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[QUOTE=jb681131;3967510]I was in the same situation as you. So I asked and mostly searched by myself and here are a few small to medium size books I would recommand:
[B]ORIGINE STORIES by Jeff Loeb[/B]
Daredevil: Yellow
Spider-Man: Blue
Hulk: Grey
Captain America: White
-> available as individual tpb or in a compiled HC
[B]SPIDER-MAN[/B]
[B]The Very Best of Spider-Man[/B] - Compilation of must read early stories
1.Amazin Fantasy #15 - first Siper-Man appearance
2.If this be my destiny... The Final Chapter - Amazing Spider-Man #33
3.Spider-Man no more - Amazing Spider-Man #50
4.The Kid Who Collects Spiderman - Amazing Spider-Man #248
5.Whatever Happened to Crusher Hogan? - Amazing Spider-Man #271
6.The Sand and the Fury - Amazing Spider-Man #317
7.Fathers and Sins - Amazing Spider-Man #365
8.The Osborn Legacy - Spectacular Spider-Man #189
[B]Spider-Man: Wizard Masterpiece Edition[/B] - Compilation must read stories
1.Nothing Stops the Juggernaut - Amazing Spider-Man #229-230
2.Hyde in Plain Sight (aka Hyde & Seek) - Amazing Spider-Man #231-232
3.The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man - Amazing Spider-Man #248
4.Venom Strikes Back - Amazing Spider-Man #315-317
5.The Death of Jean DeWolff - Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110
[B]Death of the Stacys[/B] - Two sad but very good stories
1.Spider-Man vs. Dr. Octopus/And Death shall come - Amazing Spider-Man #88-92
2.The Night Gwen Stacy Died - Amazing Spider-Man #121-122
[B]Kraven's Last Hunt (Epic Collection)[/B] - Collects Spider-Man/Wolverin, The Wedding and the aclaimed Kraven's Last Hunt
1.Man Of The Year - The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #20
2.High Tide - Spider-Man versus Wolverin - prequel to The Hobgoblini Revealed
3.The Hobgoblin Revealed! - The Amazing Spider-Man #289
4.Mask - Web of Spider-Man #29 - sequel to The Hobgoblini Revealed
5.The Wedges of Sin - Web of Spider-Man #30 - sequel to The Hobgoblini Revealed
6.The Big Question - The Amazing Spider-Man #290 - prequel to The Wedding
7.Dark Journey - The Amazing Spider-Man #291 - prequel to The Wedding
8.Growing Pains - The Amazing Spider-Man #292 - prequel to The Wedding
9.The Wedding - The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21
10.The Honeymoon - The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7 - Sadly not collected
11.Part 1: The Coffing - Web of Spider-Man #31
12.Part 2: Crawling - Amazing Spider-Man #293
13.Part 3: Descent - Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131
14.Part 4: Resurrection - Web of Spider-Man #32
15.Part 5: Thunder - Amazing Spider-Man #294
16.Part 6: Ascending - Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #132
17.The Wedding of the Year - Marvel Age #54 - includes interviews, the Shea Stadium and the Newspaper Strip weddings
[B]Birth of Venom[/B] - The main Venom stories
1.Invasion! - Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8
2.The New Spider-Man - Amazing Spider-Man #252-259
3.Chance - Amazing Spider-Man #298-300
4.Return of Venom - Amazing Spider-Man #315-317
5.Monster Mash - Fantastic Four #274
6.Til Death Do Us Part! - Web of Spider-Man #1
[B]X-MEN / WOLVERINE[/B]
[B]X-Men: Wizard Masterpiece Edition[/B] - Most important sagas
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga - Uncanny X-Men #135-137
Days Of Future Past - Uncanny X-Men #141-142
The Power of Proteus - Uncanny X-Men #126-128
Demon - Uncanny X-Men #143
[B]Wolverine: Wizard Masterpiece Edition[/B]
Wendigo - Uncanny X-Men #139-140
Wolverine vs The Hulk - Incredible Hulk #340
Wolverine and Captain America in WWII - Uncanny X-Men #268
Viper & Silver Samurai - Uncanny X-Men #172-173
[B]Wolverine: Old Man Logan[/B] - Wolverine Vol. 3 #66–72, Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1
Then it gets into massive sagas, not too easy to read
[B]CAPTAIN AMERICA[/B]
[B]Captain America: Man Out of Time[/B] by Mark Waid
[B]Captain America by Ed Brubaker[/B] - If you have the courage, but it's a good read (includes the Winter Solder - yes like the movie)
[B]HULK[/B]
[B]Incredible Hulk Prelude to Planet Hulk[/B] - Incredible Hulk #88-91
[B]Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk[/B] - Incredible Hulk #92-105, Giant-Size Hulk #1
then [B]World War Hulk[/B] - World War Hulk #1-5
[B]DAREDEVIL[/B]
[B]Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson[/B] - One of the best super-hero comics run ever
[B]Daredevil: The Man Without Fear[/B] - A great origin storye
[B]Daredevil: Born Again[/B] - one of the best written comics
Have fun with all this to begin with !
Sorry I don't know what to read for other comics such as Iron Man, The Fanstastic Four or Silver Surfer.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for all the reading recommendations! I think I'll start with the birth of venom, I'm intereseted in seening what happens with Peter after the whole secret wars thing. Then maybe I'll check out Mark Waids Captain America. I like his work on flash...
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I used to be a marvel fan, and love the series of Thor.
But recently, I find DC to be more fun to read.
Marvel can be quite confusing at times.
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I consider myself primarily a DC fan but I do enjoy quite a bit of Marvel.
My recommendation is to stick with the "heavy hitters" initially, like Avengers, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Deadpool, Spider-Man, and X-Men. Obviously with the films and media available with these characters, their comics will be easier to follow. Once you get a good feeling for what you like you can start branching out from there.
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For an event I suggest the original Annihilation. You can go in basically knowing nothing and read a kick ass story that is guaranteed to satisfy.
As far as current ongoings can't go wrong with Venom. Donny Cates is killing it on this story and once again you can basically go in without knowing anything about the character.
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Some current stuff to get into
Dr Strange by Cates
Thanos Wins by Cates
Cosmic Ghost Rider by Cates
Death of the Inhumans by Cates
Venom by Cates
These books require absolutely zero previous reading except maybe Dr Strange as it resolves a plot in Secret Empire.
Hmmmm I think I'm developing a pattern here.
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[QUOTE=Punjabi_Hitman;3968447]Some current stuff to get into
Dr Strange by Cates
Thanos Wins by Cates
Cosmic Ghost Rider by Cates
Death of the Inhumans by Cates
Venom by Cates
These books require absolutely zero previous reading except maybe Dr Strange as it resolves a plot in Secret Empire.
Hmmmm I think I'm developing a pattern here.[/QUOTE]
I guess the moral here is, if it says "by Donny Cates" on it, you'll be fine. I think he can be a bit intimidating since he can pull characters and ideas from some weird places, but his writing is so good that you don't care.
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Titles you might like.
Marvel by alex ross. History of marvel told in four issues told by people who live there.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Marvels-Kurt-Busiek/dp/078514286X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699598&sr=1-1&keywords=marvels+alex+ross[/url]
Runaways. Great teens on the run book.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Runaways-Complete-Collection-Brian-Vaughan/dp/0785185585/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699673&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+runaways[/url]
Moon girl. If you looking for something more lighthearted and silly.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Girl-Devil-Dinosaur-Vol/dp/1302900056/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699722&sr=1-2&keywords=marvel+moon+girl[/url]
Ms marvel vol 1-Another fun hero comic.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Ms-Marvel-1-No-Normal/dp/078519021X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539700363&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+ms+marvel[/url]
Kravens last hunt. Well done spidey story.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Spider-Man-Epic-Collection-Kravens/dp/1302907050/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699805&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+epic+collection+kraven[/url]
Captain America Man without a country. Nice story that gave cap a second chance in comics.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Captain-America-Epic-Collection-Without/dp/0785195106/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699842&sr=1-13&keywords=marvel+epic+collection+captain+america[/url]
Avengers under siege. Not the best story but fun and shows how powerful the masters of evil can be.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Avengers-Epic-Collection-Under-Siege/dp/0785195394/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699924&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+avengers+under+siege[/url]
Thunderbolts classic-Great series.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbolts-Classic-Vol-New-Printing/dp/0785196811/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539699990&sr=1-4&keywords=marvel+thunderbolts[/url]
Daredevil man without fear-How daredevil became daredevil.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Man-Without-Fear-1993-1994-ebook/dp/B00PSN1EGS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539700045&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+daredevil+man+without+fear[/url]
Planet hulk-great sci-fi hulk tale.
[url]https://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Hulk-Planet-Greg-Pak/dp/0785120122/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539700207&sr=1-1&keywords=marvel+planet+hulk[/url]
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To echo what most everyone else has said, start with finding characters that you like and reading their solo books rather than jumping into events.
Events are hit or miss but even when they're good, whether at Marvel or DC, they're just not the ideal "in-point" for a shared universe. They're better enjoyed after you have an established connection to the characters.
Pretty much all the titles that have had a "Fresh Start" recently are easy to jump on to and are of excellent quality - Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Venom, Doctor Strange, Immortal Hulk, Avengers, Punisher and Thor to name a few. Deadpool is the weakest of the relaunched books but, in its favor, it's set up to be very new reader friendly with short, self-contained stories and little connection to the larger MU. In a way, it's ideal for casual readers new to Marvel.
At the end of the day, you might still prefer DC to Marvel - I think fans just naturally gravitate to one universe or the other - but you'll definitely have a better chance of finding out what you like if you sidestep events.
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Yeah, I”ll try to keep away from big events for the time being but I am curious for one in particular -
Secret Invasion is one I always hear a lot. Is it any good? And isn’t the new captain marvel movie going to be inspired by it?
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[QUOTE=Jokerr;3969425]Yeah, I”ll try to keep away from big events for the time being but I am curious for one in particular -
Secret Invasion is one I always hear a lot. Is it any good? And isn’t the new captain marvel movie going to be inspired by it?[/QUOTE]
I would say that the core series is largely forgettable. The lead up in Bendis' Avengers books is alright, and some of the tie ins from other series made use of the concept well however.
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whatever character(s) interest you dive in. If you like the character sample back stories.
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[QUOTE=Jokerr;3969425]Yeah, I”ll try to keep away from big events for the time being but I am curious for one in particular -
Secret Invasion is one I always hear a lot. Is it any good? And isn’t the new captain marvel movie going to be inspired by it?[/QUOTE]
I remember Secret Invasion as being fun and one of the better Bendis-written events.
But a big part of what made it enjoyable was the long build up, where the pieces were put into place, and you don't get that from just reading the event itself.
As for Captain Marvel, it's very possible that some aspects of Secret Invasion will play a part in that movie or its sequels or in the MU as a whole. But at this point, no one knows for sure.
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My advice is to skip anything with more than one title related to it. I know, I know, the whole "universe" thing is, well, WAS, appealing long ago, but my experience is that now it's just a way to merchandise a reader into Marvel exclusivity (I mean, who buying all the Marvels one can, can afford to buy anything else?), and for me, deeply dilutes any given title. My Marvels these days are eclectic solo titles--West Coast Avengers, Squirrel Girl, Immortal Hulk, Dr. Strange.