A Cosmic Marvel Reading Guide

Recently on Marvel Noise, my friends Steve, Rick, and Tom did a two-part deep dive into things that serves as a great Cosmic Marvel history lesson. The second installment in episode 118 focuses on the events of Annihilation through the current state of things. (When listening to this episode the kiddo was completely enthralled with what Steve, Rick, and Tom were talking about. When I told him I had all the books we were hearing about, he immediately asked if he could read them! And another Marvel Cosmic fan is born.)

I have been really enjoying the space-based Marvel renaissance over the last few years. Written in 2008, I had this to say about Cosmic Marvel in the “Bound for Greatness” chapter of Deus ex Comica:

Beyond Star Wars, I’ve never been a huge sci-fi fan. (And my friend John would probably argue that Star Wars is more space opera than sci-fi in the purest sense.) No Roddenberry. No Bradbury. I was always more into Fleming and Spielberg, and that translated to my comic book reading tastes as well. The Original Collection has a few Novas and Quasars, and the first issue of the Bill Mantlo/Mike Mignola Rocket Raccoon limited series from ’85. But by and large I stuck with pure super hero adventures: Avengers, Alpha Flight, Defenders, X-Men. These were the comics I loved.

Even though Cosmic Marvel was never my thing, that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to give it a go, and Marvel’s 2006 Annihilation event came highly recommended... The initial story is collected in three books compiling nearly 30 issues of Cosmic Marvel goodness! This is followed by the Annihilation: Conquest event spanning 2007 and 2008, and the Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing series.

Beginning with Annihilation, Book One, the story immediately sucked me in. I love the way Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest are laid out. The collections are organized in a way that provides a coherent storyline woven throughout the books. They start with the prologues and tie-in miniseries, then go into the main sagas. The Cosmic Marvel Universe is a bit of a different animal than the Earth-based Marvel Universe. Tent poles like Civil War and Secret Invasion are all about trying to be huge in scope and having a breadth that influences even the far corners of the Marvel Universe. But I wish Marvel would: a) cut down on the number of tie-ins for those tent pole events, instead scaling them down to Annihilation-size, and b) package all their event collections similar to Annihilation. It’s really a model of restraint which, ironically, results in maximum impact.

While I was at Summit City Comic Con last month, I was chatting with my buddy Mike, telling him that I’d just finished up Nova, volumes 3 and 4, and Guardians of the Galaxy, volume 1. He said he has wanted to dig into the revived cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, but has been unsure of where to begin and what order to go through them. As a fellow stickler for continuity and reading chronology, I totally empathized and decided to share my take on things.

I’m reading it all exclusively in collected editions, and I’m pretty confident the reading arrangement I have cobbled together is correct. All books I reference here are the trade paperback editions, with the exception of War of Kings, which I couldn’t resist in that beautiful hardcover. (And, yes, I do sorta wish I’d picked up the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest books in that oversized format as well.)

What Keith Griffen began with Annihilation has only been improved upon by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Far-reaching and epic in scope, these are tales that stretch the imagination and mine the rich history of Marvel Cosmic adventures. So, to the best of my knowledge, for your reference...

Annihilation
Annihilation Classic
Bug (1997) #1
Tales to Astonish (1959) #13
Nova (1976) #1
Quasar (1989) #1
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #1
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #2
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #3
Rocket Raccoon (1985) #4
Marvel Spotlight (1979) #6
Logan's Run (1977) #6
Marvel Premiere (1972) #1












Annihilation, Book One
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #1
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #2
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #3
Drax the Destroyer (2005) #4
Annihilation Prologue (2006) #1
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #1
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #2
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #3
Annihilation: Nova (2006) #4












Annihilation, Book Two
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #1
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #2
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #3
Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) #4
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #1
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #2
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #3
Annihilation: Super-Skrull (2006) #4
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #1
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #2
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #3
Annihilation: Ronan (2006) #4












Annihilation, Book Three
Annihilation (2006) #1
Annihilation (2006) #2
Annihilation (2006) #3
Annihilation (2006) #4
Annihilation (2006) #5
Annihilation (2006) #6
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus (2007) #1
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus (2007) #2
Annihilation The Nova Corps Files (2006) One-Shot

Annihilation Conquest, Book One
Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007) #4
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar (2007) #4
Annihilation: Saga (2007) One Shot












Nova, Volume 1: Annihilation Conquest
Nova (2007) #1
Nova (2007) #2
Nova (2007) #3
Nova (2007) #4
Nova (2007) #5
Nova (2007) #6
Nova (2007) #7












Annihilation Conquest, Book Two
Nova (2007) #4
Nova (2007) #5
Nova (2007) #6
Nova (2007) #7
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #1
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #2
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #3
Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith (2007) #4
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #1
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #2
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #3
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #4
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #5
Annihilation: Conquest (2008) #6












Nova, Volume 2: Knowhere
Nova (2007) #8
Nova (2007) #9
Nova (2007) #10
Nova (2007) Annual 01
Nova (2007) #11
Nova (2007) #12











Marvel Cosmic Ongoing
Nova, Volume 3: Secret Invasion
Nova (2007) #13
Nova (2007) #14
Nova (2007) #15
Nova (2007) #16
Nova (2007) #17
Nova (2007) #18












Nova, Volume 4: Nova Corps
Nova (2007) #19
Nova (2007) #20
Nova (2007) #21
Nova (2007) #22
Nova: The Origin of Richard Rider (2009) One-Shot

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 1: Legacy
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #2
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #3
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #4
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #5
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #6












War of Kings
Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2: War of Kings, Book 1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #7
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #8
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #9
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #10
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #11
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #12












War of Kings (Hardcover)
Secret Invasion: War of Kings (2009) #1
War of Kings (2009) #1
War of Kings (2009) #2
War of Kings (2009) #3
War of Kings (2009) #4
War of Kings (2009) #5
War of Kings (2009) #6
War of Kings: Darkhawk (2009) #1
War of Kings: Darkhawk (2009) #2
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #1
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #2
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #3
War of Kings: Ascension (2009) #4
War of Kings: Savage World of Skaar (2009) #1
War of Kings: Warriors (2009) #1
War of Kings: Warriors (2009) #2
Marvel Spotlight: War of Kings (2009) #1












Nova, Volume 5: War of Kings
Nova (2007) #23
Nova (2007) #24
Nova (2007) #25
Nova (2007) #26
Nova (2007) #27
Nova (2007) #28

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3: War of Kings, Book 2
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #14
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #15
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #16
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #17
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #18
Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #19