Are there any characters genuinely difficult to get into?
I was thinking about this meme (cropped cause it’s originally an east vs west meme), and how stupid it is. You don’t start at any of the issue #1s, you start at Batman Year One, and if you’re getting started you buy trades. And since there are so many various collections, and he’s been rebooted so few times, Batman is probably the easiest and most accessible comic character to get into. So this meme is stupid.
What I’m wondering, are there any comics characters who are so dense with lore, and stories spread across titles, and rife with reboots and variants, that it actually is really hard for a newcomer to get into them? I know the character Zauriel was invented solely because Hawkman continuity was so convoluted DC wouldn’t allow writers to use him for a time. Any others?
Are there any characters genuinely difficult to get into?
It's difficult if you're completely unfamiliar with comics, magazines, episodic television, film series, or search engines.
Even with the Hawkman example, he's only confusing if you're reading/reading about his appearances from a specific few years.
All you need to know is
1. Got Wings
2. Got Mace
3. Hates Shirts
4. Fights Crime
Legion of Super-Heroes is the biggest example I can think of. It's really fun to get into though.
>You don’t start at any of the issue #1s, you start at Batman Year One, and if you’re getting started you buy trades.
The funny thing is that you don't even realize that you're literally proving the meme right. You just can't see it because you're already obsessed with comics so you can't imagine how this looks to someone who knows next to nothing about them.
Donna Troy
Just read creator owned FFS
EAST VS WEST THREAD YOU SAY? OH BOY
Venom is completely fucked comics wise.
Read #ASM 299-300 for his debut. But then you'd have to read the first Carnage story to see why he's a good guy. And then if you want to see his first run as a hero, read Lethal Protector, but not the new Lethal Protector. And don't read his updated Dark Origin story. Or the VENOM limited series. And you can't read agent venom because that's someone else, but Cates Venom is all about Lee Price for a few issues, and you can't just pick up Ewings Venom without being completely lost.
Venom, for all his mainstream popularity is hard as fuck to get into when it comes to comics.
Ah damn, I was just about to point out the same thing.
>Don't start from Batman #1, start at Batman Year One, totally different and completely obvious.
Jaime Reyes is a big one, because you already have to go into Ted Cord.
But also Ted Cord, should not be skipped over but enjoy as much as Jaime. And the rabbit goes deeper if you want it to.
>read random issue or trade of a comic that looks cool
>if you like the character just look up what issues/series he shows up in
>if you like the writer look up what else he has done
>if you like the artist look up what else he has done
>continuity/overreaching plot is irrelevant in the grand sceheme of things and in any case the writers hold your hand and tl;dr what is going on
it's as easy as that. If you still find it hard to get into comics in this day and age, you are a brainlet. Little kids don't find it hard to read comics, so why are people older than them complaining? I didn't read capeshit as a kid, only picked it up as an adult, so I don't have that bias as well.
Maybe because unlike you, many other people don't want a short distraction, but actually want to engage in a story?
Not to mention you would spoil yourself back and forth by picking up a "random" issue. Like, let's say you pick up a Batman comic and then Batman says "Catwoman, there is a reason why I had to divorce you[see Batman Ultimate Knight issue #176]", then the actual ship and marriage progression would be spoiled to you when you finally randomly pick that up.
The fact it is confusing and convulted is not even the main problem, it's the fact no superhero is consistent by theme or quality, original run Spider-Man is little like the decade long Slott run.
>don't start at the first James Bond movie, start at Casino Royale 2006
Not really that different. I've also seen people complain they don't know what trades are when trade paperback is just a general book term.
Manga is just better.
>don't start at the first James Bond movie, start at Casino Royale 2006
that's just as bad, just like how some anime have the same problem, like Fate Stay Night.
Stop reading capeshit. Never read capeshit.
Read episodic adventure and comedy comics
But i enjoy color with my picture books
just focus on your favorite characters like in dc i only read the trinity heroes and occasionaly batfamily hero meanwhile marvel its either daredevil and avengers
>praising that hack Murata
>after the latest trainwreck
lol
lmao even
>Maybe because unlike you, many other people don't want a short distraction, but actually want to engage in a story?
that makes no sense. At that point, read a book. Manga is just as much a short distraction, considering it's a fucking picture book for teens you can get through in like 10 minutes.
>Not to mention you would spoil yourself back and forth by picking up a "random" issue.
so? That's only a problem if you're someone who is bothered by spoilers. Not everyone is annoyed by that. Do you freak out if you happen upon a random episode of a television series and realise they're referencing something that happened a few episodes ago?
3b. Chest Hair
James Bond doesn't show up in other movies and almost all of them outside of maybe Skyfall and No Time to Die require previous viewings to jump into with how self containted they are. There is no comparable, outside of maybe what Marvel is now doing with making TV shows play into their movies.
>read a book. Manga is just as much a short distraction
please tell me you're 12, otherwise I can't take you seriously any more as a human
>so? That's only a problem if you're someone who is bothered by spoilers
Yes, like someone who wants to engage in a story instead of wanting a short distraction. Try to keep up
>Do you freak out if you happen upon a random episode of a television series and realise they're referencing something that happened a few episodes ago?
I dislike it, yes. If I happen to watch a random episode and noticed it's not a status quo episode, I hope that once I start from the beginning that I will forget about the spoiler.
Eh, he remains a great artist even if he's lacking as a writer. ONE has the opposite problem, he has great comedic timing and paneling sense but his style is mostly scribbles (though he has gotten better with time and honestly I find his style endearing).
Marvel is a mess but it is not fair to insult it and the rest of the american industry due to DC useless half undone retcons and "everything is canon" current philosophy. DC got the most confusing canon of any big franchise right now.
Only an actual hard reboot without timeskips and merging timelines can fix DC now
That Miura drawing is from his manga called NOA.
He was 19.
>watch the justice league movie and it sucked
>try to get into comics to find alternative
>get into the new 52
>buy JL trades 1-6
>buy hardcover Apocalypse War
>now have every issue up to the end of AW
>start reading until the end of trade 3 or 4
>Justice League fucking straight up disappears to another dimension and gets replaced by evil Justice League
>the next trade the regular JL just fucking back
The whole thing is fucking resolved in some other fucking set, what the fuck is the point of some of these trades?
Murata reading this thread like...