New to Marvel; Recommendations?

[ahunley]

Hello, I just started reading comics around November and am pretty much obsessed. So far I've stuck with the Vertigo line purchasing the TPBs of 100 Bullets, DMZ and The Sandman, etc. However, Marvel comics have never really appealed to me. I tried to ease into it with The Eternals by Neil Gaiman since I adored the Sandman so much. I thought it would be a nice gateway into the Marvel Universe, but unfortunately it didn't really do much for me. Recently, I stumbled onto iFanboy and watched episode 118 where they talked about The Young Avengers and how good it was so I thought I'd give it a shot and it completely blew me away. I didn't want it to end.

What do you recommend to a Marvel universe newbie? Where do I begin?

PS I also ordered the Nova Annihilation HC that they discussed. Being a lover of Sci-fi I hope I like it.

[jumpingjupiter]

So it looks like you prefer hardbacks or at least collected editions? Or do you wanna start doing monthlies?

[optimus187prime]

Punisher Max
Ultimate Spider Man
New Avengers
The Ultimates
Astonishing X Men
Daredevil
Captain America

[Neb]

Hello, I just started reading comics around November and am pretty much obsessed. So far I've stuck with the Vertigo line purchasing the TPBs of 100 Bullets, DMZ and The Sandman, etc. However, Marvel comics have never really appealed to me. I tried to ease into it with The Eternals by Neil Gaiman since I adored the Sandman so much. I thought it would be a nice gateway into the Marvel Universe, but unfortunately it didn't really do much for me. Recently, I stumbled onto iFanboy and watched episode 118 where they talked about The Young Avengers and how good it was so I thought I'd give it a shot and it completely blew me away. I didn't want it to end.

What do you recommend to a Marvel universe newbie? Where do I begin?

PS I also ordered the Nova Annihilation HC that they discussed. Being a lover of Sci-fi I hope I like it.

From what I gather, it seems that you love really good team books. That's one of the major things that makes Young Avengers so great is the team mixed with some great action.

If you're big into sci-fi, then I think you'll love Guardians of the Galaxy, particularly if you end up liking Nova. If you were looking to go monthly, that's a really easy title to catch up with. Also, War of Kings is the big cosmic event going on right now, and it's easy to find the issues of those as well since it just started.

I'd also recommend checking out the the 3 collections of the Annihilation series, which collects the major event from a couple of summers ago and was very, very good.

In terms of team books, you can't go wrong with Bendis' New Avengers. Marvel has done a great job of collecting these in both trades and really nice hardcovers. It's been Marvel's premiere team book for the last few years, and has had some really great artists on it.

A great collection that puts a spin on team book is Inhumans by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee. This is a great set of issues that follows the Inhumans, and it's wrapped in mystery, deceit, and action. It's really, really good and bit of a different take on heroes than the Marvel norm.

If you enjoy more of a Vertigo flair, might I recommend Criminal? It's an amazing crime book that Ed Brubaker does, and it's been one of the most consistent and great books Marvel's been putting out over the last few years.

I think by dipping into those few titles, you should hopefully find more ways to branch out.

Don't be afraid of the DCU either! It's got a ton of great stuff going on in it.

[johnferrigno]

Based on what looks like your liking for team books and sci-fi, I'd tell you to try Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassady. I haven't read any of the Annihilation stuff yet, but I hear it's fantastic. And you might dig Warren Eliss' arc on Invincible Iron Man, "Extremis" which is some pretty good sci-fi superhero goodness.

[ahunley]

Wow thanks for all of the suggestions so quickly. I will look into these for sure. I do prefer trades over monthlies and I really liked this Young Avengers hardcover a lot so I can see purchasing more in the future.

It's just kind of intimidating, and costly, seeing some series being over 100 issues and having to start from the beginning and catch up. Thanks again and more suggestions are also greatly appreciated.

[optimus187prime]

Wow thanks for all of the suggestions so quickly. I will look into these for sure. I do prefer trades over monthlies and I really liked this Young Avengers hardcover a lot so I can see purchasing more in the future.

It's just kind of intimidating, and costly, seeing some series being over 100 issues and having to start from the beginning and catch up. Thanks again and more suggestions are also greatly appreciated.

Take it slow you dont need the full run at once, get them over time. Most of the time the books read better after digesting them for a little while anyway.

[jumpingjupiter]

Wow thanks for all of the suggestions so quickly. I will look into these for sure. I do prefer trades over monthlies and I really liked this Young Avengers hardcover a lot so I can see purchasing more in the future.

It's just kind of intimidating, and costly, seeing some series being over 100 issues and having to start from the beginning and catch up. Thanks again and more suggestions are also greatly appreciated.

Also, you don't necessarily "need" to read the whole run. You can just jump in anywhere and figure things out for most titles. But it can be fun to follow the whole story from the start too.

[gabeja]

All that has been discussed is great and I wholeheartedly agree with, however, the two I would most recomend would be:
Captain America (brubaker) If you have the cash, the omni is worth it, if not, it's all collected in trade

The Ultimates (Millar/Hitch) Both of the first two series' are top notch. I think they're both in HC and trade format, and an omni is coming out soon too.