The Events of the Marvel Universe

Over the past few years we’ve seen some absolutely epic events in the Marvel Universe, each one with ramifications that affected years and years’ worth of Marvel stories. (I’d say more but I hate to give anything away. Suffice it say, people die!) With this post we wanted to highlight six such events, starting with 2005′s House of M and working all the way up to this week’s release of Fear Itself! If you’ve been wanting to catch up on recent Marvel Universe history, these trades are a great place to start!

HOUSE OF M TP $24.99THE MARVEL EVENT OF THE DECADE IS COLLECTED HERE! The Avengers and the X-Men are faced with a common foe that becomes their greatest threat: Wanda Maximoff! The Scarlet Witch is out of control, and the fate of the entire world is in her hands. Will Magneto help his daughter or use her powers to his own benefit? Starring the Astonishing X-Men and the New Avengers! You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? Well, this time believe it, buster! NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN! Collects HOUSE OF M #1-8 and THE PULSE SPECIAL EDITION.

CIVIL WAR TP $24.99The landscape of the Marvel Universe is changing, and it’s time to choose: Whose side are you on? A conflict has been brewing for more than a year, threatening to pit friend against friend, brother against brother – and all it will take is a single misstep to cost thousands their lives and ignite the fuse! As the war claims its first victims, no one is safe as teams, friendships and families begin to fall apart. The crossover that rewrites the rules, CIVIL WAR stars Spider-Man, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the entirety of the Marvel pantheon! Collecting CIVIL WAR #1-7.

SECRET INVASION TP $29.99SECRET INVASION IS HERE!! The shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls has secretly infiltrated every super-powered organization on Earth with one goal…full-scale invasion! In this collected edition, page after page unveils reveal after reveal and shocking moment after shocking moment! Brian Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu leap off the pages of mega-hit New Avengers and deliver a story that will change the Marvel Universe forever. Collecting SECRET INVASION #1-8.

SIEGE TP $19.99The lines have been drawn in final battle! In an epic story arc that began with Avengers Disassembled – and extended through the House of M, Civil War and Secret Invasion – the greatest villains of the Marvel Universe are ready to make their final move against a target from time immortal: the hallowed halls of Asgard! But with this the last piece in Norman Osborn’s insane bid to seize total control of the world, is the siege of Asgard the proverbial bridge too far for the former Green Goblin? And will his machinations with Loki be the thing which loses the war, or wins him the world? With all-out action that explodes across artist Olivier Coipel’s (Thor) gorgeously rendered pages, writer Brian Michael Bendis (New Avengers) fulfills the promise of a story years in the making – starring Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury and other greats of the Heroic Age! Collecting SIEGE #1-4, SIEGE: THE CABAL, SIEGE PROLOGUE and FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2009.

FEAR ITSELF TP $29.99Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and the Avengers are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – but even they know fear. And when a powerful and ancient evil overtakes our world, each hero must make a sacrifice to save the Earth. But as the Serpent’s mystical hammers transform friend and foe alike into unstoppable agents of destruction, as terror takes hold and the Serpent’s power grows, as Odin prepares to burn the Earth to cinders to save his people – it’s not these sacrifices the Avengers fear. It’s the knowledge that no matter what price they pay, this battle may be unwinnable. Heroes will fall, gods will die, and fear will rule the day – as the hammer falls! Collecting FEAR ITSELF: BOOK OF THE SKULL and FEAR ITSELF #1-7.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN TP $34.99Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Children of the Atom go to war in the ultimate super-hero showdown! The world-destroying Phoenix Force is back – and while the Avengers are intent on stopping it, Cyclops and his X-Men have other ideas. To Captain America, the Phoenix threatens doom. To Cyclops, it could mean salvation. Marvel’s two greatest leaders wage war, with the Phoenix’s chosen host – Hope Summers – caught in the middle. How far are both sides willing to go? The answer lies in a battle so big no one world could contain it…and a shocking ending that neither team could have seen coming! Marvel’s top writers and artists present a space-faring, world-changing epic – the culmination of a decade’s worth of incredible event storytelling. Collecting AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0-12 and material from POINT ONE #1.