Picture this: You’ve just walked out of seeing Civil War or Suicide Squad for the 20th time this week. You’re full of life and enthusiasm and think to yourself “Wow! I really want to read the comics and get to know these characters!”. But wait! You discover that there’s a metric ton of backstories for all of these characters! Where do you start?! What will you do?! Have no fear dear reader! I’m here to answer all your burning questions and guide you through this seemingly treacherous frontier known as COMIC BOOKS.

One of the main reasons people get turned off by comics is the decades upon decades of stories Marvel and DC respectively have. But as I said before, they’ve realized how eager those who discover their characters via movies, video games, or TV shows are to read the source material. So both companies have made it infinitely easier for newcomers like you to get into their books via brand new series featuring your favorite characters that don’t require a PHD in Comic Book-ology to understand.Fortunately for you, with the rise of geek culture and comic book characters being everywhere you could imagine, companies have made it much easier for people to get into them. It’s daunting at first but once you’re in you’ll never want to leave, like a cult but cooler and with less kool aid.

Marvel Comics

Fresh off their wildly successful movie franchise, Marvel has created an initiative called Marvel Now that’s catered to bringing in new readers while also celebrating their history. The have brand new books for every character you love from the movies and Netflix shows. Come September and October, they’ll have numerous #1 issues for you to pick up and start your comic journey with. Loved Civil War? They have books for almost every character in it, from Captain America(written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Jesus Saiz) to Black Widow(Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Chris Samnee, highly recommended to Vision(Written by Tom King and drawn by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, also highly recommended).

Civil War was a great ensemble movie, but these characters are also compelling on their own.

If you’re a fan of the fantastic Netflix shows, check out they have brand new books coming out starring Jessica Jones (Written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Michael Gaydos, also highly recommended), Luke Cage (written and drawn by Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky, definitely check it out), and Daredevil (written by Charles Soule and drawn by Ron Garney).

See where your favorite Netflix series originated.

Personally I recommend the new Black Panther (written by acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze) and Doctor Strange (written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Chris Bachalo) books. They’re great jumping on points to get acquainted with the characters before their movie debuts, and they take the characters in new and exciting directions. I also recommend Ms.Marvel(written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Adrian Alphona). You may have heard of her already, but Ms.Marvel has been making news as the first female muslim teen superhero. Marvel (as well as DC) have been making huge steps towards making comics inclusive. Comics are and always will be for everyone. No matter where you’re coming from, there’s a character and a story waiting for you.

My personal Marvel favorites that are still going on right now.

Marvel has recently released a series of books called the True Believer series. They reprint the first issues of some of Marvel’s most famous stories for the low college student affordable price of $1 to get people into these books. I highly recommend checking these books out and get sucked into Marvel’s history.

Any one of these books are fantastic

Also, Marvel has released a line of books called Timely Comics. These books collect the first three issues of some of their brand new series for the low price of $3 as a taste of each book. They have Timely Comics for all your favorite characters, so there’s something for everyone without breaking the bank.

The Timely Comics will have the banner up top.

DC Comics

On the other end of the spectrum, DC has been firing on all cylinders lately with their brand new, beginner friendly initiative called DC Rebirth. Rebirth, like Marvel Now, is focused on taking familiar characters in brand new directions while also bringing them back to their roots that we all know and love. It’s been a great refresh to their books and its only getting better with each passing month. If you’re a fan of the extremely popular TV shows DC has been putting out lately, they’ve got books for you. From Supergirl (written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Brian Ching) to Green Arrow (written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Otto Schmidt),to the Flash (written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Carmine Di Giandomenico DC has perfect jumping on points for those who want to read more about their favorite characters from the tv shows.

See the secret origins of your favorite DC TV characters in the pages of these books

DC also has books catered to fans of their brand new Cinematic Universe as well. If you loved those movies then you can see them in all their glory in these books. They’ve just released a brand new Suicide Squad series (written by Rob Williams and drawn by Jim Lee) to coincide with the movie release, as well as a brand new Harley Quinn solo series (written by Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Chad Hardin).

DC’s got two brand new series lined up for Suicide Squad fans.

If you want to read really good Batman and Superman stories where they DON’T become best friends over their mom’s having the same name, then check out the new Batman(written by Tom King and drawn by David Finch, highly recommended) and Superman(written by Peter J. Tomasi and drawn by Pat Gleason, also highly recommended). Just in time to get hyped for the new Wonder Woman movie, DC has a fantastic new Wonder Woman book out(written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott) as well.

DC’s holy trinity is in great form in DC Rebirth

Something I highly recommend doing once you’ve gotten a taste of the new books DC is offering is diving into their years of stories with all these characters (I also recommend doing the same with Marvel). You’ll find tons of amazing stories throughout the years, and DC makes it a little easier for newcomers to find what they want. DC recently put out a free magazine you can find in every comic book shop that catalogues the best stories for each character. Say you want to read more about the Flash after watching the show, you can use the catalogue to find the best Flash books and get started. The best thing about comics is that once you get started you’ll want to keep reading more and more. These characters are timeless and evolve as time goes on.

Grab a copy of one of these at your local comic shop and start your adventure into the DC Universe.

Independent Comics

It would be a huge mistake on my part if I didn’t mention the plethora of amazing independent comic books being published right now. Independent books are brand new stories that aren’t based on superheros. More people wanting to read superhero books means more people wanting to read comics in general, so the independent comic book market has been growing along with Marvel and DC. This is also factored in with shows based on Indie books like Preacher and Walking Dead becoming mega hits. The best place to find amazing independent comics is a company called Image Comics.

Image Comics has some of the finest creators in the industry creating brand new concepts and telling imaginative stories that really push the medium in new directions. Usually creators who write and draw superhero books end up writing their own independent stories after a while, so if you like someone from DC or Marvel they’ll most likely have their own series out at some point. Image usually has a $1 sample book that contain a few pages of their new comics, so when you go to your local comic book store ask them for one and see what you like. You’ll definitely find one (or twenty).

Image also has a program called Image Firsts, where they reprint the first issue of popular series for just a dolllar. You can pick up a handful of these and not break the bank. It’ll help you get a taste of what Image has to offer.

Just a small slice of the delicious Image pie

I personally recommend Monstress (written by Marjorie Liu and drawn by Sana Takeda),Saga (written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Fiona Satples), and Tokyo Ghost( written by Rick Remender and drawn by Sean Murphy). Monstress is a beautiful fantasy/steampunk book about a girl possessed by a demon trying to figure out the secrets of the world and her mother’s disappearance while fighting off the monster inside her. Saga is a touching and hilarious sci-fi story about two lovers on opposite sides of an interstellar war trying to raise their child and stay alive. Tokyo Ghost is a high octane dystopian action story about a super soldier bounty hunter who’s sent on one last mission by his corporate media overlords to infiltrate Japan, which is the last stronghold of civilized society. These three are just some of the best books Image has to over right now and make great use of comics as a medium.

Conclusion

Hopefully this gushing fan rant/ sales pitch has sold you on comics and you’re not just closing the article right now. If the answer is yes then great! Next step for you is to attend mass at one of our cult’s numerous churches around the world aka go to your nearest comic book store. But you may ask “How am I supposed to know where that is?! I just got into all this!” Well have no fear I’m going to help you with that too! Just click on this link here to be taken to Comic Shop Locator.com. Enter in your zip code and it’ll tell you where your nearest purveyor of comics is. I highly recommend supporting your local store, comic book stores are the cornerstone of the comic book industry and help foster an amazing fan community with people from all walks of life. So go there, make some new friends, and support an amazing medium. In the end, comics is just that.If you prefer to read everything from the comfort of your own home, you can access a whole library of digital versions of every comic at Comixology. Just make an account here and you can purchase books online and read them wherever you want. The best of both the writing and arts world come together and comic books are born. Since there’s no budget or restraints, creators can create any insane scenario or story they can imagine. The only limiting factor is themselves. So without further ado, welcome to comics. I hope you enjoy your stay!