I'm mulling over three specific choices right now, so help me pick between them:

Secret Wars - Yes, that old dog. Haven't read it in years and I'm thinking it might be a fun nostalgia trip. No doubt it won't live up to my memory of it, but that's okay; expectations are low. I'd probably roll right into Secret Wars II, but that's not definite.

Ultimate X-Men - I'd be starting this series from issue #1 and reading up to current as part of my quest to read the ENTIRE Ultimate universe. Seeing as I'm current with Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Ultimates and several key miniseries, this is a BIG hole in that quest.

The Incredible Hulk - Mostly I want to get up to speed on that whole Planet Hulk thing, but in fact I'd start as far back as the Bruce Jones run. See, I read his first two arcs and liked them a LOT, but I never did finish the story. Word is that it just sort of peters out, but that's okay. I'd like to check it out for myself. I'd then go right through and start reading Planet Hulk.

Just pick from these three, please. I'm also reading other stuff at the moment, and so only have so much juggling room. Plus, I have this material handy.

Help a brutha out!

As long as we are talking about the original Secret Wars (not the recent one), I'm all over that one.

yeah, so it's got flaws. Big flaws. Ones you could fly a quinjet through.

It's still tons o' fun

SWII...not so much...

I've tried half a dozen times to read Secret Wars. I just can't do it. Ultimate X-men, well the first 30 issues or so, are awful. Worst of theo ngoing Ultimate stufff by far.

I think you should try the recent Hulk stuff and report back, as I was curious about that myself.

I've saved it for last, because I read the first arc online a few years back, and the second in Barnes & Noble, and thought they both stunk. I've had no desire to return, but figure with all the Ultimate reading I've done of late, maybe I should give it another shot.

So far, a 2-2 tie between Secret Wars and Hulk. Is SW wins, I'll go into Hulk right after it.

My vote is a secret.

Secret Wars is fun. We meet two new villians and one new hero. Collossus changes his pedophile ways and Spidey makes a mistake he'll regret a bit later on.

This was my intro to Galactus and where I came to love the Wasp and She-Hulk.

I voted for Ultimate X-Men cuz I've only read the first trade and found it lacking. Curious how you will like the title. Your recent reviews of ASM were pretty good, so I'd be hoping fot he same here.

...ya know, it is never stated just how old that alien chick in SW was...

Ult Xmen...Millar run is fun (a little unevene but fun) and the BKV/Immonen run is amazing...!

Cool, thanks. With that in mind, then, I'll do some trade-by-trade posts when I get arond to UXM. I considered it when recently reading all the UFF trades, but just didn't get around to it.

No haiku this time, though.

Human or alien
On this planet or elsewhere
Peter likes 'em young

Eric - please keep your reviews coming they are great.

Let me know if you liked the sci fi comics i recommended.

I vote Ultimate X-Men, it starts out slow, but the stories do get better. It's the only other Ultimate book I read, the other being Ultimates. If not, go for Secret Wars, I recently re-read that and while it's not the best, it's far from the worst thing you could read.

Robert K. Live from Austin

I went with Secret Wars; am currently five issues in; will report back with my thoughts (talk about a blast from the past!) and roll right into whatever is next in line as far as the vote tally goes.

For $20, I can get Ult. X-Men on DVD. Should I?

So I read Secret Wars. First time I’ve read this since it came out oh so many years ago.

What a bunch of painfully written fanboy drivel.

And what a walloping good time.

Wait, what? How can it be both? Easy. It just is. I mean, gather a bunch of the coolest heroes and coolest villains, stick them on a planet and have they fight for twelve issues? Awesome! A hoot and a half! In theory, at least. But couple the sheer overkill of having so many characters vying for the spotlight with the terribly one-dimensional writing and you’ve got something as awful as it is awesome.

I liked the trip down memory lane. Seeing the Wrecking Crew smash stuff up and the Absorbing Man slinging his ball and chain around was a blast. Remembering how this series briefly changed things in regular Marvel titles was nifty; X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man were all impacted by this. Lots of great moments; the Hulk under the mountain, the initial battle, anything Galactus. Following the twists and turns of the plot – might not be much, but it did the job – was a lot of fun. Bad guys attack, good guys attack back, and on and on and on. You’ll get no arguments from me. An old school slugfest is what I wanted and an old school slugfest is what I got.

Not quite an old school slugfest, though. Much as I like the modern style superhero comic, one thing I find many newer comics lack is coherency when it comes to action and fights. I read New Avengers, for instance, and battles are simply a series of formless pinups with banter here and there. Such is the case with many newer comics. The plot and dialogue shines; the action does not. For all the sometimes stuff characterization and awkward dialogue, old school comics did action right. There was an ebb and a flow you just don’t see now, a coherency to the way fights unfolded. Battles actually had a beginning, middle and end; they were tiny stories within the story.

Well, Secret Wars’ battles were modern before their time, because more often than not they are a series of chaotic panels with little rhyme or reason. Trying to juggle too many characters will result in that sort of thing, I s’pose. Sometimes they hit the right notes, but just as often they were a mess. A dozen heroes and a dozen villains in a panel, with some crap dialogue stringing it together, ending with some contrived plot device to stop the battle until next issue.

Oh, and that writing. The plotting was fine. It was really cool, in fact. I like the way everything here played out. But damn were Shooter’s characters a bunch of one-note, lifeless mannequins. Reading his Wasp was especially painful. His X-Men were less recognizable than Grant Morrison’s. Spider-Man served no purpose at all. And all Captain America ever said was, “Hit ‘em hard and hit ‘em fast!”

Ugh. Dreadful.

But those criticisms don’t mean I didn’t enjoy the ride, because I did. How can you not like Doctor Doom stealing a god’s power, and Molecule Man dropping mountain ranges on people, and Spider-Man beating up the X-Men (though when Wasp did the same I choked), and Ultron zapping Kang? It was all good fun! Total fanboy wank written kind of poorly, sure, but good fun nonetheless.

This series is probably more of a landmark than its often given credit for – maybe because people consider it a landmark that started bad trends – and, if you can get past the dodgy writing and rather contrived plot, is a fun blast from the past that very much reminded me of a time and place in comics long since past. Not bad.

Judging from the votes, I guess Hulk is next.

And so Hulk it is. I'll be starting with the Bruce Jones run. What kind of gap is there between the end of his run and the start of Planet Hulk? Do I care about the inbetween stuff, or should I maybe skip it? Is it filler, or does it continue a narrative?

Anyway, starting that today.

Secret Wars introduced me to the Marvel Universe beyond Spider-man and the Hulk, and made me a confirmed Marvel Zombie for 2 decades.

Nuff said

No question, Rob. For all the criticism it has gotten over the years, it was pretty huge in introducing kids to the Marvel Universe and getting them into the wider Marvel world. It's easy to pick it apart as I just did when you've read all this other Marvel stuff, but at the time, for new readers? Who cares! It was a big, glorious, fun thing. Quite a few of my friends at the time got their introduction to Marvel through this, too.

Secret Wars was fun. That's what it was about to me at the time. Secret Wars II was to me not very much fun. That's the day I realized they were just trying to get into my pockets.

There was a short hiatus on the book and then Peter David came back for two(?) storylines, the Tempus Fugit 5 parter and the 4 part House of M story. I'm not sure what happened after that since I dropped the book after the House of M storyline, but I think the storyline right before "Planet Hulk" is supposed to be a set-up for that story(If anyone knows, feel free to correct me).

Robert K. Live from Austin

Secret Wars 2 was bad beyond reason. Pun intended.