YOUNG DANIEL SAYS :: Welcome To Heroes, All Newcomers

Our convention brings in lots of new business, whether that is people brand new to our jolly little industry or people who have been out of the loop for a while. The staff is always happy to help people find their way into comics whether you’re a Marvel guy, a DC guy, an indie guy or (like me) someone who likes a bit of each. With that in mind here’s a handy dandy guide of fantastic collections and series on the book racks and then I’ll give you some things to be on the lookout for in the coming summer and fall months.

MARVEL:

Civil War: Customers come in and frequently inquire about this series, the necessity of the crossovers and what they need to read. If you get the main trade paperback collecting the 7 issues then you’ll be set. This series is the pivot which the Marvel U moves around even a year after its finale. The crossovers aren’t necessary but they do add layer and subtext to the main series and a lot of them are quite good. Out of the whole lot I recommend the Wolverine, Punisher War Journal, and Warren Ellis Thunderbolts trade.

New Avengers: Marvels biggest seller since its inception, New Avengers is probably Marvel’s flagship book at the moment. There are currently seven New Avengers trades, the Avengers Disassembled and Secret War trades which occur before New Avengers starts but are written by NA author Brian Michael Bendis. The House of M mini is also collected and features the New Avengers and X-Men and acts a follow up to Disassembled. All of these things have been leading to this summer’s Secret Invasion event.

Annihilation: This series of mini-series collected into three trades revamped Marvel’s space heroes completely making them viable and important and really really cool again. The likes of Nova, the Super-Skrull, Ronan the Accuser, and the Silver Surfer band together to defeat the Annihilation Wave and unstoppable bug army from the Negative Zone. Millions of lives are lost and it’s only a matter of time before the Wave reaches Earth. This doesn’t have the immediate weight that New Avengers and Civil War had but it is arguably a better story and definitely a lot of fun.

Other quite notable things from the House of Ideas include much beloved Immortal Iron Fist, collected into two fantastic trades and with a new writer coming on in the next issue. Fraction assures me that readers should stick around after he’s gone and I’m gonna take him at his word. Captain Britain and MI: 13 was a huge surprise. This book breathes new life into Marvel’s British characters with crisp and emotionally honest writing and clean vibrant art and lots and lots of action. Invincible Iron Man intentionally or not is the best place to start with the character if you loved the movie. Incredible Hercules comes out of World War Hulk and is a lot a more clever than it has any right to be.

Seeing as how short punchy articles tend to get more comments on here I’ll leave you with that and next time I’ll cover the DC side of things.