Anyone help out a comics noob (well, not a noob, but it's been 30 years since I last looked at a comic)? I got the Marvel Online, mostly for my kid, but want to do some reading myself. But, holy cow, do you comics guys speak English? So many acronyms, so much stuff, I can't even figure out where to start.
I read the very old Secret War series, maybe the last one I read. Attempted to read Gologotha for the X-Men - who are those people and why is the one gal nearly naked in Antartica? No idea. Any why are there 42 different X-Men series? Help. Where do I start?
I had the same problem when I restarted with Legion of Super-Heroes. There were so many titles, reboots, min-series, etc. I was lost as well. As far as buying, well, what I did is purchase the comics of the same title I had when I was little. It was nice because I was mentally caught up with the old stuff already. I knew the characters, was familiar with some of the writers, artists, etc. I knew what to expect. At the same time I also started in on the current series and after a few issues I got a pretty good feel for that as well.
After I pretty much bought up all I could, I started in on another title, purchasing large amounts at once. I have started several series but I try and buy out one first before concentrating on another, helps me keep things straight.
I haven't read everything, I wait until I have several issues in a row which helps me catch up on the ongoing plots.
I also started keeping an eye on other comic lines which featured Legion as well, such as Superman and Action Comics.
The other thing I did is start catologing the comics so I knew what I had bought. I write down the comic title, issue, month, year, and story title for each. When it is time to do a major shopping trip of about $150 I bring the list with in order to keep track of what I do and don't need.
Now I realize your not buying Legion but hopefully my experience will help you sort things out a bit easier.
You can also go to a book store and take a peek at or buy a comic pricing guide book if your trying to keep track of titles and what issues they consisted of. I also did quite a bit of internet research in an attempt to acquire information about various re-boots, titles, etc.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Anyone help out a comics noob (well, not a noob, but it's been 30 years since I last looked at a comic)? I got the Marvel Online, mostly for my kid, but want to do some reading myself. But, holy cow, do you comics guys speak English? So many acronyms, so much stuff, I can't even figure out where to start.
I read the very old Secret War series, maybe the last one I read. Attempted to read Gologotha for the X-Men - who are those people and why is the one gal nearly naked in Antartica? No idea. Any why are there 42 different X-Men series? Help. Where do I start?
If you are specifically looking for info on the x-men I would advise you to start here
heeh; I know what you mean; Civil War wacked out everything; back in the old days there was Xmen; then Xfactor, then EXcaliber and thats about it. Then it gets all wacked with classic; the new and whatnot until it takes a lot of study to figure it all out if you have been out of it for a while.
I empathize my man; really do.
If you want to start fresh, try reading the Ultimates line. Marvel started the line in 2000 as a way to make it more new reader friendly with an updated take on classic Marvel characters. There is 1 Ultimate X-Men title, 1 Ultimate Spider-Man title, 1 Ultimate Fantastic Four title, plus a book called the Ultimates that is a new take on the Avengers. There were other limited series and a Ultimate Team Up book that ran for a year and a half as well. The Ultimate books are solid, good stories, good art, but if you want the classic takes on the characters you used to read, they may not be your cup of tea.
The X-Men fracture started around the time of Secret Wars. [caveat I am doing all of the following off the cuff from memory, so forgive any srrors or omissions]You already had the classic Uncanny X-Men title which was spinning off mini series featuring the solo characters every other month or so. Claremont then launched the New Mutants title featuring the next generation of Mutants. Then you had the return of Jean Grey and the launch of X-Factor featuring the original 5 X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, and Iceman), and Wolverine got his own solo series. Then began the era of Mutant Crossovers beginning with the Mutant Massacre, which broke up much of the original Uncanny team and led to the launch of Excalibur with Kurt (Nightcrawler) and Kitty Pryde, with other British characters.
[Catching breahth], then New Mutants ended and relaunched as X-Force, a supposedly edgier team of mutants. Mutant crossovers continued running through all of the X-related titles with things like Fall of the Mutants, THe X-Cutioner's songs etc.
Then came the big split, launching a second (adjectiveless) X-Men title to go with Uncanny X-Men. The trail of limited series continued, and a new bi-weekly Marvel series called Marvel Comics Presents, an anthology title, features Wolverine stories and other solo stories of X-characters among the stories presented. A Classic X-Men title launched, reprinting the older X-Men stories from Giant Sized X-Men #1 and X-Men #94 forwards, adding new back up stories by Chris Claremont that filled in gaps or explored supporting characters or added vignettes into older stores. THe X-titles were becoming the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe, and then the animated series on Fox hit, bringing even more attention to the books. Cable (from X-Force) got his own title, more crossovers occured, a series based on the animated series was launched and more and more X-titles were launched, story lines were left hanging, plot points dangled for years and the whole thing became a terrible mess. Marvel went through bankruptcy restructuring and the title output finally began to shrink.
When Joe Quesada took over as Editor in Chief, one of his early goals was to get the house of X-titles in order so as to capitalize on the launch of the X-Men movies. A host of titles were cancelled or reworked. There were 3 X-Men titles to survive, plus the Wolverine solo series. The three were Uncanny X-Men, Nex X-Men, and Extreme X-Men. Extreme was written by long time X-Men writer Chris Claremeont. Uncanny X-Men at that point just was not that good, and New X-Men was given to comic superstar Grant Morrison and was wildly experimental but channeled the look of the characters from the movies. It became the flagship title of the new streamlined X-line. There were still limited series and side projects, but each title was to have its own niche. This lasted for a couple of years, but the expansion started up again as creative teams changed again. Extreme was cancelled and replaced with a title called Astonishing X-Men written by Joss Whedon (he of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly fame). Uncanny and X-Men chugged along. X-Factor was brought back with a twist(as was Excalibur, but it didn't last long). The House of M mini series was a big status quo changer inthe X-titles as well. The number of X-titles had exploded again.
If I were trying to catch up and get sense of the major movers and shakers of the current X-Men stories, I would start with the Grant Morrison run of New X-Men (roughly #114-150 or so, I don't remember the exact issues). There will be some loose ends from prior stuff (such as what happened to Cyclops to mess him up in the head so much) but just go with it to get started. I would then read the Astonishing X-Men run by Whedon. Then the House of M mini series. Then the Deadly Genesis mini series written by Ed Brubaker. After that sample issues of X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, starting with Mike Carey's run on X=Men and Ed BRubaker's on Uncanny. There are a number of stories coming out of the House of M stuff, and they are spawning a few current storylines, but I had to give up on keeping up with the X-stuff about a year ago, when I just decided to stop buying new issues and wait for trades of stuff I like. I am waiting for some of them to be collected into trades and will catch up that way eventually, so I cannot help you much with the last year's worth of stories.
You may also want to see if the online offerings haave the Marvel Encyclopedia of the X-Men. It did a pretty good job of summing up the important stuff anf giving capsules of who some of the new players are and the new status quo's of older characters (who died, came back, changed costumes, changed super-hero identities, etc. etc.). There are also some websites that could give you synopsis as well.