The Comics Field Guide

Comics have spent the best part of two centuries being told they were a phase. Parents confiscated them, teachers binned them, and in 1954 a US Senate subcommittee summoned a publisher to explain a severed head on one of his covers, which is still the only congressional hearing we know of to turn on the question of good taste in decapitation. The comics outlived nearly all of their critics, and now supply a fair share of Hollywood's plots.

This guide is for anyone who has seen the films, heard the names, then stood in front of a shelf of trade paperbacks, omnibuses, deluxe hardbacks and "essential" editions, wondering which one is actually the beginning. Every entry answers two questions: is this for me, and which book do I buy first?

It covers science fiction, fantasy and horror comics from Britain, Europe and America: the Eagle and 2000 AD, Métal Hurlant and Valérian, EC and Vertigo, plus a short, closely supervised detour into superheroes for SF readers. Superhero continuity is not covered, on the grounds that nobody fully understands it, including the people paid to write it. Manga has its own guide next door.

Start with the origins of the medium if you like your history in order, or head straight for British comics, where a surprising amount of the modern medium was invented by writers from Northampton and Glasgow and two sub-editors who met in Dundee. SFcrowsnest has been covering this sort of thing since 1991. We've read the long boxes so you don't have to, although frankly you should.