The Marvel Universe Conundrum

I figured I’d just start off 2009 not telling you about myself (in detail) about myself, but how I entered to explore the Marvel Universe and my puzzling experience with it. I’m not criticizing, but it can be an inconvenience if you’re not one to go out and “buy it all”!

Truthfully, I had just gotten back into comic books in the past couple of years. Prior to that it was only Jr. High was when I had an interest in Marvel Comics. The reason I had gotten back into them is that I wanted to expand my current “nerdiness” from just computer and video/computer gaming related activities to other ventures. Comic books had been my next venture along with a short bout with Heroclix and MTG (Magic the Gathering – still a complete newb at that game, lol)

Anyhow, I think the reason I stopped with the whole Marvel Universe world was because I kept getting tired of the variants of different comic book titles of the SAME character, ( I still find them trying to this very day, however had become more tolerant – perhaps the whole Marvel movies actually helped it along as well.).

In case you’re wondering what I mean, for example, titles such as (at least back in the 80’s when I gave up on collecting them) “The Sensational Spiderman”, “The Spectacular Spiderman”, “Peter Parker: Spiderman”, “The Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman”, etc, etc. I think at the time there were 3 running at the same time, and I think I stopped collecting it because it actually turned me off to making purchases of different variants of comics of the same character. It just didn’t make much sense to me. Guess I was too cheap as well. lol

This turned me off for a while, until I was able to tolerate it more in my adult life. I just collected what I thought was interesting to me personally. Whatever other variants I didn’t collect, I just used my imagination as to what is going on in those other variants. Are they just separate variants that are complete different stories kept apart from the other variants of the same character? Do they not follow the same timeline OR run parallel to each other?

For instance, I had been following the “Secret Invasion”, however this “Invasion” has also crept into the separate comics as well,”tie-ins” as you would call them. From what I’m gathering as I am reading them together, it seems you’re watching what’s going on from different perspectives. I read “The Punisher” for a short time during the “Death of Captain America” where the “Big News” on the Jumbo-tron of Cap’s death interrupted the Punisher’s story. I found that pretty interesting. Though you have to admit, there’d be “notes” in little squares at the bottoms of the corners with “*’s” indicating “As seen in Thor #15”, not sure that would have me running out to buy “Thor #15”, but it sheds some light on things.

I had never been that much of a fan to the point of collecting every tie-in, variant, and the like to get a closure of what’s going on with the Marvel Universe, but I do like it and what it has to offer. Plus if need me I can keep up with other dedicated fans should I ever have a question like, “Why did Wolverine kill that guy?” or “Where did Spiderman get his black costume?”.

Anyhow, hope this sheds some light about me in this New Year. Anyhow ttfn!

- Fin (Typical comic book ending)

E.T. – (a.k.a. – Evil Tony)