10 Criminally Underrated Marvel Comics You Must Read
Marvel is SO much more than The Avengers.
According to the Official Index To the Marvel Universe, since its time as Timely Comics, Marvel Comics has published over 32,000 titles, and there’s bound to be at least a thousand more in the past ten years since that've been published.
Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four run, Spider-man: Blue, the original Secret Wars, X-Men: God Loves Man Kills and the acclaimed work of Chris Claremont on the X-Men franchise overall are all universally agreed upon to be some of the finest stories to have come from the House of Ideas, but when those are spaced around hundreds of other issues and releases, stuff tends to get overlooked.
The point is that the numbers game is always working against readership. It is a hard truth, but one that means that everyone has their own “pet books”, the titles that, while not initially well-received, have developed something of a cult following in the years since they were originally published.
10. Damage Control
Damage Control is just awesome. Created by the the late, great Dwayne McDuffie, these three limited series were the equivalent of having The Office set in the Marvel Universe.
As a construction company that specialized in the collateral property damage of superhero activity, this concept was brilliantly lighthearted, without ever reaching that point of zaniness that would hinder the story being told. With controlling stocks being held by Tony Stark and Wilson Fisk, Hercules needing to work for them as community service after a drunken rampage and the hilarity of needing to confront Doctor Doom for unpaid bills, this slice of corporate life made for a unique look at the 616 universe. This also led to several guest appearances in other books, and even having a prominent role in massive events like Civil War and World War Hulk.
Damage Control is a special case when it comes to being underrated. Since its creation in 1988, the company has become a fixture of Marvel canon, even acting as an inciting factor for Vulture’s turn to evil in Spider-Man: Homecoming, as well as having a building in the Spider-man PS4 game. Yet, for one reason or another, the three limited series' themselves are rarely - if ever - brought up in conversation.