New readers are scared for no reason

[Iron_Leopard]

"I want to start following Batman or Superman but they are on issue 12,483. I can't get involved now. I have to start at number 1 or I won't know what's going on."

Go to the comic store. Buy the current issue of whatever book you're interested in. Then go from there. Problem solved. You don't need to know what has happened in the book for the last 20 years.

How can we convince potential new readers that it's perfectly fine to start with #496?

[jb681131]

"I want to start following Batman or Superman but they are on issue 12,483. I can't get involved now. I have to start at number 1 or I won't know what's going on."

Go to the comic store. Buy the current issue of whatever book you're interested in. Then go from there. Problem solved. You don't need to know what has happened in the book for the last 20 years.

How can we convince potential new readers that it's perfectly fine to start with #496?

Lol because it's not fine.

[Raijin]

Lol because it's not fine.

Exactly. It's so half-assed to start that way. If i don't catch it from the beginning, then i know longer care.

[Buried Alien]

They aren't scared; they're LAZY. They don't realize that figuring out this stuff is a big part of the fun. To be fair, though, it's harder now than it was even twenty years ago. Back then, new readers only had to keep track of Pre-COIE and Post-COIE. Now, it's Pre-COIE, Post-COIE, Pre-INFINITE CRISIS, Post-INFINITE CRISIS, Pre-FLASHPOINT, NEW 52, REBIRTH, etc.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Korath]

Not everyone has the time, money or even simply the old comics available to them. Even some of the most monumental events of DC (the Crisis, 52, the Perez run on Wonder Woman, etc.) weren't available or hardly available just five years ago. It was the reboot of the New 52 which allowed an editor to translate them and diffuse them, which probably boosted the sales of DC here in France, where Marvel had long been a lot more present in the various shops (knowing that comics-shops as they exist in the US are fairly rare and not as closed on themselves as they sometimes appear to be on your side of the Atlantic).

Personaly, I knew a little about D.C.'s broader mythos because of the BTAS, JL/JLU and Superman cartoons, but always found the task of tracking down old issues, often either unavailable or not translated in French, with my limited amount of money, to be too much of a bother, especially when the manga's competition was so firmly implanted along with our traditional BD. It was the New 52 which finally managed to bring me in, three years ago (or was it four? I've a doubt), started with Batman (of course), and discovering other heroes, mythos, etc.

And as of today, I tend to gravitate toward the "lesser" brands, either the new ones (NAoH, the Signal, etc.) or the established character who are more a niche (Red Hood, Aquaman, mainly).

[Flashback]

"I want to start following Batman or Superman but they are on issue 12,483. I can't get involved now. I have to start at number 1 or I won't know what's going on."

Go to the comic store. Buy the current issue of whatever book you're interested in. Then go from there. Problem solved. You don't need to know what has happened in the book for the last 20 years.

How can we convince potential new readers that it's perfectly fine to start with #496?

See thats the problem right there, you get called lazy or half-assing it, and it creates some kind of pressure. Now imagine being a person new to comics or kinda interested and trying to set foot in a comic book store....(shiver)

It's much easier to get into any manga series with less hassle and the same level of enjoyment of that of a comic.

[Vinsanity]

Too much pressure, too time consuming and too much cost to catch up.



So yeah there are reasons and I'm not lazy. I have other priorities in my life.

[Jim Kelly]

That's silly, if you need to know any background (which usually you really don't), then you have so many resources on the internet which people never had before when this didn't exist and you can get summary info to help you out. So don't be scared, it will all be fine. The only big cost is the cost of your internet service. You don't really need to get a lot of back issues, unless you really want to. And even the back issues are available online for cheap (and psst, I'm not supposed to tell you this but there are places online where you can read the comics for free).

[Iron_Leopard]

Exactly. It's so half-assed to start that way. If i don't catch it from the beginning, then i know longer care.

How many times do you think someone came across a random tv show and liked it so much they kept coming back to it every week and now it's their faves how of all tie?

[byrd156]

They aren't scared; they're LAZY. They don't realize that figuring out this stuff is a big part of the fun. To be fair, though, it's harder now than it was even twenty years ago. Back then, new readers only had to keep track of Pre-COIE and Post-COIE. Now, it's Pre-COIE, Post-COIE, Pre-INFINITE CRISIS, Post-INFINITE CRISIS, Pre-FLASHPOINT, NEW 52, REBIRTH, etc.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

This. The number one thing stopping fans from reading is laziness. We have the internet, I could know absolutely nothing about someone and give you their complete history in an hour. If you want to just read only new stories or certain popular trades or old back issues that's fine. Different strokes but this idea that it's hard for new readers (at least in America) is laughable. Walking into a comic sore isn't any different than a normal book store or music store. They are niche stores that are psyched to have business and have another person share the passion. I don't understand and have never been to some gate-keeping comic issue quoting store that you have to flash your nerd badge to get into.

To me the fun of reading comics is discovering things and characters you didn't know about. Every story is someone's first and every good story should be complete on it's own but still leave you wanting to know more and fitting into the larger world.

A story I love to promote JLA/Titans the Technis Imperative is an event level story about the JLA and Titans teaming up and fight each other to save the world. It has a massive cast of characters but every time a Titan is introduced you get a little box explaining who these characters are and a little backstory. Making it easier for first time readers to know a bit about the powers, design and names of these characters.

[Tazpocalapse]

I think with the amount of info on the internet now it is easier to get the information about comic books than before. Comicvine is a new readers best friend. Use it.

[kurenai24]

"I want to start following Batman or Superman but they are on issue 12,483. I can't get involved now. I have to start at number 1 or I won't know what's going on."

Go to the comic store. Buy the current issue of whatever book you're interested in. Then go from there. Problem solved. You don't need to know what has happened in the book for the last 20 years.

How can we convince potential new readers that it's perfectly fine to start with #496?

You have 3 types of people.

1. The person who can just jump into the middle of something freely and never look back.

2. The person who can jump into the middle of something but will go back.

3. A person who has to start from the beginning.

For the people in the #2 and #3 category the length can be a turn-off.

I think the majority or at least half of the people who are like #2 would be fine with the information provided by sites on the internet, and also be okay with maybe not having the opportunity to read everything that needs to be read as long as they get some type of information.

But I think the people in #3 would absolutely need something more than a in-depth summary (i.e they need the actual books).

And there is no convincing people who are like #3, the only thing you can do is give them a reading order list and tell them where they can purchase each comic issue or most will not even attempt to engage.

So, I broke all of this down to say, I don't know if there is much that can be done.

[kjn]

Simple solution: go to a system of issue number/year numbering. You can still make a splash for the marquee numbers, but don't give any traction to the idea that you "need" the 537 earlier issues first.

[Gaastra]

One of my first comics (not based on cartoons or movies like transformers or gijoe) was fantastic four 300 and for dc it was action comics 488 (found at a comic shop)! Did I care what it was up to. Heck no I saw the cover and wanted to read them. Same with kids of the 80s. Captain America vol 2 started with #100 after all but it was still a hit. The things people complain about today.

[iron chimp]

Because issue 12,483 will be 7th of a 12 part 3 book crossover within a bigger 40 part arc.