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Inhumans Reading Order (with Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Lockjaw and Maximus)

Not to be confused with the X-Men, The Inhumans are another group of Marvel Superpower beings created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The difference resides in the way each group comes into their meta-human abilities. To put it simply (as nothing is really that simple in the comic book world), Mutants are a group of people possessing the X-Gene that generally comes into their powers during puberty. Inhumans are the result of a Kree science experiment and only get their powers if they are exposed to Terrigen Mist and undergo a transformation called Terrigenesis. Inhumans were created with a purpose, as weapons to assist the Kree in their war against the Skrulls.

So what is Terrigen Mist, you ask? Well, this Mist is produced when Terrigen Crystals, a rare mineral created by the Kree, are exposed to water at a specific temperature. So when an Inhuman inhales the Mist, it activates the Inhuman gene and he becomes a meta-human.

Inhumans also differentiate themselves by usually being a close-knit society preferring to trust no one but its own people. Living in isolation, they are ruled by the Royal Family and the Genetic Council. They even had their own kingdom on the moon before humanity learns of their existence.

The most famous Inhumans out there are part of the Royal Family. Black Blot is the king of the Inhumans and has a destructive hypersonic voice whose slightest whisper will release his power. For this reason, he remains silent. He is married to Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans, which has prehensile hair. Crystal, Medusa’s sister, can manipulate the elements, and Maximus, Black Bolt’s brother has the ability of mind-control and thirst for power.

There are also Gorgon with legs that can create massive shockwaves; Karnak, a martial art artist, priest and philosopher to the Inhumans who chose to never be exposed to the Terrigen Mist; Triton, who can breathe underwater; Good ol’ boy Lockjaw, a bulldog that can teleport; and more…

More recently, the NuHumans, or Inhumans Hybrids, were introduced, and with this new tribe came a lot of new characters like Daisy Johnson, Kamala Khan, Lunella Lafayette.

Introduced in Fantastic Four #45 in december 1965, The Inhumans have more than 50 years of history, where their complex origins, their relationships and their place in the Marvel Universe have been explored. Now is the time to jump into the Inhumans Reading order to know what to read!

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Namor the Sub-Mariner Reading Order, Imperius Rex!

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

Though Namor is not as popular today as he was in the Golden Age era of comics, the character remained a historically important figure and still a popular character, with a history spanning over 80 years of publication.

Also known as 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 anything to protect his people. For this reason, Namor can be a villain, a hero, or an antihero, depending on the circumstances, for the surface dwellers. He’s almost always a hero for the people of Atlantis.

Namor is also a very powerful character, with Superhuman strength, speed, durability, agility, senses, and reflexes. He can breathe underwater like all Atlanteans and can communicate and command sea life. He possesses vestigial “wings” on both of his ankles which permits him to fly, he is capable of manipulating the weather like Storm and much more. With all these powers comes a quite volatile and arrogant personality!

He is now played by Tenoch Huerta in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making his live-action debut in Black: Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Let’s dive into the Sub-Mariner’s history with this Namor Reading Order!

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Little Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay’s influential comic strip

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Little Nemo in Slumberland, New York Herald, January 7, 1906

One of the most famous Little Nemo in Slumberland comic strips today was published in July 1908. Considered a masterpiece, it shows the young Nemo atop his bed which had grown crazy long legs and was walking among buildings.

At this stage, creator Winsor McCay was working for the New York Herald for a few years and had already produced many illustrations and comic strips. He came to work for publisher James Gordon Bennett in 1903 where he was doing caricatures of officeholders. But it was in Telegram that he began experimenting with the comic strip form: a sequential panel called “Hubby Goes Shopping with the Usual Results” was published on December 24, 1903.

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Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) Reading Order

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The Huntress is a DC Character considered part of the Bat-family. But there is also more than one Huntress in the DC Universe, though the one that interests us today is one of the most famous women to bear the name: Helena Bertinelli. She was also the last one to date to become the Huntress…

Way before Helena Bertinelli made her debut, Huntress was a recurring villainess with no name from the Golden Age. Created in the pages of Sensation Comics #68 by artist Mort Meskin and an unnamed writer in 1947, she was retconned in the Bronze Age by writer Roy Thomas.

He gave her the name Paula Brooks and built her a real backstory in Young All-Stars, a title set in DC’s Golden Age. Over the course of the series, Thomas recounted Paula’s transformation, from the superheroine to the villainess named Huntress.

During her short stint, Paula stayed an obscure character. It was a certain Helena Wayne who popularized the name Huntress during the Bronze Age. Created by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, she made her debut in DC Super Stars #17  (1977).

The daughter of Batman and Catwoman from Earth-2, Helena became a vigilante to avenge her mother’s death and choose the code name The Huntress when she decided to continue to fight crime. Later, Helena found herself fighting against Paula Brooks and winning the right to the name Huntress in All-Star Comics #72.

She bore the name until the destruction of the DC Universe in Crisis of Infinite Earths.

Following the reboot, Helena Wayne died and her family never existed. In this new continuity, Helena Bertinelli is introduced as the Huntress.

Created by Joey Cavalieri and Joe Staton, Bertinelli was conceived at first as a new interpretation of Helena Wayne. Making her debut in The Huntress #1 in 1989, this Helena has no link with Batman/Catwoman, but was born in one of the most powerful mafia families. She became a ruthless vigilante, ready to do justice by any means necessary. It puts her at odds with Batman, and she was for a long time the black sheep in the Bat-family, before Jason Todd/Red Hood was attributed that role. Her origins have been rewritten more than once, and she became the third member of the team Birds of Prey.

She was also recently played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the 2020’s film Birds of Prey.

To avoid confusion with Helena Wayne, what follows is a comprehensive reading order for Helena Bertinelli.

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Thunderbolts Reading Order

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Following the events of 1996’s Onslaught, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were declared dead. A new group of ‘superheroes’ decided to step in to help protect the world: The Thunderbolts!

Considered the equivalent of DC’s Suicide Squad, The Thunderbolts was created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley and they made their first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #449 (January 1997) before the launch of their ongoing series the following month.

What seemed to be a basic superhero team then changed on the last page, when it was revealed that The Thunderbolts, led by Baron Zemo, were actually the Masters of Evil in disguise! This is known as one of the most famous twists in Marvel history.

With themes of redemption and heroism, The Thunderbolts will walk away from their evil nature, choosing to reject Baron Zemo and try to become heroes in their own right. Throughout the years, this team of anti-heroes has worked to do good things when led by Hawkeye, Luke Cage, and the Winter Soldier, but has also been used as a dangerous and malevolent force by leaders like Norman Osborn and Wilson Fisk. As you can imagine, between changes in leadership and direction, the roster of the team has changed a lot over the years.

A new version of Thunderbolts will soon be on the big screen, as a movie featuring the team will be released in 2024. Before that, you can start reading The Thunderbolts, and exploring their past (and present) history with this reading order!

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Supergirl Reading Order (Kara Zor-El, Matrix, Cir-El)

It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Supergirl! One of Superman’s happiest moments in life was discovering he had a long-lost living relative when Supergirl made her first appearancee in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). This was also one of the most important events in the development of the Superman Universe. Sent to Earth in a rocket by her father, Zor-El, Supergirl is Superman’s cousin from Krypton and she was chosen to star in the backup story of Action Comics even before making her debut.

The first adventures of the Girl of Steel were conceived with the idea of appealing to female readers who “were thought to be more interested in seeing a girl use super powers closer to home.” (American Comic Book Chronicles, The 1950s). While her earlier stories were clearly not as thrilling as the adventures of her more famous cousin, this was only the start for Supergirl, as the character would grow in popularity and complexity.

Since her creation, Supergirl has been killed off, replaced, rebooted, retconned and much much more. The Last Daughter of Krypton has used several names and been part of various teams, including the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Justice League, the Red Lantern Corps, and the DEO. Her history is not simple, complicated by the fact that Kara-Zor-El isn’t the only person to have taken on the mantle of Supergirl!

There’s also no doubt that the Girl of Steel gained popularity thanks to the several iterations of the character on the big and small screen. She first appeared in the film Supergirl (1984), played by Helen Slater. On TV, She has been played by Laura Vandervoort in Smallville and Melissa Benoist in the Arrowverse. Sasha Calle recently portrayed the character in The Flash (2023) while a new version of the character has been announced with Milly Alcock playing the character in Superman: Legacy (2025) and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (2026). Naturally, she has also appeared in several animated movies and television series!

Let’s now explore the comic book history of Supergirl, from her first appearance in Action Comics as the Supergirl from Krypton to her recent adventures in space and beyond! Check out our Supergirl Comics Order for a guide to the many stories featuring the Maid of Might!

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Elsa Bloodstone Reading Order (and Ulysses Bloodstone)

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Not everyone is a superhero in the Marvel Universe. Some are Monster Hunters! This is the case of Elsa Bloodstone who, since her first appearance in Bloodstone #1 (Dec. 2001), has made a name for herself as such.

Created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Michael Lopez, Elsa Bloodstone is the daughter of another famous Monster Hunter, Ulysses Bloodstone, and the sister of Cullen Bloodstone. Her father was killing monsters with other monster hunters during the Bronze Age. He made a few appearances before meeting his maker, but Ulysses captured the public’s imagination and was after that still referenced in several issues. 

Today, his legacy in the Marvel Universe takes clearly the form of his children, especially Elsa. Introduced in the Bloodstone miniseries, Elsa Bloodstone could be perceived at the time as a mix between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the adventurer Lara Croft, and didn’t make a lasting impression on readers. A few years down the line, the character was rebooted by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen on Nextwave: Agents of HATE, where Elsa really came into her own as a foul-mouthed and violent young woman.

Though Elsa didn’t have a specific place in the Marvel Universe at this time, she became a more prominent character in the 2010s. She was a playable character in several video games, joined the Legion of Monsters, worked with the Thunderbolts and the Defenders, teamed up with Wolverine and Deadpool, and more.

Now, she is making her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the television special “Werewolf by Night,” where she is played by actress Laura Donnelly.

Following is an Elsa Bloodstone reading order (including information about her father Ulysses and her brother Cullen!) to help you become more familiar with the character and her family!

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Kick-Ass Comics, a Reading Guide for the Mark Millar series (including Hit-Girl)

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What would it look like to be a superhero in the real world? This is a question writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr. explored in the famous Kick-Ass comic book series, originally published by Marvel Comics under the Icon Imprint, and later republished under Image Comics, between 2008 and 2019. The universe was expanded with two spin-off series, including one focusing on Hit-Girl. And it has been adapted by director Matthew Vaughn into a successful movie, followed by a less successful sequel.

But let’s go back to the beginning. Dave Lizewski is an ordinary New York teenage boy who loves superheroes. One day, he decides to cross the line, put on a costume, and become a vigilante. Soon enough, he discovers it’s very dangerous and way more real than what he reads in the comic book pages.

Despite the punch and the blood, his actions have some effects, inspiring others. And in his fight against crime, he meets the young Mindy McCready aka the ruthless Hit-Girl…

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The Joker’s Last Laugh Reading Order

The Joker was disrupting the DC Universe at the beginning of the noughties. He was  first accidentally given nigh-unlimited reality-shaping powers by Mr. Mxyzptlk and reshaped the universe in his image in Superman: Emperor Joker. Not long after that, the Joker was at it again, spreading chaos in the way less received event The Joker’s Last Laugh (also known as The Joker: Last Laugh), written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty with art by Pete Woods.

What The Joker’s Last Laugh is about? The Joker is a prisoner at the Slabside Penitentiary when a prison doctor informs them that they have found a malignant tumor after a brain scan. The Joker is going to die. Facing this news, The Clown Prince of Crime decides he wants to go out with a bang. He concocts a scheme to carry on his legacy by transforming his fellow villains into “jokerized” versions of themselves.

Published in 2001, this storyline comprises a six-issue miniseries and 25 tie-ins, covering almost everything that was published at the time, from the Batman titles to the Superman family, and more.

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Captain America Reading Order

Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America was introduced in March 1941 to fight the AXIS powers during WWII. He was the most popular character from Timely Comics (a predecessor of Marvel Comics) during the wartime period before fading into obscurity with falling sales in the 1950s.

If several heroes bearing the flag motif didn’t survive and are forgotten today, the man known as Steve Rogers found his way back to the public when The Avengers got him out of ice in 1964. He became a man out of time but one still committed to fighting evil in all its forms. Though he sometimes struggles to maintain his ideals, Cap never gives up and always stands up for what he believes is right. It’s no wonder he became a highly respected figure both with the American public and in the superhero community, serving as the long-time leader of the Avengers.

More than a man, Captain America is an American icon, a symbol of hope. For this reason, other men have taken the mantle of Captain America in Steve Rogers’ various absences, including John Walker, Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson. 

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