Appreciation post: My local shop's newbie night vs. just diving in alone

Honestly, I tried getting into comics by just grabbing random #1 issues for about 6 months and felt totally lost. Then I went to the new reader night at Gotham Comics in my city and the staff helped me find a complete arc, which made everything click. Has anyone else had a way better experience with guided help versus trying to figure it out solo?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth_anderson2mo ago

I see what you mean about a good shop cutting through the noise, but honestly I had the opposite thing happen. I learned way more just picking up random stuff and feeling lost for a bit. Figuring out what I didn't like was just as important as finding what I did. The messing around phase felt like part of the fun for me, like solving a puzzle. Having someone point me to the "right" thing right away would have taken that away.

mitchell.shane1d ago

Used to think the exact opposite until I randomly grabbed a comic from the dollar bin that looked terrible. Turned out it was part 3 of something and I had no clue what was going on. @beth_anderson is right though, after that I started picking up whatever looked interesting and just figuring it out myself. The bad reads taught me more than the good ones ever did, no joke.

dixon.nathan2mo ago

Totally get that, some stories are just built for trades and jumping in at #1 doesn't work. A good shop cuts through the noise.