Finding that jumping on point in collecting comics.....so many choices!

Okay, I am the first to admit, its hard to choose a point to jump onto an established comic book. I collect mostly bronze and silver age books, so I am naturally biased; the point being I will not promote a book I  have not read, and I have read a lot more comics than I currently own. So I am gonna stick to what I know is good.

Avengers 16 : a great silver age turning point for the book and the characters as its the first time the group brought in new characters to fill its ranks. In this case, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch. The angle? A group of upstart heroes led by Captain America and a radical change in the power structure. The original Avengers team was over powered, both with and without the Hulk, so now any one of their old villains could pose a greater threat.

Fantastic Four 44 : With the addition of Joe Sinnott's inking Jack Kirby, the book sustains a new, polished look starting with this issue, the introduction of the Inhumans. The issues that follow are incredible, as the art is crisp and storylines great. Following the Inhumans is the added attraction of the first Galactus-Silver Surfer saga, and the introduction of The Black Panther.

Spider-man 39 : The new artistry of John Romita ushers in a new, more streamlined look to Spidey, taking the book in different, if not better, direction from the Steve Ditko era.
This issue also begins the long awaited reveal of The Green Goblin as the father of Peter Parker's friend, Harry Osborn.

Thor 130: The beginning of a truly cosmic saga for the thunder god. It introduces the Colonizers of Rigel , followed by Ego, the Living Planet, and The High Evolutionary. The art is by Jack Kirby, this time inked by Vince Colletta, in a bold, mythic style.

There are more jumping on points to catalog, but I will stop here today, and follow up with more posts later.

ROCKING WITH THE AVENGERS IN THE 1970s

This is the first Avengers book I read. Turns out, its a good one.....

Written by Steve Englehart, this issue with the slam-bang cover was a great introduction to these myriad Iron Man villains, and big vacuum pull into the second Kang war at the end of the story. Turns out,  Kang is probably the best Avenger's bad guy. He does not just cause a skirmish or a fight, he goes to a war over multiple issues every
time he comes around.

Issue 130 is a good jumping on point for the Avengers, but not a great one. There are so many good Avengers storylines after Englehart took over around issue 100. This is including three Kang Wars, a Thanos story, a multi-issue crossover with The Defenders, a couple of major weddings, a trip to counter earth, a new origin for The Vision, the return of Captain America, and the addition of several new Avengers.

 Issues 101 through 151 would be ideal to collect from this period, if you want to get the most out of this run. The art is done by several hands, but artists during this period include Dave Cockrum, Sal Buscema, and George Perez, among others.

One of the coolest things about Avengers 130 is that the Dave Cockrum cover is a kind of homage to a Mike Seikowsky JLA cover done in the 1960s.