New to the comic book world. Any tips?

Hey everyone! I just wanted to put together a thread for you more veteran comic book readers. I've always been into comics, but never really had the chance to dig deep into them until now. I just recently started purchasing and reading some comics and I would love to hear what you guys' recommend as far as what I should jump into.

I just finished The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1 (5 nightmares) and I loved it. I also picked up Dawn of the Dead (3 issues) which I also loved. I have a few individual issues I just finished up as well. The Massive #1, Sons of Anarchy #1, and HIT #1.

Based off the stuff I've read above, could anyone give me some tips or advice on what I should dig into? I really want to get into Batman but I know I'm far behind and I really want to pick up individual issues as opposed to trades.

Thanks in advance to anyone who gives me some input! And thanks for taking a read from a NEWB like myself!

Cheers, all!

@st3althse7en: GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN CHILD, RUN AND NEVER LOOK BACK!!!!!!!

But seriously I just recently got into comics myself and its fun and addicting and I love it. I read a ton of monthlies Batman, Detective Comics, and Batman The Dark Knight being a few of them I like them all but I have read a lot of people don't like the Dark Knight series. I don't know if you would be interested but SAGA is a really great series right now, there are 2 tpb that collect issues 1-6 and 7-12 respectively and its still on going I highly recommend it. But that's just my 2 cents, have fun collecting and hope you find some more comics that interest you.

It really is addicting! I'm still in my "infancy" in the world of comics, but I know it's going to be a long term obsession.

Thanks for the tips I really am wanting to get into Batman, but I heard it's kind of tough. Especially that the new 52 is still relatively new.

I might look into SAGA. Anything I can sink my teeth into, i'm all for it!

Read Daredevil. The current Wade run. It's fun, exciting and the art (though some complain) is according to me awesome.

If you want to get into Batman, I suggest the current New 52 series, simply titled Batman. The current Batman and Robin title is also a great read. If you want to read some of the older stuff, I suggest Hush, The Killing Joke, and The Long Halloween.

Ignore what everyone else is saying. Buy anything by Valiant. Scratch that, buy everything by Valiant. That will be all.

Get

Thor: God of Thunder

New Avengers

Uncanny Avengers

Daredevil

Hawkeye

Scarlet Spider

Savage Wolverine

TMNT from IDW

Aquaman

Green Arrow (After issue 17)

Old Man Logan

Planet Hulk

Iron Man: Extremis

Marvels

Ghost Rider Shadowland

Deadpool Dead Presidents

Indestructible Hulk

The best monthlies at the moment are:

Batman - The one by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

Uncanny Avengers

Hawkeye

Saga

@st3althse7en:

Also two events have recently started from marvel and DC, Infinity and Forever Evil which are really good.

1. Anything by Valiant. I highly recommend X-O Manowar and Harbinger for newbs.

2. The best Marvel titles are Captain America, Thor: God of Thunder, All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. Let those be your guide to Marvel.

3. DC is meh right now. Green Lantern would be my recommendation. If you want to read Batman start with Batman Vol. 1 Court of Owls.

Best of luck!

@kingjoeg. Thanks for the heads up. I heard that Forever Evil was one to surely get into. It sounds like I just might have to pick it up! I had no clue Infinity was just released! I definitely would like to get into something early on like this.

Setup a STRICT BUDGET, according to your own income and expenditure and NEVER BREAK IT.... the rare exception would be major cross overs.

when you set up your budget, and you find something you really want not on your pull list, replace something, don't just add the new one.

keep to your budget, its hard to not go overboard

@wolverine08: Quite a lot of people suggest Green Arrow after 17 or so. Can you just pick up from 17 and understand the story or would some back reading be needed?

@mrmiyagii: You can start from 17

second what @bierschneeman said about budget. Within that budget, don't take advice on content. Just follow your nose. A character jump out at you? Follow that character into other books (easy to do with Iron Man). Dig a writer or artist, go to their other books. The wiki here points to all the avenues to follow anything that catches your eye. Your own sense of "Yeah, THAT should be next" will point to the right books for you better than anybody's advice.

@st3althse7en:

Nightwing (start at 19)

Batman (new origin starts at issue 21)

Earth 2 (read all of it)

Superman Unchained (all of it there's only 3 issues)

XO Manowar (1-14 will be collected in a big hardcover in November)

I always think its a good idea to follow writers/artists you've come to enjoy instead of just picking up a new title that has a character you like featuring in it. Of course this will be easier over time as you read different creators works.

Buy anything from Valiant; they are currently the best publisher imo and all their comics are consistently amazing:

• X-O Manowar
• Bloodshot
• Harbinger
• Archer & Armstrong
• Shadowman
• Quantum & Woody
• Eternal Warrior

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I really want to start getting deep into some issues and soon. I think I might pickup X-O Manowar. I keep hearing good things about it!

For those of you suggesting X-O Manowar. Where should I start? Any specific issue? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks again, guys!

@st3althse7en:

Start with X-O Manowar Vol. 1: By the Sword

The book is still fairly early on in its publication so you could even get volumes two and three and then pretty much be all caught up.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the heads up @extremis. I really do appreciate your help!

@st3althse7en: If you want to read books digitally on your phone / tablet / computer, Comixology has a great service/app which you can have all your books with you all the time. They have sales very often. Marvel does sales every Monday and another one starting Friday that usually goes through the weekend. DC isn't as predictable with their sales and independent titles are also on sale every now and then. All new titles are released Wednesday morning between 6:00-10:00 EST. The Comics app is great because you can read it in panel view so you can read everything easily on a small screen if necessary or you can look at the full page view. There is also a great selection of back issues and collections to read some of the great past stories.

Comixology also started a service called Bundles which you can buy a group of comics for a low price. For example, they have a Valiant bundle which I greatly recommend. It has the first 4 or 5 issues of five Valiant titles (X-O Manowar, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, and Bloodshot). You get 21 books for $29.99. They have these bundles for various Marvel and independent titles. It doesn't appear that DC has any bundles available yet.

Comixology Bundle Link

As for specific titles, I greatly recommend Valiant as some others have mentioned above. X-O Manowar and Harbinger are my favorites.

The Walking Dead and Invincible are really good reads from Image. Both are over 100 issues into the story. You can probably find the past TPBs pretty cheaply. For Walking Dead, check out Comixology periodically leading up to the season premiere of the show because they might have a big sale on all the TPBs and issues which they did last year. I was able to take advantage of that sale to get the first 96 or so issues cheaply and I was able to purchase the first 100 issues of Invincible a month or so ago in a Comixology sale for under $90. So you can get a lot of enjoyment out of these stories and be able to read 10 years of one continuous story in a short period of time as opposed to having to wait each month for the next issue.

I enjoy a lot of the Marvel titles being produced now. My favorites are New Avengers, Thor: God of Thunder, Secret Avengers, Captain America, and Indestructible Hulk.

I haven't been too thrilled with DC's titles over the past year and have dropped all of them except for Swamp Thing and Batman. I enjoy both of them but may drop them as Valiant releases their team book called Unity in November.

Great insight @cap10nate. I really appreciate your input. I have dabbled a bit in Comixology, but I haven't really purchased anything on there, yet. Thanks again for your help! It makes finding new stuff to read for a newb like me much easier!

@st3althse7en: Comixology is having a huge Valiant sale over the next couple days. You can pick up almost all except for the the most recent releases for $0.99 an issue for each series as well as for a lot of the original series. If you were thinking about getting into the Valiant U, this would be the perfect way.

@st3althse7en: Valiant is an amazing comic company. It recently rebooted its characters and nearly every title is just great. I would recommend trying Bloodshot and Harbinger (or Quantum and Woody if you like funny/action stuff) aside from those Marvel has Scarlet Spider and Hawkeye which are both great. I can't speak for DC I dropped all my DC on-goings for Valiant.

I also recommend checking out Luther Strode and Lazarus from Image both of them are also brillant.

This two people have just said the great trught about comic books. If you want to get advice, be sure to get it from someone who enjoys at least a huge chunk of what you like. But it's best if you get a sample and get a feel whether you're going to like it or not.

Comixology is great on that regard: you can read the first three pages of any comic book on the site without downloading or buying, so you can just cut out everything you dislike in regards to art and flow of narration.

Once again, I want to thank you guys' who have gave me some insight on what to snag up and start reading next.