Marvel Recommendations Megathread

[DaeJi]

This tread has a lot of good info: http://forums.comicbookresources.com...d.php?t=181714

[hemlock]

I read that whole thread before I made my post. It really didn't answer any of my questions.

[Crimson]

You say lame alot.

The majority of comics today aren't aimed at children, so dialogue wise you'll be fine... aim for Teen and up stuff and you'll be fine.

Ultimate Spider-Man is the ultimate title I would recommend. One of the best titles in the past 10 years... has a bad period at about 60-80 but still better then most.

Timelines don't match up exactly but there are in about the same timeframe. Weeks or a couple of months apart at the most unless otherwise stated.

Astonishing X-Men is the best X-Men title. That's pretty easy to get as its collected in trade paper backs.

Hulk is good. I recommend you go out and get the Planet Hulk hardcover and that will give you the last year of Hulk and its the best Hulk has been in a long time.

Fantastic Four still underwhelms me but someone else will help you with that.

For Spider-Man I recommend Amazing Spider-Man. All the stuff under the current writer is collected in trades.

[DaeJi]

Hmmm.. well, none of the regular Marvel universe stories are written in a childish style. Only the Marvel adventure line is for children.

[Lord Altruist]

Thanks for the input everybody. I broke down and bought book one of Annihilation today and I'm eagerly waiting to dive into it tonight.

A little update: Last night, as a sampler, I read Annihilation #1, (yeah I was a little lost since the story starts in Drax and Nova, but I wanted a sample) Astonishing X-Men #1, and Doctor Strange: The Oath #1 at Marvel.com (I had no idea until recently that Marvel offered these digital comics. Great idea.)

All three where fabulous. I was particularly impressed with Dr. Strange. It seems to me that Marvel is expanding back into a more eclectic range of titles similar to their 70's and early 80's line. (I'm 29...but I do remember the early to mid 80's comics. That's when I started.) I think I might get the Civil War 1-7 trade just to get the gist of the story. I know it's not "traditional" but I'm pretty open-minded these days. I'm at the point where I want something new, and as long as it mixes innovation with at least a nod to tradition, I'll be supportive.

The funny thing is the thing that pushed me over the edge as far as returning to Marvel was a video game--Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Anyone who played that game and is a big Marvel fan like me understands, I'm sure. ;)

[hemlock]

So, Astonishing Xmen is better than Uncanny Xmen? Is there continuity between the 2 books? Like whats the difference?

What I meant about the timelines matching up, is like if I read a whole bunch of xmen, and then started reading earlier hulk stuff would it be weird because I would already know newer marvel universe stuff. Or does it not really make that much difference.

Also is it good to start with the Marvel Essentials or not. Like say I went with incredible hulk. You said to get Planet hulk. Would it be better to read the Hulk Essentials books first? Or likewise with Xmen.

[Boogie]

Planet Hulk is the perfect jumping on point for you. It pretty much explains itself and if you have basica knowledge of the Hulk in general (which i would assume you have to show interest in it), then you will be fine. The only thing you might need to read is New Avengers: Illuminati Special one shot. Which you can read online at marvel.com if you dont want to try and hunt that down. (From my expirence, it's rather pricey at the moment)

Astonishing is an awesome book..as people have said, when it comes out. It doesnt fit right into continuity at this moment, but it will be fixed by the end of the crossover this fall in the X-books. Uncanny (dispite popular opinion) is quite good and the Brunaker rise and fall of Shiar empire arc is also a good place to jump on, though you may want to pick up the X-Men Deadly Genesis Trade as well. I would also suggest all the X titles (maybe not so much New Excalibur, but i still buy it haha), especially X-Factor, but im a X-Fan so its a bit biased.

[DaeJi]

The Essentials aren't needed to get into the Marvel universe; there are plenty of recent stories that are good jumping on points. For the Xmen, I would recommend you read Astonishing as it isn't weighted down by the other books so it is easy to enjoy by itself. Brunaker's run on Uncanny and Carey's run on X-Men have been good and are fairly easy to get into. Planet Hulk is a perfect jumping on point. The Mighty Avengers are new reader friendly, and the Runaways are worth getting into. If you're into space stuff, last years Annihilation is worth the money, and is being followed up this year with a sequel, Annihilation Conquest, that has a Prologue out (you don't need to have read the first Annihilation to get into Conquest).

The great thing about Marvel is that all it's books include a recap page in the front, telling you the origin of the character in a few sentences, then explaining what has recently happened in the title.

[DaeJi]

Glad you enjoyed them! And yeah, I know some people who got into Marvel over that game; can't wait for the sequel!

[notyetbreathing]

this is an interesting question to answer because it is EXACTLY the situation i was in 2 years ago. my only exposure to comics was the few i read as a kid and of course the 90's xmen and spiderman cartoons. well about 2 years ago i was looking for stuff to read at work and i had seen a poster for House of M that seemed interesting cuz at the time i was a huge xmen fan. i was advised to read Avengers:Disassembled before starting House of M so i did and i was hooked from there. i bought the trades for both and then the New Avengers volume 1 trade and i havent stopped since. i'm now a bigger fan of Avengers than XMen. people THINK they are xmen fans but i promise if there was a decent Avengers cartoon in the 90's it would be the other way around.

i dont think its necessary to read the essentials, i suggest just start with disassembled and catch up to current, then pick up stuff that go a bit further back. start with these trades:

Avengers: Disassembled - Scarlet Witch goes insane leading into House of M
New Avengers vol. 1 - new team formed after they disbanded
House of M - changes the status quo of the marvel universe, especially mutants
XMen: The 198 - not essential but a pretty good story
XMen: Deadly Genesis - prequel to last years 12 issue Uncanny arc
Son of M - prequel to Silent War and ties in with X-Factor which is the best new series to come out of House of M
Civil War:XMen - sequel to the 198, only 3 issues so its worth the read
Civil War - pretty much everything else Civil War related, not the best crossover compared to the hype but definately worth reading
Annihilation - with the exception of Silver Surfer, Nova, and Thanos, i had no exposure to anyone in the space area of Marvel but after reading this, it is in my opinion way better than Civil War
Eternals - Neil Gaiman resurrecting Jack Kirbys Marvel version of the New Gods and it is perfection
Sentry - "new" marvel character, currently a part of Mighty Avengers. has a lot of mental problems and is my favorite character right now. there are two Sentry minis and a brief arc in New Avengers (volume 3 i believe), all 3 in trade and all 3 are excellent
Planet Hulk - prequel to World War Hulk of course, i think only in hardcover so far

then after the trades, some of the current good titles out there are:

X-Factor (most under appreciated title in existence)
Astonishing X-Men (joss whedon is awesome)
Uncanny X-Men (pick up the shi'ar arc that just ended)
Thunderbolts (the post-civil war team is great)
Nova (richard rider comes back from annihilation to find how america is post civil war, then leaves lol)
New Avengers (the current flagship title, everything in this book affects the entire marvel universe)
Mighty Avengers (tony starks post civil war line-up, only a few issues out so far but damn if it didnt start out with a bang)

and if you wanna just read things by author, the best in my opinion are Brubaker, Busiek, Bendis, Byrne, Grant Morrison, Joss Whedon... brain fart... too much thinking. but you get the point

there is probably a LOT more but that should last you a couple months.

[MaxofSteel]

If it hasn't been said already, I should mention that if you're turned off by "corny" or "cheesy" dialogue, then the Essentials may not be for you.

Stuff written in the 30's, 40', or 50's would obviously be considered "cheesy" by today's standards.

But if you're interested in reading the Marvel characters' origin stories/early exploits, then the Essentials is the way to go.

Still, I'd say the Essentials stories are fun to read. A friend of mine recently got me into reading Esstentials Vol 3 of the Fantastic Four. It's pretty sweet. :)

[DaeJi]

Except the Marvel Essentials stories were written in the 60's and 70's ;) There is some cheesy dialogue, but I actually found myself enjoying them quite a bit (espeacially the Silver Surfer one; some Stan Lee's best work and I highly recommend it).

[hemlock]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Here is my problem. The sheer number of different books is just off putting. How do you know what to read and in what order. Like some of the books you guys have reccommended as sequels to other books don't even have close to the same name. It's very confusing and overwhelming.

Also with notyetbreathing's TPB suggestions, are those in order or what?

[DaeJi]

Yes, notyetbreathing's TPBs are in order.

[notyetbreathing]

yes i tried to put them in order as well as i could or what was necessary to be in order.

and you are right about the sheer number of titles but the thing with Marvel is that everything ties in to each other somehow. so you can start reading a big name title, then if you see a character you like in there, he or she probably appears in something else that you can check into. like once reading Sentry in New Avengers, i really wanted to read his solo tpb's. but trust me when i say that after reading Disassembled and House of M you will know what you will like and want to read. they pretty much point you where you need to go. i guess thats a quality of any crossover cuz its the same with Civil War and Annihilation