Monday 7 September 2015

Confessions of a Comic Book Newbie - Ms Marvel

So I've been a geek for as long as I can remember. Thanks mainly to my mum who encouraged me to read as much as possible and introduced me to Sci Fi. From then on I picked up the ball and I ran with it. It's great being a geek it gives you a free pass to love stuff and I mean really love stuff. I gush, I enthuse, I obsess but mainly I enjoy. 
However there is one big thing in the world of nerd that I haven't got my head around and that is comics. I love super heroes. I obsessively watched Superman as a child, I adore all the current Marvel films and loved all the X-men cartoons on TV. But comics?! Where do I even start! I can't start at the beginning, like I would with series of books, there are decades of comics! It hurts my head to even think about it. So yes at the start of this year I had never read a comic book. 
The thought of entering a comic book shop and saying 'Hi there, I'd like to start reading comics' really didn't seem like the best plan. So I did some research on the interweb. My criteria was pretty simple I wanted something fun to read. I thought it'd be best to start with a reboot or new comic series so I don't have to get all anxious over too much back story. I also was hoping for a female lead. Coz ya know girls are all sorts of awesome.  
After much reading of fellow geek girl blogs I found her. Miss Kamala Kahn she was going to be my way in. As I found out in my research, the Ms Marvel title was previously used by Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers and Ms Marvel was being rebooted with a young Muslim American woman at the helm. One or two stories had been published at the time I was looking. This seemed perfect to me and I wasn't disappointed! 
I really enjoyed the first Ms Marvel. It was great to go along that journey of discovery with her. Finding out about her powers and watching her trying to balance all the very different aspects of her life. As Ms Marvel is a teen herself the storylines aren't too intense and there is no bad language but there is plenty of fun and adventure! Exactly what I was looking for in my first toe dipping into the world of comic books. 
The part of Kamala's character I really enjoy is she's a fan. All these amazing heroes exist in her world, she loves them and knows all about them. Ultimately she is a fangirl. I love that. It's a very relatable personality trait and it really helped me to click with her character. 
If you are looking for a place to start yourself or maybe looking to get a friend or relative hooked into the world of comics Ms Marvel - No Normal is a fantastic place to start. For a complete newbie she is fun and accessible with a great story. I hope this little post helped you find a new comic or gave you insight into the world of the none comic reader! Look out for more posts I as I adventure further into the world of comics! 
If you have any recommendations for me I'd be glad to receive them. 
Much love
Charlie x 

23 comments:

  1. I've almost finished my first series of comics, Fables, but was nervous about starting a newbie since so many have incredibly long back stories. I'll definitely have to check out Ms. Marvel as she sounds like a good read for me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here! It's the back stories that stress me out. Where do you even start? Ms Marvel is great. Do let me know if you check her out! Would you recommend Fables? Did you enjoy it? x

      Delete
  2. I LOVED Ms Marvel it's a great one for newbies another one I definitely recommend is Young Avengers it's probably one of the best series to come out in a while also it's only £25 for the whole damn series as they only wrote 13 issues... still sad about that one :(

    I also recently read the new Rocket Raccoon series and it is so funny I'm loving it so far, Skottie Young does it and he's one of my favourite artists/writers in the comic world xoxo

    Cateaclysmic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thanks for those recommendations and the links are super helpful! They both look really fun I think Young Avengers will be on my Christmas wish list! xx

      Delete
  3. I myself recently got into comics too and this is on my to read list. I've heard such great things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's such a fun read Desiree! What have you read so far that you have enjoyed? xx

      Delete
  4. I love the comic!! Kamala Khan is one of my favorite comics atm. I read tons of comics to be honest xDDDD But yeah, mostly Marvel ;) You might also like Young Avengers, perhaps Loki Agent of Asgard, and Captin Marvel. I also love Iron Man :p Hmmm my list can become.... too long LOL
    xoxo
    dePepi.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woah woah woah!!! I'm just a newbie!!! Loki Agent of Asgard sounds right up my street!!! ;)

      Delete
    2. You're going to love it! I loved it soooo much! :D :D So, go ahead!! Try it out!!

      Delete
  5. I hadn't read comics until this year either. I started with Loki: Agent of Asgard (because I LOVE Loki). I'm really enjoying them, but I'm noticing a lot of crossover with other comics. It seems like every other page references something that happened in another series of comics. I'm learning to just run with it because I don't want to buy 20 different series just to grab all the story. I totally understand how comics become an obsession, though. With all those references to other stories, someone could easily find themselves with hundreds of comics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! Another newbie I knew I couldn't be alone on this adventure!! Yes that was one I was looking at because I am also Loki'd! So I'll bear the crossovers in mind. Thanks for the tips!!

      Delete
  6. I'm a complete comic book newbie too, and I've been looking for a way in! I'm definitely going to have to check this series out, thanks for the recommendation:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so pleased you found it helpful! Make sure you let me know what you what you think of it! xx

      Delete
  7. Ms. Marvel is AWESOME! I have vol. 2 and 3 that I need to read as well. As I am also new to comic books I really enjoyed how easy it was to fall into Kalama's story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes she is!! I just finished 2 and I'm onto 3 now! I love how many people are newbies too! I thought it was just me!!

      Delete
  8. Another fab post my friend!!!

    Informative, funny and with bags of energy! It gives a non-comic reader like me a really good baseline if I ever want to start reading too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post! Nothing wrong with being a newbie! I recommend DC Bombshells and Prez. If you're okay with some graphic content, SAGA is brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I love how long my TBR list is getting!! You're all so helpful. Thanks for your suggestions!

      Delete
  10. I used to read comics all the time as a kid but have lost the addiction as I grew older. Maybe I should dive back in? I like your tips, so I just might! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jackie!! Maybe you should get back into it!! We could compare notes!! x

      Delete
  11. I really want too, but I just don't think I can get into comics on top of everything else I love. On free comic book day I picked up a Doctor Who comic book and absolutely loved it, but having to purchase and keep up with comics seems so daunting!

    That being said, I really want to buy The Walking Dead compendiums and catch up with that comic to compare/contrast it to the television series, but that too will cost a small fortune!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes! So true I think I've just started a very expensive hobby! I like the collections like I bought for Ms Marvel so I didn't need to get a comic every week. I couldn't keep up with that!

    ReplyDelete