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Umbrella Academy Reading Order: How to Start reading Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s comic book series?

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You may know Umbrella Academy thanks to its television adaptation by Netflix. Written by Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance) and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, Umbrella Academy is described as a “dysfunctional family of superheroes” — and part of our 15 Dark Horse Must-Read Comic Books.

All began with an inexplicable worldwide event, where forty-three extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who’d previously shown no signs of pregnancy. Millionaire inventor Reginald Hargreeves adopts seven of the children and prepares them to save the world from an unspecified threat as the Umbrella Academy.

The members are Spaceboy (Luther Hargreeves), The Kraken (Diego Hargreeves), The Rumor (Allison Hargreeves), The Séance (Klaus Hargreeves), The Boy (Number Five), The Horror (Ben Hargreeves), and The White Violin (Vanya Hargreeves).

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The Penguin, Your Recommended Reading List for Batman’s Iconic Enemy

There is no doubt that The Penguin has stood out like few other Batman villains on the small and big screen. Burgess Meredith’s memorable portrayal in the 1960s television series influenced the comic book representation of the character, while Danny DeVito’s iconic portrayal in Batman Returns delivered the scariest version of Cobblepot. Played with gusto by Robin Lord Taylor, The Penguin was also the breakout character of the show Gotham. And now, Oswald Cobblepot headlines his own television series, played by Colin Farrell, reprising his role from the 2022 movie The Batman.

In a way, The Penguin is one of those characters (like Lois Lane) who are more famous for their representation in other media than in comics. Despite being introduced more than 80 years ago, The Penguin has remained an obscure antagonist for a long time. More often than not, he is part of a larger event or story but rarely in the spotlight. Oswald Cobblepot likes to stay in the shadows so much that there are relatively few stories focused solely on him compared to some other members of Batman’s rogues gallery.

For new readers who want to learn more about Oswald Cobblepot or seasoned readers who want to reconnect with the character, here is a recommended reading guide for The Penguin.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Manga in Order

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One of the longest manga series, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will ensure long reading sessions with more than 134 volumes released (and more coming). Created by Hirohiko Araki more than 35 years ago – it started in 1987 to be precise -, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tells the story of the Joestar family and their endless conflict with the supernatural.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure became one of the most famous manga for its art style, flamboyant characters, wild humor and bloody battles. Split into nine parts (at this date), each one explores different characters and themes, thriving to deliver something different at every opportunity.

The manga became very popular in 1989 with its most iconic arc Stardust Crusaders, and grew into a media franchise including spin-off manga, light novels, video games, TV anime, and live-action films.

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The Avengers Reading Order, A Post Secret Wars Marvel World (2015-Present)

Avengers Assemble! To face threats too big for one hero to combat, the Avengers were created to form Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As villains, danger, and destruction of worlds multiplied, the number of recruits for the Avengers expanded too, with spin-offs of the team to cover more threats and to deliver more stories!

The Marvel Universe was destroyed and recreated almost ten years ago in the 2015 Secret Wars. An All-New, All-Different Marvel emerged, combining the 616 Universe and the 1610 Ultimate Universe (the home of Miles Morales). Following this event, a new Marvel era started with a new team of Avengers formed by Iron Man, the first roster of many more to come in the following years as tradition would like. In Avengers and their many spin-offs, members come and go to protect the Earth.

Today, we are exploring the world of the Avengers in a Post Secret Wars, from 2015 to the present. If you want to dive into classic and older Avengers Comics, you can find the listing over here.

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X-Men Omnibus Reading Order!

From their first appearance in September 1963 to the present, The X-Men have lived countless adventures filled with action, tragedy, comedy, romance, and more. These adventures have spawned many teams such as New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, and X-Force, as well as solo journeys for many characters in the form of miniseries and ongoing titles!

Naturally, the library of X-Men and X-Men-related comic book titles can look daunting for new readers and even older ones. Throughout the years, Marvel Comics has collected many runs and tens of thousands of X-Men issues in various formats, including classic trade paperbacks, Marvel Masterworks, in the popular Epic Collection, and, of course, the Omnibus line!

With more than 50 omnibuses dedicated to the X-Men and all associated titles—and the number is still growing—, we have decided to create a Specific X-Men Omnibus Reading Order. This guide can serve as a roadmap to the extraordinary adventures of the X-Men in this particular collection, helping new and old readers to find their ways in the vast world of the mutantkind!

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What is the Speed Force? Understanding the Origins of The Flash’s Powers

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It’s no secret that The Flash is the fastest man alive! But how can he be capable of such an amazing prowess? The Flash’s speed is derived from the Speed Force, which is defines as ‘a strange other-dimensional energy field that gives all speedsters their power‘ and ‘a mysterious ancient power that caused the extinction of the Mayans and sped up the evolution of a tribe of gorillas in East Africa‘ (DC Encyclopedia, 2021.) 

Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo created the Speed Force 30 years ago, in The Flash (Vol. 2) #91, after speedster Wally West attempted to travel faster using Johnny Quick’s super speed formula and began going so fast that he stopped time. At this moment, Wally’s mentor and Golden Age Speedster, Max Mercury, informs him of his link to the Speed Force. For Wally West, it was some « Zen Mumbo Jumbo », unaware that the Flash Mythology had just been drastically transformed.

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Cyborg Superman Reading Order (Hank Henshaw)

Since his creation, Superman has inspired many other characters including different versions of himself such as Bizarro, the “mirror image” of The Man of Steel. Among the alternative versions of the superhero is also Cyborg Superman, a character whose origin story is more of a dark homage to what happened to the Fantastic Four.

Created by Dan Jurgens, Hank Henshaw made his first appearance in The Adventures of Superman #465 (May 1990). The astronaut was on the LexCorp space shuttle Excalibur with his wife Terri and two other crew members when it crashed, supposedly at first from a solar flare created by Superman which also exposed the crew to a fatal dose of radiation. As Hank’s body deteriorated, he transferred his consciousness to LexCorp’s mainframe and transformed into a cyborg resembling Superman. His wife didn’t survive the whole ordeal and with time, Hank became delusional and paranoid, blaming Superman for Terri’s death — even though she herself established what happened was simply an accident.

From the rubble of this freakish accident was born Cyborg Superman, also called The Cyborg (not to be confused with Cyborg!). With the ability to control machines and computers, as well as physical strength similar to Superman’s, Cyborg Superman became one of the Man of Steel’s dangerous foes and a Green Lantern villain.

Now, learn more about Cyborg Superman with our reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and story arcs featuring DC Comics’s evil twisted version of Superman!

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Fullmetal Alchemist, a Classic Fantasy Manga

With a total of 108 chapters, Fullmetal Alchemist chronicles over nine years the epic, fun, and dangerous journey of the famous Elric Brothers.

Their story began in Japan in 2001 in Square Enix’s Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Readers were introduced to Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers living in a 20th-century-inspired world where alchemy is one of the most practiced sciences. Following a forbidden alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his right arm and left leg while his younger brother Alphonse lost his entire physical body and now exists as a soul alchemically bound to a large suit of steel armor.

In a quest to restore their bodies (especially for his brother), Ed joined the military and became a State Alchemist. His research led him to search for the Philosopher’s Stone, a mystical object that could help him attain his goal. But now, war is on the horizon and the two brothers have no choice but to face the moral complexities of their actions, the harsh realities of war, and human suffering, as well as to deal with powerful and menacing adversaries with their own ambitions.

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Where to start reading Deadpool comics? A Guide for beginners

This summer, Deadpool is breaking the Fourth Wall on the big screen once again… This time with Wolverine! Before watching Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), why not read some good comics featuring Wade Wilson?

Born in Canada, Deadpool is known as the Merc With a Mouth. He’s a wise-cracking, insufferable lethal mercenary who just can’t shut up! Is he mad or a genius? A hero who commits regular felonies or a villain doing occasional good deeds?

Learn more about Marvel’s famous mercenary, The Man, The Myth, The Legend with our recommended reading list!

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The Best of Magik Comics, Our Illyana Rasputin Recommended Reading Order (X-Men)!

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While it’s obvious to think about Scarlet Witch or Clea and Stephen Strange when talking about magic users in the Marvel Universe, it would be a great mistake to disregard Magik, also known as Illyana Rasputina.

Created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, Illyana made her first appearance in the comic book Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975), like many other X-Men characters such as Nightcrawler, Storm, Thunderbird, and her brother Colossus! For a long time, she was only known as Colossus’ little sister until Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema sent her to the magical realm of Limbo. In her time there, Illyana aged seven years,  developed her teleportation abilities and became a sorceress later known as Magik.

Since her debut, Illyana has been abused by demons during her formative years, de-aged, exploited by her government, killed by a Virus, resurrected, turned on the Dark Side and more! With those many traumatic experiences, Magik became one of the most fascinating and ambiguous X-Men and well deserving of her own reading order! 

So today, let’s explore Magik’s history with her best comics to understand her character and motivations, learn more about her place among the X-Men, her relationship with her brother, Shadowcat and more!

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