The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[I Don't Mind]

3 hours ago, Jasonmufc said:

Many would say start in the 90s because that's where X-Men really came into their own, especially with the Jim Lee penciled X-Men being the basis for many of the future artwork of both the animated series and the characters as is going into the future.

Going further back, Dark Phoenix (1980) and especially Days of Future Past (1981) were the first major storylines that really propelled X-Men to the forefront and popularized it in pop culture.

Going even further back than that, i'd say go to 1975 and start when Chris Claremont took over writing duties, he pretty much defined the X-Men (And Marvel in general) into the 90s, creating many big named characters (Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, Mystique, etc.) and turning Wolverine into the anti-hero everyone knows and loves.

As a whole I can't really suggest Silver Age comics because they're tonally very different to what came in the bronze age and beyond.
EDIT: Additionally, X-Men in general wasn't popular until Claremont changed everything up. It was so bad that between 1970 and 1975 they only published reprints of old stories rather than create new content. So from 70/75 you can completely avoid.

To add to this, 1982's God Loves, Man Kills was the loose basis of X-2 and was pretty great. We just read it for the Marvel Universe Book Club

[Colly]

In my view the writing actually picked up in the late 60s just before the cancellation, debuting the likes of Havoc, Polaris and Sauron, then it stops. But I'd definitely read from Giant Size onwards, Claremont's stuff is brilliant.

[brenchill]

Welp, Magneto: Testament is just about the worst thing I've ever read. 

The main character "Max" is Magneto, apparently. But you wouldn't know that because there's no hint of his powers or even of any other mutants even existing in this universe.

[Benji]

1 hour ago, brenchill said:

Welp, Magneto: Testament is just about the worst thing I've ever read. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The main character "Max" is Magneto, apparently. But you wouldn't know that because there's no hint of his powers or even of any other mutants even existing in this universe.

 

Not read it, but...

Spoiler

That's probably because Magneto was part of the first large surge of mutants. There had been others (Apocalypse and such), but the big surge of the mutant gene was in the mid-20th century, mutants were basically things known in nothing but whispers at that point, just random freaks who people would pass off as fairy tales believed by idiots and children.

Having said that, Greg Pak is one of least favourite "name" writers. Outside Planet Hulk, I've never really cared for him.

If you want a good Magneto story - go with X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills. It was the basis for the second X-Men movie.

Also Age of Apocalypse, but that's not because it's a good Magneto story specifically (he is a major character though), but because it's a massive sweeping epic. It's a long haul read though, and I'd suggest reading the trade paperback version as it collects all the side stories for you too.

[brenchill]

I'll check that out. Since I've started reading a lot more, Captain America has become my favourite comic book character but I love Magneto, he's such a complex character.

[TKz]

Best Magneto run is far and away the one from Marvel NOW. If you liked the start of First Class with Magneto hunting down Nazi's, it's like a more extreme version of that.

[HailtotheYo]

the new uncanny x-men book is great too ...

[Benji]

If I wasn't doing a full Ultimate read-through I would so ignore Marvel Team-Up. Some of the dullest and most pointless comics in existence. The art and story of the Iron Man/Spidey team up is absolutely awfully archaic, and the fact that it totally contradicts the Ultimate Iron Man origins of Tony is really annoying too.

[Gabriel]

On 6/20/2016 at 04:26, brenchill said:

I'll check that out. Since I've started reading a lot more, Captain America has become my favourite comic book character but I love Magneto, he's such a complex character.

If you love Magneto for that reason, check out the Avengers run where Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil really do some damage, then move into Thunderbolts vol. 1 and beyond. Baron Helmut Zemo is such a fantastic character, that it really hurts how under-utilized he is in the grand scheme of things.

[JasonM]

On 6/20/2016 at 20:55, Benji said:

If I wasn't doing a full Ultimate read-through I would so ignore Marvel Team-Up. Some of the dullest and most pointless comics in existence. The art and story of the Iron Man/Spidey team up is absolutely awfully archaic, and the fact that it totally contradicts the Ultimate Iron Man origins of Tony is really annoying too.

If you mean the Ultimate Iron Man written by OSC, that one was so badly received that they ended up retconning it out of the Ultimate universe.

[brenchill]

 

Took this photo from my Kindle, I'm m pretty sure that's Batman in Marvel Universe vs The Punisher...

[Benji]

1 hour ago, Gabriel said:

If you love Magneto for that reason, check out the Avengers run where Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil really do some damage, then move into Thunderbolts vol. 1 and beyond. Baron Helmut Zemo is such a fantastic character, that it really hurts how under-utilized he is in the grand scheme of things.

It always sits wrong with me how shit Zemo's design is for such a great character.

[I Don't Mind]

Is it his Nazi Tiara or his lavender towel mask?

[HailtotheYo]

12 hours ago, I Diem said:

Is it his Nazi Tiara or his lavender towel mask?

Speak ill of towel masks again and the puppy gets worse!

[Benji]

14 hours ago, I Diem said:

Is it his Nazi Tiara or his lavender towel mask?

See but Cobra Commander owns it. His is more like a villainous hood with obvious connotations. Zemo looks more like he's wearing his five year old daughter's ski mask and tiara.

[HailtotheYo]

I see both sides of it honestly ... he's looked very bad ass, and quite fluffy as well.

[Colly]

Either way it's better than Shocker's double duvet.

[I Don't Mind]

Cobra Commander's hood looks like the finest imported silk. That shit breathes and flows.

Zemo's mask is made from some raggedy ass corduroy pants. That's why he looks pants-on-head retarded.

Edited June 22, 2016 by I Diem

[GhostMachine]

Zemo's look didn't work for his father, either. In fact, I believe his father looked even worse.

 

[Benji]

7 hours ago, GhostMachine said:

Zemo's look didn't work for his father, either. In fact, I believe his father looked even worse.

 

The ignonamy of being buried in a tea towel will do that to a guy.