If you recall I posted a nice, little article about starting a comic book reading habit on a tight budget. I outlined some steps to get you started, but for the benefit of the genre-shy out there, I'd like to delve a bit deeper into the most important step of all, which is knowing what you want.
Why is it that important? Well, the obvious reason would be to stop you from freaking out upon realizing that there are literally thousands of comic book titles out there! (Okay, so I did freak you out right there) And while you can trust comics these days to deliver the goods when it comes to good stories, you have to find out what interests you first so you would want to keep reading. What sort of stories interest you? What would make you come back for more? Answering these questions would help you avoid unfortunate situations involving you subsisting on cup noodles with piles of comics you paid good money for but didn't like at all.
So knowing what kinds of stories or genres interest you can help you make informed decisions and hopefully make you enjoy your new found interest in comics in the long run.
Now, to give you a nudge in the right direction let's look at some of the different comic book genres offered these days and see which ones give you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
If you're into modern mythology, or just like the concept of super powered people flying around in tight spandex and capes, then the super hero genre will save your day. It's the bread and butter of most American comic book companies, and a great entry point into comics. Think Superman or Batman or Captain America or Iron Man and you think super heroes.
How about swords and sorcery? Brutes with bastard swords or mead-laden wenches? Maybe a dragon here and there? If that sounds like an interesting place to be then you can't go wrong with fantasy. Some of the more recent titles that came out representing this genre include the Dragonlance Chronicles, Red Sonja, Fables, adaptations of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt saga, etc.
Maybe your partial to spine-chilling stories or just love the idea of zombies, chainsaw killers and the supernatural? The horror genre is home to some of these, with titles like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hack/Slash, and the current Marvel Zombies 3.
And when it comes to action/adventure, comics simply cannot be beat. Heck, most movies can't hold a candle to what comics are capable of when it comes to breakneck, pulse-pounding thrills! Stuff like 100 Bullets, The Goon and Hellboy are great examples of this genre.
Bear in mind that most comics dip into two or more genres at once (Hellboy's roots are mostly in horror but has enough action in it to qualify as action/adventure) and the examples I gave above are simply good starting points in your quest to find the kinds of comic books you'd want to start reading about.
So, now that you're armed with the knowledge about yourself and the genres you might enjoy, it's time to go out and start hunting for those comics!
But...for those who already know what they want, but want to know a little bit more about them before spending a single peso, then join me again next time when I talk about the oft-dreaded...*gasp!* RESEARCH!
For now, thanks for reading! And if I missed anything or just want to vent, the comment box is at your disposal. Now to make up my own genre...anything that involves pizza...
Posts
0 Comments