| Author |
|
Robin Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1260
|
| Posted: 04 February 2019 at 10:17am | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
Let me know if this should be in another thread, but I am using Marvel Unlimited to catch up on as much of the Marvel Universe as possible. I am reading each title I can from the mid-'80s to current and I have run into some wild snags.
I started with just reading Incredible Hulk and was able to get to 2008 before becoming completely lost as crossover moments are no longer annotated in each issue with an editor's footnote.
The other inflection point I have decided on is to read each series until 1996, skip Heroes Reborn and then start over with 1998 Heroes Return once I have completed all series up to 1996.
This has been a wild experience because I had essentially stopped reading Marvel (an comics in general) in the mid-'90s.
Has anyone else tried this? If so any thoughts or advice?
RT
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Leigh DJ Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 February 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1570
|
| Posted: 04 February 2019 at 11:47am | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
There are plenty of 'reading order' websites for Marvel books. One I use a lot is based about the collected editions but should enable you to search Marvel Unlimited for the books, so here's the Hulk page:
https://crushingkrisis.com/collecting-avengers-comic-books-a s-graphic-novels-a-definitive-guide/collecting-hulk-comic-bo oks-as-graphic-novels/
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Murphy
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 339
|
| Posted: 04 February 2019 at 7:27pm | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
Right there is one of the problems with modern comics. Having to go to an outside source to understand what you are reading drives me nuts. An editor's foot note is such an easy thing to include.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 7616
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 12:16am | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
Editor's foot notes should be mandatory when referring to past events - it's not that hard to do and recognises new readers.
However, what you will find Robin, is that in many of the newer (ha, I say newer but these are over a decade old now) crossovers, there isn't a foot note because what happened in one crossover, didn't happen in the other version of the crossover.
A classic example of this would be House of M. The Spider-Man mini-series that went with that story could not happen during that event, and yet they published something like 5 issues of it.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Robin Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1260
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 9:09am | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
Thanks for the heads up guys and special thanks to Leigh for info.
This is a fascinating journey as I rediscover things I had forgotten about, like how beautifully weird Alan Davis's Excalibur was. I am learning new things, an example of which is that around 95-96, virtually all of Marvel's books art quality took a drastic dive, even on high profile titles.
RT
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132282
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 9:32am | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
Editor's foot notes should be mandatory when referring to past events - it's not that hard to do and recognises new readers••• OR, recognize those new readers by minimizing references to past events. When I was a kid, reading comics purely as a fan, references to past events came down to “The last time we fought the Joker/Luthor/Doctor Doom,” with nary a specific in sight—nor any reason to seek out those previous stories in order to understand what was currently being read. The almost fetishized use of footnotes came later—and in many cases took the form of thinly disguised plugs for other books.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Robin Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1260
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 9:38am | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
I think you hit the nail on head JB because the amount of unreferenced cross-pollination that starts in the mid 00's presumes readers are reading everything being published. If you haven't, it becomes confusing extremely quickly as critical events occur in other books and are referenced obliquely.
RT
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
Shane Matlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 August 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1760
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
Marvel Unlimited is a great deal but I'll never enjoy reading comics on a screen as much as I do reading one in my hand. I wonder too how much the creators are given as far as royalties go when Marvel comics are read this way.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Mitch Denoyer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Posts: 131
|
| Posted: 05 February 2019 at 5:30pm | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
When I started reading comics in the 1970’s the most common foot note read “*last issue!”
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Robin Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1260
|
| Posted: 08 February 2019 at 11:22am | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
So this has been pretty wild as an ongoing thing. The next complication I have experienced is cross-over related as well. I have moved into the X-men books and related books and I now have moved into reading the comics by the year instead of by title as the X-books are deeply interconnected. I suspect I will have to do the same thing with the Spider-man titles down the road.
RT
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Cole
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 March 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 504
|
| Posted: 08 February 2019 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
I Have seven DVD ROM collections of several Marvel series to re-read my favorite books from my youth.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Trevor Thompson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 June 2015
Posts: 346
|
| Posted: 08 February 2019 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
OR, recognize those new readers by minimizing references to past events. When I was a kid, reading comics purely as a fan, references to past events came down to “The last time we fought the Joker/Luthor/Doctor Doom,” with nary a specific in sight—nor any reason to seek out those previous stories in order to understand what was currently being read. ************************************* I enjoyed seeing those footnotes and knowing Spider-Man almost drowned fighting The Hulk in Web of Spider-Man #69. They never compelled me to pick up the issue and it was something I didn’t have to know to enjoy the original book but it was like an interesting side note.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
