How did you get into comics?

[MouserGrey]

1984. Marvel superhero roleplaying game. Played Black Panther. Never looked back.

[Rosebunse]

It was about 2008 or 2009. I saw a preview for Marvel Zombies 4. It wasn't until FrankenCastle that I really got into them, though.

[responsarbre]

I read a lot of manga as a kid (shout-out to my Shonen Jump subscription), and I read the typical amount of comics most kids read in newspapers and magazines.

In middle school, I got really into webcomics and I read a whole bunch of those. Even though I consumed a lot of superhero media (the cartoons and all of the movies), it wasn't until one of my friends who was also into webcomics started gushing about Gillen's Journey into Mystery that I even considered trying to read comic books.

[nickytesla96]

Mainly got interested through animation. Growing up, I really loved Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League: Unlimited, and Teen Titans. Later on I would enjoy X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine & The X-Men. Wasn't super into The Batman and Iron Man: Armored Adventures but I watched them. Really loved Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman: Under the Red Hood, and Green Lantern: First Flight. Later, Batman: The Brave and The Bold, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Green Lantern: TAS and Young Justice made me want to read comics more (especially YJ).

I definitely have my cousin to thank for really getting me more into physical comics. When I was 11 he took me to see Iron Man in theaters, which blew my mind since before then I didn't know much about Marvel. Been an MCU fan since. And he let me read his copies of Marvel Zombies and Neil Gaiman's Sandman (unsurprisingly I had to re-read later to actually appreciate it lol).

Tried a few times to buy comics, but didn't have any focus or knowledge. Bought some of the usual suspects (Batman: Year One, A Long Halloween, Hush, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Civil War, House of M) and I enjoyed/loved them but didn't know where to continue. I read Green Lantern: Rebirth and Blackest Night because of the animated movie (again, no focus/knowledge - those are the beginning and end lol) and I loved and kept re-reading them but there was so much GL stuff that I didn't know where to continue.

So I fell off. I'd later dabble in a New 52 trade or two but didn't have money to follow much.

Didn't REALLY get into buying and reading comics until freshmen year of college a few years ago mainly thanks to the Image publisher and a bit of Marvel Now. Started with C.O.W.L. volume 1 which I heard from CapedJoel's reviews back when he was in CBC. Then from word of mouth, I got trades for Saga, East of West, Black Science, Descender, Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, etc... It was perfect because each series was self-contained and encompassed a lot of different genres and styles. I was only kinda interested in reading superheroes so Image really opened my eyes to how awesome comics are. Image is my favorite publisher and Saga is just perfect. Also bought trades for Superior Foes (thanks to CapedJoel) and Fraction's Hawkeye which got me really interested in Marvel Comics.

Got more into issues and following Big Two ongoings with DCYou, Secret Wars (2015) and ANAD. Tom King's Omega Men and Vision are the first series I completed by issues. And here we are now.

[The Dying Detective]

As a kid I always liked superheroes thanks to the many cartoons I watched the old campy Batman cartoon and the DCAU but I generally preferred to read Archie Comics which was only possible thanks to my sister and as I grew older I wanted to write my own comics but after a while my interest lessened after a while in part to the never ending stories of superheroes. Nevertheless I retained enough interest to start reading superhero comics three years ago.

[Fenice]

I always used to read a lot as a kid, and was also into art. Was basically a natural gravitation. Once I picked up my first X-Men comic, was all she wrote.

[dzub]

being a teenager with not a lot of money but a lot of time, i went to the library and read comics

[DUSt]

I always had a passing interest in Spider-Man, but I didn’t really get into MARVEL Comics until Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and didn’t get too involved with the rest of MARVEL (mainly past books and the more obscure characters, like the Inhumans) until Secret Wars.

Watching Linkara gave me a great interest in Wonder Woman, and, subsequently, the rest of DC (though I’m more of a MARVEL person).

I found out about Image after discovering and becoming fascinated with Spawn, found Archie through their Sonic the Hedgehog comics and IDW through the Windblade toy.

[charliehustle415]

For me in the mid-90's my friend in elementary school had some Fleer Ultra Cards the minute I laid eyes on them I was hooked. At first I only collected the cards and obsessed over the stats like power levels, endurance, stamina etc. then I moved on to comics. My first issue was the Spider-Man issue where he had gotten his silver armor suit.

Good times

[The Negative Zone]

My dad letting me read his collection.

[CentralPower]

My mother made sure that I was surrounded by printed material growing up. Comics were part of it. (For example, I was reading newspapers and adult non-fiction by age 10 or so.) The first comics were some garbage from Star (a Marvel kiddie imprint from the early 80s). But, the first comics I cared about were early issues of Marvel "Transformers".

By the late 80s, I was reading then-current issues of "Spider-Man" and "What if...", with back issues of "Captain America". I likely favored Marvel out of habit. (My first comics happened to be Marvel, and Marvel's sourcebooks were more available.) But, I did not specifically avoid DC on any deep principle. (The 1989 "Batman" movie was incentive enough to try new and different comics.)

[Uncanny Mutie]

I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Once thing I always loved to do as a child was draw. When I was in the 4th grade, a new kid named David came to our class right before Christmas break. David became popular very quickly, because he loved to draw just like I did, and he was REALLY good at it. So, naturally we became close friends.

I noticed that David was always drawing superheroes. Here was this 4th grade kid who could draw superheroes from memory or from looking at pictures just as well as---and sometimes even better than---the actual adults who were getting paid to draw them. David used to come to school with a backpack full of Marvel Comics, which is how he learned how to draw superheroes so well. Our teacher would constantly get on him about keeping his comics put away during class, but every so often, he would manage to sneak them out. Spider-Man, X-Men, and Daredevil is what he mostly collected. He showed them to me and I was immediately hooked. He even gave me a few to keep, and Spider-Man, X-Men, and Daredevil are still my favorite superheroes to this day. I have been collecting and reading comics ever since. Reading so many comic books from such a young age actually strengthened my reading to the point where English and Reading became my best and easiest subjects in school. By the time I got to college, I actually tested out of upper level English courses because my Reading scores were so high.

But anyway, by the time all the classic comic book based cartoons started coming out in the 90s, I was already well versed in comics and---especially when it came to X-Men: The Animated Series---was immediately able to recognize which episodes were based on certain issues and story arcs from the actual comics, and just how comic accurate the portrayal of certain characters was. I think that's what made me the big comic book continuity nut that I am today...lol.

[Captain Craig]

I had watched a number of the comic cartoon shows of my era: Superfriends, Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, Marvel Action Hour etc
I was also really into Transformers and Voltron.

My grandparents watched me after school till mom came for me. This one day we went down to the local drug store (Super D) and on the spinner rack by the magazine wall was a bunch of comics that till now I had just not taken notice of before. There in front of me was Voltron #2, the number meant nothing then. Of course my grandfather was going to get it.
Voltron2Modern.jpg

Sometime later I was with my mom at the grocery store and again, saw more comics. This time they were laid out like the magazines on the bottom shelf.
I was allowed one, my choice: Web of Spider-man #44 (it was part 1 of a story that crossed with Hulk that I didn't read part 2 till years and years later). Kids today are so worried about "jumping on points" Hahahahaha.
web-of-spider-man-44.jpg
This was the book that really had me saving my allowance. Mom would haul us kids with her to the grocery on Saturday. I had a minimal allowance and could get one about every other week.

[DebkoX]

My mum told me to stop spending £20 on sweets every two weeks. I googled hobbies, found comics. Read a few, watched Thor (on Sky, damn so long ago!) and fell in love.

[Jabare]

I was always into superhero cartoons from the Saturday morning cartoon days.

someone at my mom's work gave her like 20+ DarkHawk comics and that is where everything sort of started for me.

That was the first series I really followed. Mom and Dad brought comics for me once in a while.


Than I really got into comics in the early 2000s with the Ultimate Marvel books specifically Spider-Man. From their I branched over to DC books and the 616 comics. I was Nightwing and really into Spider-Man and some other heroes like Blade, who didn't (still doesn't) get enough showings. Than OMD happened and I started reading Avengers books more and than I got into Black Panther. For a number of years I read a lot of different books. I'd say from early 2000's to 2013 or 2015. Now I don't read as much as I use to.