One of the hardest things about reading comics is knowing where to start. Comics shops carry hundreds of titles and get dozens of issues in every week on new comic-book day. On top of that, many comics have complex mythologies and backstories that make it hard to just pick up any random issue and have a clue what is going on.
That’s why Heroic Girls recommends comics every week that are excellent “jumping on” points for new readers. Without further ado, here are our picks for the week of October 15, 2014.
Batwoman #35
Batwoman heads up a team of (former?) supervillains starting this issue. Ragman, The Demon, Clayface and Red Alice are “The Unknowns.” How did this happen? You’ll have to read it to find out.
Writer Marc Andreyko makes a bold move in a new direction starting with this issue. He is joined by new artist Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) These two have the unenviable task of following the Eisner-nominated creative team of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, who left citing “creative differences” with DC.
After a few issues devoted to the company-wide “Future’s End” event, Batwoman #35 finally marks a clean break from the past for the series which makes it an excellent jumping on point on for new readers.
Ms. Marvel TPB Vol. 1 — No Normal
Kamala Khan, an ordinary teenager from New Jersey, suddenly finds herself imbued with tremendous power and has to decide what kind of hero she will be. Naming herself after her idol Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), Kamala is shown to be a hero firmly in the mold of Peter Parker, as she tries to balance the struggles of life as an ordinary teenage Muslim girl with the feeling that she was given these powers to help people.
Ms. Marvel is truly one of the best mainstream superhero books for girls ever, and this trade paperback will catch you up to speed on her exploits, so you can start reading the new issues as they come out. Writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona have created a truly special book, and we can’t recommend it highly enough.
All-New Ultimates TPB Vol. 1 — Power For Power
A few years ago, Marvel decided to create and alternate world where creators could reinterpret the classic Marvel heroes unfettered by years and years of backstory. So new versions of Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four and others were launched as part of Marvel’s “Ultimate Universe” line. Events unfolded drastically differently in the Ultimates world, with many heroes becoming villains, cities and nations being destroyed and the fact that they stood by one rule: dead heroes stay dead.
So when the The Ultimates (this universe’s version of the Avengers) and Spider-Man died, the next generation stepped up to take their place. Teenage heroes Kitty Pryde, Black Widow, Cloak and Dagger and Bombshell are joined by Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man, as they form the All-New Ultimates, a superhero team that hopefully has learned from the mistakes that lead to the destruction of their predecessors.
This trade paperback collects the first six issues of the ongoing series and follows the creation of the team and their showdown with superpowered gang members working in the heart of New York City.
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