Where to start with Avengers?

**YouthofToday** · 01-17-2010, 07:38 AM

How long have you been out? It might to be easier to recommend starting pointing if we know when you dropped off before.

**XPac** · 01-17-2010, 07:40 AM

The Avengers books are being cancelled... but they're also basically going to restart again after Siege.

I think you could start with Siege, then wait for the new Avenger titles to be launched. And that might actually be an ideal starting point in and of itself.

There's a lot of stuff that happened prior to Siege (Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign), but I don't think it's necessarily impossible to jump into. You might wanna give that a try.

**DzeroDD** · 01-17-2010, 07:57 AM

It wasn't too long ago really. I stopped at about Secret Invasion but have been kind of keeping up a bit, so I know just about what's going on.

Is a new Avenegers book confirmed? No doubts there'll be one, just wondering if it's for definate yet.

Also, where would you rec. for DC?

**Finganforn** · 01-17-2010, 07:59 AM

If you just want to understand the just what is going on "right now", I would say read Thor v3 and up from #600 (book returned to the original numbering at that point) if you're really into the character cause they're worthy and you get to understand his current (and Asgard's) situation right now, but a good resume on the net will do the trick if you just want to understand Siege.

Other than thatjust follow Siege's Checklist. Well, some of the books on that list will certainly be there just to get some extra bucks from us, but we won't be sure which 'till they're published.

Outside Siege, well, pick TPBs of the characters you like and you missed (and it won't hurt reading their reviews first). They may be "old" and some eventually cancelled, but you can certainly find something you will like in there.

**jlmoor** · 01-17-2010, 08:01 AM

I agree with both of the above. Knowing where you left could mean the difference between ‘here’s a synopsis’ and ‘go buy this.’ If you’ve been out for over 10 years (like I was) you may just want to get a run down of the big things and pick up with Siege (including the tie ins) then with whatever the books turn into after Siege. As far as Uncanny X-Men Nation X is a far point (the current arc) but again you may want to back track or get a quick run down as to what is going on. If you were a fan in the 90’s, the Necrosha crossover is pretty fun.

It all depends on how much info you need.
I only get some DC, Blackest Night is freaking huge (50+ books so far in all) and will lead into Brightest Day. There is also cry for justice which I have but have not read. You may want to head over there if we can’t get you the info you need here.

**Ronin1108** · 01-17-2010, 08:45 AM

I say wait until Siege is over, cuz thats when the new status quo kicks off. I cam back in the middle of civil war, and am still backtracking through House of M, Decimation, and other crap..

**god of fear** · 01-17-2010, 09:49 AM

I started with Dark Reign and don't feel the need to back track. I get the gist of what happened before Normans "dark reign".

**god of fear** · 01-17-2010, 09:51 AM

I started with Dark Reign and don't feel the need to back track. I get the gist of what happened before Normans "dark reign".

**ingenuus** · 01-17-2010, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by DzeroDD

Would I be okay reading just the 'Siege' issues (+embedded, Cabal etc. , just no Avengers books), Thunderbolts and Thor, and still be able to understand what's going on in Siege?

normie is in control, is crazy and his reach exceeds his grasp. that sums up most of dark reign leading up to siege, honestly.

the only thing that i think that you need to read, if anything, would be:

*what Finganforn said and hitting up thor 600 on
*iron man worlds most wanted will explain how tony is where he is
*captain america reborn explains how steve gets back.

if you left around secret invasion, those are the only things that might explain the "what the hell, that is diff" for big characters in siege. if i am wrong on that, i am sure someone will politely correct me

now, having said that, there is a lot of really cool stuff to read that is not really vital, but that fleshes stuff out a lot more that you can read to explain how dark reign changed the landscape of everything.

**CaptainOtter** · 01-17-2010, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by DzeroDD

It wasn't too long ago really. I stopped at about Secret Invasion but have been kind of keeping up a bit, so I know just about what's going on.

Is a new Avenegers book confirmed? No doubts there'll be one, just wondering if it's for definate yet.

Also, where would you rec. for DC?

The Avengers are absolutely getting a new book. Marvel hasn't confirmed how many books there will be or what they will be about, but in every interview Bendis has talked about the future of the franchise. So yeah, fans are 100% certain the Avengers will still be around. And issues you pick up right now will be tie-ins to Siege, so you don't have to read them. You could just read Siege and then pick up whatever ongoing emerges from the event.

For DC, Green Lantern has been amazing. But if you do choose to read this, I would pick up earlier trades so you can have a better understanding of whats going on. There are plenty of threads on the DC universe boards that deal with exactly that problem, so they can give you some great advice. Also, Secret Six is fun comic about a team of villains. It's kind of messed up, but it's very good. And alot of people like Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin. I'm not a fan, but it sells really well and gets a high amount of praise.

**nightwing45** · 01-17-2010, 12:50 PM

New Avengers has the real film like feel, so if you like movies by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Sam Fuller, and Quentin Tarantino - then you'll enjoy New Avengers, and all of the Bendis related Avengers works.

If you prefer a more novelistic sort of reading with heavy wordage than you'll want the old stuff by Jim Shooter, Kurt Busiek, John Byrne, Bob Harras, Steve Englehart, etc.

Or, if you like full octane blockbusters that are light on wordage, more on action and special effects, and gore, than Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates 1 and Ultimates 2 will be more to your tastes.

Ultimates 1 and Ultimates 2, however, take place in a divergent universe.

**BrightestDay** · 01-17-2010, 01:09 PM

I'd recommend picking up New Avengers in trade from the first volume "Breakout". I was relatively new to the Avengers as well when I first picked it up, having read Spider-Man and X-books instead, and I really love the Avengers now. Bendis gets a lot of hate on these boards from some corners but I've loved the entire run.

Plus it's pretty new reader friendly, IMO.

**Plawsky** · 01-17-2010, 01:26 PM

It depends on how much you want to read. I was in the same situation a few months ago. Here's what I would suggest you do, if you're willing to do a good amount of reading. Basically it takes you through the past several years of the main marvel universe (which, to me, revolves around Avengers titles). There are several events along the way, which you could probably read without the in between issues, but that's up to you.

-Start with Avengers Disassembled (Avengers #500-503).
-New Avengers #1-15.
-House of M mini-series (could be skipped, but it's a really good story and it has some relevance with the New Avengers)
-New Avengers #16-20, Annual 1
-Civil War mini-series and New Avengers tie-ins (NA #21-25)
-Read Mighty Avenges #1-11, New Avengers #26-39, Avengers: The Initiative #1-13 and the New Avengers: Illuminati mini-series
-Also start reading Thunderbolts at #110-121, since these characters become important later.
-Secret invasion mini-series and Avengers tie-ins (NA #40-47, MA #12-20, A:I #14-19, Thunderbolts #122-125)
-Read NA, MA, and A:I from that point to present, as well as Dark Avengers which starts right after SI.
-Read Utopia cross over (Dark Avengers #7-8, Uncanny X-Men #513-514, as well as 2 one-shots)

That would get you pretty much caught up to right now and ready to read Siege which started coming out this month. If that sounds like more reading that you'd want to do, or you're not too concerned about "completionism" and reading all you can, then you could probably start with the Avengers reboot post-siege.

You can also definitely not read all the titles I listed. Thunderbolts and Avengers: The Initiative could definitely be dropped without losing too much. And like I said earlier, you could probably just read the events and still get the idea. If you just want one title to read, I would suggest New Avengers. It's got 60 issues + 3 annuals so far, so it wouldn't take too long to get caught up.

Again, this is a lot of reading, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want to do it - it's taken me a couple of months, but I'm really glad I did it.

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The Ultimates by Mark Millar that a few people have mentioned are also very good books. I'm not sure how much you know about comic book universes and canon at this point, but those books are in a completely separate continuity (Marvel's Ultimate Universe) from the main continuity (known as Earth-616). Same characters, but different universe. Still very much worth reading, but they won't really help you for knowledge on upcoming 616 avengers books.

That may have been more information than you were looking for, but I hope it helped.