It took me 5 years to realize I was reading comics in the wrong order this whole time

I got into comics during the lockdown, and I just always read the left page first, then the right. Last week my buddy Mike saw me reading a Daredevil issue and was like 'dude, you're supposed to start on the right page and go left.' I felt like such an idiot. I was 12 trades deep into Fables before I figured this out. Has anyone else had a similar brain fart moment with comics?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles541mo ago

I read an article about how manga forced right-to-left reading to become mainstream in the US.

paulperry1mo ago

Wait, you were reading left to right? Like a regular book? Bro, that's wild lmao. But honestly, I can see how that would happen if nobody ever told you. So tell me, did you ever get to a big plot twist or reveal that just made zero sense because you were reading the panels backwards? I gotta know if any major story beats got completely scrambled for you.

wadea531mo ago

Nah, I gotta push back a little on that. Actually reading the panels backwards didn't scramble anything for me because most manga still sets up the same basic story beats even if you miss some visual cues. Like sure, I probably got some action sequences confused but the big plot twists and reveals still landed because they're usually spelled out in the dialogue or narration anyway. The real problem was more about missing small character reactions or the flow of a fight scene, not the huge story moments. And honestly, once I figured out I was doing it wrong, it kind of made me appreciate how well those artists design their pages for left-to-right reading even when it's supposed to go the other way.