Comics I Liked

Marvel Unlimited is pretty incredible in many ways; subscribing gives you access to tens of thousands of comics, in a mostly-consistent narrative stretching back to 1939. It’s a pretty daunting body of work to tackle, though—where do you start?

Below, I’ve listed some of my favorite series. I update this list periodically as I find new gems.

21st Century

Astonishing X-Men (2004)

Written by Joss Whedon, art by John Cassaday.

Immortal Iron Fist (2006)

Written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction; several artists, but David Aja will later collaborate spectacularly with Fraction on Hawkeye.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (2006)

Weirdness from Warren Ellis. The Nick Fury parody is genius.

Invincible Iron Man (2008)

Written by Matt Fraction.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (2011)

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Justin Ponsor. Introduces Miles Morales.

FF (2012)

Written by Matt Fraction, art by Mike & Laura Allred. The Allreds’ art style is maybe my favorite in all of comic books, and this is the first I really became aware of them.

Hawkeye (2012-2015)

Written by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja (and others). This book is fucking genius.

Captain Marvel (2012-13, 2014-15)

Kelly Sue DeConnick reboots Carol Danvers and takes her from B-list to A-list.

Young Avengers (2013)

Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, doing some awesome stuff just before embarking on The Wicked + The Divine.

Moon Knight (2014)

Written by Warren Ellis, art by Declan Shalvey. A clever take on one of Marvel’s weirdest heroes.

Ms. Marvel (2014, 2015-)

Written by G. Willow Wilson, edited by Sana Amanat. A profoundly brave book and a really risky choice by Marvel, that paid off fantastically.

Silver Surfer (2014-15, 2016-17)

Written by Dan Slott, art by the Allreds. Beautiful and heartbreaking and joyful.

Karnak (2015)

Written by Warren Ellis, art by David Aja. An extremely cool look at one of the most underrated Inhumans.

Mighty Thor (2015-2018)

Written by Jason Aaron, art by Russell Dauterman. Another really risky choice that really pays off.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015-)

Written by Ryan North, art by Erica Henderson. Briliant and sweet and hilarious.

Doctor Strange (2015)

Written by Jason Aaron, art by Chris Bachalo. My favorite rendition of the Doctor.

Darth Vader (2015)

Written by Kieron Gillen, art by Salvador Larroca. Really dark, really good.

Mockingbird (2016)

Written by Chelsea Cain, art by Kate Niemczyk. Tragically cancelled too early. I would have liked to see where else they could have taken her. Great use of corgis.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016)

Written by Kieron Gillen, art by Kev Walker. A sly book, with an unconventional protagonist, and a pair of droids that are not to be fucked with.

Black Panther (2016)

Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, art by Brian Stelfreeze. A really thoughtful perspective on power and liberation.

Black Bolt (2017)

Written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Christian Ward.

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (2017)

Written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Adam Kubert.

Lockjaw (2018)

Written by David Kibblesmith, art by Roberto Poggi. More Lockjaw, please.

Golden Age

Marvel Comics (1939) #1

Introducing the original android Human Torch and Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

Captain America Comics (1941) #1

Pretty simplistic by today’s standards, but it’s cool to see the introduction of an iconic character, with bonus Hitler-punching. Note that these comics are jingoistic as hell and are very much a product of their time, in every sense of that statement.

Silver Age

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #1-6