Great Marvel storylines?

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CoyoteUnion
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Great Marvel storylines?

Post by CoyoteUnion »

Even though I'm an M&M fan, I haven't actually read too many comics. Dad found the game, I just borrowed the books when I was little. I know all the characters and what they're like, I just haven't read the stories.

I know the really huge old ones like Dark Phoenix, Infinity Gauntlet (there's good parts but it didn't grab me), Gwen Stacy, all that. But are there any storylines you guys think were "must-reads" and/or super underrated?

I tried Google, but you guys are the only people who usually give me good stuff.
MacynSnow
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by MacynSnow »

Depends on the type of stories you like.As a Hardcore Avengers nerd, several storylines scream out to me right away:
The Krovac Saga-- this storyline was sadly overshadowed by Secret Wars(Which i DO recommend), but it was a fairly good story of how the Past can haunt the future....
Under Seige--A beautiful deconstruction of what makes a team like the Avengers work, the events that happened here would be felt for several months...
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Batgirl III
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by Batgirl III »

I'm not the world's biggest X-Men fan, but it's impossible to deny their importance to Marvel Comics success in the Eighties and Nineties. There are three standout X-Men storylines that I think every Marvel fan should read:

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982) is probably one of the best stories that Chris Claremont ever did, I know I greatly prefer it to the overly long Phoenix Saga. It helps that it was always meant to be published as a single 96-page graphic novel and not part any of the regular monthly comics, giving Claremont a strict limit to how much padding he could shove into it. (This story is the rough basis for the film X2: X-Men United.)

Days of Future Past was a 1981 two-part storyline, published in Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #141 and #142. Originally meant to be a couple issues of "filler" in the wake of the just concluded Dark Phoenix stuff (which officially ended in #137, but really dragged on for a while after), it's another great example of Claremont being at his best when he's given an concrete endpoint. (The film X-Men: Days of Future Past is based on this comic, although the comic does it all much better.)

‣ Claremont teamed up with Frank Miller for the 1982 four-issue Wolverine miniseries is also a high point of Eighties Era X-Men and probably one of the best stories about the character. (And this mini-series was adapted, with many liberties, for the film The Wolverine.)

These days, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers are the new hotness. Maycn recommended two great Avengers storylines, but I'd also recommend:

The Kree-Skrull War which ran in Avengers (Vol. 1) #89–97 in 1971-72. Neal Adams does some of the best work he ever did for Marvel on the middle issues of the story and it's pure Bronze Age goodness from start to finish.

Armor Wars was a seven-issue Iron Man story arc in Iron Man (Vol. 1) #225-#231, which sees Stark throwing down against damn near every armor-using supervillain (and a couple of superheroes) in the Marvel Universe. From Stilt-Man to Doctor Doom. Good fun, great action, and a decent mystery.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 1)'s first five issues are sometimes known as "Scorpio" for the main villain they introduced, but mostly just known as "Jim Steranko's Nick Fury" for the masterful work the legendary artist did on the book. Jim Steranko is up there in the pantheon with Jack Kirby.

But my absolute, all-time, no-questions-asked favorite storyline that Marvel Comics has ever published is:

Marvels a four-issue limited series comic book written by Kurt Busiek and painted by Alex Ross, that retells every single major story in every Marvel Comics title between 1939 and 1974. Namor versus the Human Torch, Captain America versus Hitler, the Fantastic Four's first rocket flight, the emergence of the X-Men, the death of Gwen Stacy... If you only ever read one Marvel Comics story, make it this one.
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Davies
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by Davies »

Kraven's Last Hunt.

ALL of Walt Simonson's run on Thor.

The first 101 issues of The Fantastic Four (and the first six annuals.) This is the foundation stone of everything that came after it.
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Woodclaw
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by Woodclaw »

Thanos Quest and Infinity Gauntlet are pretty good, although the quality went downhill with their sequels Infinity War and especially Infinity Crusade.

Looking at single issues, I think that Amazing SpiderMan #600 is absolutely mandatory, even if it landed in the middle of the Clone Saga the story is beautiful.

Another excellent self-contained story is Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, which has one of my favorite versions of old faceplate.
Batgirl III wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:38 amMarvels a four-issue limited series comic book written by Kurt Busiek and painted by Alex Ross, that retells every single major story in every Marvel Comics title between 1939 and 1974. Namor versus the Human Torch, Captain America versus Hitler, the Fantastic Four's first rocket flight, the emergence of the X-Men, the death of Gwen Stacy... If you only ever read one Marvel Comics story, make it this one.
Marvels also has a sequel written by Chuck Dixon and titled Code of Honor, which follows a different character during the 80s and early 90s. Ross didn't work on this one, but I think it's still worth checking out.
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Ares
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by Ares »

The first 25 issues of the George Perez / Kurt Busiek Avengers run is as solid a run as you could hope for. While Busiek's entire run is solid, it the first 25 issues are pure gold while the latter half has more obvious flaws. Still, the entire run is worth getting.

The first 12 issues of the Thunderbolts is a great read as well, and I'd highly recommend the first two trades that collects all of their appearances. Again, the entire series is really solid up until issue 25.

I will second Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triump and Torment. To me, it is the definitive take on Dr. Doom.

Spider-Man/Fantastic Four by Christos Gage does a great job of showcasing why Peter has always had a strong relationship with the FF.

Spectacular Spider-Man #310 is a more recent issue I recommend to everyone as the single best modern Spider-Man issue in the last decade.

Mark Gruenwald's run where Steve had to give up his identity as Captain America and the introduction of John Walker is a solid example of why Steve is the only guy who can really be Cap. It ran through Captain America 333-to-350.

I'll second the Armor Wars as well.
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Ken
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by Ken »

Mark Gruenwald's 1985 Maxi-series The Squadron Supreme, which is available in trade. It's a wonderful story about super-heroes doing the wrong things for the best of reasons.

Mark Gruenwald put his blood and soul into it. And his widow put in his ashes.
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by NoOneofConsequence »

A lot of good mentions already. My personal opinion is that that period between the mid 70s to the late 80s is when Marvel really hit their stride and were doing consistently good to excellent work across the board. I don't really pay attention to what is available digitally (I like to sit in my log cabin and read by candlelight while telling the neighborhood kids to stop bothering my pet dinosaur), but I presume most of Marvel's stuff is somewhere.

Marvel Saga was this cool little series they put out in the mid 80s that retold the history of the Marvel Universe (as it was at the time), using classic art work and text summary. It only ran for 25 issues, and covers the period from the Fantastic Four's debut to their fight with Galactus, as well as what was going on with the Avengers, X-Men, Spiderman, Daredevil and Dr. Strange at the time, as well as incorporating what was known about their backstories as of the 80s (when we are introduced to Professor X, for example, it includes the stuff Clairmont did years later about him and Magneto first meeting in Israel). The one minor outlier that goes outside the time period was a single issue devoted to the entire history of Spiderman and MJ's relationship that tied in to their wedding. If you'veever wanted a good readable summary of very early Marvel, this is it. I find that it makes a good companion read to Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross's Marvels miniseries.

Most of Chris Clairmont's run on the X-Men is worth reading. There is a lot of classic story arcs, with Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past being the big two, but also the Proteus storyline, the trip to Japan, the alien space opera stuff, and the first attempted redemption of Magneto. A lot of people tap out around the time of the Mutant Masacre story, but there is still some pretty decent stuff after that .

That run also spun off a lot of great stuff. The initial Wolverine mini series with Miller doing the art for Clairmont's story has been mentioned. Later was the Wolverine ongoing series, which hit its peak when Larry Hama was writing it.
There was also John Byrne's excellent run on Alpha Flight.
Clairmont wrote the first 50-something issues of New Mutants, and they are also really good (especiallythe first 25 or so). There is a really great X-Men Asgardian saga that ties into it.
Excalibur was a spin off from the Mutant Masacre and ended up being a bit more light hearted than the othe X-books at the time. Its quality was up and down depending on the creative team, but the two high points are Clairmont and artist Alan Davis's initial run and Davis' later return to the book as writer and artist.

Then there was X-Factor. It was an effort to reunite the original X-Men as a team and after a slightly rough start (including the origin ofthe Cyclops being a schmuck trope), it turned into a really solid book. This is mainly because of Louise Simonson's writing, especially involving the kids they were teaching. She would later take over writing duties on New Mutants. But her single greatest work was the child superteam Power Pack. The first 25 to 30something issues of that are wonderful. (Seriously, if you ever see any sort of discussion, article, tweet, etc. about women in comics - especially who the best is - that does revolve around her, then you can safely ignore it as meaningless noise.)

There is also a pretty good X-Factor run by Peter David with a totally different team.
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by NoOneofConsequence »

Some non-X-stuff.

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle was a big one from the early 80s, with Tony dealing with his alcoholism.

Christopher Priest's work on Black Panther during the 90s (as part of the Marvel Knights line) is probably the definitive work with the character, and turned him into a major player in the modern Marvel Universe.

The first fifty issues of the original New Warriors, written by Fabian Nicieza, was one of Marvel's better books during the early 90s. It managed to spin off a solo series for team leader Night Thrasher, as well as one for Nova.

Just personally, I'm a big fan of Marvel's horror stuff from the 70s, including Man-Thing, Tomb of Dracula, and the various stuff with Son of Satan, Werewolf by Night, Satana, and Tigra the Werewoman.

Speaking of Dracula, he fought Dr. Strange twice, with the final time having Strange destroy every vampire on earth. He also fought the X-Men.

I'll second the recommendation for Busiek's post-Heroes Return run on the Avengers, and his work on Thunderbolts (for the first 50 issues, IIRC).

Also Mark Waid's run on The Fantastic Four is pretty good (even if Waid himself is a total asshat). Also the short lived Thing series by Dan Slott (also an asshat).
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Batgirl III
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

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Christopher Priest's work on Black Panther during the 90s (as part of the Marvel Knights line) is probably the definitive work with the character, and turned him into a major player in the modern Marvel Universe.
I loved Priest’s run, so I won’t argue with any of this except to add the minor caveat that "Panther's Rage,” a story that ran through Jungle Action (Vol. 1) #6–24 is probably the definitive Black Panther story... and one of the most innovative comics ever. There were other comics that had done multiparty stories, but they were usually two-parters or three-parters, maybe some sort of ongoing B-plot that would take a year or two (Peter getting pestered by Aunt May to go on a date with that nice Mary Jane girl.) “Panther’s Rage” was basically a 200-page graphic novel, with a distinct prologue, beginning, middle, end, and epilogue.

If you can find a trade of it, read it. Don’t ask questions, just do it.
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MacynSnow
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by MacynSnow »

Say what you will about DeFalco(most of it is true), he did fantastic work on Thunderstrike. He introduced all of us to the joy's that was Code:Blue..
I'd also recommend the ENTIRETY of DeFalco's MC2 line. It was a beautiful send-up to Marvel's History and gave us a truly fantastic legacy hero in Spidergirl(which, untill Spidergwen, was my favorite Spider Female).
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

Post by NoOneofConsequence »

MacynSnow wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:20 am
I'd also recommend the ENTIRETY of DeFalco's MC2 line. It was a beautiful send-up to Marvel's History and gave us a truly fantastic legacy hero in Spidergirl(which, untill Spidergwen, was my favorite Spider Female).
I have always felt that his one major mistake with M2 was not having the Fantastic Five be the now grown up Power Pack. But Spidergirl and A Next were both a lot of fun.
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

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Another great, at least for me, Iron Man storyline was the Death and Rebirth of Tony Stark by Len Kaminsky and Kevin Hopgod, issues #280 to #305. Although less iconic than most of the stories by Bob Layton and David Micheline, Kaminsky had one of the best ideas about how to explain Tony's personality: "He's a man that had everything handed to him on a silver platter, so he looked for the greatest challenges he could find and the greatest ever was being Iron Man."

Another really great story is Captain America: The Hunt for the Bloodstone, which is one of the highest moments of the entire Mark Gruenwald's run on the character.
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

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Rom the Space Knight was a very fun late 70s/early 80s series that ran for something like 75 issues, making it Marvel's (or really anyone's) third most successful licensed toy tie (surpassed only by Transformers and GI Joe). This is mildly ironic given that the Parker Brothers toy was something of a flop. But unlike the other two, this book was set firmly in the Marvel Universe, including appearances from the X-Men and others. However, I'm not sure how easy it is to find, as Hasbro (having assimilated PB) owns the character name and likeness, while Disney owns the story and all supporting cast.

(Curiously, the toy did a little better in the UK, where Palitoy licensed it and made it part of the 12 inch Action Man line. Because of this, I'm kind of disappointed Hasbro didn't make a Rom figure for the GI Joe 25th anniversary line the way they did Matt Tracker from Kenner's MASK.)
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly. That is the first law of nature.
Voltaire, "Tolerance" (1764)
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Batgirl III
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Re: Great Marvel storylines?

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NoOneofConsequence wrote: Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:39 amCuriously, the toy did a little better in the UK, where Palitoy licensed it and made it part of the 12 inch Action Man line. Because of this, I'm kind of disappointed Hasbro didn't make a Rom figure for the GI Joe 25th anniversary line the way they did Matt Tracker from Kenner's MASK.
The ROM intellectual property situation is a Gordian Knot that makes the Harmony Gold / FASA / Bandai / Shōji Kawamori fuster cluck look sane.
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