Editor's Note: Sorry it's been a minute. Life n' shit, y'know?
The only thing I'll say about Marvel's latest film, Infinity War, is that you should see it. And then you should dm me on Twitter me so we can talk about it.
Even if this scene is a fucking lie.
Instead, this blog is going to tackle what books you should read after you see the movie. You'll see Ant-Man & The Wasp when it comes out in July. You'll see Captain Marvel when it comes out next March, and you'll see Avengers 4 when it releases next May.
But that's future-you's plans. What about immediately post-movie-you? What the hell is that person going to do?
That person is going to read this list of books and realize they have about 45 years worth of entertainment to catch up on while you wait for the next tentpole to invade your cinema. These are awesome books that will help you chase the high you got after that final post-credits scene rolled. The three main stories that the film draws its inspiration from are Thanos Quest, Infinity Gauntlet, and Infinity, and spoilers - those are totally on the list.
But in addition to those, there are also a bunch of stories that left me feeling the same way I did after seeing the movie. The sense of scale, the awe of rules being broken, the giant ensemble casts, the weight of revelations - any many more feelings were some of my favorite takeaways from the film, and these stories reflect those super well, and most of these are pretty accessible no matter what your experience is with comics.
Thanos Quest / Infinity Gauntlet
Thanos Quest documents how Thanos gained possession of the Infinity Gems (Stones in the films). It's weird as hell and it's awesome. It feels more like an issue of Heavy Metal than anything Marvel, but that's the power of Jim Starlin and Ron Lim. This is the start of everything that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards. It's definitely not as sweeping as it was portrayed in the movie, but it's pretty... it feels like Faust, if Faust beat the devil in chess... So yeah - if the legend of Faust and the Seventh Seal had a baby, and then let that baby be raised by Mad Max, the 80's fashion, and super-overdramatic 70's science fantasy van-art, you'd have the Thanos Quest storyline. Every Gem Thanos acquires comes with a little trial that's themed around the gem in question, so it's a pretty cool story in that you see just how creative, cunning, and dangerous Thanos can be as he tries to hunt them all down.
And spoilers - he hunts them down. You see the fallout of him hunting them all down in the first issue of Infinity Gauntlet, a pretty big inspiration for the film, Infinity War. It'll be super fun for you to read this after seeing the movie, because what you see at the end of the film is done in the first issue of the 6-issue story, so there's a ton of new story for you to read and it's interesting to see what was done in the movie vs what was done in the books the movie is predominantly based on.
Infinity
The brainchild of Jon Hickman when he was firmly in the driver's seat at Marvel, Infinity is the third story that served as a pretty direct influence on what Infinity War ended up being. I'm going to be blunt so I could avoid being anything less than perfectly clear; Infinity is one of the single fucking best comic events I've ever read. I can totally see how Warren Ellis' writing turns people off because I can see it being read as a little too dramatic for some people's sensibilities, but Hickman does a fantastic job of conveying similar themes in a bit of a more digestible way. The entire point of this story was Earth basically accepting its place in the galaxy and forcing other species to recognize that it's not a little backwater drinking hole the way most alien species have been treating it. There's a war of absolute epic proportions that unfolds on a galactic scale and its rendered beautifully by Jim Cheung, in what's probably the second best book of his career (I'm very partial to Avenger's: The Children's Crusade).
But that's only half the story. The other half of the story is Thanos realizing that while most of the world's super heroes are off trying to save the galaxy, Earth is essentially left undefended. This is the event where the Black Order, Thanos's lackeys, first appear, where a horizon wide invasion of Wakanda happens, and about 10,000 other insane things happen. Just as important as the main story are the issues of New Avengers and Avengers proper that Hickman was penning concurrently. In the collected trade, all relevant tie ins are included and do a fantastic job of adding to the story. The similar quality between the main story and tie-ins was so effective that it never felt like I was reading a "side" book, it all felt like it was part of one larger, ongoing conflict rather than a main book, a sub-book A, and a sub-book B the way other event comics have in the past.
Annihilation
While Civil War was drawing lines in the sand and asking heroes to pick a side on Earth, the war that mattered was happening half a galaxy away. After being a long time pain in the Fantastic Four's ass, Annihilus decides he has a better chance of conquering everything if he doesn't start on Earth and yeah - he's not wrong. Annihilus shows up and fucks everything up pretty quickly, putting the galaxy's back against a wall.
This book rekindled an affection for Marvel's more cosmic offerings, which had waned in popularity as books like Marvel Knights' Daredevil and the Ultimate universe picked up speed. Civil War might've been the important event, but Annihilation was the fun event, with characters that you genuinely thought could die at any second. The high stakes were immediately understandable and the way it elevated certain characters would set the stage for years to come. If you want a fun view of what the Marvel Cosmos can be, check out this series, its prologue, and it's 4 mini tie-ins, which are for the most part pretty fun too. The most important of the tie-ins are Nova and Silver Surfer. Super-Skrull is fine and Ronan is strictly okay, but you will be better informed going into the main series if you read them all. Nova was dope because it basically is what landed Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning the reins to Marvel Cosmic U, which let to a really good follow-up series called Annihilation Conquest, a Nova Ongoing, a Guardians of the Galaxy series, and Thanos Imperative (see below) among others.
Thanos Imperative
Annihilation put the Marvel Cosmos back on the map and made people really give a shit about them. If that was the beginning of a cosmic renaissance, then Thanos Imperative was the end of it in that form. It didn't just give us a Nova ongoing (which rocked), and a Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing (which super rocked), but it gave us a ton of other events that excellently showcased a different side of Marvel. This event in particular saw a parallel universe where Death had been overcome. Once here in our universe, they see it as a failure because the living can still die, and wage a war to make our universe more like theirs. Against their better judgement, the cosmic heroes (literally everyone, it's awesome), decide that the only one who can kill these parallel dickholes is Thanos, and they recruit him to their team.
This felt like a culmination of everything Giffen, Abnett, and Lanning had built over the years in their corner of Marvel's publishing line. Once Marvel realized how awesome it was, they wanted to bring it a little closer to the fold, which makes perfect sense, but for a minute it was almost like a boutique imprint line within Marvel and this was more than a respectful sendoff, replete with more than an average amount of "oh shit" moments. Be sure to checkout the prologue issue called "Thanos Imperative: Ignition".
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a weird ass book. Its scope is impressively ambitious for what is actually such a focused book, but what makes it special is the way it shows just how big the Marvel Universe can be. It changes the way you think about what you thought you knew about the Marvel Universe. It's almost like The Da Vinci's Code of the marvel Universe, quietly telling you there's a hidden history where the dots connect so well, you almost feel guilty for not realizing it sooner.
This book made the list because Infinity War reminded me of how I felt when I was reading it. The way there are callbacks and payoffs - everything you see in Infinity is a result of something you saw in one of the previous 18 movies released by Marvel Studios - and with even a cursory understanding of the Marvel Universe, you get that same "clicking" feeling while reading S.H.I.E.L.D. and having the pieces fall into place.
Ultimate Nightmare / Ultimate Secret / Ultimate Extinction
The Ultimate universe was a reimagining of what made Marvel so successful in the first place. After Bryan Singer's X-Men and Sam Raimi's Spider-man redefined what was possible at at the box office on an opening weekend, Marvel wanted to make something that better reflected not just the films, but the time the films were made in. So, they basically asked some of their best writers and artists "What would it look like if the Marvel Universe began today?" in the early 2000's and then boom - one of the most successful publishing imprint lines of all time and one of my favorite cover dress designs of all time too. This is a three part story told over 14 issues.
While the Ultimate universe is fascinating because re-contextualizes how characters would look and act in a post 9/11 world, you get a lot more than that from the story. I love the Ultimate Universe because it simultaneously looks at a broader picture and a more specific one at the same time. In every story there's a clearly conveyed scope but also an attention to detail that's a result of said scope and it makes such perfect sense in context, that there's not a lot else for you to do as a reader besides throw your head to the side and go "Yeah, of course that would happen". While there're a ton of great stories in the Ultimate-U, I chose this one because it spans multiple series and characters, while others pretty much just focus on the eponymous stars of the title. Here you get some X-Men, some Ultimates (read: Avengers), some Fantastic Four, and a broader look at the universe at large than most other series can afford due to their breakneck pacing.
Also, Warren Ellis wrote this, and you know how I feel about Warren Ellis <3.
Avengers Disassembled / House of M / New Avengers
While the Marvel Universe has been in motion since the early/mid 60's, there are some definite breaks that make for better jumping on points, and this one happens to be mine. After narrowly dodging bankruptcy in the 90's and early aughts, Marvel made a comeback with a lot of quality titles from quality creators. Probably the most high-profile shakeup was bringing in Brian Michael Bendis to take over the Avengers, which had slumped in popularity thanks to renewed interest in the X-Men after Bryan Singer's films.
Bendis took these beloved characters and turned their entire world upside down. He broke the Avengers in two with The Worst Day They've Ever Had™, and then he let that break reverberate through the Mainstream Marvel Universe for the next decade. This story focuses on what breaks the Avengers, what happens in a world without them, and how they come out of the ashes (that's not a spoiler, they come out of the ashes because of course they do). After a brisk four or so issues of Avengers, there's an eight issue miniseries (House of M) and then a brand new ongoing that lasts about 60, so you can jump off anytime your interest begins to wane or jump in deeper, because New Avengers was where most major events were seeded, including House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege. Sorry for being deliberately vague, this story is just super fun and kind of a curveball if you only know the movies, So I don't want to spoil anything.
Astonishing X-Men
In addition to Uncanny X-Men and the adjective-less X-Men, Marvel debuted a continuity-lite series for people who were jumping on the book-bandwagon from the films, and they did so with the stellar team of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. Using a small team, Whedon cut to what makes X-Men drama so compelling, and Cassaday's cinematic approach to costume design was an excellent blend of the films' sleekness and the comics' rich history.
This page still punches me in the gut. I love that Whedon knows sometimes you don't need words, he says in a way too long blog post.
The great thing about the four volumes that Whedon and Cassaday did together is keep things surface level but still steeped in continuity. They make everything clear in the story, but present a lot backstory for you to research at your leisure. When a character comes back, you get why it's a big deal right there, but if you feel so inclined, it's an easy wikipedia search to understand the far reaching implications of what their return really means.
There's great melodrama that looks beautiful thanks to a team that gelled so well together, it's almost surprising they haven't met back up again on another project. This is a great place to start if you want to dip your toes into the X-Men, providing a full story, but shows just enough of the X-Men's periphery to pique curiosity in the X-sphere at large.
Silver Surfer: Requiem
The lone fact that the Silver Surfer's film rights are owned by Fox is probably the biggest dagger in Marvel Studios' hamstring... That's a saying, right?
Marvel Studios did a great job of melding science and fantasy through the Thor films, but one thing that would've alleviated the pressure on the Thor franchise would've been the Fantastic Four. If you've read any of my old blog posts, you know I've got a rock hard soft spot (favorite joke of this blog post btw), for the FF, and the Silver Surfer is probably the coolest thing that franchise has given us. He's a herald of Galactus, a world-eating force of nature who's the sole survivor of the previous universe and wielder of the Power Cosmic, an immeasurable power source capable of doing... well, pretty much anything a writer can come up with, which is both exciting and eye-rolling. But usually exciting, because whenever the Surfer or Galactus shows up, you know shit is about to go down.
Requiem is a story told out of continuity and serves as the last adventure of the Silver Surfer. It's about his death, but through that conceit, really all you do is get to see just how much of an impact the character had on the Marvel Universe. I don't mean the Marvel heroes we are so familiar with, I mean the entire fucking Marvel universe. We don't just see what we have because of him, but we see so clearly what a universe would be like without him, and we see even more clearly how much we fucking need him.
And after reading this, you'll get the sense of how much the MCU needs him too. Galactus or the Kree/Skrull War are two of the best bets for where the movies can (and arguably should) go after Infinity War wraps up next Spring, and man-alive, it would be a whole hell of a lot easier to broach either of those with Silver Surfer swoopin' in from the rafters.
Ultimate Spider-Man / Ultimate Miles Morales
We talked a bit about the Ultimate Universe above so I can save that pitch, but this series made the cut because the Peter Parker from the MCU is one of the stronger, more endearing characters in a world full of strong, endearing characters. I love the Raimi films and really like the Webb films (at least the first one, I still have the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Blu-Ray shrink-wrapped from a $10 impulse buy at a Toys R' Us from Needham, MA 4 years ago), but bringing Spidey back to high school and trimming all the fat on an origin everyone knows was what people wanted. You get the perfect marriage of The OC and spandex you always wanted, and for the most part, it seems like they aren't interesting in aging the character despite Tom Holland's character, y'know, aging.
One of my single favorite issues of any comic series ever.
What's so enjoyable about Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man is that after seeing Peter Parker grow, age, and sort his life out, we got back to the teenage version of Peter that made him such a beloved character to begin with. Though it was taking cues from the Raimi films, it playfully reimagines all of its source material and gives us a more-times-than-not enjoyable and exciting refresh to the character. While the MCU version of Peter Parker is an amalgam of a bunch of Peter's and, well, social media, this Peter was obviously a huge inspiration. Bendis gives us the classic Spider-Man stories of the 60's updated for the 2000's and in time gives us the character you'll see in this December's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film, Miles Morales. Bendis gave us a fantastic new character that's still kicking around the Marvel Universe even after the Ultimate Universe kicked the bucket. If you have a hard time getting into Silver Age stories (there's no shame, I do too), this is the perfect entryway into getting a ton of Spider-Man in a compelling and fun manner.
Miles Morales is the fuckin' truth. Don't sleep on the dude.
Anyways, those are my key series to read if you want to scratch that post-Infinity War itch. What'd I miss?