How To Start Reading Comics and Graphic Novels (for those that haven't tried it yet)

Hey everyone! As I said yesterday I'm into reading comics this week more than usual. I also looked at my Goodreads challenge and realized that I'm three books ahead of schedule. Why? You may ask.  Because I occasionally pick up the fastest of reads, the graphic novel.

I realized that not everyone has tried reading comics. One reason I think people don't read them is because they get overwhelmed by the multitude of choices. Another reason perhaps has some to do with what someone told me once. She said the reason why she never tried comics was because she said that reading normal books allows you to use your imagination more than comics do. To which I countered, that even though she had a point she was missing the big picture. While comics my not allow you to imagine your own action they do allow you to focus more on story and character development. Plus, you can read them during those times when you are really tired and can't focus on a bunch of tiny words. Don't tell me you haven't had that experience because we all have.

Today I've created a collection of tips to encourage those of you that have never tried reading a comic or graphic novel to jump into the deep end of the pool and give it a try. You don't have to be overwhelmed and I think you'll find that they are a lot of fun.

Tip #1 Pick A Genre, Any Genre

Comic books are usually associated with genres such as fantasy, science fiction, and horror. However, those aren't the only genres out there. For every genre that you like reading there is an genre in comics as well. So if you like mysteries, slice of life, or even romance there is a comic book out there for you. When you're looking to find a comic you think you'll like pick your favorite genre and start from there. If you like Japanese art or anime you can also try out Manga. Be aware that the traditional Manga panel layout reads from right to left instead of left to right. It can take some getting used to, but don't let that keep out from reading something you might enjoy. I will mention as an extra tip that if you are looking for a comic that is good for children, look for ones directed specifically for the age group that you want. Just because comics have pictures doesn't mean that all of them are suitable for the little ones.

Tip #2 Take Advantage of the Free Stuff

Many comic books offer the first issue of their series for free and there is even a free comic book day sometimes. Use this to your advantage and explore to see what you might like without any money leaving your pocket.

Tip # 3 You Can't Know Everything, and That's Okay

Sometimes starting a big name comic series is like starting to watch a TV show or a Soap-opera when you haven't watched a previous episodes. Most of the big named comic books started anywhere between the early 1930's to the 1960's and on. There is no way that you are going to be able to go back and start at issue one on things like Batman, X-men, or anything else that has existed for a very long time. In addition different writers often take the characters and put their own spin on them anyway. So even if you could start over it probably wouldn't matter. What some people don't know is that this is okay. It's okay to not know everything. I promise you will still understand what is happening. If you don't we live in an age where you can find everything on the internet, and comic book based movies, TV shows, and Cartoons are popular.

You can read anything thing about a popular superhero, caped crusader, or mutant as long as you know what their powers and skills are. This you can usually learn from a movie, show, or cartoon. If you want a better back story there are a couple things you can do. Some comics have a short comic that explains a summary of what happened before. However, I think the best way to get answers to your questions is to search Wikipedia. You can learn almost everything about a character or a weapon that way. Sometimes I just look up a character just for the fun of it. The Wikipedia page one a character can be as fun as reading a comic book. So if you want to know what Red Kryptonite is, the origins of Emma Frost, what characters make up superhero teams such as the Avengers, Justice League, or Birds of Prey, you can definitely find your answers somewhere on Wiki.

Tip #4 Try A Brand New Series

If you are just too overwhelmed by trying to find out the back story on a bunch of characters you still have nothing to fear. Just try out a brand new series that is just in it's beginning stages. You might end up playing catch up for a few issues, but it won't be more than a few issues.

Tip #5 Try A Graphic Novel

The great thing about the graphic novel is that it can be a finished collection of comics. You can get a whole story without trying to dig up each individual comic in a series. It's also a good way to practice reading panels on a longer scale. They are a few kinds of graphic novels. There are ones that are written specifically as novels. Meaning they are not collections of several issues of small comics they were actually written to be read like your normal novel. Another type is the graphic novel that is the completed series of collected comic all written by one author. These are great because you're getting the whole entire story. The last type is the collected comics of an ongoing series. These are nice if you want to start a new series that's been going on for a six months or more and you don't want to get each individual comic to catch up. You can also find graphic novel versions of literature that was written in normal print at some point. Books such as Alice in Wonderland, Twilight, Dracula, and many more have been adapted into graphic novel form.

Tip # 6 Where do I Get Comics?

Now for the most important tip. Where do you get comics. Well one of the obvious ways to get a stack of comics is to go to your nearest comic store. It's a good way to try things out and you can ask the employees questions if you have any. You can get graphic novels at the book store. The selection isn't always the best but the book store does have some. You can try out the library as well. Though yet again depending on your library the selection might be a little small. Of course you can order anything on the internet in hard copy. I am personally a fan of getting comics and graphic novels digitally. You can get graphic novel on either Kindle or Nook. Some of them don't always have a zoom feature, so you might want to read them on a tablet as opposed to a small e-reader or on your phone. There is also a great application called ComiXology that sells all their comics in digital format. I get most of my comics this way. They pretty much have any comic or graphic novel you could want and then some more. Plus several first issues can be found for free if you want to try something new.

Those are my tips. I'll be back later with my suggestions and examples of comics and graphic novels that I've really enjoyed. Hmm...Maybe I'll do a video on it. I would give you the skinny on my favorite comics now, but I've been working at this for awhile and my puppy is not happy with me about it. Haha! She wants to play already or snuggle either will work for her. It's hard to type and post pictures when a dog is laying on your arm. So see you soon. Keep it shiny!