Comic Books Comic Book • Page 310

@Tim

 

Dude, this is legit terrifying. I could 100% see my commission next month getting this treatment, with the way my parents' mail gets haphazardly shoved into their mailbox. My mom was just telling me the other day about a recent instance of that.

Like, I'm tempted to ask Babs if she can write "DO NOT FOLD" in big letters on mine, lol. Or request a different address. I normally like sending stuff to my parents', but maybe this particular package will be safer on my porch.

 

I added you to the group Anne and I are in.

 

Got an InStockTrades order in the mail w/ Batman Noir: Dark Knight Strikes Again, and man... It's so frustrating that Frank Miller is a gross reactionary old man. If it weren't for his trash ideology, that bonkers mess of a comic would be one of my favorites. Love seeing his crude illustration work w/out those awful digital colors.

Also got the oversized Vision by Tom King hardcover in that order. Something genuinely great to go with the something fascinating, lol.

 

Guess who Annie looks like tonight

 

So I've never read any comic books, but I have a 2 month subscription to Marvel Unlimited. I was wondering if someone could give a suggestion on where to start.

 

What are you looking for? Are there any characters that interest you? Genres? Comedy, action, pulp, etc? There are a ton of fun directions to go.

 

I like Spider-Man, X-Men, pretty much anything really. Just wondering what some of the "best" ones are, and where to start. There's so much on there it's a little intimidating.

 

With those characters, I started with the Ultimate universe and found it incredibly accessible. Ultimate Spider-man is a really easy read and a ton of fun.

Tim follows a lot more of the recent stuff, so I defer that to him.

 

If you wanna start with a single standalone Spider-Man story that captures everything great about the character, you can't do much better than Spider-Man: Blue. It's a miniseries that retold some classic Peter/Gwen/MJ stories from the mid 60s, with narration from Peter years later.

If you wanna jump into modern stuff, my two favorite Spider-series currently running are Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man.

Renew Your Vows was a miniseries in 2015 as a tie-in to a big multiversal event (but it works perfectly by itself, minus a couple throwaway references), and then an ongoing series was launched out of it in 2016. It takes place in an alternate universe where Peter and MJ are married and have a young daughter.

The current Spectacular series, launched last year (a relaunch of an older title), takes place in the main, current continuity and is pretty accessible, without much continuity or crossover. Cool, fun series featuring Peter, J Jonah Jameson, and a spy character who is maybe Peter's long lost sister. (The sister is the only major reference to a specific previous story, but that was a standalone graphic novel called Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business, so that's easy enough to catch up on if you want. And, you'd also honestly be ok if don't read it, in my opinion, but it is a good story.)

Oh, and if you want to just have a long, crossover-free, accessible series to spend time with, the original Ultimate Spider-Man is a great choice. Set in an alternate reality but heavily inspired by Spidey's lengthy history. Over 100 issues with the same writer and artist. And, eventually gives way to Miles Morales, who's awesome. (You can also just dive into Miles if he interests you.)

I'm a big fan of classic Spider-Man comics, especially mid-60s and 80s, but if you're brand new to comics, depending on your tastes, the above options are probably better for you.

 

Wow, that was a lot more than I was expecting! Thank you, I'll be getting started on Spider-Man: Blue tonight!

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man which involves Miles Morales.


Super friendly to New readers and never dissapoints

 

Read Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men (2004). His run is issues 1-24. It’s one of the best X-Men series/runs and a great starting point. After that, let me know and I’ll tell you where to go from there.

The 2004 Captain america series by Ed Brubaker was my first exposure to the character and is one of the best comic runs ever. It’s A LOT to read. The first arc is the basis for the Winter Soldier movie. My other favorite Captain America series is Rick Remender’s from 2012. Read that if you want something shorter.

You said you like everything, so Infinity Gauntlet is a must-read. Its sequel is Infinity War and I actually like that better. The last in the trilogy is Infinity Crusade, but I hear that’s terrible. Infinity Gauntlet, not War, is the basis for the latest movie, which is weird.

If you want to get hyped for the new Captain Marvel movie, read her 2012 and 2014 series. They’re basically the same series, but had a hiatus. It’s by Kelly Sue Deconick and is the essential series for her modern take.

Doctor Strange: The Oath is my favorite Doctor Strange story. It’s only 5 issues, but still amazing. The best ongoing series is the 2015 series, mainly Jason Aaron’s run, issues 1-19.

If you want a deep-cut cult-classic, check out Spider-Woman. There are two series, one started in 2014 and one in 2015. But like Captain Marvel, it’s basically one series. Start at issue 5 of the 2014 series. 1-4 consisted of tie-ins for the Spider-Verse event and was very blah, so skip those. They’re nothing good like the rest and irrelevant. However, at issue 4, a new artist and writing direction started and the story was funny, smart, and unique. It’s a fan-favorite and made her a favorite of mine.

Let us know what you read and how you like them! We always like getting people into comics.

 

I'm starting to get pretty agitated with Babs. Between her timeline of sending stuff out, the way her stuff is packed and the fact that I have no idea where my commission is, its just frustrating. People are getting theirs, but I'm still watching for the mail man every day so this thing doesn't come in mangled. Charging $7 for shipping and then sending it using $1.50 postage is trash. I need some tracking or SOMETHING. Ugh.

 

jfc

 

Ugh. I’ve been done with him since the allegations.

 

Dude can't even see. What is he doing on Twitter?

 

Stan Lee has a history of not properly compensating the artists he profited off of. And, his scripting was always filled with misogyny. And, he's always been a liar for the sake of positive attention.

The frustrating thing is, he's not quite a Bob Kane, taking credit for a Batman that Bill Finger actually created. My favorite fictional character literally wouldn't exist without Stan guiding Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, and John Romita to fulfill his idea of who the character should be. I've seen Ditko's attempt at an Amazing Fantasy #15 cover, and what Kirby's Spidey interiors looked like, and how Romita didn't think he was the right fit to replace Ditko, and how the series read between those first two regular ASM artists.

None of that erases the sins of Stan that were never fully reckoned with (unless the mess around him now is that reckoning). Thankfully, the collaborative nature of comics means I can see how creators like Chip Zdarsky and Jody Houser build off Stan's work without feeling weird about it. But, there's still a tension there in my sincere love of the Lee/Romita comics I own in omnibus form, and my knowledge that if that writer were still working today, I wouldn't be able to support that new work.

 

I agree with the Spidey recs, especially Ultimate and Blue. Be sure to carve out time for Tom King’s Vision. That was one of my first reads on MU, and it’s incredible.

 

Sharing this article @Tim did on the future of Miles Morales because it's quite good. Spider-Man: What could the future of Miles Morales look like?

 

What DC titles are people keeping up with lately? Once I started worki for the Spidey site in January, I’ve mostly just been reading comics for that so I haven’t been keeping up with much else lately.

Also, if anyone has some Cloak & Dagger recs, I’d love a few so I can read up before the show premieres.

 

I love those characters, but the only really great Cloak & Dagger story (outside of showing up in Runaways and various Spidey stories) is the 3-issue miniseries Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger by Nick Spencer and Emma Rios.

Their 80s stuff is cool, but also rough around the edges and very much of their time.

The above miniseries ends with an initially unresolved story thread that eventually got picked up in Slott's ASM: Worldwide run. I think it was like #6-8 or something of that 2015 relaunch?

 

I'll check out the Spider-Island one! Reading through the 60s Spidey comics has been a little exhausting, so I prefer some newer stuff to check out at the moment haha.

 

Oh, apparently Stuart Immonen is retiring from full time comic work after today's ASM #800. Huh.

He's low key one of comics' best artists. Bummer. Wonder what he's gonna do now.