The new #1s

[Darman456]

Now that the volumes for Ultimates, X-Men and, of course, Spider-Man, should I get them? And I know you guys are going to say yes, so hear me out first. I haven't read much of the original Ultimates books nor much of the X-Men. I have all of Peter's run as Spider-Man from the UU, though. I was just wondering if I should pick up with these titles or get all of the X-Men and Ultimates before I move forward... (PS I do know what happens in these books because I do go on the Wikia for Marvel to know what happened)

[wyokid]

Yes and you don't have to read any of the older stuff.

[Darman456]

Yes and you don't have to read any of the older stuff.

Thanks!
10char

[Wolverine12]

Reading the old stuff isn't essential, but it is definitely worth it. If money is an issue than you can base it on what characters and writers you like best.

[Wellman]

Now that the volumes for Ultimates, X-Men and, of course, Spider-Man, should I get them? And I know you guys are going to say yes, so hear me out first. I haven't read much of the original Ultimates books nor much of the X-Men. I have all of Peter's run as Spider-Man from the UU, though. I was just wondering if I should pick up with these titles or get all of the X-Men and Ultimates before I move forward... (PS I do know what happens in these books because I do go on the Wikia for Marvel to know what happened)

I'm not reading Ultimate X-Men so I can't speak to you on how accessible that is, but you can easily get into Ultimate Spider=man without having picked up any of the previous volumes.

Ultimates is a little more tricky as you have to know a little bit about the ultimate universe to jump in and understand everything as it moves at a breakneck pace but if you are looking for big action and world changing antics, you should be able to come in at issue one and get what the players are all about.

[RockyBanks]

The Ultimates is pretty accessible. There are a few pieces of setup that are never explained in the book, but the book moves at such a breakneck pace that there's no time to explain, and it probably won't bother you.

In case you get started and begin to wonder, Doomsday explains how/why Reed Richards became a villain, and Fallout explains why Captain America left the Ultimates.

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X-Men, on the other hand, is very heavily dependent on past material. Nick Spencer does the best he can to cover the mutants' history in issue #1 through heavy exposition, but a lot is lost in the process.

IMO, X-Men #1 is confusing without Origins, Ultimatum, and X.

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Not that this is a problem for you, having read all of its predecessors, but Spider-Man is 100% new-reader-friendly. Going in, you really don't need to know anything about Ultimate Spidey except that the first one died. Everything else is relatively self-contained.

[Darman456]

Thank you everyone for your feedback!