On still reading comics

After recently finishing up a free 30-day trial of Comixology, my reading world has greatly expanded. I’ve seen worlds I never could have dreamed into existence, met characters who I fell in love with a little bit, and learned to appreciate artwork much more than I previously had. I also have a much much better idea of what sort of comics I enjoy, which will help a lot in picking out more comics in the future.

After this past month, I have a lot of comics that I’m interested in sharing with the world. They may be ones that everyone already knows about or ones that are already supermainstream, but I have strong feelings and I MUST share my thoughts. Here are the best comics I’ve read so far:

• Saga by Brian K. Vaughn- Saga is a space thriller with some star-crossed lovers, family drama, a war, and a ghost babysitter. It’s fun, it’s unique, and some of the species are the strangest I’ve seen yet. I didn’t know it was possible to love a series this much, but it’s fantastic. Vaughn successfully mixes science fiction with fantasy and gives us a cast of characters that you can’t help but love. Fiona Staples’ artwork is incredibly beautiful - far more detailed than I originally expected of comics. I highly recommend this to any SFF readers (and anyone who reads in general).
• Giant Days by John Allison - If you like stories about quirky college students, this is the series for you. The series follows 3 roommates/best friends as they navigate their first year of college - full of first loves, mortal enemies, nicotine addictions, big mistakes, and gothic wardrobes. It’s fun, it’s silly, and it’s full of well-developed characters who are easy to relate to. This is great for new college students, aspiring college students, anyone who’s been to college, anyone who knows someone who’s gone to college, and basically just anyone.
• Faith by Jody Houser - Faith Herbert has a lot on her plate - working at her new job, trying to avoid her ex-boyfriend (who’s now a reality TV star), and saving the world from any danger it might encounter. Faith is a superhero who has recently struck out on her own and is struggling to juggle her superhero life while still trying to keep up with her alter ego. This comic was a lot like Superman in some ways, but with the story turned on it’s head. It was fun and refreshing and I really enjoyed the characters and the ridiculousness. Also, it should be noted that Faith is overweight, but her weight isn’t an issue or a plot point or anything - she’s simply an overweight superhero. If you want more diverse characters without their diversity becoming the story, this is a great place to start.

Are there any other comics I should try out? Any comics you really love or really hate?

On why Comixology Unlimited isn't worth it (but the app is)

I recently tried out a 30-day free trial of Comixology. It enabled me to try out a bunch of new comics and dip my feet into the comic world, but overall, it wasn’t worth the $5.99 each month and I cancelled my subscription.

There were a lot of good things about Comixology. First of all, the app is fantastic. DEFINITELY GET THE APP if you’re into electronic comics. The comics are very high quality and look beautiful on the screen, something I wasn’t expecting with a simple app. Best of all, the app allows you to look at each box individually. You can look at the full page to do your reading, but you can also tap twice on a specific area to zoom in on that and read the comic closer up and from box to box. It’s an excellent way to read comics and makes it easier to read instead of having to zoom in on each little part. Also, you download the comics straight to your device, which is very convenient and makes it easy to read offline with a little planning ahead.

While the app was fantastic, I was less pleased with the actual Comixology Unlimited subscription. The Unlimited subscription is actually very limited. The selection of comics is a lot smaller than the comics that are available electronically. Most big superhero comics were not available at all on Comixology Unlimited. The comics that were available typically only had the first comic or first volume available on Unlimited. The rest were available for purchase, but it was disappointing to get to read the first couple comics and then not being able to read the next one without forking over more money. Don’t waste your money on the subscription when you’ll just be buying the comics anyway.

The Comixology Unlimited subscription is a great resource for someone who is just beginning to read comics, but for anyone else, the subscription will be a waste of money that is better spent on buying the comics themselves. If you’re interested in electronic comics, I would definitely recommend using Comixology. The app is gorgeous and has a large selection of comics to purchase and download to your device. I highly recommend it.

How do you read your digital comics? What other apps are worth looking into? What comics would you recommend? Do you prefer your comics in paper or digital?

On beginning to read comics

Due to a free trial on Comixology (through Amazon), I have found myself reading comics. This is something I’ve never done before (except for reading a handful of The Walking Dead and a biography on Andre the Giant) and it’s been a strange change for me.

Comics are growing more and more popular and most libraries now offer huge amounts of comic books (mostly volumes of comics) to devoted readers. The fact that you can read comics digitally (you don’t even have to leave the house or talk to people!) also changes the game - a larger population can now access and enjoy this growing art form.

For me, comics have been a difficult change for these reasons:

-I’m a quick reader. I tend to skim through boring parts of books (and sometimes through books in general) and my mind wanders often when I’m reading. This is not something you can afford to do in comics. If you skim one box in a comic (do these boxes have a name? Goodness, I’m a noob), you can completely miss what’s going on for the rest of the story.

-AND THERE ARE PICTURES. I keep finding myself reading the words and skipping the pictures and having to go back to look at all the pictures to understand what’s going on. It’s a difficult transition and I need to get used to it. I keep telling myself that I’ll be fine as long as I know who’s talking, but that’s a lie and I need to pay more attention.

-So much can happen in one comic, or not a lot can happen. I recently read Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick and the entire volume setup what would happen in the next several volumes. It was fascinating and I learned a lot about several of the characters, but, for me, it was too big a time and energy commitment for such a small reward.

-You have to wait for sooooo long for each next section. And each new comic that gets released only tells a small part of the story. I have a hard time waiting on full sequels (I sometimes wait to start a series until most of the series has been released because of this), so having to wait for the next volume of comics to come out is not something I can handle.

-Comics are so…..cool. It kind of hurts me to read faddish books (which is absolutely ridiculous and very snobby and I’m getting help) and comics feel like the latest cool kid thing. I’m trying to read them partly to combat this snobbish-ness (and also because I suffer from a contradictory FOMO thing - help!) and I do think it’s getting better.

-Comics lately (I can’t speak for comics throughout time) seem to cover some very serious topics - racism, sexism, homophobia, conformity - and I’m not always in the mood to read these topics since I confront them every day at work and in the news. When I read, I want to have fun and I want it to be something different than what I experience every day and, while many comics do that for me, an equal number don’t. For me, books are a sort of escapism and a way to learn about something new - not to rehash what I already saw in the news that day.

-There are so many comics (too many?! Gah - that’s like saying there are too many books) and I don’t even know where to start. I keep randomly downloading the ones with covers I like, but some haven’t caught my fancy as much as I wanted them to. I need a comic reader advisory person to tell me EXACTLY which comics I’ll like.

So help me out. Since I’m still a beginner, what comics should I be starting with while I still have my free Comixology trial? (Keep in mind that enough of the right comics might convince me to keep up my subscription!)