Secret Wars - 1984 - The Original Reading List on Marvel Unlimited!

Greetings Superfriends!

Thanks for making this blog another stop on your regular web circuit! I will continue to add new reading arcs for you frequently as 2016 proceeds, so check back often for new reading arcs, links to cool products and even expansion to DC and indy publishers.

This post is about the original Secret Wars miniseries, still a classic story that impacts the entire Marvel Universe. Working with Mattel, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter developed a series that would have a tie-in with action figures, and the writing ended up being significant for a handful of great additions to the Marvel Universe history, like the black suit of Spider-Man’s that later become… Okay, I know it is too late for spoilers, but we’ll pretend to avoid spoilers anyway!

You can see all of the Secret Wars Miniseries at a glance on Marvel Unlimited here.

1. Secret Wars (1984) #1 - Heroes and villains alike are transported across the universe by a mysterious being known as the Beyonder.
2. Secret Wars (1984) #2 - The first battle between heroes and villains begins as Galactus watches.
3. Secret Wars (1984) #3 - Doom creates new villains!!
4. Secret Wars (1984) #4 - Molecule Man drops a mountain on the heroes??
5. Secret Wars (1984) #5 - X-Men strike back!
6. Secret Wars (1984) #6 - Spider-Woman?
7. Secret Wars (1984) #7 - First full appearance new Spider-Woman
8. Secret Wars (1984) #8 - Spider-Man uses the wrong machine to rebuild his costume and ends up with the black costume!
9. Secret Wars (1984) #9 - The fight against Galactus to prevent world devouring is on!
10. Secret Wars (1984) #10 - Death to the Beyonder!
11. Secret Wars (1984) #11 - Doom kills the heroes (but they are resurrected next issue!)
12. Secret Wars (1984) #12 - The end of the miniseries, Thing stays behind because he can change into human form.

Some of the covers have been used in homages over the years since, and the black suit continues to impact Marvel stories on a monthly basis. This year-long event ran from May 1984 to April 1985 back at a time when there were not many long events, crossovers or anything like that.

As this was before decompression, the content in one regular book might exceed the story in two or three books today. Overall, a worthwhile series to check out on MU!

Check out the links below if you’d like to buy collected editions at discounted prices.

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

Amazon has the trade paperback editions for low prices as shown below.

 

Days of Future Present Reading Order List

Days of Future Present (Fantastic Four/X-Men Crossover Sequel) Reading Order List

Days of Future Present is the 1990 followup to the groundbreaking 1981 two issue side story arc “Days of Future Past” from Uncanny X-Men 141 and 142 (although technically the name change of the book to “Uncanny X-Men” happened in 142). I call it a side story arc because there is another arc ongoing through the issues, the story of an assassination attempt by the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants being led by Mystique with classic X-Men foe Blob, and new characters Destiny, Pyro, and Avalanche rounding out the group.

The Brotherhood wanted to kill Senator Robert Kelly (Wikia - first appearance X-Men #133 - MU link). His death would’ve brought about a future where Sentinels ran most of the world, controlling both mutants and human sympathizers alike.

In this sequel, the Fantastic Four return home to Four Freedoms Plaza and it is replaced by their previous headquarters, the Baxter Building. There is an alternate timeline version of the FF in the HQ and … (Read synopsis here)…

These issues are NOT available digitally, please contact Marvel and request they be made so!

1. Fantastic Four Annual #23
2. X-Factor Annual #5 (this is chronologically part 3, and part 3 is part 2)
3. New Mutants Annual #6
4. Uncanny X-Men Annual #14
   • While it’s not a “fifth” story, pages 10-11 of this book tell a backup story called “The Fundamental Things” which is commonly thought of as part 4.1

You can buy the collected issues on Amazon, Days of Future Present.

 

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

Death of Captain America - Marvel Unlimited

Dig it. Captain America, one of the all-time great comic book heroes and an iconic symbol for the United States, Marvel Comics and fandom is back to all-time levels of popularity thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. With Marvel Unlimited, you can read many of the greatest stories about Cap, including the Winter Soldier arcs. Check out my friend Dave’s page at Comic Book Herald featuring a large reading order list of Captain America-related titles.

This story has it all: the end of a hero, the Red Skull, Winter Soldier, the Falcon, Black Widow, Sharon Carter and chaos gripping the American people! Mass insanity and even the “new” Captain America struggling to live up to the legacy of our fallen hero. Indeed, true believers, this set of issues will lead you through the excitement of this gripping story that will have you binge reading!

Captain America (2004) #25
Captain America (2004) #26
Captain America (2004) #27
Captain America (2004) #28
Captain America (2004) #29
Captain America (2004) #30
Captain America (2004) #31
Captain America (2004) #32
Captain America (2004) #33
Captain America (2004) #34
Captain America (2004) #35
Captain America (2004) #36
Captain America (2004) #37
Captain America (2004) #38
Captain America (2004) #39
Captain America (2004) #40
Captain America (2004) #41
Captain America (2004) #42

It was a classic within a couple of years of publishing, and only gets better with age. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

 

 

Avengers: Kree/Skrull War (Clickable Reading Order List)

The merciless Kree and the shape-changing Skrulls have gone to war and Earth has been caught in the crossfire! Can The Avengers bring about an end to the fighting before humanity becomes a casualty of war?

This 9-issue story is a silver age classic that laid the foundation for Marvel’s cast of (regular) extraterrestrial beings that continue on through today. The Marvel Universe is filled with aliens from Alpha Centaurians through the Z’nox, with both benevolent and badass beings all in-between! Watch for the upcoming “Best of Symbiotes” for a great listing of issues on Marvel Unlimited covering everyone’s favorite modern Spider-Man villain.

Use the links below to get to individual issues on Marvel Unlimited.

Avengers #89 - The Only Good Alien Is A Dead Alien

Avengers #90 - Judgement Day

Avengers #91 - Take One Giant Step Backward

Avengers #92 - All Things Must End

Avengers #93 - This Beach-Head Earth

Avengers #94 - Behold the Mandroids

Avengers #95 - Avenger vs Inhuman

Avengers #96 - The Andromeda Swarm

Avengers #97 - Godhood’s End

A trade paperback of these issues is available from Amazon:

Until next time,

Excelsior!!!

A Great Source of Reading Lists

The Comic Book Herald is an awesome blog, filled with great Marvel reading order content. The site lists trade paperbacks and individual issues for many popular crossover events. The trade paperbacks are usually linked to an online source like Amazon, but the individual issues aren’t linked to MDCU. That’s where this blog comes in -- soon I’ll have links up to help comic fans quickly find the next issue to read in all of the best big Marvel crossovers.

Check out the Comic Book Herald here.

I wasn’t following comics since I was a kid, so it was great to get back into them and be able to catch up on so many great stories like the House of M. Check out CBH’s great reading order guide for the House of M here.

If you are looking for a great comic book store, buy comic books at mycomicshop.com

We also use Amazon for many of our store purchases - comics, vintage comics, shipping boxes and more!

Note: as usual, whenever you see an asterisk (*), you can look at the bottom of the post for links to that item on Amazon or eBay.

Until next time,

 

Excelsior!!!