Reading Order

Batman / Superman: World’s Finest Comics and the Return of the Classic DC Spirit

by Carole
June 18, 2026

For new readers, reading old comics from the Golden to the Bronze Age can sometimes be rough. They were aimed at children at the time, with almost no one thinking that they would be reprinted and collected 80 years later. While exploring those years of comics can be interesting and fun, it’s also an acquired taste. The writing style was completely different to modern standards, often more wordy and descriptive, and accompanied by great art that was sometimes recycled throughout issues (anyone who has read Lee and Kirby’s run on Fantastic Four will have noticed some repeated panels!).

At DC Comics, these stories are all part of the Pre-Crisis era, which is set before the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This was the first major crisis, but certainly not the last! The timeline has changed significantly since then due to the many crises that have occurred, resulting in changes to the origins, events and canons of the DC Universe’s superheroes.

This past few years, writer Mark Waid has dedicated a certain amount of his time to exploring DC’s new past. As he explained in a interview on DC.com, “the joy of using the past is in recontextualizing earlier eras and earlier ideas for the modern audience by coupling genuine character moments with some of the cooler forgotten artifacts of DC history. I don’t want to just retell past stories—I want to find new ways into history that resonate today.”

Queen in Black Reading Order, The 2026 Symbiote Crossover

by Fabien
June 15, 2026

While Captain America and the Avengers are dealing with their Armageddon, Marvel Comics adds more problems for Earth’s Heroes on top of that, as writer Al Ewing and artist Iban Coello launch a new symbiote nightmare with Queen in Black!

Since the end of the King in Black event, Al Ewing has been writing the Venom series, leading us into the Venom War, introducing a new Venom, and also revealing what happened to the fallen King, Knull. The event follows the fallout of Hela seizing Knull‘s former throne. She has claimed the mantle of the Queen in Black, commanding a legion of the galaxy’s deadliest symbiotes. However, Knull is far from defeated, he has conquered the Lightforce Dimension and become the God of the Void, leading a new army to reclaim his dominion… but Hela may have been faster than him and took control of it. And now, they are at war, and the Son of Venom is getting mixed up in it as well as everybody else, as Hela unleashes her assault on Earth.

As usual for a Marvel Comics crossover event, Queen in Black revolves around a miniseries (5 issues) and numerous tie-ins. So, let’s follow our reading order to not get lost during the war.

Boston Brand, Deadman Reading Order

by Fabien
Updated: June 11, 2026

Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Carmine Infantino in Strange Adventures #205 (1967), Deadman was a risky concept. At a time when the Comics Code Authority strictly regulated horror, editor Jack Miller had to navigate the fine line between a ‘ghost’ and the prohibited ‘walking dead.’

The character was born from the era’s growing fascination with the mystical. Drake utilized themes of Zen and reincarnation to explore a hero who was neither living nor dead. The saga begins with Boston Brand, a selfish circus trapeze artist, murdered mid-performance by a mysterious assassin with a steel hook. Instead of moving on, Brand is granted a reprieve by the deity Rama Kushna: the power to possess the living so he may find his killer.

While Arnold Drake left the title early (after two issues over creative differences), the character reached new heights when Neal Adams took over, bringing a cinematic art style to the book. Though Strange Adventures was eventually canceled, Deadman stayed in the realm of the living. From his 1980s revival to his pivotal role in Justice League Dark, Boston Brand has evolved from a restless spirit seeking vengeance into a key figure of the DC Universe’s supernatural side.

The Essential Modern Marvel Universe Reading Order: A Fast Track Through 2000-2015

by Fabien
June 8, 2026
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A quarter of the 21st century has already passed, yet there are still more comics to come. As readers, we don’t have the time or resources to read everything that has been published, and it can seem a bit daunting for new comic lovers to even try to look at what came before.

The eternal question is, ‘Where do I start?’ Answers are legion, depending on the topic. Where do you start with comics? Marvel Comics? Spider-Man comics? Or X-Men comics? Here at Comic Book Treasury, we are already trying to answer these questions within our dedicated reading orders or in specialised articles. Today, we’re answering another question: what are the essential Marvel comics published between 2000 and 2015?

Why stop in 2015? Because it was the year Jonathan Hickman’s Secret War brought the Marvel Universe to a stop. Ultimately, it did not work as a complete reboot in the same way some of DC Comics’ crises did, but it offered a semblance of an ending before the launch of a new era. So, it’s our first stop.

What will you find in our selection? Mostly complete stories, entry points, and full runs that marked the era. The ones you should be familiar with to get a full understanding of the Marvel Universe at the time. This is not necessarily the best, even if some of those comics are really great, it’s a road map, the essential Marvel Comics.

Due to severe restrictions to fit the purpose of the article, choices have to be made and are still debated even now that the article is published. Exhaustivity is not the goal. If you go through all of these, you’ll have a solid idea of what Marvel’s comics were about during that time.

Supreme Reading Order, from Rob Liefeld to Alan Moore

by Fabien
June 3, 2026

In 1992, Image Comics started a revolution in the publishing world. Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood was the first series launched and was a hit. The characters were derivatives of existing DC Comics ones, though. In a six-page backstory published in Youngblood #3, Liefeld, with writer/artist Brian Murray, introduced Supreme, an archetypal Superman who immediately got his own solo series.

Ethan Crane is Supreme. He can fly, has super strength, heat vision, ice breath, is invulnerable, can absorb energy, and has even more abilities. Due to the tone of the edgy comics Liefeld was producing, he was also a hyper-violent, distant, godlike figure who was above conventional human concerns. In fact, at one point, he considered himself a god. But when people usually talk about Supreme, they are referencing Alan Moore‘s run that started with issue #41. It was a complete reimagining of the character, a new start. Moore did whatever he wanted and shifted the tone of the book, making it a sort of apology for having influenced the comics world to go into darker territory.

Through the years, Supreme went to other imprints, other writers took over, miniseries were produced, and crossovers happened. If Moore’s run is still the only one discussed today, there are more Supreme stories out there. So, let’s try to navigate through publication history with a Supreme reading order.

Namor the Sub-Mariner Reading Order, Imperius Rex!

by Carole
Updated: May 28, 2026

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

Although he is not as popular today as he was during the Golden Age of comics, Namor remains a historically significant character with a publishing history spanning over 80 years. He has even found his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he is played by Tenoch Huerta in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

But who is Namor, 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 whatever it takes to protect his people. Depending on the circumstances, he can be a villain, a hero, or an antihero to the surface dwellers. He is almost always a hero to the people of Atlantis.

DC Rebirth, The Complete Reading Order (10th Anniversary!)

by Carole
May 25, 2026

Now that DC All In is in full swing and has recently entered its second phase, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of another DC era: Rebirth! That’s right, it’s already been ten years since DC Comics restored the DC Universe to a form closer to the pre-Flashpoint era, following the darker, grittier New 52 era. Rather than a complete reboot, the idea was a soft relaunch that combined the best of the pre-New 52 DC Universe (Superman!) with the New 52 continuity and a few other elements that were also considered worth keeping.

Geoff Johns, President and COO of DC Entertainment, wrote the 80-page DC Universe: Rebirth #1, which introduced readers to the new status quo and marked the official return of Wally West to the DC Universe. The idea behind Rebirth was to celebrate and reconnect with DC’s past and present. The old continuity and some past concepts were reintroduced, while characters were redefined to embrace their history and going back to their roots.

The Rebirth era officially began on 25 May 2016 and ended on 2 March 2021 with the Infinite Frontier relaunch. It’s worth noting that the Rebirth branding stopped much sooner, at the end of December 2017, morphing into the larger ‘DC Universe’ banner. A soft relaunch called ‘New Justice’ happened in the aftermath of Dark Nights: Metal. Almost no one considers these to be official breaking points in the timeline.

For this reason, the following guide covers the period from 2016 to 2021, during which the classic Superman returned, Jon Kent and Damian Wayne teamed up, Aquaman enjoyed one of his most successful periods, and the Dark Multiverse threatened everything…

Adam Warlock Reading Order

by Fabien
Updated: May 21, 2026

Originally introduced in 1967 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as “Him” in Fantastic Four #66–67, he began appearing in a few issues in a minor role. It really was in Marvel Premiere #1 (1972), written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Gil Kane, that he became Adam Warlock.

Adam Warlock is a synthetic being, engineered to represent the ideal human form. Possessing superhuman strength, durability, and advanced regenerative abilities, he is also uniquely tied to cosmic and mystical forces. Central to his mythology is his conflict with the Magus, a tyrannical future incarnation of himself.

At the beginning, a coalition of scientists known as The Enclave incubated Warlock in an artificial cocoon. Once out, he rebelled against his creators after realizing they were nefarious. When he re-emerged, years later, he was named “Warlock” by the High Evolutionary and was gifted the Soul Gem. He didn’t become a hero on Earth, but on Counter-Earth, a new planet generated from a chunk of Earth and set in orbit on the opposite side of the sun.

A few years later, Jim Starlin revived the character and made him more of a cosmic hero, twice. The first time, it lasted only a few issues, but he brought Adam Warlock back eleven years later, during the 1990s. This is not the last time Adam Warlock disappeared before being brought back for a new cosmic crisis years later. To not get lost while navigating decades of cosmic shifts, alternate timelines, and cocoon-induced hiatuses, here is the complete Adam Warlock reading order.Read More »Adam Warlock Reading Order

Minecraft Graphic Novels in Order

by Fabien
May 18, 2026

Open and full of possibilities, the world of Minecraft has always been about the stories we create for ourselves, from the narrow escapes from creepers, the sprawling fortresses, and the quiet moments watching a pixelated sunset. But in recent years, the sandbox has expanded beyond the computer screen, trading the mouse and keyboard for the vibrant, sequential art of the graphic novel (there are also novels, a movie, and more, but it’s not the subject of this article!).

From the exciting character-driven adventures of the original trilogies published by Dark Horse Comics to the Manga by Kazuyoshi Seto, these comic books give voice to the nameless explorers and a heart to the silent landscapes, exploring all the possibilities of the Overworld.

With this guide, we are exploring the unique art styles and character-driven quests crafted for Minecraft‘s most invested players.

New Mutants Reading Order (The X-Men)

by Fabien
Updated: May 14, 2026

In the 1980s, the X-Men weren’t just a team, they were a phenomenon in the comics world. Under Chris Claremont, the franchise became so massive that Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter demanded an expansion. The result was The New Mutants. Though Claremont was initially hesitant, the series quickly evolved from a ‘junior varsity’ squad into a surreal, avant-garde comics, especially once artist Bill Sienkiewicz joined to redefine the book’s visual language.

But who are the New Mutants? They are the teenagers the world feared most: Karma, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball, and Moonstar. Thrown together by the X-gene, their journey takes them from early encounters with Spider-Man to the halls of Xavier’s School. From battling Sentinels and the Hellfire Club to the dark transformation of Illyana Rasputin into Magik, this is the definitive map to their early years. For those looking for the ‘big picture,’ you can also find how these issues weave into our complete X-Men Reading Order.