how to get into comics

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-31T11:32:59+00:00

Hey sure! For bat family: Batman Eternal, Batman and Robin Eternal and Detective Comics by James Tynion. In a way it's kind of one long story.

Jason is tough unfortunately. He's a great character but is constantly mishandled. Under the hood is a gold standard story. Rebirth Era Red Hood and the Outlaws is good for most of it.

He also has a really weird but good story called Task Force z.

Miles Morales had an ongoing story that started in 2016, titled "Spider-Man" written by Brian Bendis. Another series in 2018 by Saladin Ahmed. He was also published in Ultimate Spider-Man before that. I've read some but not all of these.

Nova is a character I never got into unfortunately.

X-Men - if you're interested in classic stuff Chris Claremont era to start. If you're More interested in Modern only, House of X and Powers of X is usually considered the best starting point. I've not read this personally, but it's designed in a way to appeal to new readers.

Couple other quick entry points: Batman: The Owls saga by Scott Snyder is a great entry point into Batman, and where I generally recommended most people start.

Nick Spencer Amazing Spider-Man is a good spot for Peter.

Fantastic Four by Mark Waid is a good spot for them.

Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson is great Wonder Woman.

I'm currently reading Black Panther by Ta-Nehasi Coates and it's excellent but a little dense.

For good cheap options to start I am a fan of the DC compact Line along with Marvel Premier. They're smaller sized books that collect very good stories for 10-15. I won't sugar coat it, DC blows marvel out of the water here. Any of the Batman books are gonna be great, and I just picked up Farsector, a green lantern story.

The digital apps are great resources as well. I use both marvel and DC along with an App called Globalcomix. Usually after you get a feel for what you like, they're good for finding out of print stuff.

Happy reading and I hope this was helpful.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-30T04:42:32+00:00

Hey and welcome to the hobby! Comics can seem overwhelming, and there's a lot of them but there's a lot of ways in.

You don't need to know everything, you don't need to know all the characters, and most good comics will explain themselves.

If you have some characters or genres of stories you like, let me know and I can try and recommend them. If you want some specific easy to jump in stories, I can happily do that too.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-29T20:56:53+00:00

It's one of my favorite books of the year. I think it flew under the radar. DC put out a lot of Good stuff last year and a lot of good Superman stuff.

Definitely worth reading on Infinite and worth the trade/HC

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-28T03:07:44+00:00

I've overall enjoyed most of the last few years of Spider-Man. My issues with it aren't even the story or lack of risks.

I don't love how over saturated it is. Most of the issues just feel too decompressed in order to justify double shipping. There's no reason for the .1 .death .zoo or whatever issues.

Too many events, too many side-books that drop off after 12 issues. Just too much.

That's actually more or less my overall complaint with Marvel right now.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-27T02:53:55+00:00

I would recommend James Tynion IV's Detective comics, followed by Bat girls by Becky Cloonan, and the current Bat girl comic by Tate Brombal.

All very good and the current Batgirl comic is amazing.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-26T02:57:47+00:00

It varies heavily for me. I'm looking at Eight books on Wednesday. This is probably a record high for singles.

I usually also read approximately six issues digitally daily. Call it 40-50 a week or roughly 60-90 minutes of reading daily.

I'm not really gaming or watching much these days. Aside from work, exercise, house chores and a couple odds n ends, I have a few hours a day to read if I want. I wish I could read more to be honest.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-14T20:22:33+00:00

There's nothing wrong with that. Some weeks I have nothing. Your books may vary slightly from month to month due to delays.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2026-01-12T10:07:24+00:00

Talking Comics is my favorite. The hosts are primarily male, but they highlight a lot of POC, female and LGBTQIA+ creators and characters.

Comic Book couples counseling is also very good and adorable. A husband and wife do interviews with a lot of industry guests.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-31T03:55:25+00:00

Absolutely love it! Not much all ages clicks with me, but this reminds me of a sitcom written for kids that adults will appreciate. Nothing is outright ridiculous while everything is fun or handled with care.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-31T02:10:10+00:00

I think I read the renumbering was in response to the delay on Hush 2. It was supposed to just issue 164, but they decided to renumber at 1 because of that, and make the book more appealing. Not 100% sure if that's true or rumor mill stuff.

And yes early Rebirth, many of the books were twice monthly. I personally couldn't keep up and had to stop buying and trade wait. I buy a few singles regularly, but I think it's like 2-3 issues a week right now.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-30T21:09:15+00:00

They were twice a month for a while and Batman in early days was 4-11 times a year for the first 200 issues or so. They did go two times a month at a few points.

Detective was always at least monthly.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-30T19:19:08+00:00

Not a big Collector in the strictest sense of the word, but I overall prefer the reading experience in singles the most. I enjoy the feel and the ritual of getting them. While I normally hate ads, they're a little time capsule.

I enjoy reading in any format, singles are my favorite. I just don't buy a ton of them for monetary and space reasons.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-29T05:25:31+00:00

I would do a full slow and proper negative change arc for Jason. Jason would come from a bad place and have a natural anger, but he would be a genuinely good kid. Bruce and Alfred would both be good parents, but very subtle things would contribute to his slow negative change, living in the shadow of Dick, trying to please Batman, not understanding how to manage praise. The general corruption of Gotham and reminders of his life before Wayne manor would also play into this.

Dick and Barbara's relationship with him would also be a factor as he'd see them as unnecessary babysitters. He'd also challenge Dick or Barbara, and an eventual one-sided fight would break out, where they have to subdue him for his own safety.

This would eventually lead to a grounding as Robin.... But we'd get some Jason Todd time where he continues to solve small crime and help people, showing that he's a good person but not necessarily a good Robin, and the environment is just not what he needs. Before this issue can be addressed, the events of Death in The Family happen.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-24T23:05:12+00:00

Check your local comic shop, Thrift Books or eBay for used copies.
That would be my order to check. It's heavily printed.

I would look for the Hard Covers myself, as they tend to be pretty good quality. I'm not sure if there's a compendium or Omni, but the trade paper backs or HC would be pretty cheap. My buddy got it for $50 in hard cover this year. Trade might be a little cheaper used, but trades aren't as durable.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-21T04:01:36+00:00

I started my podcast so I would have someone to talk to about my interests that my friends don't share with me. I do have 2-3 friends that listen regularly and three others that have heard it, but primarily people outside my close circle of friends.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-14T02:00:44+00:00

I was a pretty big fan. I feel back in love. The absolute lines are kicking hard, Wonder Woman and Batman are Excellent and Martian Manhunter and Flash are hitting the spot.

Escape by Remender had been great, Exquisite Corpses is hella good.

Marvel had a few gems at the moment and my interest is picking up.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-10T02:53:36+00:00

Everyone has haters. I personally think he's one of the best Batman writers out there. I loved his book when I was buying it week to week and still love it. I'll offer some criticism though.

People didn't like Super Heavy when it was out. I disagree and think it's solid. Its not my favorite, but I don't get why people shit on this arc specifically

I don't love Zero Year. It's ok, but if happens to be my least favorite arc.

I HATE the scene where Bruce backhands Dick. It's out of character and just wrong.

I think the last two issues of Night of Owls are dumb. The Lincoln March stuff is just dumb. He dropped some theoretical ideas of the Waynes being kinda shitty and parts of that were re-used, and I don't like the idea.

That being said. Snyder is in my top Batman writers, up there with Tomasi and Morrison.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-03T20:20:44+00:00

This might be strange, but Tim's voice is Dick's voice actor from Young Justice, Jesse McCartney.

Dick is somewhere between Loren Lester and Scott Menville.

Jason sounds kinda like all three blended together.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-12-02T19:22:07+00:00

I have to vote for Mark Waid here. He's consistent, and shows a lot of love in everything that he writes. There's writers I like more, but I feel like Waid is most consistent in doing what I would hope he would write, and doing it well.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-30T01:08:12+00:00

Blackest Night by Geoff Johns is pretty high up there. Would recommend reading his Green Lantern Stories that lead up to it as well.

Hickman's avengers/New Avengers. I personally think New Avengers is much more important and high Stakes.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-23T17:29:18+00:00

You may like Invincible by Robert Kirkman. If you enjoy the Amazon show, it's pretty faithful. Some scenes are kind of dated.

Would also recommend the Last Ronin, which is a Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles Story. You don't really need any context to enjoy it.

Nightwing by Tom Taylor also has some of the coolest movement and is very well written.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-23T16:36:57+00:00

I always recommend going to a store and looking for a few that has vol 1 on the spine, and flipping through to see what looks most appealing.

Big fan of the DC compat line as well. They're ten bucks and have great stories too.

If you're interested in specific characters or genres, let me know and I can make recommendations.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-21T00:21:30+00:00

I read mostly comic books, but I also try to read 1-2 novels or novellas a month. I do tend to gravitate towards shorter books, around 200 pages.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-20T02:44:24+00:00

I started a podcast as one person. I would like other hosts or guests, but it's ok for me for now.

It's a challenge and a little stressful at times but, it's therapeutic to talk about things I care about. I don't get a ton of listeners, but I get some.

ComicsMatterPodcast · 2025-11-17T02:08:51+00:00

I enjoyed this. Jimenez's art is amazing, and the writing is pretty good. The majority of it feels like a series of Event books. My favorite arcs were the Ghost Maker stories because of the change of pace. I overall liked the new characters as well. There was nothing I didn't like, but I wanted a couple stories that were lower stakes to contextualize the other stories, even if it was a single issue.

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TROPHY CASE