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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!

Batwoman (Kate Kane) Reading Order

Batwoman Reading Order (Kate Kane)

Once upon a time, during the early Silver Age of Comics, there was the first Batwoman named Kathy Kane. Created by writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Sheldon Moldoff, she was introduced in 1954 as a female counterpart to Batman, accompanied by her side-kick Bat-Girl, and as a love interest for Batman. She was introduced in response to allegations of Batman’s homosexuality that arose after the publication of “Seduction of the Innocent” in 1954. Kathy Kane never became a significant character and was eventually removed from the comics. She was erased from history during “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” until the events of Infinite Crisis, which established a new Universe, introduced a new incarnation of Kathy Kane.

But this is not the Batwoman that interests us today. The one we are focusing on today is called Kate Kane. Created by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Ken Lashley, she made her first appearance in 52 #7 as a modern reinterpretation of the original Batwoman.

Katherine Rebecca “Kate” Kane is a wealthy heiress, a lesbian, and a cousin of Bruce Wayne. Inspired by the superhero Batman, she decides to take on the role of a masked vigilante to fight crime in her hometown of Gotham City as Batwoman. Her profile grew over time, and she starred in her own ongoing series as well as had a significant role in “Detective Comics.” She even became part of the Arrowverse with her own television series where she was played by Ruby Rose.

Discover now our Batwoman reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and story arcs featuring Bruce Wayne’s cousin!

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She-Hulk Reading Order aka Jennifer Walters, lawyer and Bruce Banner’s cousin

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Meet Marvel’s own Jennifer Walters. She’s a lawyer and Bruce Banner’s cousin (aka The Hulk, see reading order). After an injury, she received an emergency blood transfusion from him and acquired a milder version of his Hulk condition. She became She-Hulk, a large, powerful green-hued version of herself and, unlike her cousin, still largely retains her personality.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, She-Hulk first appeared in The Savage She-Hulk #1 in 1980, and you can read a lot more about that in our article about the origins of She-Hulk in the comic books.

During the past 40 years, she has been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force,  S.H.I.E.L.D., and also at the center of multiple solo series.

Where to start with She-Hulk aka Jennifer Walters? The Recommended Reading List

  • Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne Omnibus – John Byrne’s run is quite divisive. A humorous book with Jennifer breaking the Fourth Wall, it’s not to the taste of everybody so it’s up to you to decide if it’s your cup of tea.
  • She-Hulk by Dan Slott Omnibus – Dan Slott’s run continues the characterization of Jennifer Walters as a fun and loving super-heroine but with also more focus on her career as a lawyer. It’s the inspiration behind the TV show.
  • She-Hulk by Soule & Pulido: The Complete Collection – A short but well-loved run by Charles Soule following Jennifer as she opens a new practice and still has to confront a mounting number of super villains she’s racking up as personal enemies.

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Futures End Reading Order, a DC Comics’ universe-wide event from the New 52 era

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Futures End (DC New 52) Reading Order

Welcome to the New 52 Future! In May 2014, DC jumped forward 5 years in time with Futures End, an eleven-month weekly miniseries written by Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire—with art by Patrick Zircher, Ethan Van Sciver, Dan Green, Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, Scot Eaton, Drew Geraci, and a lot more.

Here is the official synopsis: Five years from now, the DC Universe is reeling from a war with another Earth, leaving the world unprepared for an approaching evil that threatens to destroy the future. As heroes are turned into mindless villains, the planet as we know it is no more. The only salvation lies in the past, where this future apocalypse must be averted. Can a time-traveling Batman Beyond help a massive cast of the DCU’s finest avert the impending apocalypse? 

What to read before Futures End?

Futures End takes place in an alternate future for the DC Universe, five years after most of the stories in the New 52 era of DC Comics, therefore this event does not require prior reading.

Nevertheless, for the more completists, some plot elements from Earth 2: World’s End are explored. Also, Terry McGinnis being at the center of the story, you may want to take a look at our Batman Beyond Reading Order, to learn more about him.

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Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern Reading Order, the follow-up to Rise of the Third Army

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In the outcome of Rise of the Third Army, the mysterious First Lantern is unleashed against the Green Lantern Corps, still under Geoff Johns’s supervision.

As per the official synopsis, The Wrath of the First Lantern is here as the Green Lanterns battle the Guardians of Oa and the Third Army, but who will win and at what cost?

And as First Lantern moves on the brightest of the Corps for his reality-altering experiments, we learn the shocking fate of Hal and Sinestro in this crossover event!

What to read before Wrath of the First Lantern?

Wrath of the First Lantern is taking place after the Rise of the Third Army event. You’ll need to read it first:

  • Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army
    Green Lantern Vol. 5 #13–16, Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 #13–16, Green Lantern: New Guardians #13–16, Red Lanterns #13–16, Green Lantern Corps Annual Vol. 3 #1.

Of course, these storylines are set near the end of Geoff Johns’s run on Green Lantern, we invite you to consult our reading order to know more about what came before (a lot!).

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Damian Wayne Reading Order, Fifth Robin and Son of Batman

Damain Wayne Reading Order, son of Batman and Fifth Robin

Everybody knows that Batman’s sidekick is Robin. Of course, readers are familiar with the fact that there’s more than one Robin. That said, there’s only one son of Bruce Wayne, the best Robin of all (if you ask him), Damian.

So, Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, and thus the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul. Grown in a laboratory, Damian was raised by his mother and the League of Assassins to make him a great warrior. It also makes him arrogant and violent.

Batman ignores his existence until Talia left his pre-adolescent son in the care of his father. Talia hasn’t grown a conscience but just uses Damian in an effort to disrupt Batman’s work. For Damian, two choices are offered to him: follow his grandfather and mother’s footsteps to become the future head of the League or embrace his father’s lifestyle and choose to be a superhero.

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Convergence Reading Order, When Worlds Collide in the DC Universe

Convergence Reading Order (DC New 52)

Where do worlds go when they die? It’s a question DC wants to answer in Convergence, a limited series that ran from April 2015 to May 2015, replacing DC Comics’ regular line of comics while the publisher moves their offices from New York City to Burbank California.

In the story, Brainiac collects cities and inhabitants from various timelines that have ended and trap them in domes on a planet outside of time and space. He then exposes the domes to one another to see how the characters interact. This event will lead to the end of the New 52 era – See the New 52 Reading Order.

Here is the official synopsis: Once, there were infinite Earths. Untold timelines. Innumerable Elseworlds. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. Now they all must fight for their future! The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and brought them to a place beyond the Multiverse—a sentient planet of his own design, a world with the power of a god.
As heroes and villains from dozens of worlds battle each other for their very existence, it’s up to a ragtag band of warriors from a slain Earth to put an end to this threat that bends the Multiverse to its will. Reality itself hangs in the balance…

What to read before Convergence?

If you want more background information on Brainiac, Booster Gold, Superman, and the Citizens of Earth-2 before diving into Convergence, you can read:

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Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army Reading Order

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With Geoff Johns as an architect, and written with Tony Bedard, Peter Milligan, Peter J. Tomasi, Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army is a crossover event between The Green Lantern titles—Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Red Lanterns—like Batman: Death of The Family (Reading Order) was for the Batman family.

Here is the official synopsis: “The Guardians of the Universe have gone mad! To preserve order, they have decided that all free will must be eradicated by their new Third Army – emotionless drones whose sole purpose is to convert living creatures into soulless beings like themselves.

How can the Green Lanterns stand against them? Hal Jordan is dead, Guy Gardner has been stripped of his ring and his powers, and John Stewart and Kyle Rayner have been called into deep space on seemingly impossible missions. The remaining ring-wielders – along with a most unexpected new human Green Lantern – will unite to take on the mad Guardians. But will their desperate assault unleash an even greater evil…?”

The beginning of the end of the Green Lantern universe starts here!

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Yelena Belova Reading Order (Black Widow, White Widow)

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Yelena Belova is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since the film Black Widow (2021), where Florence Pugh portrays her. She appeared in the first season of Hawkeye and she will soon return in a Thunderbolts movie, announced for 2025.

What about the comic book version? Created by Devin Grayson and J.G. Jones, Yelena Belova made her first appearance in the Marvel pages at the end of the ’90s in Inhumans v2 #5. Trained as a spy and assassin in the Red Room, she is first a foe of Natasha Romanova and has also used The Black Widow name.

She has been, during all these years, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., Vanguard, HYDRA, and the High Council of A.I.M. Thanks to her part in the MCU, Yelena found herself under the spotlight in the comics, and recently opt to assume the identity of White Widow.

Despite not having a lot of appearances, her story is quite convoluted, as she’s been presumed dead on multiple occasions and clones of her exist.

So where to start with Yelena? Let’s dive into her complicated history with this reading order!

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Invincible Comic Reading Order, a superhero universe by Robert Kirkman (with Capes, Brit, The Astounding Wolf-Man, Tech Jacket)

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Created by writer Robert Kirkman (famous for The Walking Dead) and artist Cory Walker, Invincible is an Image Comics Universe superhero, and now a massively popular TV Show on Amazon Prime Video.

Real name Mark Grayson, Invincible is just like most everyone else his age. He’s a senior at a normal American high School. He has a crappy part-time job after school and on weekends. He likes girls quite a bit… but doesn’t quite understand them. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, and sleeping late on Saturdays… at least until the good cartoons come on.

The only difference between Mark and everyone else is that his father is Omni-Man, an extraterrestrial superhero of the Viltrumite race, the most powerful superhero on the planet, and as of late, he seems to be inheriting his father’s powers. This sounds okay at first, but how do you follow in your father’s footsteps when you know you will never live up to his standards?

Luckily, his dad is around to show him the ropes, at least he WOULD be if he weren’t so busy saving the world all the time. Invincible is forced to go out on his own, and try and figure out how all this superheroing business works. The results are a monumental disaster, at least until he gets the hang of it.

Invincible has links with Eric Larsen’s Savage Dragon, which has been mostly downplayed in favor of Invincible’s own continuity.

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The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers Reading Order, a New 52 crossover story arc

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The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers Reading Order

A crossover storyline coming from writer Scott Lobdell and Tom DeFalco, The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers involved three titles from the DC New 52 line-up: Teen Titans, Legion Lost, and Superboy.

Here is the official synopsis: The Culling is upon us! The Teen Titans finally came together during their assault on Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s headquarters, but Superboy, Red Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Solstice, and Skitter’s newfound alliance is met with instant adversity. Finding themselves a mile underneath N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s Antarctic base, the forces behind this nefarious organization surface in the form of the monstrous Harvest.

Now trapped in a deadly arena where young teen metahumans must fight each other to the death for survival, also known as The Culling, the Titans and fellow teen superteam Legion Lost must find a way to escape. Will they be able to coexist long enough to survive? Or to defeat Harvest’s teenage death squad known as The Ravagers?

What to read before The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers?

If you feel like it, you can just read the first issues of each title to have more information, as events taking place leads to this event, especially for Teen Titans and Superboy.

For those you want to explore further:

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