There is a major problem in the comic book world that is almost entirely unique to that particular industry: How do you get started in a series that has been going on for (in some cases) almost 50 years?
It can feel like having to read the complete works of Shakespeare to understand most of the plot of Brave New World.
That metaphor is a bit off, (I just really like Brave New World, okay?) but just imagine if you had to keeping digging up older and older books to read in order to fully enjoy and comprehend a highly-praised modern novel.
Okay, that’s sort of what I major in, but that’s not the point.
The point is, with this sort of deep history that each comic series possesses, it’s often hard to start reading comics. Yes, I could just go to my local comic store, pick up the newest Spider-Man, and read it, but chances are I’d be joining in in the middle of a story arch and have no idea what’s going on.
Especially not with Superior Spider-Man *shudders*
This is where the idea of gatekeepers come in. I discussed them in my last comic post, but let’s look at how they really function. Here’s a real-world scenario:
So Friday I went to my usual comic book store. While browsing, I grabbed a copy of the trade paperback book Fear Itself. For those just getting into comics, trade paperbacks are great; they’re usually one story arch contained in a single book . However, even with these, there are snags. In the case of Marvel comics, “one story arch” might be a crossover title that spans several different alternative timelines or involves several different sub-archs for each character/team…it gets exhausting.
House of M: One story, several issues…many books.
But just the sheer volume of issues that make up these crossover story lines isn’t the only problem. In the case of Fear Itself, the story starts with the understanding that Asgard, home of the gods, has been destroyed, and suddenly all the Asgardians (Thor’s family and friends) are on earth.
“Now how did that happen?” I wondered.
In order to understand that, I’d have to root around for the trade paperback that comes before Fear Itself to get an explanation as to how that happened. But how do I even find it? Sometimes the book tells you how to look up previous events, listing the issues that precede this arch directly. But that doesn’t mean I can always get it. Maybe that book isn’t in the store. Maybe it isn’t even in a paperback. But even if I find the issues that explain how Asgard crashed to earth, it does’t mean I can read them, because for all we know Thor might be suffering the repercussions of another foe, and I’ll have to keep going back and back forever until Thor is Don Blake and then MAYBE I’ll get to read Fear Itself.
And it’ll only take me 30 years!”
This problem can hinder new readership, so there have been several solutions to help fix the problems caused by the thousands of overlapping plot lines that can accrue in these older comic universes:
1. In general, a solution most comics use is to “retcon” information. Retcon is a portmanteau of “Retroactive Continuity,” and is defined by TV Tropes as “Reframing past events to serve a current plot need.” What that means is that past events can be wiped away or altered in order to facilitate a current storyline. It happens in more than just comics, but you can probably see why it’s necessary in decades-old superhero stories. Though that link has a ton of examples, the biggest example in comics is the death of Superman, and if you haven’t seen this video, you are missing out.
2. For Marvel, there is the multiple continuities solution. This means that rather than wiping away the history in order to start over, they create tangent universe versions of popular marvel heroes and play around with new ideas that way. That’s how they managed to kill Peter Parker, introduce Miles Morales, then have the two meet. The Ultimate universe and the main universe collided. But there are a TON of alternate continuities, so this is a confusing solution that avoids the problem without redressing it.
3. For DC, a one-time fix was the New 52, which consisted of a total reboot of every ongoing series. While that effectively eliminated every single significant event that happened to every character up to that point, it also opened up a whole new world of stories for all the characters you know and love. In some ways, it succeeded, in others it failed completely, but it is a viable solution (at least ONCE; I wouldn’t do it too often).
But at the end of the day, the biggest problem for me has always been the human gatekeeper element. It’s intimidating to go to a comic book store for the first time. It took me two years before I finally found the courage to go to the comic book store in my college town by myself, and another half a year before I found the guts to ask for help while browsing, because, as gingerhaze pointed out, you never know who might be there to receive you when you get into the store. When there are thousands of options but no road map when starting comics, everyone could use help. Asking for help in finding something to read can be daunting regardless of gender, but I know I am very conscious of being a lady in a male zone. Buying Loki comics can be demeaning, makes me feel like a stereotypical fan girl.
Doesn’t matter; still bought it.
It’s so hard to get into comics for these reasons: the ocean is too vast and deep, and the lifeguard might not even have your best interests at heart.
However, there are ways to skirt both the issue of wading through the ocean of mythos AND the potential of gatekeepers: Digital comics.
For Christmas, my boyfriend Red not only get me a comic, but he got me most of the Marvel library with a one-month subscription to the Marvel digital library.
And a Pokémon, but that’s to be expected from him.
With this subscription, I got to research the series that most appealed to me and read them at my leisure. Not enough background to read the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline? No problem, I could just search the libraries and read the whole thing on my own time, often with a corgi puppy asleep on my lap.
*Corgi puppy not included with subscription
Marvel Digital Unlimited is currently running a promotion for a 99 cent one-month trial subscription, and anyone, absolutely ANYONE interested in getting into comics should get it. I don’t like advertising products, but this is something that I really believe is important to my mission with this blog. I want everyone, regardless of gender, race, religion, etc. to feel free to get into comics at their own pace. No more drowning in a story because you are behind on the mythology. No more awkward moments at the comic store or intimidating, sexist jerks. You become the master of your domain.
This is the future of comics. Be liberated!
Idiot Nerd Girl 