What book would you suggest to someone who never read any comic books? - Page 2

I wasn't even close to a comic fan but a friend of mine lent me preacher and that got me more interested them.Then I read a bunch of those marvel max Punisher trades and I really enjoyed them too.But maybe that's just me cuz I like crazy and violent shit in my comics but those were pretty damn good.Now I need to get around to reading watchmen.

Paul Chadwick's Concrete is an excellent book to get people into comics. It's absolutely not typical super hero fare; what it is is a mature, human comic.

I've been relatively successful with this.

Okay... and also, The Punisher MAX series is pretty good for adult audiences, especially those that favor the whole action movie genre.

Never lead with a superhero comic. No matter how good, it will keep the comic within the restraints of preconceived notions of what a comic book can be.

First, I'd start with stand-alone books:

Maus
Blankets
Black Hole

Then, if they're still interested, I'd go with current series that aren't superhero-based:

Y: The Last Man (this is the one that got me back into comics)
Ex-Machina
American Virgin

Only then would I start throwing stuff like Watchmen or V for Vendetta at them. From there you can progress to the multi-volume TPBs like Sandman and Transmetropolitan.

I'd start with graphic novels in order to allow them to get into something modular. I think it's the continuity of most comics that scares off the average reader.

If they're ambitious, From Hell would be a good place to start. It's not only a masterpiece of the genre, it is the most authoritative account of Jack the Ripper out there. It alone should dispel any notion that comics can't be important.

After that, Watchmen and Maus. Then the fun stuff like Preacher, Sandman and We3, depending on their tolerance for gore and bodily functions.

Since the last couple of posts bring up Sandman, I thought that I'd throw my two cents worth in. The one thing that I think recommends Sandman--beyond general quality of writing--is the way that it intersects with the DC universe. If you already know comics, you can connect the dots with Watchmen, but for a novice reader, that resonance probably ends with the fact that the story obviously involves guys in costumes. Sandman is mostly set in its own territory, but it links up with other DC properties in an interesting way.

Since Gaiman has written novels and children's books, had work adapted for screen and did the English script for Mononokehime, he has probably done something that a reader likely to experiment with a comic book has already seen. And--apart from his children's books--I think that his best work is in the comics, so they will be pleasantly surprised to see what he does there.

All that having been said, I don't think that the best way to introduce somene to comics is to give them one exemplary book. There's just no context. I'd take them to a comic book store and tell them to graze around. Look at the new titles, look at the old stuff in boxes and in reprint. How could you not find something that you'd love?

I won't argue that it's an excellent piece of work, but authoritative in what sense? From Hell turned me into a minor Ripperologist and I can tell you that the theories relied upon by Moore (completely aside from Gull and crew's metaphysical ramblings), being largely based upon Stephen Knight's "Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution", have been more or less discounted by all experts in the matter. Thus, while a great work of fiction, it's no more authoritative than the Maybrick Diary or Patricia Cornwell's nonsensical "Portrait of a Killer". Still, I concur that it's a great read.

I always liked Top Ten and We3 is pretty good.

I'd start with trades of 'Y:The Last Man', 'Fables', or "The Walking Dead'.

My 20 year old R&B/rap/'urban' culture-loving sister never reads comics and thinks them juvenile. I showed her 100 Bullets and she was hooked.

Depends on the person and what kind of stories they're into.

*double post*

Oddly enough, I've found The Walking Dead to be maybe the weakest series of trades I've ever read. It's boring, plodding and has zero invention or imagination behind it. I don't think it would make a great first read, unless you're a hardcore zombie completist.

'Maus" is a damn good suggestion.

Agreed. From Hell is fun,but the theories about the Ripper it follows are pure bullshit. And not even new Bullshit at that. they have been around for some time.

There's been a lot said about whether or not to start a nrew reader off w/ a superhero book. Some think it'd just fuel preconceived notions about the "limitations" of the medium of comics, and turn off a potential reader. Others think if the potential reader is shown something good enough, he'll be converted. I guess I fall into the latter camp. I'd seriously recommend "Daredevil: Born Again" to a new comics reader. I think it's a great treatment of the superhero concept; evena novice would be familiar / the concept of a secret identity, and seeing one get blown and what happens to the hero because of it would probably open their minds to some aspects of comics they may have thought were silly before.

But if you're convinced the reader you're trying to impress wouldn't be caught dead reading a superhero book, I'd give them "Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes" , just to set the stage (Gaiman was still finding the character, sort of, and this is far from the best of the series, but essential background to get a sense of the character), and give them "A Season of Mists" to read right after that. If the simple, elegant power of that tale doesn't grab any halfway literate person, I don't know what will.

As great as things like "Watchmen", "Powers" and "Kingdom Come" are (and they really are), I agree that what made them important in the genre is their doing away with accepted conventions we had become complacent with as comics fans. They really wouldn't, IMO, have the same impact on a new reader as on someone who'd been into this stuff for awhile. But I wouldnt wait too long to give them this stuff, especially "Watchmen." That's a must-read for any comics fan.