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Post by The Doctor on May 9, 2019 9:33:13 GMT
Asking for friends.
If someone has not read Marvel before, what would be a good trade to start with? Preferably something in print. I say MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS.
What say you, hive brain?
-Ralph
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Post by Fortmax2020 on May 9, 2019 9:48:16 GMT
We must differentiate here between what is fun and enjoyable or important and what would be a good introduction in terms of writing, characters and inspiring a new comics reader to read more.
Not sure if Secret Wars is this.
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Post by jonathan85 on May 9, 2019 10:18:56 GMT
Have they expressed an interest in any particular characters? I'm not sure about Secret Wars for a first time reader, fun tho it is.
Jonathan
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 9, 2019 10:20:46 GMT
I'm not sure there's a definitively right answer to this and Secret Wars is probably a good "these are lots of Marvel characters" intro. In terms of Marvel comics in general it would depend on what people like.... In terms of other possibilities: X-Men Epic 5 Second Genesis
X-Men Dark Phoenix
X-Men Ashes To Ashes
X-Men Mutant Massacre
X-Men E for Extinction
Avengers Epic 9 Final Threat
Avengers: Knights of Wundagore
Avengers: Absolute Vision into Legacy of Thanos
Avengers Epic 16 Under Siege
Fantastic Four Epic The Coming Of Galactus
FF Byrne Visionaries from v1
Amazing Spider-Man: Alien Costume Saga 1 & 2
Amazing Spider-Man Epic 17 Kraven's Last Hunt
Amazing Spider-Man Epic 18 Venom 2 which leads into
Amazing Spider-Man Epic 19 Assassin Nation
Marvel Team Up by Claremont & Byrne - if there were MTU Epics I'd recommend these
Hulk Pardoned, Regression & Crossroads - sadly OOP
Thor Simonson
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 9, 2019 10:39:12 GMT
The more I think about it, the more Marvel Team Up looms in my mind as a good starting point. Spider-Man, identifiably Marvel but removed from some of the plotting in his main series, paired with A N Other Marvel hero. You get a different hero every issue which gives you an opportunity to find out about a wide range over a short period of time. See one you like? Find their own book.
That Byrne Claremont book..... Yellowjacket, Wasp, Human Torch, Ms Marvel, Captain Britain, Havok, Thor, Power Man..... And possibly a few others I've forgotten.
EDIT: <checks> Iron Fist, Daughters of the Dragon, Tigra & Man Thing
Finding a more modern Marvel intro is much more difficult.
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Post by The Doctor on May 9, 2019 10:39:33 GMT
Hmmm. Dark Phoenix and E is for Extinction might be good shouts.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 9, 2019 10:44:57 GMT
There's a pull between good starting points, variety and quality
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Post by Fortmax2020 on May 9, 2019 11:37:10 GMT
Will Dark Pheonix not rely on having some emotional resonance with the characters previously?
Said friends are not comics readers at all so it needs good writing, interesting art and an intriguing plot I think. Both are sci fi fans (TV and books) and well read on general. Comics are just a blind spot although they have e joyed a handful of MCU films.
(Much like how some people have just never read Harry Potter and think watching half of the films is a substitute for reading the books...)
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Post by jonathan85 on May 9, 2019 12:19:16 GMT
Will Dark Pheonix not rely on having some emotional resonance with the characters previously? Said friends are not comics readers at all so it needs good writing, interesting art and an intriguing plot I think. Both are sci fi fans (TV and books) and well read on general. Comics are just a blind spot although they have e joyed a handful of MCU films. (Much like how some people have just never read Harry Potter and think watching half of the films is a substitute for reading the books...) I think some of the more modern Marvel arcs would be better than older ones. The somewhat bombastic dialogue might not come across well if we're talking about folk who have never read comics before. What about stuff like the Winter Soldier, Extremis or the first volume of Mark Waid's Indestructible Hulk run? They're all mostly self-contained, they have similarities to the films and are several issues long, as opposed to some of the big epic collections that might be a bit daunting. Jonathan
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 9, 2019 12:24:25 GMT
Winter Soldier is a good suggestion. I can't think of anything more modern and mainstream that I'd unreservedly recommend .... For the record we're counting Fraction Iron Fist, Fraction Hawkeye and King Vision as a bit niche, good though they are.
Winter Soldier though is very much THE Cap story that moved him mainstream. He'd been a bit to the sidelines for a while before this.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 9, 2019 16:40:28 GMT
Asking for friends. If someone has not read Marvel before, what would be a good trade to start with? Preferably something in print. I say MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS. What say you, hive brain? There is no reliable answer to this question without further information. What are your friends' tastes? Why do they want to start reading Marvel? Are they fans of particular characters from the cinema - if so, which ones? If the aim of the exercise is to impress them and hook them, we need to know more. Do they want serious or sensible? Realism or fantastic? Spectacular art or lots of words? Will they be scared off by too large a cast and too chaotic events on their first outing? Do they want to start with characters/stories they have some familiarity with? Martin
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 9, 2019 16:55:42 GMT
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Jim
Thunderjet
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Post by Jim on May 9, 2019 17:47:24 GMT
I think starting X-Men from Second Genesis isn't a bad call; it doesn't start at its peak, but to appreciate it at its best it helps to have gotten to know the characters and situation. And it does start exciting.
For something trad but a touch more modern, and a good jumping on point with lots of MU characters, might Busiek / Perez Avengers be good? Lots of characters familiar from the films, many of them returned to their iconic status due to Heroes Return, and quite a fun opening arc.
If they've never heard of Thunderbolts that could be interesting - it's compelling, fast-paced and wrong-footing from the off, and though not formed of familiar characters it explores the MU a lot with plenty of guest stars.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on May 9, 2019 19:47:50 GMT
X-Men wise I'd say Dark Phoenix Saga or E for Extinction are both pretty damned good starting points. Sadly I think it's out of print but From The Ashes would actually be a good fit too.
If they've seen Endgame - get them The Infinity Gauntlet trade.
Spider-Man - Untold Tales of Spider-Man by Kurt Busiek, I think it was traded is a fantastic entry point to classic Spider-Man.
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Post by Shockprowl on May 9, 2019 20:53:27 GMT
THE SENTRY
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Post by The Doctor on May 9, 2019 21:03:14 GMT
Said friends like Harry Potter (books) and not seen too much of the MCU. Think of them as comic beginners. Entry level.
-Ralph
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Jim
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Post by Jim on May 9, 2019 21:47:12 GMT
I think I would go with Claremont-era X-Men in that case, it has that soapy storylines mixed with gradually building epics thing going on as well as a school setting. I'd start at the beginning rather than jumping direct to Dark Phoenix, if they like the Harry Potter books I doubt they'd mind investing the time to get to know the characters first like that.
I'm not a Morrison fan, though his X-Men is one of his works I find tolerable and it has some really good ideas (and occasionally art), but for a modern X-Men take based around a school I'd skip on to Aaron's Wolverine and the X-Men. Lots of fun but some good emotional beats too, and consistently good artists.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 10, 2019 5:14:24 GMT
If they like Harry Potter, then I'd suggest New Mutants and Dr Strange!
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on May 10, 2019 21:59:04 GMT
The solution has become clear: I have a stack of Mighty World of Marvel! A changing roster of stories selected with the general audience in mind with proper recap pages.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on May 11, 2019 12:55:28 GMT
SIEGE
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Post by The Doctor on May 12, 2019 9:09:40 GMT
No. It read too disjointly me for. I fear how civilians would cope!
-Ralph
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Post by Fortmax2020 on May 12, 2019 16:13:47 GMT
Said friends may read some Marvel comics in exchange for for Ralph reading Harry Potter. This is how it began. He thinks watching a few of the films makes him sufficiently versed in Harry Potter not to try more.
I once thought this too.
It's a bit like thinking Jesus didnt need to learn the Torah because he could have watched The Ten Commandments.
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Post by The Doctor on May 12, 2019 17:40:54 GMT
Such a good bank holiday film.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on May 13, 2019 21:37:49 GMT
WORLD
WAR
HULK
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Post by Andy Turnbull on May 13, 2019 21:41:49 GMT
It's not.
It's so far away from being a good starting point for newbies.
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Post by The Doctor on May 13, 2019 21:56:33 GMT
I dunno. I thought THE TEN COMMANDMENTS was quite a good way to introduce Moses to newbies.
-Ralph
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Post by paulbyrnex on May 14, 2019 17:51:51 GMT
People are lucky today with so many options digital and physical back in around 1994 no internet, no comic bookshop in my area, no graphic novel section in local bookshop heck we didn't even have a graphic novel market like they have now. I had no best starting point it was buy whatever I could find mostly UK reprints such as Exploits or my local pound shop would occasionally get in random £1.00 packages with 3 random Marvel comics.
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Post by Pinwig on May 14, 2019 17:53:56 GMT
Ah, but we were happy.
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Post by Bogatan on May 14, 2019 18:38:18 GMT
Depending on how far in to the deep end they want throwing Hickmans Avengers run in to Secret Wars would be a good modern starting point. I read it with very little recent comic book knowledge. A passing knowledge of the MCU should just about be sufficient.
For a more casual option that does a good job of gradually introducing the wider Marvel world I'd say Ms Marvel.
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Post by Shockprowl on May 14, 2019 20:03:19 GMT
WARD'S RUN ON
FANTASTIC FOUR
VOLS 1 & 2
OR
HICKMAN'S RUN ON
FANTASTIC FOUR
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