New to comics and would like help

[chetters]

Okay so i want to start reading comics but am thoroughly confused by the sheer number of issues, and then there's volumes and i cant seem to find a start point for characters, they seem to skit about. For example, i wanted to start reading Iron Man, but there's, the invincible iron man, and then iron man, and others, i just want a start point to explore more of his character's background ect. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction, chronological list of his comic's or something, much thanks.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Okay so i want to start reading comics but am thoroughly confused by the sheer number of issues, and then there's volumes and i cant seem to find a start point for characters, they seem to skit about. For example, i wanted to start reading Iron Man, but there's, the invincible iron man, and then iron man, and others, i just want a start point to explore more of his character's background ect. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction, chronological list of his comic's or something, much thanks.

You can actually find that on comicbookdb.com.

http://comicbookdb.com/character_chron.php?ID=203

Be warned that there are more than 2,000 appearances.

Also check out the Marvel Comics Database.

http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page

[squashmaster]

Okay so i want to start reading comics but am thoroughly confused by the sheer number of issues, and then there's volumes and i cant seem to find a start point for characters, they seem to skit about. For example, i wanted to start reading Iron Man, but there's, the invincible iron man, and then iron man, and others, i just want a start point to explore more of his character's background ect. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction, chronological list of his comic's or something, much thanks.

Well if you want the beginnings, the Marvel Masterworks series is your best friend. Most bookstores and comic shops carry them.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Well if you want the beginnings, the Marvel Masterworks series is your best friend. Most bookstores and comic shops carry them.

And if you want something cheaper and don't mind black and white, you can also get a Marvel Essentials volume.

But there's really no need to read his whole nearly 50 year history. For the most part you can just jump in and start enjoying the character.

[squashmaster]

Well I don't recommend buying them unless you're rich of course. Just read them in the store. It's like piracy, but legal.

[Telos]

In comics books, you don't usually have to read all of a character's appearances. I'd suggest starting with "Iron Man: Extremis", and if you enjoy that, try reading Invincible Iron Man.

[chetters]

and they are like separate series or story lines with the same character? i just watched avengers and wanted some light reading, thanks

[chetters]

thanks a lot, so he just appeared in things like as a secondary character until 1998 when he got his own comic? Those marvel master works sound like an awesome place to get to know various characters and then delve into each one more, also i live in England so might not be able to get hold of physical copies of them. I just like to read whole series's and not miss any out, thanks again.

[Shawn Hopkins]

No, he's had his own title since the 1960s, and he's been a star in many of the various Avengers teams, plus constantly guest-starring in other books and miniseries.

[stephen wacker]

Okay so i want to start reading comics but am thoroughly confused by the sheer number of issues, and then there's volumes and i cant seem to find a start point for characters, they seem to skit about. For example, i wanted to start reading Iron Man, but there's, the invincible iron man, and then iron man, and others, i just want a start point to explore more of his character's background ect. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction, chronological list of his comic's or something, much thanks.

Hi, I'm an editor at Marvel and hopefully I and the others who already posted can help a bit. First though, welcome aboard. I envy that you're going to be reading this stuff for the first time. I wish I could go back like that.

Ideally you should be able to pick up any of our books and get a good taste of a story, so don't fret too much about the "right" spot. It's a roller coaster where you can jump on at any point.

There's a lot of good advice from the ther posters, but if you're looking for Iron Man collections to begin in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1 by MAtt Fraction and Salvador Larroca is as good a place as any to start...especially if you know the character from the movies.

Hope you like it!

Steve W.

[Iron Maiden]

Since you live in the UK, you might also want to try the Digital Comics section at the Marvel site. A fellow British poster has mentioned that the books can be very pricey over there for some reason. At some of our electronics stores here, you can buy a one month try out card for about $10 that gives you a month's access. You can sample a lot of things. They also have a Free Mondays deal too when they post things that you can read without a subscription.


Here's the link to this week's Free Digital comics and if you scroll down on the right side there is a section that links you to prior weeks of free comics.

[Apers]

It's all well and good saying "If you wanna get into this character, you should buy these trades", but if they're just getting into comics, surely they don't wanna spend a lot of money, just to realize its not for them?

My advice would be this; do a little research on your character of choice on the Internet. Find out what's happened recently, and try and find a good jumping on point. Each ongoing comic will have "story arcs" which run for any number of issues. The first issue in an arc is usually a good place to start, coupled with some knowledge of what happened before. Then just find the back issues at your local shop, eBay, etc. That's what I did to begin with.

Some writers are good at making each issue accessible to new readers, so you might find the current issue of whatever you wanna read is a comfortable place to start. It can't be worse than my first issue; Captain America wasn't Captain America, Bucky was, and he was on trial for something..And there's this black dude who can fly...? It's a miracle I carried on reading! :P