I'm very new to comic reading, and I'm trying to give it a chance, but this is pretty much the entire reason why I dislike them.
I just cant understand shit about it. I'm not talking about the names, because I obviously know that most of the names have been mentioned in the past. I'm talking about the sequences, how the plot is driven, the chronological order. Its EXTREMELY convoluted.
I just hate how the events jump from 1 place to another without any explanation, it feels as if the pages are scrambled together. Like in one scene you got hawkman and hawkgirl talking, the other you got green lantern fighting martian manhunter out of nowhere, then talking to the Gordons, then switching to Mera fighting aquaman, then swapping to green lantern talking to the flash about beating the MM and then the corpses of a bunch of heroes being reanimated. What the fuck is wrong with this?
>want to get into Harry Potter >jump to last movie >"oh my god what's going on?" There is a recommendation list for GL if you want to get into, Blackest night was this one event that had a fuck ton of build up so if you haven't read the stuff before that you will get really lost
Its not as bad as it look though, most of the important stuff happens in "green lantern" so unless you care about some secondary character or minor detail you need to search for the other stuff, try going through the Sinestro corps war (its far superior in every single way) arc first and from there everything flows to this event
Christian King
Like I said: Im not talking about not knowing which characters are mentioned. Im talking about how convoluted the plot and visual presentation is.
Like how Hal suddenly lands on the batsignal and calmly starts talking to Barb, then the scene shifts to halfway accross the world, then it shows Hal and flash talking, then shifts to they fighting martian manhunter, and so on.
I mean, so far, I dont even know what the fuck is going on, like I'm not being able to follow the plot because of how visually fucked up things are.
Basically it feels like ripping a book apart and mixing the pages
Brandon Wood
If you don't like it then just read a different comic.
Jose Murphy
I want to like it.
I'd just like to know if im doing something wrong. Maybe if I'm actually reading it in a non sequential order.
Liam Stewart
user that would be like complaining that Indiana Jones didn't have 4 hour long scenes of Indy sitting on a plane between destinations
Jayden Cruz
that's what i mean, its a bunch of different stories going on at the same time, reading at least the final issues before that helps a lot with giving you an idea of what's going on with everybody
Or you can just follow my advice and try other event, its not like this is the only arc with black lanterns anyway
Lucas Hernandez
>I want to like it. Why? No need to force yourself. If you don't like it then you don't like it. Feel free to drop it and move on.
>I'd just like to know if im doing something wrong Left to right. Top to bottom. If you aren't doing that yeah you may need to start again.
Gabriel Ramirez
>Maybe if I'm actually reading it in a non sequential order that's exactly the problem, even if you know the characters the lack of context can fuck you up pretty hard, most comics have brief recap of what happened so far in the first few pages but this rarely helps and a lot of important info isn't covered
Juan Carter
So
In a nutshell, you're saying you dislike event comics?
Why the fuck are you reading them, then? Because that sort of "bunch of shit happening to a bunch of characters" is your average Big 2 event.
Ian Ortiz
Then don't read that shitty garbage. Read something else instead.
Camden Richardson
OK, so whats before blackest night?
Ayden Roberts
More comics written by Geoff Johns. Since you don't like his writing style, you won't like those comics either. Don't read them.
Adam Rivera
Y the last man and transmetropolitan shouldn't be there
Here is a friendly timeline, i would recommend starting with rebirth and going balls deep from there, during the big events the spin offs will have its own issues telling the same story from a different character's perspective
Carter Brooks
Isn't Blackest Night an event?
If so, you're in way over your head OP. Comic events almost always have some required reading, and even then it's often tough to understand every angle.
If you want to get into comics, start with an actual run, not an event. And for the love of god, don't worry about canon and timelines. It'll make your head spin.
Chase Torres
I've seen some people on Sup Forums say that event books, aside from being a culmination of certain story arcs, simply exist to pull new readers in.
I remember people straight up just buying Secret War issue 1 without even touching Hickman's run. However, I am of the opinion that it is retarded to start with an event that has been in the works for years prior.
Samuel Watson
>over 150 comics, some of them which would also branch out into who knows how many more.
Yeeaaah..thanks for the help anons, but im not gonna do that, guess that if you were not born into these things its just impossible to catch up.
Alexander Morales
Neither should Watchmen. I mean a new reader can get the story and premise, but misses out on a lot of what makes that comic so good.
>Reading the 9th book first and complaining you don't follow the events happening.
Seriously though, there's about 20+ trade backs to read prior to that book you read. These events usually start building right after the last one concluded.
Matthew Martinez
Did you read issue 1 of Blackest Night? You posted the second, and haven't mentioned anything else about it. honestly I think you're trolling, but will genuinely help if you want
Easton Gomez
Well it is Green fucking Lantern. What were you expecting?
Nathan Sanders
Yo just fuckin use this reading list and start with Green Lantern: Rebirth.
Shit's not hard as you make it out to be.
Isaiah Phillips
I mean, there's always a sense of spectacle to event books that could certainly be attractive to new readers, but it's a simple truth that they rarely make sense on their own.
If you want to read GL, just find a current run and jump in. You don't have to start from the beginning.
Elijah Allen
user, there is a story time that starts right at John's run and that is a pretty good jumping on spot.
Lucas Cooper
Yes I've read issue 0, 1 and 2, didnt started with 3 because of the confusion.
I didnt wanted to start reading from 0, I just thought that events had a coherent, exclusive order within themselves, not that they resumed SPECIFIC SITUATIONS from previous comics
Zachary Wilson
don't read event comics OP, they're just convoluted fluff garbage with everyone's favorite hero thrown in so everyone will buy it
John Torres
Comics are a serialized medium.
Dylan Scott
the trick is to find something appealing and just keep going from there, its like watching anime, you have so much fun with that you just can't wait for the next chapter where the story will continue, 150 looks like a lot but when you're having fun even that ends rather quick
don't worry about branches, they are just extra info and will rarely matter to the main story unless you care about how that character did that thing offscreen
Jonathan James
Stick to cartoons, kiddo
Liam Martin
Actually GLs events are widely regarded as highly coherent and enjoyable. Especially Sinestro Corps War.
Jose Rivera
Here we go OP, Blackest Night #2 Ask questions while we stoytime.
Nolan Wood
based dumpfag is based
Luis Adams
>I just thought that events had a coherent, exclusive order within themselves, Don't read Marvel or DC.
In their mainline continuities, DC and Marvel intentionally do the opposite of what you want. Every story is connected to every other story. Every story actually begins in a prior story. Every story actually ends in the next story. Their thinking is that, once they trick you into buying story Y, you will be forced to also buy story X to see how story Y began, and you will also be compelled to buy story Z to see how story Y continues. And because those stories never end (as long as sales remain above the cancellation threshold), anyone they suckered in will presumably keep buying forever and ever and ever.
Stay away from Marvel and DC if you want comics with simple, well-defined and self-contained beginnings, middles and ends.
Christopher Edwards
This is my first time doing this, so no hate pls.
Adam Peterson
(We skip from 001 to 004 because of variant cover)
Nathan Gomez
>OP says that they already read issue #2 >you are trying to make them read it again What is the point?
Ryan Bennett
...
Juan Perez
This way he can skim the pages, or ideally reread it, and point to specific confusing parts of the story. Feel free to storytime issue 3 afterwards.
Benjamin Collins
...
James Baker
...
Adam Cruz
...
Nolan Ortiz
Forever Evil has nothing that isn't explained within the event itself.
Thomas Price
Pick up the #1 of a character you like, start from there and Google anything you're confused about
Hunter Sanchez
The obvious note is that every time we jump scenes, the title card tells us what new location where are in. So we just had 3 quick scene changes in a row here.
Camden Russell
While I adhere to Stan Lee's thoughts that every comic is someone's first and you shouldn't need to Google, if you need to research something then by all means do. Don't miss out on this medium because of confusion.
Cameron Richardson
Why was he fighting MM all of a sudden? When did they even spotted him to begin the fight?
What happened here in general?
Justin Gutierrez
Also here, what does hawk means by that? Why doees the black ring says he is at peace?
Elijah Wright
I think comics just might not be for you.
Adrian Carter
He said there was a ton of shit he didn't get. This way he can point that stuff out, ask questions and get them answered.
Camden Richardson
This sounds like you are more confused about the lore and background going on than the comic itself?
Lucas Price
You don't need to have read every issue of Action Comics to get Superman. Most fans haven't but can still tell you the important parts of his history and shit.
Evan Brooks
I haven't seen MM yet, so can't answer that.
That is Deadman, a character who's power is to be a ghost. The ring resurrected his body and forced him into it.
Hawk and Dove are a pair representing War and Peace. The ring doesn't affect Dove because he is at rest and his power basically negates the ring.
Brody Collins
...
Thomas Price
Yep, Forever Evil is pretty much the best event ever. Sup Forums even voted that it was the Best Graphic Novel of 2013. Always remember.
Nicholas Green
>Orc Stain
Issue 8 coming out any year now
Tyler Lewis
Also, not to spoil anything, but there is a legacy character (i.e. a new person that has taken on the role of Dove) that plays a larger part in the series later, which builds on that scene.
Blake Scott
Forever Evil is good, but Annihilation will always be my favorite event.
Hunter Rogers
Jim Shooter, not Stan Lee. And a well-done recap page is miles ahead of the repetitive narration or thought bubbles.
Camden Wood
...
Eli Price
The spooky fellow with the extra-ominous statement here is Pariah, a character from Crisis on Infinite Earths. For full info, read the story, but he's a scientist from another universe that ended up phasing through reality just ahead of the Anti-Monitor's antimatter wave, watching as countless worlds were wiped from existence.
Jack Williams
My B. I deplore recap pages. They just don't use the medium at all. Repetitive narration is its own problem, but I prefer it.
Dylan Rodriguez
True. Abner Landing is so underrated on Sup Forums. And the characters he created even gave us the best movie of the MCU.
Michael Howard
Giffen did Annihilation holmes, but good try!
David James
Did they ever collect the leadup minis to Annihilation together? Either way, Annihilation is also pretty self-contained.
Landon Cook
...
Eli Perez
If you mean the Drax, Nova, SS, SS, etc. then yes. I'm not sure about the Thanos series.
Austin Sanders
Recap pages have the benefit of being completely separate from the actual story so to not impact them, though some series have gone metatextual with their recap pages like Cable and Deadpool.
Tyler Garcia
...
Justin Cooper
Just a few more pages.
While that's reasonable, I just don't enjoy them because of the fact that they don't feel organic to the book. It's an advantage that the collected edition has in the modern era over floppies.
Kevin Bailey
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Jonathan Jones
...
Gabriel Peterson
Whoops, a few more than I realized. I thought these were letter pages or something at first glance.
Cooper Jenkins
The Thanos one wasn't because it wasn't actually a lead-up, they just used elements from it.
William Adams
Is it collected in any format though?
Ryan Allen
And real last page.
You got any more questions for us OP.
Unrelated, this experience taught me that .cbr and .cbz are just renamed .zip files.
Ian Diaz
Two trades were published in 2004.
Dylan Cook
>.cbr and .cbz are just renamed .zip files. I just wish I knew how to convert a .zip to a .cbr without some bullshit program.
Nolan James
>Unrelated, this experience taught me that .cbr and .cbz are just renamed .zip files.
Yeah, that shit blew my mind when I figured it out. Basically means you can put together any folder of images, zip it up and have yourself a digital comic.
Sure beats converting shit to PDFs like I used to.
cbz is zip, cbr is rar. You want a cbr, extract the zip, recompress it as a rar and rename it cbr.
Though as far as I know, anything that can read one format will read the other too, so there's no little reason to not just go with cbz.
Jose Parker
Just use cbz.
Jackson Richardson
Begin by organizing your completed strip in JPG or PNG format in a single folder on your computer. Next, select each of the files (CTRL+A or hold CTRL while clicking each in turn) and right click, selecting Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder. A new ZIP file will be created as a result of this action; you will just need to give it a name. In order for a comic book reader to recognize the file, you will have to alter the file extension. If you have these hidden, go to Organize > Folder and search options > View and clear the checkbox for Hide extensions for known file types. Click OK to confirm and close the dialogue box.
Return to Windows Explorer and right-click the ZIP file, selecting Rename.
Change the .zip extension to .cbz and press Enter to confirm