Comics

[ntome]

Hi

I was wondering if the comics ha an identifier number like ISBN or so?

does anybody now of it?

tanks

[tecweston]

Graphic novels and trade paperbacks have ISBN numbers. Magazine-type comics, however, do not usually have ISBN numbers.

[Shimarenda]

They do have a UPC code.

[Solitaire1]

Usually, individual issues of comic books are referred to by the series title and issue number. In most cases, a series or volume number and a printing number are also needed to identify a specific issue, such as with the following series: Action Comics (2d Series) #1, Legion of Super-Heroes (3d Series) #1, and Identity Crisis #2 (3d Printing).

The reason the series/volume number is needed in most cases is due to the number of restarts and renumberings that many series have undergone over the years. For example:

- "Legion of Super-Heroes" has had at least four number one issues.

- "Superman" became "The Adventures Of Superman" (continuing with the old numbering while a new "Superman" series was started) and then returned to being "Superman" (the new "Superman" comic was cancelled and its numbering was added to the original series).

[WT Sharpe]

Speaking of comics, what the heck is going on with Spiderman? Is Peter Parker dead or alive? Is Miles Morales his successor? I see PP Sm & MM Sm comics being sold as new on Comixology, yet one claims PP is dead. What the heck is going on? Are we speaking of parallel universes here?

[RainingLemur]

I think that Petey's dead in the Ultimate universe (which, I believe, is different from the primary continuity of Earth-616). But, I haven't read a lot of Spider Man, much to my nephew's dismay.

[WT Sharpe]

What's the difference between the "Ultimate" universe and "Earth-616"? Are they equally valid as continuations of the original story lines from the 60s?

[RainingLemur]

From what I've read in some of the different universes, they generally have the same origins (with some minor tweaks here and there), but tend to go off in different directions, creating some confusion if you're not aware of the multiverse.

The Ultimate universe is a more current version with some reimagined histories (Spidey is the result of a bite from a genetically engineered spider instead of a radioactive spider, for example) of various heroes/villains.

[WT Sharpe]

Damn quantum mechanics and modern cosmology! Damn them both to hellfire! I liked the world better when I was a kid and knew there was only one history of the universe, with no possible parallel dimensions and no multiple histories to sum over. I liked the world better before I started reading science books and magazines. In that age of innocence, even the smallest particles obeyed time's arrow, and time and space were apples and oranges. Theoretical physicists have really screwed the Universe over. And experimental physicists haven't been any help either, with their abominable experiments with two slits and entangled sub-atomic particles and what-have-you. Probability waves and singularities—bah! Give me Newton. Now there's a worldview that made sense. Hell, I'll even take a flat earth with a star-imbedded dome that rested on a giant turtle. At least that was understandable.

[steven522]

Think of Marvel "Ultimate" comics as a starting point for new readers. Marvel took the most popular characters and "rebooted" everything with a clean, fresh take on the world of superheroes.

In the "ultimate universe" pretty much all superheroes are tied back to the super-soldier experiments done in WWII which gave us Captain america. Lots of genetic tampering going on in various labs and research centers which give rise to the various heroes and villains that crop up.

As mentioned above, the "ultimate" spider-man is bitten by an escaped genetically enhanced spider that manages to transfer the powers through a bite where the venom pretty much rewires some of Pete's genetic code and tacks on the spider powers.

Moving out from this new starting point, we add in the X-Men and Fantastic Four series and various mini-series releases. Each one building on top of the new starting point and incorporating existing Marvel heroes and villains into the new framework. All the time we are trying to keep things grounded into the genetic-tampering mix with the minimal amount of extra-dimensional, extra-terrestrial, and magical influence as possible.

It boils down to this:
- If you are a new reader, or very light reader of Marvel comics then you have a good place to jump in and enjoy without all of the existing "baggage" inherent in the many, many years of existing back issues from the non-ultimate series.
- If you are a die-hard Marvellian, or at least are extremely well versed in the Marvel universe and its history then you have an alternative universe to poke around in and see how they have redesigned existing characters and retold existing story arcs.

Personally, I have always preferred the Marvel comics over others since I started reading them around 30 years ago and I prefer the "ultimate" universe overall.

[WT Sharpe]

Thanks, steven522 & RainingLemur. I guess that explains why Comixology has that "New to Comics? Start Here" banner at the bottom of their store, along with links to the "Ultimate" Universe titles.

[rakulos]

Comics are notoriously bad for codes/numbering and just general identifying what on earth you've got or trying to get.
Using the above example of Ultimate spiderman - most of my issues have UPC codes but there's the odd exception. Also you have series numbering weirdness;
Ultimate Spiderman runs from issue 1 through 132, the Requiem event hits and then it all goes to pot. It then starts again at issue 1, runs through to 15 and then restarts again at 150 through 160. The issue then ends and we start again with Ultimate all new Spiderman issue 1 (issue 1 again!).

This isn't unusual for comics and to be honest your better off tracking what you want with name and the date of issue and even better a picture of what the cover looks like - its a poor system compared to books to be honest.

[Solitaire1]

When it comes to comic book numbering, it has become a bit of a mess due to the numerous starts, stops, renamings, and cancellations. A simple example is Superman. At one point, the original Superman comic was renamed "The Adventures Of Superman" and a new "Superman" comic was started. Later, that new "Superman" comic was cancelled and "The Adventures Of Superman" became "Superman" once again and its numbering jumped to issue #650 (the original numbering plus the numbering from the cancelled "Superman" comic).

On the subject of a multiverse, I don't find it confusing at all. As a DC Comic reader in the early 1980s there were the following earths making regular appearances:

Earth-One: The Silver Age/Main Earth
Earth-Two: The Golden Age
Earth-Three: An earth with only one hero (Alexander Luthor) and a number of super villians
Earth-S: The home of the original Captain Marvel and the other Fawcett characters
Earth-X: World War II is still going on after more than 40 years. Features the Quality characters.
Earth-C: An Earth inhabited by funny animal characters

In addition, there were other Earths (including C-Minus, Prime, Four, Six and a number of one-shot Earths) that made appearances. You also had multiple futures that sometimes contradicted each other.

A multiverse is very workable as long as it is clearly layed out. The problem comes when errors are allowed to occur. An example of this is Black Canary. She was originally an Earth-Two character, but somehow she just popped up on Earth-One with no explanation. Later, it was explained that she was the daughter of the original Black Canary (the whole story involves a magical curse, being placed in status for years, and transfer of memories).

[fjtorres]

DC has finally settled on regular continuity-quakes as the way to shake out bad ideas into the closet.

In 1984-85, they destroyed the multiverse (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS) and replaced it with a single unified continuity. Which they similarly disrupted in 1995 (ZERO HOUR), and in 2011 (FLASHPOINT) when they cancelled all existing titles and replaced them with the NEW 52, set in an all-new continuity. (Except for those top-selling titles that continue as if nothing significant had happened: Mostly the Legion, GL, and Bat-titles).

In the 80's reboot DC folded in characters they had acquired rights to from Fawcett and Charlton; in the current one they are (heavily) folding in the Wildstorm characters that came along with Jim Lee. And a lot of the Wildstorm "summer SFX movie" sensibilities.

Over at Marvel, the official explanation is that the Ultimate Universe is the experimental line, where creators don't have to feel overly bound by continuity (think: New Coke) whereas the 616 universe is the one where everything since 1939 is still more or less in continuity. (But everything published since 1960 happened in "the last 5 years or so".)

The way to take it is pretty simple: enjoy the story and the pretty pictures, and don't worry too much over what goes when or you could end up like the guys in the CBS sitcom.

[ilovejedd]

Don't comics get an ISSN?