Marvel Comics Recommendations

[Centipede Damascus]

I've decided to buy Marvel Unlimited tomorrow after I put money in the bank. However, as a relative (okay maybe not so relative) newbie I need to know where I start. Basically all I've read of Marvel is the entire run of Whedon's Astonishing X-men about four years and some Spider-Girl when I was in middle school. I know there used to be a place for this but I don't know if there is one now. So I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.

Recommendations no matter what characters are involved are greatly appreciated. Recommendations that are Marvel Unlimited are even better.

Thanks!

If you want to read more X-Men, I'd recommend checking out Grant Morrison's New X-Men run. It happened basically right before Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, and it's good stuff. After that, check out Uncanny X-Men. The Messiah Complex crossover event is as good a place to start as any, then just read Uncanny straight through to the present day.

If you want to read some Avengers, check out Kurt Busiek's great 1998-2002 run on the series. After that, read the miniseries Avengers Forever. In fact, read everything Kurt Busiek has written on MU, it's all good.

Definitely read all of Ed Brubaker's work on Captain America and Winter Soldier, Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man, and the 2007 Thor series by J. Michael Straczynski followed by Kieron Gillen. Make sure you read the Siege story arc, followed by Gillen's Journey into Mystery, it's fantastic.

[victorxd1999]

Start with the more recent definitive runs like Captain America by Brubaker, New X-Men by Morrison, Thor god of thunder or Thor by J. Michael Straczynski, Incredible Hulk by Pak, Iron Man: Extremis or Iron Man by Busiek, Superior Spider-Man etc. What are your favorite characters and do you mind going back a bit to the 80s for example?

[pageturner]

It does not really matter no matter where you jump in you will have missed out on something so just pick a place and jump in.

[Pat Thomas]

There are a bunch of different lists of best stories by character, creator, era, etc. in the "Comics Should Be Good" blog here on CBR. That should point you to the stories
that are "important". One thing I always do is follow any reference made to past events that sound interesting to me. 99% of the time, I'll find another reference to check out
in the book that I found by reference. That's how you build your knowledge. It's not a job. The exploring is what makes it fun.

[Diamond]

For comics that don't require any past knowledge I'll recommend: Agents of Atlas, Ultimate Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner: The Depths, Wolverine/Punisher, The Infernal Man-Thing, The Marvels Project and the current Thor: God of Thunder.

[akwinot]

Hi guys! Thanks for all the recommendations. Right now I'm almost exclusively reading x-books (whoops) in more of the newer stuff. All New X-Men is what I'm currently reading along with Wolverine and the X-men, Young Avengers (the older of the two of Marvel Unlimited), and Captain Marvel.

Start with the more recent definitive runs like Captain America by Brubaker, New X-Men by Morrison, Thor god of thunder or Thor by J. Michael Straczynski, Incredible Hulk by Pak, Iron Man: Extremis or Iron Man by Busiek, Superior Spider-Man etc. What are your favorite characters and do you mind going back a bit to the 80s for example?

Ooh I'm familiar with Brubaker with his run with Catwoman, so I'll definitely be picking up (or downloading, I guess heh) his Cap run. I'll add all of these to my "library" on Unlimited and read them soon. I have several days off this week, so I'll be reading like a fiend.

Also to answer the question of who my favorite character is, I'm quite fond of Kitty Pryde and I'm fond of Peter Parker as well. I personally LOVE 80s comics and have read plenty of DC 80s comics (Teen Titans mainly but) so I would not mind at all going to the 80s or 90s. The 70s are a bit hard for me to get into and what I've read of 1960s DC (Teen Titans, again) it's quite laughable.

[victorxd1999]

Hi guys! Thanks for all the recommendations. Right now I'm almost exclusively reading x-books (whoops) in more of the newer stuff. All New X-Men is what I'm currently reading along with Wolverine and the X-men, Young Avengers (the older of the two of Marvel Unlimited), and Captain Marvel.



Ooh I'm familiar with Brubaker with his run with Catwoman, so I'll definitely be picking up (or downloading, I guess heh) his Cap run. I'll add all of these to my "library" on Unlimited and read them soon. I have several days off this week, so I'll be reading like a fiend.

Also to answer the question of who my favorite character is, I'm quite fond of Kitty Pryde and I'm fond of Peter Parker as well. I personally LOVE 80s comics and have read plenty of DC 80s comics (Teen Titans mainly but) so I would not mind at all going to the 80s or 90s. The 70s are a bit hard for me to get into and what I've read of 1960s DC (Teen Titans, again) it's quite laughable.

Ah ok, then you can also read 80s stuff, which is essential for the bigger Marvel characters. Uncanny X-Men by Claremont (in which Kitty Pryde first appeared), Daredevil by Miller, Iron man by Michelinie, Spider-Man by Stern, Thor by Simonson, Captain America by Gruenwald and Wolverine by Miller/Claremont are generally considered THE definitive runs besides the original Stan Lee runs.

[nate1986]

I recently subscribed to the marvel unlimited, I have always been a marvel fan in terms of movies and TV shows, but in terms of the comics I am a complete newbie, I have been reading the House of M event which I'm enjoying so far

I would like some suggestions for other series and crossover events that are worth checking out

[Exciter]

Do you have any properties that particularly interest you? Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.?

For a greater understanding of the Marvel Universe in general, I would probably hit the big events. Civil War, Secret Invasion, those kind of things.

[victorxd1999]

If you are interested in going back to the 80s thesse are the definitive runs for the big characters:
Iron Man by Michelinie, Daredevil by Miller, Uncanny X-Men by Claremont, Spider-Man by Stern, Thor by Simonson, Captain America by Gruenwald and Wolverine by Miller/Claremont.

If you don't like older comics these are the more recent definitive runs:
Incredible Hulk by Pak, Iron man by Ellis, Thor god of thunder or Thor by J . Michael Straczynski, Captain America by Brubaker, Daredevil by Bendis and Brubaker, Ultimate Spider-Man (takes place in a other universe than the main universe), Superior Spider-Man, Astonishing X-men by Whedon and New X-Men by Morrison

But what are your favorite characters/genres?

[nate1986]

Do you have any properties that particularly interest you? Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.?

For a greater understanding of the Marvel Universe in general, I would probably hit the big events. Civil War, Secret Invasion, those kind of things.

Interest wise I would be interested in spider man, x men, Thor, iron man, avengers and so on, what is the difference between uncanny x men and new x men

[Jasper Avenue]

Check out Marvel Cosmic (Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, etc), it's all on there and it's all really good.

[victorxd1999]

Interest wise I would be interested in spider man, x men, Thor, iron man, avengers and so on, what is the difference between uncanny x men and new x men

Like almost any Marvel property, the X-Men had various titles across the years, often even multiplw titles at once. Uncanny X-Men is often the 80s run by Claremont that reshaped the X-Men into the property it is today. X-Men can refer to multiple runs like the 90s Claremont reboot of Uncanny X-Men, the original Stan Lee run and the various relaunches of the title. New X-Men was when Marvel nearly went bankrupt. They did some desperate attempts so rekindle the sales and so they gave the uninspired X-Men title to the great writer Grant Morrison. He gave the X-Men new life. They renamed the X-Men series into New X-Men (hence why his run started with new x-men#114 and not #1). Astonishing X-men was another X-Men series worth mentioning.

[Sketh]

Hi - i posted a similar question in DC section but I am trying to get into comics in general and wondering on the best way to start getting into the Marvel universe; after some basic research my plan so far is to read:

The Ultimates
The New Avengers Omnibus Vol1
Infinity collection (the hardback collection book)
Infinity companion
Annihilation

Is this a good order and the right selection to get into the series - am I missing any collections to make the experience better; i see there are a lot of other Thanos stories but am at a bit of a loss how to tackle them? Generally I tend to like to buy collections and omnibuses....

Any advice for someone new to all this would be great!

Cheers

John

[Rheged]

Hi - i posted a similar question in DC section but I am trying to get into comics in general and wondering on the best way to start getting into the Marvel universe; after some basic research my plan so far is to read:

The Ultimates
The New Avengers Omnibus Vol1
Infinity collection (the hardback collection book)
Infinity companion
Annihilation

Is this a good order and the right selection to get into the series - am I missing any collections to make the experience better; i see there are a lot of other Thanos stories but am at a bit of a loss how to tackle them? Generally I tend to like to buy collections and omnibuses....

Any advice for someone new to all this would be great!

Cheers

John

Ultimates is in another universe. It has nothing to do with the other books.

New Avengers has little to do with Infinity or Annihilation.

I'm not sure what your series you are trying to get into ... Avengers? Marvel Cosmic?

Annihilation is a GREAT read, if you like space opera / cosmic stuff. I'd recommend that regardless and it's a good jumping on point for Marvel Cosmic.