Marvel 101
Captain America: Civil War comes out today, as you may have noticed from the blistering acid rain of clips, commercials and promotions that have flooded the airwaves and Internet in the last month (or at least from our own coverage on page 9).
“But Paige,” you say, “I don’t really know what’s going on. Where do I start?”
Well, let me tell you a truth, noble reader: Two years ago, I didn’t know anything about Marvel either. I just watched the movies and was content.
Then I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier and obsession blossomed like a massive, festering corpse flower in my soul. I needed more. I needed all of it. Thankfully, I had help from a friend who spent their free time reading The Direct and other content related to Marvel to give me pointers, but even so it was no easy journey, which is why today’s column is dedicated to teaching you how to efficiently navigate the labyrinth of Marvel. 1. Watch children’s cartoon shows, for serious.
Specifically, you have to find The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s an excellent show that takes inspiration from all over the Marvel universe, introducing and juggling a huge slate of characters (from the Fantastic Four to Luke Cage to Kang the Conqueror) with ease. It’s a crash course in everything Marvel, and 52 wonderful episodes later, it was canceled and replaced with the garbage show Avengers Assemble. 2. Pick a favorite character.
You can’t just dive in randomly. You have to pick a focal point – some hero that speaks to you, so you can hunt him or her down through every scrap of media Marvel produces. I picked Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, and thus dove through his adventures before moving on to his associates and then into the wider world. How else do you organically go from Winter Soldier to Shang-Chi? 3. Sign up for Marvel Unlimited and just start reading.
I’ve talked about this before (you can dig it up on metrohnl.com) but seriously, access to a database of thousands of comics for $9.99 a month or $69 a year is a steal when an average issue costs $3.99 and a single trade book costs upwards of $15.
The key to really understanding Marvel, you see, is just consumption. The more you immerse yourself in, the more you’ll understand. Nothing makes sense at first, but as you learn more, you’ll look back and finally get why X happened or why Y said this to Z or who that one chick was in that cameo. So watch the movies. Watch the TV shows – especially stuff like Agent Carter, which is harder to find than Daredevil or Jessica Jones. Read any comic that catches your eye. Consume and rejoice!
Paige’s Pick of the Week
One note about DC: a much tougher nut to crack is Marvel’s perennial rival, which does not have an on-demand comics service. It does, however, have many, many excellent animated shows and films that you should watch. Metro cartoonist Nick Smith offers Justice League: The Flash-point Paradox as an excellent option on Netflix now.
PTAKEYA@MIDWEEK.COM
TWITTER: @LORDMAYOCLOUD
