I want to read comics but my OCD won't let me pick and choose issue numbers or runs...

I want to read comics but my OCD won't let me pick and choose issue numbers or runs. I have to read everything from #1 to end. Anyone else know this feeling?

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Yeah. To say that I'm a fan of a character I have to read everything. Sometimes I like some runs and hate others. And then I have to force myself to like them all, because I like the character. And if I outgrow one, then my nostalgia makes me feel guilty, as if I'm abandoning them. I know this pain all too well. And there's the "need" to like everything of a certain genre if I like one thing from it and... It's tiresome.

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How does your OCD feel about books with the same title having multiple #1s

You mean like different volumes? That I can put aside, as long as I read every issue from whichever volume I'm reading.

Part of the reason I can't really get into mainstream comics. They've gone on for so long and reference so many different things I feel slow for reading them or trying to get into the series.

Like the X-men comics, I know who they are from the Cartoon I watched as a kid, I can sorta name the characters, but as soon as I read a comic of them suddenly they've got 50 years worth of backstory, hang ups and character development going on that they feel divorced from the versions I know that got me interested in the comics to begin with.

Joker from Batman the animated series, funny clown that does some twisted shit but it's consistent. I get that.

Joker from comics, tears off his goddamn face for a laugh.

Doc Ock from cartoon, scientist that fucks up and gets grafted to tentacles, hates Osborn for fucking him over. Understandable.

Doc Ock from comics, spends 5 years as a clone of peter parker after he soul jacks his original body and then makes the clone so he can leave said body and then makes another clone that looks like his original body because for some reason he'd rather be an overweight 50 year old than a 20 something with a six pack.

I don't have time to unpack all this shit.

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No I mean the same series just getting another #1, usually as some bullshit to push sales

From experience, niche characters or b/c listers are more easy to get into

Start by picking a writer and or artist and go from there.

Which is why western comic is inferior to manga

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I tried to do this with Spider-man, downloaded Amazing 1 to 700 while Superior was ongoing, but then came the parts where an issue would en on a cliffhanger and the next one would have nothing to do with it because said cliffhanger got resolved in another title like Spectacular or some shit

Sort of. I know enough Marvel to be able to jump into most stuff I'm interested in. But trying to get into DC has made me feel this hard. Got a giant post Crisis through N52/Rebirth reading list I'm working my way through. I probably *could* just start with Rebirth but I wouldn't be satisfied not understanding the Final Crisis references. And I won't be satisfied with just reading Final Crisis, I need to understand Infinite Crisis and all the Fourth World stuff. And then to fully appreciate Infinite Crisis you need to read like 400 issues of all these different series, many of which start tying into Countdown to IC well into the run, which means you have to read those unless you want to fuck up your experience of them. I end up feeling like I have to read everything remotely good or relevant from 86 on just to appreciate what's going on today. I don't mind that so much because I'm an autist with all the time in the world on my hands and I enjoy old comics. But it can suck when you want to be able to talk about the new stuff with other people and I can definitely see why most new readers are so put off by it all.

>Which is why western comic is inferior to manga
But I can't get into One Piece for the same reasons.
TOO MANY ISSUES

You need to get over that fast if you want to read comics.

I have this feel with batman, superman and spiderman

That's too hard for Zig Forums.
Also most non-famous writers pre-info age are poorly documented. Most people don't know to use the GCD.

>Decide it's time to read Captain Marvel.
>Pick up Marvel Superheroes 12/13.
>Then go to his series.
>Skim that motherfucker because it's TRASH.
>Read Starlin's issues because they immediately grab my attention while skimming. Enjoy them a bit.
>Skim the rest.
>Read Death of Captain Marvel.
>No OCD bullshit about tie ins or whatever, just wasted a few hours skimming and had fun reading comics.
Haha comic book go brrrr

I completely agree OP.

My main problem is the trades. I get the necessity of the issues, but I only really read classic collected works now because when trying to buy newer trades, they'll all have Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3 on them.

I know why they do it, to maintain continuity and encourage people to read volume to volume, but its utterly pointless. Just have a recap page in each volume for whatever stories/details are relevant to this one and let us decide if we want to read them all, or enjoy a single volume as its own story.

I'm sure 10 years ago the volume to volume method worked, but I guarantee now they'd sell twice as much if they just dropped the numbers from the covers. It's gimmicky as hell, exclutionary to people who missed the passed 3+ volumes, and doesn't trust the audience to figure out for themselves which volumes come first like we do with books.

Just one example of why the comics industry fails to work in its current state.

>They should stop telling me what order the books are published in because my autism prevents me from just grabbing volume 4 and enjoying it.

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Dropping trade numbers would be a nightmare unless we also restructured the way big 2 cape comics function. If everything's going to be super interconnected then you need to do whatever you can to give people a reading order, especially casuals who aren't going to take the time out of their day to figure out what the best order is on their own. We definitely should bring back recap pages and editorial boxes though.

I think a better idea in terms of longterm viability for the big 2 is to deemphasize continuity and focus more on standalone OGNs. Like what DC seems to be pivoting to. I'd hate to see continuity heavy stuff go away entirely but it's undeniable that kids are put off by it and are going for manga and graphic novels instead. The genre's going to be dead in 15 years if we don't adapt.

But at least there's only one author, only one continuity and only one title.

Oda could have five different ghost writers and you wouldn't even care unless they were directly credited. The problem is entirely one of perception. By simply acknowledging the people who work on these comics, retards get all wound up and find the prospect of just reading some shit and ignoring obvious advertisements daunting.

Literally just put the reading order on the inside cover/page like with books.

I'm not saying to drop chronology entirely, but stop selling Batman graphic novels as part 8/20 and counting, instead of their own story when most stories can be read entirely standalone with the necesarry context filled in via a recap if necesarry.

If someone wants to pick up a volume because they like the sound of that particular story/event, they should, without seeing a big number on the spine/cover telling them they're going to be out of the loop.

>Netflix numbers episodes/season's regardless of whether continuity applies
>Manga is released in numbered volumes
>Games tend to be numbered or be spinoffs
>Book series that are more than a trilogy tend to be numbered
>"NOOOOO STOP PUTTING A NUMBER IN THE FRONT OF COMIC BOOKSI CAN'T JUST BUY VOLUME 8 AND READ IT REEEEEEEEE"