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The Hulk Family Tree: Who’s Who? From the Banners to the Walters

If you are a reader of Marvel’s Hulk’s Adventures, you may already be familiar with the fact that Bruce Banner has family issues and not just with his abusive father. His extended family is not always on good terms with him—even his own multiple personalities can’t seem to tolerate each other. It’s complicated.

Dr. Robert Bruce Banner was introduced in Incredible Hulk #1 in 1962—and you can read a lot more about his origins in the article dedicated to his creation. Since then, his family has grown, he made new friends, and a lot of monsters appeared, some were totally normal family members and acquaintances at first, which can complicate things even further.

Anyway, after more than 60 years of smashing, Hulk’s family evolved and, today, we are taking a look at it, exploring Bruce Banner, Jennifer Walters, and others, plus their green (or red) monstrous alter egos.

Read More »The Hulk Family Tree: Who’s Who? From the Banners to the Walters

Donald Duck’s Family Tree: Who’s Who, from Grandma Duck to Scrooge McDuck?

One of Don Rosa’s most notorious illustrations is the Duck Family Tree, a genealogical representation of Donald Duck’s family. Being one of the most influential writers/artists to have contributed to the development of the mythology surrounding the legendary Scrooge McDuck and his relatives, Rosa added more than a few ducks to the tree. Of course, the one who really planted the seed and helped it grow to a massive size was Carl Barks.

Their stories are classics—and you can take a look at our reading order for the Fantagraphics collection to see if you missed some of them—and took us through time and around the world more than once. During the small and big adventures of Donald, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, we met more Ducks, MacDucks, Coots, Gooses, and Ganders.

But who are all those characters who are represented in the famous “Duck Family Tree”?

Read More »Donald Duck’s Family Tree: Who’s Who, from Grandma Duck to Scrooge McDuck?

25 Best DC Comic Books to Read: Our selection of the best DC Comics

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Everybody knows Batman and Superman and with the DC Universe expanding on the big screen, the general public has been introduced to less familiar characters such as Shazam and Blue Beetle.

Like the Marvel Superheroes, those characters have lived decades of adventures on paper before. As DC is also renowned for its complicated timeline, those characters have been rebooted and rewritten (some more than others) throughout the years, making it sometimes more discouraging for new readers to dive into this world.

It would be regretful to miss out on great stories because of some temporal shenanigans that, more often than not, are not so important to enjoy the wild, fun, and diverse style of adventures you can find on the DC Universe. From some good detective stories to adventures in time and space, horror, comedy, and more, there is something for everybody.

To help you find some of the best DC stories out there, Comic Book Treasury has made a selection of 25 of the Best DC Comics to read. This is not an exhaustive list, and there are easily more great stories from DC out there.

Whether you are a new reader, an old one, or someone who read DC Comics for some past decades and wants to reconnect with the characters, we hope you’ll find something you want to read or re-read in this list.

As said above, this is not an ultimate list, so don’t hesitate to leave your own suggestions for the best DC Comics in the comments below!

Here is our selection of what we consider 25 of the best DC comics to read (in chronological order):

Read More »25 Best DC Comic Books to Read: Our selection of the best DC Comics

Dear Readers, tell us what you think!

Let’s Rap!* Here’s a chance to tell us what you think about Comic Book Treasury.

As of today, there are more than 480 articles published on the website, including 432 reading orders. We have started developing more articles about comics, exploring the origins of our beloved characters in the hope of offering some companion pieces to our reading guides.

We also try, as much as possible, to update our guides. We admit some lateness on the subject and, actually chose sometimes to wait to have more trades collected out there and enough distance to offer a better order for the character. If you want a guide to be updated, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, we will do it!

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Who is Monica Rambeau? From Captain Marvel to Photon, a brief history of Marvel’s heroine

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What do you know about Monica Rambeau? As the character is back on the big screen with the release of The Marvels, we take a new interest in the Marvel superheroine created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr. who has been known as Captain Marvel, Pulsar, Photon or Spectrum and a leader of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

With four decades of history behind her, Monica Rambeau has proved more than once that she was worth reading about!

The Creation of Monica Rambeau

Her story started in the late 1960s, when Marvel gained the trademark “Captain Marvel”, leading to the creation of the first Captain Marvel comic book. But Captain Marvel was not popular, and the decision was made to kill him in one of Marvel’s first-ever graphic novels, The Death of Captain Marvel, in 1982. 

If Marvel wanted to keep ownership of the name “Captain Marvel”, the company needed to use it. Enters the scene: Monica Rambeau. Created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr., Monica was conceived to take the mantle of Captain Marvel, though she had no connection with the First Captain, Mar-Vell. Even her powers were different. Monica was still a trailblazing in her own right, as a black female superhero was rare then, but Marvel never intended to give her her own series.

It didn’t mean Monica Rambeau wasn’t destined for great things. On the contrary, since her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, Monica joined and ultimately became the leader of the Avengers. She has also been a member of Nextwave and the Ultimates. Her superhero identity has evolved throughout the years, leaving the Captain Marvel name behind her to take other aliases: Photon, Pulsar, and recently Spectrum being the most famous of them.

Read More »Who is Monica Rambeau? From Captain Marvel to Photon, a brief history of Marvel’s heroine

Who are the Green Lanterns? A guide of the Emerald Warriors of the DC Universe

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In the DC Universe, there are multiple heroes known as The Flash or Robin, but not as many as there are Green Lanterns. The reason is that, even if the name came with one hero in the 1940s, it became a title. Being a Green Lantern is being a peacekeeper in the Galaxy. It’s being a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic law enforcement organization created by the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa, in order to combat evil and create an orderly universe. 

In 1959, the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott was replaced by Hal Jordan. Introduced in the pages of Showcase #22 in a story written by John Broome and drawn by Gil Kane, Hal was a fearless jet pilot who received a power ring from an Alien named Abin Sur, a member of the Green Lantern Corps who’d just crashed on Earth. The idea by editor Julius Schwartz was to go from the vigilante type of stories told with Alan Scott to a full sci-fi reinvention with Hal Jordan.

Read More »Who are the Green Lanterns? A guide of the Emerald Warriors of the DC Universe

Kathy Kane: The Short History (and Reading Order) of the First Batwoman

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If Robin debuted only one year after Batman, it took more than 15 years for another member of the ‘Bat Family’ to be created. Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics #233 (July 1956). She was created by writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Sheldon Moldoff to counter Fredric Wertham’s accusations that our dynamic duo was homosexual! Despite this, she was a pioneer, becoming the first female superhero to take on a major male superhero in the pages of DC Comics.

Throughout the next decade, Batwoman fought crime next to Batman and Robin and even puts on a Cat-Woman costume at some point to help obtain some information! And though Batwoman was popular with readers, her career came to a halt when Julius Schwartz took over as editor of the Batman-related comic in 1964, before being killed in the 1970s, then completely removed from the main continuity following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Nothing is set in stone in the DC Universe, and the characters can have multiple existence as well as being completely reimagined. It is what happened to Kathy Kane when she was reintroduced during Grant Morrison’s run on Batman, with some changes.

There is no doubt that Kathy Kane, as the first Batwoman, is a part of Batman’s rich history, a figure who found her place in the Batman Family and paved the way for future female superheroines to combat crime in Gotham alongside Batman and Robin. So, today, we’ll take a deeper look at Kathy Kane’s background and explore her past and appearances.

Read More »Kathy Kane: The Short History (and Reading Order) of the First Batwoman

The Origins of Wolverine, Before he joined the X-Men!

Created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and John Romita Sr.–but first drawn for publication by Herb Trimpe–in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #180-181 in 1974, Wolverine is not your typical Canadian of small stature, he is a fierce character with retractable claws, a mysterious past, an iconic design, and a popularity that surpassed most of the other Marvel superheroes.

After being introduced as an agent of the Canadian government, Wolverine made a quick comeback. In his second appearance, in the classic Giant-Size X-Men #1, he joined the new team of X-Men but stayed a mystery for a long time. In fact, the mystery past is a big part of the character as it offers a lot of space for the writers to build stories full of twists–and not told in chronological order.

Who was Wolverine before being transformed by the mysterious Weapon X program? How many lives did he have as his healing factor keeps him young and healthy?

Read More »The Origins of Wolverine, Before he joined the X-Men!

Who Are The New Gods in the DC Comics Universe?

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In 1970, after failing to get Marvel to recognize his true value and the extent of his contribution, Jack Kirby joined DC Comics–certainly one the major event of the time in the industry. After lengthy negotiations, he signed a three-year contract and was ready to create new worlds, and also some magazines. The magazines were quickly canceled after only one issue though.

Everything started with Kirby taking over Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen. With issue #133 (Oct. 1970), he launched the “Fourth World,” a saga that will encompass multiple series (The Forever People, Mister Miracle, and The New Gods), and introduced numerous revolutionary concepts and characters that still influenced the way the DC Universe worked to this day.

Based on ideas he developed during his run on Marvel’s Thor, Jack Kirby introduced us to The New Gods.

Read More »Who Are The New Gods in the DC Comics Universe?

The Kingpin: The Origin Story of Wilson Fisk, Daredevil’s Archenemy

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Wilson Fisk, known as the Kingpin, has established himself as one of Marvel’s most memorable comic book villains. His rise to this position, however, was not so quick. This dangerous criminal lord has progressively carved out a significant place among Marvel’s rogues’ gallery since his debut in 1967, owing in large part to Frank Miller’s famous portrayal in Daredevil and, more recently, Vincent D’Onofrio’s gripping portrayal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Wilson Fisk commands attention with his intimidating size, bulging muscles, and fearsome combat skills. He emanates unquestionable authority and strength while wearing his suit jacket and distinctive cane. The presence of the Kingpin cannot be ignored, whether in comic books or on the screen. Today, we retrace the origins of this now iconic character.

Read More »The Kingpin: The Origin Story of Wilson Fisk, Daredevil’s Archenemy