Last week, in a fit of anger following my revelation of having not seen it, my boss, Peter Kreten, came into the Xavierite office, logged on to a computer, and forced me to sit through a viewing of DC’s newest movie, Wonder Woman. Being a Marvel fan, I was appalled; how dare he barge into my personal space and subject me to the tortures of watching a wonderfully-constructed, character-driven, and powerful DC movie?
I’m seriously kidding, everyone. About Kreten actually forcing me to watch the movie, not about the adjectives I used to describe the Wonder Woman film. Though admittedly, having not seen it, I just employed the descriptions used by the general viewing public that has.
All bad jokes aside, Kreten did have me watch Wonder Woman for the first time last week, but it was due to my interest in watching it than anything else. I was unfortunately only able to watch about the first 45 minutes before I had to leave for class; however, I found myself enraptured by what little I managed to see, and I am going to make sure that I finish the movie in the near future.
Why am I talking about this? Well, this encounter was all due to a conversation Kreten and I had in regards to superhero movies and comic books. When trying to figure out how to expand the material I write about in my section, I spoke with him about what I was currently passionate about, or what my current interests lay. I said that I found myself recently getting into Marvel Cinematic Universe – all credit/blame goes directly to my brother.
Initially, I never really found myself particularly interested in watching Marvel movies for anything more than joining my brother in what he liked to watch, or just a passing thought of “Oh look, Robert Downey Jr.’s in this film, maybe I should check it out.” I caught the first movies of Iron Man and The Avengers when they came out in theaters and I did enjoy them, but failed to follow up with the stories and catch the sequels. My brother purchased Marvel movies, and I would watch them whenever he put them into our DVD player, but never truly got into it.
It was only within the last year – following a thirty-plus hour car ride to and from California in which the only movies my brother packed were all of his Marvel films – that I really found myself wanting to get deeper into the universe and the stories that it was telling. I’ve become a fan, and I’m getting increasingly excited about the newest Marvel films coming up, such as Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Avengers: Infinity War. But my knowledge about the Marvel universe only goes so far with the movies.
Like all movies based off any literature, there are details and/or storylines that are integral parts of the Marvel comics that MCU doesn’t cover. Starting off, I pose several questions to you all: if I were to begin reading Marvel comic books, where would you have me start? Are there any storylines I should skip, or storylines that are a must? Is there a graphic novel that holds a chunk of story, like Civil War, that I just have to read? Likewise, what can be said about starting off in reading DC comics?
At the moment, I have no part in the rivalry between Marvel and DC. I like Marvel, but that doesn’t mean you should rule me out for getting into DC as well. I just haven’t gotten into the DC universe as of yet, movies or otherwise. Also, keep in mind, I am completely new to the world of comic books. I’m aware that merely seeing the movies may not make me a “true fan” in the eyes of a lot of people. I’m aware that I’m pretty late to the game. Better late than never, right?
But I really am interested in starting to read these comic books; I just need a good starting point for each, and may need some help in finding what those are. From recommendations of certain series, storylines, comic book store locations I should check out, or which universe is better (Marvel or DC) to start off with, I’d love to hear them! For now, I’m going to find me a copy of Wonder Woman to finish.
Giselle Lopez
Features Editor