I would say that comic books are one of the mythologies of our time. I would think of them similarly to Greek/Roman myths, in terms of scope and complexity. You can gain a surface understanding of the myths or you can delve deeper. I don't actually read comic books so much as Wikipedia, but I guess I do have a fair working knowledge of some aspects of comics. You can get really deep into it and obscure characters. Another easy way (in other words, not mentally challenging) way to get into comics is to watch the series. I'm a huge X-Men fan but most of my X-Men knowledge derives from watching what's been available on Netflix (and yes, sometimes the graphics are really awful but for the love of it you stick through) and reading on Wikipedia. Comic books themselves are a bit much of an investment and I don't know where to start. Although, there is a comic book store relatively near me, and people have told me I woudl like Swamp Thing...
I've never been so well described in my life.The character is a humanoid mass of vegetable matter who fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats.