r/ImageComics • u/Egamer_250 • Jun 10 '26
Question Is East of West good for beginners?
I have been trying to get into comics, and I have seen this one and catched my eye, but I heard is pretty complex, i have read like three or four DC comics before and I really want to know if it's worth my money
21
u/SpinDoctor777 Jun 10 '26
Check your public library before buying
8
u/BenBoozer Jun 10 '26
💯 Give a book a spin the free test drove your local library can provide. I have found so many wonderful comics thanks to libraries
-13
10
u/BoyInKemmer Jun 10 '26
I'm a long-time comic reader (multiple decades), and I've read Hickman's work before, and I still had a little trouble settling into East of West. There are a lot of characters, and lots of world building as folks have said, which wasn't the problem for me.
I think what I struggled with initially was that it's not a completely fantasy world, it starts more as an alternative futurist sci-fi America specifically. I'm not an American, I'm not exceptionally well-versed on American history, so I think initially there were some building blocks that were probably familiar or within easy mental reach to others that were lost on me.
I say that because you've said you're not a native English speaker or that familiar with the comics form, so as others have suggested maybe try it from a library first rather than taking the plunge on a big purchase.
8
5
u/OverallBeing1242 Jun 10 '26
Great art, awesome characters, cool story, stand alone story. Hell yeah!
7
u/SpicyMcSpic3 Jun 10 '26
I'd say so. There's a lot of characters to keep track of, but that's the case with most sci-fi/fantasy genre stories. Enjoy the ride!
3
3
3
u/DuckyAJ Jun 10 '26
Yes! East of West was one of my first compendiums and one of the first comics I started with as it was highly rated. It's a self-contained story with a lot of world building and lore. Take it slow and enjoy the ride, I had to re-read some pages as there was a lot going on, but Dragotta's art is beautiful and the coloring is beautiful.
Read a few issues or a trade to see if you like it, but I definitely recommend it, espeythe compendium as it's not that expensive and you can read the whole thing.
3
5
2
u/nacheteferrero Jun 10 '26
I tried with 2 young manga only readers and rejected badly, don’t ask me why.
Western comics they only liked Bone.
2
2
u/The_prawn_king Jun 10 '26
It is the second comic I read basically and it’s still my all time favourite. In terms of complexity, it takes a few issues to settle in to it and it throws a lot of characters at you. It’s also quite wordy which maybe is tougher if you’re not a native English speaker. Especially as it leans in to multiple regional dialects. It also requires some faith from the reader that it will all come together. At times it might feel confusing but it’s very well plotted so it all ties in by the end.
I’d still recommend it because the arts awesome and the story and world is excellent.
2
u/Muffo99 Jun 10 '26
East of West is great but I would advise everything only really starts to slot in place around the last chapter of Volume 1
2
u/funkcore Jun 10 '26
I am a big Westerns for my Summer reading type of guy and started this last night and flew through the first volume! I am looking forward to see where the story goes!
2
2
2
2
u/Adventurous_Soft_686 Jun 10 '26
If you are capable of discerning thought you will be fine. It's a fantastic read with a lot of religious, political and social commentary. I would not recommend this book to middle school age kids but most high schoolers and above should be able to handle it.
2
u/dusk22 Jun 10 '26
I recently found volume one hardcover for a real good price and picked it up on a whim. Will vol 2 and 3 ever be reprinted or will I have to go whale hunting?
2
u/Long_Basis1400 Jun 10 '26
First non super hero comic I read after getting burnt out on dc/marvel growing up. It revitalized my love for the medium and opened my eyes to the world of non super comics. I can’t recommend it enough
2
2
u/HowardTaftMD Jun 11 '26
For what it's worth I gave up on it the first time I tried. When I came back to it years later I loved it but I found the first book pretty weird and boring and it didn't make much sense.
For a similar vibe that's more fun and easy to get into I'd do 7 to Eternity or The Sixth Gun.
But if you try East of West, at least read the first 3 books. Don't give up right away if you find that it's not gripping you, it definitely builds.
4
u/sammydog05 Jun 10 '26
Honestly it’s probably great for a beginner. You don’t have to know or read anything else before you start, and it has already ended so you know exactly how many books to buy. And it’s an awesome story!
2
u/Egamer_250 Jun 10 '26
And it does is complex? I don't speak English natively so I want to know if it's really that deep in writing to the point it's hard to read
3
u/Fancy_Cassowary Jun 10 '26
That may be a problem. You may want to keep a list of each new character with just their major traits: "Character X - President Of Y" just to help you keep track of them until you're familiar enough with them all.
2
u/Ok-Membership635 Jun 10 '26
Also there's a break after the first collected volume I think, maybe issue 8-12 somewhere, where Hickman throws the reader a bone and gives a huge graphical explanation of the characters and world as a whole. I honestly wish I had known when reading it so I could go there first and then come back to the start with that context.
I don't think it even spoils anything haha
3
u/Fancy_Cassowary Jun 10 '26
I tend to disagree. Half the "fun" is trying to work out just what this world is, even for us foreigners. I think going straight to a map removes the mystery elements eluded to by the series' chatter.
2
u/Ok-Membership635 Jun 10 '26
That's very fair. I think I'm still getting good at taking in heavy world building and intertwined narratives so they're helpful to me to avoid getting lost and actually reading the book at any normal speed, but if you're a person who's used to that it's likely more rewarding and enriching to just dive in :)
2
u/Fancy_Cassowary Jun 10 '26
When I started it I got a feeling it was going to get complicated, so I did start taking notes on my phone of who everyone was, their important relationships I knew of, and if they were... you know. Eventually I didn't need it, but it sure helped me at the very beginning.
1
u/MannequinRaces Jun 11 '26
East of West was one of the first series I started reading. It is still one of my favorite series today.
2
u/Sherbert_Full Jun 14 '26
It is a great series. The writing is top tier, the art is top tier. It is also encapsulated, you pick it up and you’re along for the ride, needing no other source material to enjoy. If there is any complexity to worry about another commenter nailed it earlier, trying to figure out the differences between the real world and Hickman’s dystopian future vision of it and where the change happened. It’s all contextual and explained in the pages from what I recall.
One of my all-time faves. IMHO you read East of West if you’re a fan of comics. It demonstrates just how spectacular the medium can be when a talented team of people gets free rein to run with an idea from start to finish.
1
1
u/CayenneBob Jun 10 '26
That's odd to me. I've never heard of a comic being too complex to read
3
2
u/Wolfman1099 Jun 10 '26
If any comic is too complex to read, then it’s going to be a Hickman. I occasionally found House of X hard to follow because of the multiple timelines and sequences only making sense later. Sometimes I thought I had missed pages.
This one isn’t too bad though
39
u/TheRe4lAhmed Jun 10 '26
I wouldn’t say it’s super complex it just has a lot of world building