Marvel Comics. Where to start?

[heman0420]

Hello. I never read comics as a child. My son is starting to read and I would like to read comics with him. I would love to start from the beginning. I know Marvel has released Marvel Masterworks that has collections of Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc. I know that there different story lines and all that. Is there some sort of Comic Database? I want to read everything I can based on release dates. If I start with Spider-Man for instance, I want to read as much of his story I can from the beginning. Any direction would be appreciated. Thank you.

[mightytev]

Marvel also do Essentials, black and white reprints of all comics. Grab the first few volumes of whatever characters you fancy!

Although if I were you, I'd avoid trying to be so completist. There are a lot of good comics in the early years of Marvel, but a lot of it hasn't aged well, and you don't need to read all of it to understand current comics. Just look for trade paperbacks of storylines that take your fancy.

[Telos]

Hi, welcome to the CBR forums! It's always great to have new users.

There are DVD-ROMs you can buy that collect about 500 comics each on a few discs to play on your computer. They're not cheap - around $250 new - but considering the amount of issues they collect they're relatively good value for money, especially if you buy them pre-owned. These will catch you up from the origins all the way to the mid-2000s, when these discs were produced. Here are links to the DVD-ROMs for:

Amazing Spider-Man
Fantastic Four
X-Men
Invincible Iron Man
Incredible Hulk
Avengers
Captain America

They're really about as complete as you can get. As long as you don't mind reading them on a computer screen, they're a real treat and an easy way to catch up on the entire histories of these characters.

If you don't want to read them on a computer, I'd take mightytev's advice and try not to be so completist. Not only has a lot of it not aged well, a lot of it hasn't been reprinted before, which makes it very costly and time consuming to hunt down all the issues in between. So if you want to stick to actual physical comic books, I'd advise to pick up a character's origin story and then try to find some good modern stories to read. For example:

Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four vol 1 (origin)
Fantastic Four vol 1 by Jonathan Hickman (modern story)
Fantastic Four vol 2 by Jonathan Hickman
Fantastic Four vol 3 by Jonathan Hickman
Fantastic Four vol 4 by Jonathan Hickman

Then you could go back and read some of the classic stories in between, but skip over everything that's irrelevant, uncollected, boring or just plain bad. If you're having trouble deciding what to buy, just do a Google search for "best Thor stories", or whichever character/team you're interested in.

If you've got any questions don't hesitate to ask - I know from experience that it can be intimidating to start reading comics for the first time.

[Iron Maiden]

I think a lot depends on the age of your son. The current stuff might be above his reading level. Marvel did put out the Marvel Adventures line for younger readers but it's not considered to be in continuity.

[heman0420]

Thanks for all the great input. My son is 5, soon to be 6. I figured I would be doing most of the reading, but I just wanted a way to get him more into reading than I was as a kid. I figured I would have him pick his favorite character/team and go from there. I thought Marvel Masterworks might be the way to go, but I think I am going to purchase the Marvel Digital Comic subscription. I am a bit worried that they don't have all the comics though. I hope they will add to it later. Like for Sipider-Man, they have 1-111, then it jumps around a lot missing volumes. Same goes for all the big ones. I am sure I can evetually fill the gap somewhere.

[Telos]

Thanks for all the great input. My son is 5, soon to be 6. I figured I would be doing most of the reading, but I just wanted a way to get him more into reading than I was as a kid. I figured I would have him pick his favorite character/team and go from there. I thought Marvel Masterworks might be the way to go, but I think I am going to purchase the Marvel Digital Comic subscription. I am a bit worried that they don't have all the comics though. I hope they will add to it later. Like for Sipider-Man, they have 1-111, then it jumps around a lot missing volumes. Same goes for all the big ones. I am sure I can evetually fill the gap somewhere.

No worries!

Ah. In that case, I'd suggest the Marvel Adventures line. It's an all-ages series of Marvel titles - when I say all-ages, I don't mean "for little kids", I mean all ages. It's designed to be really new reader friendly, but still well written so adults can enjoy it too. A lot of it is available for free on Marvel Digital Comics if you want to check it out before purchase.

Fantastic Four
Avengers
Hulk
Spider-Man
Iron Man

If your son is that young, I would actually steer clear from mainstream comics until he's a little older. It's a misconception that comic books are for young kids. Especially in recent times, some comics use shock value tactics like gore to increase tension. There are also many comic book concepts he simply won't be able to understand - reality warping, time paradoxes, cosmic entities. Even I occasionally have trouble wrapping my head around them.

For the time being, stick to the Marvel Adventures line - they're less confusing, easier to get into and targeted at an all-ages audience. You won't find any questionable content and it'll hopefully be easier for him to understand.

[Iron Maiden]

The Marvel Digital is a great way to sample. I think you will get some good value out of your sub.

Has your son watched any of the cartoons? My nieces and nephews love the Superhero Squad show. They are 6 and they play the online game version of it too. It's all decked out for the Avengers movie tie-in. Loki has made a mess of the place.

[heman0420]

I don't want to gloat and say my son is genius or anything, but he has a good grasp of concepts that I would think young kids would have difficulty with. I will just say he played Portal 2 and beat it with little to no help. Anyways, I will for sure check all that stuff out. Thank you.

[linkspirit97]

If you want to start from the begining, perhaps pick up some 'Season One' volumes? They tell the orgin of the heroes and although reviews have been mixed they do lead into current series.