Hi. I'm hoping to find someone patient enough to explain this to someone who doesn't know comic books. A few years ago I picked up three... I don't know what the term is for the concatenation of single issues bound into a single volume of 3-4 episodes. But anyway: I bought "Love and Murder" (2007 #6-10), "The Circle" (2008 #14-19), and "Warkiller" (2009-2010 #34-39).
I liked the writing and character development (and loved the artwork) in all of them, and I recently became curious to plug the holes in the storyline and see the whole context. But I don't understand what I'm finding.
First... Am I supposed to understand that #1 is the same story as #40? I'm reading a review right now of "Rise of the Olympian" and I don't get it at all. When I first read them, the second two (by Simone) seemed linked to each other but not to the first (by Picoult). Now I'm wondering if their number sequence means there's supposed to be a connection. (I haven't had time to read them again since I found them in a box, so I might be hazy on the details.) And I know the New 52 started over with #1 and so did Rebirth, so are these three books even in the same sequence? Fans seem to refer to issue numbers as though that's all the identification an issue needs, but I find it confusing.
Add to that, the face that I went looking for them in the first place because I'd read an interview with Simone that really grabbed my attention. My sense was that fans really liked her... but now I'm reading reviews of "Rise of the Olympian" and they seem universally flat. If that's how she was received in the beginning, what was the raving about? I think "The Circle" and "Warkiller" absolutely delivered - but are they not the continuation of "Rise of the Olympian" and ultimately of "Love and Murder"?
And if the story didn't start with #1 by Picoult or whomever.... where DID it start and why are they numbered this way? And does the "Love and Murder" story continue before or after the volume I have?
Please bear in mind, I'm not asking for plot details. I'm asking how to find the intervening issues so I can read them myself. Unless the intervening issues are completely unrelated arcs and I've already got the whole picture.
Thanks... I think... I hope my explanation makes more sense to you than it does to me... lol