place to churn through graphic novels. 50 volumes of Bleach? No need to drop $500 on all those graphic novels, especially if you don’t care to re-read or display them, get them from the library.
Lastly, while you might not be helping creators directly, book circulation impacts what libraries buy, so if a certain graphic novel is continuously checked out they will probably buy more of volume 2 of that graphic novel. Also as a patron you can suggest things for the library to buy, in case you aren’t sure about something but think others might enjoy it. I’ve done this for local comics as well, which boosts sales and can put diverse books on publicly available shelves. As a little extra too, many libraries have digital comics access as well as physical comics (generally graphic novels as those do not deteriorate as quickly but some individual branches may have a small collection of floppies). So, if you don’t want to carry fifty graphic novels home with you, you can check them out through apps like Hoopla. Also at no charge. Doing this helps to makes sure you are getting actually what you want and helps you explore in what format to help decide how much you might want to contribute financially to comics down the road.
If you think any of the above is a yes then get to know your local secondhand bookstore (like Half Price Books), Amazon.com, TFAW, and/or a local comics shop. TFAW and your local comics shop will have floppies and graphic novels, while Amazon and secondhand bookstores are better for graphic novels. If you are just starting out local comics shops can be intimidating but if you go in know what you want, and money's no object, you can get great recommendations from the employees. If you aren’t a people person, Amazon is great for graphic novels and has the added benefit of reviews, though I wouldn’t always trust them as they can be filled with old guard gate-keepers. TFAW is a great resource for floppies and graphic novels and during their sales is a great place to snag a wide variety of newer material.
If webcomics, which are generally free, aren’t your thing, but you don’t have tons to drop on graphic novels or floppies consider a subscription service such as Marvel Unlimited or Stela both of which cost $10 a month for unlimited access to their online library of comics. Also consider looking at second hand shops, which might have older or out of print graphic novels.
Well walk into any store that you want and buy all the things my big spender. OR be even cooler and do things like back Kickstarters and support creators directly via Patreon. Patreons allow you to support those creators directly so that they can keep living and creating cool work. Lastly, most of the time each tier of support (either one time things like Kickstarter or monthly giving like Patreon) you get something like a unique comic or digital version of something for your money so it’s just going down a black hole.
If there are individual issues that you want to follow that come out in physical form this is the best way to support that industry. Pre-sales orders (aka what you put on your “pull” or subscription list) are what get reported and influence what series continue and which get axed. It was the source of recent controversy over at Marvel and so pre-sales are a really important way to make sure the books that you want to read keep getting published. For me, this means books that star and/or are created by POC, women, and LGBTQA folks.
Once that’s figured out look around for what shop is closest to you, check out their subscription/pull policy, as they are not standard, and visit it to make sure it’s got the vibe you want. Try to chat with employees to see if you like the vibe, and after checking their pull box policy, ask about starting a subscription box. If you don’t like the vibe or their policy, there are usually multiple options in an area and try those out. If you aren’t in to going to a physical shop for many local shops will ship to people (for an added fee), you can get find an online only service like TFAW, and digital subscriptions through publishers are always a possibility.
There have been many recent articles and great twitter threads discussing the “value” of comics. Namely, that the collector market in many ways is made up. Regardless of what floppies you buy, get them because you want to read them not because of some assumed increase in value down the line. OLD comics are worth $$ now because they were trashed and so while lots of them existed, few survive. This is no longer the case. Comics are printed in huge batches and many people out there are looking for “perfect” versions. That means, if you want to protect your comics you should be interested in protecting them for your own pleasure. That means bags, boards, or both depend on what you want for your collection and always means an added cost to reading comics in protective supplies. These are better to buy in bulk and to shop around (online or at a variety of local shops) for the best price and if you want some tips on preserving home collection in general check out this.
I recommend, once you’ve found creators/writers you like, follow them on Twitter and Tumblr. They often post great art or story tidbits and make you feel part of the comics community, even if you don’t go to a local shop. You can see what new projects are going on and often get great recommendations from them for new books or artists to follow or kickstarters for unique titles.
I want to reiterate There is no “right” way to get into comics. Just like getting to music or print books, everyone gets there in their own fashion, Unfortunately, because of histories of gatekeeping, comics can seem more intimidating than they have a right to be. And remember, however you get here, if you are interested you belong anywhere comics discussions are.
