J2 Cool said:
Picking up my first comic book issue ever. Have about 5 or so graphic novels but this is a first. All-star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder for me, and maybe anything else that looks interesting. Seems like Serenity, New Avengers The Sentry, and Desolation Jones may be be good to try and start with if I'm looking to get into comics long haul.
Desolation Jones is terrific, and with only two issues out it's easy to jump on board. Our hero is a moderately broken wreck of a British super-agent project gone wrong who has been exiled to Los Angeles, which is being used as an open-air prison for cast-offs of the intelligence community. Cue weird shit going down, extrordinarily black humor, and Warren Ellis Going There(tm).
Serenity should be a bang-up three issue miniseries, but keep in mind that you may get more out of it if you're already a fan of the TV series Firefly. I haven't read the issue yet myself, but my understanding is that the mini-series is to a) act as a bridge between the TV show and the upcoming movie, Serenity, and b) to introduce folks to the series. Seeing as it's all of three issues total, I'd say, what the hell, jump in and give it a shot. However if the first issue has left you hopelessly confused you may want to go rent all of Firefly before buying issue two. Or, you may just stop buying the series, but as a rabid Firefly fan I'm obliged to evangelize a bit.
While you're at the comic shop, a few more suggestions for recent releases you may want to check out:
Solo is a DC series where they give a creator 48 ad-free pages to do, well, whatever they want to do. The sixth issue just came out and features Darwyn Cooke being completely and utterly awesome, providing a wide range of stories, gags, pin-ups, and other assorted tidbits in his wonderful retro style. Some of the fiddly DC continuity stuff and fanboy gags may be lost on you, but that's entirely secondary to the excellent art and solid storytelling. A tad pricey at five bucks but quite worth it; if nothing else, give it a flip-through.
Grant Morrison is currently working on his sprawling Seven Soldiers project for DC - seven loosely connected four-issue miniseries, linked by a prologue and an epilogue, designed to be read in any way you want...a series here, a series there, just the prologue/epilogue, the whole shebang, whatever. So far it's all pretty freakin' amazing. If you're curious, see if your shop still has the prologue issue handy, or see if any of the currently released mini's meet your fancy:
- Guardian - A New York tabloid hires their own superhero, who promptly finds himself chasing after underground pirates who use subway cars tearing down abandoned rail in lieu of ships.
- Zatanta - A stage magician with a bit of real power finds herself in the midst of serious modern occult weirdness of the mildly apocolyptic variety.
- Klarion: The Witch Boy - The tale of a runaway boy and his loyal familiar who bail on puritan limbo to seek the wonders of the world above. Deeply, delightfully odd and a bit difficult to describe properly.
- Shining Knight - Arthur's knights get the hell whiped out of them by the forces of evil, with only one survivor, armed with his indestructable sword and kept company by his winged horse, making it to contemporary (near future?) NYC, where he promptly tangles with the cops, the mob, and all sorts of nasty business.
So far all of the minis released have been uniformly excellent on all fronts - good writing, fantastical ideas, excellent art, the whole nine yards. Everything currently out is up to issue two or three of four, so grab a couple of issue ones and see how you feel.
Speaking of Grant Morrison minis, he just finished up Vimanarama!, a three issue mini about a young Indian man living in London, his parents setting him up with an arranged marriage, and the incursion of terrible monsters and Hindi superheros into his life. It's a lovely series, so keep an eye out for back issues. Also, keep an eye out for the new collected edition of WE3, a jaw-dropping three issue mini about animals turned into cybernetic killing machines trying to get home. The story is entirely straightforward, but the structure of the comic - visuals as seen from the viewpoints of the animals - is astonishing. Very highly recommended.
So, yeah, show up with twenty or thirty dollars to drop and let us know what you wind up coming home with.
FnordChan
(but seriously)