Geek culture is on the rise. Good or bad, everyone has suddenly become aware of the comics industry in recent years. And maybe you’ve seen one of the many summer superhero blockbusters and find yourself intrigued and wanting to learn more. Well, you definitely should. Reading comics is not just for kids, contrary to what some people believe, and can be challenging, thought-provoking and rewarding. The likes of Batman and Spiderman are, at times, as well-written and thoroughly realised as any dramatic literary hero. But the staggering amount of back story and the constant flux in continuity over Marvel and DC’s long histories can be daunting to the new reader. So where to begin?
Luckily for you the two biggest publishers in the comics industry, Marvel and DC, are intent on making it easy for you to fall in love with their caped heroes. Marvel is using the Marvel.1 scheme to lure you in while DC is taking the much more drastic route of a company-wide reboot, starting every title at issue 1 again in September. I’m going to take a look at both these methods, recommend some titles and make your transition into a fully-fledged comic geek as painless as possible.
Today I’m looking at Marvel.1 which I think is a rather clever idea. At one time, Stan Lee, co-founder of Marvel Comics, stated that every comic is somebody’s first comic. While that may be true, the fact remains that some fans of the X-Men films, for example, will be disheartened if they are faced with issue #538 of Uncanny X-Men on the shelves. They’ll invariably think they have to read the preceding 537 issues and decide against it. That’s where Marvel.1 comes in.
Every so often, there will be a .1 issue of an on-going title. This is a jumping on point for new readers. A self-contained story that sets up the year ahead. There will be some extra explanations of any past events necessary for understanding the story, and introductions to characters, so it is absolutely perfect for those wanting to dip their toes into the Marvel universe. Here’s my top reads to whet your appetite. These recommendations are from the very recent past, and should be available as back issues in all good comic stores, or online.
Uncanny X-men #534.1: A fantastic issue and a great introduction to the new status quo for the X-Men. This also is the beginning of talented writer Keiron Gillen’s run on this title and his work is excellent. If you manage to catch up to the current issue (#539) you’ll be all set up for the ‘Schism’ storyline happening this summer. It promises to be great and an absolute must for all X-Men fans.
Ghost Rider #0.1: The main problem with Ghost Rider is that his host, Johnny Blaze has become increasingly miserable and no fun to read. This introduction to the new on-going series fixes that issue by separating Johnny from the Spirit of Vengeance, leaving it free to find a new host. A perfect first issue for new readers
Alpha Flight #0.1: A little known Canadian super-hero team and a bit of a change from the norm. Start at the very beginning of this 8 issue run, and get to grips with the characters and settings. There’s a few references to back story here that aren’t fully explained, but all will become clear as the series continues. The Alpha Flight team also boasts one of the few gay superheroes, Northstar.
So that’s Marvel.1 in a nutshell. It’s a scheme that is touching all of their titles sooner or later, so if your favourite characters don’t have a .1 title yet, chances are they will soon. In part two I’ll discuss DC’s reboot and why it has divided fans.
