Hey everyone! So a while back I asked for some good Marvel reads and I ended up checking some things out like Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny Avengers, All New X-Men, Iron Man, Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel, X-men, Uncanny X-men and my brain is exploding.

Some of the first few issues of most of these series I just don't understand at all. They keep referencing to past events or characters that are long dead or current conflicts or political issues, things like that. I'm finding Marvel just really frustrating as a brand new Marvel reader. As I don't know anything about the Marvel universe, by the time I get to the end of the issues my brain is just scrambled and I had no clue what I just read. Where as DC, I've been able to enjoy so much. I could just pick up anything and enjoy it right away without having to know much.

Am I doing Marvel wrong? Am I looking at the wrong series? Any help would be awesome as I really don't want to like one company over another. I just want to like comics as a whole. :)

Thanks!

Read on Wikipedia the occurences of the Avengers vs X Men event that happened in the summer of 2012. Everything that is happening in Marvel comics right now is being influenced by the actions that were taken in that event. Also, props for not stupidly "siding" with one company.

@vhyra: I can maybe help with answering questions about Captain Marvel.

Yeah, the X books and Avenger books can be tough to get into if you have no or limited knowledge of the characters. I'd recommend reading up on the wiki here on the ones you are unfamiliar with. After that, be patient, it will eventually come around.

Other advice is to try some of the individual character series. They are much easier to get into with little backstory knowledge. Ideally you'll want to start with issue #1 of the current volume, I think the first trades are out for all of them. My personal recommendations are below, but it depends on the ones that interest you.

Hawkeye

Daredevil

Thor: God of Thunder

Indestructible Hulk

Deadpool

Scarlet Spider

If you've only been reading New 52 then DC is easier to enjoy - Marvel NOW isn't quite the same which is why they keep referencing past events (AvX is confusing overall :P).

@vhyra: Dude, when I first start reading Marvel I picked up Spider-Man during the Clone Saga. I was lost! There were three Peter Parkers in three different costumes and a villain I never heard of, Jackal, was constantly being referenced. Doc Ock was a woman and Mysterio didn't have a fishbowl for a head. I kept reading and asked my comic book guy for back issues for help.

The point is: if you're genuinely interested then keep reading. You'll catch up to the story eventually and you have resources like this site, wikipedia and back issues to help you along. For some of the more obscure characters I found a site that is a HUGE help. The reason why Marvel NOW! is more confusing to you is because Marvel didn't reboot 70 years of continuity whereas DC did. It's harder to explain 50 plus years of X-Men than it is to explain what's been happening in Batman for the past two years.

Thanks for all the help, guys! I'll try to approach this in a different direction and do some research.

As everyone else suggested, don't worry too much about it all, just try to enjoy the read, and do a little online research. Eventually, after a while, you'll get the hang of things.

I will say that the Avengers and X-Men books definitely take quite a fair bit of background knowledge to understand though, so I would definitely recommend the solo titles. Books like Hawkeye, Indestructible Hulk etc.

If you are really confused about certain parts though, and you feel too lazy to do online research, feel free to drop me a PM. I'm always happy to help new readers with any questions. ;)

I guess I stayed away form team books for this same reason. I wanted to stay away from all the crazy drama. So when I started reading comic books again I started with solo books like Wolverine and Daredevil. I think the new X-Men with all female team is a easy and very entertaining read....well I take that back. I had no idea who the villain characters were but the story explain just enough for you to keep reading. Wait...you one of those people that ask a ton of questions during the movie??? So annoying! Just watch—I mean just keep reading! =P

So, I am a fairly new Marvel reader myself (picked up my first comic about 2 years ago) and I can tell you what worked for me in understanding what the heck was going on.

1) I picked up only a few titles at first and focused on solo titles of characters I knew a little about; e.g. Wolverine, Hulk, Cap, etc.

2) I read while my laptop was open to the Comic Vine Wiki. Anytime I didn't know who a character was, I looked it up.

3) I let myself get engrossed by what was currently happening. Even if I didn't understand a characters history, I focused on the emotion and the interaction they were currently having.

Proud to say that after 2 years things are getting easier, I understand more and with each passing week I enjoy comics more and more! Have fun!