Support NeoGAF

[iNvid02]

enter the coupon first then click apply, no details needed then - just click signup

loving this so far, would signup to a subscription if it were on mobile devices in a heartbeat

 

[omimasum]

could some recommend me some wolverine, xmen and spiderman please. i just finished x force and that was pretty enjoyable, do they also have any max comics, im having trouble finding some

 

[kswiston]

could some recommend me some wolverine, xmen and spiderman please. i just finished x force and that was pretty enjoyable, do they also have any max comics, im having trouble finding some

See post 215 for Wolverine. Start with some of the modern stuff, then move to the back story if you are interested. Probably the best way to get into a character.

 

[perfectnight]

I can't fucking stand the comic viewer. So damn bad. Why couldn't they have just bought CDisplay? The one they made feels so damn clunky

e- omg nm i think it was my browser. it works pretty well now

 

[IrishNinja]

wow, thanks OP! also, kswiston is awesome for his helpful posts. much love to someone else digging rucka's wolverine, even if i cant stomach enemy of the state again, heh. and yeah, i couldnt really pick out anything from bendis' Daredevil run either; the whole thing was so goddamn good, i wish he'd go back to stuff like that (seeing him on Moon Knight is cool).

 

[kswiston]

Marvel Digital Unlimited Reader’s Guide for Comic Newbies – Catching up on the X-men in the 2000s (part 1)

There are a LOT of x-men comics in the Marvel Digital library. Over 1000 issues when you search by character group. Because of this, trying to cram all essential storylines in a single post is not very feasible. I feel like there are 4 main eras of the X-men: The Silver-age Era, The Claremont Era (which really started before his run with Giant Sized X-men 1), The 90s era, and the current era which started in the early 2000s. These suggestions are restricted to the current era. I will deal with the earlier stuff later.

Unlike my first 3 suggestion guides, I will be dealing with multiple series here, and will be focusing on chronology. This covers a LOT of reading, but if you have a few days to kill, and want to get caught up on the X-men, hopefully this helps!

I have tried to weed out the really horrible stuff (there was a lot of it), but I am NOT going to say that every single issue listed here is amazing. Each series has its ups and downs.

Setting the stage

The current X-men era began with Grant Morrison and the appropriately titled New X-Men. Even if you weren’t the biggest fan of the run, I think it is hard to argue against Morrison being one of the most influential x-writers of all time (behind Stan Lee and Chris Claremont of course). So much of what has gone on in the x-titles for the past 10 years originated in his 35+ issue run. Even if the end of Planet X was retconned, and decimation killed the direction he was taking the franchise.

If you are serious about getting acquainted with the X-men, start with Morrision’s run:

New X-men 115-153 - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/2281/new_x-men_2001_-_2004

The last few issues of New X-men past 153 are NOT worth reading. All you need to know is that they retcon the big reveal/finale in Planet X in order to SPOILER

Spoiler

erase the previous character assassination of Magneto

. Uncanny X-men during this period is also not worth reading.

After Morrison left, Joss Whedon picked up his slack as the premiere X-writer on Astonishing X-Men. Whedon carried on some of the plot threads from Morrison’s run, but he clearly loved Claremont’s stuff from the 70s-80s, and he incorporates a lot of those themes and storylines in as well.

Astonishing X-men 1-24 + Giant sized Astonishing - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/744/astonishing_x-men_2004_-_2010

Astonishing took about 4 years to release 2 years worth of issues. About halfway through, x-men continuity continued on while Joss did his own thing. Still, a lot of the stuff in this run is referenced in later books. Note that astonishing continued after Whedon left, but it became sort of a "loosely based in continuity" version of the X-men, and has not had much of an influence on x-events since.

Uncanny X-men and adjectiveless X-men continue to not be worth reading during the first part of the Astonishing X-men era.

House of M and Decimation

These books mark the start of a series of X-events that continue right until the current X-men Schism storyline. House of M was also an Avengers crossover, but its ramifications mainly took place in the X-Universe.

House of M 1-8 - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/855/house_of_m_2005

House of M lead to Decimation which wasn’t an event or crossover, but rather a status quo for all of the x-books during this time. Most of the main x-books during this era were garbage (not counting Astonishing which was still running concurrently). Below are the storylines worth reading.

X-men Deadly Genesis 1-5 -http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/345/x-men_deadly_genesis_2005_-_2006

The events of Deadly Genesis factor into some of the future subplots of Messiah Complex and other crossovers. As such, it should be read. The writer, Ed Brubaker, continued the story in his first twelve issues writing Uncanny X-men. The story isn’t amazing or essential, but you can read it here:

Uncanny X-Men 475-486 - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/2258/uncanny_x-men_1963_-_present

Mike Carey’s run from this time period is also worth reading:

X-men 188-207 - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/403/x-men_2004_-_2007

Other X-related titles up until this point

Starting with Messiah Complex, X-events in the 2000s switch away from self contained minis, and instead are presented as crossovers between titles. So, before we get to that, I should introduce a few secondary books in the x-universe.

New Mutants/New X-men vol 2: This series focused on the new generation of mutants attending Xavier’s academy after Grant Morrison changed the x-mansion from a cool base into an actual school. I have not read most of the early issues, and from what I gather it was superpowers mixed with high school. However, the book was taken over by the writing team of Chris Yost and Craig Kyle, and really changed in tone afterwards. This book is a precursor to the stuff they ended up doing on X-Force. Read about it here:

New X-men Vol 2 - #20-End - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/749/new_x-men_2004_-_2008

X-factor: Stars Jaime Madrox (a mutant who can make duplicates of himself), along with other x-characters as they run a private dectective agency. Sort of x-men mixed with pulp noir stories. You can read it here:

X-factor - http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/1035/x-factor_2005_-_present

Messiah Complex

Messiah Complex takes place in the issues of Uncanny X-men, X-men, X-factor and New X-men. Here is the reading order:

Chapter 1: X-Men: Messiah Complex one-shot
Chapter 2: Uncanny X-Men #492
Chapter 3: X-Factor #25
Chapter 4: New X-Men #44
Chapter 5: X-Men #205
Chapter 6: Uncanny X-Men #493
Chapter 7: X-Factor #26
Chapter 8: New X-Men #45
Chapter 9: X-Men #206
Chapter 10: Uncanny X-Men #494
Chapter 11: X-Factor #27
Chapter 12: New X-Men #46
Chapter 13: X-Men #207

Links to the four series were listed previously in this post. The Chapter 1 one-shot is here:

http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/2901/x-men_messiah_complex_2007_-_2008

Messiah Complex marks the end of New X-men. It also sees Mike Carey’s X-men book change to X-men Legacy (a book focusing on Xavier), and marks the start of two new books: X-Force and Cable. Links to all three are below.

X-men Legacy: http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/3754/x-men_legacy_2008_-_present

Cable: http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/4002/cable_2008_-_2010

X-force: http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/3839/x-force_2008_-_2010

At this point you can choose to either continue reading the main X-titles (uncanny, x-men legacy, x-force and cable. X-Factor becomes less important in future events), or just the series that you are interested in.

I will pick up with everything from Messiah War to present day in a second post later tonight or tomorrow. I will try to include reading orders for these events as well.

 

[RSTEIN]

Protip: get the Marvel iPad app, go to free section, and download the Marvel Backlist Reading Chronology guide. It will guide you through the history of every major series.

 

[BamYouHaveAids]

I'm loving Iron Fist, so good.

 

[thetechkid]

I tried loading the site on my Incredible but I'm getting flash errors, is there another way to view this on an android device?

 

[Lebron]

I tried loading the site on my Incredible but I'm getting flash errors, is there another way to view this on an android device?

I get to page 2 in the comic viewer and then it shutdowns when I try and go to page 3.

Oh well.

 

[spindashing]

Two questions:

If I activate the free month of Marvel Comics that I got from my special edition copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, does this mean I am applicable for two months free using this free one month code?

And...

Is there a site like myanimelist.net (that is for anime/manga) that I can log my Marvel comic progress so I won't forget where I left off?

 

[IrishNinja]

I'm loving Iron Fist, so good.

right? its surprising how good that book is, even after aja leaves. i wish it was still going, love me some kung-fu/pulp.

 

[Trickster]

Total comic noob here, I know about big series like x-men and spiderman. But wondering if there are any series on their site that's not as well known, short and good.

 

[amrod]

hum.. I tired this and the IPAD app and it still wants me to buy issues at 1.99 on the IPAD?

 

[Hakkuei]

Is there a site like myanimelist.net (that is for anime/manga) that I can log my Marvel comic progress so I won't forget where I left off?

Marvel's site already does that automatically.

 

[iNvid02]

hum.. I tired this and the IPAD app and it still wants me to buy issues at 1.99 on the IPAD?

yeah it was found out that the subscription model doesn't exist for mobile devices, you have to buy each episode you want to read unlike on a normal computer. kinda sucks as i was ready to sign up once i got my ipad

 

[amrod]

yeah it was found out that the subscription model doesn't exist for mobile devices, you have to buy each episode you want to read unlike on a normal computer. kinda sucks as i was ready to sign up once i got my ipad

soo lame of marvel

 

[VGChampion]

soo lame of marvel

I think it's more Apple. I believe it's because they don't really have a subscription method in plan yet. Hope they can figure it out soon because I would love to use this on my iPad (of course who wouldn't?)

 

[Slayven]

I am bummed they don't have the original Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Reading Ultimate Spider-Man: This is so good. Why can't everything be like this?

the good news here is that USM remains very consistent. Not too many artist changes and written by the same author throughout. Rarely happens in comics.

 

[Marty Chinn]

yeah it was found out that the subscription model doesn't exist for mobile devices, you have to buy each episode you want to read unlike on a normal computer. kinda sucks as i was ready to sign up once i got my ipad

More like Apple devices, not mobile devices. My mobile device works just fine:

 

[thetechkid]

I updated flash on my Incredible and I can now read two pages before I get an error, is this something with my device or does the Marvel site not like mobile devices?

 

[Htown]

Total comic noob here, I know about big series like x-men and spiderman. But wondering if there are any series on their site that's not as well known, short and good.

Immortal Iron Fist.

Anyway, I've been reading through the first issues of the Black Panther run by Christopher Priest. It's damn good.

Should be under Black Panther (1998).

Also kwiston you are a gentleman and a scholar.

 

[ReiGun]

Glad I finally popped in here. Thanks for the deal, iNvidious01.

Just read through Civil War. Pretty good. Gotta look through the thread now for some recommendations.

 

[iNvid02]

More like Apple devices, not mobile devices. My mobile device works just fine:


http://i52.tinypic.com/30rwvav.png[/QUOTE]

damn you, what device do you have?

 

[Anth0ny]

thanks a lot for this, OP. Looking forward to reading some good shit.

 

[m3k]

thanks so much!

 

[Askani]

Getting into House of M. Diggin it so far. Have a feeling like I should have read Avengers Disassembled first though for the full setup since they mention it so much. I mean, I know it's not integral and I get the gist from the story, but I would like some details and they haven't really replayed any yet. Hadn't planned on reading it but it seems like I might after I get done with this.

 

[Mistouze]

Still reading Immortal Iron Fist, still enjoying it A LOT but I have a problem to find an issue on the Marvel site.

After Iron Fist #12, a characters backstory is explained in "Immortal Iron Fist Special" but I can't find it on the site, might have missed it though...

I'm pretty sure it's not essential to the story so I'll keep on reading with #13.

EDIT : Just thought of doing a search based on the character and no dice. Blah.

 

[BigJonsson]

Is Age of Apocalypse on here?!?

Sweet! Its there

Finally can read it

 

[thetechkid]

The Deadpool comic is the most amazingly humorous comic I've read.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

Yo...this X Force series is pretty badass. lol

 

[kswiston]

The Deadpool comic is the most amazingly humorous comic I've read.

Which one?

 

[thetechkid]

Which one?

http://marvel.com/digital_comics/browse/comic_series/5701/deadpool_2008_-_present

 

[Hazaro]

Is it just me or is The Immortal Iron Fist missing #25 :/

http://marvel.com/comic_books/issue/23967/immortal_iron_fist_2006_25

 

[Acid08]

I kind of wish I had waited to read Astonishing X-Men now, about a month ago I went and bought the first 4 tpbs. Happy to own the physical books though since it was fucking awesome.

 

[Mistouze]

Whhhhaat? Can't read past page 5 of Joe Kelly's Deadpool #1 unless I "subscribe". Issue #2 I can read without any problem.

Am I the only one encountering this issue?

Bah, off to read some Howard the Duck

 

[clay_ghost]

http://marvel.com/digital_comics/issue/3146/runaways_2003_1

Every one should read runaways.
btw when is the next issue/arc coming for runaways? Or any news at all?

 

[Xater]

The Deadpool comic is the most amazingly humorous comic I've read.

You should read Cable & Deadpool. Fabian Nicieza writes the best Deadpool ever.

 

[Nyx]

Been reading the Venom (2003-2004) series, so awesome.

 

[Ovid]

Thank you OP. I'm reading Civil War, Secret Invasion (1980's) and Ultimates.

I'll check out a few others that a friend recommended.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

Oh sweet, thanks OP. Gonna check out Civil War.

 

[DNF]

So i compiled a little link-list for some of the story arcs from the current "X-Force" series.
Reading order is mostly taken of wikipedia, so feel free to correct it.

X-FORCE

X-FORCE / Angels & Demons (6 Parts)
Angels & Demons 1/6 _X-Force #01_
Angels & Demons 2/6 _X-Force #02_
Angels & Demons 3/6 _X-Force #03_
Angels & Demons 4/6 _X-Force #04_
Angels & Demons 5/6 _X-Force #05_
Angels & Demons 6/6 _X-Force #06_

X-FORCE / Old Ghosts (4 Parts)
Old Ghosts 1/4 _X-Force #07_
Old Ghosts 2/4 _X-Force #08_
Old Ghosts 3/4 _X-Force #09_
Old Ghosts 4/4 _X-Force #10_


Who the hell is Eli Bard? _X-Force #11_
Suicide Leper 1/2 _X-Force #12_
Suicide Leper 2/2 _X-Force #13_

X-FORCE / Messiah War (7 Parts)
Prologue: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1-3
Chapter 1: X-Force/Cable: Messiah War One-Shot
Messiah War 2/7 _Cable #13_
Messiah War 3/7 _X-Force #14_
Messiah War 4/7 _Cable #14_
Messiah War 5/7 _X-Force #15_
Messiah War 6/7 _Cable #15_
Messiah War 7/7 _X-Force #16_

X-Force / Not Forgotten (4 Parts)
Not Forgotten 1/4 _X-Force #17_
Not Forgotten 2/4 _X-Force #18_
Not Forgotten 3/4 _X-Force #19_
Not Forgotten 4/4 _X-Force #20_

X-Force / Necrosha
Necrosha: The Gathering
Necrosha One-Shoot
New Mutants #6
X-Force #21
New Mutants #7
X-Force #22
New Mutants #8
X-Men Legacy #231
X-Force #23
X-Men Legacy #232
X-Force #24
X-Men Legacy #233
X-Force #25

Edit: Missing links means else i didn't find it or they are not available online yet.

 

[Void Insanity]

Sweet. Free Deadpool.

 

[SolarPowered]

Already read X-23's 2005 run, Civil war, House of M and I finished She-Hulk's 2004 book. I was going to start her 2005 book, but she starts talking about how she clobbered vision and Hawkeye which leaves me really confused.

Is there a good spot to start reading the Avengers' books? I have on idea where to start with them, but I figure that what happens there has an effect on most of the major superheroes and it'll give me a better idea of what is happening with all the characters.

 

[J Tourettes]

Thanks op. I stopped buying comics about 4 months after the Age of Apocalypse so have a lot to catch up on!

 

[sableholic]

just finished all of ultimate spiderman, anybody got any good spiderman recommendations? Was thinking of just continuing with ultimate comic - spider man

 

[mysticwhip]

Are any of the Wolverine stories pencilled by Leinil Yu any good?

 

[RSTEIN]

If you don't like wolverine you should still read wolverine #70... Where Wolvie kills all the X-Men after Mysterio tricks him into thinking they're all baddies.

 

[sableholic]

just finished all of ultimate spiderman, anybody got any good spiderman recommendations? Was thinking of just continuing with ultimate comic - spider man

wow ultimate comic spider man was so bad...