10 Comics You Must Read Before Avengers: Infinity War

All your homework ahead of Thanos' big show.

by Ewan Paterson
Infinity Gauntlet
Marvel Comics

Well, it's here folks. The trailer for Avengers: Infinity War looks every bit as big and bombastic as we hoped it to be, crystallising the storyline that's been bubbling beneath the surface ever since Loki got his hands on the Tesseract in 2012. It's shaping up to be the event of 2017, and while there's nothing stopping fans from enjoying the cumulative efforts of Marvel Studios' latest epic, it's equally true that there's plenty of material out there that could make the experience even better.

"What?! Even better?! Preposterous!" I hear you say. But it's true, there's a veritable treasure trove of fantastic Marvel content waiting to be discovered that again, wouldn't only enhance a viewing of Infinity War (or several), but allow fans to really dive into the characters they've gotten to know these last few years. There are obvious comics to mention, like the one that bears the film's namesake, but there are others too that are equally as deserving of a read.

And, because Infinity War has such a big cast, there's plenty of material focusing on individual characters to mine before it eventually drops. Discerning just what, exactly, fans should pick up has also been made easier by rumours, the preceding cinematic canon and of course, Wednesday's trailer.

It's not just a case of further contextualising Infinity War's premise either, or impressing your mates with some newfound comic book knowhow. Marvel's bibliography is every bit as diverse and fascinating as its cinematic counterpart, and while getting new faces into comics stores is - as always - an arduous task, Infinity War could just be the film to reignite some good, old fashioned comic book love.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.