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Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#43351: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:17:43 PM

That is an important lesson but I was thinking of the lesson he learned in War of the Realms that you don't have to be the big hero that saves the Earth because if you save one person you're the most important hero in the world to them.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#43352: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:21:27 PM

[up] Yeah, that was a great little character arc for him.

The problem is that none of it actually matters.

Edited by megaeliz on Feb 24th 2020 at 11:52:35 AM

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43353: Feb 24th 2020 at 8:39:23 PM

That's not what I said and you know it.
Okay, but when I asked why you wanted to read War of the Realms if you hadn't read Aaron's Thor, you answered with "Because it's an event comic." And lots of people tend to read all the event comics, because it's where the big moments happen in Marvel and DC.

But if you don't read all event comics, then let me ask the question again with more context: War of the Realms is the climax of Aaron's Thor run and includes almost all of the characters in his Thor run, including Young Thor, King Thor, and Jane Foster Thor, so reading it without knowing anything about his run would be like, again, reading Harry Potter Book 7 without reading the first six, so why would you want to do that?

If you believe that every event comic needs to be self-contained, then...I really, really disagree with that. Events that come out of nowhere can be fun (see: the first Secret Wars), but most of the time they just don't really work. Instead, an event that comes as a climax to a storyline, I think, works much better. For example: Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars event was the climax to his Avengers/New Avengers run. Much like War of the Realms, it involved numerous characters that were part of his run and numerous events that call back to previous parts of his run. Hell, the first issue is the Last Incursion and if you haven't been reading Avengers/New Avengers, you won't even know what an "Incursion" is.

So tell me: did you like Secret Wars?

kkhohoho Deranged X-Mas Figure from The Insanity Pole Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Deranged X-Mas Figure
#43354: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:23:01 PM

[up]

But if you don't read all event comics, then let me ask the question again with more context: War of the Realms is the climax of Aaron's Thor run and includes almost all of the characters in his Thor run, including Young Thor, King Thor, and Jane Foster Thor, so reading it without knowing anything about his run would be like, again, reading Harry Potter Book 7 without reading the first six, so why would you want to do that?

Because I was trying to get back into comics and thought 'This looks important, I should probably read it.'

Didn't read Secret Wars.

Edited by kkhohoho on Feb 24th 2020 at 11:23:34 AM

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43355: Feb 24th 2020 at 9:59:44 PM

Ah. If you're just getting back into comics, then I wouldn't recommend reading any of the big Crisis Crossovers. They require either a ton of backstory (which is often doled out in exposition) or they are just big slugfests between characters (often hero vs hero in Marvel). There are exceptions, of course, but if you really want to get into new comics, I would recommend starting with runs where you don't really need any prior knowledge. Something like Matt Fraction's Hawkeye or Warren Ellis's Moon Knight or, if you want something more YA, I would highly recommend Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Unstoppable Wasp.

If I might ask, where did you leave off reading comics and what kind of genre do you prefer? I can recommend a ton of comics if you really want.

kkhohoho Deranged X-Mas Figure from The Insanity Pole Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Deranged X-Mas Figure
#43356: Feb 25th 2020 at 5:17:10 AM

[up]Already read Wasp. Probably one of the best comics I've read.

I guess what I'm looking for is just a strong, well-written comic that stands on its' own. No tie-ins, to connections to big events, not part of an entire family of titles that I have to buy to understand everything. (Looking at you, X-Men.) Just a strongly written stand-alone comic.

Immortal Hulk fits the bill. Really good stuff. But everything else coming out seems more of the same. Tried reading Avengers. It was... okay. Though it assumes you're reading about 5 or 6 other titles, so maybe that factors into it. The X-Books are actually damn good, but it's too much for me to keep up with. (Or afford.) And I was loving Wasp until they cancelled it.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
GrigorII Since: Aug, 2011
#43357: Feb 25th 2020 at 6:42:42 AM

What about Coates' Black Panther? It's a sci-fi story, and (by its very premise) it has no links to other titles. You don't even need to follow the other titles with Black Panther (Avengers and Agents of Wakanda) to understand it.

Ultimate Secret Wars
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43358: Feb 25th 2020 at 6:55:44 AM

I guess what I'm looking for is just a strong, well-written comic that stands on its' own. No tie-ins, to connections to big events, not part of an entire family of titles that I have to buy to understand everything. (Looking at you, X-Men.) Just a strongly written stand-alone comic.
Okay, here we go:
  • Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja
  • Hawkeye: Kate Bishop by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero
  • Immortal Iron Fist by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja
  • The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walda
  • Howard the Duck by Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones
  • Weirdworld by Sam Humphries and Michael del Mundo (the previous volume is good, too, but you don't need to read it — both of them stand on their own).
  • Moon Knight by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey
  • Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood
  • Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona (this technically connects to the wider Marvel Universe, but you don't need to read any of it — later volumes have more explicit crossovers, though)
  • Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Michael Allred
  • Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos (don't let Bendis's name fool you — this is probably his best work ever and introduced Jessica Jones, it's amazing)
  • Daredevil by Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera (probably one of the best Daredevil books in the last twenty years — and that's saying something — it rarely crossovers over, but when it does, it explains everything)

And then there's the Young Loki trilogy:

  • Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite (technically, this intersects with the Fear Itself crossover, but it explains everything).
  • Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (no crossovers at all, but it helps to know Loki's backstory from JIM)
  • Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett (okay, this one has all of the crossovers but it still is really, really good)

Edited by alliterator on Feb 25th 2020 at 6:59:58 AM

kkhohoho Deranged X-Mas Figure from The Insanity Pole Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Deranged X-Mas Figure
#43359: Feb 25th 2020 at 8:12:03 AM

[up]Uh, no offense, but preferably something from the last year or two and still going?

Should have mentioned that.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43360: Feb 25th 2020 at 8:27:55 AM

Ah, okay. Something you can pick up single issues to right now.

Ones that have been ongoing for a bit:

  • Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto (really great, all you need to know is that Daredevil suffered an almost life-ending injury prior to the book and that's it)
  • Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero (starts off with Carol returning to Earth and immediately getting sucked into another adventure — first arc is slow going, but gets really good right afterwards. All you need to know is that Carol just discovered her mother was Kree before she died.)
  • Jane Foster: Valkyrie by Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, and Mahmud Asrar (a great book — all you need to know is that Jane became the last Valkyrie at the end of War of the Realms and that's it)

Ones that just started:

  • Thor by Donny Cates and Nik Klein (it basically starts off with the clean slate of Thor, King of Asgard, and goes from there — three issues so far)
  • Hawkeye: Freefall by Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt (no need to know anything except that Clint Barton is great at archery and bad at personal relationships - three issues so far)
  • Doctor Doom by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larroca (a great dive into Doom's psyche as he's framed for an attack and has to go on the run, leaving Latveria at the hands of neighboring Symkara - five issues so far)
  • Nebula by Vita Ayala and Claire Roe (only one issue so far, but pretty good — no need to know anything except the basics about Nebula, i.e. space pirate who pretended be Thanos's granddaughter)

I've also heard good things about Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda, Savage Avengers, and Strikeforce, although I haven't read them yet.

(I would have also recommended Guardians of the Galaxy by Al Ewing and Juann Cabal, but you kind of need to know a bit more backstory going in. It jumps off from the previous volume and also involves some thing from the ending of Avengers: No Road Home, but I think everything is explained pretty well for a first time reader. Two issues so far.)

There you go.

Edited by alliterator on Feb 25th 2020 at 8:34:42 AM

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#43361: Feb 25th 2020 at 12:09:55 PM

Amazing Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are also good, if you aren’t already reading them.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43362: Feb 25th 2020 at 12:46:53 PM

ASM has crossed over a bunch of times, though, while FNSM was great, but it's also over now, I believe.

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43364: Feb 25th 2020 at 1:17:50 PM

Hmmm. Perhaps Clony will sacrifice himself to create a brand new Tony Stark that's completely human, but also on their side, thus getting rid of Arno? I know Iron Man 2020 is a mini-series, so it can't go on for too long, but it's pretty interesting from what I've seen so far.

Also Tom Taylor teased that he has something upcoming with Marvel with an image of Iron Man. It's possible that he's going to be writing the new Iron Man comic after Iron Man 2020 ends.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#43365: Feb 25th 2020 at 3:40:08 PM

[up][up][up] The only true crossover that I can think of is the Absolute Carnage stuff, and even then, the meat of those issues are spent teasing the big mystery villain, Spencer’s been setting up. (Absolute carnage is great as well.)

(I don’t really count the 2099 stuff, since that mostly went on in the pages of Amazing.)

Edited by megaeliz on Feb 25th 2020 at 6:52:33 AM

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43366: Feb 25th 2020 at 3:50:17 PM

I was also thinking about Spider-Geddon, but I just looked it up and it doesn't have any ASM tie-ins.

Cortez Since: May, 2009
#43367: Feb 25th 2020 at 4:08:45 PM

Immortal Hulk fits the bill. Really good stuff.

You should check out Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy which just started.

"They truly were a Aqua Teen Hunger Force"
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43368: Feb 25th 2020 at 4:43:49 PM

Here are the things that you should probably know going into Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy:

  • The last Guardians volume had Rocket slowly dying from his implants failing and it ended with him finally getting help, with all of the other Guardians deciding to stay with him on the hospital planet.
  • In Avengers: No Road Home, all of the Greek Gods (aside from Hercules) were slaughtered by Nyx. At the end, like Gods usually do, they were resurrected in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth, but they were different then they were before.

And that's pretty much it.

kkhohoho Deranged X-Mas Figure from The Insanity Pole Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Deranged X-Mas Figure
#43369: Feb 25th 2020 at 7:23:16 PM

[up]Have not read any Gaurdians outside of DNA. Did read No Road Home, which was brilliant.

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#43370: Feb 25th 2020 at 9:24:42 PM

I also really liked Volume 2 of Superior Spider Man, but it's kinda hard to recommend wholeheartedly, because of the way it ended. #ElliotToliverDeservedBetter

Like it’s really good, which just makes the stupid ending even more infuriating.

Edited by megaeliz on Feb 26th 2020 at 2:26:51 PM

Zarius Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#43371: Feb 26th 2020 at 12:23:54 AM

Likely a fake-out considering the nature of the character, but in today's Avengers, they 'reveal' Mephisto is Tony's real dad

alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#43372: Feb 26th 2020 at 12:40:52 AM

I want monthly reveals of who Tony's "real dad" is from now on. Like, every issue, someone else claims to be Tony's real dad. It would be a great running gag.

Edited by alliterator on Feb 26th 2020 at 12:41:07 PM

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: Aug, 2015
The Head of the Hydra
#43373: Feb 26th 2020 at 12:49:41 AM

So we going to Maury then?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#43374: Feb 26th 2020 at 7:51:44 AM

[up][up][up][up] He's already back in the Amazing Mary Jane book.

Just thinking of how that ended makes me crazy.

Edited by megaeliz on Mar 2nd 2020 at 4:47:21 AM

Deadpoolrocks Since: Sep, 2010
#43375: Feb 26th 2020 at 8:51:49 AM

And over in ghost riders mephisto claims he's been trapped the whole time and it's just lesser demons using his form that we have seen elsewhere


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