Warning: Comic discussion ahead. Non-geeks can run away now.
Anyway, as everyone I’m sure knows by now, I’m firmly a DC Guy and have been ever since the 70s. My bookshelf is packed with the Showcase Presents series, in fact. However, I’ve been a big fan of the Marvel movies thus far and Iron Man was so good that I dropped a few bucks on Ebay and picked up Essential Iron Man volume 1 for cheap, and I’ve really been digging it. I love the Essentials/Showcase format with the B&W comics and a ton of content for the price of a regular TPB and would like to check more of them out. I got Avengers Volume 1 ages ago and was kind of hot and cold on it (early Justice League-ish era was great, the Hawkeye/Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver stuff not so much), but other than that I’ve got no exposure to early Marvel. I really don’t want to get into X-Men because the continuity is frankly overwhelming and I don’t find it all that interesting, but I’m open to Wolverine. I do find myself really enjoying the fun and simple Stan Lee storylines in Iron Man, so here’s my short list of what I’m looking at before I start dropping $20 a book:
- Captain America. I’ve always liked the character and it seems like a good counterpoint to Iron Man. Not sure if the goofy 70s stuff in the early Essentials volumes are worth getting through to get to the Englehart classics of the 80s, but I’m leaning towards giving it a shot, especially with the current nostalgia hoopla surrounding the character.
- Fantastic Four. Lee and Kirby! I’ve never been a fan of the franchise but it seems like it would be a Fun Superhero Comic, which is something I always like jumping into.
- Spider-Man. The obvious one, and the one comic that I flirted with in my younger years and collected in the 90s before the Clone Saga drove me away for good. The older stuff I’ve read, though, always seemed to be very heavy-handed angst stuff at times. I’ve read enough of it over the years that I don’t think it would be any huge pleasant surprise for me like Iron Man was.
Stuff I have no interest in:
- Dr. Strange. Occult stuff holds no great interest for me.
- Silver Surfer. Never got the character, never cared about “message” in my comics.
- Sub-Mariner. Underwater characters? Take a pass.
Anyone have any Essentials recommendations I’m missing?
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