Welcome to ‘My Marvelous Year,’ the only comic book reading club and podcast that will take you through the entire history of Marvel Comics!
The reading club aligns with the My Marvelous Year podcast. Zack Deane (the “newcomer to Marvel Comics”) and myself (the “expert” (can you all hear my wife laughing, or is that just me?)) will be discussing the comics we read weekly, in addition to covering reader (that’s you!) questions and feedback.
The MMY pod is a great way to get supplemental content around your reading, including historical context, analysis, and my own personal brand of biting wit (see also: dad jokes). It may also help fill in some of the issues or story arcs you couldn’t find time for, or found less compelling.
The Easiest Way to Start is to Subscribe!
Podcast — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed
What Is My Marvelous Year?
In short, MMY is the Comic Book Herald reading club that tackles the entire history of Marvel Comics, 10 essential stories per publication year at a time. We begin with the Marvel Comics of 1962, before a list for 1963… and so on, all the way to present day!
You, me, my co-host Zack, and a whole bunch of other Marvel fanatics will be using Marvel Unlimited, for the easiest most affordable means of reading all these comics!
You can find the guide for each year of Marvel Comics by clicking each decade’s hub below.
Get Started With These Reading Lists!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, tweet us @ComicBookHerald or @mymarvelousyear, or send an email to mymarvelousyear@gmail.com.
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If you like Comic Book Herald, and are able to donate, any small contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Donate here! Or, support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards! Or you can even check out the CBH Merch store and get something nice with a small portion benefiting the site! Thank you for reading!
Hey Zack and Dave, I’m loving the podcast so far! I’m up to 1981 and am also friggin loving the ultimate year podcast! I was curious if you guys will ever be doing something like this for DC?
I don’t know where else to put this. This is a very long and ranty comment but I’d like to say upfront that overall I love the website and the podcast and appreciate all the hard work that has gone into both, so please understand that my comments are coming from a place of frustration with something I care about and not from sniping or trying to make a personal attack or simply quibble over a difference of opinion. I just want to mark this moment as I listen to the August 2020 Year 25 1986 Pt. 3 episode to express how much I have loved this podcast, and yet how much I have grown to despise Zack’s contribution to it. I sincerely hope that some critical self-reflection occurred after this episode and the vibe and energy changes subsequently otherwise I may have to abandon my attempt to catch up to you guys. I only started a month or so ago and I’ve made it from 1973 to 1986 and overall really enjoyed the podcast, found the reading list indispensable, and generally enjoyed y’all’s rapport. Even though I almost always strongly disagree with Zack, up to this point it’s mostly been fun to listen to you give each other a hard time over your takes, with Dave typically defending the general consensus view and Zack typically championing strange mediocre things and hating on obvious classics. I also have really appreciated when Zack has brought up ethical and political critiques of these comics and agree that this is an important part of how we read them today, and for the record have no issue with any of y’all’s criticisms of that stuff and would even go further in some cases.
However, over the course of the episodes the nitpicking and dismissive tone began to annoy me more and more. It seems to reach its absolute apex in this episode. To be clear, I am not upset about Zack having different opinions than my own, it’s the manner in which they are expressed combined with the widespread problems with the substance of his criticisms. In this episode he constantly interrupts Dave, and adopts this sighing whiney tone that is like nails on a chalkboard to me while being extremely dismissive and insensitive about a comic event which is historically important, unprecedented, and emotionally charged for some readers. I get that he felt that it failed on every possible level and was boring and didn’t move him in any way but listening to him talk about this material like that after having just read it was extremely disheartening and makes me question whether I want to keep listening.
I really wish that Zack could cultivate an attitude of hermeneutic generosity when it comes to the engagement with these comics. I get that for many people who engage with cultural objects for a living or a hobby and need to speak and write about them constantly there is a tendency to frame their own experience via the definition of the critic as one who approaches the material with a fundamentally combative eye, on the look out for flaws, assuming a position of “if this thing is supposed to be good, or even noteworthy, then I challenge it to impress me!” as in the cultural object needs to perform some labor to win you over. But that’s not the only way to approach cultural objects, and I would argue that it’s actually a very immature and unsophisticated one. In contrast with braindead fanboyism, it surely presents itself as the intellectually sophisticated position to define the task of the critic in a combative unsympathetic mode. But in my studies of intellectual history, philosophy, and literature, and in my teaching of those subjects, I’ve found that this approach resembles the meme of the smug guy sitting at the table with the sign that says something something “change my mind”. It puts the burden of interpretation on the text, assuming that it’s the job of the text to work for you while often I would argue that you are the one that needs to work for the text. From my perspective when you have the experience where you think “all these people claim this writer/series/artist/run etc. is great/important/groundbreaking/interesting but I don’t get it” your first thought shouldn’t be “I’m obviously right, my first impression and resulting opinion doesn’t need to be questioned, therefore all of these other people are wrong” but rather, “how could otherwise intelligent people that care about the same things as me have such a different reaction, what am I missing or what contextualization is necessary for me to understand where they are coming from.” This can be purely a thought experiment, the end result doesn’t actually even need to alter your original opinion! Maybe in the end you still don’t care for Claremont or Simonson, but you will seek to understand why other people do and you will be able to discuss the material in a much more interesting way than being snarky and belligerent. You may also discover that much of what you are reacting to is based on your own preconceptions and biases and lack of information where you fill in the missing pieces with the readymade narrative you brought to the reading. This is a classic situation in a classroom setting when a very intelligent and opinionated student hasn’t done their homework. Any good instructor can pick up on it and the best thing to do is to try to anchor the discussion in the text itself. I will acknowledge that in the cases where this happens on the podcast it’s not Zack’s fault, it’s largely due to the reading list and the sheer quantity that y’all were trying to pack in, omissions are necessary. But it’s extremely frustrating when I’ve done all of the reading and then I hear Zack saying a comic made no sense and was full of random references but actually it’s just because y’all skipped the issues where those plot points or characters were introduced. If you want to be a critical warrior and treat every hermeneutic encounter as a battle to the death, you need to come correct. The frequency of basic errors about the content (citing an issue which had a a different artist as proof that Simonson is a bad artist etc.) is remarkable considering the confidence with which your derision is expressed. If you turned in a paper in a college course that was constructed in this way I don’t see how you would pass the course even with an extremely generous instructor. I sincerely hope that there is a shift in the subsequent episodes because if it continues on in this direction I will have to stop listening, which makes me really sad because I’ve gotten so much out of reading along and listening to you guys and was planning on signing up for the Patreon and participating more in the community. But sadly I just hadn’t realized that I was listening to Zack’s villain origin story. I’m kidding… mostly.
Last point and then rant over. In a Variant Cover episode where you discussed this question of being critical or negative finding fault etc the topic of if there were perfect comics or perfect movies came up and Zack cited “The Matrix” as a perfect movie which has to be the most ridiculous thing he has said up to the point that I have listened. Here’s my Zack style hot take: “The Matrix was a perfect movie for a 13 year old boy in 1999, watching it in 2021 I thought it was pretty awful and gave it 2 1/2 stars. Blade is a way better movie and actually holds up. K owing that Zack thought the Matrix was perfect makes me knock off another two stars bringing it down to 1/2 a star. Blade remains 5 stars.”
Loved the episode with Frankie and have noticed that you seem to have more guests from this point on and I believe bring in Charlotte as a regular? Perhaps this will help temper some of Zack’s worst inclinations. In any event I apologize if this comes off as pretentious or as pointless complaining but I hope it can be seen as constructive criticism. At the end of the day I just beg you to reject the notion that there are only two ways of approaching this material, as either a shallow fan with nothing but praise or as a smart critic who thinks deeply by complaining and nitpicking. This is a profoundly impoverished understand of the work of interpretation, and it makes for an extremely disappointing and frustrating podcast.
Agreed with this. I love the podcast but it is exhausting hearing Zack at times. It definitely decreases the enjoyment of podcast.
I appreciate the effort you put into writing this. You’ve articulated my feelings about the episode perfectly.
I just finished listening to 1986 part 3 and I have to salute Dave for FINALLY standing up to Zack’s crazy “hot takes”. Obviously I don’t need to defend Simonson or Claremont considering they are pretty unanimously considered the most significant and pioneering writers of Thor and X-Men in Marvel history. The part that really stubbed my toes was saying your opinions, which I think you sometimes push as fact, are largely based on not really caring about the lore. MMY is Marvel history and essential story-specific. Lore is literally the point! It’s how we become immersed in this crazy universe! All that being said, I love you both and love the podcast!
i want to start reading ALL the marvel comics, so is everything you listed on this site have each and every comic? is there a template on reading it in chronological order?
Hi, I love the show. Before this my only actual “connection” to Marvel, or any superhero-comics, is through movies. So I am wondering if you have any plans for the DC also in the future?
They said they would if DC made it easier to do so. Infinite just came out last month so let’s hope they keep improving.
My family have always been marvel fans, but that was the movies. Now that our kids are teenagers, and I’ve stumbled onto your wonderful site, we are about to jump in with both feet. We will be reading your reading lists from the beginning. Thanks so much for putting all of this together!
Love it! Enjoy the read-along!
Hi, I just started listening to the podcast as I am a hard core silver age fan. Certainly, I am looking forward to working though the bronze age and into more modern material. One thing I would mention is that on the golden age bonus episode there is a lot of talk about how Timely/Atlas was just a trend chaser. That is true but the caveat to that is that Stan Lee recruited and developed a lot of artists during this time who became stars in the Silver and Bronze Age. People like John Buscema, Steve Ditko, Don Heck and John Romita SR. So there was a lot of trend chasing comics, but the art was often outstanding. As far as the writing side obviously its not like today. If your listeners want to see what top level writing looked like in that era, check out Chester Gould on DIck Tracy. He was doing complex subbplots and story arcs a lot earlier than the rest of the comic strip/comic book industry. Keep up the good work.
Loving the show here in the UK guys! One request though….can we have some more short burst earnest singing from Dave? It’s both in tune and makes me laugh so hard I wet myself. It’s a little known fact that all English people do this when laughing.
Woohoo! Thanks for the feedback, Paul! I’ll see what I can do about tunes in future eps 🙂
Salad
Croutons
1969 – Incredible Hulk Annual #1is not in Marvel Unlimited. I thought everything on your list was supposed to be there?
Been listening to the My Marvelous Year podcast and I’m really enjoying it. I find it has helped me get through Silver age without having to read them (except a few Spiderman Comics here and there). I tried to get into silver age, but just couldn’t. I’m currently listening to the 1971 podcasts, but wanting to start reading as well using a full reading list. I plan to start with Giant Sized X-men in 1975. I grew up with 80s/90s xmen (my brother was a collector and loved to talk about comics with me)
My question is: Do you think 1975 would be a good year to start reading “all” marvel comics with how hard of a time I had with silver age? Would it be better to start in 1970? or is there a better year to start reading all of Marvel but maybe start with Giant Sized X-men (1975) and read Xmen up to a certain year to jump into the rest of marvel?
Keep up the great work on the site and really enjoying the podcast.
Thank you,
Hi Cameron – Thanks for reaching out, and glad you like the podcast! ’75 is my pick for where to start in the 70’s if you’re just jumping in, since that’s where the All-New All-Different era of X-Men begins. If you’re not feeling the rest, though, I’d recommend just reading the X-Men until you get to 1979, which is another pick for readers to jump in.
Thank you Dave. I appreciate the suggestions. Got a lot of reading ahead of me.
Can Some tell me, i want to start with marvel comics since 1939 the MArvel COmic #1
are they nice i dont see a list over here can someone tell me what to start with?
I wouldn’t suggest reading too much Golden Age comics. The real Marvel universe begins in 1962/3 with Fantastic Four #1. If you do want to dip your toes into the older stuff, we did an episode covering 10 Golden Age issues. Here’s the episode and the list of comics: https://www.comicbookherald.com/marvel-year-zero-the-golden-age/
-Zack
For the past few weeks I’ve been reading comics from Marvel Mystery Comics #1 (1939) to the late 60’s ; and I was a bit sad to see that starting from 1968, you just put your list of issues without any comments. I just found out about the podcast and I’m really glad that I’ll be able to read along with you !
Thanks for checking us out, Charlotte! Hopefully the discussions on the show fill in that gap for you! And we have an active Slack channel as part of our Patreon where we chat about the comics from the current year!
https://www.patreon.com/mymarvelousyear
Thanks, I’ll check it out !
Took me a year, but here I am !
Woot woot!
I’ve been looking through the MMY stuff and was very happy to find the 1960’s Decade Recap, which had the “Power Level” ranking of series/characters for the decade. I was also glad to note that had invested my money wel so far ( having already bought collections for your top three listed characters) and am already using the information provided to plan what trades I want to get next (I’m thinking Thor, which I would not have considered if it hadn’t been on the very very good list). Do you have any plans to do the same for the later decades? Because I would absolutely love to see the other “Best of the Best”, “Very very good” etc. decade listings.
If you want to hear really detailed breakdowns of what’s “Best of the Best”, check out the podcast!
How spoiler-heavy are the podcasts? I liked that the 60’s overview spoke in broad terms without too many specific plot revelations. Although, on the flip side, if there are spoilers, it could be a good way to fill in the gaps for anything I decide not to purchase, so I’ll probably check it out either way. Just a question of before or after I do the reading.
We expect people will ahve read the issues we’re discussing, so we don’t shy from spoilers. But we’re careful not to discuss anything big that happens in the future, so if you’re reading for the first time, you’re safe.
Okay, so I’m giving the podcast a shot, and enjoying it so far. Definitely got spoilers, but it’s certainly not a blow by blow reveal of every detail, so you can still enjoy the comic later if you haven’t read it yet, but stay caught up on anything else you wither can’t read or are choosing to skip (in case anyone else is wondering). It’s a surprisingly well maintained balance, and it’s fun listening to you and Dave discuss things and here your take on things. Is there a discussion forum or something for MMY, or is it just done through the comments in each year?
I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t respond to your latest comment.
Thanks for giving us a shot, and for the feedback. The community discussion is all happening on a private Slack channel accessible through the MMY Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/mymarvelousyear
It’s been really taking off over there and we’re having a lot of fun discussing the issues.
Hey! I want to start reading avengers comic books but I want to start from the beginning and read all the comics about the heros before they got to the avengers and what they are doing between the avengers. I dont know where to start and I dont know what list to fallow. I was hoping you can help me and point me in the right direction.
I don’t think you know what you’re getting into, bro. That’s pretty much all the Marvel comics since 1962. Or at least more than 3/4 of them – and starting in 1962. More than 1/2 a century’s worth.
Oh I know, I dont care though. I’m aware it’s going to take years.
Alright! Good luck and I hope you read faster than I (currently) do.
Hint: You can pretty much skip Millie the Model.
Hi Sam!
Thanks for reaching out – The My Marvelous Year guides are the best way to go through the entire history of Marvel. I’m relaunching the reading club (and an accompanying podcast!) in 2019, and I’d encourage you to join. The easiest way to do so is through the email or podcast subscription.
Excited to start again. I’ve still not caught up with the reading that wasn’t comics I missed over the two years the first marvelous “year” took but this time through I’ll probably skip 50% of what I read the first time through.
Will there be a 2018 my Marvelous year?
Thank you for this! I have been wanting to get into the comics for years but have been putting it off for so long because it seems like a rather daunting and impossible task. Having a simplified but comprehensive reading list like this truly helps. 🙂
Does anyone know where I can find something similar for DC comics? I know there is the 2000-present reading list, but I’m hoping to find one that starts from the beginning and goes in order, but only the influential issues… a list that really narrows it down but won’t make me feel like I’m missing out on earlier development and origins.
DC has a long long long publishing history that goes back to the late 30s. Many of the old stories are long out of print, etc. To do a similar list would almost impossible. But here on the Herald Dave does have all sorts of individual reading orders…there is a “Nightwing (Dick Grayson, First Robin) Reading Order” for example, and that goes back and lists the key stories for Dick starting with golden age (1940s) up to today.
are there digital versions of all the older dc comics
I would love to see a DC version of this
I was wondering when the next year of My Marvelous Year would be listed. (2005 is the year)
If you go into any of the previous years (like 2004 for example) and click the reading list you will get a google doc spreadsheet with all the years. On the bottom is a tab for 2005.
Though it is odd that Dave has not opened up the 2005 forum…
2005 is up! You should be able to see here: https://www.comicbookherald.com/my-marvelous-year/2000s/2005-05/
Do you have a list of all the previous weeks comics that I could download as a spreadsheet?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kv3FbbDCeUYdabM5M2ndBZKmOGRn-NWESgv5GHIWcO4/edit#gid=711147172
You’re welcome!
Hey Dave, I wonder if you would open up the 2000s forum for discussion. I’ve been looking through books/stories from the year 2000 and thought there might be people who wanted to share thoughts…
I’m planning on reading The Sentry and Ultimate Spider-man. I’m also thinking about giving X-Men: The Hidden years another go (didn’t take the first time around) and Marvel: The Lost Generation (I’ve got the comics, but do not recall the story…)
I’ve just started my marvellous year and are trying to catch up (fortunately i’ve read most of the early 60’s comics on the list). I’m only really interested in the ’80s onward tho so would it matter if i started reading there or should i continue with the ’60s instead.
Also if i do start with the ’80s will that impact how much i’ll enjoy secret wars ’84?
My advice is always to start with the comics you’re most excited to read. You don’t want it to feel like a chore or homework. I’ve actually written here about which publication year I would choose: https://www.comicbookherald.com/question-of-the-week-what-publication-year-of-marvel-should-i-start-with-1985/
Starting with 1980 won’t really hamper your enjoyment of Secret Wars ’84 at all. The major downside to this approach is references to 60’s and 70’s comics may be confusing, although most 80’s books will take a few panels to catch readers up.
So I’d say go ahead and get started, and enjoy the comics!
Thx for this.
I’m trying to catch up with you now (1962 done).
Since i have plenty of time at the moment i thought it’d be a good time. (Also reading them in english keeps my language skills up – native german speaker here^^)
Even though i am reading 10-20 issues a day it’ll still take time, since i am catching up un recent events primary (All issues from AvX onwards – Just finished Infinity) and doing this secondary.
Hi Dave !
First, I’d like to thank you for all your reading orders, I got into comics last year thanks to your Ultimate Universe reading order and I really dug it !
Eager to discover the “real” Marvel Universe, I signed up for MMY, and even though I couldn’t read comics until now because my studies were keeping me busy, I’d like to catch up ! I do however have a few questions about it : if I only read the comics you hand-picked for each year, will I miss important events/story-arcs ? I mean, will I be able to understand what I read or should I read additional issues to keep the continuity ?
Anyway, thanks a lot for your helpful website !
Okay, I should have read the comments before publishing, nevermind, I got my answer 🙂
So I’ve been reading this as my intro to the marvel universe, having always been a DC man most of my life. I got Marvel Unlimted for my birthday last month. I started trying to read every comic listed chronologically by MU’s release year list….only to find the task too daunting. It was so hard to get through all the early 60’sness….one can only read so many comics where the villains are either Russians, aliens, or alien Russians from the center of the Earth, before they begin to yearn for more ????
Then I discovered this club…I’ve only made my way to 1965 so far. I am enjoying it, however I constantly worry that I’m missing introductions of important characters by reading using this list. Do you think that will be a problem in the future? I’m the kind of person who likes to follow the continuity as closely as possible, so I worry that this will frustrate me later on (thus why my brief detour into reading the Complete Reading List that begins with Marvel Knights only lasted so long before I returned back here…) I’m also worried that my slow pace will prevent me from catching up completely in the way I want to before my year is up..Iif you have any suggestions to these problems, please let me know…Regardless I greatly appreicate this club and this site. Without it I would be completely lost!
Yeah I definitely get where you’re coming from. In general, with my marvelous year, I’m covering major character intros and stories. It’s a curated list, but it’s still a whole lot of comics. If you hang with the club, you’ll be extremely well versed in Marvel history, that I guarantee.
There are some cases where we have to fill in the gaps, since we aren’t reading literally everything (a paralyzingly daunting task!). Typically members of the club will call out important issues I may have missed in the discussion.
So my rec is to keep giving the club lists a go, and see how it feels. Generally speaking these early comics recap the heck out of everything, so it’s easier to feel in the loop.
Enjoy the comics!
Dave
Thanks! Yeah I plan on sticking with it. If a character or event ever comes up that I feel like I need more info on I can always just read that issue lol
Found the forums, so forget that part of my question! Thanks anyway!
🙂
Awesome, welcome! A new list for 1978 will come out this Friday. Looking forward to seeing you in the discussions.
Ok. so I just signed up for this today, and I already have my Unlimited Subscription. What year are we on now? And although I’ve probably read most of the ones from the 60 era, I guess the best way for me to start is to work my way through the list until I catch up? Is there forums where we can go to discuss the different issue/years or are we just using the comments section at the end of each page? Either way is fine, just trying to figure out the rules and ways to go about things here.
Thanks and I’m looking forward to an Amazin’ year!
I’ll be here for a My Starwarsiest Year in 2017…I’ve been eyeing those Marvel Epic Collections, but didn’t know where (or when) to start.
i want to sign up but here’s my question: do i have to pay for anything? like do i have to buy the comics?
My recommendation for anyone interested – and what the majority of readers are doing – is to sign up for Marvel Unlimited. All the comics I suggest are included in this digital library. If you’re unsure about the service, you can try it out for just a month at a $9.99 price point. There’s plenty of room for improvement, but it’s the most cost-effective way to read thousands of Marvel Comics, by miles.
I have not seen any message about 1970. Was it sent? Or did I miss a notice that there would be a week off between decades?
Latest e-mail went out on Monday 2/29 – we’re voting on the 1960s as a decade before the 1970s list (which will be sent 3/4). If you can’t find, check for emails from dave@comicbookherald.com, or My Marvelous Year in the subject line.
Hi,
will every comic you select be available on Marvel Unlimited?
Aggh still playing catch up. Still in 1965. Oh well I’ll get there eventually.
Where is the comments section for 1966?
Bug is now fixed – comments should be live!
Just wanted to drop a note here saying how much I am really enjoying MyMarvelousYear! I started reading comics in June of 2014, and pretty much since then I have used comicbookherald as my primary resource for navigating my way through the crazy world of comics. I first started with the Marvel Knights era, made it most of the way through before getting sidetracked with Marvel cosmic and the epic that is the runs of Bendis and Brubaker on Daredevil. After escaping that rabbit hole, I decided to read all the main events leading up to AvX, and then to read everything from that point up until the current releases on MU. Now, I find myself making room for MyMarvelousYear each week as I try to devour all the current releases. In fact, I don’t read a single release until I’ve caught up for the week. To put how difficult this is into perspective, it is Thursday night and I have yet to read Star Wars #7, Daredevil #17, Black Widow #20, Weirdworld #2, and Thors #2. So, what I’m really trying to say is, thanks for nothing, you insolent clod, you lamebrain maestro of evil, you Hydra hailng, conniving “ladener” of burdens!
But really, what I mean to say is, thanks for all your hard work. The enjoyment that has been wrought from this reading club is overflowing. You have made mine Marvel!
Haha Thanks for the note! I should possibly feel sorry that my sinister machinations have wreaked havoc on your existence, but feelings are for lesser men.
Glad you’re enjoying 🙂
i do not understand how to start using my marvelous year can someone help me
Probably. But it would help to know what you don’t understand.
Sign up with this link. Then look for a new e-mail every Friday. If you’re not seeing the e-mail, it’s from dave@comicbookherald.com. Be sure to check your spam/promotions tab.
That’s it!
I did want to add that for some reason, Marvel.com doesn’t work for me on Chrome. If that’s you, too, it works fine on either IE (I think I’m using 9, but I can’t remember where to find the version – it’s the one that comes w/Windows 8.1) and Firefox. Marvel will come up on Chrome, but I can’t sign in and the dropdown menus don’t…well, drop.
Same here Mark. I just open up another browser for my MU reading.
I’m leaving marvel unlimited they hiked up the price and you get less recent comics and less comics in general. You also have to wait longer for more comics to come in it’s a real shame but I live in Perth Australia I’m used to people trying to rip me off cheers guys buy real comics online.