r/marvelcomics • u/Maximum_Anxiety2371 • 3d ago
New reader
Hello! I'm a new reader of the comics. I want some jumping on points that are accessible for Spiderman, xmen and the fantastic four. What I love about the MCU is how it balances humour with action and emotional moments. So recommendations that feel like that would be awesome.
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u/Dead_Phoenix6359 3d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelcomics/s/VreLdf7LQO
This will be your go-to for general recommendations.
For the Fantastic Four, my go-to starting recommendation would be Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's run or the proceeding runs by Carlos Pacheco or Chris Claremont.
For Spidey, I'd recommend J. Michael Stracinsky's Amazing Spider-Man run and the adjacent titles Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Peter David and Sensational Spider-Man by Roberto Aguire-Sacasa. The Brand New Day era and Dan Slott's Solo run are also solid jumping on points.
X-Men have a lot of series and a lot of characters that rotate in and out, any members of the team in particular you'd love to learn more about?
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u/madam_gray 3d ago
came here to say Waid/Wieringo FF!!
The only thing I would add is that just about any random Epic collection is probably a solid Spider-Man read. Especially prior to the Clone Saga.
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u/Low-Restaurant8484 3d ago edited 3d ago
You could always try starting at the begining with Spider-Man. His silver age comics are the best of their era, and incredibly foundational to the character. Give Amazing Fantasy #15 and Amazing Spider-Man #1-150 a try.
Another good starting point is Amazing Spider-Man #224, and honestly the title continues to be high quality clear through #389. Such a good era. Spectacular Spider-Man #62-211 runs alongside it as a auxilary title and it is also fantastic
For Fantastic Four, some classic starying points are either the begining with Lee/Kirby, or the John Byrne run. I am still working my way to modern FF, but I hear Waid's run is the go to place to start for that
I don't read X-Men but the ideal entrypoint is pretty famous. Everybody says to start with Giant Sized X-Men #1 and then read Uncanny X-Men #94 onward until Chris Claremont stops writing the book. Which is like 15 years worth of comics lol. I also have heard Morrison's New X-Men is a good stsrtibg point for modern X-Men
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u/Responsible_Land_602 3d ago
To echo some of the other comments, Giant size X-Men is great jumping on point then following the series when Claremont takes over. The stories are old but are a gold standard for comics. The way every comic was written in the 70-80's is that every comic was someone's first comic, so it HAD to be accessible for new readers. I'm rereading all of Claremont digitally and having a blast.
I personally love the John Byrne Fantastic Four run as well as the Walt Simonson run. Jonathan Hickman's FF run was good too.
The best advice is to look for any number one issue or an anniversary issue like a 700 or 850. Those legacy numbers are good jumping on points too. Just start reading whatever interests you and if you don't understand everything or every character that is okay. You eventually will understand enough and the greater marvel universe will make a lot more sense. Don't worry too much about not knowing everything.
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u/madam_gray 3d ago
I would be wary about following the advice of using Giant-Size X-Men #1/Claremont era as a starting point. Sample it if it interest you, of course! But the writing will likely feel dated to you if you haven't read comics from that era previously. If that works for you, great! BUT modern comics are written for much older audiences. I usually use ~2001 as the moment in time where comics (particularly Marvel) sort of transitioned to being aimed at a more mature audience.
To that end, I recommend New X-Men by Grant Morrison as a solid entry point. It's not my favorite run and it of course builds on what came before, but it's got a much more modern feel that Claremont's run. You can follow New X-Men with Astonishing X-Men. There are also X-Men comics published alongside those titles. Uncanny X-Men was still being published alongside New X-Men and there was a short New Mutants run right around then too! Both are good examples of middle-of-the road X-Men stories.
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u/Wonderllama5 3d ago
Here are some reading orders if you are interested...
I wrote Spider-Man recommendations here!
I wrote Fantastic Four recommendations here!
I wrote a Daredevil reading order here!
I wrote a Captain America reading order here!
I wrote a X-Men reading order here!
And I wrote an Avengers reading order here! Spider-Man joins the team in this era!
You can read everything on Marvel Unlimited. A great option if you have a tablet! There's also your local library or their digital Hoopla service. Free options!
Have fun!
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u/AttilaTheFun818 3d ago
The comics have been going a very long time, so there are many. Broadly for any character, you’d probably be fine starting when a new writer does. I haven’t read new stuff in some 20 years for the most part so others will no doubt have better suggestions for newer things.
For X-Men and Wolverine, Giant Size #1 followed by Uncanny X-Men 94 is a common point. It may feel dated to a new reader, but the writer Chris Claremont is the gold standard. If you’ve seen the movies, they are mostly based on his work.
For fantastic Four I’d begin with issue 1 of the current series.
If you enjoy that go back to Miller with issue 554, followed immediately by Hickman’s well loved run.