RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Recommended comics reading for one's girlfriend

For the last six months I've been going out with a girl I met during my last year in college. It's not a serious relationship yet (our get-togethers have been sporadic due to her college schedule and the fact that she lives almost an hour away from me), so we're still in that "getting to know each other" phase. One thing that we have in common is that she grew up with the old '80s fantasy cartoons and classic superhero movies, and she's got something of an interest in the genre.

Which leads me to the problem of which I'm about to discuss.

Back in May, my brother and I were planning to go to the Motor City Comic Con, and I invited this girl to come along with us. She couldn't be there due to a friend of her having a concert that weekend, but we got to talking about comic books and the like, and I mentioned that the Hellboy movie was based on the Seed of Destruction miniseries. Her first response to that was, "What's a miniseries?"

You see, she's never read a comic book before.

It had to be one of the most awkward explanations I've ever had to give someone. I mean, we can throw comics jargon around here like it's nothing, but to someone who's never read comics and has no idea what any of it means, it must sound like total gobbledygook. I can only imagine it was like that for her when I first brought it up. So I tried to explain what it was I was talking about, and she finally expressed an interest in giving comics a whirl. "I imagine it's like reading a play, just with pictures," she said. So I decided to try to put together a list of comics that I could recommend to her. Unfortunately, it ended up being tough because...

1. A lot of stories rely on the reader being familiar with everything that preceeded them. Anything that depends on knowing a lot of backstory/past history had to be avoided, because I don't want to overwhelm her. This ruled out a lot of mainstream superhero stuff, obviously.

2. She's not big on graphic violence, so anything with that kind of content had to be avoided, too. This ruled out From Hell, Empire, and 300, among others.

3. Really complex and involved stories would probably turn her off. She's new to all of this, after all, and I don't want to direct her to the more complicated stuff until she's had a chance to get used to the medium. I think I need to stick to stuff she'll be able to latch onto first time out. so Watchmen, Akira, Alan Moore's Supreme, and other such stuff is going to have to wait for now. (I'm torn on Sandman, though, because she's an English major like me and would probably get all the literary references.)

4. I want to recommend to her a large range of stuff, not having one predominant genre or other. So I'm trying to keep a limit on how many superhero stories I can recommend (and the newbie-friendly necessity has already curtailed how many I could suggest, anyway) and aiming to include other genres.

I have an incomplete list of comics she might enjoy, but I think I might be missing something. I'll post up what I have, and if you guys can think of anything to add to it, please let me know. I could really use some help here.

I suppose PAD's Supergirl is mature enough and bright enough to interest her. Sometimes it's dark, but there's barely any violence.

One time in highschool I lent Superman: Kal to a female friend and the ending made her cry. Heh.

Here's what I've got so far. Feel free to add anything you think might be appropriate:


Batman, Superman, & Wonder Woman: Trinity – Matt Wagner

I showed her this as an example of a miniseries, and she took quite a shine to Matt Wagner's art. So I'm definitely going to recommend this to her, because I think she'll really like it.

Superman: Birthright – Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan

Pending its release as a TPB, of course.

Superman: For All Seasons – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, and Bjarne Hansen

The Superman-Madman Hullabaloo! – Mike and Laura Allred

Batman: Child of Dreams – Kia Asamiya and Max Allan Collins

Easily the best Batman story I've read in years, and it does a fine job of bringing newcomers up to speed on who and what Batman is. I can't say enough great things about it.

Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory (a two-volume story arc) – Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Batman: Black & White VOL.1 and 2 – various writers and artists

It was either this or Batman: Strange Apparitions, and this was much more newbie-accessible. Oh, well, maybe some other time....

Kingdom Come – Mark Waid and Alex Ross

Maus – Art Spiegelman

Our college uses this as a textbook, so it shouldn't be too off-course for her. And since its violence is mostly implied rather than explicit, I don't think it'll present any problems for her.

Pedro & Me – Judd Winick

University2 and Liberty Meadows – Frank Cho

Desperate Times – Chris Eliopoulos

PvP: Player vs. Player – Scott Kurtz

The whacked-out humor and slice-of-life antics in the above three are as reader-friendly as it gets. I think she could get into these without any trouble at all.

A Distant Soil – Colleen Doran

The Chronicles of Conan (collected in three TPBs thus far) – Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith

I don't feel comfortable showing her the Busiek/Nord Conan, because of the level of graphic violence therein. But the more restrained older material might appeal to her more.

Boneyard (collected in 2 TPBs) – Richard Moore

The Sandman (collected in 11 TPBs) – Neil Gaiman and various artists

I'm undecided on this because I want to try and avoid stuff that's really complicated, but the literary references and allusions are things she'd easily sieze on. I'm on the fence regarding this one.

Strangers in Paradise (collected in 3 hardcover volumes) – Terry Moore

Bone (collected in 5 hardcover volumes) – Jeff Smith

Akiko (4 graphic novels) – Mark Crilley

Why I Hate Saturn – Kyle Baker

The Big Book of Urban Legends – various writers and artists

Some of the stuff in this is extremely funny, and she's got a warped sense of humor like me. She'd probably get a kick out of this.

Box Office Poison – Alex Robinson

The Complete Concrete – Paul Chadwick

Usagi Yojimbo (collected in at least 10 TPBs) – Stan Sakai

The Barefoot Serpent – Scott Morse

Ghost World – Daniel Clowes (this was the basis for a recent film starring Thora Birch)

American Elf: James Kochalka’s Collected Sketchbook Diaries – James Kochalka

Madman (collected in several TPBs) – Mike and Laura Allred

Promethea – Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray

Hepcats (collected in 2 TPBs) – Martin Wagner (no relation to Matt Wagner)

Stuck Rubber Baby – Howard Cruse

A Contract With God – Will Eisner

Sojourn (collected in 5 TPBs) – Ron Marz, Greg Land, and Drew Geraci

This was a last-minute addition to the list because there's such a dearth of female heroes in comics who don't look like half-naked tramps. That, and too many of the DC and Marvel heroines have too much backstory and baggage. Again, I want to keep things simple for her.


Can anyone think of something I may have overlooked?

My ex-girlfriend liked Gaiman's Sandman, but on the whole she thought comics were really dumb. She only tried Sandman when she found out Tori Amos was a huge fan of the book(and the inspiration for the character "Delirium").

There's also no need to explain that the Luthor Supergirl dated was Luthor's brain in a cloned body posing as his own son, of course...

Hmm...you make an interesting point there. I'll keep that in mind.

By the way, how many TPBs of PAD's Supergirl are there? I've only ever seen the one with his first stories.

The ultimate line.
Especially Ultimate Spider-man.
I'd also recommend Bendis Daredevil.

According to Tplist.com there's only two trades: one with the Gary Frank issues (1-9) and one with the last arc (75-80). I haven't read the last issues so I can't recommend them (and the little I've heard I don't like), but the first issues are very good. The only downside is that they're so good they'll probably leave her wanting more, and the rest isn't in tpbs...

The first JLA trade might be good, as all the main characters get explained.

I agree with rexstardust. For someone who's curious about superheroes but is new to the medium, the Ultimate comics are good. The Ultimates may stray too close to the violence thing (and also depends on your opinion of Millar). But Ultimate Spider-Man is one of the most enjoyable superhero comics I've read in years.

There is surprisingly little mainstream superhero comics that one can approach as a newbie. I dare you to hand someone a non-Ultimate X comic, or Spider comic, or Bat comic or Justice League comic and see if they can make heads or tails of it.

Y: The Last Man would be fantastic for a new reader, in my opinion. A great idea at its core, likeable and well developed characters, humour... it's great. Collected in 3 TPS so far.

Fables is another one that's worth a shot.

Hopeless Savages is a black and white Oni book with a lot of heart to it. Centres on the children of a punk rock couple. One of my favourite books in years.

Kingdom Come is a great story, but it helps if the reader has some idea of who the main characters are. And then there are the major supporting characters. It's a lot.

Marvels is a possibility, though. You don't have to know too much about the Marvel Universe to enjoy the story. It's just good to know in a nutshell who the Fantastic 4, the mutants, Spider-Man, and the Avengers are. And by nutshell, I mean just a brief overview, because the story isn't about them, it's about the world they live in.

Oh, and Astro City is a great story. There are four trades out, I think, and I heard a new story is in the works.

Definitely go for Peter Bagge's HATE, it's a huge hit with the ladies. Tried it on 3 ex-girlfriends, was the only book except for Tinitin all of 'em liked.
I also tried Stray Bullets, Books of Magic, Love & Rockets, Cerebus and Ghostworld, with mixed results.
And don't leave big breasts lying around, it will only get you into trouble. Porn-comics like Birdland are no problem in comparison...

What about the over-sized Ross DC Books? Y'know, Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, and the others. I especially think the Captain Marvel one might be good for the ladies.

I haven't read any JLA stories, aside from Tower of Babble. I would think that any JLA story would be OK, because it's a small cast, and I think they usually stay away from their private lives, focassing on superhero battles instead. Am I wrong about this?

Catwoman volume 2 (Brubaker's volume) would be perfect for someone looking to get into a character without having to know a whole lot of back story. But from your description, your friend would not like this book. Then again, if you have Selina's big score, or the first four issues of this volume, maybe she would like it.

I wouldn't give her Kingdom Come in a fit. Its continuity heavy, and a dreadful, dreadful story.

Why I Hate Saturn is a very good choice. Even my wife, who hates comics books, really liked the conversations (and the flip at the end) in that one.

The Dini/Ross supersized books are a bit too preachy for my tastes.

As for Sandman, I'll start her off on one of the middle books (Brief Lives or something), and let her work her way around it. All she needs to know is that the Sandman is the king of dreams. Start too early, and you get the JLI and everything that this invokes: start too late, and you spoil the conclusion.

Start with A Game of You. That was made for new readers, I think. It was the first arc that didn't have any aspects that relied on past DC continuity. Sure, Barbie (the main character) appears before that in The Doll's House, but there's no need to mention that.
Try getting her started with some of the short one issue stories. The introduction of Death, the one with the immortal guy, Midsummer Night's Dream, Dream of a Thousand Cats... there's a lot of good stuff there that would keep anyone coming back for more.

Anyone mention Blankets yet?

Actually, yeah, that's a good choice.

My revised list. The bits about Martin Wagner and the Ghost World movie are for my lady friend's benefit.


Batman, Superman, & Wonder Woman: Trinity – Matt Wagner

Superman: Birthright – Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan

Superman: For All Seasons – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, and Bjarne Hansen

The Superman-Madman Hullabaloo! – Mike and Laura Allred

Batman: Child of Dreams – Kia Asamiya and Max Allan Collins

The Many Deaths of the Batman – John Byrne, Jim Aparo, and Mike DeCarlo

Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory (a two-volume story arc) – Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Batman: Black & White VOL.1 and 2 – various writers and artists

Detective Comics #617, “A Clash of Symbols” – Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle, and Steve Mitchell

Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, and JLA: Liberty and Justice – Paul Dini and Alex Ross

Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross – Alex Ross, Chip Kidd, and Geoff Spear

JLA: Heaven’s Ladder – Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch, and Paul Neary

JLA: Year One – Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Barry Kitson, and Michael Bair

Supergirl and Supergirl: Many Happy Returns – Peter David, Gary Frank, Terry Dodson, and Ed Benes

Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score – Darwyn Cooke and Matt Hollingsworth

Catwoman: Dark End of the Street and Catwoman: Crooked Little Town – Ed Brubaker and various artists

Ultimate Spider-Man (collected in 10 TPBs thus far) – Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Trevor Hairsine, Art Thibert, and Danny Miki

Marvels – Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

Maus – Art Spiegelman

Pedro & Me – Judd Winick

University2 and Liberty Meadows – Frank Cho

PvP: Player vs. Player – Scott Kurtz

A Distant Soil – Colleen Doran

The Chronicles of Conan (collected in three TPBs thus far) – Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith

Boneyard (collected in 2 TPBs) – Richard Moore

The Sandman (collected in 11 TPBs) – Neil Gaiman and various artists

Strangers in Paradise (collected in 3 hardcover volumes) – Terry Moore

Bone (collected in 5 hardcover volumes) – Jeff Smith

Akiko (4 graphic novels) – Mark Crilley

Y: The Last Man – Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra

Why I Hate Saturn – Kyle Baker

The Big Book of Urban Legends – various writers and artists

Box Office Poison – Alex Robinson

The Complete Concrete – Paul Chadwick

Usagi Yojimbo (collected in 18 TPBs) – Stan Sakai

The Barefoot Serpent – Scott Morse

Ghost World – Daniel Clowes (this was the basis for a recent film starring Thora Birch)

American Elf: James Kochalka’s Collected Sketchbook Diaries, Fantastic Butterflies, and Monkey vs. Robot – James Kochalka

Madman (collected in several TPBs) – Mike and Laura Allred

Astro City (collected in 4 TPBs thus far) – Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

Tom Strong – Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse

Tomorrow Stories (collected in 2 TPBs) – Alan Moore and various artists

Top 10 – Alan Moore and Gene Ha

Promethea – Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray

Hepcats (collected in 2 TPBs) – Martin Wagner (no relation to Matt Wagner)

Stuck Rubber Baby – Howard Cruse

Hate – Peter Bagge

A Contract with God – Will Eisner

Sojourn (collected in 5 TPBs) – Ron Marz, Greg Land, and Drew Geraci

Mystic (collected in 6 TPBs) – Ron Marz, Brandon Peterson, and others

Elfquest – Wendy and Richard Pini

Meridian (collected in 4 TPBs) – Barbara Kesel, Joshua Middleton, Steve McNiven, and Dexter Vines

Fables (collected in 2 TPBs) – Bill Willingham and Lan Medina

Hopeless Savages (collected in 4 TPBs) – Jan Van Meter

Blue Monday – (collected in 2 TPBs) – Chynna Clugston-Major

Grrl Scouts VOL 1 and 2 – Jim Mahfood

Blankets and Goodbye, Chunky Rice – Craig Thompson

Love & Rockets (collected in 10 TPBs) – Los Bros Hernandez

Death of Speedy – Jaime Hernandez

Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming – Rachel Hartman

Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures – J. Torres and J. Bone

Clan Apis – Jay Hosler


Kingdom Come was cut not because of quality (it's one of my favorites), but because of the problems Penwing and I saw with it...too much foreknowledge of the characters was needed. And Desperate Times was dropped because I just reread Image's #1 and saw the blurb in the lettercolumn declaring that the series was officially discontinued. There's no sense recommending something that's not even available. The rest is just additions.

Is this list OK, or does anything need to be added or dropped?

I think your strategy is wrong. I'd just give her one. She's seriously not going to sit down and read all of those.

And she's not going to sit in her dorm and be seen reading a Batman comic. if one of her friends asks her what she's doing, she'll want to say that's she's reading something cool.

Why I Hate Saturn is good like that. Its female focussed and deals with relationships.

You need to break her into the graphics medium, not worry about how good the story a superhero story is. I've told my wife that Watchmen is clever, and told her about parts of it: she agrees that it sounds interesting, but she'd never be caught dead reading superheroes. Same goes for Killing Joke.

She might actually read Promethea, though, although even then I doubt that she'd like the fact that it has a scantily clad flying woman with superpowers.

Superheroes are generally not cool with women. Comics can be: don't handicap yourself.

The superhero stuff stays. She's already expressed an interest some of it, so I see no reason to omit it. (I even said early in the thread that she took an interest in Trinity, which is as hard-core superhero as it gets.) I can cut some stories from the list, but I'm not going to ignore the superhero genre entirely. Especially since she's already said she wants to try it.

Further, I want to give her a good range of material to choose from, not just one genre or the other. In that respect, dropping the superhero stuff from the list would be ridiculous. I don't expect her to buy ALL this stuff in one shot. I'm not that stupid. The list is to give her some options as to what she could read without having to be buried under load of continuity and backstory. That it includes superhero stuff shouldn't even be an issue.

Sorry, Dave, but I don't see where I'm "handicapping" myself.

Proposition Player is a Vertigo six issue mini from a few years ago that I believe is now collected in a TPB. It's by Bill "Fables" Willingham, and I've not encountered a single person who didn't like it.

The story centres on a man who works for a casino, sitting at their tables with the high rollers to drive the stakes up. He decides one night to buy a friend's soul for one beer, after an argument about the existence of the soul. By the end of the night, he has dozens of souls in his possession, taking the form of little slips of paper that people have signed over to him.
All of a sudden, an angel from heaven comes calling, wanting Heaven's property back.

Great story. Just a one shot; no backstory needed, and no commitment to further TPBs. Highly recommended.

King Krypton, I think you were right in considering
BATMAN:STRANGE APPARITIONS to offer her.

It's the classic Batman series, a great sampling of typical superhero fare, and Englehart & Rogers provide a story with exceptional art, characterization and wild twists, while also being very true to Batman from his earliest Bob Kane origins.
Plus the stories are 17 pages each, a bit shorter than the newer stories, less per chapter for her to get through, and still outstandingly good.
I think it's a perfect choice, to show the intelligence, sophistication, fun and the art that can be realized within the parameters of a standard superhero story.



Other choices:


Millennium Edition: reprint of DETECTIVE 395
( Plus other Millenium Edition reprints of undisputed classics. )
This is one of my favorite Batman stories, and the first Dennis O'Neil/Neal Adams/Dick Giordano collaboration, beginning their classic run in DETECTIVE, and then later BATMAN also.




Wein/Wrightson SWAMP THING 1-10 (recently re-released in the 2nd edition of the SWAMP THING: DARK GENESIS trade)
The Wein/Wrightson run has a magic to it that makes me prefer these, even over the later Moore/Bissette/Tottleben run.
And the Alan Moore run would be a great follow-up to the Wein/Wrightson trade, to show what a huge change in approach can occur with a new creative team.





MANHUNTER collected edition, of the classic award-winning Goodwin/Simonson series. Another classic series, and all but the last chapter are in short fast-paced 8-page segments, which might make it one she'll more eagerly read.





CEREBUS, volume 1 (collecting the first 25 issues). This not only allows her to get in on CEREBUS from the beginning, but in this earliest volume, it's divided into 1-issue, 2-issue and 3-issue stories. Complete stories, but which are expanded on in the HIGH SOCIETY (vol 2) and later volumes of the series.

A great series that is intelligent, sophisticated, wildly funny and (something you expressed she has a preference for) not a series focused on violence.
CEREBUS is also a humorous commentary on many of the best comics series done over the last 30 years or so, beginning with a parody of the Roy Thomas/Barry Smith CONAN, Red Sonja, Elric, Bran Mac Morn, Englehart/Rogers Batman, Prince Valiant, Claremont and the X-MEN, Captain America, Neal Adams' Deadman, and the Marvel/DC competition over Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.
And CEREBUS parodies many other political, TV and movie personalities, like Groucho Marx, Nixon, Carter, Sgt. Schultz from the Hogan's Heroes TV series, Foghorn Leghorn and others.
It's a series where she can read and enjoy some of what she's already familiar with in popular culture, and that she can go back and re-read later with even greater appreciation, once she's read the other comics series these CEREBUS stories parody.





Another favorite of mine that has mind-blowing art coupled with good storytelling is BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE 1-3 (1983, Pacific). Again, stories that are very engaging, and also short enough that she'll get through them and not lose interest. With a wide range of shorter stories in a single book.
For my money, these are some of the most ornately detailed pages of art in comics history. And possibly the best colored stories in comics history as well (colored by Steve Oliff).




Anthologies such as HOUSE OF MYSTERY might give her a good selection within one book too.
Vertigo's recent WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY reprint collection (1998) offers a wonderful collection of stories from the 1970-1974 period, with nice offset printing, of stories by Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Alex Nino, Jim Aparo, Bill Draut, Gil Kane, Wally Wood, and with a new Neil Gaiman/Sergio Aragones introduction and framing sequence.



Or EPIC ILLUSTRATED.
EPIC remains one of the finest anthologies in comics history, and one of the finest representations of the comics industry period.






A series I love that I shared with a past girlfriend is KAMANDI, by Jack Kirby.

Of all the things I gave her, this is the one thing she fell in love with and couldn't get enough of. Over time, she constantly asked me if I had more KAMANDI issues for her to read, and she read all 40 issues by Kirby.
She didn't like NEW GODS or THE DEMON or any other Kirby stuff I showed her, but she loved KAMANDI. I bought extra copies of a whole bunch, so she didn't have to return them and could re-read them, which I think she did often. Her love for KAMANDI outlasted our two-year relationship.




Another girlfriend of mine (from the Phillipines) really enjoyed the MARVEL CLASSICS # 2 : H.G.WELLS' THE TIME MACHINE, illustrated by Alex Nino.

She was indifferent to everything else, but re-read this one several times.







--------------------


"This Man, This Wonder Boy..."

I have nothing more to add. I just want to suggest that perhaps you should have her start with something a little different, like Astro City. It's an amazing story, more about the people in the city, then about the superheroes who protect them. The art is amazing, and the story truly captures what good comic books are all about.

I'm going through my collection to see what hasn't been added. There's:

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (she's into literature, so she may like this - at least the first one, anyway; the second may be a bit too violent for her)

V for Vendetta

Planetary (again, quite a few literary references)

Squadron Supreme (I don't think the fact that they're analogues to the JLA makes the book inaccessible, though the history of the characters prior to this story might)

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

G.I. Joe (the 80's Marvel series, specifically)

John Byrnes' Next Men (it might be hard to find the trades for this series, though)

Animal Man (might be too inaccessible, though)

The 9/11 tribute books (the two volume one by Dark Horse and DC, and the one by Alternative Comics)

Funny how many girls I know read Cerebus, given Dave Sim's....views on women.

Blankets.

strangers in paradise.

if you want to mess up her mind give her Promethea.

Age of Bronze.

Goodbye Chunky rice.

Big Clay Pot.

Concrete.

Concrete rocks!

He often did !

One of my favorite scenes in CEREBUS is in issue 6, where a drugged-into-blissfulness Cerebus is in a tavern and sees Jaka dance for the first time, and immediately falls in love with her.

After she walks off stage, Cerebus inquires about her to a barbarian mercenary.
The barbarian replies:
"Jaka?!? That WHORE ?!? What do you want with her, eh midget ?!?"

Cerebus boils over with anger and reacts with his fists to the insult, and the action is observed from across the bar. One guy inquires what's going on, and another replies: "Looks like some borealean mercenary is getting clobbered by a herd of grey teddy bears."

Cut to Cerebus stomping on the mercenary who insulted Jaka.

MERCENARY: "Like I said, I think you'll make a cute couple."




This was the best such scene for me, but there are many later scenes where Cerebus takes out people who annoy him in one punch.
Usually with hilarious effect.
Cerebus is smaller than all the other characters, but he's always portrayed as having absolute control over the situation.

Another favorite of mine is in CEREBUS 17 & 18, where Cerebus and a band of pillaging thugs wipes out a village, and then there's no time to hide all the bodies when merchants with soldiers appear outside the city gates.
So they concoct a story about a plague.
And Cerebus scams them for all their gold, alleging that the piles of bloody corpses were caused by a plague, and offers the merchant a miracle-cure, in exchange for everything the merchant had on him. The pacing is intelligent and very well played, how the humor just builds and builds, and I've never seen anything funnier on a printed page.




Another series that I think would be appealing to a non-comics reader, and particularly a girl, is the 1987 JUSTICE LEAGUE series (and continued as JLI, and the spinoff JLE, with a number of other Specials, Annuals, and QUARTERLY's.)

I'd like to see the entire 60-issue series, plus all the spin-offs reprinted in collected trade editions.
But heck, they're very available in their original form. Last time I saw them in the back-issue bins, they were 1.00 each.

Watsonwil, over on the DC boards, once described JLI as "the Seinfeld of comics", and I think that's pretty close to the mark. Much of the series is the personalities of the characters, and how they play off each other, with snowballing effect.
Although it spins off into a lot of books, it's pretty much self-contained without smothering continuity, and easy to get in on from the beginning.




I really enjoyed the recent six-issue FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE series.
Which would be another great starting point, if not JUSTICE LEAGUE # 1, from 1987.

I also have the trade of these issues, with nicer paper and printing.



Another favorite of mine is JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL # 4 ("Justice League Antarctica") which would be another great starting point, a great self-contained story. BWAHAHAHA !!!

As I think back on it, we split up about a month after she finished my KAMANDI issues.

Maybe she only loved me for my KAMANDI's.

I've been through this so I'll tell you what comics got my wife interested in comics:

Ghost World

Fables: As cheesy as the premise sounds the stories are incredible

The 1st Catwoman Trade with Brubaker and Pulido

Maus

Tom Strong

Once she was into comics I hit her with Swampthing and Sandman and she really liked them, but I would save those for later. I think the best one to start with is Fables, it has alot of characters she allready knows and loves and if you start with the trades it's like she can get in on the ground floor.