Superhero comics: What insane story/character developments do avid followers take for granted but would blow the minds of anyone only peripherally aware of them?

Maybe I'm just Allred apologising too much but I thought the issue now they're back on Earth was really great, like a Scooby Doo ep or something.

I'll have to check it out. Stopped reading after issue #2.

IIRC the next issue of Moon Knight is the last Ellis issue? They've all been great though.

nope, issue 6 has a page basically saying "Don't stop reading now!!!" and then a three page preview of issue 7 from the new team.

Ellis's Marvel work over the years has been so uneven

Best Marvel Runs

Daredevil by Bendis/Maleev/Brubaker -- This is a pretty great modern sequel to the Frank Miller run on Daredevil.
Cable & Deadpool- Fabian Nicieza & bunch of artists -- I thought this comic was a whole lot of fun. It's really one of the few things I have read that had that old style Marvel storytelling. There is also a really well setup long arc to the series. Tie ins to the bigger universe work, as they are self contained. I liked it quite a bit.
Captain America- Brubaker & Company- It waffles a bit as a run, probably because of having to tie into everything in the Bucky Cap chapters, but overall it's probably the best run of Cap comics ever, definitely one of the more popular takes in modern times.
Prelude to Planet Hulk/Planet Hulk/World War Hulk -- I thought the parts of the battle planet was just amazing. They should have just left him out there for another couple of years, as there seemed to be so many stories they could have told and that direction was popular.
The Punisher by Garth Ennis - Ennis' run on The Punisher is like Brubaker's Captain America, it's the most advanced take on the character. The MAX series covers a whole lot of ground but also has some odd turns like a last Punisher story and single issues with really great guest veteran artists. The earlier run of the Punisher is in the regular universe and it's pretty funny. There is an arc with Darick Robertson artwork that has Spider-man, Daredevil and Wolverine as guest stars that is a favorite of mine. Maybe not for everyone, as the Punisher Max series is really violent, but it's one of my favorites.

Grant Morrison's X-Men run is an interesting read too. I don't think it all quite fits, but there some total cool comics in there worth reading. His stuff always is good to re-read.
Fantastic Four- Hickman & Co. -- It's a pretty solid long novel story. I think when they compile it, they really should put the FF stuff next to the regular title, as the story flows that way. It's a definite sequel to both the Kirby/Lee & Byrne runs.

I should say modern runs...last decade or so.

Oh yeah, the Hickman stuff! Also check out his Secret Warriors, that is a pretty solidly plotted out long story as well. And also Gillen's Journey Into Mystery with Kid Loki. I kinda miss Kid Loki...

I liked Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. series too. But the best stuff he's done at Marvel is Fantastic Four/FF, which Fraction then immediately fucked up and abandoned.

Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts with Bendis' sequel in Dark Avengers is pretty dark fun reading too. It's kind of tied to the Marvel U macro story line though, so if read on their own, some of the context might be lost. Don't know if they do the review sheets in the Marvel trades, but the ones on the issue are pretty good for catching up what you might have missed in a 'crossover' story.

Some great recommendations here. Thanks guys. Gonna look to see what I can find in omnibus format on amazon.

If you're going the omnibus route, Annihilation is highly recommended. It's the storyline that kicked off the modern era of Marvel Cosmic and reintroduced the members of the new Guardians of the Galaxy. And it's currently only in print as an omnibus (which is why I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wasn't willing to shell out $$$). Presumably, they will be following that up with an omnibus of (the likewise out of print) Annihilation Conquest, which formally introduced the new GotG team. Why this stuff isn't currently widely available in affordable paperbacks in every Barnes and Noble...well, just ask those lovely people in the Marvel reprint department about their keen foresight and awe-inspiring strategic planning skills.

even the trades they do put out are double the price of an image trade, bcz something something marvel? idgi

Yeah, their trade prices are often ridiculously steep. I don't see other paperback books selling for $35-40 dollars. I guess the argument with TPBs in that price range (e.g. the Ultimate trades, which usually collect around 12 to 16 issues) is that they're roughly equivalent to the price point of the individual issues? Except that those are ridiculously overpriced, as well. All the more reason why it's such a shame that they've done away with the Essential line.

i know i say this in every thread but if you have a tablet get a marvel unlimited subscription.
seventy bucks gets you access to about 80% of everything listed above

There's another symptom of the price hikes, too, I'd wager. Marvel Unlimited as a loss leader for physical reprints.

As much as I like having access to stuff digitally and the convenience thereof, I'm apparently afflicted with the inability to ever fully give up on floppies and trades. I way prefer reading stuff that way.

As much as I hate parting with $35 freaking dollars for a trade paperback, I like supporting my local comics shop. If I was just buying stuff from Amazon or whatever anyway, the subscription thing would of course be a great deal.

As much as I love physical copies, I have nine or ten bookshelves filled with floppies, trades and hardcovers and i'm trying desperately to transfer to digital wherever possible.

Oh yeah, I understand that problem too. Fortunately, I'm not quite there with comics, but I've had to sell or give away most of my physical book collection simply for space limitation issues.

weirdly, i've given away most of what i own multiple times due to space limitations / moving and I've lost half of my collection multiple times but every goddamn time i get a little cash i seem to blow it on a comic library and that shit's gotta stop at some point

^ This. Except I've finally conceded that it's never gonna stop, so I've just given in. The realities of physical space be damned.

(I figure the continued employment of actual bookshelves will stave off hoarderhood.)

yeah, but that means every three to five months i have to have the awkward conversation with my girl about how "we totally have room here for another bookshelf, right? and then we can get these books off the table and you want that right? and you're not saying i should get rid of anything right?"

Ha. We live parallel lives, forks. There is, thankfully, a storage room in our building, but that's only going to keep the dam from bursting for so long.

sooner or later my gal is gonna figure out that my ongoing efforts to get her into comics are just a smokescreen for plausible deniability when the entire apartment becomes a constant wall packed with comic storage and ebay will not be kind to me.
thank GOD i got the action figure / collectible bug out of my system in my thirties

Yeah, thankfully, I've largely purged my CD & DVD collections because I don't have the physical or mental space for more than one obsessive pursuit anymore.

going non-physical with music was one of the more important decisions in my twenties; has save me SO MUCH heartbreak

and i imagine as much money as opting not to have a child!

is batman digitizing damian to save on batcave storage more morrison or ellis?

ellis, certainly

seconded on Marvel Unlimited. despite their godawful design problems, I've been having a good time reading the last couple weeks

I was trying to think of something to steer this thread back on topic and realized that, despite the wealth of Kitty Pryde revelations here, no one ever pointed out that Widget was revealed to be KP's future consciousness inside a robotic body.

wow, that is a surprise. wonder how that would impact a reread of the early excalibur books. i mean, not enough to actually read them, but

xp
If that fails the very fact that this happened should work,
http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/14/142926/3543170-snowflame.jpg
but then I can't be sure how many avid followers are actually aware that someone at DC in the 80's thought this was a good idea
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Snowflame_(New_Earth)

"I am Steve Englehart Snowflame! Every cell of my being burns with white hot ecstasy."

helluvadrug

'Powers: Cocaine Touch: Touching Snowflame was sufficient to give The Floronic Man a contact high.'

and then somebody rolled up the floronic man and smoked him, circle of dope

Powers: Unique Physiology: The more cocaine he used, the more powerful Snowflame became.
Weaknesses: Drug Addiction: Cocaine

i am dying here

that took me all the way to the ongoing fan webcomic about this guy and dear lord

oh woooooowwww, that's great

http://www.snowflamecomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012-08-30-8931b9ce.jpg

http://www.snowflamecomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/814311492_1352973.gif

hahaha

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Murderers-of-Marvel-Infographic.jpg
wait, cap killed truman?

and how is Truman neutral?

immediate nitpicks: X-23 has surely killed WAY more than than that, even counting on-panel only. you'd think her own mother would be a "notable kill"

good thing they didn't include Bishop who straight up committed multiple genocides into the billions during his crazy time-traveling spree to kill Hope Summers

lol at Iron Man's having killed 5 heroes and 1 villain

I guess they're only counting deaths that weren't reversed by the end of the story arc? Otherwise Thanos should be on the top of the list.

Though they do list The Torch killing Mr. Immortal, even though the guy's literal superpower is that he always comes back to life after getting killed.

man things got really murder-y from the 90s on, I don't recognize the names of at least 2/3rds of the characters involved on that chart

Stpuid superhero deaths