Better investment: classic or current?

[Hulk_Is]

Both classic and current. Like others have said, the old stuff can be dated, but there's still awesome stuff there. And there's also cool stuff happening in the new books that don't necessarily require you know the old stuff. Personally, I like having both because you learn so much more in a highly satisfactory way.

[Brannon]

I think choosing to read the essential storylines is almost always the best bet. First, most of those essential stories are from the late 70'as and 80's, with a far more "contemporary" feel than some of the 60's stuff. Personally I love Marvel's Silver Age. It should be dated...it's 50 years old! That being said, my favorite Marvel era is 1977-1984. I suggest you start with the essential stuff from this era perhaps going back as far as the Kree/Skrull war in the early 70's. If you love these saga's, you can then go backward or forward as suits your interest.

[Aziz Abbasi]

Check the recommended stories before anything else

Um, both. There are good classic stories and there are some good modern ones.

This

If you're just looking to read, I'd look into Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

It's annoying, but vast and cheap.

The previous version is very annoying, this update is pretty comfy


I'll state one issue with lots of classic comics, they state the obvious, they show something like a hand pressing on a button with 'ALARM' written on top of it, and the commentary bubble has "And the poor freighted man presses the alarm button"

Each era has its share of good and bad stories, and against common belief -or at least some think this way- all eras recycle stories, even movies recycle stories, so I hope it doesn't go to you more than a nitpick

[Destro777]

Its tough getting into the old stuff without having at least a little nostagic connection for the classics in my opinion. Modern comics are just that: modern, current, and frankly very high quality if you know where to look - find the right one for your taste and they rival or surpass any show or movie out there. I would go the trade paperback route on certain acclaimed modern runs of the characters you are interested in. Do some research and read reviews.

Best of the Modern Marvel IMO: Bendis Daredevil, Brubaker's Cap, Morrison's New XMen, Priest's Black Panther, Jones' Hulk, Hickman's Fantastic Four, Ellis' Thunderbolts, Fraction's Ironman, Huston's Moon Knight, Aaron's Ghost Rider, Aaron's Wolverine, Gaiman's 1602.

[Grapeweasel]

C
The previous version is very annoying, this update is pretty comfy

There's been a bad tendency lately to skip issues in short series, and there are too many examples where they don't give you the complete comic.

That's what I meant by annoying.