Weekly Update 11/10/19

What makes a good shared universe? Characters popping in and out of each others' series? Storylines weaving in and out through multiple series? Big events whose consequences are felt throughout all comics published?

We're seeing or will see all of these aspects in the Marvel Universe (and more). Does Spidey showing up in a one-off X-Men issue make it feel connected? But then what about the fact that no one besides X-Men seems to care or even really notice that there's a huge culture war going on over mutants (well, the Wandavision wedding brought some of that up). We're not in the era of huge crossover events yet, but we are seeing Jim Starlin hop from Adam Warlock to the Avengers to Spidey/The Thing, all in one story. The threat of Thanos feels bigger and more real because a large number of unrelated heroes are all brought in.

But sharing a universe has downsides too. The tone of a character might clash with the rest of the universe (Squirrel Girl in Fear Itself?). Or a series that might feel hijacked by an editorial mandate to crossover with an event. For a while, Marvel segregated their events into the Annual Issues of each comic... but according to Dave, it never quite worked.

What do you love about superhero comics having a shared universe? How does it best work and what are the biggest ways it can ruin a comic? Let me know in the comments or find me on Slack to chat about it!

This week's episode is Marvel Year Sixteen: 1977 Pt. 1. Please get any 1977 feedback for us to discuss on our next Variant Cover episode by 11/19/19. You can send it to mymarvelousyear@gmail.com

1977 PART 1:
Marvel Team-Up /Avengers Annual / Marvel Two-In-One Annual #55 / #7 / #2
Ms. Marvel #1, #7, #9 to #10
Avengers #160 to #162, #164 to #166
What If #1
Howard the Duck #8

1977 PART 2 :
Iron Fist #11 to #15
Uncanny X-Men #104 to #108
Amazing Spider-Man #174 to #175
Marvel Preview / Marvel Spotlight #11 / #32
Super-Villain Team-Up #10 to #12

EXTRA ISSUES 1976 (always changing, check the spreadsheet for current):
Marvel Super Action #1 Weirdworld!
Avengers #144 Patsy Walker becomes... Hellcat!
Marvel Presents #3 Guardians of the Galaxy get their own series
Black Goliath #1 Bill Foster becomes Black Goliath
X-Men #97 Intro of Shi'ar and Erik the Red
Marvel Premiere #29 Intro of Liberty Legion
The Invaders #7 Union Jack & Baron Blood
Avengers #151 Return of Wonder Man
Doctor Strange #18 Strange meets... Benjamin Franklin?
Amazing Spider-Man #161, #162 Nightcrawler & Punisher team-up, intro of Jigsaw
Captain Britain #1, 8 Clairemont's British Super-Hero, Betsy Bradock
Fantastic Four #176 Another meta issue with the Impossible Man
Incredible Hulk #205 Return of Jarella, Hulk's lady love
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 A third Spidey mag suddenly appears!
Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man Nuff said!

UPCOMING PODCAST SCHEDULE:
November 11: Marvel Year Sixteen: 1977 Pt. 1
November 18: Marvel Year Sixteen: 1977 Pt. 2
November 19:  Feedback for 1977's Variant Cover Due
November 25: Marvel Year Sixteen: 1977 Variant Cover
December 2: Marvel Year Seventeen: 1978 Pt. 1
December 9:  Marvel Year Seventeen: 1978 Pt. 2

Come chat with us in the Slack channel (available to $5+ patrons), and find us on Instagram, Facebook 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!