Hey, I normally just lurk reddit and didn't have an account ready, but when I see someone who wants to get into comics, I think it would be really cool if they did, so I wanted to post this. First of all, I believe this is from Ultimate X-men, if you like this, but I haven't read it. I've heard that the Ultimate publishing line is a little hit or miss outside of Ultimate Spider-man, which is great. You can find or ask for recommendations for any character on r/comicbooks.

The easiest advice is that if you're interested in a character, starting with any #1 issue is the easiest way. All the big heroes have history that goes back to at least 60's, and a lot of B-listers have their start in the 70's, and you can't get past that. Older comics are not for everyone, but if a #1, or the doesn't give you the context you need to enjoy the story, the writer didn't do their job. There are a lot of reasons staring into comics is intimidating, but knowing basic elements about the comic should serve you fine.

Marvel Unlimited is a fantastic subscription service, and fairly cheap compared to buying comics, for their stuff. Like 70$ a year, something like that, and the library is MASSIVE now, easily the best way to read Marvel comics. You can buy digitally from Comixology and there are... other places to find comics, because they can be very expensive per issue if you want to read a lot. Used book stores sometimes have cheap trades as well.

Now, here's a thing that is pretty confusing and I wish I knew right away. Publishers and fans use the term 'Volume' differently. If you go into a store, you may find a trade paper-back, say All-New Wolverine Vol. 1, or Vol. 2. These are probably 6 issues, or about a single story arc, its a book that you can buy, like this: https://www.amazon.ca/All-New-Wolverine-Vol-Four-Sisters/dp/0785196528/ref=sr_1_1/141-1610253-5371834?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1541371195&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=all+new+wolverine+vol+1

However, If you want a rundown of the main series/side series, one-offs, spin offs, whatever for a certain character, look here:http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Wolverine_Comic_Books

See how All-New Wolverine is actually 35 issues and one of the newer series? That whole thing would be called All-New Wolverine Vol.1, because its the first series with that title. But Wolverine Vol. 1 was a 1982 miniseries. Then they made another series just title Wolverine, which ran 212 issues, starting in 1988. This is "volume 2", because otherwise it has the same title. Vol 3 ran from 2003-2009, and so on. Even more confusing is that Volume 2 ended on issue 189, but can back to it's original numbering after Volume 4 because they wanted that 300 milestone instead of restarting again. It's something you may need to pay attention to if you're reading a long run from the 2000's, but they stopped after that, and exploring these disambiguation pages really help. Marvel Database is super organized, DC Database could be better but you can find lists of comic series there too.

Annuals have their own numbering and interject themselves between issues of the series it runs alongside. It can be annoying to figure out where they take place, but honestly if you even read them, don't worry. Very few end up being important and are usually just side stories. If another issue makes a callback to an annual, or an issue of another series you aren't reading, hopefully it gives context enough, but you can go ahead and read it then. Crossovers work this way too, and sometimes bounce between two or three series, but usually if you can't track everything down, you can still get the gist of the story, and particularly the parts relevant to your character of choice, by just continuing to read the series you're reading. Basically there's a lot to track down, but only if you want to. You can get by by reading a series that interests you beginning to end. Going outside the big two companies makes this much easier though, and others publish more independant series.

Oh, and big event crossovers are common for Marvel and DC. If you see a big banned across the top of a comic that appears in the middle of a series, like "Civil War" or "Secret Invasion", or "Infinity", check if there's a self-contained mini-series with that name. That'll be the main part of the story, and then say, the issues of Amazing Spider--man with the "Civil War" banner will be about what he was dealing with during all of that. You don't have to read all the tie-ins, I'd just recommend reading the main storyline and the tie-ins from the characters you're already reading.

The best way is to just pick something up. You'll get the hang of it with online resources to help.

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