I'm thinking I'll get X-men, Iron Man, Daredevil, and Spider-man (the comics I loved as a kid), and the New Avengers looks interesting, though I don't really know the new characters. And though I'm a Marvel guy, don't hesitate to point out good DC/other stuff that I would otherwise overlook. Input and suggestions wanted. Thanks, bunnies!

*skips off merrily to read comic books all afternoon*

There's a short 6-issue indie series (plus a single-issue prequel) called The Black Diamond that's extremely cool. The setup: there's an elevated highway across the U.S. where there are no laws, and no law enforcement. A guy on the west coast learns his wife has been kidnapped on the east coast, so the only way he can get to her to save her is to brave a trip on the Black Diamond.

Definitely recommended if you like Roger Corman movies. It just came out over the summer, so it'd be easy for your store to find, I believe.

The Ultimate Marvel line is fun ... at least it has been for me since I was DC-only as a kid and most of my adulthood, so reading the Ultimate line of books isn't as confusing as trying to just jump feet first into the regular Marvel universe. I really enjoy Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Fantastic Four, and to a lesser extent, Ultimate X-Men. I've also really enjoyed Marvel's Annihilation space heroes series. New Avengers is good, as is/was Young Avengers. I haven't gotten into the post-Civil War stuff but I hear that Captain America post-Civil War is one of the best runs on that book ever.

The 90s run of JLA starting with Grant Morrison and running up through the Obsidian Age stuff was tremendous fun for the most part. I've always been a fan of Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern (I know, I'm a heretic), and he was portrayed really well in that version of the Justice League. I'm also salivating over all the stuff that's currently happening in the Green Lantern titles, but am gonna wait for TPB's of those as they come out.

Starman. All of it. Fun stuff. Gaiman's Sandman, of course.

The re-boot of the JSA starting in the 90s and running thru present day is also a hell of a lot of fun, especially since the book brought Black Adam to the fore as a major force in the DC Universe and JSA lays the groundwork for his part in 52, which I also highly recommend. Infinite Crisis was ... okay, I guess, but 52 rocked. The current Final Crisis is a mess, and I think Morrison's finally got to realize he's got to stop it with the psychedelic drugs already.

My recommendations here for the most part are all in TPB format. I prefer those to single issues because they bear up to repeat readings and I'm not one of those comics geeks who buys one to read and one to seal away forevermore. I'm also fairly mainstream DC (with a side of Vertigo)/Marvel (with a large helping of Ultimate), and not very familiar with indie stuff. I like my icons in spandex, thank you.

Skip the One More Day story line for Spidey. Seriously, just skip it or read the Wikipedia entry or something. Iron Man stuff has been pretty good lately, and World War Hulk was awesome.

Is a pull box essentially a subscription kept for you at the shop? Why do that instead of having the comics sent to your home?

I'm not much of a spandex guy so I can't help there, but if you're not reading The Walking Dead, hie thee hence, post-haste.

If you haven't read it already, read the entire series Hate! by Peter Bagge. Best chronicle of the 1990's ever.

Don't bother with Ultimate Marvel if Jeph Loeb is writing. Ultimate Fantastic Four is...well, fantastic (at least up until Greg Land started drawing, so don't get those.)

Runaways is consistently brilliant. So is Blue Beetle starting with Keith Giffen's run.
And get Gail Simone's run on All-New Atom, and Nextwave if you don't have that yet.

Is a pull box essentially a subscription kept for you at the shop? Why do that instead of having the comics sent to your home?

Well, see, uh....

No, because... ah... it's like...

I have no idea, grouse. Because it gives me a chance to talk to my local nerd-merchant and check out new stuff I might have missed? Because that's the way comic shops have always worked, to my knowledge? Because... uh.... *scratches head*

I actually picked up Blue Beetle today and then put it back. But it did look really good. I'm just not much of a DC guy -- I don't know the world (but I do have a soft spot for Green Lantern. Hal Jordan Green Lantern...). But I found, reading Civil War this afternoon, that the Marvel Universe was pretty much just as I remembered it from when I last read comics assiduously (and that was so long ago that John Byrne was still drawing X-men and Frank Miller was doing Daredevil -- I am SO OLD). It was like going to a reunion of old, cool friends when you'd forgotten just how much you enjoyed their company ("I LOVE what you've done with the Baxter Building!").

I'm not familiar with Runaways but I'll check it out. I've read all the Sandman stuff, read Hate! (loved it).

The Black Diamond sounds like I'd really enjoy it.

Now, having read Civil War, I'm looking forward to reading The Death of Captain America books, and then I think I'll have a better sense of things.

(Also: Hulkling? WTF? And he's a shape-shifting mutant? I'm not sure I approve... maybe I'll stay away from the New Mutants...)

Is a pull box essentially a subscription kept for you at the shop? Why do that instead of having the comics sent to your home?

Comic titles pop up and disappear pretty quickly and there are lots of one offs or limited series that you couldn't get with a sub. The idea behind a pull box is that you regularly go through Previews and update your pull list according to what Diamond says is coming out. It's more of a way to ensure that your comic store keeps a copy for you, sort of a lay away idea. There are online services that do the same thing and do mail them to your house.

I'm not really a DC follower either, beyond the Bat-family books. I found Blue Beetle and Atom really accessible because they're both essentially character reboots - new main characters (with legacy powers), new supporting casts. The rest of the DC universe pokes in from time to time, but mostly these two keep to their own little corners. In any case, I thought the writing on both was brilliant enough to compensate for any unfamiliarity.

(But then I'm the kind of reader who looks up these other DC people on Wikipedia, and whatever inane crossover event was going on, and damn the spoilers. It's easier than trying to follow DC crossovers themselves.)

Hulkling? WTF? And he's a shape-shifting mutant?

Teenage gay shape-shifting Kree/Skrull hybrid prince (Mar-Vell is the father, Skrull Emperor's daughter is the mother) whose boyfriend's name used to be, I kid you not, Asgardian. Say it out loud. As-gard-i-an. His name is Wiccan now

I love comic books.

might i suggest manga?

i'm loving loving loving hellsing and naruto (particularly into the second 'older' arc)

ohhh and tekkonkinkreet... i stayed up all night reading that. it just won and eisner.

ooohh, and vanguard... i so love takehiko inoue's artwork.

Oh, Jesus, I forgot: All Star Superman with Grant Morrison. Seriously, it's really one of the best Supes stories ever.