Welcome to ‘My Marvelous Year,’ the only comic book reading club that will take you through the entire history of Marvel Comics!
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Update 11.18 — The My Marvelous Year reading club makes a triumphant return (complete with an all-new podcast!) in 2019.
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What Is My Marvelous Year?
Well, in short it’s the 2016 Comic Book Herald reading club. You, me, and a whole bunch of other Marvel fanatics are going to read 10 comic book stories from each year of Marvel history, tackling one year a week. We will be using Marvel Unlimited, for the easiest most affordable means of reading all these comics!
So for the first week of January 2016, we will read 10 Marvel Comics published in 1962 (starting with the final two months of 1961 since that’s when the Marvel U really begins). For the second week of January 2016, we will read 10 Marvel Comics published in 1963. The third week, we’ll cover 1964. And so on… until we hit 2014 in the final week of December 2016!
You can find the guide for each year of Marvel Comics by clicking each decade’s hub above.
Hero Of The Year and Villain Of The Year Voting
In addition to reading through the Marvel Universe, we will be voting on a hero and villain of the year. Essentially, this is the hero/team you think had the best comics throughout the featured year. Who was Marvel’s MVP of 1962? What comic was the best, and who had the most outstanding moments? Apply the same thinking to villains, but celebrate the immensity of their evil!
Some further explanation for our selections:
1) Everyone gets to vote, but you only to get vote for 1 hero and 1 villain each week. I will select the top candidates, but you can write in your own pick in ‘other.’ In this way, I fully expect Stilt-Man to win any year he is eligible.
2) Any hero or villain is eligible for a year’s voting if they appear in a Marvel comic that year. For example, Doctor Strange and Captain America are not featured in any 1962 comics, and are not eligible for voting that year. You can take into consideration comics that are not a part of our selected 10 stories, but do not need to.
3) Winners should be based on the strength of their comics and storylines in an individual year. Which comic did you enjoy reading the most?
3a) You can vote for individual heroes, or as part of a team. For example, The Fantastic Four are 1962’s front-runner, but The Thing is also an eligible candidate. Likewise, The Avengers as a group will be eligible once they form.
4) As we progress, eligible characters will be heavily influenced by the strength of the creators working on their books. We aren’t voting on “best writer and artist,” but when we hit 2012 (for example), Matt Fraction and David Aja are going to be the primary reason Hawkeye is a front-runner.
5) Ultimately, I am the final vote on our winners, largely because absolute power corrupts absolutely. This may lead to some enormous controversy and a shocking number of titles for Howard the Duck, but don’t worry, your votes are the leading factor!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, or tweet me @ComicBookHerald.
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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.
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.