Why Are Comics So Hard to Get Into?

If you ask the average person what the biggest appeal of superhero stories is there’s a decent chance that they’ll say “escapism.” I’ve always felt the exact opposite. To me, the biggest appeal of superhero stories is talking to other people! I’m not trying to escape reality, I am trying to connect with other human beings. I am fascinated by comics because they are possibly the greatest collaborative art project in human history.

Batman debuted in 1939’s “Detective Comics #27” and it’s hard to think of a more prolific fictional character. 82 years later he’s appearing in sometimes up to a dozen comics alone every month, with a history that’s included thousands of artists building something together across various forms of media. It is an unbelievable testament to the shared experience of mankind that this weird story about an orphaned boy putting on a cape to beat up criminals has resonated with so many lives. In this era of globalism, Batman might be the most recognizable fictional character not just on the planet but in the history of the planet. It’s mind-blowing to think about.

How Do You Know Where to Start?

The downside of an 82 year history is that it can be very difficult trying to find a way in for a newcomer. Where do you start reading a character that’s been around for 82 years worth of stories, some building on each other and some completely unrelated or conflicting entirely? You’d think it might be as simple as starting at the beginning, but entertainment standards in comics have changed a lot. The books of 1939 intended mostly for children are a far cry from something like Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight.

You would think the modern era of superhero films and cartoons would make comics more accessible, but oftentimes the opposite is true. Audiences are sometimes confused when a character isn’t exactly like the movie they just enjoyed. To make matters more confusing, companies often make large changes to popular comic characters so they’ll be more like their movie adaptations. In the old days books used to commonly run for hundreds of issues, now companies like Marvel and DC seem to do a “relaunch” of their most popular characters every several years. Their goal is to snag new readers with an exciting “#1” issue, but when several books all claim to be “#1” that can make things even more confusing for a new reader.

It seems like one obvious solution would be to make comic book stories more disconnected. In the 70’s if you picked up a random magazine it would probably be a self-contained tale. Today it’s more likely to be “part 3 of 6” in a longer serialized story intended to be collected in one volume and sold in a bookstore. Unfortunately, this is the reality of the current comic book market. Bookstore sales grow against single periodicals every year, and the serialized stories in a shared universe are a huge part of the appeal for long-term fans. They want the books they read to matter and influence other stories. This can create more powerful and interesting storytelling in the long run, but it can also produce a lockout effect.

What Should I Be Doing Differently?

The most important thing to take away here is that if you’re new to reading comics you probably need to think about them differently. It is understandable for someone to approach a figure like Batman the way they would any other kind of franchise media. If you’re reading Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings you want to start at the beginning and read everything along the way. Trying to do this with Batman will be a giant miserable waste of your time. Instead, a better way to think of most popular superheroes is like a genre unto themselves. If you want to get into jazz or hip hop you don’t start at the beginning and try to listen to everything… you find artists that you like, listen to their best albums and ignore the bad stuff, get recommendations from friends, read about things that influence other things, then slowly a collective understanding begins to form in your mind. Don’t approach comics like a weird history project. Just start with what interests you, and trust the books to tell you anything you need to understand for the story to work. If you’re curious about something and want to learn more, the beauty of the internet era is you can always look things up.

If you're already an avid comic book reader, how did you get into comics? Let me know in the comments! I love hearing from people.