At the comic book store

Article originally written in French by Solo the CyberpunK and translated in English by DarkEvil.
See original here.


There are other things than the well-known superheroes in graphic novels. It might be difficult to get good suggestions if people you know don't read these types of books. Here is some advice for a start.

By navigating on the DC Comics website, I discovered that the release of the movie Watchmen had some positive consequences: a section named "After Watchmen... What’s Next?" proposing to people who're interested in comics the best series under diverse categories. Having read many of the suggested graphic novels, I must say this site is a very good guide, but know that they only list DC Comics publications (obviously)... The first issue of each of these series are now available in stores for 1,25$, which is a very good way to broaden your horizons.

Unless I know exactly what I'm searching for, I don't buy my comics online. The real store has a real advantage: we can open the books and see if it looks like something that might be interesting. Drawings can sometimes make a reading difficult (From Hell) because of the lack of interest. Online, we can only see the cover which might be deceiving.

What should you buy

• Don't be afraid to try new series. If you've heard good things about one, try it. I rarely regret doing that.
• Trust your authors. If you liked a book written by a particular author, there are good chances that his other works are for you.
• Ask questions to employees. Depending on the place, the employees might probably be fans of comic books and as such, they probably know more about them than you or me. Without being "sellers", they might suggest things you'd miss otherwise.
• Don't buy if you're hesitating. Keep the title in your head and make an Internet search later so that the next time you go to the store you'll know if you should get it.

Fundamental question: individual issues or trade paperbacks?
The single issues are can be collected and their value increases. On the other hand, they're hard to range and need to be protected. If you live next to a comic book store, you're sure not to miss anything, but if you only go a couple of times you're sure to miss an issue here and there, that's a problem. You can make a deal or open an account at the store so that they will keep the issues you don't want to miss.

The trade paperbacks are more durable, they fit nicely in a library and you won't miss a single issue. With no advertising, they sometimes contain bonuses like the script for a whole issue or early drawings.

Personally, I prefer paperbacks, because I like to read a lot of issues next to each other rather than waiting a month for the next bit of the story. For just about the same price, it's worth it.

Here are a few suggestions to begin with:

• Sandman
• The Walking Dead
• Fables
• Spawn
• Y: The Last Man
• The Nightly News
• The Sword
• Batman: The Long Halloween
• Marvel Zombies
• Runaways
• Girls
• The Losers
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

I also read the original material before it's adapted to movie format:

• Watchmen
• Sin City
• V for Vendetta
• 300
• The Spirit
• Origin
• The Fountain

Good hunt!