[Greenskar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Jetty

DC trades are usually pretty good about making sure everything is in order, too.

This is exactly why Blackest Night threw such a curve at me. I agree, most DC trades have been really good about the order. One of the clerks at the Comic Store I frequent said he just read Flash Point...and has no clue what the heck is going on. Have you read it and is it really that confusing?

My friend, who is basically my source for DC Comics since I've been his for Marvel, said he had to tag up the Blackest night series with sticky notes for his fiancee or she wouldn't read it. I thought that was funny as hell, mostly because it's true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLASSIFIED

I don't think Bucky is really dead.

It was too important for Black Widow to squash that news story about him still being alive in that issue of Secret Avengers.

I think Bucky is still alive and returning to his role as the Winter Soldier.

I know his incarceration in a Russian prison turned out to be a set up, but I don't think they were ever able to find the evidence to clear him, and what better way to get the Russians off his back than "die"?

While I would like that to be the truth, because Bucky Cap was quickly becoming my favorite Marvel Character, I'd have to say I doubt it. Brubaker was lucky enough to do what no other writer was able to do prior, even though they all wanted to; Bring Bucky back. The Marvel events that were taking place just happened to be perfect timing for Brubaker when he came aboard as the new Cap writer about 6 yrs ago.

Marvel's Shattered Heroes - Comics Feature at IGN

Quote:

Brubaker said, "This is my chance to do what everyone has been complaining I haven't been able to do yet, which is deal with the loss of Bucky in a Cap issue. Obviously I couldn't deal with the end of Fear Itself four months before Fear Itself ended, and I was launching a new Cap #1 at the time. So I wrote this issue a long time ago, actually. This was always the place where I was going to do my sort of aftermath of Fear Itself. He continued, "This is not only the book people have been screaming at me to do for a few months now, but also this is the point where I get to set the stage for the next year of stories in Captain America and secret things can't talk about yet."

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLASSIFIED

I've just recently gotten into trades. (Is that what this thread is even about?)

lol, I know right? This thread is about understanding the order of events that will bring someone up to speed on the Marvel Universe in terms of story importance, or at least that's what I got from the OP. Trades just seemed to be recommended because they tend to capture the relevant stories inherent in these events in one collective book.

However, as Crazy Jetty and myself have been discussing, that hasn't been the case as of late for DC or Marvel. It is becoming quite frustrating to keep track of all the books that are now required to follow a given story. So I think this thread should exist to help everyone out IMO. I know it will help me.

I actually got a Marvel Backlist Reading Chronology magazine from SDCC this year. It has the suggested reading chronology for the following:

Avengers
Captain America
Thor
Iron Man
War Machine
Fantastic Four
Punisher
Spider-Man
Hulk
X-Men Universe
Ultimate Universe

if anyone is interested to know the reading chronology for any of the above according to Marvel, let me know.