MC2/Spider-Girl (reading order)

In 1998 Tom DeFalco conceived of the "MC2" or Marvel Comics 2 Universe (982) as a possible alternate future of the mainstream Marvel Universe (616) set in the present day as if the superheroes of the 616 had aged and whatnot. Essentially this was a proto-Ultimate continuity.
While I have not yet read many issues I've managed to score nearly all of them in my years of haunting comic cons, bargain bins, used book stores, and the like. Here is what I've been able to put together for reading order on these titles based again solely on release date. I'll get into the wisdom of buying hundreds of comics for series that I have not yet sampled from and may not actually enjoy reading once I do get them. I'm not paying you all for psycho-analysis after all.

What If (Vol 2) #105 - 1st Appearance of Spider-Girl, MC2
Spider-Girl #0
Spider-Girl #1/2

Concurrent?
Spider-Girl #1-12
A-Next #1-12 Oct 1998 - Sep 1999
J2 #1-12 Oct 1998 - Sep 1999

Spider-Girl Annual #1 1999

Concurrent?
Wild Thing #0 1999
Spider-Girl #13-17
Wild Thing #1-5 Oct 1999
Fantastic Five (Vol 1) #1-5 Oct 1999

Spider-Girl #18-21

Concurrent?
Spider-Girl #22-24
The Buzz #1-3 Jul 2000

Spider-Girl #25

Concurrent?
Spider-Girl #26-28
DarkDevil #1-3 Nov 2000

Spider-Girl #29-84

Concurrent?
Spider-Girl #85-89
Last Hero Standing #1–5 (June 2005)

Spider-Girl #90-97

Concurrent?
Spider-Girl #98-100
Last Planet Standing #1–5 (July 2006)

Amazing Spider-Girl #0

Concurrent?
Amazing Spider-Girl #1–4
Avengers Next #1–5 (November 2006 – January 2007)

Amazing Spider-Girl #5–7

Concurrent?
Amazing Spider-Girl #8-10
Fantastic Five (volume 2) #1–5 (July 2007 – September 2007)

Amazing Spider-Girl #11-17

Concurrent?
Amazing Spider-Girl #18-22
American Dream #1–5 (May 2008 – July 2008)

Amazing Spider-Girl #23-30
Amazing Spider-Girl #1–30 (October 2006 – March 2009)

Spectacular Spider-Girl #1–4 (Jul 2010 – Oct 2010)

Web Spider-Man (back-up features) #1-7

Forth-coming:

Spider-Girl: The End #1-6

I guess that's all I got for now. I'll probably update some as I read through the issues, until then if any of you have suggestions, I'll take them.

Ultimatum (reading order)

This appears to be the best way to read through this series... if you decide to read them that is!

Ultimatum #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #130
Ultimate X-Men #98
Ultimate Fantastic Four #58
Ultimatum #2
Ultimate Spider-Man #131
Ultimate Fantastic Four #59
Ultimate X-Men #99
Ultimatum #3
Ultimate Fantastic Four #60
Ultimate X-Men #100
Ultimate Spider-Man #132
Ultimatum #4
Ultimate Spider-Man #133
Ultimatum #5
Ultimatum Requiem - Spider-Man #1-2, X-men, and Fantastic Four (can be read in any order)

After reading all these issues I have to say that while there are a few interesting points for the new Ultimate Comics to start from, largely this was a pretty poor event/story. It seems as though Marvel gave the creative talent the directive to kill off a bunch of characters and make it graphic and disturbing. I understand the need to re-vamp or re-start the Ultimate Universe as it has been going down-hill for a while, but this event is overly graphic and was handled with little care for these characters.

Marvel Zombies (reading order)

The Ultimate Universe began in 2000 with the start of Ultimate Spider-Man. The title proved to be wildly popular and spawned an entire universe. One thing that Marvel said they would never do is crossover the Ultimate Universe with the mainstream, or 616, Marvel Universe. Marvel dropped plenty of hints about a story-arc in the Ultimate Fantastic Four series. Turns out it was not quite what people thought. This was the birth of the Marvel Zombies Universe, Earth-2149.

Reading order for the Marvel Zombies universe, in chronological order:

Marvel Zombies Dead Days (events concurrent with the MZvAOD 0-2)
Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #0-5
Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 23
Marvel Zombies vol 1 #1-5
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 - 32
Black Panther vol 3 #28-30
Marvel Zombies vol 2 #1-5
Marvel Zombies vol 3 #1-4
Marvel Zombies vol 4 #1-4

Other, related comics:
Marvel Zombies Book of Angels, Demons, and Monstrosities
Marvel Spotlight Marvel Zombies
Exiles #85-86
Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham


Publication Order:

Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 - 23 (Sep/2005 to Nov/2005)
Marvel Zombies vol 1 #1-5 (Feb/2006 to Jun/2006)
Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 - 32 (Jul/2006 to Oct/2006)
Exiles #85-86 (Oct/2006 to Nov/2006)
Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham (Mar/2007)
Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #0-5 (May/2007 to Aug/2007)
Marvel Zombies Dead Days (Jul/2007)
Black Panther vol 3 #28-30 (JUL/2007 to Oct/2007)
Marvel Zombies Book of Angels, Demons, and Monstrosities (Sep/2007)
Marvel Spotlight Marvel Zombies (Oct/2007)
Marvel Zombies vol 2 #1-5 (Dec/2007 to Apr/2008)
Marvel Zombies vol 3 #1-4 (Dec/2008 to Mar/2009)
Marvel Zombies vol 4 #1-4 (Jun/2009 to [current])

As always - if you have any corrections, additions, or subtractions - let me know!

Spider-Man's Brand New Day!

I read a lot of comics and I have been reading them for a long time. One group of titles I never really got into - the Spider-Man titles. I like the character just fine, but I always had trouble getting into stories or books that featured just him. I think the trouble lies in the fact that I couldn't identify with him. For one thing - Mary Jane. Sure I've got a super-hot wife, but I worked hard for her affections - she didn't just fall into my lap. Also, she's not taking any more modeling gigs.

The other thing is this guy has so many opportunities to make his life easier and he never takes them. People want to give him money, or support, and he just turns it down or gives it way. Here's a guy that's going out into the world, putting his life on the line constantly, and he lets himself go hungry!

All that aside, when Marvel announced their whole "Brand New Day" thing for Spider-man and the gang I figured I'd give the title a shot. It's really great and I'm enjoying it tremendously. Peter Parker is on his own, trying to make a life for himself while dealing with all the hardships that come with being Spider-Man. The new characters are interesting - I very interested to see how they play out.

Brand New Day directly follows the events of One More Day, published in these issues:
(Part 1) The Amazing Spider-Man #544
(Part 2) Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23
(Part 3) Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #40
(Part 4) The Amazing Spider-Man #545

Brand New Day starts off in Amazing Spider-Man (now shipping thrice-monthly-ish) and continues in the Annual and a few "Extra" issues. Of course, "Brand New Day" ends after only a few issues, though the events that drive the new continuity are felt through these issues.

Amazing Spider-Man #546-566
Amazing Spider-Man Extra #1
Amazing Spider-Man #567-574
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (2008)
Amazing Spider-Man #575-583
Amazing Spider-Man Extra #2
Amazing Spider-Man #584-588
Amazing Spider-Man Extra #3
Amazing Spider-Man #589-Current

The main thing here is that I want to support the project. Marvel has taken three monthly titles and combined them into one thrice-monthly title with a rotating creative team - but with the same overall narrative! This is a practice that I'd love to see for Superman, Batman, Avengers, X-Men, and more! If Marvel makes money off this experiment, perhaps they'll try it with other books too.