I spent 4 years telling new readers to start with Watchmen, then a guy at the Dallas show asked me one question that broke my brain | Comic Book Fans - nhfree.com
I spent 4 years telling new readers to start with Watchmen, then a guy at the Dallas show asked me one question that broke my brain
I always pushed Watchmen as the perfect first comic for anyone trying to get into the hobby, until a guy at a Dallas con booth asked me if I'd hand a 12 hour black and white movie to someone who'd never seen a film. Half the room argued that you need a masterpiece to hook people, while the other half swore you start them on something short and fun like a single issue of Saga or Hawkeye. So which camp are you in, do you hand a newbie the heavy classic or the easy win?
The whole debate cracks me up because comics fans treat picking a first book like it's some kind of sacred duty. A 12 hour black and white movie isn't even a fair comparison, Watchmen is like 400 pages of pictures, it reads fast, and nobody's forcing a newbie to finish it in one sitting. Hand them whatever you've got and let them figure out if they like it, it's not that deep. If they bounce off Watchmen they can just try something else, nobody signs a contract. The real problem is people acting like one wrong pick will scare someone off comics forever. Most folks who want to read comics will read comics.