One of my favorite aspects of House of X / Powers of X and Jonathan Hickman’s takeover of Marvel’s X-Men comics line is how many new or lapsed readers want to dive into the vast and often complicated world of the X-Men. While I have a wide array of guides on Comic Book Herald – including massive full reading orders for all of X-Men – I thought it’d be easier for some new readers to start with a fast-track guide to the essential starting places. [Read more…] about Where to Start With X-Men Comics – Essential X-Men Fast Track
Comics Guides
All Smash, No Pass: The Best Hulk Comics Of All Time!
An intelligent, sensible man strapped to a gamma-born bulldozer (or is it the other way around?), Dr. Bruce Banner, first among the various other characters to carry the Hulk name at Marvel, is a ticking time bomb.
A founding member of the Avengers, a father, a friend, and a deeply flawed man, the Hulk has more in common with DC’s Swamp Thing than Marvel’s own Man-Thing does. A man out of time, out of place, and with a dangerously close connection to something primal. His best stories understand this, the unique position he commands both physically and philosophically in the comics sphere, and they deliver on that promise with a marriage of the intense depth that come from both Bruce’s raw humanity, and yes, a whole lot of Hulk smashing. These are the best Hulk comics:
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The Best Kang the Conqueror Comics of All Time!
Ten stories highlighting Kang the Conqueror at his best and worst!
Debuting all the way back in 1964, the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror is a bedrock villain in the Marvel Universe, frequently clashing with the Avengers but still possessing a rich history throughout the wider Marvel Universe, spinning off variants, divergents, and time paradoxes along the way. With Kang, played by Jonathan Majors, recently appearing in Disney Plus’ Loki series and set to appear again in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania, the character is posed to breakout in a big way – possibly even as the “Thanos” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fourth phase of films (and beyond).
But with nearly sixty years of accumulated adventures, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the character’s long (and often complex) history. Here then is a guide to the best Kang stories, the ones which showcase the core attributes of the character, define who he is and what he wants, or simply have a lot of fun with the character and his propensity for time travel shenanigans!
Related:
Avengers reading order [Read more…] about The Best Kang the Conqueror Comics of All Time!
Best Green Arrow Comics Of All Time!
Oliver Queen is a playboy billionaire with a secret identity as a hero. He has his own cave housing his gadgets, and a young ward working beside him to protect his city. Sound familiar? Originally created as an archery based clone of Batman, Green Arrow is a staple of the DC Universe who forged his own identity outside of his original pitch. Especially with the Arrow tv series, Green Arrow has definitely gained the respect he deserves, but that doesn’t mean his comics are as well read as they should be.
Below, you will find a list of must read stories to get the best understanding of the character. Whether you are new to comics, or just overlooked the character, the focus here is based on understanding Oliver Queen and his life, what sets him apart, and what makes him such a compelling character. [Read more…] about Best Green Arrow Comics Of All Time!
The State of Star Wars (2021)
When Marvel re-acquired the license to create new Star Wars comics in 2015, they quickly launched a core group of series chronicling the adventures happening long ago in everyone’s favorite far away galaxy. As an added bonus, for the first time, following two decades of Dark Horse holding the license to make Star Wars comics (which, in turn, followed Marvel’s initial licensing of the characters back in the 70s), these stories would be considered canon, “official” continuations of the overall narrative depicted in the films & TV shows. Since then, the assorted Marvel Star Wars comic book series have been relaunched, renewed, and built out into their own little sub-universe of comic books. Now, as fans wait patiently for the next Disney+ series to launch and the next movie to start filming, it’s the perfect time to give the Star Wars comic book universe a chance.
But with so many different books out there, it’s not always clear where to start or what might suit your tastes. To help, here’s a brief rundown of each current series, when it takes place, what it’s about, what creators are involved, to help guide your journey. May the Force be with you! [Read more…] about The State of Star Wars (2021)