Extra Story, Anecdotes About Reading Marvel Comics (This Chapter Is Free)

This chapter is free

A question that has been frequently mentioned recently is also a question that many book lovers want to ask, that is, how should we read Marvel comics?

As we all know, the origin of Marvel comics is very early. The earliest origin can be traced back to the 1930s and 1940s, seventy or eighty years ago.

Moreover, the universe of Marvel comics has become more and more expanded and its content has become larger and larger through continuous additions and modifications over the years. This makes many newcomers who are new to this type of American comics very painful. How should we read such comics?

Here are a few common myths about Marvel Comics.

1. Marvel comics are a mess, and they restart everywhere, and if they don’t work, they restart.

Answer: The Marvel universe has never been restarted, only the DC next door was restarted, because characters such as Speed ​​Force users including the Flash caused time regression and other effects to restart the universe.

The story line of the Marvel Universe is actually a very clear linear story.

2. There are many Marvel universes, this universe, that universe, what zombie universe, what Spiderman universe and so on. These universes are so intertwined that it's impossible to figure out what the manga is talking about!

A: In fact, although Marvel has a multiverse setting, in fact these universes do not meet most of the time. And the setting of each universe is different, for example, the zombie universe that many people boast about.

The zombified Hulk seemed so strong that he even ate Thanos. But in the cosmic publication linkage, he was punched down by the stone man of the ultimate universe (the stone man in the Fantastic Four). And the ultimate universe has always been known for its weak strength, so the zombie universe is probably the universe with the lowest strength in the Marvel universe. Maybe Spider-Man in the main universe (616) used to be able to become a god alone, punching Thanos and kicking Odin.

Here we also need to clarify the main story of Marvel. Marvel's main story takes place in the main universe number (616). This is where all of Marvel's main storylines take place. All other stories in the universe can be regarded as side stories, watching or not watching will not affect the story of the main universe at all.

Therefore, excluding the gimmicks of the multiverse, if you want to understand Marvel simply and basically, you only need to read the story of the 616 main universe.

3. The plot of Marvel's story is chaotic, there is no trace at all, and there is no way to look at it. I don't even know what the main story is.

Answer: This is caused by a variety of reasons. Because some domestic UP masters are sensationalizing the popularization of Marvel knowledge, deliberately extending a certain plot in the Marvel story, and then forcibly using a story to describe how the Marvel story is. This method of attracting people's attention has attracted traffic and newcomers, but it also forms a psychological hint for those who want to understand comics. That is, Marvel comics are all scribbles.

In addition, the serialization time of Marvel is too long, and the relationship between many plots may have passed more than ten or twenty years before suddenly filling the gap. This is really uncomfortable.

Then there is the issue of domestic Chineseization, because we are not a native English speaking country, if we only read the Chinese version, some content will be missing.

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Well, this is the problem that newcomers often encounter. Next, let's talk about how to read comics.

Compared with Japanese comics, a cartoonist is responsible for the entire story from beginning to end, and the artists and screenwriters of Marvel comics are mobile. It's normal to change people midway, so sometimes the painting style will change suddenly, which is something that can't be helped.

After watching Marvel movies, I believe many people have a general understanding of Marvel's characters and stories. Here's an explanation of the major components of the Marvel story.

Focusing on the main Marvel universe 616, other branch universes like to watch, don't like to watch or not, it doesn't affect the plot at all.

Marvel comics are roughly divided into three categories: personal publications, organizational group publications, and major events.

Personal publications are examples: "Amazing Spider-Man", "Invincible Iron Man (Iron Man)", and "Captain America" ​​are mostly single-person stories, occasionally linked with characters from other publications. However, it mainly describes the life stories of the protagonists of the publications as the main line.

Organization publications: "Avengers", "Extraordinary Avengers", "New X-Men" This is a comic story within the organization, covering the comic stories of all the heroes who participated in this organization. It is a comic about the occurrence of collective events, and it will also serve as a supplement to major events.

Big Events: This is the main storyline of the Marvel Universe. It is the background against which the whole world turns, and it is also the fate that all heroes cannot escape. Such comics include "Civil War", "Dark Reign", "Avengers Disbanded" and so on.

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The following is a simple recommendation and reading order for newcomers to read comics.

First of all, I would like to say that there is no need to read any ancient manga before the 21st century. It's not very useful to read it. If the editor suddenly wants to fill in a hole left in the 1980s, if you don't understand it, just Baidu.

The first is personal publications:

"The Amazing Spider-Man series", "The Mighty Iron Man series", the anti-hero "The Punisher", "Ghost Rider series". "Doctor Strange series" and so on. Personal publications are entirely based on personal preferences. If you like a hero, you can read the comics of that hero.

And don't worry about seeing individual hero magazine comics from other parallel universes. Because in fact, other universes rarely publish comics for personal hero publications, and parallel universes generally publish a collection of events. Like the zombie universe or something.

Even if there is a personal publication, there will be a note such as "Ultimate Spider-Man", while the main universe is "Amazing Spider-Man". The front stamp with Ultimate indicates that it is a publication of Ultimate Universe 1616. You can watch it or not.

There are also various "XX Massacre Marvel Universe" series, which are basically parallel universes, which have nothing to do with the story of the main universe and do not affect the main plot. So whenever you see the title of "XX Massacre Marvel Universe", everyone should enjoy watching it, and it cannot be used as any reference. They are a group of extras used to sell sales.

Organizational publications:

"Avengers", "Illegal Avengers", "X-Men", "New X-Men", "Illuminati", "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", "Legend of the Aegis" and so on. There are basically few parallel universe publications for this type of story, and even if there are, they will be marked as parallel universe publications like personal publications. You can skip publications that read parallel universes.

Then last but not least is the big event:

The big event is the story that promotes the progress of the entire manga. It is a collective publication organized by the hero’s personal publications. During normal serialization, various small events are continuously intertwined. The final accumulation is an irresistible inertia.

Here I recommend the reading order of major events (the following only represents my personal opinion):

Prelude: "Avengers Disbanded" and "M Royalty"

1. "Civil War" supplements "Civil War Illuminati", "Civil War Spider-Man", "Civil War Iron Man and Captain America" ​​and "Winter Soldier".

2. After the Civil War, there is a small branch "World War Hulk" that can be watched or not. But watching "World War Hulk" requires a supplement to the story of "The Illuminati".

3. Afterwards, the "Secret Invasion" series of the Skrulls followed. This part needs to supplement some "Fantastic Four" publications as branch lines.

4. Then came the "Dark Dynasty" established by Norman Osborn. This is not a specific event, but a period.

5. During the period of "Dark Reign", there were two big and small events, "Fortress Besieged" and "Shadow Field".

6. After that, "Battle of Chaos" will be the foreshadowing of the big event starting with "The Origin of Fear". 7. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good-looking big event "Avengers VS X-Men"

8. Then there is "Infinity", which I personally think is a bit interesting

9. After the big event of "Infinity" is "Original Sin". The story of Tony's modification of Banner's design mentioned earlier in the book also comes from the story of this big event. (Well, it seems to be, I kind of can't remember.)

10. "Axis of Good and Evil" is an interesting story, interspersed with some side stories of the extraordinary Avengers.

11. Marvel's biggest event, "Secret Invasion".

12. I feel like "Fighting World" with more sidelines than big events.

13. The somewhat unfinished "Civil War 2"

14. Afterwards, Marvel entered a new and completely different era, including individual hero publications, which all added brand-new and completely different front stamps. And in this new and completely different era, the biggest event is the Hydra event "Secret Empire", which has been aroused by many people.

That's about it, but there may be omissions, missing parts, or wrong places in some places.

The above content is for reference only.