Serious question, has anyone else tried to get their non-comic friends into a big event comic?

Honestly, I tried to get my buddy Mike, who only watches the movies, to read the whole 'Secret Wars' 2015 run with me. I lent him my trades, gave him a quick backstory, and figured the big action would hook him. Ngl, after a week he gave them back and said it felt like 'homework' and he was lost after issue three. I learned that jumping into a huge crossover with decades of history is a terrible first step, even if the art is great. It's like handing someone a book that starts on chapter 20. Now I feel bad, maybe I should have started him with a single hero's book first. What's a better comic to give a total newbie that won't scare them off?

3 comments

3 Comments

morganj8129d ago

Man, what is it with us trying to start people with the big confusing stuff? I read a piece once that said big events are basically a reward for longtime readers, not a door for new ones. Totally agree with @thomas.piper, you need that clean start. I got my wife to read the Fraction Hawkeye run and she loved it because it was just about a messy dude and his dog. No big universe to know. For a total newbie, you can't beat a first volume of something like Ultimate Spider-Man. It begins at the beginning, the art is clear, and the story is all right there. No extra reading needed.

jamierodriguez1mo ago

Clean start" is the key for sure. Something like Ms. Marvel or Ultimate Spider-Man works because it feels like a first episode, not a season finale.

thomas.piper1mo ago

Yeah, you set him up to fail. I did the exact same thing with my sister and Civil War. Gave her the main book, no context, and she just stared at me asking who half these people were. Those big events are for us, the people already doing the homework. For a new person, you need a clean start. I've had real luck with the Hawkeye comic by Matt Fraction, the one with the purple covers. It's just a guy being bad at his life, the action is simple, and you don't need to know a thing.