Brand New Day, Brand New Rabbit Hole: How One Cinema Trip Turned Me Into a Comics Buyer Again

I recently went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and on the way out I wandered into the HMV next door — as you do. And there, right on cue, was the Brand New Day graphic novel. Good tie-in marketing, sitting exactly where you’d expect it.

Then I noticed a second one. Same story — Brand New Day — but a completely different cover. Now, variant covers are old news when it comes to single issues, but you don’t see it so often with collected graphic novels. I stood there trying to work out which one was actually first in the series… right up until my nephew got thoroughly bored and I had to leave.

But it was too late. The bug had bitten.

Down the Wikipedia rabbit hole

Whenever I get the itch to dive back into comics, my first stop is always Wikipedia. I looked up the story arcs, tried to figure out where Brand New Day actually sits in the grand scheme of things, and that sent me off on a proper quest to find a sensible jumping-in point.

I eventually landed on the big volume-two renumbering around the turn of the millennium — the moment several Spider-books got reset back to #1. My plan was beautifully simple: read The Amazing Spider-Man, and only that, and I’d be caught up in a few years.

That’s when I had my first epiphany.

You don’t just read one series

Here’s the thing nobody warns you about: you don’t read a comic. You read comics, plural.

I’d reach the end of an arc in The Amazing Spider-Man, and the story would just… carry on somewhere else — in Peter Parker: Spider-Man. Sometimes it was spelled out for me with a tidy “continued in X” box. Other times it was more of a wink: if you’d like to see how this plays out, maybe go and read Fantastic Four…

So, in the spirit of saving the next person some confusion, I put together this little guide for anyone who’s just walked out of a Spider-Man film feeling inspired. Here we go.

Tip One: one series is never enough

If you want to read Spidey, get comfortable with the idea of reading more than one series. Why?

Money, mostly.

The big characters have the biggest demand, and whether it was Marvel wanting to make the most of it or the fans simply wanting more, the result is the same. Each individual series ships roughly one issue a month — so to give readers something every week, publishers run several series at once. And because those stories weave in and out of each other, you end up buying all of them. Clever, really.

You’ll also spot editor’s notes pointing you back to older issues if you want the full context on something being referenced — handy, and also a bit of a gateway drug to buying even more.

So: brace yourself to pick up more than one series. Or do what I’m currently doing and sign up for Marvel Unlimited, which takes a lot of the financial sting (and the “hang on, which cover is the right one” panic) out of the whole thing.

Tip Two: read by creator, not just by character

The single most useful thing I’ve learned is to think in terms of runs — a stretch of issues written by one person, like a season of telly with a showrunner. “Spider-Man” is too big to read; “the Spider-Man run by Michael Straczynski or Joe Quesada” is a proper, self-contained story with a beginning and an end. Pick a celebrated run, start there, and suddenly the whole thing feels manageable.

Tip Three: don’t fear starting in the middle

Comics are terrified you’ll feel lost, so nearly every issue quietly recaps what you need. You don’t have to read from the dawn of time to understand what’s happening now — pick a good jumping-on point and trust the story to catch you up. Continuity is a lovely rabbit hole, but it’s optional.

Tip Four: every “#1” is a marketing decision

You’ll notice series get “relaunched” back to #1 with suspicious regularity. That shiny new #1 rarely means “start here, nothing before matters” — it usually means “sales dipped, time for a fresh coat of paint.” Don’t panic that you’ve missed something; it’s a jumping-on point, not a reset button.

Tip Five: trades are your friend when you’re catching up

Chasing individual issues is chaos. Collected editions — trade paperbacks and omnibuses — bundle a full arc in reading order for less faff and often less money. Save single-issue hunting for once you’re properly hooked.

Tip Six: Wikipedia is step one, not the whole map

Once you’ve orientated yourself, dedicated reading-order sites (Comic Book Herald is a good shout, and the Marvel wiki on Fandom) will hand you issue-by-issue lists so you’re not reverse-engineering the order yourself at 1am.

Tip Seven: the film is a jumping-off point, not a reading list

The movie that inspired you is usually a loose adaptation — the comic storyline it borrows its name from can be a completely different beast in a different context. Go in expecting a remix rather than the source, and you’ll enjoy both more.

And that’s the crash course

None of this is meant to put you off — quite the opposite. Once you stop trying to read everything and start reading a run, comics go from an intimidating wall of continuity to exactly what pulled you in at the cinema in the first place. So grab a jumping-on point, ignore the variant covers, and enjoy the ride.