Choosing the best Marvel comics is no easy task. With more than 80 years of storytelling and tens of thousands of issues featuring Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Daredevil, and countless other heroes, narrowing Marvel's greatest stories down to just ten is enough to make even Uatu the Watcher nervous. Marvel has always thrived on a unique blend of larger-than-life superhero action and deeply personal drama... a formula championed by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and elevated by generations of creators who followed to create the greatest Marvel comics.

So what makes the cut? Not simply the most famous Marvel stories or the biggest Marvel crossover events, but the comics that best capture what makes Marvel special: heroes whose greatest battles are often against themselves, the idea that with great power comes great responsibility, and unforgettable storytelling that balances emotional stakes with spectacular artwork. Yes, some beloved Marvel classics, including 'Dark Phoenix Saga', don't make this list, and there are a few surprises along the way. But if you're looking for the best Marvel comics to read, these are the stories that define the Marvel Universe at its very best—even if you don't agree with every pick.

TLDR: Best Marvel Comics, Ranked

10. 'The Surtur Saga'

• Published: The Mighty Thor #340 - 353 (1983 - 1984)
• Creators: Walter Simonson
• Main Characters: Thor, Surtur, Beta Ray Bill, Sif, Volstagg, Lorelei, Loki, Fafnir the Dagon, Agnar, Hogun, Heimdall, Odin
• Why you should read it: The definitive Thor story and Walt Simonson's legendary masterpiece.

The arrival of writer/artist Walt Simonson on The Mighty Thor brought a sea change not just for the series, but Marvel as a whole; Simonson’s sharp, design-led aesthetic was a breath of fresh air amid a company filled with Jack Kirby and Neal Adams influences, and his writing replaced years of faux-Shakespeare superheroics with an epic scope served with a sense of humor, best exemplified by the year-long 'Surtur Saga.' There had never been a Thor comic like this; decades later, there still hasn’t.

Where to read:

• Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson Vol. 1
• Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus Vol. 1
• Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 1 TPB
• Marvel Masterworks Thor Vol. 23
• Thor Vol. 13 [Epic Collection]
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

9. 'Avengers Under Siege'

• Published: Avengers #271 - 277 (1986 - 1987)
• Creators: Roger Stern, John Buscema, Tom Palmer
• Main Characters: Black Knight, Hercules, Monica Rambeau/Captain Marvel, Wasp, Captain America, Yellowjacket, Grey Gargoyle, Screaming Mimi, et al.
• Why you should read it: The Avengers' darkest battle and one of Marvel's greatest team stories.

For more than 20 years, fans knew what to expect from an Avengers comic – and then 'Under Siege' changed the rules, as villains unexpectedly hit the heroes where they lived (literally) and it looked as if, for the first time ever, the good guys might actually lose. Unusually tense for a comic where that was never the draw, this storyline showed Stern, Buscema, and Palmer at the top of their game, raising the stakes and remaking the rules right in front of the reader.

Where to read:

• Avengers: Under Siege [Epic Collection]
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
   

8. House of X/Powers of X

• Published: House of X #1 - 6, Powers of X #1 - 6 (2019 - 2020)
• Creators: Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, and Adriano Di Benedetto
• Main Characters: X-Men, et al.
• Why you should read it: The modern X-Men epic that reinvented Marvel's mutants for a new generation.

At its heart, Jonathan Hickman’s makeover of the X-Men franchise was a remix of the franchise’s past, taking what worked - mutants as a separate culture, mutantkind on its own island, humanity’s distrust of the mutant race – and turning up the volume to create something less All New, All Different and more The X-Men But Even More So. In doing so, ironically, he and his team of artists made the X-Men feel more new than they had in years.

Where to read:

• House of X / Powers of X TPB
• House of X / Powers of X hardcover
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

7. 'Born Again'

• Published: Daredevil #227 - 231 (1985 - 1986)
• Creators: Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Christie Scheele
• Main Characters: Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Karen Page, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson
• Why you should read it: The greatest Daredevil story ever told and Frank Miller's masterpiece.

If Daredevil is, at heart, the superhero with the worst luck in the world – and all evidence across years’ worth of comics certainly points to that being the case – then 'Born Again' is the ultimate Daredevil story, as Miller and Mazzucchelli take Matt Murdock’s life apart with surgical precision, elevating the Kingpin as a master villain in the process. Darker and arguably more meaningful than any hero/villain showdown published by the company to this point, it’s not only the defining Daredevil story, it’s one of the defining Marvel stories, period.

Where to read:

• Daredevil: Born Again Vol. 1 TPB
• Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus Companion Vol. 1
• David Mazzucchelli's Daredevil: Born Again Vol. 1 hardcover
• Daredevil: Born Again Vol. 1 [Gallery Edition]
• Daredevil: Born Again Vol. 1 [Premiere Collection]
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

6. The Immortal Hulk

• Published: The Immortal Hulk #1 - 50 (2018 - 2021)
• Creators: Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, et al.
• Main Characters: Bruce Banner/Hulk, et al.
• Why you should read it: The definitive modern Hulk story, blending superhero action with unforgettable horror.

After years of retconned origins, multiple personalities, contradictory portrayals, and at least one on-panel death, it’s safe to say that the Hulk was beginning to feel a little played out as a character by the time Al Ewing got his hands on him. What followed was a tour de force that recreated the concept from the ground up, while respecting everything that came before. Relocating the horror implicit in the Hulk’s earliest appearances, Ewing, Joe Bennett and collaborators achieved the impossible, and made the friendly jade giant scary again.

Where to read:

• The Immortal Hulk Omnibus
• The Immortal Hulk Book 1 - 5 
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

5. 'The Night Gwen Stacy Died'

• Published: Amazing Spider-Man #121 and #122 (1973)
• Creators: Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita Sr., and Tony Mortellar
• Main Characters: Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Joe Robertson, J.Jonah Jameson, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
• Why you should read it: The Spider-Man story that changed superhero comics forever.

The cover to Amazing Spider-Man #121 laid it all out for the reader: "Someone close to me is about to die!" screamed the wall-crawler. "Someone I cannot save!" No one was prepared for the identity of the deceased, however; by the end of the issue, Peter Parker’s true love, Gwen Stacy, was dead, and Spider-Man was vowing to kill the Green Goblin as revenge. It was a story that pushed the hero further than he’d ever gone before, but more importantly, it was a story that taught fans that no character was safe in the Marvel Universe, no matter how beloved.

Where to read:

• Spider-Man: Death of Gwen Stacy TPB
• Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 13
• Spider-Man: Death of the Stacys Vol. 1
• Gil Kane's Amazing Spider-Man Artist's Edition hardcover
• Marvel 75th Anniversary Omnibus
• Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 4
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

4. 'Confessions'

• Published: Ultimate Spider-Man #13 (2001)
• Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert
• Main Characters: Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, May Parker
• Why you should read it: The Ultimate Spider-Man story that defines Peter Parker and Mary Jane's relationship.

As much as the reboots and makeovers delivered to any number of classic Spider-Man allies and villains delighted old and new readers, the real magic of Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man was the deeper characterization of Peter Parker and those around him. That became obvious in this one-off story, where Peter took the plunge and revealed his true identity to Mary Jane Watson; bereft of a fight scene and without a bad guy in sight, the creators let the interplay between the characters take center stage, and the result is something charming, touching, and a reminder of Marvel’s focus on the faces behind the masks in the greatest Spider-Man comic to date.

Where to read:

• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2: Learning Curve
• Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 hardcover
• Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 1
• Epic Collection: Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

3. 'This Man, This Monster!'

• Published: Fantastic Four #51 (1966)
• Creators: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott
• Main Characters: Ben Grimm/Thing, Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm-Richards/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Wyatt Wingfoot, Alicia Masters
• Why you should read it: The perfect Fantastic Four story about heroism, sacrifice, and redemption.

Sure, the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four was literally bursting with creativity and new ideas – it’s where the Inhumans debuted, as well as Black Panther, Doctor Doom, Adam Warlock, and countless other Marvel mainstays – but it also offered the opportunity for no small amount of melodramatic melancholia, best personified in this perfect one-issue vignette about what it means to be a hero, and the high cost of allowing hate to linger unaddressed. Overblown and beautiful.

Where to read:

• Marvel Treasury Edition Vol. 11
• Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 6
• Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2
• Epic Collection: Fantastic Four Vol. 3
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

2. 'The Death of Captain America'

• Published: Captain America #25 - 50, Captain America Reborn #1 - 6 (2007 - 2008)
• Creators: Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Jackson Guice, Bryan Hitch, et al.
• Main Characters: Captain America, Bucky Barnes, The Falcon, Black Widow, Iron Man, Red Skull Crossbones
• Why you should read it: The Captain America story that redefined Steve Rogers and the Marvel Universe.

What makes the death – and rebirth – of Steve Rogers so special isn’t the plot, per se; lay out the individual beats of the story, and it sounds like many other superhero tales. It’s the way that Brubaker, Epting, Guice and the rest of the creative team play with those beats that transforms what could be cliché into the definitive modern Captain America comic that redefined the character, as well as Black Widow and the Winter Soldier, for the past couple of decades.

Where to read:

• Captain America: The Death of Captain America [Marvel Premier Collection]
• Captain America: The Death of Captain America [The Complete Collection]
• The Death of Captain America Omnibus
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix
  
  

1. 'The Coming of Galactus'

• Published: Fantastic Four #48 - 50 (1966)
• Creators: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott
• Main Characters: Fantastic Four, Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm Richards/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Ben Grimm/Thing, Galactus, Silver Surfer
• Why you should read it: The greatest Fantastic Four story and Marvel's definitive cosmic adventure.

To paraphrase Stefon, this story has everything: heroes struggling against impossible odds, the Watcher breaking his sacred oath for the first time, the first appearance of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, and even a scene in which Reed Richards takes a break and cleans up. More importantly, it’s Lee and Kirby at their best as a creative duo, with Kirby’s imagination and stunning artwork matched by Lee’s dialogue making the most of every single scene. Every page in this storyline crackles with energy, making it the greatest Marvel Comics story of all time, with each and every page making the Marvel Universe bigger in some way: in concept, in ambition, or in emotional depth. This is as good as it gets.

Where to read:

• Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The Coming of Galactus
• Fantastic Four: The Coming of Galactus
• Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5
• Marvel Treasury Edition #2
• Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2
• Marvel Unlimited
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Books
• GlobalComix

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here's a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you're looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here's everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.