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There is No Gate to Keep: An Introduction

By Caroline Rea
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In the comic space, there are two types of readers. Legacy readers and new readers. Some kids grow up as legacy readers, reading their parents' old comics and being surrounded by the comic community for as long as they can remember. The rest of us had to find the way through this hobby ourselves. Carving out our own place in the community. I discovered my love for comics in 2010 but didn’t fully embrace comic book collecting until 2017. When I first delved into the hobby, I traversed the comic space completely alone. None of the people I knew were already in the hobby. I know how hard and intimidating it can be to get into the hobby, but I also know how worthwhile it can be.  So here is my Comics 101 guide to getting into comic books. This blog is dedicated to breaking down the barriers to entry in the comic book community. We all deserve to be here, read comics, and enjoy the space.  Photo Credit: deberarr (Adobe Stock) Some of the topics I’m planning to cover are, comic bo...
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The Golden Rule: If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!

By Caroline Rea
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I could spend all day giving recommendations and explaining how to navigate the community. It's one of my favorite things to do! But it's important that you remember the golden rule of comic books:  If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!   It's easy to get bogged down in comic books' stats, history, and specifics. Many fans and collectors, me included, have forced ourselves to read series we didn't like because we felt we had to for one reason or another. Those roads almost always lead to forgetting why we got into this community in the first place. The love of comic books and the amazing stories and the beautiful imagery that can come from them is the heart of being a comic book fan.  Comic books are no different than a regular TV show, book, or movie. All of them are just different ways of telling stories. If you're watching a movie that you don't like or find boring, you simply turn it off and find something you like more to watch. It...
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Comic Books Have Always Been Political

By Caroline Rea
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Image Credit: Marvel Comics/SyFy.com There is a common misconception that people have had recently that comic books have "started getting political". I'm here to dispel that myth and to tell you that comic books have ALWAYS been political.  For example, in March of 1940, an iconic character was created, a beloved staple for Marvel comic fans. That month writer Joe Simonson and artist Jack Kirby created Captain America #1, which featured the star-spangled man punching Hitler in the face.  Comic books have always told stories that heavily reference social or political societal issues. It is no secret that Marvel's X-Men were created as an allegory for marginalized communities that are discriminated against just for being who they are. They are murdered for things they can't change.  Outside of superhero comics, we see these same issues addressed all over the comic book space. From issues as old as the early 1900s to the modern day, comics have told the stories o...
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The Benefits of Knowing Publishers

By Caroline Rea
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Know Your Publishers Why is knowing publishers important? Publishers make dozens of different comics at a time. How could that possibly help you find things you enjoy? These are arguments I've heard a lot and ones that I completely understand. When you're first trying to get into comics, the overwhelming amount of choices makes it hard to look for things you may like. I've found that if you put things into smaller boxes, it makes them far less overwhelming. This is why I suggest looking at publishers. For this page, I've listed most of the most well-known comic book publishers as well as 5 of their titles. I've tried to vary the genres within the list as well as include some well-known media along with some new things. This is just a small look at the genres and books published by some of the most well-known studios.  Having a general knowledge of publishers is extremely helpful when you're looking for something to read. When people think of comics, they often ...
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