I'm looking to get into these characters. Wanna help me?

Hey guys, I was wondering if anybody would help me get started in reading about the following characters. Thanks a lot if you can help me.

• Thanos
• Silver Surfer
• Guardians of the Galaxy (especially Adam Warlock and Rocket Raccoon)
• Nova
• Spectre
• Paralax
• Phantom Stranger
• Darkseid

I know next to nothing about these characters, and I'd really like to learn more. I'd prefer more recent appearances of the characters (like post 2000), but if the story is that good, I'll give it a chance... Just as long as it's not one of those stories that have the characters say exactly what they're doing, as they're doing it. If you know what I mean, lol.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate the help.

Anyone else?

Annihalation would be a good start for the Marvel stories. There is a tie in series for most of the characters that you listed. Also, there is the Guardians of the Galaxy run that takes place right after the Annihilation wave. It is from 2008 and written by Clint Langley.

@Cap10nate: Could I jump into Annihalation fresh without knowing anything about any of those guys?

Annihiliation was my first experience with basically all of those characters with the exception of Surfer. I think you should be fine. If I am not mistaken, they do a decent job of showing some background. I think I may have had to look up a few peoples character history online but that was just to provide some context and additional info.

Alright, so Infinity Gauntlet and Annihilation it is. So what about the DC side?

Nobody knows anything else? :/

For Parallax I think you should read Parallax veiw ( I think it's called that ) and Sinestro corps war.

Spectre:
There was a thread about this. Link.
Darkseid:
New Gods. There's been a few volumes of it.
BB

Parallax came into the DC universe at a very odd time, when DC were trying to sort out continuity issues and pretty much re-write 50 years of comic history. So I'd suggest reading some Hal Jordan Green Lantern stuff before finding out about Parallax.

But if you're not too worried about the storyline preceding Parallax' appearance then I would suggest (in chronological order) the following graphic novels :

'The Return of Superman' – a great storyline, this sets up the why and how of Parallax’ appearance. It also, quite obviously accounts for Superman’s coming back to life.

'Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight' – this shows how Parallax first appeared and if you’re already a GL fan then some of the events of this graphic novel are damned surprising!

'Zero Hour: Crisis in Time' – This graphic novel has Parallax as the main villain fighting the newly appointed Green Lantern; Kyle Rayner. ('Crisis on Infinite Earths' precedes this particular storyline and although it is not essential reading for Parallax, is still worth a read as it was a major event in the DC universe and was quite frankly awesome!)

Then after all of this I would suggest the Green Lantern Corps series which starts with 'Green Lantern Corps: Recharge'. This GLC graphic novel series also features Parallax quite heavily (especially in the 'Sinestro Corps War') and ends in the 'Blackest Night' and 'Brightest Day' storylines which are pretty iconic and really cool.  These seriously need to be read.

I hope this helped :)

I will assume that you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of these characters before reading this stuff.

@Gambit1024 said:

• Thanos

Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos: Infinity Abyss, Marvel: The End, Thanos (solo series), Annihilation, The Thanos Imperative

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer: Requiem is not canon, but is a terrific story nonetheless. He also had an tie in to Annihilation called Annihilation: Silver Surfer, and another mini called Silver Surfer: In Thy Name.

I have only just started Surfer's third volume myself, so someone like Morph or jloneblackheart would probably be a better source of Surfer material.

• Guardians of the Galaxy (especially Adam Warlock and Rocket Raccoon)

Not sure. I myself have only started digging into Warlock and his associated characters. There's the second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy as well as Annihilation: Conquest.

• Nova

There are some quality Nova stories in his fourth volume.

• Spectre

Hoo boy. Spectre has had three major hosts post-Crisis. Jim Corrigan's Spectre was the star of Spectre v3. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the character. How Hal Jordan became the Spectre after Corrigan forms the basis of the mini-series Day of Judgment. The fourth Spectre volume is about Hal's exploits as the Spectre. It is not even close to being as good as the third volume, and in hindsight not really necessary reading. How Hal returned to life forms the basis of Green Lantern: Rebirth, which is only necessary to know how the Spectre came to be without a host for a while. Without a host and with a little manipulation from Eclipso, the Spectre went crazy and started slaughtering magic users wholesale, which forms the story of Day of Vengeance. This was a great story, I highly recommend it. Crispus Allen became the third major host of the Spectre in Infinite Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre, which is a decent read, and his exploits as the Spectre were contained in Tales of the Unexpected: The Spectre, which is not particularly remarkable. His final two major stories as the Spectre before the reboot were Countdown to Mystery and Final Crisis: Revelations, both of which were pretty good.

• Parallax

In order: Emerald Twilight, Zero Hour, Final Night, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Sinestro Corps Special, Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax, and Sinestro Corps War.

• Phantom Stranger

No clue.

• Darkseid

AtPhantom can tell you everything you want to know about Darkseid.

@Illuminatus: @FullmetalChobit: @FacetiousBeard: @CitizenBane: Wow. Thanks a lot guys. You've all been extremely helpful