#comic reading guide

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Fantastic Four Special #1 "My Dinner with Doom"

Fantastic Four (1961) #5

Fantastic Four (1961) #10

Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #2

Fantastic Four (1961) #200

Fantastic Four (2018) #32

Doom 2099 (2019)

Fantastic Four (1994) (film)

Fantastic Four: Doomgate (novel)

Dick Grayson & Tim Drake: Reading Guide

Once upon a time, two kids met at a circus... and the rest is history.

table of contents:

who are these losers?

what's fun about them?

why a reading guide?

how does the reading guide work? (tl;dr: there are quick recs, a selected chronological list, and a complete chronological list)

where is the spreadsheet? (x)

who are they?

Dick Grayson and Tim Drake: the first Robin and the third Robin.

Welcome to Namor Nation! I def would not recommend Namor (2024) to readers, new or old, it's not a good series and the writer is to blame, they do not understand the character and the whole series is worth skipping, you really are not missing anything imo, it contradicts a lot of Namor lore/characterizations for characters.

I would recommend:

Saga of the Sub-Mariner (1988) #1-12 - this series is a summary of Namor's life from the golden age until the start of the 90s series, its good for fans who wanna get a history without reading 100s of comics just yet and familiarizes you with the character.

2. King in Black: Namor (2020) #1-5 - best present day series for Namor, it has flashbacks to his childhood, as well as sheds more light on Attuma, and some spotlight for Lady Dorma. This series is also called Namor: The Black Tide.

3. Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #1 - War's End - Namor during WWll, written by one of my favorite Namor writers, this is a heavy but important read.

4. Marvel's Snapshots: Sub-Mariner (2020) - Told from Betty Dean's PoV, it finally canonizes Namor's PTSD, a great single issue comic

5. Sub-Mariner (2007) #1-6 - This is personally one of my favorite series, but I'm not too fond of the ending, however Namor sets out to find out who is behind a series of attacks on the surface world.

Those are a good start but if you wanna dive in more, then this guide I made is split up by different sections so that if you wanna read a certain era. I would definitely recommend reading The Defenders because it's my favorite modern team for Namor.

Kwannon (Revanche / Psylocke) Reading Guide

Were Kwannon's body is well known she herself had been dead for decades after her time with The X-Men as Revanche. Coming back to life Kwannon took the name Psylocke and has joined an array of teams using her lethal fighting skills alongside her telepathy and telekinesis. This reading order follows her appearances throughout the years.

Bolded: she's a main character/it is an important issue for her. Italic: she's not necessarily a main character but still has interesting moments. Normal: She appears but it is not entirely important to her character.

Introduction + Body Swap

X-Men (1991) #17, #18, #20-#24

X-Men (1991) Annual #2

X-Men (1991) #25-#28

X-Men (1991) #31 [Death]

Resurrection

Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor (2018) #4 [only in one panel]

Uncanny X-Men (2018) #16-#20

Krakoa

Fallen Angels (2020)

Hellions (2020) #1-#11

Excalibur (2019) #18-#20

Hellions (2020) #12-#15

Inferno (2021) #1 [brief appearance but important for context]

Hellions (2020) #16-#18

Marauders (2019) Annual #1

Marauders (2022)

Love Unlimited Infinity Comic (2022) #34-#36

Captain Marvel (2019) #43-#49

Hellfire Gala (2023) [brief appearance but important for context]

Uncanny Avengers (2023)

From the Ashes

X-Men: Blood Hunt - Psylocke (2024)

X-Men (2024)

Lucky for you, I've created a reading list for each of them and have compiled them all here in a masterlist for your use! All information and links are under the cut!

@vulpinesaint asked for some recommendations on getting into Flash-as-Venom, so I decided to put together a little guide. Mind you, this is geared towards already having familiarity with Eddie, and of course by extension the Venom Symbiote.

Now -- let me start by saying it may be helpful to see first where it all started going downhill for Eddie and the Symbiote (because we don't get to other hosts until after their breakup). Are any of those comics good? Not really!

But If you really wanted to you could check out Spectacular Spider-Man (2003, Jenkins/Ramos) #1-5 and Marvel Knights Spider-Man (2004, Millar/Cho) #5-12 or thereabouts, which will take you through the official breakup, Angelo Fortunato, and the introduction of Mac Gargan.

For a little taste of what the symbiote had been up to before Chosen Blond Man #2, I also recommend Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man (2009, Reed/Bachalo) #1-4 and Siege: Spider-Man (Reed/Santucci, one-shot, just because it's funny).

At the risk of being controversial I also rec the fabulous "New Ways to Die" arc (Amazing Spider-Man #568-573, Slott/Romita Jr.) for a peek at what's going on with Eddie during this time.

If you'd like a primer on Flash Thompson before you jump into Symbiote nonsense, you can check out Amazing Spider-Man #574, which is not a great issue but it is helpful to see what was going on with him. I also recommend the Amazing Spider-Man #622 B story "Stages of Grief" which IS really good and delightful.

Flash officially kicks off as Agent Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #654-654.1 (really -- there's a point-one issue). It's written by Dan Slott so it's not, you know, great, but if you've read Venom Inc. you know what to expect.

Venom (2011) is the real meat of Flash's time. He's kind of silly, as you can see, but for the most part I enjoyed this series. Does it have problems? Sure, but it's worth a read.. The first part (#1-27.1) is written by Rick Remender, and the second (#28-42) is by Cullen Bunn. The latter is, at least in my experience, better-loved for its introduction of Mania in #38, but they are both worth reading.

My personal highlights are: #2 (very good Flash/Symby at the end) #6-8 (Spider-Island tie-ins, you get to see what Eddie is up to) #13-14 (Circle of Four!!!) #17-22 (Savage Six, more fun with Eddie) #33-36 (esPECIALLY #35 oh my god #35 is everything to me. I'm normal don't look at me) #38-42 (Mania -- need I say more?)

I would also be remiss to leave out Superior Spider-Man (2013) #22-25 because while the story is.. meh..?? ...it does have some great Flash/Symby. I would live for them.

Agent Venom additionally appears in Secret Avengers (2010) and Thunderbolts (2013), but all I can really recommend here is the T-bolts Annual. It's a fun one.

And now we get into Cosmic Bullshit Shenanigans!

Flash and the Symbiote join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy (2013, Bendis) in #14, but are officially introduced in the Free Comic Book Day GotG special. My only recommendations here are #21-23, but they're big recommendations.

Once you've read #23, you can jump right into Venom: Space Knight #1-13 (R. Thompson), which is by FAR my favourite Venom series of all time and I'm not even joking. I can't even express how much I adore this series. WOMEN. I LOVE WOMEN. Just. Just read it. And then cry that it's only 13 issues

And from there, you know how it ends if you read Venom #150. Such was the end of Flash's time as Venom, but what a wild ride it was.

now we just need to get eddie on board with a third

If you're curious about Flash's story post-resurrection (he died, if you missed that from the Cates run) you can check out my little guide here, and also the most recent Carnage series by Torunn Grønbekk. What the future holds for Flash Thompson is up in the air (as it always is with Spidey's supporting cast) but I've got to have hope!

I love Cap's Kooky Quartet so much, and I do give comic guides/recs upon request if I'm able to. This era may not have lasted long but it's my favorite.

For a quick overview of this era check out; marvelsilverage.

To see Cap's Kooky Quartet in animation they appear in one of the episodes of Marvel Super Heroes (1966) which you can see for free on the Internet Archive, it basically covers a few of their adventures.

Cap's Kooky Quartet Comic Reading Guide

The Avengers (1963) #16-19

Journey into Mystery (1953) #120

The Avengers (1963) #20

Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 3

The Avengers (1963) #21-22

Tales of Suspense (1959) #72

The Avengers (1963) #23-28

A few of these issues just have cameos but the bulk of their adventures are in Avengers. After issue 28 it's no longer a Quartet as more members join.

Avengers (2016) #3.1