Is there a Secret Wars coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It seems so, with the announcement that Avengers: Secret Wars will hit theaters on… Read More »Secret Wars Reading Order, the 2015 event that rebooted the Marvel Universe
The end of Grant Morrison famous run on Batman in 2011 was also the end of the long post-Crisis era. After that came the New 52 and Scott Snyder. With stories about The Court of Howls, Batman Eternal, the Dark Nights: Metal & Death Metal events, and more, Snyder became one of the major authors of the decade.
Mostly working with artist Greg Capullo and writer James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder gave us one of the best Batman and a lot of great adventures. The impact of his work on the character is important and there are a lot of great stories to read, so here is the guide.
Also, even if this reading guide covers a lot of New 52 Batman, it’s not a full reading order for this era. For Snyder and everyone else’s Bat-titles reading order, follow that guide.
Written and drawn by Bryan Talbot, Grandville is not a conventional series. Mixing steampunk elements in an alternative history, the story is set in a world in which France won the Napoleonic Wars and invaded Britain. Also, the world is populated mostly by anthropomorphic animals.
The story follows Detective Inspector Archibald “Archie” LeBrock of Scotland Yard (who is assisted by Detective Roderick Ratzi, a dapper, monocle-wearing rat) as he investigates a murder which leads him to visit “Grandville” (also known as Paris). Grandville is exploring modern themes and science-fiction concepts, with terrorist plots, murder mysteries, gangster drama and more. It’s also full of cultural references, from Tintin to famous paintings, and historical elements.
First things first, an introduction. Hack/Slash is a horror/action comic book created by writer and sometimes penciler Tim Seeley (Nightwing, Revival) and published by Image Comics.
At the end of every horror movie, one girl always survives… in Hack/Slash, Cassie Hack not only survives, but she also turns the tables by hunting and destroying the horrible slashers that would do harm to the innocent! Alongside the gentle giant known as Vlad, the two cut a bloody path through those who deserve to be put down… hard!
There are multiple volumes of Hack/Slash, crossovers, and editions. Everything began in 2004 with one-shots and the first ongoing series started in 2007 at Devil’s Due Publishing before going to Image Comics.
Read More »Hack/Slash Reading Order, a comic book series by Tim Seeley
There are a lot of characters in the DC Universe (in the Marvel one too) and it’s not always easy to track them down when they are not the star of their own ongoing series. Characters like Zatanna Zatara appeared in a lot of stories over the years, but rarely as the star of the show.
Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna made her first appearance in Hawkman #4 (published in November 1964). She is known to be a stage illusionist as well as an actual magician, like her father Giovanni Zatara.
Zatanna is controlling her powers by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backward. She is known for her involvement with the Justice League (Dark), John Constantine, and the rest of the magic side of the DC Universe.
Read More »Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe
With the end of the New52/DC You era, the DC Universe entered the Rebirth era. A new beginning of sorts, with a new creative team taking charge of the Dark Knight.
Batman was rebooted and began shipping twice monthly. In August 2016, the third volume of Batman written by Tom King, with artwork by David Finch and Mikel Janín, began from #1, but Detective Comics (from Writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez) resumed its original numbering system starting with June 2016’s #934.
If Batman famously centered on Batman, his relationship with Catwoman, and his fight to save Gotham, Detective Comics became for a time a team book with Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Clayface, led by Batman and Batwoman.
As always, there were more Batman series. In fact, Scott Snyder came back for more with All-Star Batman. There also were Batman and the Outsiders and some major events like Dark Nights: Metal (and Death Metal), The Joker War, and some less important ones.
First, you can explore the Batman New 52 era or even follow The Batman Modern Age Reading Guide. However, as it is a new beginning, you’ll need an introduction to the famous DC Universe: Rebirth #1 that explains why it’s a reboot. It’s about how the world of the Watchmen collided with the DC Universe and the return of Wally West.
Written by Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire with art from Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort, and Javi Garron, Inhumans Vs X-Men (IvX) is a 2016 Marvel crossover event about the fight for survival opposing the Inhumans against the X-Men.
The X-Men and Inhumans have been on a collision course ever since the link was proven between the Inhumans’ precious Terrigen Mist and the sickness and death of many mutants. And when the Beast discovers that mutantkind has only two weeks left before planet Earth becomes completely uninhabitable for them, an Inhuman/mutant war is unavoidable!
It all begins with one choice, and the world will never be the same! New Attilan comes under attack, and the Inhumans won’t surrender without a fight – but when the X-Men target the Terrigen cloud, will that mean the end of the line for the entire Inhuman legacy? Karnak vs. Fantomex! Emma Frost vs. Medusa! The Nuhumans vs. Magneto! IVX delivers sensational set pieces and gargantuan grudge matches that promise to shatter the Marvel Universe as you know it!
Death Of X is a 4-part miniseries set a few months before the events. It’s roughly an introduction. It’s optional, but it’s a way to start if you are not familiar with this universe.
In 2012, after Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction wrote Thor stories for a few years, Jason Aaron picked up where they left off and started to build an epic that lead us to The War of Realms (full reading order here).
Not as big as Dan slott’s run on Spider-Man, Jason Aaron’s one on Thor is still big and full of now historic events. With the Original Sin event, the God Butcher, the now-famous female Thor, and the War of Realms, Jason Aaron saw big and wrote some surprising and huge stories.
Here is the official synopsis: Across the ages, gods are vanishing — and the God of Thunder must unite with his past and future selves to stand against Gorr the God Butcher! Meanwhile, Malekith the Accursed begins a bloody rampage that will spread war throughout the realms. Which makes it a terrible time for the Odinson to be rendered unworthy of lifting Mjolnir! Another hero will hold the hammer high, fighting for Asgard and Midgard as Thor — the Goddess of Thunder! She’ll battle Malekith, Loki, Roxxon…and even Odin! But who is she under the mask? And what is this new Thor’s terrible secret?
Like Marvel Comics did (see the full events & crossovers list here), DC Comics started to organize big events and crossovers during the ’1980s. The first one was Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that changed DC Comics continuity forever, a huge creative accomplishment from Marv Wolfman and George Perez. After that, more crossovers followed, some big and ambitious, others more modest in scope, connecting heroes and series.
Like I said about Marvel events, even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculative boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Batman to the Green Lanterns, from Superman to Harley Quinn.
This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different DC Comics series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries, as DC Comics continues to announce more and more of them.
Since the ’80s with the big success of ”Secret Wars,” Marvel Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. It became a big part of the business, but also of the way stories are built. Even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculator boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Spider-Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy, from Captain America to the X-Men.
This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different Marvel series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries as Marvel continues to announce more and more of them.
Read More »The Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List, from the ’80s Secret Wars to today