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CONTENTS What to read
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How to read
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Where to get
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INTRO As the foreword to the comic anthology “Liquid City”, comic creator Gene Yang expresses what makes this artform great: “Comics is the single most effective medium for communicating culture. [It] offers a direct connection between the reader and the cartoonist. A translated comic ... still offers every line, squiggle, and ink blot that came from the cartoonist’s brush.” Creative teams can bring to life anything imagineable, and deliver it to the reader largely unfiltered. Their artistic vision shines through every comic page, and the combination of writing and art allows for visual storytelling not constrained by seemingly impossible ideas or budget. Comics combine one of the best aspects of film (the visual experience) with one of the best aspects of prose (the ability to progress at your own pace), making them a powerful way to tell stories. There are many reasons to read comics. But most important of all, reading comics is just fun! It’s easy to get immersed in the lovingly-crafted worlds and look at amazing illustrations. If you’re ready to navigate the universe of comics, read on!
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WHAT TO READ
Will Eisner defines “comics” as sequential art: a series of juxtaposed images. Thus, comics is a broad and varied medium. While superhero stories may be the most wellknown, there are many other stories of different genres, themes, and styles.
THE BIG TWO
“recommended reading lists”) for a specific “The big two” refers to superhero. Once you find a Marvel and DC, and if you series you’re interested in, enjoy the superhero movies, start at issue #1. the next step is to check out the extensive catalog 3. Don’t worry about not of comic issues available knowing the comic history for your favorite characters. of a character. Anything When searching for series to important will be recapped, read, keep this in mind: since superhero comics are generally written with the 1. The creative teams mindset that any comic can that write and draw for be someone’s first. a superhero constantly change. When a new writer OTHER comes on, a new story arc PUBLISHERS usually starts. This leads Marvel and DC’s aren’t to a variety of storylines the only ones with iconic and different takes on their characters. Consider the character. movies, books, TV shows, and video games you 2. Of course, the internet enjoy. Popular shows like is a great source for “The Walking Dead” and finding the best series (i.e.
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ART © DUSTIN NGUYEN
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“Umbrella Academy” are based on comic books, and series like “Alien” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” are being continued in comic book form. The popular indie publishers listed below have some great franchises, and you can also search by genres you like to read (i.e. fantasy, science fiction, thriller, mystery, etc). Biggest creator-owned publisher IMAGE COMICS Many movie and game-based comics DARK HORSE Original comics for all audiences BOOM! STUDIOS IDW PUBLISHING World-renowned licensed brands
If you want to read a creator-owned story (the creator owns their character and the creative team stays the same throughout the entire series), always start with issue #1. If you want to read a comic continuation of a franchise, look for a reading guide online. This is especially helpful for long series with many spin-offs like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.
ART © AUDREY MOK
AFTERSHOCK ONI PRESS VAULT DYNAMITE
(To the left are some of the many smaller indie comic publishers out there.)
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WEBCOMICS These comics are made for viewing online, and are usually hosted on their own website like Randall Monroe’s “xkcd” or uploaded on a platform like Webtoons or Tapas. They span a variety of topics and can be anything from a short read to thousands of pages.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Every graphic novel is a comic, but not every comic is a graphic novel. What sets graphic novels apart is that they were never published serially (in issues), and you get a complete story in one book. Below is a list of some graphic novel publishers.
The nonfiction Holocaust story “Maus” by Art Spiegelman is one of the best and most famous graphic novels, and some other stories that benefit from this special format include Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”, which details
FANTAGRAPHICS FIRST SECOND DRAWN & QUARTERLY SHORTBOX PEOW STUDIO
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her life as a young Iranian woman during the Islamic Revolution; Iasmin Omar Ota’s “Mis(h) adra”, which depicts the struggles of a young man with epilepsy; and Ana Galvañ’s “Press Enter to Continue”, which is a set of short comics about the dehumanizing effects of contemporary society.
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ART © ANA GALVAN
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HOW TO READ
ART Š COREY LEWIS
Comics, with the exception of graphic novels, are usually released monthly or biweekly on Wednesdays. There are two main ways to catch up with series.
SINGLE ISSUES Numbered in chronological order, single issues (also called floppies) usually contain 20-40 pages. They follow a predetermined release schedule. Some series, especially from Image Comics, print fan letters in the back of every issue.
The biggest advantage to reading a comic series by buying single issues is that will be the most up-to-date with the story, at any given time. Waiting for collected editions takes longer.
COLLECTED EDITIONS When a series reaches the end of a story arc, the issues (normally 4-6 of them) are gathered into a collected edition.
WE WANT COMICS
They can be softcover (trade paperback, TPB) or hardcover (HC).
ART © EDDY BARROWS
Collected editions can also contain more than a single story arc. Special/deluxe hardcovers can have 12-18 issues. Comic omnibuses can have 60+ issues, sometimes containing a comic series in its entirety.
Advantages to reading comics in collected editions is that it’s cheaper in the long run, and the creative team is likely to
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include extra content like sketches, parts of the script, and/or the comic concept and pitch in the end of the book. ART © EMMA RIOS
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WHERE TO GET
Having an idea of what comic(s) you want to read and how you want to read them makes finding the books easier.
PHYSICAL COMICS
Use the Online Comic Shop Locator to find a local comic store (LCS). Here are some benefits of visiting a comic shop:
ART Š MATT TAYLOR
1. The staff will be able to answer any questions you have and provide recommendations. 2. You’ll be supporting a small store that will definitely appreciate your business. 3. No shipping costs! However, if you prefer to shop online, there are many great options.
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MIDTOWN COMICS Singles + Trades Singles + Trades TFAW Trades INSTOCKTRADES Trades BARNES & NOBLE CHEAPGRAPHICNOVELS Trades Singles + Trades EBAY I recommend the online stores listed above. InStockTrades and CheapGraphicNovels always give discounts, and Midtown and TFAW have a huge catalog of back issues.
DIGITAL COMICS If you prefer to read comics digitally, you can buy them from ComiXology. There are also subscription services available: 1. ComiXology Unlimited: For $5.99 per month, you can read series from many different publishers, but oftentimes only half the series is available. 2. Marvel Unlimited: For $9.99 per month, you gain access to 27k+ Marvel comics. 3. DC Universe: For $7.99 a month, you gain access to a constantly growing collection of DC comics (they intend to include their entire digital comics catalog). 4. Hoopla: You can read comics for free with a library card! Just check to see if your local library offers this online service.
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Anton Nguyen, 2020