Gonna read every single Marvel superhero comic book story ever published

[DanMad1977]

I tried reading Marvel from the Stan Lee area up to today, but I gave up for most of the books.

Now I read Amazing Spider-Man, before that X-Men vol. 1. I pick what I like and go through them. Many times I fly over book, and leave whole chunks out, because its so redundant or silly.

I have to say Spidey comics were very sophisticated in comparison to Avengers or Fantastic Four, or Thor and X-Men. What a difference in quality from Ditko and Romita. I couldn't get through Avengers from the start, it was really awful to read.

The discussion if Stan did less then he told everyone, and Kirby "wrote" many stories seems to imply that Kirby just wasn't good at plotting or writing a story. Or Stan was just good with Spider Man?

[Iron Maiden]

I tried reading Marvel from the Stan Lee area up to today, but I gave up for most of the books.

Now I read Amazing Spider-Man, before that X-Men vol. 1. I pick what I like and go through them. Many times I fly over book, and leave whole chunks out, because its so redundant or silly.

I have to say Spidey comics were very sophisticated in comparison to Avengers or Fantastic Four, or Thor and X-Men. What a difference in quality from Ditko and Romita. I couldn't get through Avengers from the start, it was really awful to read.

The discussion if Stan did less then he told everyone, and Kirby "wrote" many stories seems to imply that Kirby just wasn't good at plotting or writing a story. Or Stan was just good with Spider Man?

IMO Kirby was better at the visuals than the dialoging. That being said I have no doubt that Kirby is responsible for Marvel and the Fantastic Four going cosmic when the Silver Surfer and Galactus were introduced in the Fantastic Four. I like that era's Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man equally. I also agree that ASM does add some weight to the argument that Stan didn't leave all the writing to Jack Kirby for the Fantastic Four. Another case in point would be the crossover between Daredevil #38 and Fantastic Four #73 where the story of Doctor Doom switching bodies with Daredevil is followed up in Fantastic Four. Logically that means Stan wrote/plotted both issues since Kirby had no input on the Daredevil title. He had his hands full doing the art for FF and Thor.

[James T. Kirk]

I think it's because at certain periods Marvel would lose the rights from the estate of R.E Howard. However, he has been appearing in a new Marvel Conan series and also the recent Savage Avengers series where he teams up with Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom.



If you look up Barry Smith the artist of the early issues, none of his Conan work comes up on Marvel Unlimited. But you can buy the single issues on Comixology for $1.99. You used to be able to buy digital comics on the Marvel site but they closed their store a some years back and turned it over to Comixology. So I can't figure that one out but my guess is Marvel isn't going to give that one away if they are paying the estate of REH for the rights.

I'm now visualising Cumberbatch and Schwarzenegger in the Multiverse of Madness.

Oh I agree. Many times I notice that myself. I don't think their staff has done a complete job of cross referencing everything. I was thinking of volunteering to help with some of it.

Good luck.

I was going to reply "You'll find out when you read the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four. But in short, he's someone Johnny meets when he is enrolled in college (to this day AFAIK Johnny never graduated!) and they became friends. My guess is that since Wyatt is there mostly for his skills as a football player, he's like Marvel's Jack Thorpe only without the controversy. Stan Lee & Jack Kirby gave the FF a number of supporting characters but sometimes they get lost along the way or current writers are interested in them. Wyatt still shows up every so often.

Not familiar with Jack Thorpe.

People still use ImageShack?

I doubt those Epic Magazine issues are on Comixology Or Marvel Unlimited anyway. I'm sure you can find them somewhere uploaded without Marvel's permission.

But here is a collection of their covers.

Stunning artwork. Would be great to be able to hang a few of those covers on your walls.

I think you're right about the Marvel Max imprint, which barely exists anymore. Punisher Max which is usually done by Garth Ennis has probably been in print the longest. It's listed on Marvel Unlimited but I tried different volumes and they all come up digital issue is not currently available. Again, you will find them on Comixology for purchase. One volume is on their Unlimited section. The same goes for the Jessica Jones Alias. It's listed on Marvel Unlimited but digital version is not available. It must have been at one time because it looks like they're set up for browsing single issues but if you click on an issue you get the not available message. It is on Comixlogy to buy in the TPB format only. Volume 1 and Volume 4 are on their Unlimited side

What search term are ya using that ya can find the Punisher Max and Alias stuff on Marvel Unlimited? I've tried and I can't find them there.

For organizing, your best bet will be to use something like Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand feature. Set the filter to Marvel and the month and year you want to start at, and progress through, month by month.
Then look on Marvel Unlimited to see if the books for each month are available.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of Mike's.

I found Mike's Amazing World to be a bit difficult to navigate. This website was much simpler for me.

I prefer publication order; it's easier.

Really? I find it quite simple. All you have to do is click on the Newsstand section, pick Marvel as the publisher and then put in any month/year If you click on the comic itself then it gives details. And you can click forward or backward for that particular title.

I've noticed there are some months that don't appear to have seen any comics released according to that site. Try October 1961.

[Lukmendes]

I tried reading Marvel from the Stan Lee area up to today, but I gave up for most of the books.

Now I read Amazing Spider-Man, before that X-Men vol. 1. I pick what I like and go through them. Many times I fly over book, and leave whole chunks out, because its so redundant or silly.

I have to say Spidey comics were very sophisticated in comparison to Avengers or Fantastic Four, or Thor and X-Men. What a difference in quality from Ditko and Romita. I couldn't get through Avengers from the start, it was really awful to read.

The discussion if Stan did less then he told everyone, and Kirby "wrote" many stories seems to imply that Kirby just wasn't good at plotting or writing a story. Or Stan was just good with Spider Man?

ASM has quite a jarring tone change from ASM#38 to #39, which's after Ditko left and Romita took over, while I can't say how much he was plotting, Ditko seemed to have a significant amount of control over ASM at least, but the rest is harder to say, but the weird concepts in F4 and whatever were definitely from Kirby and not Lee.

[Lee Stone]

I've noticed there are some months that don't appear to have seen any comics released according to that site. Try October 1961.

Looking at the Library of Congress pics (the magnifying glass next to the date on the issue's page), it appears that their monthly comics were delayed that month by about a week.
Or the data supplied to the Library of Congress was off for some reason.

[James T. Kirk]

Looking at the Library of Congress pics (the magnifying glass next to the date on the issue's page), it appears that their monthly comics were delayed that month by about a week.
Or the data supplied to the Library of Congress was off for some reason.

Oh, OK, good to know.

[Lee Stone]

This may also be of interest to you...
Most of Marvel's comics were bi-monthly during the '60s because they were being distributed by DC's distributor and were limited to how many books they could include each month.
Doing them bi-monthly, they could have more titles. Just spread out over two months.

This means for most of the Silver Age, you'll see a wider variety of titles but you'll also go through the early years pretty fast.

I think it wasn't until 1968 or so when they separated from DC's distributor and were able to expand the line.
This is where the biggest bulk of your reading will begin.

[James T. Kirk]

This may also be of interest to you...
Most of Marvel's comics were bi-monthly during the '60s because they were being distributed by DC's distributor and were limited to how many books they could include each month.
Doing them bi-monthly, they could have more titles. Just spread out over two months.

This means for most of the Silver Age, you'll see a wider variety of titles but you'll also go through the early years pretty fast.

I think it wasn't until 1968 or so when they separated from DC's distributor and were able to expand the line.
This is where the biggest bulk of your reading will begin.

Thanks. I think I read some time back about that deal with DC's distributor. Surprised DC put up with it.

[Iron Maiden]

Thanks. I think I read some time back about that deal with DC's distributor. Surprised DC put up with it.

Marvel's owner at the time was named Martin Goodman (who was married to a cousin of Stan Lee) and what happened was the distributor Marvel was using suddenly went out of business and Goodman switched to Independent News which owned and distributined DC comics. I imagine because there were few choices left to him. This happened the collapse of the comics industry in 1957,mostly due to a book called Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Frederick Wertham that posited that comic books were corrupting the youth of America. This was also the McCarthy era and there were actually congressional hearings about the effects of comics on the rise in juvenile delinquency. and IIRC the Wertham book was used as evidence. Mostly they were after the horror comics the EC Comics was putting out but it made the whole comics industry drop a lot of the superhero comics too IIRC. Marvel/Atlas would limit their content to romance comics and the like and would not return to doing superheroes until 1961 when they launched the Fantastic Four when publisher Goodman noted how DC had some success launching a team book, the Justice League. Marvel launched other hero titles but due to the limitations imposed the the distributor, some where bi-monthly and they were shared titles. For example, Strange Tales started out as a monthly with a horror/sci fi content but soon was turned into a Human Torch spin off, then a split title with the Human Torch in one half and a Doctor Strange solo in the other half. Tales of Suspense, another horror/sci fi title became a shared title with Iron Man and Captain America. Tales of Suspense features the debut of Hank Pym aka Ant Man, then eventually split to a Sub-Mariner/Hulk comic. Later these titles would be able to break off into solo titles when Marvel was able to change distributors and get out from under the limit imposed upon them from Independence News.

[Iron Maiden]

Not familiar with Jack Thorpe.

People still use ImageShack?

I use it all the time here. I store a lot of images there for posting.

Typo on that name....should be Jim Thorpe...first Native American to win an Olympic Gold Medal

What search term are ya using that ya can find the Punisher Max and Alias stuff on Marvel Unlimited? I've tried and I can't find them there.

Yeah, that's the bad part about their indexes. I found Alias by looking under Creator/Bendis, Brian Michael and filter for series

For Punisher Max, you should be able to find it under the character option and then series

[The Negative Zone]

I am actually in a similar boat, currently via Marvel Unlimited I was reading classic Avengers and X-Men. And now currently focusing on Iron Man. Out of the three, I've enjoyed Avengers the most. Even the Lee Kirby era had some more fun stuff like the amazing Hulk and Namor Team Up. Avengers did get a lot better when the roster changed and now Cap's 4 man team is one of my favorite incarnations. X-Men has been pretty much okay. Iron Man has been a similar experience.

The thing is these classic runs are soooo long, but I don't want to miss any evolution of the characters by skipping random issues. Does anyone else feel the same or have a system for this?

[James T. Kirk]

Marvel's owner at the time was named Martin Goodman (who was married to a cousin of Stan Lee) and what happened was the distributor Marvel was using suddenly went out of business and Goodman switched to Independent News which owned and distributined DC comics. I imagine because there were few choices left to him. This happened the collapse of the comics industry in 1957,mostly due to a book called Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Frederick Wertham that posited that comic books were corrupting the youth of America. This was also the McCarthy era and there were actually congressional hearings about the effects of comics on the rise in juvenile delinquency. and IIRC the Wertham book was used as evidence. Mostly they were after the horror comics the EC Comics was putting out but it made the whole comics industry drop a lot of the superhero comics too IIRC. Marvel/Atlas would limit their content to romance comics and the like and would not return to doing superheroes until 1961 when they launched the Fantastic Four when publisher Goodman noted how DC had some success launching a team book, the Justice League. Marvel launched other hero titles but due to the limitations imposed the the distributor, some where bi-monthly and they were shared titles. For example, Strange Tales started out as a monthly with a horror/sci fi content but soon was turned into a Human Torch spin off, then a split title with the Human Torch in one half and a Doctor Strange solo in the other half. Tales of Suspense, another horror/sci fi title became a shared title with Iron Man and Captain America. Tales of Suspense features the debut of Hank Pym aka Ant Man, then eventually split to a Sub-Mariner/Hulk comic. Later these titles would be able to break off into solo titles when Marvel was able to change distributors and get out from under the limit imposed upon them from Independence News.

Oh wow. Thanks for all that info, buddy, but ya needn't have gone to all that trouble. I know quite a bit about comic book history; have read some books and watched some documentaries. Ya made a small typo there when ya were talking about the comic that introduced Hank Pym; ya said Tales of Suspense again but it was actually Tales to Astonish.

I use it all the time here. I store a lot of images there for posting.

Typo on that name....should be Jim Thorpe...first Native American to win an Olympic Gold Medal

Oh. Was hoping that, whoever he was, he'd be more controversial than that. lol

Yeah, that's the bad part about their indexes. I found Alias by looking under Creator/Bendis, Brian Michael and filter for series

For Punisher Max, you should be able to find it under the character option and then series

Nope. Maybe Marvel Unlimited is different in Europe but I can't find either of those series. I can't even find a series filter, except in the general search results. But if I tap on Bendis, I can't find a series filter on his page. Can't find one on the Punisher character page either.

I am actually in a similar boat, currently via Marvel Unlimited I was reading classic Avengers and X-Men. And now currently focusing on Iron Man. Out of the three, I've enjoyed Avengers the most. Even the Lee Kirby era had some more fun stuff like the amazing Hulk and Namor Team Up. Avengers did get a lot better when the roster changed and now Cap's 4 man team is one of my favorite incarnations. X-Men has been pretty much okay. Iron Man has been a similar experience.

The thing is these classic runs are soooo long, but I don't want to miss any evolution of the characters by skipping random issues. Does anyone else feel the same or have a system for this?

I'm not gonna take any chances. I'm just gonna read everything I can.

[Iron Maiden]

Oh wow. Thanks for all that info, buddy, but ya needn't have gone to all that trouble. I know quite a bit about comic book history; have read some books and watched some documentaries. Ya made a small typo there when ya were talking about the comic that introduced Hank Pym; ya said Tales of Suspense again but it was actually Tales to Astonish.

Oops...my bad. Without getting into any spoilers all I can say is I feel like Hank Pym is really an abused & neglected these days but you'll find that out in your journey.

Oh. Was hoping that, whoever he was, he'd be more controversial than that. lol

There was a controversy about his medal. It was taken away because he played 2 years of semi-pro football. He won the gold for the decathalon and the pentathlon but also excelled in football (the fictional Wyatt Wingfoot's sport). Years after his death his status as a gold medal winner was reinstated.

Nope. Maybe Marvel Unlimited is different in Europe but I can't find either of those series. I can't even find a series filter, except in the general search results. But if I tap on Bendis, I can't find a series filter on his page. Can't find one on the Punisher character page either.

I'm not gonna take any chances. I'm just gonna read everything I can.

That is weird but I wonder if you are taking the same menu path as I am.
Bear with me but I just want to make sure you see the same things when you log in


Top Menu..I click on comics and then it opens up a sub menu below the announcements, etc.




When I look up Bendis as creator I get these options...notice you can select Marvel Unlimited to filter those out those that are unavailable. By unchecking it you can see all of the comics (but again that can be incomplete)

[James T. Kirk]

Oops...my bad. Without getting into any spoilers all I can say is I feel like Hank Pym is really an abused & neglected these days but you'll find that out in your journey.

Oh it'll be years before I get to "these days".

There was a controversy about his medal. It was taken away because he played 2 years of semi-pro football. He won the gold for the decathalon and the pentathlon but also excelled in football (the fictional Wyatt Wingfoot's sport). Years after his death his status as a gold medal winner was reinstated.

Um, yeah, I did read about that already. lol Ya linked me to his Wikipedia page, remember? The reinstatement was really just on a technicality. It was more than 30 days after the event before someone said that he shouldn't have competed in it. If they'd said that within 30 days, then his medal might never have been reinstated.

That is weird but I wonder if you are taking the same menu path as I am.
Bear with me but I just want to make sure you see the same things when you log in


Top Menu..I click on comics and then it opens up a sub menu below the announcements, etc.




When I look up Bendis as creator I get these options...notice you can select Marvel Unlimited to filter those out those that are unavailable. By unchecking it you can see all of the comics (but again that can be incomplete)

Ah, I see what the problem is now, you're using the website. I did say I use the app. The website and app work differently. Different layouts and menus, etc..

[James T. Kirk]

Just got through the first year of my journey in 5 hours. Read

Fantastic Four #1
Fantastic Four #2
Tales to Astonish #27
Fantastic Four #3
Incredible Hulk #1
Fantastic Four #4
Incredible Hulk #2
Fantastic Four #5
Amazing Fantasy #15
Journey into Mystery #83
Incredible Hulk #3
Tales to Astonish #35
Fantastic Four #6
Journey into Mystery #84
Strange Tales #101
Tales to Astonish #36
Fantastic Four #7
Journey into Mystery #85