Complete Marvel Reading Order

by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer Invincible Iron Man Issue #512 Written by Matt Fraction, Art by Salvador Larroca Published: March. 2012 Another good but not great offering from Matt Fraction is keeping me on the Iron Man teat for a few more months. Really I shouldn’t complain. Stringing together consistent good books is very hard and Fraction has done a nice job. This book is another good one, but is a little slow and may not appeal to everyone. We have Tony/Iron Man and we have the Mandarin but they end up being the background for most of the issue. Really, that is okay. One thing about Matt Fraction that he does well is to develop multiple aspects of a story. This book gets solidly into the new ‘Lifearmor’. As this could develop into something huge down the line I feel the extra time spent here is very important. I really prefer ideas to be fleshed [...]

by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer Daredevil Issue #8 Written by Mark Waid, Art by Kano Published: March 2012 Crossovers can be good or bad. One thing that annoys me is when I don’t know it is happening and pick  up the 2nd half of a two part series; like I did with this month’s Daredevil book. But buying another book it not something I shy away from so I grabbed the Amazing Spider-Man #677 to get on board with the whole story. That was a good move on my part. The crossover is called ‘The Devil and the Details’ and the first part in Spider-man was excellent. I highly recommend picking up that book. But, Waid did a really good job with this Daredevil book that after the first few pages you can start to figure out what is going on. It is not a pure stand-alone but still does well in that aspect. So [...]

Added Thor #303 (v1) Thor #304a (v1) Thor #304b (v1) Marvel Spotlight #8 (v2) Marvel Spotlight #9 (v2) Thor #305a (v1) Thor #306a (v1) Thor #305b (v1) Thor #306b (v1) Amazing Spider-Man #211 (v1) Amazing Spider-Man #212 (v1) Daredevil #167 (v1) Machine Man #18 (v1) Marvel Two-in-One #74

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer New Mutants Issue #35 Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Art by David Lopez Published: Feb 2012 Not only are the New Mutants like the teenage X-Men, but the series seems written to appeal to a younger audience as well. In issue #35, the team is still on the hunt for the missing mutant Blink, following a trail of “natural” disasters. The team catches up with her just in time to join her on her mission to root out the cause of the disasters. The suspects? A rock band named Diskhord. I should preface this by saying that I’m not the biggest fan of the series. I have a deep love for the X-Men, which more or less extends throughout the entire universe, but New Mutants is far from one of my favorite titles. That isn’t to say I don’t have fun with it. [...]

by Andrew Hurst, CMRO Contributing Writer Wolverine / Gamgit: Victims Issue #1 Written by Jeph Loeb, Art by Tim Sale Published: Sept 1995 In the mid-1990s few comic book characters were more popular than Wolverine and Gambit and even fewer of the industries blossoming creators were as hot as Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Though, regardless of the decade, Loeb and Sale offer a timeless gem that has been shadowed by the now legendary duo’s resume. Set in modern day London, a Jack the Ripper copycat is loose, reprising the ancient murderer’s original modus operandi. When Gambit discovers the latest victim to be an old friend, he wastes little time tracking down a suspect: Wolverine. The classic murder mystery would go on to be Loeb and Sale’s bread and butter with Loeb’s cleverly crafted tales and Sale’s noir-like stylized art, but Victims isn’t exactly the “who done it” that you might [...]

Added Rom #15 Doctor Strange #45 (v2) The Hulk! #21a The Hulk! #21b Rom #16 Rom #17 Hybrid Rom #18 Fantastic Four #219 (v1) Fantastic Four #220 (v1) Fantastic Four #221 (v1)

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer Amazing Spider-Man Issue #676 Written by Dan Slott, Art by Humberto Ramos Published: Feb 2012 From what little I’ve read of Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man, I like it, I really do. Which is why issue #676, an apparent one-off titled The Sinister Six in Tomorrow the World, is so disappointing. The first mistake? No Spider-Man. Now, I do think it’s possible to write an issue in which the titular character doesn’t appear. It’s been done before and it can work. But it’s a gamble, and here, it just didn’t pay off. Spider-Man’s presence is sorely missed. Mysterio makes plenty of wisecracks in his absence, but it’s just not the same. There’s a real pulp-horror vibe to a lot of it, especially with Doc Ock and the dialogue, but at some point it just becomes too much. It would have worked better if Slott had made [...]

by Lindsay Young, CMRO Contributing Writer Huntress Issue #4 Written by Paul Levitz, Art by Marcus To Published: March 2012 Things are really starting to pick up in Huntress. Not that the series was slow or even uneventful before, but the time has come at last for Helena to well and truly demolish one of the scumbags we actually care about. This week, our titular heroine infiltrates the ship belonging to Moretti (the aforementioned scumbag), deftly taking out a host of goons and delivering swift (and unexpected) justice in cool, confident style. As usual, Huntress has a great mix of action and suspense, developed mostly through Helena scouting out the territory, going over strategies in her head, and sneaking around before striking. This week, not only do we get the payoff of a confrontation between one of the major villains – The Chairman, our recently introduced Main Baddie, escapes unscathed for now – but [...]

Added Marvel Two-in-One #73 Rom #14 Marvel Team-Up #101a (v1) Marvel Team-Up #101b (v1) Howard the Duck #8 (v2) Amazing Spider-Man #210 (v1) Madame Web Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #49a (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50a (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #51a (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #49b (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50b (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #51b (v1) Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #52 (v1)

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer Magneto: Not a Hero Issue #2 Written by Skottie Young, Art by Clay Mann Published: Feb 2012 I’m just going to come right out and say it: Magneto is one of the best comic book characters of all time. Granted, I’m a big X-Men fan, so I’m biased, but I think a lot of comic fans would agree with me. He’s somehow been portrayed as a villain, hero, and antihero, all while maintaining the same morals and goals. He’s just that smart of a character. To my knowledge, Magneto has never headlined an ongoing series, just a smattering of miniseries, which is practically a crime against humanity. Magneto: Not a Hero is further proof that the character has what it takes to carry his own title. Magneto, now working with the X-Men, is having trouble being accepted by the public. It certainly doesn’t help matters [...]

Updated Tales of Suspense #72 Uncanny X-Men #120 Tales of Suspense #64 Fantastic Four #44 Fantastic Four #45 Added Dazzler #2 (v1) Micronauts #15 (v1) Micronauts #16 (v1) Micronauts #17 (v1) Marvel Two-in-One #71 Maelstrom Marvel Two-in-One #72 Deathurge

by Lindsay Young, CMRO Contributing Writer Fables Issue #2 Written by Bill Willingham, Art by Lan Medina Published: Aug 2002 It’s been a while since I read the first issue of Fables, but it’s still fresh in my mind as I finally get around to reading the second issue, and I suppose that speaks well for the memorability of the title. The blend of fairy tales and crime drama procedural continues to work wonders, and issue 2 continues the momentum and preserves the memorability of the first. The art, for one, is fantastic – unique angles and imagery, with memorable character designs and a classic feel to the layout of the page. It’s not only beautiful to look at, but interesting. Panels peek through the contours of fountains and frame themselves in golden vines. The fairy tale theme is visualized wonderfully, mostly in flashbacks, without losing the gritty feel of the crime drama [...]

by Andrew Hurst, CMRO Contributing Writer Villains for Hire Issue #2 Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Art by Renato Arlem Published: Feb 2012 It’s a very familiar premise. An old villain is after the thrown of the city’s top crime lord, and hires some of the territory’s nastiest and most obscure Spidey and Daredevil jobbers to help him do it. Though it’s not the industry’s most unique set up, it’s still just as entertaining as any great anti-hero team up. Though I wasn’t quite sold on the first issue, issue #2 was simply — if I may — a hoot. Villains for Hire isn’t exactly the rompous adventure of a crook collection of characters as, say, Oceans 11, but damn if it doesn’t try. The script is filled with attitude and action and exemplifies all the angles we love about a great “popcorn” comic. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s [...]

Updated Fantastic Four #29 (v1) Added Savage Action #1 Savage Action #2 Uncanny X-Men #141 (v1) Kitty Pryde (Earth-811) Rachel Summers (Earth-811) Wolverine (Earth-811) Avalanche Destiny Pyro Uncanny X-Men #142 (v1) Power Man & Iron Fist #67 (v1) Power Man & Iron Fist #68 (v1) Avengers #204 (v1) Avengers #205 (v1) Dazzler #1 (v1) Uncanny X-Men #143 (v1) Lee Forrester Uncanny X-Men #144 (v1) Avengers #206 (v1)

by Lindsay Young, CMRO Contributing Writer Action Comics Issue #5 Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Andy Kubert Published: March 2012 This week, we continue through the classic backstory of baby Superman, sent away from a dying planet by parents desperate to preserve their only son. The story is as effective as it’s always been, and it’s nice to finally see the fabled son leave the dying planet. A lot of the dialogue in this issue is heavy on the exposition – for example, “we built [this machine] together, you and I!” and “I lost our baby!” are both sentences uttered that should be utterly obvious to the people being spoken to. It does give the issue a stilted feeling that the issues previous mostly avoided by piling on the action and spending only a small amount of time of dialogue and character background. It’s good that we’re finally getting into [...]