Ahoy me mateys Captain Cats here, and today I’m going to do something different today. With both Captain Marvel and Shazam out, the announcement of The Joker film and Avengers: Endgame coming out soon, many people will want to read more about said heroes and villains in comic books but don’t know where to start. So today I’m going to give you some ideas where you can begin first to read.

Captain Marvel – There is a lot of people who took the mantel of Captain Marvel over the years, so ill make this easy for you. Start with the first Captain Marvel who was called Mar-Vell and read either the Marvel Masterworks or Essential Captain Marvel, but a MUST read is the life and death of Captain Marvel. For Carol Danvers, the current Captain Marvel in both film and comics, you should read Captain Marvel: Carol Dancers- The Ms. Marvel Year Volume 1-3 and the 2012-2014 run of Captain Marvel.

Shazam – The hero who outsold Superman during the golden age of comics has a fascinating, complex history due to his original name and publisher that I won’t get into that. If you like the film and want to know more about him read the IF you can find this and if DC is going to re-publish this one is the Shazam Special Edition Series: Book 1 because it has almost 30 issues of his run in Whiz Comics. Another good one is The Power of Shazam! is a fan favorite and very well written and is up there with the golden age run in Whiz comics.

The Joker – There is so many of them out there it’s tough to pick. If I had to pick one or two, it would be Batman Black and White Vol 2 story “Case Study” and Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68 story arc “Going Sane.” They both stand out the most and both “Case Study” and “Going Sane” is a very overlooked story.

The Avengers – Just like The Joker, there are so many stories out there. Give The Kree/Skrull War a read, excellent story and maybe the next area where the MCU may head to, also go read the Korvac Saga and also the Marvel Masterwork and Essential series for the Avengers as well.