Markers - what are alcohol and copic markers?

[colourdilemma]

I've just started looking at using stamps to make cards. In most of the mags and things I look at they talk about Copic markers and alcohol markers and I'm confused about what to buy. The pro markers I've looked at seem popular but I wonder if I can buy cheaper. I also can't work out whether copic markers are referred to because they're a totally different thing or because they're a brand being promoted.
Very confused-and don't want to make an expensive mistake. Can I get away with coloured pencils or should I invest? If so, what would any experienced folk recommend as a basic starter kit?
Thanks!

Copic markers, ciao marker, pro markers, spectrum noir (to name a few) are all alcohol markers.
Copics, ciao and sketch markers are pretty pricey and some people don't get on with them so I wouldn't recommend them as a starter pen.
Spectrum Noirs are pretty good and probably the cheapest decent ones you will get. Pro and flex markers are really good too and these are my personal preferences.
You will need to make sure you get some bleed proof card to use with alcohol markers though, they will bleed out with normal card.
I would recommend starting with a flesh range and set of basic colours. You can layer the colours up until you get a bigger range to get the depth of colour, shadows and highlights.
There's some great videos out there showin different techniques in IME the techniques are pretty much same regardless of which brand you use.
Happy colouring.