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Go Try New Comics (aka Marvel and Image aren't the only companies)

One of the reasons I started this blog is I'd noticed a number of librarians on various platforms advocating for comics and coming back to the same small list time and again. Another reason is I've noticed that well let's be honest, that list consists of a majority of Marvel and Image titles with maybe a couple titles, typically one each, of a few other companies and that's it. Those titles would also be whatever has made a big name/splash in the comic world like Lumberjanes, which is amazing by the way, but it's not the only comic Boom! Studios puts out and while Boom! is currently putting out a bunch of titles that are similar, it's not indicative of all Boom! titles. Seriously, don't assume Boom! only does all-age friendly titles because they don't. They, like almost all of the publishers, have a large variety of titles.

That said when we're talking comics, we as librarians need to remember that our bubble of comics is not all there is (just like we assume for books and other materials). It's also extremely disheartening as a huge comic fan to see genuinely good titles with amazing writers being ignored to recommend the same thing the last person just recommended.

So my advice to you? Branch out a bit. Try reading a new comic that you've never read before. Maybe even try a company that you've never tried before or characters you aren't sure you can like or enjoy. There is a lot out there.

here are some of my recommendations:

I've touched on Astro City before and due to it's unique nature in comics as a superhero comic, a comic about people, and a constantly changing cast with various different time periods and ideas explored. It's really a book that could appeal to anyone at any given time due to the nature of the stories and ideas. It pretty much runs the gambit and it's still on-going. It's currently being printed by DC through their Vertigo imprint.

New Super-Man by Gene Luen Yang - Many of you may recognize Gene Luen Yang's name, he is after all the Library of Congress's Ambassador to Young People's Literature, plus he's written a ton of amazing books. New Super-Man takes the concept of Superman (and really the Justice League) and places it all squarely in a Chinese world. All of the characters are of Chinese nationality of course, but they're also tied to Chinese history, philosophy, mythology, and even modern day Chinese practices. Kenan, the new Super-Man, has to learn how to balance and use his Qi energy to access his powers, the Chinese Batman was created at a training facility and had to compete to be the best, and the Chinese Wonder Woman's origins are steeped in Chinese mythology. It is a great new and different take on the Man of Steel and Justice League and it's rather revealing about China itself.

IDW currently has a great run of Transformers comics in Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Transformers: More than Meets the Eye. Seriously I'm recommending Transformers comics, you know they have to be good. This whole concept is about what happens AFTER the Autobots win the war and return to Cybertron victorious. How does this change everyone and everyone's roles especially as Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is "dead", leaving Bumblebee to be the new leader of Cybertron and Rodimus, another defacto Autobot leader, leads a group of Transformers in search of the Knights of Cybertron. Both series are great and they're interconnected. This is placed in the IDW Hasbro verse which also includes GI Joe, M.A.S.K. and the new Visionairies series starting later this year.

Starman by James Robinson and Tony Harris - One of the reasons I always come back to this series is because it's not a typical superhero story at all. It's really a long story about a family reconnecting to each other and discovering their love and respect for each other again. It's also the story of a city as Opal City is it's own character through out the series. Also Jack Knight is a really likable character to me since he is a collector and "junk dealer" (his words), selling old lunch boxes and rare comics as well as strange oddities like unique one of a kind Hawaiian shirts. The series is really just beautiful and it's written at times like a novel. It's just a great jumping on title since you don't need to know much about comics to read it, it tells you everything you need as you go along, and it's self-contained. It also shows that the superhero genre is more than about capes and tights (our hero doesn't even wear either), it can be about family, heroism, and finding oneself.

Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh - printed in black and white then reprinted in color, Courtney Crumrin is the story of a sarcastic and detached girl who is dragged by her useless parents to live with her rich Great Uncle Alyonsius. Courtney initially hates it and wishes she could go back to the old neighborhood when she stumbles across an entire world of magic, literally. Over the course of the series, Courtney learns that the Night Things are not just evil creatures, but they're not necessarily good either and she learns the magic to deal with them along with Alyonsius as her guide and teacher. Really fun series with great and interesting art.

Pinocchio Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen (US Ambassador of Comics) and Dusty Higgins - Basic premise, what if Pinocchio became a vampire slayer. Thanks to his abilities, Pinocchio has an endless supply of stakes just by lying and he uses these abilities to take out the evil scourge of vampires. It starts out as a fun romp and becomes slowly more complex and deep as the series progresses. Still a great book for anyone to just pick up and read.

Seconds by Bryan lee O'Malley - Katie is a young chef that opened the popular restaurant Seconds
and lives in an apartment on the second floor of the building. Now though after building up the restaurant and having some adventures, she's about to open her own restaurant with her name on the door and she's a little nervous about everything. One night while at Seconds, she sees a strange girl on her dresser and discovers a mushroom with a notebook. If she eats the mushroom before bed and writes down her regret, she can change anything that happened at the restaurant. Katie quickly finds more mushrooms and begins trying to build her perfect life, but discovers that it's not as easy as fixing one or two mistakes.

And if none of these sounds appealing to you, that's OK. Just pick up a random comic you would not normally read. Find a new writer you've never read before. Pick up a superhero comic if you've never read one. Whatever it is.. branch out a bit. Begin to explore more. There is a lot out there and it can't hurt to broaden your horizons a little.

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