Weekly Update - 1/1/19

Happy My Marvelous New Year!

The official launch of the My Marvelous Year book club/ podcast is right around the corner!   
We're so thankful for all the support we've received building up to the launch. There's a level of anxiety that goes into starting a new creative endeavor, being unsure whether you'll find an audience or not. But having so many people on board during  this phase has been a real encouragement. So again: thanks!

Onto the good stuff... comics! Because we hit our first goal of $100, we released our episode discussing the Golden Age of Marvel comics today on the main My Marvelous Year feed (as well as Dave's Best Comics Ever feed).

The Golden Age is the era of comics from around the late 1930's to the mid 1950's, although we mostly stick to '39-'41. This era shows the introductions of such classic characters as Captain America, Namor the Submariner, the Human Torch (no, not that one), Ferret, Vision (no, not that one), Ka-Zar the Great, and Black Widow (no, not that one). These are a collection of fun curiosities for the hardcore fan, but if you're just here for the real Marvel universe, you can feel comfortable skipping these. Any crossover that does occur with the main continuity is fully contextualized later on, and this episode will fill you on the particulars. If you still want to check these out, the reading list can be found in the show notes for the episode.

For the actual MMY reading club, we'll be starting next Monday with our episode discussing the 1961/62 list. This is a fun year that shows the debut of Spider-Man, Thor, The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, and The Hulk! Some of these stories/ origins are a bit clunky, but will improve greatly over the next couple years.

The comics we're covering for Marvel Year One: 1961/62 are:

Fantastic Four #1
Amazing Adult Fantasy #7
Fantastic Four #2
Incredible Hulk #1
Fantastic Four #4
Fantastic Four #5
Journey Into Mystery #83, #85
Amazing Fantasy #15
Tales to Astonish #35
Fantastic Four #9  


For each Marvel publication year, Zack releases a side show for $5+ patrons called Extra Issues that covers some issues not on the main MMY list that he feels are significant in some way. That might be because they're hidden gems, contain first time appearances of big heroes/villains, or for some other noteworthy reason. These issues are definitely not all critical reading but, if you're interested in getting an even wider view of the Marvel Universe, it's worth your time to give the show a listen. His recommendation on whether they're worth your time to read will be included with the listing (Must Read/ Read If Interested/ Skip).

You can find the updating list for Extra Issues here, and feel free to suggest issues for the show via email or the #extraissues Slack channel.

For 1961/62, Extra Issues is covering:

Rawhide Kid #26: Read if interested
Hulk #3: Skip
Amazing Adult Fantasy #12: Read if interested
Love Romances #97: Read if interested

(In the future, Extra Issues will be covering a much larger number of issues per year)

As always, all the comics we read can be found at Marvel Unlimited or on their Android/iOS apps. NOTE: Love Romances #97 is not on MU, but can be found here.

Following the episode(s) about each Marvel publication year, we'll be recording a listener feedback episode where we read your thoughts about these years' comics and discuss (these episodes are also where we put together some outtakes and/or content that didn't make it into the main episodes). So, please email us at mymarvelousyear@gmail.com if you'd like your thoughts immortalized in podcast form!

UPCOMING PODCAST SCHEDULE:  

Jan 7: Marvel Year One: 1961/62 / Extra Issues 1961/62
Jan 8: Deadline for feedback about 1961/62
Jan 14:  Marvel Year One: 1961/62 Listener Feedback
Jan 21:  Marvel Year Two: 1963 Part 1 / Extra Issues 1963
Jan 28:  Marvel Year Two: 1963 Part 2
Jan 29:  Deadline for feedback about 1963
Feb 4:  Marvel Year Two: 1963 Listener Feedback 

Come chat with us in the Slack channel (available to $3+ patrons), and find us on Instagram or Twitter.

You can find all the My Marvelous Year reading lists here and check out the rest of what Comic Book Herald has to offer here.

Thanks for joining us on this journey through Marvel comics!