Comic Books - Resurrected

Is anyone here well-read in comic books? I'm hoping to look into a bit of research on the genre. Any superhero works, really, but I know the most about the three biggies: Superman, then Spiderman and Batman. I've been doing background info to fill in my own blanks at places like Wikipedia, for instance, but I'd like to get a little deeper. I'm trying to go for the more classic storylines and am open to any character.

Basically, there's so many different universes per hero, I'd be hoping for some good sites that make a distinction between the storylines. For instance, how do you distinguish between what's canon and what's not? Is there such a thing in the industry anymore?

--Any good websites that keep "archives" of the comics? I realize much of the material is under copyright, but would there be a way to see screencaps, or files of the older, more scarce editions?

--What about websites that may list the "defining moments" of the storylines? Ie: Superman dies and is resurrected, etc, the superhero is unmasked, etc.

Right now I'm in the basics of defining what info exactly I need, but I'd certainly be interested to hear from the fanboys and girls.

Thanks!
__________________






Last edited by katiemac : 06-19-2006 at 11:02 PM.

Click to expand...

you can check out the marvel encyclopedia for one thing.

it's available at any bookstore.

and DC Superheroes.

but what kind of questions did you have about them? wikipedia is really good about what's "Canon" and not.


__________________

Click to expand...

Thanks, Bravo. I'm going to have to look into those sources.

As far as "questions," I'm basically looking to get myself acquainted with a couple of different series from, *ahem*, start to finish. (Or, whatever's current.) So I'll know the "big moments" of the series, how the villains work, character relationships, etc. It's a bit of a big project, but I look forward to it.

Like I said, I'm using wikipedia to "fill in the holes" and get background info, but I don't really want to put my whole faith into it as a reliable source. I'll be more careful when I do the read-throughs for the canon material.
__________________

Click to expand...

Katiemac,

Feel free to PM me. Then, I'll send you my email address. I've been reading comics for a long time, so you can fire away with any questions you have
__________________
Mark

Click to expand...

If you can get the Scoop website you can read everything about comics. There are hundreds of back information pieces there.

Click to expand...

If your plan is to design a comic series, perhaps I could recommend some manga or anime instead? Japanese comics often have planned overall plot arcs and endings instead of just sprawling on forever like american comic series often do. If you're studying the structure of a series, might as well study one with the best structure, right?

Click to expand...

The big superheroes have rather complex and frankly conflicting canon. I was a pretty avid collector throughout the 80's and 90's. In Borders et al you can get collected editions that cover the more pivotal stories for each hero.
__________________
VEINGLORY.COM: all the veinglory that's fit to print....

Click to expand...

In addition to some of the things that have been provided here, I can also recommend a few resources:

1) Marvel's Essential Series - Marvel has released a host of paperbacks in their "Essential" line: Essential Spider-man, Essential Daredevil, Essential Hulk, etc. These can quickly get one up to speed on key storylines without totally breaking the bank.

2) DC's Batman: The Complete History & Superman: The Complete History

3) Depending on the scope of your work and any connections you may have, comic publishers have in-house "Bibles" for their writers and editors. These serve to help preserve continuity.

4) As for the comic medium and history itself, it's hard to beat Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.

5) If you want to see cover art for tons of comic books, old and new, the CGC website has a gallery and census. Fun and educational.


As for a "canon," there's a lot of heated debate about that. A definitive canon would be hard to determine for some characters.

Email me if I can be of further assistance.

Click to expand...

Wow you guys, this is amazing! You've all offered up some great stuff here I'm going to have to sift through over the next couple of days (read: weeks). Anyway, you've really helped me put this project in perspective--the more I read, the more I can't wait to get really started.

If your plan is to design a comic series, perhaps I could recommend some manga or anime instead? Japanese comics often have planned overall plot arcs and endings instead of just sprawling on forever like american comic series often do. If you're studying the structure of a series, might as well study one with the best structure, right?

Click to expand...

Not designing a series, sunandshadow, but thanks for the great point. I've read some manga in my day, and admittedly my first big desire to work on a lengthy project outside of short stories came from manga and anime. That was in grade school. Still, feel free to shout out some titles. There's still a ton out there I haven't read.
__________________

Click to expand...

I only know the more obscrure heroes really well. I am a big fan of Dr. Strange, and Dazzler. Oh come on, a disco super-heroine, what's not to love?
__________________
VEINGLORY.COM: all the veinglory that's fit to print....

Click to expand...

Oh, now I'm showing my true superhero knowledge for sure. I've never even heard of Dazzler. She sounds too interesting to forgo, though--I'm on it.
__________________

Click to expand...

Well, since you're interested in superheros I'll try to recommend the manga which is most similar. I guess that would be mecha/gundam pilots, which are more like lone superheroes, and teams of celestial or ninja warriors, which are more like teams of superheroes. Maze was a 'mecha' series I particularly liked (using the term loosely because the armors were magical rather than mechanical). Fushigi Yuugi was a good 'red team with little girl mascot vs. blue team with little girl mascot' series. Hmm, I know there are animes which are more superhero-like, like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, but I don't watch that genre because it always struck me as kind of cheesy and shallow.

Click to expand...

I've been reading comics since I was old enough not to gum on their corners. I suspect a lot of people here have. You can PM me too, if you want to be inundated with comic nerdiness by multiple people from across the board....
__________________
____________________________________________
-Pete Tzinski

NOVEL DEATHMATCH, the FIRST!
SPOOKYWRITER
VS
PEEDEE
(6-28: 2,339 words)

WHO WILL FINISH THEIR WORK FIRST?

BE THERE!


READ MYNE BLOG! (updated: 6/16/06)

Click to expand...

Thanks, PeeDee. I've been reading one of the threads in Office Party. One of my favorites points in the comic genre are the conversations people have--"Batman is way cooler than Superman," etc. I used to work in a place where these arguments were all the guys used to have. I loved listening to them.
__________________

Click to expand...

sunandshadow said:

Well, since you're interested in superheros I'll try to recommend the manga which is most similar. I guess that would be mecha/gundam pilots, which are more like lone superheroes, and teams of celestial or ninja warriors, which are more like teams of superheroes. Maze was a 'mecha' series I particularly liked (using the term loosely because the armors were magical rather than mechanical). Fushigi Yuugi was a good 'red team with little girl mascot vs. blue team with little girl mascot' series. Hmm, I know there are animes which are more superhero-like, like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, but I don't watch that genre because it always struck me as kind of cheesy and shallow.

Click to expand...

Hiya!

Delurking to add to this thread.

"Dragon Ball Z" is the second part to a very long, on-going series. It's a Japanese story about the Monkey King. In "Dragon Ball Z", Son Goku (the MC), is a master martial artist who has to fight villains bent on conquering or destroying the world / universe / dimension, etc.

Goku is a super-hero in most all the sense -- his hair turns gold, he can fly, he can dematerialise / materialise, stronger than most everyone, and is an innocent. (Think Superman but Japanese style with lots of martial arts move and no laser-eyes nor bullet-proof skin. )

This series is aimed at the young teens (male) market -- it's very much "Son Goku is powerful, suffers, but gets up and keeps going, allowing nothing to take away his honour, etc."

I think you could say the series illustrates core Japanese values at their purest.

"Sailor Moon" I can't comment on, except that it's a superheroine show for the girls (approx. 12 and under). If you're in that age range, it's a laugh and the storylines should appeal.

Other 'super hero' manga / anime: Guyver (a type of cyborg superhero story), Astro Boy aka Atom (a robot boy hero series for young children), Cyborg 009 (I've only heard the name, don't know what's in it), Bleach (about the gods of death and a teen who gains such power -- don't know if you'd consider that superhero, though), and others.

I can't think of anymore right now. But, if you want more detailed and basic information, a Google search throws up the following link:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...G=Search&meta=

Search string as-is: superhero manga

Hope this helps!

Take care,
Snitch.

P.S. If you come across any information that looks like it's in Chinese, PM me. If it is in Chinese, I can either translate or summarize it for you.

Click to expand...

If you need to know something X-Men related, I may be able to help. I haven't read them for the last couple of years, but I have a lot of canon stored it my head (and can help you sort comics canon from movieverse from the cartoon series (serieses? How do you pluralize "series"?).

Valerie

Click to expand...

I can do a fair amount of X-Men. I have most of Chris Claremont's run on the series happily wasting away my braincells. Then again, I wandered all over Marvel, DC (and Vertigo, when it appeared) so I have a lot of brain cells taken up with comics....

I love trying to explain to my wife, who also reads comics, the difference between Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men, Ultimate X-Men (her favorite), Astonishing X-Men (my favorite) and X-Factor, X-Calibur...and all the other X-Boyardee series I'm forgetting....

(God I love having a wife who reads comics; now if I could just get her to branch out of Marvel and into DC...)
__________________
____________________________________________
-Pete Tzinski

NOVEL DEATHMATCH, the FIRST!
SPOOKYWRITER
VS
PEEDEE
(6-28: 2,339 words)

WHO WILL FINISH THEIR WORK FIRST?

BE THERE!


READ MYNE BLOG! (updated: 6/16/06)

Click to expand...