For all of my talk about considering the wider entertainment industry or minimizing risk, a lot of my success with buying and selling comics has just come from reading a lot of comics on Marvel Unlimited and buying the ones with great stories.
It is important to remember that writers often use classic and acclaimed stories as jumping-off points, making them solid investments for comic and/or movie-based speculation. Over the course of this article series, I will try to highlight some of my favorite Marvel comics, explain why they resonated with me, and hopefully get you to check one or two of them out along the way.
Spider-Woman Vol. 5 and 6
Spider-Woman has worn many different hats over her years in publication, as many different writers have tried to leave their mark on a character that was only originally created to maintain a trademark. After a creative renaissance from Brian Michael Bendis in the pages of New Avengers, Spider-Woman began to enjoy a higher profile and, for the first time in decades, was given her own ongoing series, written by Dennis Hopeless.
Hopeless took a decidedly back-to-basics approach, separating Jess from the high stakes of Avengers stories and focusing on a small core cast. Both volumes of Hopeless' run are a revelation and provide Spider-Woman with a level of depth and nuance rarely seen in prior works.
Jess is rendered in an incredibly human way, as a woman still trying to figure out what her place in the world is and who are the most important people in her life. This dedication to uncovering who Jess is as a person takes the story in some completely unexpected, yet wonderful directions, including becoming a mother and entering into a relationship with reformed villain Roger Gocking, aka The Porcupine.
The stories related to the latter plotline are especially beautiful and contain some of the most emotionally resonant stories in modern Marvel comics. Filled with heart, humor, and gorgeous art, Hopeless' run on Spider-Woman is a must-read for any true comic book fan.
Marvel Zombies Vol. 6
Set in the zombie-filled wastelands of Battleworld, Elsa must protect a mysterious girl and deliver her to safety while being chased by her own demons, both literal and metaphorical. The version of Elsa introduced in Bloodstone has been completely abandoned and the Nextwave series, while phenomenal, is a team comedy book and thus not particularly focused on fleshing out Elsa individually.
In this book, however, readers are treated to an intimate, deeply-felt story that truly defines who this character was and who she will be. Filled with action, incredible dialogue, and poignant moments that deeply speak to notions of family, abuse, and perseverance, this book is arguably the definitive Elsa Bloodstone story, at least so far.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
I still cannot believe that Marvel let Nick Spencer write a Spider-Man comic where Spider-Man never appears! The best way to describe this series is "What if The Usual Suspects was a comedy with supervillains".
Spencer's incredible talent for dialogue is on strong display here as every interaction between the principal characters is simultaneously hilarious and rich with deeper meaning. This decidedly offbeat story about a group of C-List Spider-Man villains planning a heist is a love letter to all the goofy joy that comic books can bring, as the villains spend just as much time fighting as they do heisting.
Superior Foes is one of the weirdest Spider-Man comics ever published and it is all the better for it.
Age of Apocalypse
In 1995, the X-Men and their associated titles were the highest-selling books at Marvel. Meanwhile, the comic book industry was in a downward spiral that would eventually lead to, amongst other things, the closure of 2/3 of all North American comic book stores and Marvel Entertainment declaring bankruptcy.
I mention all of this because it makes editorial’s decision to temporarily cancel all of their existing X-titles and replace them with limited series set in a drastically different world all the more impressive. The Age of Apocalypse is an alternate timeline created when Legion, Professor X's insane son, travels back in time and accidentally kills his father. This sets off a chain of events whereby Apocalypse conquers North America and begins to launch a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against all non-mutants.
With a creative team that includes Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza, Larry Hama, Warren Ellis, Jeph Loeb, Steve Epting, Andy Kubert, Salvador Larroca, Chris Bachalo, Terry and Rachel Dodson, Adam Kubert, and many more, it should come as a surprise to nobody that this multiversal tale continues to be a fan favorite event. Every character is different and yet still feels like a logical pivot from who the audience knows them to be in the primary universe.
90s comics are generally not remembered very fondly, but this saga still stands as one of Marvel's greatest creative endeavors.
Superior Spider-Man Vol. 1
After discovering he has cancer, Doctor Octopus engineers a scheme that leaves him in control of the body of Peter Parker and decides to prove to the world (but really himself) that he will be a better Spider-Man than Peter ever was. The magnum opus of Dan Slott's almost decade-long run on Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man is nothing short of incredible.
Over 34 issues, readers are treated to an intimate portrait of Otto Octavius that constantly forces them to question whether Peter has been doing the job wrong all these years. That is no small task for a character with thousands of stories under his belt who has just been replaced by his sworn enemy.
Nothing about Superior Spider-Man should work on paper but damn near every single part of it does. That is a testament to Slott's deep understanding of Dr. Octopus as a character and his appreciation for what it means to carry the responsibility of being Spider-Man.
Check out part one of this series!
