How important is it to follow order of release when reading crossover events?

[userwitch]

Noob question! I hope this is the appropriate forum to ask this question.

I'm brand new to reading comics and I just got hold of a bunch of digital Marvel comic books, and was planning on starting with the Avengers vs. X-Men event.

My comics are all well tagged so I can just select all the books that are part of the AvX story arc, and then sort by published date and read in that order.

The problem with this is that the publish date is in the form MMYY without the exact day, so although I get close the release order within any month the comics are not in chronological order, so my automatically generated list does not exactly match the order of release.

My question is simply does this matter? Do I need to read in this exact order: https://comicbookreadingorders.com/m...reading-order/ in order to get the most out of the story?

I am asking both for the case of AvX specifically and generally for other story arcs.

Thanks for your help!

TLDR: See post title.

[jackolover]

I think your reading order link is as good as anything. My reading order is close to the one in the link, so it is not far wrong. I have Wolverine and X-Men #9 before AVX #1, but that’s getting pedantic.

As to your title question, I have tended to sort my tie-ins to an event in order of their list number

eg FEB0120622 in that order for AVX. It’s not legitimately correct, but you do have links to the main story in the right ball park. The correct Reading order of an event is an art, in how you shuffle the floppies in order of appearance of characters. So for example, W+X-Men #9 is way after AVX #2 in list numbering, but is obviously before AVX#1, because Cap conscripts Wolvy into the Avengers just in time for AVX#1.

[Mike_Murdock]

So there are two types of stories in a crossover event - there are the main stories and then there are tie-ins. The main story should generally be read in release order because they expected people to pick it up and read it as released. Every so often (particularly in the 90s), they would screw up and release the wrong part first. Tie-ins are often much looser because a book might spend three or four issues exploring an event that took place between issues two and three of the main book. In those circumstances, I do think it's better to find a reading order that tries to place the events chronologically. The only thing to be aware of is that, sometimes, chronological ordering isn't always the best order. For example, if the main story has a big shocking reveal, you don't want to read a prequel story exploring the shocking reveal before you get to experience the reveal for the first time.

All that being said, Comic Book Herald is my go to for reading orders. I'll use comicbookreadingorders.com if CBH doesn't have a good one, but I find it far less reliable.

Here is CBH's AvX Reading Order

I was going to see if I had my own list I made, but it turns out I just read the main books for this event since most people thought it should be skipped entirely.

[JKtheMac]

This particular event is actually an event where tie-ins were nice to read as they came out. The 'AvX: Verses' issues for example, spin out of the main story well, and enhance the experience.

I do have the release dates (see below) if you are interested in reading them that way, but it is probably a bit over the top to go into that much detail when even then not everything will line up perfectly.

I would second the caution about reading orders fixated on chronological events. Not only are they technically impossible in some instances, where events occur parallel, within the time frame of another book or touch upon multiple events, but they can lead to a disjointed reading experience. Events can be disjointed enough without making it worse.

P.S. These are the release dates based on the CBH list above.
(compressed somewhat for space reasons so probably best to cut and paste then turn into a list)

14/12/2011 Avengers: X-Sanction #1
04/03/2012 Avengers: X-Sanction #2
01/02/2012 Avengers: X-Sanction #3
22/02/2012 Avengers Academy #26
14/03/2012 Avengers #24
12/03/2012 Avengers: X-Sanction #4
28/03/2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #0
04/04/2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #1
11/04/2012 New Avengers #24 / Uncanny X-Men #10
18/04/2012 Avengers #25 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #2 / Wolverine and the X-Men #9
25/04/2012 AVX: VS #1 / New Avengers #25 / Secret Avengers #26 / Uncanny X-Men #11
02/05/2012 Avengers Academy #29 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #3
09/05/2012 New Avengers #26 / Wolverine and the X-Men #10 / X-Men: Legacy #266
16/05/2012 Avengers #26 / Avengers Academy #30 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #4 / AVX: VS #2 / Uncanny X-Men #12
23/05/2012 Secret Avengers #27
30/05/2012 Wolverine and the X-Men #11 / X-Men: Legacy #267
06/06/2012 Avengers Academy #31 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #5 / Uncanny X-Men #13
13/06/2012 Avengers #27 / AVX: VS #3 / X-Men: Legacy #268
20/06/2012 Avengers Academy #32 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #6 / New Avengers #27 / Uncanny X-Men #14
27/06/2012 Secret Avengers #28 / Wolverine and the X-Men #12
04/07/2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #7 / Uncanny X-Men #15
11/07/2012 AVX: VS #4 / New Avengers #28 / Wolverine and the X-Men #13
18/07/2012 Avengers Academy #33 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #8 / Uncanny X-Men #16
25/07/2018 Avengers #28 / Wolverine and the X-Men #14
01/08/2012 Avengers Academy #34 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #9
08/08/2012 New Avengers #29
15/08/2012 Avengers #29 / Avengers Vs. X-Men #10
22/08/2012 Uncanny X-Men #17
29/08/2012 AVX: VS #5 / Wolverine and the X-Men #15
12/09/2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #11 / New Avengers #30 / Uncanny X-Men #18 / Wolverine and the X-Men #16
19/09/2012 Avengers #30
03/10/2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #12 / AVX: VS #6 / Uncanny X-Men #19
10/10/2012 AVX: Consequences #1 / Wolverine and the X-Men #18
17/10/2012 AVX: Consequences #2
24/10/2012 AVX: Consequences #3
31/10/2012 AVX: Consequences #4
07/11/2012 AVX: Consequences #5

Note no order is implied for each date. Not sure I would include X-Sanction myself.

[JKtheMac]

I was going to see if I had my own list I made, but it turns out I just read the main books for this event since most people thought it should be skipped entirely.

This was roughly when I decided to come back to Marvel and it was the first event I committed to reading all of at Marvel Unlimited pace. I found it highly enjoyable to follow all of the threads. I know it gets a lot if stick, especially because lots of books may feel extraneous if bought as singles, but for digital subscription readers I think this is a great read.

But then, I went on to read everything Marvel published on Unlimited for the 616 over the following three years based on my fascination with how the universe worked, so I was probably not the average reader during this time.

[Mike_Murdock]

I was a relatively new reader when I read it. It was frustrating because I couldn't get people to give me advice on which parts to read when everyone said to skip it. I kept having to say "no, I don't want to skip it." I was reading New Avengers at the time and trying to figure out what was going on between Namor and T'Challa, so it was frustrating people weren't helping me out.

[JKtheMac]

I was a relatively new reader when I read it. It was frustrating because I couldn't get people to give me advice on which parts to read when everyone said to skip it. I kept having to say "no, I don't want to skip it." I was reading New Avengers at the time and trying to figure out what was going on between Namor and T'Challa, so it was frustrating people weren't helping me out.

Yes. I can see that. The problem is really that while reading these things it is hard enough to take everything in. Giving advice on how to read everything and make sense of it is difficult when the story is still evolving. I remember being very invested in specific sub-plots that seem irrelevant now.

Then once finished, the last thing anyone wants to do is go back and work out all of the threads. This reminds me of when some of us tried to put Civil War II into a logical order. It is technically very difficult because plots are not stories. It is possible to place every incident in order (Page 1-5 of Book C happens before Book A, but relies on the reader already knowing the reveal from Book B which comes after Book A).

Also, there will inevitably be contradictions and inaccuracies. I remember being disappointed when some of the characters acted out of chronological order in Avengers Standoff which is a relatively small crossover. What hope does Marvel have keeping everyone on track when the writers’ priorities are to tell a satisfying story not to provide incidental plot details and maintain a perfect timeline.

This is why I broadly agree that publication order is as good an order as any for a major event. At least if things get confusing we sometimes have notes in the front of the book explaining which book to read first. I tend to think of huge events a bit like breaking news. Things don’t always line up or make perfect sense and by the time the narrative has formed the inconsistencies don’t so much go away as remain anomalies that investigative journalists and conspiracy theorists will cling to long after everyone else has moved on.