I read western comics when I could find them as a kid, it really wasn't that hard to keep up. When a character showed up who wasn't around for a million issues, there was usually an author's note explaining. I read most of the green lantern blackest night comics as a kid without any knowledge of what was going on, and mostly followed it fine. It made more sense as I got access to more of the comics that set it up, but I still knew bright green guys need to fight grey and black guys with help of the rest of the rainbow, simple enough.
Right? Psylocke shows up and you know what she does - "this is the focused totality of my psychic power!"
Only weak nerds who worry how Monkey D. Luffy will win this fight need to read everything in linear order.
I read western comics when I could find them as a kid, it really wasn't that hard to keep up. When a character showed up who wasn't around for a million issues, there was usually an author's note explaining. I read most of the green lantern blackest night comics as a kid without any knowledge of what was going on, and mostly followed it fine. It made more sense as I got access to more of the comics that set it up, but I still knew bright green guys need to fight grey and black guys with help of the rest of the rainbow, simple enough.