I bought some comic books.

So, I posted this thread a couple of months back:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=290034

and thought I'd follow up with everyone.

I still find the world of comics intimidating but the good thing is that there is no shortage of people here at Paragon who are passionate about them.

On a recent trip to the movies with Black Pebble the topic of comics came up and I decided to pick his brain a bit on where to get started. I've always been interested in Superman (without getting into details, I can relate to his back-story) so he was able to give me some pointers of books to get jump-started:

Superman: Birthright
Superman: Earth One
Superman: Secret Origin

Also, as the Dark Knight come to a close, I wanted to read into his story as well. He gave me the following books to check out:

Batman Year One
Batman: Earth One
Robin: A Hero Reborn
Batman & Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn

So, I went to my local comic store, http://illusivecomics.webs.com/ and attempted to buy everything on my shopping list. Unfortunately they only had 3 of the 7 mentioned above in stock but their service was excellent. In fact, it was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. I've strolled into random comic stores in the past to pick up gifts for friends or just to *try* and figure out where to start and generally found the service to be aloof but this store had people who were engaging, patient and helpful.

My wife joined me as she reads a lot of books on her Kindle and was looking for something a bit different. She walked out with Fables and iZombie which she's already torn through and is looking for more (she's bummed that iZombie has been canceled).

I've already read through both Earth One books I purchased and am halfway through Batman & Robin, Volume 1 and am really enjoying both their takes on the heroes and the differing art styles.

During my trip to the store, a few people mentioned the new Aquaman books are excellent. We all shared a laugh after it was mentioned the first time - it's the appropriate response, right? But in all seriousness, when I woke up at 5AM today, and couldn't get back to sleep, I rolled over, grabbed my iPad and downloaded the first book in the new series and I can attest (4 books later) that it is actually a very good read. I'll probably go back to the store to pick up the rest of the books as I feel a strange..sense of obligation to the store now. It's a mom & pop shop and I'd rather support them than continue to download books on the iPad even though it may be more convenient.

Where do I go from here? I'll probably continue to follow the stories of Batman and Superman for the time being while wrapping up the latest Aquaman and then, who knows? I hear good things from one of the guys here about Y The Last Man...and then there's The Walking Dead...and then...and then....

Thanks everyone for their feedback in the thread above. I do appreciate it and I'm sorry it took so long to get an update!

- HS

Superman Birthright is so great!
I'd recommend :

Ultimate Spider-man
Runaways
Watchmen
Hellboy
Batman: Hush
Ex Machina

edit: Get at me if you ever decide to get into Toku

1. Kingdom Come by DC - Gorgeous art and an engaging story
2. Squadron Supreme by Marvel - A good look at what happens when supers try to run the world
3. Justice League: Tower of Babel by DC - Probably the best JL story ever

Those just off the top of my head; there are so many good stories out there, but there is a lot of dreck too.

You weren't steered wrong - Y The Last Man is a great one.

I'd also suggest:

Annihilation (Marvel) (Big sprawling space epic; main issues by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning)
Saga (Image, by Brian K. Vaughn)
Powers (formerly Image, currently Marvel, by Brian Michael Bendis)
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (Marvel, by Jason Aaron)
Invincible (Image, by Robert Kirkman)
The Walking Dead (Image, by Robert Kirkman)
Marvels (Marvel, by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross)
The Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel, by Matt Fraction)
Silver Surfer: Requiem (Marvel, by J. Michael Straczynski (sp?))

If you are interested in other takes on Superman, check out Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonan, and All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly. IMO, the two best Superman stories of the last 10 years.

Y: The Last Man is great, but I think Ex Machina is even better if you enjoy Brian K. Vaughn's work.

Justice League New Frontier is one of the best books I have ever read. I would agree with another poster that Batman Hush was amazing also.

The Superman/Batman books are also great. Start with Public Enemies, then move to Super girl. Really good stuff.

Thanks for posting an update - good to know that you are happily joining the comic reading hoard!

As far as easy-entry books, I would strongly second All Star Superman TPB. Not a stretch for me to say that it is the best Superman book (story & art) out there.

Just picked up Batman: Earth One myself. Definitely an interesting take on his origin. I like the costume too.

I personally couldn't get into the New 52 stuff, try as I might. But since it appears you've grabbed a couple of things from just before the reboot, let me recommend Red Robin. The good news: it's awesome, the bad news: you'll be disappointed in pretty much everything else you read.

I've turned to Marvel for my comic kick until if/when DC ever puts out something worth reading. ASM's decent, and I'm really enjoying Scarlet Spider. I've also been reading Capt America's latest books and that's been enjoyable. I'd suggest looking through some of those as well.

I highly recommend 'The Greatest Batman Stories ever told' and the companion 'The Greatest Joker Stories ever told'. They give you a great potted history of Batman and the Joker from the start up to the 80s, with a selection of fun stories.

For Marvel Comics... I love the old 'Secret Wars' trade paperback. 12 issues of pretty much all the heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe fighting it out.

I would recommend checking out your local library as well for collected TBs. They are becoming increasingly more common at libraries these days and it is a good way to check out characters you may not be familiar with without a big investment.

For the last Nolan Batman movie I would highly recommend reading Batman: Knightfall (which is a huge story arc that ran from 1993 to 1994)... You will understand why when you see a certain person having his back broken....

Don't forget about checking out Amazon.com for trade paperbacks too....

If only it was easy to get your hands on the spawn series...*sigh*.

Get Planetary. Probably my favorite series of the last 20 years. Great story, and amazing art.

A couple that I would recommend, Powers, which someone above mentioned. Semi super hero related. It's about a pair of detectives whose job it is to deal with homicides that deal with meta humans. Start with the trades, Who killed Retro Girl, and Roleplay.

The other one that I highly recommend that I'm surprised no one has mentioned, Top Ten. Another twist on the cop drama. This one about superhero police in a city where everyone is super powered. You can pick up the whole series in trades.