Comics: Where do i start?

Hey guys, i've been on this site for quite some time and it just occured to me that i have never read a marvel or dc comic. Literally everything i know about characters come from battles here or movies.

I'm trying to get into comics so i can actually understand what most of you guys are talking about haha, but where do i start?.

@hudyman: What kind of stories do you like? Do you have any characters or teams that you're particularly interested in?

Do you have any favorite characters to build off of?

FROM THE BEGINNING.

BB

Annihilation wave ;)

@lateralus: @lena_dante: I really like the both of them but marvel seems to be bigger and have more characters, so where exactly do i start?.

@hudyman: Okay, next round of questions.

Avengers, or X-Men?

Overall events that effect the whole Marvel U or self contained stories?

Do you have any specific characters whose solos you would like to read, or story arcs you'd like to read that focus on a specific character?

@lena_dante: Avengers probably, i really dislike wolverine.

However i really want to know more about the hulk, thanos and Galactus though

Definitely whole universe events.

This guy knows what he's talking about.

Right back to the beginning!

Incredible Hulk #1, 1962!

Avengers #1, 1963!

Fantastic Four #48, 1966! (Galactus)

Iron Man #55, 1973! (Thanos)

Start there and read every single issue these characters appear in until you reach the current day. Then you might know a little bit about comics, enough to start discussing them with the rest of us uber-nerds at least. Good luck.

@hudyman:

Read Busiek's run on Avengers, Peter David's Hulk and maybe Starlin's Thanos starting with his Warlock run - the first run was collected in one trade.

BB

@billy_batson: @wardishy: Thanks guys! :D

@hudyman: You're welcome.

(I hope you know I was partially joking. First appearances are pretty neat from a historical perspective but the only essential one of the ones I listed is The Coming of Galactus. It's a three-parter from #48-50 that introduces Galactus and the Silver Surfer and is widely considered a classic.)

Also, to be honest, you don't need to read a mega-tonn of backstory to catch up with the rest of us. Read what interests you, sure, but wikis like the one here and Wikipedia, etc. are your friends. I only started reading properly about 2 years ago and I've barely read any back issues at all, but I keep up fine. :) It's like the research you did in school, but WAY more fun.

@wardishy: haha thanks, ill keep that in mind :)

Why were you on this site before you got into comics?

@billy_batson: AMAZING FANTASY #15

@reaperonyx: This was simply the only forums i could find with decent battles and answers.