Curmudgeon Readers, You Make the Call!

I have a relative newbie guinea pig who wants to get into comics, but doesn�t know what to read. This is your chance to make the call!

I have a buddy at work who likes what he�s seen of the medium of comic books so far, and is intrigued by the potential to read more and better stuff, but hates superheroes. Fair enough. Normally I would recommend the same laundry list of trade paperback collections that are no doubt springing into your minds even as you read these words. And he may go that route, but he really doesn�t want to jump in on something that�s been going on for a while. He wants to get in on the ground floor of something new and actually wants the experience of buying the stapled monthlies and not just TPBs.

So here are the requirements:

• Not superheroes.
  
  
• Not an ongoing series or the latest incarnation or miniseries of an ongoing property.
  
  
• It has to be something where the first issue is going to come out in the next couple months, or�
  
  
• It can be something that has just started, as long as it hasn�t been out longer than, say, issue three (i.e. it should be trivially easy to go to any convenient comic book shop and pick up the issues that are out at cover price).
  
  
• He wants to read something that�s at least going to try to be around for a little while (i.e. no six-issue miniseries or something that is obviously going to be cancelled in less than a year).
  
  

Within those constraints, what would you recommend (if anything), and why? What�s coming out that fits those requirements that folks are excited about?

--Chris

Posted by Chris M. at August 30, 2004 10:27 AM