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Ultimate Marvel After Secret Wars: A Comics Guide to the characters on Earth-616

Previously on Ultimate Marvel... Imagine the Marvel heroes you know and love, but younger and more modern! Welcome to Earth-1610, an alternate reality where classic characters like Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four are reimagined with fresh, updated origins, free from decades of continuity baggage. The Ultimate Universe was a perfect playground for writers to create accessible stories for new readers while shaking up the status quo for long-time fans.

It all started with Ultimate Spider-Man, retelling Peter Parker’s origin for a new generation. Then came The Ultimates, a reimagining of the Avengers, where the team faced a massive alien invasion in The Ultimates 2. Major events like Ultimate War saw the X-Men clash with the Ultimates, creating tension between Earth’s mightiest heroes and mutantkind.

But the Ultimate Universe wasn’t about retelling classic stories—it also went in new directions. In Ultimatum, Magneto turned the world upside down, with a disaster that reshaped the universe. New faces took up old mantles, like Miles Morales becoming Spider-Man, while Reed Richards transformed into the villain known today as The Maker.

Eventually, Earth-1610 was destroyed and reshaped during the multiverse-shattering Secret Wars event. While the ultimate universe was no more, a few characters, like Miles Morales, found a new home in the main continuity…

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Shaman King Manga Order

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It’s often said that there’s a manga series for every subject or hobby imaginable. For a creator, this can make it challenging to explore a new theme. Mangaka Hiroyuki Takei took on this challenge with Shaman King, introducing shamanism as a theme largely unexplored in manga at the time. Its unique blend of witchcraft and religious motifs from various cultures set it apart from other shōnen manga of its era, as did its unusually “laid-back” protagonist.

But what is Shaman King about? The story follows Yoh Asakura, a shaman in training—a medium between the worlds of the living and the dead. Yoh has a dream: he wants to become the Shaman King, the one shaman who can channel the power of the Great Spirit to reshape the world. To obtain this spiritual power, Yoh must win the Shaman Fight, a tournament of mediums that takes place every 500 years. He must train and grow up quickly if he wants a chance to achieve his goal!

Shaman King was originally published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1998 and 2004, ending abruptly with an improvised conclusion. In 2009, Takei returned to give the story the ending he had initially envisioned. Since then, the world of Shaman King has expanded with a prequel, several sequel series, and a few side stories. The manga was adapted into two anime series: the first in 2001, which deviated from the original storyline and had a completely different ending, and the second in 2021 (with a sequel now green-lit).

Here’s a reading guide to explore the spiritual world of Shaman King.

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Domino Reading Order (X-Men)

Black Cat is not the only Marvel character with lucky-based powers. While Felicia Hardy brings bad luck to those around her, the woman known as Domino shifts the odds in her favor. A member of the X-Men family, Domino often worked as a mercenary, taking on questionable jobs but still guided by a moral compass that pushes her to do the right thing when necessary.

Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, Domino first “appeared” in New Mutants #98. However, it was later revealed that this was an imposter, with her real first appearance taking place in X-Force #8. You know the World of Comics, it’s complicated!

While she was often called “Beatrice” (a name meaning lucky) at first, Domino’s real name was revealed to be Neena Thurman. She became one of the most emblematic members of the X-Force team, a long-time ally to the time-traveling mutant Cable and one of Deadpool’s closest friends. Domino is also visually striking, with her pure-white skin and distinctive black eye patch. As Rob Liefield explained in a Comics Beat interview: “I was obsessed with the game dominoes. And I always thought that a character who was 100% black and white would be a tremendous visual.” He also gave her luck powers, because “when you play dominoes, it’s a game of chance.”

Check out our Domino reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and story arcs featuring Marvel’s luckiest mutant!

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The Shadow Comics: The Comic Book History of a Pulp Hero

Created for the magazine publishers Street & Smith, the character of The Shadow started in 1930 on the Detective Story Hour radio show as a mysterious host before moving to print the following year. He would stay on the air for a few years, but this original incarnation would be forgotten and replaced by the one created by writer Walter B. Gibson (under the pen name of Maxwell Grant).

Gibson was tasked to write stories about “The Shadow” and, inspired by classic literary works and the French character Judex, he composed a character that would eventually become the prototype of the American Superhero. Through the years, The Shadow prospered in the pulps, on the radio, and even got a comic strip in the early 1940s.

The Shadow was a former World War I aviator named Kent Allard who faked his death and became a crime-fighter. Upon returning to the United States, he adopted several different identities to aid him in his war on crime. The most famous one is Lamont Cranston, a wealthy socialite who went abroad and Allard stole his identity, impersonating him to gain access to the rich and powerful of the world.

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Jonah Hex Reading Order, DC Comics’ Western Hero

Introduced for the first time in 1972 in the comics All-Star Western #10, Jonah Hex is a creation by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. A bad-tempered brutal bounty hunter, Hex emerged at a time when the Western genre was deconstructed and the character contributed to that with his two-face. Looking at him from one side, he looked like the handsome cowboy, but from the other side, with half of his face disfigured, he was a terrifying killer.

The comics introduced him like this: “He was a hero for some, a villain to others… and wherever he rode people spoke his name in whispers. He had no friends, this Jonah Hex, but he did have two companions: one was death itself… the other, the acrid smell of gunsmoke…” Enough said!

At a time when the Comic Code regulations started to loosen up, the violent Jonah Hex became popular in the pages of the Weird Western Tales comics (DeZuniga drew the character for years, but Albano only wrote the first ten adventures of Hex), and after a few years, he finally got his own book. The Crisis on Infinite Earths event put an end to his regular adventures and, since then, he has made multiple comebacks.

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Earth X Reading Order (the Alex Ross Universe)

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The Multiverse is made up of many alternate realities, each unique and full of possibilities. Some are more famous than others. Among the most notorious are the Ultimate World of Miles Morales and The Maker, the dystopian future of Marvel 2099, the Zombieverse, and the Age of Apocalypse.

In the late nineties, artist Alex Ross designed one of Marvel’s most iconic dystopian realities: Earth-X. This world first appeared in Wizard Magazine, where the legendary artist was asked to create a possible future for the Marvel Universe. Ross depicted a future where superpowers had become commonplace. These initial concepts, today known as the Earth-X Sketchbook, attracted readers, and the magazine quickly sold out. This success led Marvel to commission a full comic series, developed by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, with artists John Paul Leon and Doug Braithwaite.

While Earth-X started as a possible future of Earth-616, the series retconned the origins of superheroes, disconnecting them from the mainstream Marvel Universe entirely. Earth-X evolved to become Earth-9997, an alternate reality.

Today, we jump into the world of Earth X, a dystopian reality where most of the population has gained superpowers, many heroes have fallen or been reimagined, and the future remains uncertain. Check out our complete comic reading order for Earth-X, including every issue and appearance, along with our guide to omnibus and trade paperback editions.

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Hellblazer John Constantine Reading Order, from the Swamp Thing to the Justice League Dark

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Created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben in 1984 in The Saga of Swamp Thing series, John Constantine is an arrogant foul-mouthed working-class occult detective and con man from London. Originally a supporting character, he continued to appear in the series before getting his own ongoing in 1988, Hellblazer.

As Alan Moore was too busy (or didn’t want to) do it, DC Comics recruited another British writer, Jamie Delano, to develop the Hellblazer comics in which John Constantine was faced with much horror, demons, and others in Great Britain. This quickly cemented him as the antihero of the DC universe. Not loved by many, he still found people to join him during his fight against vile creatures, and they are often the ones who have to pay the harsher price.

Known for his cynicism, his deadpan snarking, his ruthless cunning, and his constant chain-smoking, John Constantine wants to help save lives, but his technique can be deadly if it’s for the greater good. Being his friend can be as dangerous as being his enemy.

The long-running Hellblazer comic book series was part of the Vertigo line and lasted 300 issues. After that, John Constantine was made a little more respectable as he joined the other magic heroes of the DC main universe. He joined teams and helped save the world, the universe, and reality.

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Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale’s Batman Reading Order

Happy Halloween! No team in the Batman mythos is associated with this celebration more than Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale for their The Long Halloween story. Presented as a classic detective story, The Long Halloween is one of the most celebrated and influential Batman tales, featuring Tim Sale’s striking art, a good introduction to the world of Gotham, Batman’s Rogue Gallery, and an origin story for Two-Face.

For Loeb and Sale, it all started with Challengers of the Unknown (1991), their first creative collaboration that would lead to more iconic works. When editor Archie Goodwin asked artist Tim Sale in the early ’90s to work on another Legends of the Dark Knight arc after Blades (with James Robinson), Sale asked if Loeb—who was working in Hollywood at the time—could write it. This resulted in what is now known as The Haunted Knight, a collection of three Halloween-themed stories.

For Loeb, the plan was to stop there—he had another job. However, Archie Goodwin had other ideas. He asked Frank Miller about the gangsters featured in Year One, and Miller said he had no further plans for them, giving Goodwin free rein. As Loeb recalled, “Archie thought we should do something bigger with this group in mind, maybe something longer than the 80 pages of the first Halloween special. Maybe… a year.” (from The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition.)

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Ghost in the Shell Manga Order

Following the success of Akira, a wave of influential Japanese cyberpunk works emerged, such as Battle Angel Alita, Cowboy Bebop, and, as today’s subject, Ghost in the Shell. Created by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell began publication in 1989 in Kodansha’s manga anthology Young Magazine. Consisting of only 11 chapters, the original manga concluded in November 1990.

However, it started a cyberpunk franchise that has since spawned spin-off manga and comics, animated and live-action films, several animated TV series, video games, tie-in novels, and art books. The franchise continues to expand, with a new manga in publication and an anime adaptation slated for release in 2026.

Set in the 2030s in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama, also known as New Port City, Ghost in the Shell follows the members of Public Security Section 9, a special operations task force composed of former military officers and police detectives, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi. Kusanagi is a strong-willed, intelligent cyborg who excels at deduction, hacking, and military tactics—though this doesn’t prevent her from occasionally acting immature.

Section 9 handles political intrigue, corruption, cybercrime, and counter-terrorism in a future where technology has advanced to the point that most people possess a “cyberbrain”—a device that integrates with the brain and connects individuals both physically and virtually to various platforms (a kind of brain-computer interface).

Discover the original world of Ghost in the Shell with this comprehensive reading guide, exploring the original manga and its many spin-offs in order!

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Energon Universe Reading Order (Skybound’s Transformers, GI Joe, Voir Rivals…)

At the end of 2020, IDW lost the license to publish comic books from the Hasbro Universe. Therefore, series like Transformers and G.I. Joe went elsewhere. More precisely, they went to Image Comics via Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment imprint.

Naturally, the new creative teams didn’t continue with what was done at IDW. Instead, a new comic book universe was launched: The Energon Universe. It uses creative elements from Transformers and G.I. Joe, such as familiar concepts and characters, but also introduces original materials, notably with the all-new Void Rivals.

“I’ve loved these characters for most of my life and to have the opportunity to add to the already rich tapestry Hasbro has built with the all-new Void Rivals is an unbelievable opportunity. If you look at everything done with Transformers and G.I. Joe, you can see the inkling of a vast universe with tremendous potential for crossovers and interaction that will enhance the fan experience while staying true to the individual identities of both concepts. I look forward to exploring that potential for years to come.” – Robert Kirkman.

Juggling between ongoing and limited series, with some one-shots added to the mix, the Energon Universe was officially launched in June 2023. The creative teams are made of top talents with writers like Robert Kirkman, Daniel Warren Johnson, Joshua Williamson, Kelly Thompson, and Dan Watters (and more to come), and artists like DW Johnson, Lorenzo De Felici, Jorge Corona, Tom Reilly, Andrea Milana, Marco Ferrari, and more.

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