Hello fellow comic book admirer.
I'll give you a history of where I am from. I've read manga's for the longest, I've owned plenty of Shonen Jump and picked them up monthly. I've started out only reading the I's and Yu-Gi-Oh! [2004 or 2005. I was 11 or 12] but I explored the book more and more finding other great narratives. Today I will not be comparing Japanese story telling vs American story telling in relation to trades. I'm only interested in gathering your opinions if I should start reading Ultimate Marvel [From Ult Spider-Man #1] or read from the 616 Verse [and from where to start.]
I've already read Xmen essentials 1 and I didn't really enjoy it because it didn't have a constant narrative. The stories felt sporadic. I know or at least believe Marvel had corrected these and now attempt to tell one story over multiple issues. recently I've had the opportunity to read "Cataclysm" The main story and the Spider-man narrative and I must say I was impressed with the Spiderman Cataclysm "tie-in." From what I've seen I was impressed with Miles Morales and how his character changed from when I first read Miles in his initial run as Spiderman and in all honestly it made me interested in the character again. Too often I see characters become stagnant; not changing. Miles Morales has shocked me because his character displayed something I have yet to see in an american comic book, growth.
In the previous paragraph I may have been a bit hyper- or even hypocritical of American comics. I must ask: Does the ultimate universe have time slowed down like in the 616 universe? I do have an issue with all the "slow time" and how inconsistent it can be. For example if time moves slower in Marvel how can Barack Obama be president and Peter Parker not be old in age, like 60 or older? I do my best not to let this slow time affect my reading experience.
One could say I'm looking to immerse myself in the Marvel universe. This does not mean Marvel is better by any stretch of the imagination. I've tried my hand with Batman. Batman wasn't for me or maybe I haven't tried to discover the right story arc for me as I hear there are plenty of great Adventures with Batman but must all of them be so dark? I admit I like the dark stuff but I miss Robin at times, and Damion doesn't make me smile much. Admittedly again I haven't read much of Damion as Robin. As a child I liked Dick Grayson but now I kinda see him as a Boyscott --- not that there is anything wrong with being a boyscott --- I would say Dick Grayson could be a good role model for children. Jason Todd aka Red Robin would probably be the Robin that would interest me the most, but I'm not ready to go back to Batman yet but it is on my to read list (So is Earth 2 ... no more on that today).
I would like to thank Kickass 2 [Movie] for getting me back into reading comics. I liked the Sam Raimi Spiderman films, but Marvel films don't inspire me to go buy their comics. If Marvel plans on merging the two universe Film & 616/Ultimate into 1 I would advise against it because the average movie goer is not the same as an average comic reader. If I were to advise anything just make good content and don't spam a character into more than 2 or even 3 stories per month (at least for the sake of telling a cannon narrative)
I also read from Image and Vertigo (sometimes) I have no complaints from either company but again I'm new to both companies.
TL;DR
Which is Better 616 or Ultimate?
Where should I start reading in 616?
Does Ultimate universe contain "slow time"?
I'm also interested in reading some Cloak & Dagger, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Cable, any MvC you could recommend.
Thanks for your time ♥
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