I've been absent from the comic scene for a long time.  I dipped my toe back into the waters about six months ago and I'm getting ready to take the plunge.  I've given myself the goal of reading EVERY comic in the various Marvel Complete Collection DVDs I recently purchased.  I'm going in chronological order from 1961 to the present day (most of the DVDs end in 2005-6).  I'm in May 1963 currently.  The DVDs I have are: Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, Invincible Iron Man, and the Uncanny X-Men (I'll use the DVD up until Giant Size #1- I own an actual copy of every X-Men from GS1 up through the mid Nineties).  So far - I've been flabbergasted by the heavy influence of the Cold War (everything is to beat the Reds/Commies) and the blatant sexism.  But, despite the cheesy dialogue, it has been great to "hear" Stan the Man's voice in my head while reading these issues (like Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends).  I wish I had Tales of Mystery and Strange Tales as well - going in order month by month has been really cool lately (the first issues of the Hulk were incredibly awful but made Peter David's run make so much more sense).  I'm really glad these DVDs have all the old ads in them as well - it's nice to get some historical perspective.