Unlike last week's Top 10 Tuesdays, this week focuses specifically on the Marvel Universe and spotlights 10 Stories Essential to Understanding the Current Marvel Universe.Basically, I'll list, in no particular order, ten stories I think are essential for any reader to understand what is going on in the major areas of the Marvel Universe. This should serve as a great primer for new readers and a bit of a checklist for anyone that's been following for the last five to ten years.
Please note, these are not all "Must Read" stories and I honestly don't even recommend every story on the list, but I do concede that they were major storylines that are responsible for drastic or wide sweeping changes in the Marvel Universe. Whether it's the resurrection of the cosmic stable or the splitting of the Marvel Universe, if it had affected books and storylines over a long period of time or changed the way we viewed characters, it made this list.
One last thing before I let you get to the list. You can expect a DC follow up next week, for those wondering about any supposed Marvel bias in focusing only on them. As always, comments are always welcome and, remember, no registration or annoying captcha system required to post!
TOP 10 TUESDAYS - 10 STORIES ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT MARVEL UNIVERSE
DISASSEMBLED / HOUSE OF M
The Scarlet Witch goes mad and reality is never the same again. This event heralded a change in the very foundation of the Marvel Universe, leading to the "disassembling" of the Avengers and their eventual relaunch as the perrennial top ten book, New Avengers.
If Bendis is to believed, this event even set up the earliest signs of the Skrull-filled Secret Invasion that is running wild in the Marvel Universe.
Spinning directly out of Disassembled, the House of M was the Scarlet Witch's perfect world realized through her use of reality warping magics. This event, seemingly, granted every hero's greatest wish, whether it was Ms. Marvel's wish to be relevent and a Superman-like hero or Wolverine's desire to understand his own shattered past or anything in between, they were almost all, unversally, granted in this event.
While fan reaction was lukewarm, this event was a financial success and is responsible for the complete decimation of the mutant population in what became known as M-Day after the Scarlet Witch uttered the simple sentence, "No more mutants.", robbing nearly 99% of all mutants of their powers and reverting them to baseline human status, an event that, to this day, still drives the stories of Marvel's X-titles.
If that's not enough to warrant a place on the list, I'm not sure what is.
Purchase House of M and help support the Weekly Crisis!
THE ILLUMINATI
While not so much an event in itself, the Illuminati's first one shot was responsible for the retconning of the team's past relationships and, combined with their five issue mini-series, set up not only Planet Hulk, World War Hulk and Civil War, but the current summer event, Secret Invasion, as well.
On top of that, whether you agree with the retcons or not, these were some very fun issues to read and the Illuminati will more than likely continue to be major players and trailblazers in the Marvel Universe's event driven continuity in the years to come.
Purchase New Avengers: Illuminati and help support the Weekly Crisis!
ANNIHILATION
Annihilation, much like the Annihilation Wave, itself, seemingly came out of nowhere to redefine the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe in one of the best events, if you can call the relatively self-contained story an event, in the past decade.
Annihilation took dozens of forgotten cosmic heroes and made people genuinely care about them for the first time in years and revitalized that part of Marvel's stable of books in such a way that it spawned the sequel, Annihilation: Conquest, a Nova on-going and the newly launched Guardians of the Galaxy on-going.
While having little to no affect on the Earth-based heroes, Annihilation gets its place on this list for heralding the rebirth of the Cosmic Marvel Universe and if you have any intentions of reading a cosmic based title, this should be your first stop to figuring out what the current status quo is in that area of the unvierse.
Purchase Annihilation, Book 1, Book 2 or Book 3 and help support the Weekly Crisis!
CIVIL WAR
Civil War, when it was coming out, was setting internet comic fandom ablaze with each issue's Earth shattering reveal. Whether it was Spider-Man unmasking or "Thor's" return, people were talking about it.
While delays and a general lack of payoff near the end may have hurt people's final opinion of the book, it was responsible for systematically redefining nearly every aspect of the Marvel Universe, for good or for naught.
From the death of Captain America to Spidey's unmasking to the Super Hero Registration Act, itself, nearly everything from Civil War has had some impact on some part of the Marvel Universe over two years later and few events of Civil War's size rarely have impacts lasting past the epilogues.
Spidey's actions, while quickly retconned, were pivotal in leading to the One More Day / Brand New Day status quo. Cap's death is still felt to this day in titles, such as Bucky's replacing him in the Captain America title, and Iron Man, coming off his pyric victory in Civil War, has appeared everywhere, ranging from political strawman to figurehead of the Initiative to his current role as the Director of Shield, the international peacekeeping force.
If it happened in Civil War, it's more than likely still impacting books to this day and that makes it probably the most essential story on this list.
Purchase Civil War and help support the Weekly Crisis!
THE 50 STATE INITIATIVE
While not so much a story, per se, the Initiative picks up the ball dropped by Civil War and runs with it, giving us great new and old books building on the left over plot threads, such as the governements misuse of the SHRA in Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts, the super hero bootcamp in Avengers: The Initiative, the launching of the pro-registration, Mighty Avengers, or the continuing adventures of the left over anti-registrants in New Avengers.
Just about any book, and most every mainstream title had them, with the Intiative banner on them could be counted on to deliver some form of follow up to the seeds planted in Civil War and they all have fed directly into WWH and Secret Invasion, making what should have been just an obvious cash-in labelling process some of the more essential reading for understanding the current state of the Marvel Universe.
BRAND NEW DAY (and ONE MORE DAY...I guess)
This is in no way condoning nor asking people to buy and / or read One More Day. I repeat, do not buy that piece of shit. However, I must point you to Wikipedia for a full breakdown and summary of arguably the worst story ever conceived for more information as my blood boils simply talking about it.
One More Day begat Brand New Day, which is essential for understanding the current state of Spider-Man, and that is the only reason I even mention it in this listing. While other stories on the list could easily be read and enjoyed, One More Day is not to be, under any conditions, read or referenced outside of mocking distain.
Basically, Spidey made a deal with Mephisto, sold his soul and life with Mary Jane and woke up in Brand New Day a loser still living with Aunt May and with no money or job all so the 90 year old Aunt May could be magically cured of a gunshot wound. Oh, and no one remembered Peter was unmasked as Spider-Man in Civil War and fans around the world nearly popped a blood vessel.
Brand New Day, however, has been solid Spider-Man storytelling with beautiful artwork and I'm positive many new fans would be able to jump right into just about any storyline and understand it.
However, no one can truely understand the current status quo as they haven't even explained it yet. You can get a grasp of where everyone is and who the main players in Spidey's life are from reading the opening arc with Slott and McNiven or just about any other issue after that, but no one actually knows what the hell happened to get Spidey to where he is post-One More Day and that's probably a major detriment for the storyline at this point in its life.
In the end, if you need to read Spidey, every story that came before Brand New Day is extraneous and you are wasting your time reading them if all you want to do is understand what is happening right now. Just pick up any issue and jump right in and you should be fine and that's the only reason BND makes this list.
Purchase Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Vol. 1 or Vol. 2 and help support the Weekly Crisis!
PLANET HULK
Planet Hulk was the comic book equivilent of the movie, Gladiator. Hulk was sent off to a peaceful, uninhabitted planet by the Illuminati, but, like all comic book stories, something went wrong and he landed on a planet where the creatures could not only hurt the Hulk, but could actually make him bleed.
What followed was an epic struggle by the Hulk and his newfound friends, the Warbound, as they rose from the gladiator pits to overthrow the evil Red King and free the people of Sakaar. Forgetting his life as the puny human's scapegoat and the betrayal of his friends, the Illuminati, the Hulk was ready to settle down with his now pregnant wife, Caiera, the Oldstrong.
Never to be allowed a moment's happiness, the Hulk's spaceship that sent him to Sakaar in the first place had a malfunction and its reactor detonated in the capital city, killing millions, including Hulk's wife and unborn child (well, the kid got better). This changed the entire tone of the Hulk title for the next year or so and lead directly into...
Purchase Planet Hulk and help support the Weekly Crisis!
WORLD WAR HULK
World War Hulk picks up the threads from Planet Hulk with the Hulk coming to Earth to let loose the dogs of war and make the Illuminati feel his unbridled rage.
While the equivilent of a summer blockbuster popcorn flick, WWH brought together many of the strands from Civil War, the Initiative and the Illuminati in his quest for revenge and, for a time, reunified the Marvel Universe.
It lacks some of the long lasting ramifications of the other stories on this list, but it set the stage for the current Incredible Hercules title and probably would have had a greater impact if Jeph Loeb hadn't gotten a hold of the Hulk title post-WWH.
The main reason it makes this list, though, is due to the third part of the Planet Hulk trilogy that recently launched in the form of Skaar: Son of Hulk, which should rely heavily on Planet Hulk and some of the lingering questions from WWH.
Purchase World War Hulk and help support the Weekly Crisis!
MESSIAH COMPLEX
House of M and Decimation wiped out roughly 99% of the mutant population in the blink of an eye and had been the focal point of the majority of the X-titles up until now.
Messiah Complex changed all that with the birth of the first new mutant since M-Day. It polarized the mutant community, causing good people to do bad things, such as Bishop's betrayal or Cyclops affirmative action, in relation to mutants, stance and letting the dogs off their leashes when he formed X-Force as his new killsquad team.
In the end, Xavier was "killed", Cyclops "disbanded" the X-Men and the team, after half an issue apart, is reformed and moving out to San Francisco,with flowers in their hair.
While many of the reasons for the drastic shift in the X-titles, like Xavier's death or the disbanding of the X-Men, have lasted less than a page or two post-Messiah Complex, the style and tone of the books has shifted, for better or for worse, and that gets Messiah Complex on the list.
Purchase X-Men: Messiah Complex and help support the Weekly Crisis!
SECRET INVASION
Obviously, everyone probably saw this one coming, but it had to be said. Secret Invasion is the current summer event coming out of Marvel and, while many of the current effects, like the destruction of the Baxter Building or downing of a SHIELD helicarrier, are mostly superficial, based on Marvel's current event driven storytelling, Secret Invasion will most likely have various current and longterm effects on the Marvel Universe as a whole.
Expect major shake ups in the New and Mighty Avengers titles as well as with Iron Man's books. Also, a Nick Fury reinstatement with SHIELD should be expected and either a new book for he and his commandos or the commandering, alla Hercules, of another title post-SI.
The Scarlet Witch goes mad and reality is never the same again. This event heralded a change in the very foundation of the Marvel Universe, leading to the "disassembling" of the Avengers and their eventual relaunch as the perrennial top ten book, New Avengers.If Bendis is to believed, this event even set up the earliest signs of the Skrull-filled Secret Invasion that is running wild in the Marvel Universe.
Spinning directly out of Disassembled, the House of M was the Scarlet Witch's perfect world realized through her use of reality warping magics. This event, seemingly, granted every hero's greatest wish, whether it was Ms. Marvel's wish to be relevent and a Superman-like hero or Wolverine's desire to understand his own shattered past or anything in between, they were almost all, unversally, granted in this event.
While fan reaction was lukewarm, this event was a financial success and is responsible for the complete decimation of the mutant population in what became known as M-Day after the Scarlet Witch uttered the simple sentence, "No more mutants.", robbing nearly 99% of all mutants of their powers and reverting them to baseline human status, an event that, to this day, still drives the stories of Marvel's X-titles.
If that's not enough to warrant a place on the list, I'm not sure what is.
Purchase House of M and help support the Weekly Crisis!
THE ILLUMINATI
While not so much an event in itself, the Illuminati's first one shot was responsible for the retconning of the team's past relationships and, combined with their five issue mini-series, set up not only Planet Hulk, World War Hulk and Civil War, but the current summer event, Secret Invasion, as well.On top of that, whether you agree with the retcons or not, these were some very fun issues to read and the Illuminati will more than likely continue to be major players and trailblazers in the Marvel Universe's event driven continuity in the years to come.
Purchase New Avengers: Illuminati and help support the Weekly Crisis!
ANNIHILATION
Annihilation, much like the Annihilation Wave, itself, seemingly came out of nowhere to redefine the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe in one of the best events, if you can call the relatively self-contained story an event, in the past decade.Annihilation took dozens of forgotten cosmic heroes and made people genuinely care about them for the first time in years and revitalized that part of Marvel's stable of books in such a way that it spawned the sequel, Annihilation: Conquest, a Nova on-going and the newly launched Guardians of the Galaxy on-going.
While having little to no affect on the Earth-based heroes, Annihilation gets its place on this list for heralding the rebirth of the Cosmic Marvel Universe and if you have any intentions of reading a cosmic based title, this should be your first stop to figuring out what the current status quo is in that area of the unvierse.
Purchase Annihilation, Book 1, Book 2 or Book 3 and help support the Weekly Crisis!
CIVIL WAR
Civil War, when it was coming out, was setting internet comic fandom ablaze with each issue's Earth shattering reveal. Whether it was Spider-Man unmasking or "Thor's" return, people were talking about it.While delays and a general lack of payoff near the end may have hurt people's final opinion of the book, it was responsible for systematically redefining nearly every aspect of the Marvel Universe, for good or for naught.
From the death of Captain America to Spidey's unmasking to the Super Hero Registration Act, itself, nearly everything from Civil War has had some impact on some part of the Marvel Universe over two years later and few events of Civil War's size rarely have impacts lasting past the epilogues.
Spidey's actions, while quickly retconned, were pivotal in leading to the One More Day / Brand New Day status quo. Cap's death is still felt to this day in titles, such as Bucky's replacing him in the Captain America title, and Iron Man, coming off his pyric victory in Civil War, has appeared everywhere, ranging from political strawman to figurehead of the Initiative to his current role as the Director of Shield, the international peacekeeping force.
If it happened in Civil War, it's more than likely still impacting books to this day and that makes it probably the most essential story on this list.
Purchase Civil War and help support the Weekly Crisis!
THE 50 STATE INITIATIVE
While not so much a story, per se, the Initiative picks up the ball dropped by Civil War and runs with it, giving us great new and old books building on the left over plot threads, such as the governements misuse of the SHRA in Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts, the super hero bootcamp in Avengers: The Initiative, the launching of the pro-registration, Mighty Avengers, or the continuing adventures of the left over anti-registrants in New Avengers.Just about any book, and most every mainstream title had them, with the Intiative banner on them could be counted on to deliver some form of follow up to the seeds planted in Civil War and they all have fed directly into WWH and Secret Invasion, making what should have been just an obvious cash-in labelling process some of the more essential reading for understanding the current state of the Marvel Universe.
BRAND NEW DAY (and ONE MORE DAY...I guess)
This is in no way condoning nor asking people to buy and / or read One More Day. I repeat, do not buy that piece of shit. However, I must point you to Wikipedia for a full breakdown and summary of arguably the worst story ever conceived for more information as my blood boils simply talking about it.One More Day begat Brand New Day, which is essential for understanding the current state of Spider-Man, and that is the only reason I even mention it in this listing. While other stories on the list could easily be read and enjoyed, One More Day is not to be, under any conditions, read or referenced outside of mocking distain.
Basically, Spidey made a deal with Mephisto, sold his soul and life with Mary Jane and woke up in Brand New Day a loser still living with Aunt May and with no money or job all so the 90 year old Aunt May could be magically cured of a gunshot wound. Oh, and no one remembered Peter was unmasked as Spider-Man in Civil War and fans around the world nearly popped a blood vessel.
Brand New Day, however, has been solid Spider-Man storytelling with beautiful artwork and I'm positive many new fans would be able to jump right into just about any storyline and understand it.
However, no one can truely understand the current status quo as they haven't even explained it yet. You can get a grasp of where everyone is and who the main players in Spidey's life are from reading the opening arc with Slott and McNiven or just about any other issue after that, but no one actually knows what the hell happened to get Spidey to where he is post-One More Day and that's probably a major detriment for the storyline at this point in its life.
In the end, if you need to read Spidey, every story that came before Brand New Day is extraneous and you are wasting your time reading them if all you want to do is understand what is happening right now. Just pick up any issue and jump right in and you should be fine and that's the only reason BND makes this list.
Purchase Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Vol. 1 or Vol. 2 and help support the Weekly Crisis!
PLANET HULK
Planet Hulk was the comic book equivilent of the movie, Gladiator. Hulk was sent off to a peaceful, uninhabitted planet by the Illuminati, but, like all comic book stories, something went wrong and he landed on a planet where the creatures could not only hurt the Hulk, but could actually make him bleed.What followed was an epic struggle by the Hulk and his newfound friends, the Warbound, as they rose from the gladiator pits to overthrow the evil Red King and free the people of Sakaar. Forgetting his life as the puny human's scapegoat and the betrayal of his friends, the Illuminati, the Hulk was ready to settle down with his now pregnant wife, Caiera, the Oldstrong.
Never to be allowed a moment's happiness, the Hulk's spaceship that sent him to Sakaar in the first place had a malfunction and its reactor detonated in the capital city, killing millions, including Hulk's wife and unborn child (well, the kid got better). This changed the entire tone of the Hulk title for the next year or so and lead directly into...
Purchase Planet Hulk and help support the Weekly Crisis!
WORLD WAR HULK
World War Hulk picks up the threads from Planet Hulk with the Hulk coming to Earth to let loose the dogs of war and make the Illuminati feel his unbridled rage.While the equivilent of a summer blockbuster popcorn flick, WWH brought together many of the strands from Civil War, the Initiative and the Illuminati in his quest for revenge and, for a time, reunified the Marvel Universe.
It lacks some of the long lasting ramifications of the other stories on this list, but it set the stage for the current Incredible Hercules title and probably would have had a greater impact if Jeph Loeb hadn't gotten a hold of the Hulk title post-WWH.
The main reason it makes this list, though, is due to the third part of the Planet Hulk trilogy that recently launched in the form of Skaar: Son of Hulk, which should rely heavily on Planet Hulk and some of the lingering questions from WWH.
Purchase World War Hulk and help support the Weekly Crisis!
MESSIAH COMPLEX
House of M and Decimation wiped out roughly 99% of the mutant population in the blink of an eye and had been the focal point of the majority of the X-titles up until now.Messiah Complex changed all that with the birth of the first new mutant since M-Day. It polarized the mutant community, causing good people to do bad things, such as Bishop's betrayal or Cyclops affirmative action, in relation to mutants, stance and letting the dogs off their leashes when he formed X-Force as his new killsquad team.
In the end, Xavier was "killed", Cyclops "disbanded" the X-Men and the team, after half an issue apart, is reformed and moving out to San Francisco,with flowers in their hair.
While many of the reasons for the drastic shift in the X-titles, like Xavier's death or the disbanding of the X-Men, have lasted less than a page or two post-Messiah Complex, the style and tone of the books has shifted, for better or for worse, and that gets Messiah Complex on the list.
Purchase X-Men: Messiah Complex and help support the Weekly Crisis!
SECRET INVASION
Obviously, everyone probably saw this one coming, but it had to be said. Secret Invasion is the current summer event coming out of Marvel and, while many of the current effects, like the destruction of the Baxter Building or downing of a SHIELD helicarrier, are mostly superficial, based on Marvel's current event driven storytelling, Secret Invasion will most likely have various current and longterm effects on the Marvel Universe as a whole.Expect major shake ups in the New and Mighty Avengers titles as well as with Iron Man's books. Also, a Nick Fury reinstatement with SHIELD should be expected and either a new book for he and his commandos or the commandering, alla Hercules, of another title post-SI.
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7 comments:
I agree with everything on the list. Thought it was odd that SI was on the list, figured it would more or less not be counted until finished. But hey, you are right.
-Andrenn
I find BND more confusing than helpful as they are not explaining anything. Every time it looks they will give answer they don't. I seriously believe Marvel is literally making it up as they go.
@Andrenn - Actually, I couldn't really think of anything to fill a 10th spot. I could have broke up OMD / BND or maybe threw Annihilation: Conquest in there, but I figured SI would be required reading for anyone jumping into Marvel right now, so put that in there over an even weaker choice.
@eric - I don't think they are making it up as they go, but are more to the point just plain ignoring the problem, which is the premise and massive affects to the past that resurrecting Harry, remasking Spidey and the breaking up of the marriage had.
By not telling it, they can build up goodwill with some quality stories (which have failed ot really captivate me, but most newer readers seem to like it and it's a step up, from what I've read of it, from JMS's drivel) and pray when they finally bite the bullet and tell what happened people don't get too up in arms.
I find it funny that you've been crapping on Young Newsarama for every one of their dumb top ten lists. Then you proceed to put your money where your mouth is and make two useful (read: choices actually make f'ing sense) and engaging list in a row. Epic win good sir.
I think waiting on the BND time gap is bad for several reason. 1)People remember bad stories more than good stories so no matter how many good BND stories there are most people will more likely remember OMD. 2)By revealing what happened immediately you can lessen people's fears about what is happening and it help shows that Marvel knows what they are doing. The ham-fisted way OMD unfolded, the JMS "controversy" and then the lack answers probably convinced a lot people Marvel had no idea what they were doing.
Anyway, nice list though I do disagree with BND. Maybe Secret War should be on their since it removed Fury from SHIELD.
I'd add Avengers:Disassembled & New Avengers as one, since it established what made Wanda go crazy & set up Jessica Drew/Skrull Queen as a major player.
'Secret War' would be a decent addition, though maybe not required reading. It helps to explain Fury's absence and upcoming role in Secret Invasion (and the beginnings of his new team).
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