Calling all Fanboys RE: Dark Reign Comics

Unknown
Unknown
edited January 2014 in MPQ General Discussion
So I'm kind of interested in reading the comics that the MPQ:Dark Reign is based on. My brother is my normal go to on this stuff as he has been collecting comics for 20+ years and usually has just about anything i could ask for. But it turns out he stopped collecting (or at least significantly slowed down) right before the Dark Reign story arc. So he was helping me look on amazon for the right graphic novel to give me the core story but I figured I'd ask here to make sure I got the right ones. I know that the way Marvel usually works is that there is a main story (Avengers for example) and then a bunch of side stories focusing on specific characters during the period (Hawkeye, Punisher, etc). Every character it seems gets their own little addition to the overall story. So what would be the best ones to read to get a basic run through the Dark Reign time period? I'm thinking it would be Dark Avengers (2 Volumes?) by Brian Bendis. And what side/character stories are relevant or good enough to read as well? Thanks in advance for your help

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I've started in on reading up on Comic again as well. Check this out: http://www.comicbookherald.com/the-comp ... rder-list/ . That's what I've been using to keep things straight as far as reading order. I'm still in the beginning of Dark Reign, so I can't really narrow things for you much yet.
  • Spoit
    Spoit Posts: 3,441 Chairperson of the Boards
    Are they available as part of the marvel unlimited thingy? Might be cheaper to just get 1 month of that then buying a bunch of books
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    They are. /10 =P
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Spoit wrote:
    Are they available as part of the marvel unlimited thingy? Might be cheaper to just get 1 month of that then buying a bunch of books
    Is that an subscirption ap or something? I was thinking of just doing the digital kindle versions which are way cheaper than actual books/comics. Again I'm not looking to read 100 comics. Just the main story arc and a few side stories
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    It's a paid subscription service, lets you read a very large digital collection of comics. It doesn't have anything newer than 6mo, but it has a great amount of the 'classic' storylines from many time periods. You can read through a browser, and there is an Android and iOS app (though the adndroid app is apparently kinda buggy). IIRC, it's $9.99 a month, or $60 a year? And they often run promotions on buying a subscription.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Kyosokun wrote:
    (though the android app is apparently kinda buggy)
    It's probably fine on tablets, but they changed the big two page pictures to fit by height several months ago which made them unreadable by phone. Zooming doesn't increase resolution on those pages, and smart panels are stupid. I only read by browser since then.
  • Eddiemon
    Eddiemon Posts: 1,470 Chairperson of the Boards
    The road to dark reign starts with Avengers Dissasembled where the Scarlet Witch goes slightly insane. This leads into House of M which is a temporary alternate reality that concludes with M Day and Decimation. Only people involved in House of M can remember these events.

    M day causes the collective to be created (New Avengers story, not an event book like the rest listed here). In solving the collective issue, the government finds out about M Day and the cause of decimation. This leads to the SuperHuman Registration Act.

    Some C grade heroes are filming a TV show where they take down villains and it goes pear shaped and thousands are killed. This is the Stamford event and is the poster cause for the SHRA above to be pushed through. This splits the hero groups and leads to the Civil War event.

    To prepare for civil war Tony Stark tricks the Hulk off planet and launches him into the universe. This leads to the Planet Hulk story that may be more relevant if Skaar joins the story. Planet Hulk culminates with Hulk returning to Earth and kicking some butt. This happens in World War Hulk. That story is referenced a few times in the current Hulk event.

    Annihilation Wave happens out in the Galaxy and as a side effect the Skrull throne worlds are destroyed. This leads to them invading earth in Secret Invasion. Osborne manages to deal with the Skrull queen and this combined with the disaster of Wirld War Hulk leads to him replacing Iron Man as head of Shield. Enter Dark Reign.

    So if you have the time and inclination you can read all that. Otherwise Civil War and Avengers Initiative books set out the power structure and Secret Invasion and Deadpool set out how he comes to power. Thunderbolts becomes Dark Avengers if you ar interested in those characters.
  • Puritas
    Puritas Posts: 670 Critical Contributor
    the moose wrote:
    I'm thinking it would be Dark Avengers (2 Volumes?) by Brian Bendis.

    Make sure you get the Bendis one
    I got the other dark avengers (nee Thunderbolts) and was horribly dissapointed, not to mention slightly emotionally damaged by the casual crippling of jack flag ;(

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