If you're a comics reader, this will be old news to you. In August 2011, DC Comics ended all of their monthly superhero storylines, and started fresh in September with a relaunch of 52 issue number ones.
There are also other changes to the DC universe—many characters have been updated with new costumes and backstories, and the worlds have been modernized to make the stories more accessible.
If you haven't read comics before, but are curious about what they have to offer; or if, like me, you've only started reading comics recently, this is exciting news—it means you can start following the stories from the beginning, without any prior knowledge of the characters or universe.I read a few of the first issues last week, and I found Aquaman, Batgirl, and Superman to be very good. Check them out at your local comic shop or order them online.
Further suggestions for beginning comic readers:
- You can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman. His Sandman series follows Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, and is filled to the brim with allusions to literature and mythology. It's also won a whole lot of Eisner Awards.
- Joe the Barbarian is a series I really enjoyed—told through the eyes of a boy suffering from hypoglycemia, whose hallucinations turn his house into a fantasy landscape he must battle his way through—with the help of his pet rat—to get to the kitchen and drink a can of soda before King Death can defeat him. Magical, action-packed, and sad. Written by Grant Morrison, illustrated by Sean Murphy.
- One of my personal favorites is an independent graphic novel called I Kill Giants, written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by J.M. Kim Niimura. The protagonist is misfit schoolgirl Barbara Thorson, who lives in a fantasy world to escape an impending family tragedy. In her imagination, Barbara is a giant killer; giants, of course, represent the personal disaster she tries desperately to ward off.
Haha, I think you're the first person I've seen who ISN'T complaining about the new 52. I don't have much experience with DC past Watchmen, so it's nice to see that the new 52 isn't a complete disaster! :)
ReplyDeleteI love reading comics, though I don't do so as much as I used to. I read a ridiculous amount of manga in high school . . . from Sailor Moon to Dragon Ball and everything in between.
Other than that, well, I've always been an X-Men fan. Craig Thompson's Blankets is fabulous. Bill Willingham's Fables series is also pretty fantastic. I've read some of Jhonen Vasquez's, but he's kind of an acquired taste. There are also some pretty rocking web comics now. :)
I think I like the idea so much because I only started reading comics at all three or four years ago, and I never got into superhero comics that much because it was a little overwhelming trying to figure out where to start.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I can see how the relaunch would be annoying for people who've been reading comics their whole lives. I would probably be annoyed too if I weren't such a n00b.
I'll definitely be looking up some of the titles you mentioned :)