How I became a Marvel fan.

 

( Photo by cottonbro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-green-button-up-shirt-holding-newspaper-4841964/ )

As a child that grew up in the 2000s, I’ve grown up with Marvel films. The stories that have been created are amazing to watch and read. I’ve recently become a fan of comics so I wanted to give some tips to people who want to get into both comics and films. The Marvel franchise can be confusing to get into especially with the years of content that has come out. It can take a lot of time to start and especially with the comics which have had years of content. With the recent MCU, it's not as easy to watch the latest Marvel films and join in from there because it can become confusing for someone who hasn't seen the earlier films.

Where should someone start then? Getting into Marvel, in general, can be confusing since there's so much available content. Since Disney plus is available there is no longer the problem of the films being scattered so I’d recommend watching the films there to see if you would like the tone of them. In regards to watching order watching it by when the film came out makes the story a lot more understandable and less confusing. It also makes the end credit scenes more enjoyable.

Throwing yourself into the stories at first can not only be confusing for story context but it can also not make sense on a character level since those stories require the readers to be already familiar with each character individually and the ensemble comics will only give a tiny bit of context to who each character is. It's only good to read the ensemble comics if you 1. don’t mind about context and 2. have context for at least 2 of the characters. This is so you have a character to be invested in through that ensemble comic.

If you don’t care about understanding context with both the MCU and the comics I would recommend watching the avengers stories since that can help you grow a connection to one or more characters but it can help a person new to the medium get a grasp of the tropes to the stories and the genre. For the MCU it's a lot easier for someone new to jump into watching a film like The original Avengers without having to need context. Context does help before watching the film and it brings more emotion to it however it isn’t as important. So another recommendation would be to watch the films first and then jump into the comics if you get attracted to a character from the MCU.

It can be very confusing for a beginner but once I knew where I could start reading then it became a lot easier for me to get into them. Once I watched the films I had an idea of what character I liked. My favorite character was Spiderman so I looked for comics relating to that character. Reading about characters I liked made me more likely to read those comics.

What if someone doesn’t have a favorite hero? Look around for stories that sound interesting. After reading a couple of stories someone new to comics should be able to find a character they like or at least want to read. Look at the Avengers comics or comics featuring multiple characters. This may help with finding new characters that could interest you more in reading around that character.

One of the downsides of comics is that they can rack up a lot of money, especially for someone who doesn’t have the means to buy the comics they want. Nowadays there are many ways to get comics at a cheaper price. Some local libraries have comics. The only downside to going to a library for comics is that they are not always going to have the stories of your favorite character. Another solution to this is that there are many content creators online who make videos to make comics more available for people who don’t have the money to buy multiple comics. Examples of these creators are Comic Drake and Comicstorian. Both are also amazing channels to watch for people who want to know more about comics.

The downside to reading comics online is that if you want physical comics to display then that isn’t an option online however for psychical comics it's easier to find a large selection of comics at a local comic shop. Compared to a local book shop or library comic shops tend to have a larger selection of comics and it can be easier to find what you want. Comic shops do tend to be less available in smaller villages and towns however if you live in a city or a bigger town you are more likely to find a comic shop near you. I recommend this way of buying comics since it supports the local comic industry.

Through comics, I’ve been able to find some amazing stories for characters that I am invested in especially since I have been a fan of Marvel films since I was very young. The Marvel films have surprised me with how much they have been able to do with the medium of film and the construction that, that may hold compared to the comics. I love seeing those characters from the films I have watched being involved in different situations within the comics and interacting with other characters and even with characters that I haven’t seen before. I recommend that if someone likes the films they at least try to get into the comics as well.