Forums: The Comic Forum

Welcome to The Comic Forum. This is a place to come to on MovieWeb for comic book info. Want to start reading Batman, but don't know where to start? Ask here. Superman? Spider-Man? Green Lantern? JLA? X-Men? Buffy? Star Wars? Ask away. Just plain seeking info on characters or their universes that you would like more insight on? This is the place.

Hello, I am CBF (comicbookfan), and I will be maintaining this forum with the help of a few trustworthy allies with the same or more experienced comic book knowledge to help you.

RULES

The only rules that apply here are simple:

1. Treat everybody with respect, and stay on topic please.
2. For those that answer questions, please provide a link to single issues and/or trade paperbacks that you speak of. Besides Amazon, which is also great to reference, here are the best sites for the 3 main comic book publishers, that list their comics:

- http://dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/
- http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page
- http://www.darkhorse.com/

Thanks, and have fun asking and learning!

Great forum idea, @comicbookfan :D

Besides Batman, since we already talked about what additional ones I should get, how about Green Lantern? He's still a bit foreign to me, and it'd be cool to get a breakdown of where to start.

@dan1 Thanks for the question! Green Lantern is an icon, and without going back through all Hal Jordan's Corps-murdering days, I'd say to start off with the modern stuff, starting with "Green Lantern: Rebirth" ( http://dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=6802 ). It's a great tale that puts Hal Jordan back in the driver's seat, and re-introduces many characters and ideas of the story of Green Lantern. Not to mention it's a phenomenal piece of work, IMO. This book is the prelude which kicks off the new ongoing Green Lantern series, Volume 4. Read the new series, starting with issue #1, after "Rebirth" and you will not be disappointed.

I would like to get into more Green Lantern and some Batman. Any reccomendations???

@moviemaniac66 Well, what exactly have you read of Green Lantern and Batman? If you are freshly starting out, or want to start from the beginnings, I would recommend "Green Lantern: Rebirth," for GL, and "Batman: Year One" for Batman. Come back and I'll suggest what books come after those to keep the story going. By the way, a lil trivia, they are making a DCU animated movie of Batman: Year One for release on September 27, 2011 so I'd definitely recommend reading it if you plan on seeing the animated film.

GL: Rebirth
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lantern-Rebirth-Geoff-Johns/dp/1401227554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298038009&sr=8-1

Batman: Year One
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Year-One-Frank-Miller/dp/1401207529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298038028&sr=8-1

@comicbookfan - Thank you very much. I will definately check them out.

@moviemaniac66 No problem, man. Happy to help.

@comicbookfan: Great idea, friend. I've been wondering for a while where to begin with Spider-Man. I've read all this stuff that Mary-Jane is now dead? What's up with that?

Mary Jane is not dead. Two years ago, Marvel decided to split the Parkers up with a storyline called One More Day.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=one+more+day+spiderman&sprefix=one+more+day+spiderman

@comicbookfan: Wow, thanks man! I really want to start getting into the comics because there is so much about the character I don't know. lol

@corey - @ejk1 is correct, Mary Jane Watson lives. She made a deal with Mephistopheles (Satan from Ghost Rider lore) to "undo" her and Parker's marriage in "Amazing Spider-Man: One More Day," that essentially split the fans of the book over the controversial tale. The last I have seen of her, she was in the recent "Amazing Spider-Man: One Moment in Time" (which fans are calling OMIT), which is 'supposed to explain' the unanswered questions left behind from "One More Day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As far as where to begin reading Spider-Man, you should know that there are multiple Spidey titles. The main book being "The Amazing Spider-Man" (or ASM). However, in the main Marvel Universe, there also exists "Web of Spider-Man," "Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man," "The Sensational Spider-Man," "Marvel Knights Spider-Man," and a few more. "Ultimate Spider-Man" and "Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man" are in a separate universe. I would not recommend picking up any of those books if you are starting out. Stick with "The Amazing Spider-Man," as that is the main story anyway.

Here are a few ideas of where you can start. If you want to go back and know the Gwen Stacy story, I suggest "Amazing Spider-Man: The Death of Gwen Stacy." This is one of the biggest and most major turning points in Spidey's career. Another great tale is "Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage" - it's a maxi-series, something like 12 issues, but sooo worth it, and lots of cameos. The Venom and Carnage stories start right before it, if you want to start with the symbiote/Venom story, I could point you in the direction for that, too.

It really just depends where you want to start out in Spidey's career. The older stories are good, but some of the modern stuff is good, too. I highly recommend the J. Michael Straczynski stories, that they are now bundling in 'Ultimate JMS Collections,' and that starts with Book One. I will go ahead and list all I have recommended below. And please, if you have a certain idea of what happened in Spidey's life that you know you want to read, let me know, as I said, I'll point you in the right direction. I usually always will for anyone if it's Spidey.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Death of Gwen Stacy
http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Man-Death-Stacy-Gerry-Conway/dp/0785110267/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298073893&sr=8-4

Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Man-Maximum-Carnage-Tom-Defalco/dp/0785109870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298073937&sr=8-1

Amazing Spider-Man: The Ultimate JMS Collection, Book 1
http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Spider-Man-Ultimate-Collection-Book/dp/0785138935/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298073969&sr=1-5

We seriously need an edit button. This is getting ridiculous, posts displaying out of order.

@comicbookfan: Oh, its fixed. I just had the most confusing moment of my life. lol

I concur about Maximum Carnage. Excellent story, and maybe the last (only?) great one dealing with Carnage.

No problem @corey.

@ejk1 Yes Maximum Carnage still remains on the favorites list of many. I only wish they would have adapted it in the 1990s animated series. Although, that cartoon was censored by Fox. At any rate, it's one I still need to add to my collection myself.

I want to read the first issue of the mask

@Monkey-iron Then here's what you need:

The Mask Omnibus, Vol. 1
http://www.amazon.com/Mask-Omnibus-v-John-Arcudi/dp/1593079273/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1298093957&sr=8-8

Although, if you are more a fan of the movie with Jim Carrey and of the later animated series, you'd want this one instead:

Adventures of The Mask Omnibus
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Mask-Omnibus-Mark-Verheiden/dp/1593079389/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298093957&sr=8-1

@comicbookfan: I've been wanting to get into the most recent Batman comics but I started reading Return of Bruce Wayne and was super confused. Where should I begin to catch up?

@corey This is a problematic question, because one must realize that writer Grant Morrison made a two year arc on Batman. In order to fully understand everything, you need at least the following titles:

Batman & Son
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401212417/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1401219098&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=09M622DJRKMGWH80EKW5

Batman and the Black Glove
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Black-Glove-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401219454/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Batman R.I.P.
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Black-Glove-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401219454/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Final Crisis
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Black-Glove-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401219454/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Now, form here you can pick up with The Return of Bruce Wayne if you wish or look for stories that will tie-in from the comic book series of Batman (book or trades containing issues 690-703, I believe) and Batman & Robin (books or trades containing issues 1-15).
Examples include:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=final+crisis&x=7&y=22#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=batman+and+robin&sprefix=batman+and+robin&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Abatman+and+robin

I hope that helps. Personally, I found that Morrison's two year arc is frustrating at the beginning, but as I neared the end and realized how he filled in all the holes from earlier, it was one of the most brilliant things I have ever read. Here's hoping that find the same enjoyment that I did :)

@ejk1: Thanks a bunch man.