Question by a DC fan

[CombatRock319]

Originally Posted by TheCorpulent1

Avengers Prime was surprisingly good, if you want a story that focuses on Cap, Thor, and Iron Man. Alan Davis drew it, so it's very pretty too.

I was surprised at how amazing Avengers Prime was. It's the most character development I've seen on the relationships between the Avengers' Big Three in a while.

[shallbecomeabat]

Just ordered Abengers Prime, so theres that.

@jewishhobbit: thanks for the suggestions. I would love to see that messiah complex reading order. Hit me!

Think I will be checking out the Sentry and Uncanny X Force as well in the future, but not this month. June/July is all about Cap for me, so... any input on my last Cap question?

[JewishHobbit]

I'll get that read order for you but it might be a few days. Kinda busy

And you'll love Sentry. FANTASTIC story! And again, I can't recommend Earth X enough. It's worth a shot if you find it somewhere decent.

[shallbecomeabat]

Yeah, earth X was Marvels own kingdom come, right? i read that a few years back and really liked it. Too bad I cannot seem to find the hardcover version anywhere.
Well, then the paperback it is.

Any recommendations for good Cap stuff that has Steve in the role?

[Anubis]

Waid's run on Cap was good, if you can find it.

[shallbecomeabat]

That was the one that started with project rebirth, right? Yeah, I think I had a few of those trades in my hands before. Thanks. How about the Dan Jurgens run?

[Anubis]

I believe that was the one with Cap Wolf if I'm not mistaken....I'd avoid it.

[shallbecomeabat]

Just ordered the complete Brubaker run on Cap thats been out so far on Omnibus and HC, The first HC of Waids run on Cap, the first two HCs of Waids DD, a huge hardcover that collects the first Avengers arc by Bendis and JRJR, Avengers Prime and the first post Siege New Avengers (and a lot of new 52 DC hardcovers to boot). Since I am not going on vacation this year I thought I treat myself to a very big order at my comicbook store. Cannot wait to get my hands on that package

Really interested in checking out Ruckas Punisher. Is it any good? I really only liked the character in Ennis Max run (his Marvel Knights run was too silly for my taste).

I also got my eyes on the Wolverine Omnibus by Jason Aaron. How was his run? Any good?

Oh, and what about Spider-Man? i read the title when JMS wrote it, continued a while during the Brand New day stuff but lost interest. Whats up with old webhead nowadays? I found an Ultimate Collection of Big Time. Would that be a good re-entry point for me?

[JewishHobbit]

I'm not sure what volumes of X-Men that you've read but here's my recommendation for the ongoing X-Men plot in chronological order, including only the more important stories. I know there's a lot so I tried to cut it down as much as possible. Being that there are so many X-titles expect mentions or small changes that you didn't read about... the broad strokes and key moments are included though. I've color-coded some to help you get through things depending on your tastes.

Taking place right after Morrison's New X-Men:
Astonishing X-Men vol. 1: Gifted
Astonishing X-Men vol. 2: Dangerous
House of M
Astonishing X-Men vol. 3: Torn
Astonishing X-Men vol. 4: Unstoppable
X-Men: Endangered Species (totally skippable but I liked reading the long solo Beast story as he searched out possible ways to repower mutantkind. It was a good bridge between House of M and Messiah Complex)
X-Men: Messiah Complex
X-Force: Angels and Demons (though not X-Men proper it strongly influences later X-Men storylines. If you enjoy this then I'll put where to read the rest of the series in BLUE, otherwise, skip it all after this volume. It is all very enjoyable though and leads into the later Messiah Complex crossover very well)
X-Force: Old Ghosts
Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand
X-Men Legacy: Divided He Stands (not necessary for the X-Men proper but it picks up on major plot at the end of Messiah Complex left dangling regarding Xavier)
Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny (This volume of Uncanny X-Men and most that follow it are skippable, but if you want to know what the core X-Men are doing between X-Events then read them. I'll color the skippable ones GREEN so you know which ones I'm talking about)
Uncanny X-Men: Lovelorn
X-Force: Not Forgotten (though keep in mind that Messiah War takes place right in the middle of this, so maybe read the first half, read Messiah War, then come back for the second half. Pay attention to the issue numbers and that'll tell you the break)
X-Force/Cable: Messiah War
Uncanny X-Men: Sisterhood
X-Men Legacy: Salvage
Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia
Uncanny X-Men: Nation X
X-Necrosha
X-Men: Second Coming
Uncanny X-Men: The Birth of Generation Hope (if you want to continue the Five Lights plot pick up the first volume of Generation Hope, otherwise move on)
Uncanny X-Men: Quarantine
Uncanny X-Men: Breaking Point (some good aftermath to Whedon's Astonishing X-Men at the beginning of this list. New (and current) writer, Kieron Gillen starts here)
Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution (not core X-Men but FANTASTIC series and it influences what comes later. Read it even if you skipped the earlier X-Force comics)
Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation
Uncanny X-Force: Dark Angel Saga vol. 1
Uncanny X-Force: Dark Angel Saga vol. 2 (I'm not sure if this is released yet)
X-Men: Schism
Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen vol. 1
Wolverine & the X-Men by Jason Aaron vol. 1

And that'll take you up to current in trades (though the issues are further obviously). Some of these are REALLY good and others not as much but necessary. I cut out all the unnecessary reads unless otherwise noted but this gives you the main X-Men read from post-Morrison to pre-AvX.

[shallbecomeabat]

Hahahahaha! THANKS MAN! That should keep my wallet in agony for a while

Yeah, I only really read New X-Men by Morrison, so this looks like the perfect reading order for me. Thanks. Really appreciate it.

Any ideas on Rickas Punisher or good Spidey stuff?

[JewishHobbit]

Punisher I can't say since I've not read it, and I gave up on Spidey after One More Day but as a Clone Saga fan I'd recommend getting those collections. It's epic and fantastic.

And if you want newer reads a lot of people are loving the current run by Dan Slott. You could start at a volume that's (I'm guessing) called "Big Time" and go from there.

Oh, but I did enjoy what I read of Remender's run of Punisher a couple years back. You can always give that a try.

[CConn]

Frankencastle was awesome.

[shallbecomeabat]

WHAT THE BEEEEP!?!

Just finished reading Prisoner of War in Brubakers Cap run and to read the conclusion I now have to buy Fear Itself?? Why don't they finish Buckys run as Cap in Captain America!? I hate this, oh so much!

[runawayboulder]

Originally Posted by shallbecomeabat

WHAT THE BEEEEP!?!

Just finished reading Prisoner of War in Brubakers Cap run and to read the conclusion I now have to buy Fear Itself?? Why don't they finish Buckys run as Cap in Captain America!? I hate this, oh so much!

Eh, just skip to the Fear Itself #7.1 issue with Bucky.

[Anubis]

Or somebody could just tell you what happened and you can spare yourself having to pay for that tripe.

[TheCorpulent1]

Bit late, but Rucka's Punisher is pretty much the best run on the character since Ennis'. I'd highly, highly recommend it, even if you're not really into the Punisher to begin with.

[shallbecomeabat]

As a completist, I really hate not having the end of Bucky Caps story on my shelf, next to the whole run... but everybody says Fear itself is such a crap crossover. I hate bloody stupid tie-ins.

@theCorpulent1: Thanks for your opinion about Rucka's Punisher. Its already on my next order list. I loved the Ennis Max run of the character and really dig the general idea behind the character. Its such a simple and real worldy concept that i really find refreshing. I also like that in the Max series, you constantly have the feeling of not following the adventures of a hero or anti-hero even, but the adventures of an utter psychopath, who just does some good stuff more or less accidentally. I mean, come on... Franks a pretty sick Dude. If he were in the DCU, he would be a Batman villain


Oh and I finally read Mark Waids Daredevil. I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I liked the whole Bendis run, Brubaker run and even Diggle run (apart from the main Shadowland series which was crap) a lot more. Its clearly not a bad book by all means, but since I heard nothing but hype for it, it was kind of a let down for me. Funny thing is, I enjoyed the much hated Daredevil Reborn very much and found that a much more interesting way of approaching DD. Waids take is good, but I kinda don't get the extreme mood change of Matt and don't really buy it. Every time Foggy talks about "OldMatt" it feels like he's talking about another character. I kinda feel that Matt doesn't come off quite as capable as he was before, under Waids writing. In the past runs, he was almost on a Bruce Wayne level of capability and now he forgets that he still wears his Daredevil boots to his suit and tie? I know its supposed to be funny and a nice change of pace, but I really prefer DD to be moody and dark, than this upbeat. I mean, yeah, issue 7 was something new an fresh (the one with the schoolkids in the snow), but it also was kinda boring to read in my eyes. What do you guys think?

[shallbecomeabat]

another question:

I want to buy a new Marvel Omnibus and I have my eye on the Thor Simonson Omnibus and the X-Men Omnibus by Lee/Claremont or the X-Men Age Of Apocalypse Omnibus.

The Thor Omnibus is already ordered and I want one of the other two X-Men Omnibuses. Which one is better? Age of Apocalypse or X-Men by Lee??? I slightly tend towards the Age of Apocalypse, since its newer and has a much bigger page count.
Haven't read both stories, please no spoilers.