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Marvel Civil War Reading Order, the first one

This article is not about the Captain America movie, of course. It’s about the huge Marvel event published between May 2006 and February 2007. Written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, Civil War is one of the most famous events of the 2000s. It changed a lot, for a short period of time.

Everything started during a televised raid of a house by the New Warriors. Their goal was to apprehend villains that had recently escaped from prison. When Nitro let off a massive explosion that killed the majority of the New Warriors and the children at a nearby elementary school, something had to change.

The U.S. Government proposed the Superhuman Registration Act, intending to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction and requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government and subject themselves to federally mandated standards.

Heroes had to choose between rallying behind either Iron Man’s pro-registration forces or Captain America’s opposition. The Civil War began.

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Blackest Night Reading Order (a DC Comics event)

Coming from the creative team of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, Blackest Night was the massive DC Comics crossover event of 2009-10. It was the culmination of a lot of ideas developed by Johns during his celebrated run on Green Lantern.

Here is the official synopsis: “The Prophecy of the Blackest Night has come to pass—a mysterious force is raising deceased heroes and villains into an army of undead Black Lanterns!

The combined might of the Green Lantern Corps and an armada of living superbeings must now band together in a fight quite literally for their lives. As the war between the different colored Lantern Corps rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends and it’s up to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to lead DC’s greatest champions in a battle to save the Universe from an army of undead Black Lanterns made up of fallen Green Lanterns and DC’s deceased heroes and villains.”

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Jupiter’s Legacy Reading Order: How to read Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s comics series?

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Jupiter’s Legacy Reading Order

More than a decade after their last collaboration on The Authority, superstar author Mark Millar and artist Frank Quitely are working together again to bring us Jupiter’s Legacy, a complex story of superheroes, family, justice, and power.

Composed of two interconnected series, Jupiter’s Legacy and the prequel Jupiter’s Circle, this story began at the beginning of the 1930s with a group of young Americans finding powers and using it to make America great. Years later, the new generation of superheroes doesn’t share their way of thinking and conflict emerges that will change the fate of humanity.

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DC Future State Reading Order, The DC Comics event that will define the future

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It’s a new year. It’s a new DC continuity. It’s a new future! It was supposed to be a massive reboot named G5, but things changed and it’s now Future State a two-month event spinning out of the finale of Dark Nights: Death Metal (Reading Order) that takes us on a journey from the near future to the end of time to witness the destinies of DC’s heroes.

It’s a future full of surprises for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League, the Teen Titans, and so many more. A future that will see new and younger heroes taking the place of the ones we know. A future that will lead them to hostile territories. A future that will help define a different present.

DC Future State is a collection of 25 miniseries. Most of them are two-issue tales (but some are four-issue stories).

What to read before DC Future State?

As the Dark Nights: Death Metal event (Reading Order) is ending, a new future take form. At the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal #7, there is not one, but two epilogues that are leading us into a new world, one of them is the DC Future State world.

The DC Future State event is—in theory—self contained (a bit like Age of Apocalypse). You’re not really required to read anything outside of it.

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Hawkeye Kate Bishop Reading Order: Where to start with the Superior Hawkeye?

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For a moment, Marvel was really all about legacy characters. The result was not necessarily memorable, but there are exceptions like Kate Bishop, the second Hawkeye.

Kate is heir to the Bishop fortune, being the daughter of publishing magnate Derek Bishop. Sometime after her mother died, Kate was attacked in Central Park. Following that event, she began to train hard and started to school herself in the arts of archery and other types of combats. She was determined to help others.

When Kate met the Young Avengers during her older sister’s wedding—when gunmen took the entire church hostage—she decided with Cassie Lang to join the team and that’s where her new career started. Now, she’s a legitimate hero, fighting alone, with a team, or with Clint Barton, the original Hawkeye.

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The Wicked + The Divine ‘WicDiv’ Reading Order (included the Specials), by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

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The Wicked and the Divine Reading Order

Created by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, and published by Image Comics, The Wicked + The Divine is a contemporary fantasy comic book series that follows a young teenage girl, Laura, as she interacts with the Pantheon, a group of twelve people who discover that they are reincarnated deities.

It is said that each cycle of The Pantheon will not live past two years from the start of the series and that every 90 years the Pantheon is reincarnated. This cycle is known as the Recurrence. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.

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Batman: Joker War Reading Order, a Batman event by James Tynion IV

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Batman: Joker War Reading Order

Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Jorge Jimenez, Batman: The Joker War is taking us to issue #100 of the series with a story in which The Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight Detective go head-to-head for the last time.

So, here is the official synopsis: The Joker has never wanted to win before, he’s never wanted his battle with Batman to end, but now his motivation has shifted. As The Joker’s plan to assemble an army materializes, the only person who can save Batman from the brink of true madness is Harley Quinn. And while all this is happening, the villains of Gotham City are waiting out the carnage Joker has unleashed—and Catwoman assembles an army of her own!

What to read before Batman: Joker War?

  • Batman: Their Dark Designs
    Collects Batman #86-94. This is the previous storyline written by James Tynion IV, which took place before the Joker War. It’s a new day in Gotham City, but not the same old Batman. With Bane vanquished and one of his longtime allies gone, Batman has to start picking up the pieces and stepping up his game. Batman has a new plan for Gotham City, but he’s not the only one. Deathstroke has returned as well, under a mysterious new contract that could change everything.

You can also find a little bit of a prelude to the Joker War in the following issues, showing Joker preparing for the War. These storylines are optional:

  • Detective Comics #1022-1024
  • Nightwing #71-73

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Age of Ultron Reading Order, a post-apocalyptic future Marvel Event

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More than the title of an Avenger movie, Age of Ultron is a crossover storyline by Brian Michael Bendis, with artists Bryan Hitch and Brandon Peterson. Published in 2013, it consisted of 10-issue core miniseries and a number of tie-in books.

Submit or perish! The artificial intelligence known as Ultron has fought for years to eradicate mankind…and now, it has all but succeeded. The few remaining heroes are battered, broken, almost beaten, and left considering desperate measures – some more desperate than others. But when Wolverine breaks ranks and pursues his own plan to defeat Ultron, will his drastic action cause more problems than it solves?

What to read before Age of Ultron?

You will hear voices telling you you waste your time reading Age of Ultron, an event that doesn’t require a lot of preparation thanks to its self-contained nature.

That said, some great stories have been written with Ultron, worth checking out, more than the event itself :

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Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, Deadpool first appears in The New Mutants and X-Force as a supervillain before becoming one of Marvel’s most iconic anti-heroes.

He is a mercenary aware of his existence as a fictional comic book character, often breaking the fourth wall and conversing with his two internal monologues (but how old is he?).

His past remains shrouded in mystery, with multiple versions of his origin. Whether his childhood was difficult or not, we do know that Wade Wilson became an international assassin, working for various governments. After developing an aggressive form of cancer, he enrolled in the Weapon X program, which gave him a healing factor from another member (you know… Wolverine) and put him to work for them.

The consequences of his time there included a diminished mental state, a healing factor that couldn’t cure his cancer or heal his scars, an infatuation with death, and the freedom to return to mercenary work.

Also known as “The Merc with a Mouth” he set out as Deadpool to kill and have a good time doing it. With time, Deadpool walked the fine line between criminal and hero, working with or against X-Force, the X-Men, and the Avengers. He made a big name for himself in the Marvel Universe and shines in his many team-ups, but it has to be said, there’s no one he loves as much as Spider-Man! 

Deadpool has lived many adventures and even became a movie star (looking like Ryan Reynolds!) and we invite you today to explore all those stories with our Complete Deadpool Reading Order! For suggestions to start reading Deadpool, explore our beginners’ guide to the Merc with a Mouth!Read More »Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

Brian Michael Bendis Superman/Action Comics Reading Order

Superman by Michal Bendis Reading Oder

After eighteen years at Marvel, Brian Michael Bendis left the House of Ideas to work for DC Comics exclusively. The American comic book publisher makes a lot of noise for his arrival, with Bendis taking the rein of Superman, making his debut with Action Comics #1000.

What follows was, I’m gonna speculate, not what DC hopes, as Bendis’s run on Superman/Action Comics (as he writes BOTH series) became divisive quite quickly.

Here’s the official synopsis: A new era begins for Superman as a threat from his earliest origins reemerges to destroy the Last Son of Krypton. As Superman struggles to come to grips with what has happened to his wife and son, he must also face a new threat that’s determined to burn down Metropolis!

What to read before Superman/Action Comics by Brian Michael Bendis?

Before Brian Michael Bendis took over creative duties on Superman/Action Comics, the character was handled by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason & Dan Jurgens since the beginning of Rebirth. Bendis deals with some elements of this run, mostly by getting rid of Lois and Jon at the beginning of his run. This is not required reading for Bendis, as he creates quickly a new statu-quo, but this is quite a popular run among Supes fans, worth checking out:

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