Hey, Kids! Comics! Vol. 1: Marvel's Siege Event

As one of the handful of Game Informer editors who reads comics seriously -- I'm talking weekly trips to the comic shop seriously -- I've taken it upon myself to start doing some blog posts about comics. No promises about doing this weekly or anything, but whenever I want to geek out about comic stuff, I'll try to get one of these posts up.

First, to give a bit of background: I got into comics in college when I took a part-time job at a local comic shop. This blossomed into a love for the genre to the point where I was ordering tons of comics online and spending hundreds of dollars on comics every week. Then last year after an unfortunate layoff, I had to cut down my spending and, to my great distress, comics were the first thing to go. Thankfully, things have settled down, and I'm now diving back into comics with great enthusiasm.

Except I've hit that problem that anyone who's ever tried to get into comics has: Where the hell do I begin?

Luckily, my timing has coincided perfectly with the launch of Marvel's next big event, Siege, which has proven to be a surprisingly great jumping-on point.

Siege is primarily focused on Norman Osborn (the dude in the middle above), who you may know better as the Green Goblin. Though still struggling with his grip on sanity, Osborn has cast aside the Goblin persona and become a major player in the Marvel universe, single-handedly stopping an alien invasion and being handed leadership of a new band of shady Avengers.

If you're wondering how someone with a record for craziness like Osborn could maintain power without cracking...well, that's where Siege comes in. Now that Osborn's spent about a year's worth of Marvel comics wreaking havoc at the top, it's time for him to come crashing down.

To begin catching up, I purchased the helpful Siege: Prelude trade paperback that was published the same week as Siege #1. This includes issues of Thor, Dark Avengers, New Avengers and more, and by the time I'd read it cover to cover, I felt like I had all the info I needed to understand what has led to this big event.

What's the big event in question? Well, in Siege #1 and Siege: The Cabal, Osborn (under the subtle influence of trickster god Loki) decides to stage a massive tragedy and use it as the motivation for an attack on Asgard. Yes, the very same Asgard that is home to the Norse gods in mythology  and home to Thor in the Marvel universe. As you can imagine, this probably won't go over quite so well with the thunder god that we all know and love.

In January, I nabbed the first issue of Siege as well as tie-ins to the New Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative books. Things are just getting started for the four-issue event, but already the battle for Asgard is raging, with Osborn and his Dark Avengers attacking Thor directly with explosive consequences. Even more exciting, the final page of issue 1 hints that the recently returned-from-the-dead Captain America is about to jump into the battle. Siege #2 just hit today, and I can't wait to dig in after work tonight.

Just in case big events aren't your thing, I also got some recommendations from Marvel's own Ryan Penagos. Here's some of the stuff he recommended that I'll be checking out soon:

• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis - After the Ultimate universe went through some difficult times with the Ultimatum event, Bendis has brought Spider-Man to a new, entertaining status quo, managing to maintain the mix of superhero action and high school drama that made the original Ultimate Spider-Man series so likable.
• Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction - This second Iron Man ongoing originally launched around the same time as the hit film to capitalize on the movie's success. Fraction, brilliant writer that he is, has given the book a feel all its own, turning Tony Stark away from the annoying, pro-establishment figurehead that he became in Civil War and into a much more complex character.
• Wolverine: Weapon X by Jason Aaron - Okay, yes, it's another Wolverine series, but don't hang up the phone just yet. Jason Aaron is one of the most promising comic writers today, and he is working hard to set up Weapon X as more of a stand-alone book with lots of new characters and villains. 

I'll let you know my opinions and those and any other comics I happen to check out as I jump into them in the near future. In the mean time, let me know your thoughts on Siege in the comments. I also sat in as a special guest of the Between the Panels podcast this weekend during a special Siege-only episode. Unfortunately, said episode isn't quite out yet, but stay tuned to the Between the Panels Twitter feed for info on when it's released.

Oh, and for the DC fanboys in the audience, I'm also in the midst of trying to catch up on their current big event, Blackest Night. Unfortunately, they're in the latter half of their event right now, whereas Siege is just starting, so it's taking a bit more work to catch up. I'll let you know what I think if/when I do!