(Part 3) Best superhero graphic novels according to redditors
We found 25,732 Reddit comments discussing the best superhero graphic novels. We ranked the 3,630 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
Was expecting this:
http://smile.amazon.com/Wolverine-Old-Logan-Mark-Millar/dp/0785131728?sa-no-redirect=1
But I still was entertained.
The biggest runs are Miller, Bendis/Brubaker and Waid. I've listed all four runs in both their Deluxe/Omnibus formats and their standard paperback versions. I imagine they're all available digitally, as well.
Frank Miller (1980-1982, 1986)
Brian Michael Bendis (2001-2006)
Ed Brubaker (2006-2009)
Mark Waid (2011-2014)
Mark Waid (2014+)
I recommend starting with Grant Morrison's New X-Men. I think it's a really easy place to jump on, and it sets up a lot of stuff that is still going on in the various X-Men series. After that, then you should pick up Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, which basically picks up right after Morrison's stories. Follow that up with the Messiah Complex crossover, then read Uncanny X-Men straight through Brubaker, Fraction, and Gillen's runs. That's a lot of good stuff there.
Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force Omnibus comes out at the end of this month. It's hard to express just how amazing and awesome his run on that title was! Definitely worth checking out!
Also, if you really enjoyed Morrison's Animal Man run I'd highly recommend checking out the New X-Men Omnibus. It's top-notch!
For Barry:
For Wally:
By the way, these are just starting points. I'll help you with an actual reading order if you need.
Justice. Also Alex Ross art through and through, and I found it to be an amazing story with the Justice League, Legion of Doom, and the Doom Patrol.
Spider-Verse. This is what you want.
Ultimate Spider-Man
I'm a big GA comic fan so I feel like I can go into more detail than the other comments here. Since I don't know if you're caught up in Arrow, I'll refrain from any overly-specific show spoilers.
To begin: Arrow started off with a lot of recognisable themes and aspects from the comics. Season 1 in particular. It is very rare that Arrow will follow any specific story line, but it is recognisable where the writers got a lot of their stuff from.
For the first 2 seasons, Oliver on the island was basically "Green Arrow: Year One", about Ollie being a survivalist. In the comic there are pirates on the island instead of soldiers, but it is basically similar. Aspects of Year One was also added to S4.
Season 1 of Arrow was very 80's Green Arrow. During that time period Ollie started killing criminals (for reasons I won't get into), but he still had his usual agenda. Comic GA's main adversaries have always been corrupt politicians, career criminals and rich people who took advantage of the less fortunate. S1 had that down. Mix a little New 52 in there (Which was brand new when they were making S1 and featured an Oliver Queen in his 20s) and you have Arrow.
There was no kill list in the comics - instead Oliver had to investigate to find his targets, or stumble upon crime in the streets. It makes sense why they would do that in the show - it is a good way to tie an episodic plot together. They also had to remove superpowers from the show, as they didn't exist during S1. This forced them to remove Dinah Laurel Lance's ability to Canary Cry, and had them re-evaluate characters like Count Vertigo and Solomon Grundy. Unfortunately as a result, some characters are unrecognisable (like Grundy).
S1 did introduce or change some characters though. John Diggle is a totally new character, but he has since been added to the main comics continuity. Felicity Smoak, having been originally intended as a throwaway character in the show is actually a small-time character in the Firestorm comics. She was briefly added to the Green Arrow comics as Arrow Felicity, but she was removed soon after. Thea Queen is named Mia Dearden in the comics and she isn't Ollie's sister - she is Ollie's sort-of adopted daughter. Laurel in the comics goes by her first name - Dinah. The Dark Archer has a different identity, but that was done on purpose to throw of viewers who knew the character's history.
Season 2 was also pretty faithful to the spirit of the comics. Sarah Lance is a brand new character, but she exists for the same purpose as comic Dinah Drake - the first Black Canary. They couldn't have both Laurel and her mother be Black Canary in the show, so they made it sister instead. Deathstroke was also a very faithful big-bad. While he was originally a Teen Titans villain and is most well known as a Batman villain, it was GA who shot his eye out - giving them a long-standing rivalry.
Beyond that, connections to comics get much weaker. Green Arrow has very little to do with the League of Assassins, and Damien Darhk was both a Titans villain and non-magical in the comics.
Oliver Queen's personality has also grown further from his comics counterpart. In the comics he is very much Robin Hood - the bleeding-heart protector of the poor, always ready to make a joke. Over time, Arrow's Oliver has lost that humorous side and very rarely deals with street-level crime.
 
I highly recommend you read some Green Arrow. Besides his New 52 run, Green Arrow has a standard of being very good. Jump on Amazon or down to a comic shop and pick up any one of these - you won't regret it.
Also, if you have 10 minutes to spare, DC released a short animated film on Green Arrow that is worth a watch: DC Showcase: Green Arrow.
Justice, I believe.
This is the reading order for a modern Barry Allen. If you're interested in the best of the best Flash stories and the greater Flash mythos, Flash in the 90's to mid 2000's is the best era of the Flash. Mark Waid's Flash currently has 1 trade out with trade 2 coming out May 2nd. The first trade is an origin story about Wally West, the second trade is a story called "The Return of Barry Allen" which is the best Flash story of all time. Waid's run is the best Flash run of all time and the third trade is coming out in the Fall. Grant Morrison and Mark Millar wrote a short zany run in the middle of Waid's run. It's one trade long and worth the read. Lastly, Geoff Johns Flash run is phenomenal. It's the second best of the three and there are currently three trades out. It's a bit more serialized than Waid's run, which is a plus. Waid writes Wally a lot better than Johns but what Johns has over Waid is phenomenal and relatable villains.
Flash Rebirth brings Bary up to speed with the world and shows him dealing with being a man out of time.
The Flash Dastardly Death of The Rogues is the best Barry Allen story, it is a must read
Flash: Road to Flashpoint. This story is pretty alright, the collected version has a lot of interesting one shots and such and it directly leads into Flashpoint. This doesn't get recommended often, but I enjoyed it and I think it should be at least mentioned
Flashpoint kicks off the New 52 and is a decently written Barry Allen story. This leads into the New 52 series
The Flash New 52 Vol 1-4 Collected in this omnibus. This has absolutely stunning art and it's the same art team that did Dastardly Death of the Rogues, the artists also double as the writers and they capture a good Barry Allen in my opinion. This run is great but everything after is pretty mediocre
DC Universe Rebirth is a great story and Barry and a certain other speedster are very relevant to the story
The Flash Rebirth (2016) is the current ongoing, you can digitally purchase it or buy the issues individually from Midtown Comics (The website) or your LCBS. I'm linking the first volume of this run.
X. Appendix
A. Suggested Reading
 
B. Op-ed Content
 
C. Miscellaneous
 
Absolutely helped.
I think you would maybe enjoy:
I would recommend starting with Green Arrow:Year One by Andy Diggle. It modernized his origin and is what the island flashbacks were roughly based on.
Then I would move to the best Green Arrow run from the New 52 by Jeff Lemire which can be found in Volume 4: The Kill Machine, Volume 5: The Outsiders War, and the first half of Volume 6: Broken which releases in May.
I would also recommend Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O'Neill & Neil Adams, as it was the original run that modernized the character.
As for other characters from the show appearing in the New 52, Roy is a main character in Red Hood and the Outlaws along with Red Hood (Jason Todd, the second Robin) and Starfire. Laurel was also the leader in Birds of Prey, but I never read it so I don't know if it's good or not.
Edit: And for a good Ra's al Ghul story I would check out JLA: Tower of Babel.
Another sorta sequel is Justice. More Alex Ross.
It's my favorite DC event and probably my favorite comic, period. That said, it's a bit of a hard read and you should definitely spend time on each issue just absorbing what's being said, what's going on in the panels, and what everything means in context. It's a very meta book, but also a very good story.
If you REALLY want to get the most out of it, here's my copy/pasted pre-reading list from some other threads:
Insanepaco’s Final Crisis Reading List:
And there you have it. I know this list looks long and freaky and convoluted just for one event, but it's really not that bad. I would even say that I've gone more in-depth here than what's really necessary, but in my opinion this is how you'll get the best experience out of Final Crisis.
If you are into Green Arrow, you should read Green Arrow: Year One and Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. You will not be disappointed.
I think that the event is awesome. It has a fairly interesting story and a lot of the Spider-Men featured are awesome and are all unique. They are all really memorable.
If you want to start reading it, then I suggest you start with The Parker Luck trade as it gives you some background on what has happened with Parker recently which will help you understand Spiderverse easier. Then you should get this Spiderverse trade (or find a cheaper one). Alternatively, you can get this. It does not come with any of the Spiderverse tie-ins although they aren't really needed to understand the whole story.
You can also get Edge of the Spiderverse which contains backstories of some of the characters featured in the event.
So this then?
I guess I'll stop rereading ultimate and read this then.
There are a few different places you can start:
If you HAVE to start from the beginning just read the first 24 issues, you can then skip over to Claremont's era
My recommendation would be to either start with Chris Claremont's 1st era (aka 70's) & 2nd era (aka 80's) on Uncanny X-Men or from 2001-ish (aka modern X-Men) time period onwards onwards. Either way just skip the 90s for now, you can alway go back to that later.
If you want to start with Modern X-Men...
From there you can get caught up pretty easily if you follow this list in order:
From there I would move on to the current All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men titles:
Great, now you're all caught up!
PS, the great thing about X-Men is there is a ton of content to explore aside from the main storyline!
...and much more!
Happy reading! :)
This trade is all you need. Final Crisis 1-7, Superman Beyond 1-2, Final Crisis: Submit 1, and Batman 682/683.
The Omnibus includes a lot of tie-ins etc that you don't need to read and just confuse things.
For $35, you can get Vol. 1 (issues 1-8) of the famous Mirage Studios run in hardcover. It's known for being more gritty and adult compared to the animated series.
For something more recent, try the IDW series ($13 for issues 1-4). It's a reboot set in NYC with some interesting twists on the original world.
Happy reading!
It's getting a Deluxe edition on its own
There's Road to Civil War. It kind of sets the stage for the event.
Then, there's the trade for the event itself.. There's a hardcover version with a lot of extras that I'd recommend.
Also, Civil War: Frontline is a good series to pick up. It follows a couple of reporters as they cover what's going on.
If you're into Spider-Man, Civil War: Spiderman is a good trade to pick up. It collects issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, etc. that take place during the event.
Also, Death of Captain America is a good trade to pick up. It takes place directly after Civil War and covers the Fallen Son event.
There's, of course, a lot more out there, but the links above are pretty good for getting the full story.
If that's a bit pricey for you, you can sometimes find people selling a full collection of the Civil War event on eBay for about 50 or 60 bucks.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
EDIT: Realized links were directing to the mobile site, so I changed it to the desktop versions.
EDIT: Formatting
For Marvel Comics
How to Get Into Comic Books (13:40) | Patrick Willems
Consider your intent/commitment. Think about your favorite stories/characters from TV, movies, games, books, etc. Do you seek quality storytelling or encyclopedic Marvel knowledge? Plan to collect? What time/resources are available i.e. how many comics could/should be read before burning out?
Don’t try to read everything—there’s too much. Forget about “catching up”, continuity, universes, and timelines; it's all very confusing, even to creators/fans. Older comics can be an acquired taste for modern audiences, so first appearances/early origins may not be the best starting points. Creative teams change often, characters get re-worked, and origins are re-told (e.g. I never cared for Hawkeye until Matt Fractions’ run).
Pick an interesting character/team and seek their “greatest hits”. Don’t get stuck “preparing”, just start reading. Focus on well-received, relatively self-contained, and complete stories. You may encounter the occasional unexplained reference/character/event—just ride along (Wiki if necessary). Remember, there are so many other great characters and publishers to explore, and not all comics are about superheroes.
Where to buy (US):
Modern Marvel characters/teams:
/r/Marvel sidebar for more info.
Events/crossovers can be fun and/or tedious. They are most appreciated by readers well-versed in relevant continuity. Generally, the best non-event comics integrate these seamlessly or avoid them entirely (notwithstanding editorial/executive mandates). Regardless, you may want to familiarize with major plot points.
Modern Marvel events/crossovers:
Discover your preferences and let them guide you. Do you like: old/new comics? Specific genres? Literary/natural narratives? Cartoony/realistic art? Familiar/weird concepts? References/self-contained? Social/political commentary? Family-friendly/explicit content? Optimism/pessimism? Have you noticed that a specific artist/writer consistently makes comics you like? Follow these instincts.
Suggestions to improve this guide are welcome.
Looks like you enjoy Batman. Maybe get Year One?
If you can get into X-Men, try out Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men. It's perty darn good. Starts here.
I personally dig a few comics that are becoming classics, but aren't classics in the traditional sense...
Try Fables.
Try Walking Dead
Try MY FAVORITE CURRENT COMIC Unwritten.
Also... do yourself a huge favor and start reading a comic or two that isn't in trade form already. There's a lot of great stuff that's either just come out or is soon coming out. In particular...
Try Saga.
"/u/beary_good is our lord and savior, and his teachings are scribed here."
And they're all paperbacks!
Edit* but don't get Batman & Son or Final Crisis from those links - they lack a few important tie-ins. Get the new editions sibbo mentioned. linked here: Batman & Son and Final Crisis
Do you want to read digital or physical copies of comics?
I can give you some recommendations for Daredevil if you want, but I've never read digital comics before, so I'll just show you physical copies.
You can start with Frank Miller's run, which has three volumes and another story later (Born Again). The trade (trade paperback, it's a collection of issues bound into a paperback book) you read, "The Man Without Fear" is Frank Miller's re-imagining of Daredevil's origin.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Born Again
After Frank Miller's run you can read Bendis' run. It is also in three volumes.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Then Brubaker's run, again, three volumes.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
And then Waid's run. You can collect this in two different ways, a bunch of smaller trades, or five larger hardcover copies. I'd recommend the hardcovers, they're easier to read and I'm too lazy to link all of the trades.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
And now you're all caught up to the current run. There was some stuff in between these other runs, like "Yellow" and Kevin Smith's run, but this is the main stuff. I'm guessing the five issues you picked up last week are from this run, so all you need to do is tell the comicbook shop guy you want to add Daredevil to your "pull list". This means every time a new Daredevil issue comes out (once a month) the shop will put it aside so you can pick it up whenever you want.
If you want to read digital comics, that's something different though.
You could get him volume 1 of Ultimate Spider-Man Or any volume in that universe.
X-Men (1975 - 1981)
Giant Size X-Men #1
Uncanny X-Men #94 - #124
Uncanny X-Men Annual #3
Uncanny X-Men #125 - #138
Uncanny X-Men Annual #4
Uncanny X-Men #139 - #143
Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1
Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 2
Maybe better ways to get this that are more cost effective but this is one option (goes for all the links in this post).
If you know you can't get into comics from the late 70's and early 80's because the writing style bothers you then I would look at either Grant Morrison's New X-Men or Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.
X-Men (2001 - 2004)
New X-Men #114 - #117
New X-Men Annual 2001
New X-Men #118 - #154
New X-Men Omnibus
X-Men (2004 - 2006)
Astonishing X-Men #1 - #24
Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1
Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection 1
Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection 2
IMO the Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne stuff is much better then the others and holds up to this day however it was written in a time when you did have to read the comics there are lots of words compared to a modern comic, this bothers some people.
Joe Kelly's Run
Cable and Deadpool
If you like a wackier Deadpool then Daniel Way's Run (1of4)
Remender's Uncanny X-Force
For an Alternate Universe Deadpool but a great read check out Killology by Cullen Bunn Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Deadpool Killustrated, Deadpool Kills Deadpool.
Deadpool's Current Marvel Now
Also go check out /r/Deadpool. There's lots of reading lists on there as well.
This has pretty much everything Spider-Verse related in it. It's the core series (which is contained in Amazing Spider-Man) and like a billion tie-ins. It's pretty expensive, but it's a LOT of content (you're getting like 26 issues in there). Also, don't click on the "paperback" link there because that's a completely different thing (it's a five issue tie-in to Secret Wars and has pretty much nothing to do with the original Spider-Verse except for the characters.
If you don't want to spend quite that much, the core series is contained in here and here.
There's also Edge of Spider-Verse, which is just a little miniseries on how some of the different Spider-Men get involved in Spider-Verse. Each issue is completely self contained and they're pretty fun (#5 is one of my favorite parts of the whole event). By the way, this isn't included in the giant hardcover.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding and you are only looking for individual issues, but the 6 issues have been collected into a trade paperback available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Green-Arrow-Year-Andy-Diggle/dp/1401217435/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519155390&sr=8-1&keywords=green+arrow+year+one.
It is a great read, one of my favorites!
I think this is the trade paperback with the Hulk Gang.
The original Mirage comics definitely aren't for kids. The turtles straight up kill people in a few instances, and there's some language--though, it's probably tame PG-13 in most cases. But the 2003 series followed the comics most faithfully, thought there were still some differences.
But you can get the hardcover issues either in black and white or in color. I don't know if they are going to release them in paperback, since the hardcovers are a bit pricey.
EDIT: forgot about the IDW reboot. That's pretty good to, and incorporates things like Rocksteady and Bebop and the Technodrome from the 80's cartoon. Also reimagines Splinter and Shredder's history in a but of an out-there way.
Yep, it's called a trade paperback. Here you go.
I also got into comics with Batman Rebirth, afterwards I found this list here on reddit and all of them are just great, few of them are even extraordinary and without any of them we wouldn't have the Batman we have right now.
If I had to pick some highlights, it were The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, No Man's Land, Black Mirror and Hush, especially Hush was fantastic.
Still love Batman Rebirth though.
> If I get a comic how do I know which comic to read next
As a new reader, the easiest way to get into comics would be by reading trade paperbacks (trades, or TPB for short). They collect usually 5 or 6 issues from a series, and will say "volume 1, volume 2, etc" on the book. DC did a relaunch of all their books a couple years ago called "DC Rebirth", so pick any character you want to read and look up volume 1 from there. I'll link a couple examples for you; The Flash, Green Arrow, Batman. Also check out the sidebar for other recommendations
First of all, there are two ways of reading comics:
Where to start? Indeed the best place to start is Rebirth!
---
Finally, a personal recommendation. You will probably enjoy a lot more the Titans series. You may feel lost at first, yes, but it is, to me, one of the best Rebirth reads overall
Honestly, I would just recommend starting with issue number one of the current run by Mark Waid. It's a great jumping on point and doesn't really require too much prior knowledge about the character.
If you're looking for more of a short and sweet origin story to get you started I would go with Frank Miller and JRJR's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. It's a classic, and pretty easy volume to read.
And if none of those strike your fancy I'd say to check out the FAQ for some other great suggestions.
Get the 4 Frank Miller Daredevil things, and The Animal Man Omnibus from Grant Morrison.
Oh and Jeff Smiths Bone.
http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Vol-1-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134735
http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Vol-2-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134743
http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Vol-3-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134751
http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Born-Again-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134816
http://www.amazon.com/The-Animal-Omnibus-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401238998
http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Complete-Cartoon-Epic-Volume/dp/188896314X
This book is Vol 1, though it starts from when Miller began as the artist, but not so many of his scripts. But Vol 2 and 3 are Miller writing and pencilling. After that he returned and did the Born Again storyline (collected under that title) and later still with Man Without Fear, which is a Year One-style prequel. He also wrote and drew a large colour GN whose title I won't mention as it spoils a plot point, but you'll know it when you see it and you can read it after everything else.
That is from Hickman's run of Fantastic Four, the entire run is amazing so I'd recommend getting the entire thing here:
http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Jonathan-Hickman-Omnibus-Volume/dp/0785165665
For those who don't like digital the first Omnibus for his Fantastic Four run is coming soon!
Also I totally recommend Secret Warriors, really good.
FYI, this is being collected into a two part Omnibus, with vol 1 being released in October. If you are a fan this may be worth saving money for.
Justice?
Amazon.com has the hardcover compilation of the event for $50 right now: Amazon US
Amazon.co.uk has it for £17 (which for here is nuts): Amazon UK
Worth preordering it, as that price is going up on release!
[Green Arrow:The Longbow Hunters] (http://www.amazon.com/Green-Arrow-Longbow-Hunter-Graphic/dp/1401238629/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409974410&sr=1-1&keywords=green+arrow+longbow+hunters), [Green Arrow:Quiver] (http://www.amazon.com/Green-Arrow-Quiver-KEVIN-SMITH-ebook/dp/B00FKLSU6U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409974439&sr=1-1&keywords=green+arrow+quiver) , Green Arrow:Year One, and New 52 [Green Arrow Volume 4:The Kill Machine] (http://www.amazon.com/Green-Arrow-Vol-Machine-Graphic/dp/1401246907/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409974510&sr=1-1&keywords=kill+machine).
Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender was the first X-Men book I'd ever read and it made me really like the characters. It's a really dark story for the big 2
Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men is great too This book while still serious, is not nearly as dark in tone as Uncanny X-Force.
To read the full event you should buy Spider Verse and Edge of Spider Verse
The annoying part though is that the Spider Verse book is not in reading order so it makes it a pain in the ass to read. But here is a reading order you can use
One last thing I would recommend is Marvel Unlimited since you can read thousand of Spidey comics on your phone, laptop or tablet. I might even have a free trial month I can give to you.
So what happened in New 52 is continued through Rebirth up until now and on. But there is a thing: at the end of New 52, a combined Superman story just happened: Final days of Superman (yep you can guess what it means) then DC Universe: Rebirth came then came the new Rebirth Superman title and the Action Comics. If you wanna get the full experience, you can start with New 52 OR just skip that, read ATLEAST Final Days of Superman then move forward into Rebirth. There is another strange storyline called Superman:Reborn that messed things again, won't spoiler anything else rather than the title. As u/colonyofcells mentioned, Men of Steel mini-series (6 issues) is coming at the end of May, if you wanna skip a lot of Superman stories (and Action Comics) then start there and move forward.
Edit: Also there was a story about Lois Lane and Clark just before the Final Days that is important regarding the continuity (if you're interested that much)
Recap
The first "Flash: Rebirth" you linked is about Barry Allen coming back to life in the pre-reboot continuity. Unless you plan on getting him a bunch of surrounding comics, it's kinda confusing.
The second thing you've listed is the current series. That's where you wanna start. You should also pick up "DC Universe Rebirth #1", which has some important prologue stuff to the current series.
If he's interested in stuff besides the Flash, I'd recommend getting him the DC Rebirth Omnibus, which includes DC Universe Rebirth #1, plus a bunch of prologue issues for all of DC's other books going on right now. These serve as introductory issues for the current runs of all the different books the characters are in right now, see if anything sparks his interest.
If you ever feel like getting into the superhero side of things, another great series is Frank Miller's Daredevil run. It's collected in Omnibus format as well as three less pricey paperbacks, along with Man Without Fear and Born Again. His run is darker than your typical capes story, so it should be right up your alley.
Are there particular big stories you'd like to read? Don't be afraid to just jump in and discover things as they unfold.
One good choice for Spider-Man and the Avengers that lead up to a big event is the years just before the Civil War event. Spider-Man had one of the most acclaimed runs ever leading up to that, written by J Michael Straczynski. It's collected in 5 "Ultimate Collection" trade paperbacks starting here.
Around the same time, Captain America was being written by Ed Brubaker and was having one of that characters most acclaimed runs as well. That run involved the Winter Soldier story-line, and it's a great read. That would eventually lead into Civil War as well. It's collected in an "Ultimate Collection" series as well, starting here.
So the years leading up to Civil War had some really great stuff, and come together in a big event, it might be just what you're looking for.
edit: another option is to look at the Recommended Reading sidebar over at /r/comicbooks and just browse what interest you
Basically Giant Sized X-Men 1, from there go to X-Men 94-200. Gives you some of the best stories Claremont has to offer. From there you can jump to Morrisons New X-Men from I think 2001. Read his, then after that you can read most of the stuff on the recommended reading on the right bar -----> that way. There is a lot to read, but then you can always buy Omnibus to help
Depending on your price range, you could consider as something like a trade paperback (softcover collection) or a hardcover/omnibus that would collect more issues of the story (or sometimes an entire story arc).
Based on the stories and characters you mentioned, some suggestions you might want to look into include:
Uncanny X-Men Omnibus: Volume 1, Volume 2, and/or [Volume 3]
(https://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-X-Men-Omnibus-Vol/dp/0785199225)
New X-Men Omnibus
Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection: Book 1 and/or Book 2
[X-Men Legacy Legion Omnibus]
(https://www.instocktrades.com/TP/Marvel/X-MEN-LEGACY-LEGION-OMNIBUS-HC/OCT161003)
Shop around, instocktrades.com is a great comic dedicated site with great pricing, Amazon has a great selection, or you could also use a site like Comic Shop Locator to find a dedicated comic shop near you that could also help you out with suggestions.
If your husband reads books digitally on a tablet or laptop, something to consider might be a subscription to a service like Marvel Unlimited ($70 for 1 year) or Comixology Unlimited ($6/month). Both act as a kind of "Netflix for comics" in that with an active membership you can browse and read thousands and thousands of comics. Marvel Unlimited offers access to Marvel Comics titles only, and has an extensive selection of 20,000+ comics. Comixology Unlimited offers a smaller selection of Marvel Comics but also titles from other comic book publishers such as Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, Boom! Studios and more. It offers a selection of 10,000+ comics, mostly offering the first or second collection of a series as a sampler which you could then decide to purchase separately if you really enjoy a series.
Happy shopping! I hope this helps!
X-Men!
Go to you library and see if they have these (if they don't, get the ISBN numbers from their Amazon page and give those to your librarian. They can get the books on inter-library loan).
The list covers stories from 2001 onward (in order) ;)
Any of the first six bullet points would be good starting points, and then after that Extraordinary X-Men would be the starting point nearest to the current comics.
Or, if you don't want a bunch of back issues check out current issues of X-Men Gold and X-Men Blue!
From the ones I looked at, it looks they'll be seven issues per volume too.
While it seems daunting, it's actually not that hard to read.
You'll want to find these trade collections (I've included Amazon links):
I have previously made a post describing the different editions of Knightfall, and how best to collect that series, and about both of these runs of interest, I hope you don't mind me repeating that information. There are recent omnibuses and trade paper backs of both series', depending on what you prefer, and I will detail what is the most up to date versions in collecting these series.
For Knightfall:
Omnibus: 1, 2, 3
Trade paper back: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
The 3 omnibuses contain the same material as the 9 trades. As for what to read before Knightfall, people often recommend the Legends of the Dark Knight story arc Venom for introducing the chemical substance Bane uses but otherwise has little bearing on the story (it's probably cheaper to buy digital copies of the trade/individual issues, as I believe the trade is out of print), or Sword of Azrael for introducing Jean Paul Valley, as he has a lot gong on in the background with him. (Note, there are two versions, the 1993 version which is often out of print, though tells just the Sword of Azrael introduction, or the modern 2016 version, which contains both the introductory arc to be read before Knightfall, though also containing a post-Knightfall arc for JPV). In terms of what you need before hand, I read the 2012 editions, and I felt lost without Sword of Azrael and Prelude to Knightfall. It does showcase a lot of odd characters here and there, I feel like if you have a somewhat familiarity of Batman's villains (i.e. Arkham or BTAS experience) then you would be fine.
Knightfall happens early enough in the post-crisis continuity, which helps for the purpose of being a new reader. Morrison's run, on the other hand, happens at the end of the post-crisis continuity. I'm not saying reading all of post-crisis is necessary, I mean I hadn't before starting, but it does draw a bit from post-crisis knowledge (things like Hush, Under The Red Hood, etc.), though crazily enough, Morrison made everything canon. Not in a way that not reading everything is prohibitive, more so in a way that embraces even the Gold/Silver/Bronze age Batman stories. The pre-crisis stories Morrison drew influence from are collected in The Black Casebook, but really, I never found it necessary to read, it is just interesting from a history perspective. The rest of Morrison's run is fairly easy enough to follow. This infographic describes the order for reading in trade paper back format, though if I recall correctly, they have recently started putting Morrison's run in omnibus format.
Trade Paper backs: Batman and Son (New edition comes with The Black Glove arc, too), (optional Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul), Batman RIP, then, it gets a little messy, as you might consider reading the DC wide event Final Crisis, which isn't Batman specific, but has huge ramifications for Batman going forward, but admittedly, without broad DC knowledge, can be confusing, anyway, following that is (optionally Battle for the Cowl and Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?, which are not written by Morrison, but BftC is plot relevant to Batman going forward, and Gaiman's WHttCC? is a short and extremely well made reflection on Batman) then Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn, Batman and Robin: Batman Vs Robin, Time and the Batman, The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman and Robin: Batman and Robin Must Die!. This is followed by the post-crisis Batman: Incorporated, but DC rebooted mid-Morrison run, so that it is finally completed with the New 52 Batman Incorporated volume 1: Demon Star and Batman Incorporated volume 2: Gotham's Most Wanted.
All of this (at least the Morrison parts, not any of the optional sections) are collected in omnibus editions: 1 containig Batman and Son, The Black Glove and RIP, there is a Final Crisis Omnibus, which I have heard is more complete, and there is 2 containing Time and the Batman, the first 3 Batman and Robin volumes, as well as The Return of Bruce Wayne. Lastly, there is the Batman Incorporated Absolute Edition finishing the all the Batman Incorporated stuff.
So Morison's may seem a little messier or harder to start, I wouldn't necessarily say it is harder, if you follow the list I have provided. I would recommend attempting it after a little more experience with comic Batman however, but it's hard to really say how much experience is needed. Some start with it, and have a great time. Another thing to consider is that with so much comics, especially omnibuses and absolute editions, it does get very expensive. I would recommend tackling it in bite sized chunks, like maybe just the first arc of Knightfall, or initially the pre-Final crisis Morrison stories, making sure you like either enough to commit to buying and reading more. I hope this has actually been helpful and informative, and hasn't made any of this seem too hard to follow!
Once you have read Kingdom Come and basked in its glory. I strongly suggest "Justice" as a future read.
http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Jim-Krueger/dp/1401235263/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425503029&sr=8-1&keywords=justice+alex+ross
There ya go
If you want to just read Batman, buy a trade paperback, starting at Volume 1 like this:
amazon
This collects issues 1-7 from the New 52 comic, all in one convenient package! I'm just a casual DC fan (im more of a Marvel guy), and what's nice about Batman is it can definitely be enjoyed without much knowledge of the DC Universe, like of such things as Pre-crisis thingabobs or Post- Convergence doohickeys.
Or if you would prefer to start with rebirth try this:
amazon
Both the New 52 and Rebirth Batman have been great. Have fun!
Both of the current Batman and TMNT series are pretty great and have easy starting points and I wholeheartedly recommend trying to get ahold of them.
Batman Vol 1: Court of Owls
TMNT Vol 1: Change is Constant
And you don't have to read either of these books to enjoy the Batman/TMNT you're gonna pick up, as long as you're familiar enough with the characters from the movies and tv shows, it should be a pretty fun read.
Check the sidebar for a lot more recommendations and just search around.
The original mirage comics are being released in these hardcover edition and the current IDW books you can pick up the paper back there are currently 8 volumes of the paper back's main story line with another 8 for side stories. Both are good I would recommend the IDW it is still ongoing so more issues are coming out.
Edit: fixed a word
OP- Amazon and B&N are your best way to go. The hardcover volumes that /u/ryan1125 linked are the best books as they incorporate the main series + side issues. The downside is only 3 or 4 volumes have been released.
If you want to just read the main story (and read 15 smaller volumes), here is volume 1
also, it can be a little scary if you aren't savvy with the comics, but look at our Reading Primer and scroll to IDW ongoing. I have linked every single trade paperback for reference.
You can pick up the trades for either of them and catch up that way.
You can also start from issue 1 on either title. Comixology.com conveniently has all of the issues available digitally
Or you can just jump in to the current story arcs. Superman #26 is coming out this week and is a standalone story by a different creative team, so you may want to wait until the next issue comes out, which will be a new story arc. For Batman, issue #25 was the start of a new arc, "The War of Jokes and Riddles" and issue #26 is coming out this week so it would be easy to read both back to back
Hopefully this is helps!
https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Verse-Dan-Slott/dp/0785190368
http://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-X-Men-Omnibus-New-Printing/dp/0785185690/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420996821&sr=1-8&keywords=chris+claremont
http://www.amazon.com/The-Uncanny-X-Men-Omnibus-Volume/dp/0785185720/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=07S4DR80MMP38T1QS2M4
These two omnibuses are a good start. A much cheaper option is a subscription to Marvel Unlimited.
It's already a complete run (35 issues).
The first trade is this one.
If you start liking it and you like omnibuses, you can also pick the recently released omnibus.
There is an Omnibus coming out any moment or it already has been released recentlly.
EDIT: http://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-X-Force-Rick-Remender-Omnibus/dp/0785185712
A very long list that I believe is full of gems:
Preacher, Volume 1 by Ennis
Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Gaiman
Invincible: Family Matters by Kirkman
Southern Bastards
Kingdom Come
Marvels
Watchmen
Saga
Mind MGMT
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
Batman: The Long Halloween
Pride of Baghdad
All Star Superman
The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye
Thor: God of Thunder
Annihilation (read it digitally on Marvel Unlimited, finding it in print is costly)
Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman, Volume 1 (by far, my favorite take on the characters. Hickman writes them to perfection.)
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
I know you asked them but I love this shit so I'll answer too! I've only been reading since 2012 so my recommendations are all newer books.
I think with the main Avengers book, the best one I'd recommend would be Hickman's Avengers starting with Vol. 1 Avengers World however this series is pretty continuity heavy and may not be too great for new readers. The pay off is worth it but it may be a bit daunting. The current Avengers run by Mark Waid that has been running for the last year or two is pretty mediocre. I'd avoid it tbh. I'm not much of an Avengers man so I don't know many older series unfortunately.
If you liked Ant-Man he's only had one ongoing by Nick Spencer but it was fantastic. I'd highly recommend this! Start with Vol. 1 Second Chance Man
I don't really read Iron Man, but I've heard good things about Matt Fractions run. It start with Vol. 1 Five Nightmares. I don't read much Captain America, or Doctor Strange either so I can't really recommend anything there. Hulk's best years are behind him, if you're ok with older art styles though Peter David's Hulk is the way to go.
If you like Thor Jason Aaron has been telling his epic that started with Thor Odinson, has transitioned into Jane Foster and is getting ready to go back to Odinson. You can start with Thor God of Thunder vol. 1
Black Panther is coming out soon and the defining run is Christopher Priest's masterpiece. You can start with Black Panther The Client. This book is phenomenal.
If you want Spider-Man Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man is a different continuity but reads brilliantly as a standalone and helped define the character for a generation. It's addicting reading and just amazing. If you like Spider-Man even a little bit read this. Starts with Vol. 1 Power and Responsibility.
Hawkeye by Matt Fraction is very new reader friendly and very cool. It starts with Vol. 1 My Life As a Weapon Now. Black Widow has had a few great runs recently, you can start with either Vol. 1 Finely Woven Thread which is the Edmondson/Noto run, the art is phenomenal or the more recent Vol. 1 Sheilds Most Wanted which feels a lot more cinematic in scope. It was 12 issues and pretty solid.
Captain Marvel will be Marvel's first female driven movie. DeConnick's run has the best characterization and starts with Vol. 1 In Pursuit of Flight. I'm personally more partial to Brian Reed's run with the character when she was Ms. Marvel which starts with Vol. 1 Best of the Best.
If you're interested in X-Men or the Netflix Marvel characters there is a lot of great stuff there too!
It was in two books: Fantastic Four and FF. The two omnibus collections contain everything
http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Four-Jonathan-Hickman-Omnibus/dp/0785165665
Do yourself a favor and start picking up Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four. I was never an F4 fan but that entire run is one of my favorite superhero stories of all time. So many feels and badass moments throughout.
Vol 1: http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Jonathan-Hickman-Omnibus-Volume/dp/0785165665/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407425437&sr=8-2&keywords=fantastic+four+jonathan+hickman
Vol 2 (comes out in Nov to finish the run): http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Jonathan-Hickman-Omnibus-Volume/dp/0785189009/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1407425437&sr=8-8&keywords=fantastic+four+jonathan+hickman
If you wanna check out a really badass team I'd recommend X-Force, vol. 3 which starts with this trade. It's my personal favorite team (mostly because of X-23). It's a very dark and gritty version of X-force and Mike Choi's art is definitely some of the best in the business.
A very close second best, IMO, is Remender's X-force. It comes in an omnibus which I would also highly recommend.
And if you want my two cents the two newer ones (Marvel Now) suck balls.
The marvel now one is a different x-force team and IMO not a really good one. This is the Uncanny X-force run by Rick Remender that Deadpool is awesome in, along with many other cool things about that series. I don't know if it is on Marvel Unlimited though sorry
If this is your first time reading comics, especially Spider-Man, why not go with Ultimate Spider-Man?
Hickman's run first omnibus collected here. Wonderful run. I really enjoyed it.
Remenders Uncanny X-Force is good stuff.
You don't need to read anything to understand what is going on in the movie. But probably the best way to understand everything is to first know everything about all of the mutants in the movie. So go to IMDB, write down the names of all of the mutants appearing in DoFP and then go to marvel.wikia.com the main marvel universe is universe-616
Even though he won't be in a lot of it, read up about Biship, a lot of the future stuff has to do with him. Read up on the sentinels and Bolivar Trask. Maybe read about the sentinel Nimrod. There are some links below that could really help you. Really though, wikipedia and the marvel wiki and I'm sure there is an X-Men wiki are amazing resources.
http://marvel.wikia.com/Uncanny_X-Men_Vol_1_141
http://marvel.wikia.com/Nimrod_(Earth-811)
http://marvel.wikia.com/Robert_Kelly_(Earth-616)
http://marvel.wikia.com/Bolivar_Trask_(Earth-616)
If you're willing to drop some dollars and want to be an X-Men expert for the movies buy these two omnibi from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-X-Men-Omnibus-Volume-Printing/dp/0785185690/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397491138&sr=8-1&keywords=uncanny+x-men+omnibus
http://www.amazon.com/The-Uncanny-X-Men-Omnibus-Volume/dp/0785185720/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397491138&sr=8-2&keywords=uncanny+x-men+omnibus
If you want really want to drop some dollars get these as well, though I don't think they will be as helpful to DoFP
http://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Chris-Claremont-Jim-Omnibus/dp/0785158227/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397491138&sr=8-3&keywords=uncanny+x-men+omnibus
http://www.amazon.com/X-Men-Chris-Claremont-Jim-Omnibus/dp/0785159053/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1397491138&sr=8-4&keywords=uncanny+x-men+omnibus
EDIT: Forgot to say that the DoFP story line is in the first Uncanny X-Men Omnibus.
I only recently just got into comics so I can understand that it's an overwhelming experience.
> How important is it to read comics in order?
You should read story arcs and issues in order but don't be overly concerned with starting at the very very beginning for every character. One, because a lot of popular characters (including Spider-Man) go back decades and decades, and, two, not everything from the beginning is good reading or good for a newbie. Go back to the very start if you're curious but I don't think that's a good jumping on point. What's considered good comic writing now is very different from what was considered standard back in the 30s or 60s.
>Are there any that would be especially good for "newbie" readers?
This is kind of tough to say.
Talking about monthly comics: DC recently rebooted their whole line of comics a few years ago with The New 52, one of the reasons being to allow for new fans to jump on easier. Marvel hasn't rebooted but they did launch Marvel NOW whose goal was to make it easier for fans to jump on, so anything that says Marvel NOW might be a good place to start.
Here's what I did though. I've been reading comics for about two years and only just started reading monthly issues this May. Up until then I was reading trade paperbacks (TPBs), which are just collections of individual issues.
Basically all I did was pick a character I like, google "best [character] trade paperbacks", and pick up a few that looked interesting. While I was reading TPBs I would be on subreddits like /r/comicbooks, /r/Marvel, or /r/DCcomics, to see what people liked and when new series were starting to find good jumping on points. I found the first good jumping-on point with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 which launched in May.
So that's what I'd recommend.
As for individual books, Spider-Man is only on its fourth issue right now so it's pretty easy to get caught up and jump on board.
My personal favorite Spider-Man TPBs are Superior Spider-Man (this actually stars Doc Ock in Spidey's body; some people don't like it, I think it's great, just be warned), Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt, Amazing Spider-Man Ultimate Collection (a huge collection of J. Michael Straczynski's popular run of the book in the early 2000s; I don't love the art but it's still a good read) and Spider-Man: Dying Wish (which sets up Superior Spider-Man).
I also read Spider-Man: Birth of Venom and The Death of the Stacys to catch up on some important Spidey history.
Do some research before diving into a book or character and pay attention to stories and art that you like so you can follow creators.
Hope that helps. I'd be glad to answer questions if you have any.
I'll give a crack at this:
Amazing Spider-Man is the primary comic that Spidey has appeared in and it has over 700 issues (damn close to 800 depending on how modern Marvel wants to count that) but it isn't the only one. His other titles and team-up books and team books put him in the thousands. So let's break this up.
Amazing Spider-Man
The first 150 issues of Spider-Man are some of the best. You can collect this a few different ways but I would check out:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Amazing-Spider-Man-Masterworks-Vol-1/0785112561
Why should you start here? You get to see the magic happen as Peter becomes the hero and you get introduced to the vast majority of supporting characters that will continue to show up. There is a tonal shift after Lee steps down from writing duties that I personally enjoyed because during this era the characters grow in a way that haven't been able to in other eras. I think the conclusion of this era is with the death of Gwen Stacy and how that effects Peter's life.
Amazing Spider-Man 200 to 400 are to be read when you are really ready to dive into the story. This is mid-80s (Secret Wars 1/2) to mid-90s (Clone Saga). I say this because it's around this time that the story is broken up where Story X Chapter 1 is in Amazing Spider-Man 312 and chapter 2 is in Web of Spider-Man 34 and Chapter 3 is in another comic. Aka it's confusing as hell. There are great stories here basically everything with Venom and Carnage but finding it is difficult. I would suggest a good reading list and Marvel Unlimited. For the Clone Saga check out: http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.it/?m=1
If you are looking for a Spidey you are familiar with from the show I would read JMS's run. Personally it's not my favorite but the characterization will be very familiar to you here.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazing-Spider-Man-Ultimate-Collection-Graphic/dp/0785138935
A lot changes with Spidey at this story where he is basically soft rebooted. This pissed off a lot of people but oh well it's been over a decade. You can read this basically straight through but I will provide a few other jumping on points below.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spider-Man-One-More-Graphic-Novel/dp/0785126341
Slott's run has been going on for a while to the point that this is modern Spider-Man. The character growth is something I champion but I can see people's complaints about it. If you want to see Spider-Man as he is now start here.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Spider-Man-Big-Time-Ultimate-Collection-Dan-Slott/0785162178
Some modern highlights to not miss:
Avenging Spider-Man/Avenging Superior Spider-Man (that might not be right name exactly) are fantastic. It's a team up book that explores his relationship with other Avengers and it is wonderful.
Superior-Foes of Spider-Man is a classic and I don't want to say much more.
Agent Venom sprawls out of Slott's run and is also an amazing story. I don't want to give spoilers on this one too but keep it in mind.
Finally this takes us to the team books. Spider-Man joins the Avengers in New Avengers #1 and is on the team from here. Brian Michael Bendis who I'm going to go on about in a second wrote one to four concurrent Avengers titles between 2004 and 2011 that is a wild ride. I enjoyed them and I know they had some flaws but I think they are a must read.
Side note Spidey was made a probationary Avenger in Avengers Vol 3 which is arguably the best Avengers run (I would rate it number 2).
Finally the Ultimate universe ... Ultimate Spider-Man and the other Ultimate titles were some of the best comics Marvel has put out in a long time. BMB was able to capture the feel of the early era but maybe it completely his own. It is a work of art ... Until Ultimatum. This event destroyed the Ultimate universe. I hated it. The ultimate comics were still good to read after that but they lost something essential that they had when they first started.
Now I wrote all of this by memory so I'm sorry if something is off but this should be a good primer. Please consult comicbookherald.com for more (and better) commentary about comics.
But most importantly welcome and have fun on your journey.
Edit: forgot a link.
You could start at one of the following places for Modern Spidey:
If you want a "from the beginning" run, you could go with the Epic Collections (link) or, for a more modern take, check out Ultimate Spider-man (link).
Ultimate Spider-Man is way way better and more accessible than anything the main 616 universe has spit out.
Basically, there's tons of parallel worlds in Marvel. Most stories take place on Earth-616, which is the "main" universe. This is where books like Invincible Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and Amazing Spider-Man take place.
Anything labeled "Ultimate" until recently took place in Earth-1610. The point of it was kind of a "reboot" without being a real reboot - a place to tell stories free from the 60 years of continuity to back it up.
Comics periodically go through renumberings, it's just the sad state of the industry. Every couple years or so they'll "cancel" a book like Amazing Spider-Man and then relaunch it at #1 and call it volume 2/3/4/whatever. Ultimate did this several times as well, which is why you saw two "first volumes". They do a terrible job of marking the books as v1 or v2 series.
This is the first volume: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Spider-Man-Vol-Power-Responsibility/dp/0785139400 Sometimes they do collections of more than 1 book, like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Spider-Man-Collection-Vol/dp/0785124926 That's the first 2 normal volumes collected together.
Ultimate starts out with a teenage Peter Parker and goes through the whole spider-bite incident but changes it to be more modern and to have a more overarching plot. The writing is AMAZING and Ultimate Spider-Man is one of the few books to have the same writer on every single issue (Brian Michael Bendis). The art changes sometimes, but not for like 110 issues. Which is a looong run in comics.
Bendis is the master of believable dialog and slow burns. It's great.
By comparison, Amazing Spider-Man right now is written by Dan Slott, the worst thing to ever happen to Spider-Man. I pick up the book every so often to see if things have gotten better, but it hasn't. Book went from my favorite of all time to "skip" in the space of like 2 issues thanks to Slott.
His problem is he has no sense of pacing and writes for impatient ADHD sufferers, and also makes everyone kind of the same character. He doesn't understand characterization, and completely butchers Peter Parker.
I enjoyed the run on Amazing Spiderman by Romita JR and Straczynski
JMS is a writer (J. Michael Straczynski). His run started with issue #30 of volume 2 and has been collected in Ultimate Collection volumes.
This site has a lot of good reading lists, if you want more recommendations that’s a good place to look.
I’m also a huge fan of Daredevil so I can think of a lot of recommendations for him.
“Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” retells his origin story, but if you already have basic knowledge about him you can skip it.
“Daredevil by Frank Millar” this is widely considered one of the best Daredevil runs. The most convenient way to buy it is through these omnibuses, there is also a volume 2 and 3 that go with it.
“Daredevil: Born Again” This is one of the the best Daredevil graphic novels, but it should be read after the Frank Millar Run.
That covers most of his essential stories. You could also move onto the Bendis, Brubaker, and Waid runs, in that order.
“Secret Wars” (not secret war) This is not exclusively a Daredevil story and doesn’t contribute much to his lore, but I really enjoyed it and Daredevil does play a big role in it.
I haven’t read much Black Bolt stuff so I don’t have many recommendations.
“Inhumans (1998)” this whole run is amazing although it’s only 12 issues. The show very loosely (and poorly) adapted this series.
I have not read it but I have heard good things about the recent Saladin Ahmed Black Bolt run.
Again, I haven’t read much Hulk but I do have a couple recommendations.
“World War Hulk” It’s a 5 issue miniseries that is very good.
“Planet Hulk” A continuation of World War Hulk. Thor Ragnarok was also loosely based on this.
A lot of Wolverines backstory is told throughout the X-Men comics. Here is a reading order for them
There is also ”Old Man Logan” which is very good. Read the miniseries first, then continue onto the longer ongoing series. It is set in an alternate universe so you don’t need much background knowledge. The movie Logan was also somewhat based on this.
daredevil is my favorite superhero too!
daredevil yellow
daredevil the man without fear
daredevil frank miller/klaus jason vol 1
daredevil visionaries guardian devil
Now if you crave more of the Man without Fear, I can provide a bit more on the subject (which is my area of expertise).
Daredevil has two definitive origin retellings, The Man Without Fear (which is what DDs1 is based on) by Frank Miller & John Romita, Jr., and Daredevil: Yellow by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (the same creative team behind Batman: The Long Halloween).
TMWF: http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Without-Fear-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452067420&sr=1-1&keywords=the+man+without+fear
DDY: http://www.amazon.com/DAREDEVIL-YELLOW-Jeph-Loeb/dp/0785109692/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452067605&sr=1-1&keywords=daredevil+yellow
Now both of those stories are excellent, but for Daredevil: Yellow I'd actually recommend reading Kevin Smith & Joe Quesada's controversial Guardian Devil before you start it. If you do read it, please, PLEASE read it the whole way through, as most just stop before the end which is criminal. I guarantee that if you finish, you will have a whole new respect for a certain foe of Spider-Man. (Also definitely buy the trade, the individual covers give away things that happened in the previous issue so if you buy in bulk like I do you will be spoiled)
DDGD: http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Guardian-Devil-Kevin-Smith/dp/078514143X/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=51BmRRUZ5oL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=18YSDWRHE8YQ2CWRR0N4
Now I'd also recommend reading Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev's run, as well as Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark's run which comes right after it, as both are some of the best comics of the Modern Age.
DDbBMB&AMv1: http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Michael-Bendis-Ultimate-Collection/dp/0785143882/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Ssk-ZLobL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR103%2C160_&refRID=1AAEZR1ZFM4AKWTPR57W
DDbEB&MLv1: http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Brubaker-Michael-Ultimate-Collection/dp/0785163344/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51gw0%2BVbCkL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=0AEEM22Y7D77C00BFNX8
Now for the big stuff, The Bullseye/Elektra Saga by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson which I recommended above, and of course, Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli, which is considered one of the greatest comic books ever written, and I would agree. If you only read one thing, read that. It (along with The Man Without Fear) is being released with all of Frank Miller's other works on the character as a companion piece to the omnibus I recommended above, so you may want to look into that.
DDTBES: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078519536X?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
DDBA: http://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Born-Again-Frank-Miller/dp/0785134816/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41Qg3D1G2rL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR103%2C160_&refRID=0T80NS4CV47BB7FXP3DC
DDC: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785195386?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I hope that is enough Daredevil to tide you over until March.
If you're into omnibuses, you should go for this and this.
If you're into tpb's, you should go for this, this and this.
Pre-Order now!
The main Spider-Verse event is collected in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Verse-Dan-Slott/dp/0785190368/
There's an optional prelude in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Spider-Man-Spider-Verse-David-Hine/dp/0785197281/
The omnibus is now out of print, but Marvel is reprinting the series in complete collection form. If you still want to read it, I'd suggest checking that out.
Manhunter special edition: https://www.amazon.com/Manhunter-Special-Archie-Goodwin/dp/1563893746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482466068&sr=8-1&keywords=manhunter+special+edition
Batman Man who Laughs: https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Man-Laughs-Ed-Brubaker/dp/1401216269/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1482466112&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=bruabker+batman
Green Arrow Year One: https://www.amazon.com/Green-Arrow-Year-Andy-Diggle/dp/1401217435/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482466451&sr=1-2&keywords=green+arrow
Justice is amazing. They just released all 12 books in one
I might have to go read it again.
For her to appreciate why you love them you should share the stories that make you love them. You are there to fill in any knowledge gaps.
Also understand that she may not like what you like.
Personally I think Justice is a good start, self contained, beautiful art, Superman, Justice League and Green Lantern all present. https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Jim-Krueger/dp/1401235263
Very true! I will keep that in mind. Also people just starting the DC Universe, I give them Justice to learn heroes and villains plus it has awesome Golden Age moments.
I wasn't sure if you wanted to read digital, in trades, or in floppies so here are the links to the trade paperbacks.
Flash: Rebirth (2009)
DC Universe Rebirth
The Flash: Lightning Strikes Twice
The currently running IDW series is also pretty good, (not to be confused with the classic series IDW also owns) and fairly mature for a comic series. It has a lot of throwbacks to the old cartoons and continuities and uses them well.
Coming from a Marvel Cinematic background, I would recommend:
In addition, since you've already read Whedon's Astonishing, I have to recommend Morrison's New X-Men, the storyline that Astonishing builds heavily from. Claremont's Dark Phoenix Saga is a great classic story, if you're unfamiliar.
As for Wolverine, a recent favorite of many is Old Man Logan. This is a self-contained 'future' story, so it's not canonical, but it's good. The Claremont/Miller Wolverine is always a classic, and heavily influenced The Wolverine.
You can start with the Road to Civil War collection, which was some comics that established the reason the Civil War happened.
http://www.amazon.com/Road-Civil-Brian-Michael-Bendis/dp/0785119744
After that, you can get the actual Civil War collections. There was a bunch of minor events and crossovers for the event, but the core thing was seven issues.
Old Man Logan is the only Wolverine story that I've enjoyed since sometime in the 90s.
Hey there. This was a hayday for the X-Men. Recommendations from that era.
New X-Men by Morrison and Quitely is probably the other huge, groundbreaking one to read (Joss really is riffing off of much of Morrison's ideas, and says so in interviews).
X-Statix by Milligan and Alred. This began as a re-envisioning of X-Force. This is a different flavour but was again a great series.
X-Force by Kyle and Crain. The next X-Force was really incredible and spawned a number of spinoffs. Dark and badass.