Sunday, December 21, 2014

Marvel Comics Recommendations for MCU Fans!


Hey, so that Phase Three announcement, right? Crazy! The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown leaps and bounds since it began in Iron Man, and now it's this crazy awesome amazing thing that DC Entertainment is totally jealous of you guys. So, in the spirit of celebrating the roots of this massive corporate/creative achievement, and to help some folks if they wanna learn more about all these crazy movie characters suddenly taking over literally all their time and money, here's a guide to the original comics that most directly inspired the MCU movies - organized by their various collected forms in book volumes rather than issue number for easy purchasing at your local book or comics store! Now, I'm only covering the MCU movies, ie. the movies produced by Marvel Studios and in continuity with each other, so not covering the poor superhero souls left behind at other studios. Also I'm totally counting Ang Lee's Hulk as an MCU movie even though it totally doesn't really count, because the script and production for Incredible Hulk began as the sequel to Hulk and it's story still shows traces of that development even though it turned into a quasi-reboot while still maintaining the sequel format. Okay? Okay?
(also I've included links to the pages for these books on the Chapters/Indigo website, but occasionally these have incorrect synopsis or cover images displayed, however thanks to the wonder of ISBNs, you can rest assured the links are to the correct volumes referenced)

EXCELSIOR!


PHASE ONE:

HULK (2004)
So, Ang Lee's Hulk is crazy and a weird attempt at a huge multimillion dollar comic book art movie blockbuster. It's trying to be all things to all people and just ends up a muddled mess. It's also got a weirdly ADD editing style that sometimes works and sometimes is insanely distracting. The cast is good, however, and Lee tried to bring in elements of psychology to the character as well. The movie's plot isn't based on any of the comics in particular, and it's depiction of the origin veers wildly from the comics origin as well (mainly because the comics origin is ridiculous), but I will recommend two books for Hulk fans connected to this movie, however remotely:
  • Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Volume 1 - This volume collects the complete six-issue run of the originalThe Incredible Hulk series by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, before it was cancelled. Yes, the original Hulk was a commercial failure, only to become a cult classic later and be revived. This volume contains the classic origin, introducing Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, General Ross, Glenn Talbot, and Rick Jones. What's amazing about the original series is how weird it is - how and why Banner changes into Hulk is changed almost every issue, along with the format and genre of the series. Lee and Kirby knew they had a good idea with Hulk, they just didn't know how to sustain him in his own book, so after this Hulk became a guest player in other series for a while. Sound familiar? Outside of the origin, the comics here have nothing to do with Lee's Hulk, but in movies and in comics they're both the place to start, regardless of how weird they are.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-incredible-hulk/9780785137146-item.html
  • The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads - This volume, plotwise, has very little to do with Lee's film either, but thematically they are joined at the hip. Because this volume collects the final issues of the legendary run of writer Bill Mantlo (creator of Rocket Raccoon) and artist Sal Buscema on Hulk. And in these issues Mantlo takes the Hulk into some psychological territory by establishing for the first time that Bruce Banner was abused as a child by his father, which is a major element in Lee's film. This established that the Hulk was a reflection of Banner's own tortured psyche, and not just a biological response, an idea that definitive Hulk writer Peter David would later run with in his epic run sometime later.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/incredible-hulk-crossroads/9780785184485-item.html
IRON MAN (2008) -
The first Iron Man movie established something of a trend for the MCU in terms of not so much adapting existing storylines wholesale, but mixing and matching what elements they wanted from prominent runs and stories. The first Iron Man not only adapts his origin from the comics, favouring the updated version of the origin from Extremis over the original Vietnam version, but also covers his battles with the Iron Monger as well as his coming out as a superhero, and his friendship with James Rhodes. Two books best suit the interest of fans of the first Iron Man movie:
  • Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Volume 1 - Most of the stories in this volume are bizzare Silver Age nonsense, but the origin by Stan Lee and Don Heck still forms the core of the character and his world, and these early tales give you Iron Man's technological evolution from the big bulky grey suit to the classic red and gold. The stories are mostly short and to the point, as Iron Man was merely a feature in Tales of Suspense at this time and had yet to warrant his own series. Also there's the first appearances of Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and even the Mandarin. The real one.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-invincible-iron/9780785145677-item.html
  • Iron Man: Iron Monger - This collection brings you the climactic finale of Denny O'Neil's run on Iron Man, with superb art by Mark Bright. Basically, Obadiah Stane has taken over Stark Industries, perfected his own armor, and ruined Tony Stark's life - elements that should sound familiar to movie fans. Now they battle to the ultimate finish in the series' 200th issue. It's pretty fucking awesome.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-iron-monger/9780785142607-item.html
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008) -
The second Hulk movie was a soft reboot, picking up from where the first left off with a new cast. Most of the inspiration for the film's tone was from the classic 1970s Hulk TV show, although many characters from the comics were included. Emil Blonsky became the Abomination, and they set up Doc Samson and The Leader, although I doubt we'll ever see those threads picked up because it now seems unlikely that Marvel will revist the Hulk's solo series. The movie took some inspiration from a few different comics series, here's what I'd recommend for fans:
  • Hulk: Gray - Part of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's "Colours" trilogy of graphic novels, which re-examined the early days of Marvel. Hulk: Gray brings us a retelling of the origin, but focused on Hulk's relationship to Betty Ross. Several scenes from the graphic novel were re-created in the film.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/hulk-gray/9780785113461-item.html
  • Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Volume 3 - A collection covering the years after Jack Kirby stopped drawing Hulk and the character transitioned from a feature in Tales to Astonish and into his second solo series, these tales by Stan Lee and a who's who of late 60s Marvel talent are notable in this context for featuring the first appearance of the Abomination.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-incredible-hulk/9780785167624-item.html
  • The Rampaging Hulk Volume 2 - The Rampaging Hulk, later retitled to just The Hulk!, was a large size black and white comics magazine specifically designed to cash in on the success of the seventies television show, and thus ape it's style. Especially in it's second half, collected in this volume, the comic focused on isolated human interest stories with a minimum of involvement from the rest of the Marvel universe, capturing the TV series tone that the 2008 movie was also trying to capture.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/essential-rampaging-hulk-volume-2/9780785142553-item.html
IRON MAN 2 (2010) - Iron Man 2 continued the mishmash approach of the first film, taking inspiration from a host of Iron Man tales across the entirety of the character's existence. That said, these elements were united in that almost all of them originated in the works of David Michelinie and Bob Layton, who produced definitive runs on the character in the 70s and 80s. Picking up an Iron Man comic with their names on it is a surefire guarantee of a good read.
  • Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Volume 2 - This is another collection of old school Stan Lee and Don Heck Iron Man stories, but I'm including it because it has the first appearances of Anton Vanko (the Crimson Dynamo) and Natasha Romanova (the Black Widow), both of whom feature in the movie. This volume also has the first appearance of Hawkeye, and some more awesome Mandarin stories. Too bad the Mandarin never appeared in an Iron Man film.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-invincible-iron/9780785159070-item.html
  • Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton and Romita Jr. Omnibus - So probably among the best Iron Man comics of all time are those by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, and holy shit here's their entire first run on the character collected in one massive tome! Awesome! Here we have appearances by Whiplash, Justin Hammer, and the first appearance of James Rhodes. These stories developed Tony Stark into one of Marvel's best characters, and see Hammer's attempts to destroy Tony's life and business, as well as the government's first attempt to buy out Tony and his inventions after he stops building weapons. This volume also includes the legendary "Demon in a Bottle" storyline which dealt with Tony's alcoholism and forever defined the character -- a storyline that will never be in the movies because Disney decreed it so.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-by-michelinie-layton/9780785167129-item.html
  • Iron Man: Armor Wars - None of the Iron Man films have truly adapted the character's best storyline, which is "Armor Wars" from Michelinie and Layton's second run on the character. Nonetheless, the basic brush strokes of the story - that of Justin Hammer's war against Stark, and Stark's neverending battle to ensure his technology doesn't fall into the wrong hands - form the core of the second movie's story and themes.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-armor-wars/9780785125068-item.html
  • Iron Man: War Machine - And for all the Rhodey fans out there, here's the first appearance of War Machine!
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-war-machine/9780785131328-item.html
THOR (2011) - The first Thor movie doesn't really adapt anything specific storylines from the comic apart from the origin, but it does serve as an introduction to Thor's world, his supporting cast, and his enemies, and as such, really only one book can be recommended to support it:
  • The Mighty Thor Omnibus Volume 1 - This massive tome collects the first third, only the first third, of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original run on Thor. Nonetheless, it is sufficient to introduce us to Thor, Donald Blake (his unused secret identity), Jane Foster, Asgard, the Frost Giants, Odin, Sif, the Warriors Three, the Destroyer, Heimdall, the Bifrost, and of course that fucker Loki. These are fucking great comics, and yet they don't even scratch the surface of what Kirby would eventually achieve with the character.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/the-mighty-thor-volume-1/9780785149736-item.html
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) - The first Captain America was, in my opinion, the first MCU movie that really revelled in being "comic-booky". Set entirely within Cap's World War II timeframe, it naturally took the most inspiration from the character's classic Golden Age adventures. Fans of this film have two tomes on their recommendation list:
  • The Golden Age Captain America Omnibus Volume 1 - This volume collects the entire original run on Captain America by his creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, with some later stories by Stan Lee and Al Avison. These were comics about World War II, during World War II, and it shows! They are very patriotic and propagandistic, with tons of Nazi fighting and racial stereotypes, but they're also a ton of fun and have loads of creative energy. Simon and Kirby would leave Cap after only ten issues, but the character would continue on throughout the entire war as Timely Comics' most popular character. In this volume we first meet Cap, Bucky, the Red Skull, and supertough secret agent Betsy Ross, retconned in later Marvel Comics into Peggy Carter. 
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/golden-age-captain-america-omnibus/9780785168072-item.html
  • Captain America Omnibus Volume 1 - This book covers Cap's modern age revival and integration into the rest of the Marvel Universe under the creative auspices of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s. Although set outside of Cap's WWII setting from the first movie, these stories not only modernized the character, they also contain many retroactive flashbacks, as well as featuring the return of the Red Skull and introducing for the first time the Cosmic Cube, an artifact of great power known in the movie as the Tesseract.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-omnibus-volume-1/9780785150787-item.html
THE AVENGERS (2012) -Holyshit so The Avengers is a pretty awesome movie and a near perfect representation of superhero comics on the big screen and pretty much everyone liked it and it made a billion dollars, here's some comics for you to read: PHASE TWO:

IRON MAN 3 (2013) -
Iron Man 3 continued to take bits and pieces from various Iron Man runs that suited it, with elements from the works of Michelinie/Layton, John Byrne, Joe Quesada, Warren Ellis and Adi Granov, and others. That said, while it leans more heavily on the comics in some areas, it greatly diverges in others.
  • Iron Man: Extremis - Of course, the biggest inspiration on Iron Man 3 is Extremis, and indeed Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's storyline was a massive influence on the entire Iron Man trilogy in terms of the depiction of the character of Tony Stark and the visual depiction of Iron Man. However, while the movie uses characters, situations, and basic premises from the arc, it diverges heavily in terms of plot.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-extremis/9780785183785-item.html
  • Iron Man: Armor Wars II - The sequel to Armor Wars forms the first arc in John Byrne's run on Iron Man with artist John Romita Jr. The storyline isn't used much at all in the movie, but the central idea of remote control Iron Man suits sure as hell is. The next arc of John Byrne's run would be a wicked sweet Mandarin storyline that was totally badass. Too bad Marvel never used the Mandarin in any of its Iron Man movies.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-armor-wars-ii/9780785145578-item.html
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) - Having mined what they dared from Jack Kirby's epic tenure on Thor, the second movie took inspiration from the other writer/artist to make a definitive mark on the character: Walt Simonson. Unfortunately, like the first movie, the sequel flirts with being awesome rather than just going all out for it. Here's some fucking amazing comics that this movie took some stuff from: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014) -
The second Captain America flick continued Marvel's Phase Two trend of taking more direct inspiration from specific comic book storylines, although it still mixed and matched elements in order to deliver a storyline that worked for the burgeoning movie universe's needs, instead of slavishly following the comics versions.
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Holyshit, who could've guessed? While the plot of this hugely significant story arc from 2005 differs quite a bit from it's movie "adaptation", the basic throughline in terms of the character of the Winter Soldier and his revelations are more or less the same. It's a pretty great storyline and it lead to a pretty great movie.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-winter-soldier-ultimate/9780785143413-item.html
  • Captain America and the Falcon: The Secret Empire - Mike Friedrich and Steve Engelhart bring us this classic 1970s tale of conspiracy and paranoia. While again the plot is very different from the Winter Soldier film, the movie took its tone of a government out to get Cap and the sudden lack of anyone to trust from this well-regarded arc. Also, it's got Falcon in it! And he's pretty cool.
    http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-and-the-falcon/9780785118367-item.html
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) -
Not gonna lie, I'd never even heard of these assholes before they got their own movie. Made up of a bunch of different characters who had already existed in the cosmic Marvel universe, they were forged into a team by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the aftermath of the "Annihilation: Conquest" event, and quickly deemed awesome enough to make a movie about I guess.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015) -
Granted, Avengers 2 isn't out yet, so it's hard to say with certainty what I'd recommend. But what we do know for certain is that Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the Vision are involved, and that while it shares a title with the recent "Age of Ultron" storyline, it doesn't actually share plot with it. So here's what I'd recommend you read to get yourself caught up based on what we do know:
Well, that's all for me for today. I'll update this page with Phase Three related recommendations one day, maybe.

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