Civil War Chronologically

[Goblin King]

Hi guys, I've been reading Astonishing X-Men for a while but I wanted to check out the Civil War thing. But where to begin? Does it go in any chronological order? I see different #s, volumes and characters(i.e. - spiderman, x-men, iron man etc.) I don't where to start.

[TradePaperbackTraitor]

Hi guys, I've been reading Astonishing X-Men for a while but I wanted to check out the Civil War thing. But where to begin? Does it go in any chronological order? I see different #s, volumes and characters(i.e. - spiderman, x-men, iron man etc.) I don't where to start.

Buy the Civil War TPB. It's all you really need. You can read the peripheral storylines that were basically published in all the major books of the time, but unlike some crossover events, you really can grasp (and enjoy) the entire event in the mini-series alone.

[Expletive Deleted]

There are some ludicrously extensive "reading orders" out there, but TradePaperbackTraitor is right. Read the main CIVIL WAR mini-series, and then check out the rest in whatever order suits you.

[Goblin King]

Oh, ok then. Thank you both.

[Sijo]

Well, that's not exactly correct. Sure, the miniseries DOES work as a self contained story. But there's stuff that it should have covered but doesn't; for example, what the hell happened with Nitro? He blows up an entire town and he doesn't even get chased by the heroes?? You need to read the WOLVERINE CW crossover issues to find out. And there's stuff that is DIRECTLY contradicted by the crossovers (such as the Negative Zone prison being inhumane, Stark deciding not to give the incarcerated prisoners trials, or who it was who started the Iron Man/Spider-Man battle.) So no, if you read just the trade you're not getting the whole story. You CAN enjoy it by itself, but there are important facts left out. (blame poor editorial coordination.)