Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Sara Century

Bomber Jackets & Love Triangles, The Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus

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Avengers #366, written by Bob Harras, art by Steve Epting and Tom Palmer, lettering by Rick Parker

The early-to-mid-’90s were a wild time for superhero comics, and the overall “heavy on action, low on plot and character development” vibes have been commented on far and wide. Still, for all the bad, this was a time where major shake-ups were happening across the board. This omnibus collects a truly weird era of the Avengers in which the cast was flipped on its side with mostly lesser-known characters like the Black Knight and Crystal of the Inhumans taking the spotlight, and just about everyone owned at least one bomber jacket. Mainstays like Captain America and Iron Man disappear, and the book takes on a moody, tempestuous vibe rare to the Avengers. Love it or hate it, the era that brought us Avengers: The Gathering shook up the status quo of a team that could, at times, feel stagnant.

Collects: Avengers (1963) #343-344 And #348-375, Avengers Annual #22, Avengers Strikefile, X-Men (1991) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, Uncanny X-Men (1981) #307, Black Knight: Exodus And Avengers Anniversary Magazine [Read more…] about Bomber Jackets & Love Triangles, The Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus

10 Great Comics Featuring the Marvel Multiverse!

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Now that the Marvel Multiverse has come to the MCU and we’re getting an Into the Spider-Verse sequel, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and a What If…? series, it’s safe to say that we’re about to start seeing a lot of Marvel’s zany alternate realities playing out on the big screen. These wild new additions probably won’t make Marvel’s continuity less confusing, but the Multiverse has long been one of Marvel Comics’ greatest features. Imagining what could have become of our favorite characters is a beloved pastime of the Marvel Maniac, and indeed, some of Marvel’s Greatest Hits come straight out of the Multiverse.

Read 7 Best Marvel What If Comics for more multiverse picks! [Read more…] about 10 Great Comics Featuring the Marvel Multiverse!

Marvels Snapshots Graphic Novel in Review!

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Marvels Snapshots: Captain America, cover art by Alex Ross, written by Mark Russell, art by Ramon Perez and Rico Renzi, lettering by Joe Sabino

Curated, edited, and sometimes co-written by comics legend Kurt Busiek, Marvels Snapshots is an engaging set of flashbacks that fill in some gaps in the greater story of the Marvel Universe. Featuring a series of covers by Busiek’s frequent collaborator Alex Ross, these stories feel like a step back into the duo’s early work in Marvels. By taking much the same ground-level view on Marvel continuity but expanding the idea so that new writers and artists can be involved, this is, at its best, an updated look at Marvel’s canon. [Read more…] about Marvels Snapshots Graphic Novel in Review!

Introducing Michael Morbius in the Morbius Omnibus

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Amazing Spider-Man #101, written by Roy Thomas, art by Gil Kane, lettering by Artie Simek

With the Morbius film due to make its debut in early 2022, one assumes that more people than ever are looking back to the early days of our dear Michael M. to see what makes him tick. Though Morbius would later go on to have a more complex arc that would bring many nuances to his strange morality, his early days portrayed him as bloodthirsty and ravenous, destroyed by the experiments that were meant to save his life but instead saw him cursed to be—you guessed it—a LIVING VAMPIRE!

Following his premiere in Amazing Spider-Man #101, Morbius quickly grew in popularity via the pages of Marvel’s various horror titles, enjoying brief stints in anthology titles like Fear and Vampire Tales. For fans of the bizarre horror/sci-fi/superhero stories coming out from both Marvel and DC during the early 1970s, Morbius’s early appearances will scratch a very specific itch, while newer fans might find enjoyment in the camp factor of juxtaposing superhero hijinks with the tortured self-loathing of vampires. [Read more…] about Introducing Michael Morbius in the Morbius Omnibus

Legion of Super-Heroes: Before The Darkness

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The Legion of Super-Heroes can be a bit of an acquired taste, and the dozens upon dozens of trades collecting their stories offer an abundance of choices that might not necessarily make it easier to break into the series. As with the characters of the Legion, the trades are many, and a lot of them don’t have a ton of depth. There is plenty of content, but it takes a while for the essential stuff to start happening, and that has been retconned and re-retconned to the end of time.

Legion of Super-Heroes: Before the Darkness (collecting Legion of Super-Heroes #260-271 and Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes #1-3) is not essential, but it builds a bridge between the departure of Superboy and the pending Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen run that would go on to define the team for many readers. The fact is that in spite of and often because of its density, The Legion of Super-Heroes is almost always at least a little bit fun to read. Case in point: Before The Darkness begins with a fight at a space circus and ends with more than one assassination attempt under its belt. So buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride. [Read more…] about Legion of Super-Heroes: Before The Darkness