okay i am a star wars and marvel fan. basically big time nerd. i collect a lot of star wars comics but, although being into marvel, have never collected many marvel comics. i am now looking to expand and collect them along with my star wars comics. more or less i am a spiderman fan but i like all the heros and am in it to collect them.
now i am looking around and although i know bronze and silver age and what not, i dont know how the comics are formatted as far as series go. it looks like marvel sets them up by issue in series, and there are different series for each character?
as of now buying comics, i would not know if issue 179 was after 178 due to there issue series thing they do. again i dont know. i dont want to buy issues of comics if there number is in line but from another series. also there is spectacular spider man the amazing spider man ultimate spiderman and such like that. are those the series?
if any one could get me the info on how marvel sets up there comic lines, that would be amazing!!!! thank you and sorry for such a long question!
Each series has its own numbers. Mostly, plot lines stay constant in each series. If Spiderman is in a 5 issue plot where he is fighting Doc Ock that starts with "Spectacular Spiderman" 178, the continuation of that story will be in the next 5 "Specatcular Spiderman" comics. The other series that may star Spiderman will have their own plot lines. This is a fairly constant rule that only is abandoned during major events and crossovers. But, if a particular plot line is to continue in a different series, the reader will be told at the end of the comic.
However, you could avoid that sparticular problem by buying the collections/trade paperbacks rather than individual comics. The collection tend to group the plots together regardless of the series they come from.
And most characters don’t have multiple titles at the same time. Only the big time characters like Spidey and Wolverine do. Most just have their individual series and then whatever team series they are a part of (like Thor having his series as well as Avengers) but those plot lines are almost never interconnected.
BTW, Ultimate Spiderman (or anything called "Ultimate") is not in the same universe as the other Spiderman titles. The Ultimate universe is one that is kind of like the regular Marvel universe we all know, but there are several differences. Basically, if you read Ultimate Spiderman, you will find yourself going "huh?" a lot of the time. You’ll be asking why Green Goblin looks more like the Incredible Hulk, why Rhino is a robot and a lot of other questions.