Ultimate Marvel Reading Order

[Plawsky]

Here is a pretty good (though still not perfect) reading order for anyone interested in reading through the Ultimate Universe "in order." It is not a timeline. The books are in chronological order as much as possible, but there are instances where it makes more sense not to read them that way (the Ultimate Thor miniseries is the best example of this). It is also not necessarily in publication order. It's just in an order that seems to work. Post if you have any questions about or corrections to the list.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1-7 - Power & Responsibility
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #1-3
Ultimate Spider-Man #8-13 - Learning Curve
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #4-8
Ultimate X-Men #1-6, #1/2 - The Tomorrow People
Ultimate Spider-Man #14-21 - Double Trouble
Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra
Ultimate Elektra - Devil's Due
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9-16
Ultimate X-Men #7-12 - Return to Weapon X
Ultimate X-Men #13-14 - You Always Remember Your First Love
Ultimate X-Men #15 - A Different World Is Possible
Ultimate X-Men #16-20 - World Tour
The Ultimates #1-6 - Super Human
Ultimate Spider-Man #22-27 - Legacy
Ultimate Spider-man Super Special
Ultimate Spider-man #28-32 - Public Scrutiny
The Ultimates #7-13 - Homeland Security
Ultimate Spider-Man #33-39 - Venom
Ultimate X-Men #21-27 - Hellfire and Brimstone
Ultimate War
Ultimate X-Men #28-33 - Return of the King
Ultimate Spider-Man #40-45 - Irresponsible
Ultimate Spider-Man #½
Ultimate X-Men #34-39 - Blockbuster
Ultimate Spider-Man #47-53 - Cats and Kings
Ultimate Adventures
Ultimate Spider-Man #46 (Prelude to Six)
Ultimate Six
Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-6 - The Fantastic
Ultimate Spider-Man #54-59 - Hollywood
Ultimate X-Men #40-45 - New Mutants
Ultimate Fantastic Four #7-12 - Doom
Ultimate X-Men #46-49 - The Tempest
Ultimate Spider-Man #60-65 - Carnage
Ultimate Fantastic Four #13-18 - N-Zone
Ultimate Fantastic Four #19-20 - Think Tank
Ultimate Spider-Man #66-71 - Superstars
Ultimate X-Men #50-53 - Cry Wolf
Ultimate Fantastic Four #21-23 - Crossover
Ultimate Fantastic Four #24-26 - Tomb of Namor
Ultimate Spider-Man #72-78 - Hobgoblin
Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1
Ultimate Fantastic Four #27-29 - President Thor
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30-32 - Frightful
Ultimate Spider-Man #79-85 - Warriors
Ultimate X-Men #54-57 - The Most Dangerous Game
Ultimate X-Men #58 - A Hard Lesson
Ultimate X-Men #59-60 - Shock and Awe
Ultimate Gah Lak Tus Trilogy
-Ultimate Nightmare
-Ultimate Secret
-Ultimate Vision #0
-Ultimate Extinction
Ultimate Vision
The Ultimates 2 #1-6 - Gods and Monsters
The Ultimates Annual #1
Ultimate X-Men Annual #1
Ultimate X-Men #61-65 - Magnetic North
Ultimate X4
Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #86-90 - Silver Sable
Ultimate Spider-Man #91-94 - Deadpool
Ultimate X-Men #66-68 - Date Night
Ultimate X-Men #69-71 - Phoenix?
Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk
The Ultimates 2 #7-13 - Grand Theft America
The Ultimates 2 Annual
Ultimate X-Men #72-74 - Magical
Ultimate X-Men Annual #2
Ultimate Fantastic Four #33-38 - God War
Ultimate Spider-Man #95-96 - Morbius
Ultimate X-Men #75-78 - Cable
Ultimate X-Men #79-80 - Aftermath
Ultimate Spider-Man #97-105 - Clone Saga
Ultimate X-Men #81 - Cliffhanger
Ultimate X-Men #82-83 - The Underneath
Ultimate X-Men #84-85 - Sentinels
Ultimate Fantastic Four #39-41 - Devils
Ultimate Fantastic Four #42-46 - Silver Surfer
Ultimate Fantastic Four #47-49 - Ghosts
Ultimate Power
Ultimate Human
Ultimate Captain America Annual
Ultimate Hulk Annual
The Ultimates 3 - Who Killed the Scarlet Witch?
Ultimate Fantastic Four #50-53 - Four Cubed
Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2
Ultimate Spider-Man #106-110 - Ultimate Knights
Ultimate Spider-Man #111 - The Talk
Ultimate Spider-Man #112-117 - Death of a Goblin
Ultimate X-Men #89 - Shadow King
Ultimate X-Men #90-93 - Apocalypse
Ultimate Spider-Man #118-120 - And His Amazing Friends
Ultimate Spider-man Annual #3
Ultimate Spider-Man #121 - Omega Red
Ultimate Spider-Man #122 - The Worst Day in Peter Parker's Life
Ultimate Spider-Man #123-128 - War of the Symbiotes
Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2
Ultimate Fantastic Four #54-57 - Salem's Seven
Ultimate X-Men #94-97 - Absolute Power
Ultimate Fantastic Four + X-Men Annual #1
Ultimate X-Men + Fantastic Four Annual #1
Ultimate Origins
Ultimatum
-Ultimate Spider-man #129
-Ultimatum #1
-Ultimate Spider-man #130
-Ultimate Fantastic Four #58
-Ultimate X-Men #98
-Ultimatum #2
-Ultimate Spider-man #131
-Ultimate Fantastic Four #59
-Ultimate X-Men #99
-Ultimatum #3
-Ultimate Spider-man #132
-Ultimate Fantastic Four #60
-Ultimate X-Men #100
-Ultimatum #4
-Ultimate Spider-man #133
-Ultimatum #5
-Ultimate Fantastic Four Requiem
-Ultimate X-Men Requiem
-Ultimate Spider-man Requiem

POST-ULTIMATUM!

Ultimate Armor Wars
Ultimate X
Ultimate Spider-man #1-6 - The World According to Peter Parker
Ultimate Avengers - The Next Generation
Ultimate Spider-man #7-8 - Crossroad
Ultimate Avengers 2 - Crime & Punishment
Ultimate Spider-man #9-14 - Chameleons
Ultimate Doomsday
-Ultimate Enemy
-Ultimate Mystery
-Ultimate Doom
Ultimate Captain America
New Ultimates
Ultimate Thor
Ultimate Spider-man #15, #150-155 - Death of Spider-man Prelude
Ultimate Avengers 3 - Blade vs. the Avengers
Death of Spider-man
-Ultimate Spider-man #156-160
-Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates

Ultimate Fallout

POST DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN
Ultimate Spider-man #1-5 - Who is Miles Morales?
Ultimates #1-4 - The Republic is Burning
Ultimate Hawkeye #1-4
Ultimate X-Men #1-6
Ultimates #5-6 - The World
Ultimate Spider-man #6-12
Ultimates #7-12 - Two Cities, Two Worlds
Ultimate X-Men #7-12
Spider-Men #1-5

DIVIDED WE FALL, UNTIED WE STAND
-Ultimate X-Men #13-14 (#13 is the prelude)
-Ultimates #13-14
-Ultimate Spider-Man #13-14
-Ultimate X-Men #15
-Ultimates #15
-Ultimate Spider-Man #15-16
-Ultimates #16
-Ultimate X-Men #16-17
-Ultimate Spider-Man #17
-Ultimates #17-18
-Ultimate X-Men #18
-Ultimate X-Men #18.1 (DWF/UWS X-Men Epilogue)
-Ultimate Spider-Man #18 (DWF/UWS Spider-Man Epilogue)
-Ultimates #18.1 (DWF/UWS Ultimates Epilogue)


POST DIVIDED WE FALL, UNTIED WE STAND
Ultimate Comics Iron Man #1-4
Ultimate X-Men #19-22: Reservation X
Ultimates #19-24: Reconstruction
Ultimate Spider-Man #16.1, 18-23: Venom Wars

TO BE DETERMINED
Because these arcs have yet to come out where they take place is currently unknown. As of now their story arc's name is known and when we know how long each story arc will be, I will update the issue number.

Ultimate Comics Wolverine #1-4: Legacies
Ultimate X-Men #23-28: Natural Resources
Ultimates #25-??: Ultimates Disassembled
Ultimate Spider-Man #24-??: Spider-Man No More[/QUOTE]


*The Post-DoSM issue orders are not perfect. Since most of these take place simultaneously, it's impossible to keep the timeline if they are grouped by arc, which I think flows better than jumping back and forth issue-to-issue. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

**Ultimate Iron Man I and II are no longer canon. They are now only a TV show within the Universe. As such, you can read them at any point in time.

Note: As you may have noticed, I've taken down the Ultimate Encyclopedia for now. It was sitting in an unfinished state that turned out not to be as helpful as I had initially hoped. But don't worry, I'm still working on something. It might be a while, though.

[MrV]

I have some proofreading to help you improve your reading list.

The Ultimates #1 would come first in the list since it shows Captain America during World War Two. Ultimate Origins technically takes place in the present and does flashbacks to the past via Watcher Uatu and Susan Storm, so you can leave it where it is.

Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra and Ultimate Elektra: Devil's Due predate Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #6 by several years story-wise.

You're also missing Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special #1 (epilogue to Ultimate Marvel Team-Up), which would coincide with The Ultimates Vol. 1 #3 and come after Ultimate Adventures. So I would put it between The Ultimates #3 and #4 since it shows what happened after the last page of Ultimates #3 when Captain America is introduced to the public.

Ultimate Adventures takes place between The Ultimates Vol. 1 #3-4 (the Ultimates guest star in UA #3-4 and show Hank Pym as Giant Man, and as we know he stops being a member of the team after Ultimates #5-6). Also, Hawk-Owl cameos in Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special, placing the miniseries before the Super Special and before The Ultimates #4.

Ultimate Human #1-4 and the Ultimate Captain America Annual come before The Ultimates 3. The one I'm not sure of is Ultimate Hulk Annual.

Ultimate Fantastic Four ANNUAL #2 takes place before the Salem Seven story arc, since it shows the Nursery Two Think Tank living underground when the Hydra monster/Agatha Harkness attacks.

Oh yeah and UC: Thor #1-4, even though it is post-Ultimatum, it would go between The Ultimates #4 and #5. You can place it in the list of pre-Ultimatum and write in parenthesis it was published post-Ultimatum.

[horsehead]

Where do Ultimate Iron Man I & II go? And what about the Hulk and Cap America annuals?

[MrV]

Where do Ultimate Iron Man I & II go? And what about the Hulk and Cap America annuals?

Ultimate Iron Man I & II are no longer in continuity, thanks to Mark Millar. So those two can go anywhere and won't make a difference.

I already answered for the Ultimate Captain America Annual in my post. I'm still not sure about Ultimate Hulk Annual.

[AaronJS]

The Death of Spider-Man story ran at the same time as Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates. Which order would those issues be in?

[MrV]

The Death of Spider-Man story ran at the same time as Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates. Which order would those issues be in?

Well we know Issue #3 of AVNU coincides with USM #157 that's our reference point.

I got it! Here:

Issues #1-2 of AVNU can take place first, since it shows the team away on that mission where they meet The Mimic and discovering the betrayal. Next in order are USM #156-157. Then comes AVNU #3-4, since they elaborate on Spidey getting shot at. Then we go to USM #158-160, and finally AVNU #5-6, which already show the news of Peter dying.

[Chaos_Alfa]

Well we know Issue #3 of AVNU coincides with USM #157 that's our reference point.

I got it! Here:

Issues #1-2 of AVNU can take place first, since it shows the team away on that mission where they meet The Mimic and discovering the betrayal. Next in order are USM #156-157. Then comes AVNU #3-4, since they elaborate on Spidey getting shot at. Then we go to USM #158-160, and finally AVNU #5-6, which already show the news of Peter dying.

Maybe you should leave out some of those spoilers. AaronJS maybe not have read DoSM yet, which is the reason he asking for the reading order.

[Rasputin9977]

Ultimate Iron Man I & II are no longer in continuity, thanks to Mark Millar. So those two can go anywhere and won't make a difference.

I already answered for the Ultimate Captain America Annual in my post. I'm still not sure about Ultimate Hulk Annual.

I haven't bought UU titles because of the price. How were these two minis written out of continuity?

[wyokid]

I haven't bought UU titles because of the price. How were these two minis written out of continuity?

They are turned into a cartoon that War Machine voiced when he was younger.

[Plawsky]

Thanks for your updates. I realized I posted an older version of the order that was missing a few books; it's been updated.

The Ultimates #1 would come first in the list since it shows Captain America during World War Two. Ultimate Origins technically takes place in the present and does flashbacks to the past via Watcher Uatu and Susan Storm, so you can leave it where it is.

Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra and Ultimate Elektra: Devil's Due predate Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #6 by several years story-wise.

This is where reading order and timeline differ. Reading Ultimate Origins first obviously makes no sense. Reading Daredevil and Elektra early could work, but I think it's much better to start with Ultimate Spider-man. Not only was it the true beginning to the Universe, it's also more likely to spark an interest to read everything than a pair of miniseries that aren't really related to the rest of the books.

Oh yeah and UC: Thor #1-4, even though it is post-Ultimatum, it would go between The Ultimates #4 and #5. You can place it in the list of pre-Ultimatum and write in parenthesis it was published post-Ultimatum.

That's again an issue of timeline vs reading order. I like having it with the post-Ultimatum books, because that's when it was released. And, at the very least, it would have to be after Ultimates 2, because it would ruin Thor's character arc if you read it before finishing Millar's Ultimates.

[MrV]

Daredevil and Elektra do relate to Ultimate Spider-Man, since the two characters appeared regularly there. But I get what you mean. This is mainly for first time readers, right?

Reading Daredevil and Elektra early could work, but I think it's much better to start with Ultimate Spider-man. Not only was it the true beginning to the Universe, it's also more likely to spark an interest to read everything than a pair of miniseries that aren't really related to the rest of the books.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

Issue #31 of Ultimate Spidey, titled "Black Van" shows an appearance by Wasp, using her maiden name rather than Janet Pym. Based on chronology, it could take place before The Ultimates #5-6, or in between the events of Issue #6, before Jan gets beaten by Hank. Or if we go based on her using her maiden name then it takes place after the final battle against the Chitauri in The Ultimates #13.

[Plawsky]

Daredevil and Elektra do relate to Ultimate Spider-Man, since the two characters appeared regularly there. But I get what you mean. This is mainly for first time readers, right?

I know they relate to it, but there's no benefit to reading those any earlier. You would never tell someone "Hey, you should read through the Ultimate Universe - start with this book about Daredevil and Elektra!" Starting with Spidey just makes more sense.

Issue #31 of Ultimate Spidey, titled "Black Van" shows an appearance by Wasp, using her maiden name rather than Janet Pym. Based on chronology, it could take place before The Ultimates #5-6, or in between the events of Issue #6, before Jan gets beaten by Hank. Or if we go based on her using her maiden name then it takes place after the final battle against the Chitauri in The Ultimates #13.

I actually put it after #6 for just that reason. While it's most likely a mistake by Bendis, it makes sense that she would stop using her married name after he beats her.

[MrV]

Hey, Plawsky! Got another one to help out!

In post-Ultimatum, Avengers: The Next Generation (UCA #1-6) would take place before Spider-Man: The New World According to Peter Parker (UCSM #1-6).

UC: Avengers #1 takes place three weeks after Ultimatum, most likely during or after the events of Armor Wars.

UC: Spider-Man #1 takes place six months after Ultimatum, a long time after the tragedy, and shows New York fully rebuilt and prosperous.

[Plawsky]

Hey, Plawsky! Got another one to help out!

In post-Ultimatum, Avengers: The Next Generation (UCA #1-6) would take place before Spider-Man: The New World According to Peter Parker (UCSM #1-6).

UC: Avengers #1 takes place three weeks after Ultimatum, most likely during or after the events of Armor Wars.

UC: Spider-Man #1 takes place six months after Ultimatum, a long time after the tragedy, and shows New York fully rebuilt and prosperous.

Yeah, I think I just put USM there to break up the Avengers books. Neither one really gets in the way of the other, I just like switching back and forth between arcs when possible.

[Hostile_17]

Where would you place Ultimate X??