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Lex Luthor, Your Recommended Reading List for Superman’s Archenemy

Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor is one of the smartest people in DC Comics and Superman’s most emblematic villain. Initially depicted as a mad scientist and narcissist, the character was reimagined in the mid-late 1980s (following Crisis on Infinite Earths) as the powerful CEO of LexCorp, willing to do anything to rid the world of Superman.

Although Luthor has no superpowers per se, he considers his genius to be his gift—and with good reason! Luthor is not only a mad scientist but also a criminal mastermind, expert tactician and manipulator, ruthless businessman, and formidable leader. His ability to survive any scandal underscores his cunning. Luthor is the master of complex, multi-layered plans to destroy Superman, with his primary weakness being, as is often the case for men like him, his arrogance—and his inability to truly understand his enemies.

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Doomsday Reading Order

Like Cyborg Superman, the supervillain Doomsday made his debut during the “Death of Superman” story arc. If everyone knows his name, it’s because he is the character who killed Superman! That’s certainly one way to make an impression.

Created by Dan Jurgens, the first appearance of Doomsday is a cameo in Superman: The Man of Steel #17, before making his full appearance in the following issue, Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992). As Jurgens wrote on his website, “When we first started talking about Doomsday, he didn’t even have a name. We talked about him in terms of “living rage” or “force of nature”. ”

There is no better way to define Doomsday, an unstoppable force of destruction engineered long ago by Kryptonian scientists to be the ultimate weapon. Devoid of emotion and shaped by an unforgiving environment, Doomsday was forged through a brutal cycle of deaths and forced evolution. In the end, he became an unkillable machine filled with primal rage.

After escaping Krypton and embarking on a killing spree across many planets, Doomsday was finally defeated and buried on the primitive planet Earth. But Doomsday always comes back to life, and he returned, once again evolved, more unstoppable than ever, becoming one of Superman’s most iconic foes.

Since his creation, Doomsday has made several appearances on live-action television and in animated series, though his most mainstream incarnation is in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Discover the ultimate Doomsday reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and many epic battles involving The Destroyer!

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The Maker Reading Order, The Ultimate Reed Richards

As one of the Fantastic Four, Mister Fantastic, aka Reed Richards, stands as one of Marvel’s greatest heroes. One of the most intelligent beings on the planet, he is driven by an insatiable curiosity and a deep sense of responsibility to protect others, even as his single-minded focus on science sometimes causes him to struggle with personal relationships and emotional connections.

But what if Mister Fantastic were transformed into a supervillain and chose to use his intellect to become a multiversal threat? This scenario was explored in the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610), where the Reed Richards variant is now known as the Maker.

Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert, the Ultimate Reed Richards made his first appearance in Ultimate Fantastic Four #1. Initially introduced as a younger, modernized version of the beloved character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, his turn toward villainy was depicted in the pages of Ultimate Comics and Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates, orchestrated by writer Jonathan Hickman. Like Miles Morales, the character didn’t disappear following the destruction of their Earth. He survived the Secret Wars and began working for his own gain on the new Earth-616.

Discover more about this Reed Richards doppelganger with our reading order, highlighting his appearances in the Ultimate Universe and beyond.

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The Walking Dead Comics Reading Order/Timeline, a Zombie post-apocalypse universe by Robert Kirkman

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The Walking Dead Comic Book Reading Order

There is no doubt that The Walking Dead is one of the most popular comic book series, gaining widespread recognition at the start of the 2010s with the television adaptation by AMC. Now a media franchise, it includes seven live-action television series, eight web series, several video games, novels, a role-playing game, and even an indoor roller coaster haunted attraction at Thorpe Park in England. The zombie apocalypse that captured the world’s attention began in 2003 with the original comic series.

Created by Robert Kirkman (Invincibles) and Tony Moore, The Walking Dead almost didn’t see the light of day as the two men struggled to sell their pitch. Their initial proposal, titled Dead Planet, was set in the 27th century, where a mysterious mineral on a newly discovered planet turned people into zombies, intended as a weapon. After Image Comics rejected the idea, Kirkman returned with a reworked concept, this time set on Earth and centered around the Grimes family during a zombie apocalypse in the 1960s. The comic series was initially called Night of the Living Dead, after the 1968 George Romero classic film. However, Image Comics co-founder Jim Valentino pushed for a more original concept, one with no ties to another classic zombie story.

Kirkman then proposed The Walking Dead with a more traditional approach, but the pitch was again rejected for being “too normal.” To secure the green light from Image Comics, Kirkman added a twist: the zombie plague was caused by aliens, turning the story into an alien invasion tale. Although this secured approval, Kirkman never actually intended to include aliens in the comic book.

Drawing inspiration from 28 Days Later (itself a nod to The Day of the Triffids), The Walking Dead begins with Rick Grimes, a Kentucky deputy who is shot in the line of duty and awakens from a coma to find that the world as he knew it is gone. In just a few months, society has crumbled: no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, and no cable TV. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. With his family missing, Rick travels to a military evacuation zone in Atlanta to find them and joins a small group of survivors along the way, all while trying to adapt to life in this terrifying new world…

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Batman Omnibus Reading Order!

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Today is Batman Day! One of the most popular comic book characters, Batman needs no introduction. Since his first appearance in May 1939, the Caped Crusader has investigated crimes of various natures, ranging from murder and theft to supernatural occurrences. Originally conceived as an heir to the pulp heroes, Batman has evolved over time, gradually softening and refining into the hero we know today.

The world of Batman expanded with more team-ups, new villains and allies, and iconic stories. His adventures have been chronicled in ongoing series, annuals, miniseries, maxiseries, one-shots, graphic novels, and every other format imaginable. Over the years, DC Comics has collected many of these tales, story arcs, crossovers, and runs in various formats, including the famous Omnibus line.

With a growing collection of Omnibus editions dedicated to Batman (and his extended family), we have decided to create a specific Batman Omnibus Reading Order. This guide can serve as a roadmap to explore the world of the Dark Knight, helping both new and seasoned readers discover more about the World’s Greatest Detective!

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Daredevil by Frank Miller Reading Order (with Elektra, of course!)

Young Frank Miller wasn’t working at Marvel for very long when he saw an opportunity to do a crime comic with Daredevil. After drawing two issues of Spectacular Spider-Man guest-starring Daredevil, he requested to work on the Daredevil title. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as artist Gene Colan wanted to leave Daredevil. While Miller hadn’t yet proven his ability to handle a regular commitment at this stage, as he remembers in The Comics Journal #70, Marvel took a gamble on him, and it paid off.

However, success didn’t arrive with his first Daredevil issue. Initially, Miller only drew the stories, with Roger McKenzie as the writer (and Klaus Janson as the inker). While both men didn’t always agree on everything, they worked well together and conspired to “steal away as many Spider-Man villains as we could.” But sales weren’t improving. Things turned around with the arrival of Denny O’Neil as editor on the title. Following a backup story written by Miller, O’Neil put the artist on writing duties, and the rest is history.

Influenced by Will Eisner, Gil Kane, Harvey Kurtzman, and film techniques, Miller made a name for himself through his care for research and his exploration of darker themes—violence being a major theme of his Daredevil run. He also decided to emphasize that Matt Murdock was a Catholic, as, for him, “only a Catholic could be a vigilante and an attorney at the same time.” (The Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil, 2003 documentary). He took the time to clearly define the parameters of Daredevil’s powers to make them more believable. He added some martial arts to Daredevil’s fighting skills and introduced Elektra in Daredevil #168 in his first issue as main writer. As Klaus Janson put it, the arrival of Elektra was “the culmination of Frank’s intent to rebuild Daredevil and his supporting cast.”

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DC Compact Comics: Your Guide to the Upcoming Graphic Novel Releases (2024-2025)

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A group of comic book covers from the DC Compact Comics Edition. The titles include "Batman: Hush", "The Court of Owls Saga", "Joker", and "Catwoman"

Following in the footsteps of French publisher Urban Comics and its ‘Urban Nomad’ collection, DC Comics has recently started to release a new line of graphic novels called DC Compact Comics. The concept? A new-reader-friendly collection at a good price that you can take with you everywhere!

What is the DC Comics Compact Edition?

Launched in June 2024 with the ultimate classic DC Comics (and best-seller of all time!) Watchmen, the new DC Compact Comics line is designed to appeal to prose and manga readers with a smaller format than the traditional 6 5/8″ x 10 3/16″. Featuring a 5.5″ x 8.5″ standard book trim—the most widely circulated softcover size in the US—DC wants to attract new readers by offering iconic stories in a more portable and affordable format. With a price point of $9.99, these compact editions deliver a full-color self-contained, best-selling DC stories that you can take with you everywhere!

Spanning stories from many genres, such as science fiction, thrillers, horror, fantasy, adventure, and mystery, the DC Compact Comics line will introduce readers to Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein with Far Sector, a sci-fi murder mystery on the other side of the universe, or revisit the myth of Superman with the multiple-award-winning All-Star Superman. While the emphasis is put on self-contained stories, the release of American Vampire Book One shows that the collection isn’t limited to one-off tales but also serves as an opportunity to collect long-running series.Read More »DC Compact Comics: Your Guide to the Upcoming Graphic Novel Releases (2024-2025)

Meet the Web-Warriors, the protectors of the Spider-Verse

Thanks to the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Across the Spider-Verse, it is no secret that the Marvel Universe contains an infinite number of versions of Spider-Men, Spider-Women, and Spider-villains.

Before Miles Morales and company web-slung onto the big screen, a Spider-Army was created on the pages of Marvel Comics. During the Spider-Verse event, their mission was to protect the Spiders from the Inheritors, a vampiric family who hunt Spider-Totems to access what is called the Web of Life and Destiny, which can be described as a celestial map of the multiverse – and with Spiders created to repair, maintain, and expand it.

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Naruto Universe Manga Order (with Boruto and Light Novels)

While Eikichi Onizuka wants to become the world’s greatest teacher, Naruto Uzumaki aspires to become Hokage! Created by Masashi Kishimoto, the ninja adventures of Naruto started in 1999 in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. Naruto is then a turbulent but ambitious 12-year-old ninja in training whose determination and enthusiasm compensate for his shortcomings.

While Naruto presents himself as a carefree and optimist person capable of befriending anyone, his life is already marked by tragedy and secret: the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox–a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, Naruto’s village– was sealed away in his body when he was just a baby, with his parents sacrificing themselves in the process. Naruto grew up an orphan, ignoring who his parents were, and openly ostracised and resented by many villagers for containing the beast that took many lives.

But nothing will stop Naruto on his track. The boy is determined to obtain respect from his peers and to become the greatest ninja with the help of his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura, facing many obstacles and Big Bads along the way. Naruto became one of the most popular manga, leading to a media franchise including the very successful anime television series, films, video games, toys, and several spin-offs!

Following is a guide to navigating the manga world of Naruto, with the spin-off Boruto, a few other manga spin-offs and many light novels!

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The Inhumans: Unraveling the Origins of Marvel’s Enigmatic Royal Family

The story goes that during the 2010s, Marvel decided to push the X-Men to the side in favor of the Inhumans, as they preferred properties for which they had full screen rights at the time. Their attempt to position the Inhumans as replacements for the X-Men didn’t pay off and, worse, gave the public a misleading image of this superhuman race, which is not comprised of mutants. This effort was further hampered by the failure of the 2017 Inhumans TV series.

However, a look back at their origins in comic book titles reveals that the Inhumans are quite different from the X-Men. Originally conceived with Jack Kirby’s psychedelic aesthetic, they were weirder, their powers crazier, and their stories more otherworldly.

It all started twenty-five thousand years ago when Kree scientists, drawn to Earth beings’ incredible potential, experimented on them to create a superhuman army. These experiments ultimately resulted in the development of the Inhumans, a species with superhuman strength and long lifespans.

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