well, ya can't go wrong with origin story comics. there are a few i've memorized (superheroes often didn't start with their own series): for Spider-Man, check out Amazing Fantasy #15. if you wanna catch how the Dark Knight started out, head for Detective Comics #27.
for alternate continuities, i highly recommend checking out the Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel Adventures lines.
edited 11th Jan '14 4:29:35 PM by crimsonstorm15
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.![]()
Honestly, with the internet and the endless wikis you can kind of dive in and read whatever. However, if you're into Marvel you're in luck, the second wave of Marvel!NOW starts this month. Basically they're launching a bunch of #1 issues that you can jump into, so I'd suggest doing that. Then as you feel your way about you'll naturally hear about other good comics, and can start reading those as well.
"Earth-616" for Marvel, "New Earth" for DC if I remember correctly.
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.I've long believed that the only thing you need to do to understand any comic is to read it with an open mind. Don't worry about references you don't quite get; if they're important, they'll be explained in the comic. If they're not, they don't really matter. And you can always check them out online. Hell, just go into one of the threads on here and ask - we're friendly and we really do love talking about this stuff, so we'll be glad to explain anything.
So see what books look interesting and pick them up. And yeah, the All-New Marvel Now! going on right now is a great jumping-on point. Black Widow just had the first issue of her new series come out this week, and it was very good. Loki's getting a solo title soon, and it looks like it'll be great. There's a new Silver Surfer series coming up that's looking like it'll be hilarious and sweet. Ms. Marvel looks really, really promising - a classic teen superhero comic with some Muslim flavouring. The last volume of Captain Marvel was one of my favourite books of 2013, and the new volume starting in March will have the same writer, so it should be equally great.
You could also pick up Pretty Deadly. It's not Marvel or DC, it doesn't have a movie or anything, and it's not particularly a "beginner" comic. But it's amazing. Gorgeous art, gorgeous writing, a gorgeous story - just an incredible series so far.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.I agree with most of what tiamatty said. Comics arent that complex,just start reading and do not mind much what you dont quite get (though I do recomend at last try not to pick from the middle of a story line).
That said, instead of picking current stuff, I personally recomend start by some old classics. For starters, it is easier to tell what is good that way. Sure, taste vary by people, but classics are classics for a reason. Not saying new stuff cant be as good, but it is harder to tell. Another reason is that old stuf might have the characters in a more familiar status quo than the current comics, although that is not aways the case.
The trade market is way easier to get into than the single issue market, if that isn't clear already. Marvel Now and New 52 were both built on visibly numbered trade paperbacks (something both companies had done inconsistently up until then - some series, like Ultimate Spider Man and Waid's Fantastic Four, had very easy to understand numbering; others, like the Brubaker Captain America and pre-Superior Slott Spider-Man runs, had a huge run of unnumbered trades masquerading as standalones), which provide an easy #1 that will stick around. These volumes are also quite cheap in comparison to the other trades out there.
There's even some application of that to the classic stuff. Marvel's Epic Collections are particularly great - having bought and read two of them, I can confirm that they are wonderfully easy to dive into, and provide a very accurate (for good and for ill) picture of classic comics. If a pre-00's story is collected in a standalone trade, you can bet that it is indeed readable as a standalone story; and stuff like Avengers: Absolute Vision (a two volume set) and Walter Simonson's Thor (a five volume set) are also easily available and have clear start and end points.
Also, specific recommendations that I have made to new readers lately:
Modern DC:
- The Flash: Move Forward
- All Star Superman
- Batman: Court of Owls
- Earth 2: The Gathering
Modern Marvel:
- Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon
- Young Avengers: Style > Substance
- Avengers Assemble: Science Bros
- Fantastic Four: New Departures, New Arrivals
Classic Marvel:
- Avengers Assemble vol 1 (by Kurt Busiek and George Perez) (basically, the most recent run I'd still call representative of "classic")
- Thunderbolts Classic vol 1 or vol 2 (likewise)
- Avengers: Absolute Vision 1
- Thor by Walter Simonson vol 1
- Spider-Man: Origin of Hobgoblin
- Iron Man: Armor Wars
- Marvel Masterpieces Uncanny X-Men vol 1
And, well, obviously I am very biased toward certain properties (I know Avengers history inside and out, but only know the broad strokes of the X-Men, for example). Also, Marvel has a lot more classic material in print right now (DC seems to be avoiding a lot of stuff that isn't canon to New 52 in their reprints).
edited 8th Feb '14 12:09:05 PM by TheEvilDrBolty
Definitely Year One. For that matter, Daredevil: Born Again for one of the best single-volume superhero stories ever (and the definitive "archenemy finds out the secret identity" story).
On a similar note, Marvels is a good Cliff's Notes of Silver Age Marvel.
Oh, and some non-Marvel, non-DC stuff that I also recommend freely:
- Ex Machina
- Astro City: Local Heroes
- Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers
- Top 10 (Moore-written volumes)
- Atomic Robo and Other Strangeness
edited 8th Feb '14 12:56:20 PM by TheEvilDrBolty

I watch a lot of superhero movies and wanted to go to the source and enjoy the comics. But I know comics have a lot continuities. What's some good issues to get if it's your first?
I'd try either Marvel or DC. Or one that isn't part of those two of its good enough.