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Reading Order

Deathlok Reading Order, Marvel’s Deadly Cyborgs

Not to be confused with DC’s Deadshot or Deathstroke, Deathlok is a Marvel Comics character. In fact, it’s the codename of more than one character. The First one was created by cartoonist Rich Buckler in Astonishing Tales #25 (he plotted and pencilled it, Doug Moench wrote the script and suggested the name), in 1974, the same year as The Punisher and Wolverine. Marvel was into violent warriors at the time and The Six Million Dollar Man TV Show had popularized the concept of a cyborg just a few months earlier.

Known at first as Deathlok the Demolisher, Luther Manning was an American soldier who was killed and subsequently brought back to life by Simon Ryker who transformed him into a cyborg. This takes place in a dystopian future: 1990. He escaped Ryker’s control and fought against him, up until the end of his Astonishing Tales run when he was sent back in time to the regular Marvel timeline. This was only the beginning for him as he got to meet other Marvel heroes, and eventually went back to his timeline.

Manning was just the first. Through the years, Michael Collins, Jack Truman, Rebecca Ryker, Henry Hayes, and Jemma Simmons used the “Deathlok” identity. They mostly followed the same route, dead humans reanimated as cyborgs.

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Plastic Man Reading Order

Launched as a minor feature in Police Comics #1 in 1941 (originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics), Plastic Man is a creation of artist and writer Jack Cole. He initially thought of a character named the Indian Rubber Man, inspired by sideshow freaks, but Everett Arnold–who was the founder of Quality Comics–suggested naming the character after that material that was all the rage at the time.

According to Art Spiegelman, who profiled Cole for The New Yorker magazine, in 1943, when Plastic Man expanded into his own book, Cole explained the morphing hero to new readers: “If you should see a man standing on the street and reaching into the top window of a sky-scraper…that’s not astigmatism—it’s Plastic Man!… If you happen upon a gent all bent up like a pretzel…don’t dunk him…it’s Plastic Man! All this and bouncing too, you’ll see when the rubber man and his pal Woozy Winks gamble their lives in—The Game of Death.”

This is the story of Patrick “Eel” O’Brian, a lowlife gangster. While committing a robbery, he was accidentally doused by some unnamed acid. Nursed back to health by a reclusive order of monks, Eel became a new man. He now had stretching abilities that defied the laws of physics and, inspired by the teaching of the monks, he was now ready to put his criminal past behind him to protect the law–he first helped the police force and later became a special agent for the F.B.I.

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Marvel’s Dracula Reading Order

In 1972, as the Comics Code started to loosen and Stan Lee became Marvel’s Publisher, making Roy Thomas the new editor-in-chief, Marvel launched new horror titles like Ghost Rider, The Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, and The Tomb of Dracula.

Written by Gerry Conway, plotted by Roy Thomas, and drawn by Gene Colan (who fought to get this assignment), The Tomb of Dracula #1 introduced the famous vampire created by author Bram Stoker into the Marvel Universe. The concept seduced the readers, but the writing not that much. Conway rapidly left the book, Archie Goodwin then Gardner Fox took over for only two issues each before Marv Wolfman assumed the writing duties and received critical success–he also introduced Blade and other vampire hunters.

Like most of Marvel’s horror books, The Tomb of Dracula was not part of the Marvel Universe until issue #44 which was a crossover with Doctor Stange (concluding in issue #14 of the Sorcerer Supreme’s series). The series ended with over-sized issue #70 but was quickly revived as a black & white magazine. That didn’t last.

Some of The Tomb of Dracula‘s characters came back in regular Marvel books like Doctor Strange. Dracula himself reappeared with Rachel Van Helsing in 1982 in Chris Claremont’s X-Men. Then in 1991, The Tomb of Dracula was revived for a 4-part miniseries. A few years later, Dracula came back in more Marvel series. Since then, he occasionally appeared in stand-alone stories or full storylines, finding a place in the Marvel Universe.

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Naruto Universe Manga Order (with Boruto and Light Novels)

While Eikichi Onizuka wants to become the world’s greatest teacher, Naruto Uzumaki aspires to become Hokage! Created by Masashi Kishimoto, the ninja adventures of Naruto started in 1999 in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump. Naruto is then a turbulent but ambitious 12-year-old ninja in training whose determination and enthusiasm compensate for his shortcomings.

While Naruto presents himself as a carefree and optimist person capable of befriending anyone, his life is already marked by tragedy and secret: the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox–a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, Naruto’s village– was sealed away in his body when he was just a baby, with his parents sacrificing themselves in the process. Naruto grew up an orphan, ignoring who his parents were, and openly ostracised and resented by many villagers for containing the beast that took many lives.

But nothing will stop Naruto on his track. The boy is determined to obtain respect from his peers and to become the greatest ninja with the help of his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura, facing many obstacles and Big Bads along the way. Naruto became one of the most popular manga, leading to a media franchise including the very successful anime television series, films, video games, toys, and several spin-offs!

Following is a guide to navigating the manga world of Naruto, with the spin-off Boruto, a few other manga spin-offs and many light novels!

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Elongated Man Reading Order (Ralph Dibny)

In The Flash #112 published in 1960, writer John Broome and penciler Carmine Infantino told the story of how The Flash went after Elongated Man, suspecting him of being behind multiple crimes. It turns out that he was framed. In fact, he is the opposite of a criminal, he is a superhero detective and his secret identity is Ralph Dibny.

Well, everybody quickly learned who was Ralph Dibny as he was one of the first to publicly reveal who he really was behind the costume. He’s also one of the only superheroes to get married. But he rarely starred in his own series–however, he had a lot of backup stories in Detective Comics.

Apparently, editor Julius Schwartz didn’t know at the time that DC Comics had the rights to Plastic Man when Ralph was created (also, Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen had been Elastic Lad for a time, so no “Elastic” for Ralph). What Schwartz wanted was a new supporting hero and the one he got was not that serious about being a hero.

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Rocket Raccoon Reading Order

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During the 1970s, Marvel expanded its offer with magazines. One of them was the black and white “Marvel Preview” in which Bill Mantlo started the science-fiction serial “The Sword in the Star.” The story was about a character named Prince Wayfinder of the planet Ithacon who was searching for a mythical sword. This didn’t last long, only two chapters were published, but the second one published in Marvel Preview #7 in 1976 introduced an anthropomorphic character who’s quite popular now, the famous Rocket Raccoon.

At the time though, in this story drawn by Keith Giffen (his first professional comic book job), he was called Rocky. A fan of the Beatles, Mantlo was inspired by their 1968 song “Rocky Raccoon” from the White Album which is a cowboy story. Elements of the song were also used for Rocket’s second appearance equipped with rocket-powered skates and laser pistols, in The Incredible Hulk #271 (published in 1982). That’s when it was explained that his real name was Rocket. After his team up with the Hulk, Rocket Raccoon starred in his first miniseries and then made a few apparitions next to other heroes. Nothing of note for a long time.

It really was during the Annihilation: Conquest crossover that Rocket Raccoon found its place in the Marvel Universe, with the Guardians of the Galaxy. He went from law officer from the planet Halfworld to military tactician protecting the Universe.

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Hasbro Comic Book Universe Reading Order (2005-2018)

As the Energon Universe featuring characters from Transformers and G.I. Joe is expanding, we take a look back at the previous Comic Book Universe based on several Hasbro brands and published by IDW – The Hasbro Comic Book Universe or HCBU!

IDW picked up the Transformers license in 2005 and obtained the rights for G.I. Joe in 2008, but the Hasbro Comic Book Universe was officially launched in 2016 with the release of the Revolution miniseries, a crossover event involving many characters from Hasbro and establishing a shared universe for all these brands. It was then decided that all the stories previously published were retroactively set in the same continuity.

Revolution wasn’t IDW’s first crossover event connecting several licensed series. The publisher released Infestation at the beginning of 2011 in which a zombie infectation spread between dimensions and reached into the worlds of Transformers, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and Ghostbusters. None of them interact with each other at any point. A follow up called Infestation 2 was released a year later involving this time The Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe and 30 Days of Night.

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Creature Commandos Reading Order, the black ops team of monsters (DC Comics)

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DC Comics has a talent for creating unique superhero teams, such as the Metal Men, the robotic superhero team, and Doom Patrol, the iconic group of super-powered misfits. Another unique team from DC is the Creature Commandos, World War II’s weirdest warriors!

Created by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Pat Broderick, the Creature Commandos made their first appearance in Weird War Tales #93. It all started in the Midwest, on a spring day in 1942, where Lieutenant Matthew Shrieve introduced the Creature Commandos to various generals, admirals, and senators as part of the mysterious Project “M”—one of those classic World War II government projects creating specialized soldiers!

The team was sent on a mission in France and deployed to Dinosaur Island, but their time on the pages of DC Comics was short-lived, and they quickly disappeared into obscurity. Throughout the years, the Creature Commandos occasionally reappeared and were reimagined as members of S.H.A.D.E. during the New 52 era. They never really left a significant mark and remained in one of those obscure corners of the DC until recently.

The team recently gained mainstream attention for starring in a new adult animated television series as part of the DC Universe, the new shared universe created by James Gunn and Peter Safran, which serves as a soft reboot of the DC Extended Universe.

To learn more about the Creature Commandos of DC Comics, follow our reading order guide, guiding you through the issues featuring this team of monsters!

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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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