runs/issues/series I have read and would recommend:
Bitch Planet (Image Comics)
Sex Criminals (IC)
Black Widow (2014)
Young Avengers (2013)
Hawkeye (Fraction/Aja, 2012)
Ms Marvel (2014)
All-New Hawkeye (2015)
Hawkeye vs. Deadpool (2014; start with issue 00)
Captain Marvel (2014)
Amazing Spider-Man (2014)
All-New Captain America (2014)
Avengers (2012 - PRESENT)
Secret Avengers (2014)
Black Widow & the Marvel Girls
Black Widow (2004-2005)
Black Widow (2010)
Captain America & The Falcon (2004-2005) (2010-2011)
Captain America & Hawkeye (2011-2012)
Captain America Special (2015)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: PEGGY CARTER, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014)
Deadpool’s Art of War (2014)
honestly just pick a deadpool run and dive in
Return of the Living Deadpool (2015)
Guardians of the Galaxy Annual (2014)
Guardians Team-Up (2015)
Hulk (2014)
Hawkeye: Blind Spot (2011)
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man (2014)
New Avengers (2013)
New Avengers Annual (2013)
Night of the Living Deadpool (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. (2015; this is basically the comic version of Agent Carter. I only read the first issue but I couldn’t really get into it)
Spider-Woman (2014)
She-Hulk (2014)
Silk (2015; AS WRITTEN BY OUR VERY OWN ROBBIE THOMPSON)
Spider-Gwen (2015)
Spider-Man & the X-Men (2014)
Thor (2014)
Thor Annual (2015)
Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye (2011)
Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014)
X-Men: First Class (2006)
bold is a) current runs and b) the ones I would recommend reading first.
so a lot of people are always like “I want to read comics but I don’t know where to start?” and let me tell you friend, there’s not a bad or a wrong place to start. but if you want to read comics, especially marvel comics, it’s super easy to get overwhelmed because there’s so fucking many of them. here are my tips on how to deal with this:
pick one character/team to start off with and read their stuff. I started with black widow & x-men: first class because there wasn’t a ton of issues in both of those runs. different runs may be set in different verses so don’t worry too much about reading them “in order.”
read reviews, look up masterposts on here (I have some in this tag). in my experience a lot of those posts are older and the links may not work but they usually have some sort of commentary or guidance to direct you.
prioritize and pace yourself. there’s no deadline or requirement for you to read every single issue of every single character’s every single run.
another question I get a lot is how/where I read my comics and I’m going to be frank: I torrent 90% of them, which I can do since I have a mac and am less likely to get viruses //knocks on wood. if I really like an issue, or I’m really excited about the run (i.e. Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Silk, Thor and Spider-Gwen, All-New Captain America the most often), I’ll buy them either through Marvel’s official app on my phone or at a comic book store.
there’s a couple apps that you can read comics on but those usually either cost money per issue or you have to sign up for a membership and there’s a yearly/monthly fee (I got a membership to Marvel Unlimited for christmas which is AWESOME and they have a ton of back comics/older issues but fair warning: the app kinda sucks and it’s not the easiest format to read comics on). I torrent them from kickass (when you go there type ‘.to’ at the end instead of .com or anything) and there’s usually a download for what I’m looking for; sometimes you have to type the year the specific issue was published [i.e. “All-New Hawkeye 2015″].
other places I get my comics from:
amazon: if you’re looking for a physical book of compiled issues, this is a good place to look. usually they’ll be a dollar or two less than what you’d pay in a comic book store or in barnes & noble or sth.
books a million: at a shitty mall near me there is still one that’s open and they have a huge bookshelf full of clearance comic books where you can get books that are usually $30 for $10 and ones that are usually $15-20 for like $3-8. they have some clearance ones on their website but it’s shitty and hard as hell to navigate.
midtown comics: they’re a chain in NYC but they do online orders and if you sign up for a newsletter, they’ll email you when there’s a sale going on which can save you a lot on single issues.
local comic stores
and you probably just read that last bullet point and went “but mackenzie, THERE ARE NO COMIC BOOK STORES AROUND ME???” there’s like a 50/50 chance that there is one somewhere relatively close to you, actually. there’s apparently like six or seven within a reasonable driving distance of me which is mindblowing? just google “comic book stores near [insert your zipcode]” and see if something comes up. if not: take heart in knowing that you do not have to deal with the attitude of the dudes in the stores if you are a female by ordering them online.
listen: comics are expensive as shit. there’s no way around that. a single issue which might be 23 or 24 pages is on average $3.99. if it’s a smaller company like image comics, it might be a little more. books can be $14-40+. but if you can, it’s always awesome for you to go to a comic book store and buy the physical issue both to support a struggling industry and the character. you might have noticed a theme in the examples of the issues that I buy the most often and it’s usually because they’re a) one of my faves b) a female driven run and c) it’s sam as cap. b & c are “risks” in the eyes of the publisher so hell fuckin’ yeah I’m gonna spend $3.99 to communicate to marvel “yes, good, I like this series. ANOTHER.”
and now that we’ve covered the basics, let me fill you in on which runs I would highly, highly recommend you start with first:
fraction & aja’s hawkeye because it’s ending soon-ish (maybe? idek if they have a release date for the final issue yet [broken heart emoji]). this is the run that like sucked me into comics for real and also made me fall in love with clint [heart emojix1000]. plus kate!!!
young avengers 2013 run because a) it’s great and b) eVERYBODY IS QUEER BY THE END OF IT //kisses the writers on their noses
ms marvel!! kamala is so great and this run is really cool and important and I love the generational commentary they’ve got going on throughout it
hawkeye vs. deadpool: I love these two nerds to pieces and they’re working with kate AND it deals with clint being deaf AND deadpool is deadpool and there’s an uber car.
all-new captain america: I love s am wi ls on s omcuh??/????? ???//? tin y pre cisou snf louc wer ?//???/?
if all of the secret avengers run doesn’t sound good to you: please at least read issue #7 it’s a beautiful piece of art
silk!!! SUPPORT ROBBIE AND CINDY!!!! plus cindy is super cute and so far it’s very good
spider-gwen
thor: yes this is the new thor who is a lady. and I don’t actually like thor but so far I’m really really loving this run???
bitch planet is like... the most feminist thing I have read to date and it’s super good and the art is great and kELLY SUE [heart eyes emoji]
sex criminals is absolutely fucking ridiculous and so fun to read??? and so cute??? and so great????? chip+matt 4eva \m/
in summation: the world of comics is stupidly overwhelming and huge. the best way to tackle this is pick a starting point and dive in headfirst. there are lots of ways to read comics, but unfortunately lots of them cost money. figure out which way is the best for you. and most of all -- HAVE FUN!!!!!!! AND ENJOY THESE NERD CHILDREN!!!!!
