Co-founder of Comic Book Treasury, your Hellboy Specialist and the man behind the Batman Modern Age and the Amazing Spider-Man Guides.
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’s famous run on the main Batman comics series in 2011 also marked the end of the long post-Crisis era, also known as the Modern Age. 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.
During that time, Scott Snyder mostly worked with artist Greg Capullo and writer James Tynion IV. He gave us one of the best Batmans and many great adventures. The impact of his work on the character is important, and there are many great stories to read.
But this didn’t end with that. In the fall of 2024, Snyder came back to the DC Universe to launch the Darkseid-fueled universe called the Absolute Universe and started writing a new type of Batman comics.
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
Following the conclusion of the New 52/DC You publishing initiatives, DC Comics launched the Rebirth era, marking a soft relaunch of its continuity. As part of this initiative, Batman received a new creative team, signaling a fresh direction for the character and his ongoing series.
As part of the Rebirth initiative, the Batman series was relaunched and began publishing on a twice-monthly schedule. In August 2016, the third volume of Batman debuted with issue #1, written by Tom King with art by David Finch and Mikel Janín. Meanwhile, Detective Comics returned to its original numbering, resuming with issue #934 in June 2016 under writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Álvaro Martínez.
While Batman continued to focus on the Dark Knight’s solo exploits, his relationship with Catwoman, and his ongoing struggle to protect Gotham City, Detective Comics was restructured as a team-based series. Under Batman and Batwoman’s leadership, the title featured a roster including Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Clayface.
In addition to the main titles, several other Batman-related series were published during the Rebirth era. Scott Snyder returned to the character with All-Star Batman, while additional titles such as Batman and the Outsiders further expanded the line. The period also featured major crossover events, including Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal, as well as storylines such as The Joker War, alongside a number of less notable events.
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.
As Rebirth marked a fresh starting point, the most essential entry is DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (2016). This one-shot reintroduced elements of continuity, explained the circumstances of the relaunch, and revealed how the world of the Watchmen intersected with the DC Universe, culminating in the return of Wally West.
However, before going into the Rebirth era, if you want to explore older Batman stories, you can start with Scott Snyder’s run that was launched at the beginning of the preceding New 52 era of Batman, or explore our Modern Age reading guide to find some classic tales.
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.
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 success of Secret Wars in the 1980s, Marvel Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different comic series. This has become a significant part of both the business and the way stories are constructed. Even after the industry nearly went extinct following the speculator boom of the ’90s, major events and crossovers continued to multiply. Some are forgettable, while others have become integral to the overall mythology surrounding superheroes such as Spider-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, and the X-Men.
This article is a list of crossover events involving superheroes and characters from different Marvel series, big and small. It will be updated with links to dedicated reading orders as they are published and, of course, with new entries as Marvel continues to announce more.
Read More »The Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List, from the ’80s Secret Wars to today
The Lazarus Contract is a DC Comics mini-crossover event published in 2017 between three series : Titans, Teen Titans and Deahtstroke. The crossover was written by Dan Abnett, Benjamin Percy and Christopher Priest, with interior art from Brett Booth, Khoi Pham, Carlo Pagulayan and Paul Pelletier.
The title, The Lazarus Contract, is a call back to the classic storyline New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. The story picks up here with Slade Wilson’s discovery that the original Wally West has returned.
He sees that return as an opportunity to bring his son Grant back to life, and nothing will stop him from getting what he wants. Standing in his way? Both the Teen Titans and the Titans! But will the Titans and the Teen Titans be fast enough to stop him from changing the world as we know it?
Read More »The Lazarus Contract Reading Order, a Titans/Teen Titans/Deathstroke crossover
Big Marvel crossover Written by Nick Spencer (with artists Rod Reis, Daniel Acuña, Steve McNiven, and Andrea Sorrentino) published between April and September 2017, Secret Empire is one of those Universe Redefining massive event. One that started with a huge twist, as it was revealed that Captain America is—pardon my French—a f***ing Hydra Agent!
Here is the official description of the event: Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, is living a lie! The Cosmic Cube has remade the world’s greatest hero into a secret true believer in the cause of Hydra, wholly dedicated to its mission of progress through authority and unity through adversity! Now, using the trust and respect he’s been accorded by the great powers of the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers makes Hydra’s ideals a reality—and changes the landscape of the world dramatically! How will he take some of his biggest threats off the board? Who will remain to stand against him? And which heroes will fi ght on his side? Find out as the impossible becomes real! Hail Hydra!
This limited series event addresses the aftermath of the crossover event Avengers: Standoff! and the ongoing series Captain America: Steve Rogers, in which Captain America has been acting as a sleeper agent and covertly setting the stage to establish Hydra as the main world power.
So, before reading Secret Empire, maybe take a look at the time when we discovered that Cap is a member of Hydra. To do that, you have to read Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 1: Hail Hydra, and you can go after that to Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 2: The Trial of Maria Hill, and then Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 3: Empire Building. If you want to read what’s essential, Marvel published a book collecting exactly that:
Read More »Secret Empire Reading Order, the Evil Captain America crossover event from Marvel