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Carole

Co-founder and owner of Comic Book Treasury. The woman behind the Batfamily Guide (and the many Robins Guides), the Fables Universe and some of your favorite Spider-People among others!

Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Comics and the Return of the Classic DC Spirit

For new readers, reading old comics from the Golden to the Bronze Age can sometimes be rough. They were aimed at children at the time, with almost no one thinking that they would be reprinted and collected 80 years later. While exploring those years of comics can be interesting and fun, it’s also an acquired taste. The writing style was completely different to modern standards, often more wordy and descriptive, and accompanied by great art that was sometimes recycled throughout issues (anyone who has read Lee and Kirby’s run on Fantastic Four will have noticed some repeated panels!).

At DC Comics, these stories are all part of the Pre-Crisis era, which is set before the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This was the first major crisis, but certainly not the last! The timeline has changed significantly since then due to the many crises that have occurred, resulting in changes to the origins, events and canons of the DC Universe’s superheroes.

This past few years, writer Mark Waid has dedicated a certain amount of his time to exploring DC’s new past. As he explained in a interview on DC.com, “the joy of using the past is in recontextualizing earlier eras and earlier ideas for the modern audience by coupling genuine character moments with some of the cooler forgotten artifacts of DC history. I don’t want to just retell past stories—I want to find new ways into history that resonate today.”

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Superman Family: A Brief Guide to Metropolis’ Heroes and Allies

Superman is all about family. Having been sent to Earth as a child by his parents before their home planet was destroyed, he is driven by a desire for connection, purpose and belonging. Though he is an alien on Earth, he is also “the most human of us all”, as Batman would say. He is also one of the most humble, compassionate and dedicated superheroes on Earth, always ready to help and protect life in all its forms.

While he is protecting Earth (and other planets) as a member of the Justice League, the superhero known as Clark Kent in his civilian life is surrounded by loved ones, members of his adopted and biological families, and other allies who help him make Metropolis one of the safest towns in the DC Universe. Together, they form the Superman Family.

For many years, Superman was a lone superhero, the Last Son of Krypton. This doesn’t mean he was completely alone, though, as Clark built many strong and lasting relationships with the staff of the Daily Planet, including his love interest and future wife Lois Lane and Superman’s best friend, Jimmy Olsen.

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Namor the Sub-Mariner Reading Order, Imperius Rex!

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Namor the Sub-Mariner is one of Marvel’s earliest characters and is sometimes considered their very first original character. He was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for the comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1. The title was never released, and Namor’s real first appearance was in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939). He was one of Timely Comics’ (Marvel’s predecessor) most popular characters at the time, alongside the Human Torch and Captain America.

Although he is not as popular today as he was during the Golden Age of comics, Namor remains a historically significant character with a publishing history spanning over 80 years. He has even found his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he is played by Tenoch Huerta in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

But who is Namor, the Sub-Mariner? Namor McKenzie is the mutant son of a human sea captain and an Atlantean princess. As the current king of Atlantis, he will do whatever it takes to protect his people. Depending on the circumstances, he can be a villain, a hero, or an antihero to the surface dwellers. He is almost always a hero to the people of Atlantis.

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DC Rebirth, The Complete Reading Order (10th Anniversary!)

Now that DC All In is in full swing and has recently entered its second phase, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of another DC era: Rebirth! That’s right, it’s already been ten years since DC Comics restored the DC Universe to a form closer to the pre-Flashpoint era, following the darker, grittier New 52 era. Rather than a complete reboot, the idea was a soft relaunch that combined the best of the pre-New 52 DC Universe (Superman!) with the New 52 continuity and a few other elements that were also considered worth keeping.

Geoff Johns, President and COO of DC Entertainment, wrote the 80-page DC Universe: Rebirth #1, which introduced readers to the new status quo and marked the official return of Wally West to the DC Universe. The idea behind Rebirth was to celebrate and reconnect with DC’s past and present. The old continuity and some past concepts were reintroduced, while characters were redefined to embrace their history and going back to their roots.

The Rebirth era officially began on 25 May 2016 and ended on 2 March 2021 with the Infinite Frontier relaunch. It’s worth noting that the Rebirth branding stopped much sooner, at the end of December 2017, morphing into the larger ‘DC Universe’ banner. A soft relaunch called ‘New Justice’ happened in the aftermath of Dark Nights: Metal. Almost no one considers these to be official breaking points in the timeline.

For this reason, the following guide covers the period from 2016 to 2021, during which the classic Superman returned, Jon Kent and Damian Wayne teamed up, Aquaman enjoyed one of his most successful periods, and the Dark Multiverse threatened everything…

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Gotham Academy Reading Order

Welcome to Gotham Academy, Gotham City’s most prestigious school, which counts Harvey Dent and Dick Grayson among its former students.

Like many places in Gotham, it is filled with history, dark secrets, and hidden passageways. Admittedly, not every part of Gotham City has secret passages. but still… Gotham’s most prestigious prep school also happens to be just across the road from the Arkham Asylum. 

It is not that difficult to imagine that life at Gotham Academy is anything but normal. In 2014, Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl decided to explore the lives of the students attending the famous school, particularly the special case of Olive Silverlock, her best friend Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi, and the rest of the Gotham Academy Detective Club.

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Spider-Man 2099 Reading Order (Miguel O’Hara)

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As you are well aware now, not all Spider-Men are Peter Parker under the mask. And one of the coolest versions is Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099, who couldn’t be more different from Peter even if he tried!

Created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi for the Marvel 2099 comic book line, Miguel O’Hara made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #365 in August 1992, as a preview, before headlining his own series, Spider-Man 2099, which launched in November of that year. Readers were introduced to the brilliant Irish-Mexican geneticist Miguel O’Hara, who lives in Nueva York (a renamed New York City) in the year 2099 and works for Alchemax, one of North America’s biggest corporations, which produces everything from everyday products to military weaponry and private space travel.

Miguel was being pressured and manipulated by his boss Tyler Stone for testing a process to imprint genetic codes into human physiology. Miguel had to experiment on himself if he wanted a future, but things didn’t turn out as expected: his DNA was rewritten and became fifty percent spider.

With great power comes great responsibility, and Miguel decided to use his new abilities to take down Tyler Stone and Alchemax. Miguel became Spider-Man 2099, the breakout star of the Marvel 2099 line. He has naturally appeared in numerous media adaptations, including in the animated Across the Spider-Verse movie, voiced by Oscar Isaac – although I think this is a bad version of the character, as his core values are not respected!

Find out everything you need to know about Miguel O’Hara and his complicated timeline in our Complete Spider-Man 2099 reading order!

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Doom Patrol Reading Order

Created by Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, with artist Bruno Premiani, the Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (1963), at a time when the struggling title needed a radical reinvention. Drake’s concept was to write about “freaks who banded together and the man in the wheelchair guiding them” (see American Comic Books Chronicles: The 1960s). The result was a team unlike any other in DC’s Silver Age, and this guide to reading Doom Patrol explores every iteration of that vision.

Originally dubbed “The World’s Strangest Heroes,” the group centered on victims of catastrophic accidents: actress Rita “Elasti-Woman” Farr, race car driver Cliff “Robotman” Steele, pilot Larry “Negative Man” Trainor, led by the enigmatic Niles “Chief” Caulder. Later additions such as Garfield “Beast Boy” Logan and Steve “Mento” Dayton expanded the roster but preserved its defining tension: powers born from trauma and alienation. From the start, the Doom Patrol stood apart from conventional superhero teams, with stories that foregrounded psychological strain and existential unease.

From their tragic origins to the mind-bending reality-warping of the Grant Morrison era and the modern “Young Animal” revival, this guide breaks down every era. Below, you will find the Doom Patrol reading order in chronological order, organized by creator runs and key graphic novels.

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Psylocke Reading Order (Betsy Braddock, Kwannon)

She became a popular X-Men character in the nineties, known for her psychic abilities and her signature telepathic blade. Today, we’re talking about the mutant Psylocke. Or should I say mutants, as the codename has been used by two closely connected women: Betsy Braddock and Kwannon.

Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe in 1976, Betsy Braddock was first introduced as the sister of Captain Britain and a telepath before eventually joining the X-Men. In the late 1980s, she underwent one of the most infamous transformations in Marvel history, emerging in the body of the Japanese assassin Kwannon.

For decades, Betsy Braddock operated under the name Psylocke — a British woman living in another woman’s body, combining telepathy with formidable fighting skills. She served as an X-Man, a covert operative, and at times an assassin, while forming complicated romantic relationships along the way.

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The Boys Reading Order, Your Comic Guide to Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s Satirical series

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Who could have guessed in 2006 that The Boys would become a franchise on television? Not DC Comics, which cancelled the title after 6 issues. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic found a second home at Dynamite Entertainment, where the creative team could pursue their vision for this violent and darkly humorous series that was concluded in 2012, after 72 issues and three six-issue limited series. 

But who are the Boys? You may know them from Amazon Prime Video’s television adaptation. They are a team of vigilantes led by Billy Butcher who work for the CIA to keep an eye on the superhero community. Like the superheroes they worked so hard to stop, they are messed-up people. The story begins when Wee Hughie (based on Simon Pegg) watches his girlfriend get killed by a superhero who doesn’t care about collateral damage. Butcher invites Hughie to join his team in the US and teaches him everything he needs to know about the origin of superheroes and how they are propaganda for a failed military consortium.

The Boys is a satirical comic filled with violence, dark humor, Marvel and DC references, and even an Animal House storyline. At its heart, it’s about the evolution of Hughie and Butcher. Like a classic Garth Ennis comic, it’s full of rage, violence, and dark, twisted humor, interesting characters and pure emotion.

With The Boys celebrating its 20th anniversary and the series returning for its final season, now is the perfect time to revisit the comic book. Explore the various editions available with our The Boys Reading Guide and read the story between episodes of the adaptation (or one of its spin-offs!).

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