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Green Arrow Reading Order, DC Comics’ Archer

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Green Arrow Reading Order

Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, Green Arrow made his first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Queen and, with his sidekick Speedy, he fights crime in his home city of Star City – or Seattle at some point. He doesn’t have superpowers. Like Marvel’s Hawkeye, he is an extremely skilled archer, but he’s more like Bruce Wayne than Clint Barton, because Oliver Queen is a wealthy businessman and owner of Queen Consolidated.

He is one of the rare Golden Age heroes who survived the 1940s and 1950s without a lot of alterations and entered the Silver Age without much trouble and he even joined the Justice League. That said, he was seriously retooled at the end of the 1960s by Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil. He then lost his money and became an advocate for the underprivileged with a lot of left-wing views to express. At that time too, his teammate Black Canary became a love interest and his friendship with Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) became iconic – also, that’s when it was revealed that Speedy was addicted to heroin! Strangely enough, Green Arrow had to wait until the 1980s to be the star of his own series. And then came the Crisis on Infinite Earths that led to a retcon.

In 1987, Green Arrow came back with a series for a mature audience. No more gadgets and Star City. Oliver Queen moved to Seattle where he was faced with a lot of violence. Written and illustrated by Mike Grell, this series was not fully integrated into the DC Universe. That changed when Grell stopped writing. Green Arrow quickly found a place alongside the other heroes, and also discovered a son!

Dead for a few years, Green Arrow was revived in 2001. He then picked up his bow to again fight crime in Star City. He faced horrors, got married, and a lot more as each crisis (and relaunch of the DC Universe) changed the course of his life. Also, The CW TV Adaptation led DC Comics to introduce new elements to the story (mainly the character of John Diggle).

As his past was revisited and his relationships with his sidekicks and Black Canary were explored, Green Arrow evolved through the years (more than 80 now!).

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Blade Reading Order, Marvel’s Vampire Hunter

Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan in The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), Blade was at first a supporting character but quickly gained prominence.

Blade’s real name is Eric Cross Brooks. He is an Afro-American vampire hunter who used to sport 1970s-style Afro hair and wield teak-bladed knives. He really became a solid character during the 1990s, first in the team series Nightstalkers, then in his own ongoing series Blade the Vampire Hunter.

At first, he was presented as a human immune to vampire bites, but it was retroactively established that he was a “dhampir” (the son of a vampire and a mortal human) following his adaptation as such in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade film series. In the comics, he also became a “Daywalker” after being bitten by Morbius.

It took years to establish the definitive mythology of Blade in the comics because he never really got a long ongoing series, playing a supporting role between miniseries. That didn’t stop him from becoming a member of the Avengers.

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Ironheart (Riri Williams) Reading Order

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Ironheart Riri Williams Reading Order

Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Eve Ewing, and Kevin Libranda, Riri Williams is a legacy character who made her first appearance in a cameo in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7 during the Civil War II event (see reading order here).

Riri Williams is a 15-year-old certified genius. Born shortly after the death of her father Riri Williams Sr., Riri grew up in Chicago, was raised by her mother Ronnie, her stepfather, and alongside her sister Sharon. Soon enough, Riri was working on her own inventions and given a scholarship at M.I.T. After reverse-engineering technology from the outdated Iron Man Armor Model 41, Riri Williams decided to create her own Iron Man Armor, using stolen material from campus. After learning of her accomplishment, Tony Stark came to visit her and gave her his blessing to pursue her ambitions.

Following the events of Civil War II, Riri decided to carry on Tony Stark’s legacy as a hero. With the help of an A.I duplicate of Stark to guide her at the beginning of her journey, she took the name of Ironheart. She joined the Champions, and worked to become a heroine in her own right.

Riri Williams was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), where she is portrayed by Dominique Thorne. She is set to star in her own Disney+ series, Ironheart, scheduled for release in June 2025.

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Spawn Reading Order (and the Spawn Universe)

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In 1992, after leaving Marvel, Todd McFarlane and other high-profile illustrators launched Image Comics – you know the story… It was a gamble, to say the least, but it paid big. This success didn’t take long to come as the first issues published were smashing hits. Spawn was no exception. In fact, it was the most consistent one because of McFarlane, and that stayed that way.

In fact, in 2020, Spawn reached issue #300, a rare feat for an independently published comic. Now, there’s even a Spawn Universe with new spin-offs to expand the world of Spawn like never before.

Here is the story: Murdered during a mission in Botswana by fellow mercenary Bruce Stinson (aka Chapel), Al Simmons was sent to Hell because of his life as an assassin. There, he made a deal with the being known as Malebolgia to become a Hellspawn in exchange for being allowed to see his wife Wanda Blake one last time. He is now back in town, but five years have passed, and, off-balance and disoriented, Simmons quickly realizes that he couldn’t pick up things where he left them. As Spawn, he becomes some kind of hero in order to find a new purpose in life.

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Robin Reading Order: Your Guide to Batman’s sidekicks (from Dick Grayson to Damian Wayne)

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Robin War - Robin Reading Guide Order

Robin. The Boy Wonder. Batman’s sidekick. Originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, Robin is the alias for Batman’s crime-fighting partner in the DC Comic Universe.

The initial incarnation of the character first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), just one year after Batman’s debut. As there was rarely a Batman published story without the Boy Wonder, Batman and Robin became known as the Dynamic Duo or The Caped Crusaders.

As Batman is a dark and brooding hero with a personal vendetta against crime and injustice, Robin is a more light-hearted, joyous, and spontaneous character. The two characters complement each other, and together, they created one of the most iconic comic book partnerships.

Robin began to live his own short adventures as soon as 1947, published in Star Spangled Comics (we will have to wait until 1992 for Robin to have his own title). He would also be a founding member of the superhero team Teen Titans (in 1964), and since then, Robin is almost always part of the team.

Throughout the years, several characters have held the mantle of Robin, from the most popular Dick Grayson to our favorite little brat Damian Wayne. Discover all the Robins with the following guide.

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Suicide Squad Reading Order

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The Suicide Squad as we know it today wasn’t always like that. First created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru in 1959 in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #25, the first incarnation of The Suicide Squad was a team of good guys with a scientific edge led by Rick Flag Jr. They faced monsters and nuclear bombs. It didn’t last long, and we will not talk about it more here.

The Suicide Squad, as we know it, was introduced by writer John Ostrander (with Len Wein) and artist John Byrne in the pages of the Legends miniseries in 1986, the first major DC Universe crossover after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This governmental team, controlled by the morally ambiguous Amanda Waller, is really called Task Force X and is composed of supervillains like Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Enchantress. Rick Flag Jr. is still the leader. The team is sent on “suicide” missions—sometimes, not everybody comes back.

After Ostrander’s run ended in 1992, Suicide Squad saw multiple revivals. In 2001, Keith Giffen and Paco Medina reintroduced the team, and in 2011, as part of DC’s New 52, written by Adam Glass, Harley Quinn was introduced as a core member for the first time. Another relaunch came with DC Rebirth in 2016 by Rob Williams and Jim Lee, cementing Harley’s prominence alongside Deadshot. The Squad continues to appear across comics and media, with frequent roster changes and thematic ties to espionage and black ops missions. Amanda Waller stayed in control through the multiple incarnations of the team and has grown to become a central figure in the DC Universe.

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Avengers Reading Order (1963-2015)

DC Comics had the Justice League and, in 1963, Marvel was inspired by its success to respond with its own team of superheroes. And thus, The Avengers were created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the pages of The Avengers #1 (September 1963).

The story begins with Loki seeking revenge against Thor. His actions led young Rick Jones to call for help. That’s how Ant-Man (Hank Pym), the Wasp, and Iron Man joined Thor and the Hulk in their fight against Loki. The story ended well for the good guys. So well in fact that Ant-Man suggested they form a team – it was the Wasp that came up with the name Avengers.

The rest is history. A long history in fact, with multiple incarnations of the team with the Hulk rapidly leaving the team (in issue #2) and being replaced by Captain America (in issue #4). Former villains, new heroes, honorary members… the roaster changed, but the fight went on against famous foes on Earth, in Space, and everywhere else!

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Tokyo Ghoul Manga Order

Tokyo Ghoul Manga Order

Our site is dedicated to American comics, but once in a while, we also wrote about European comic books. And now, we expand our horizons with our first manga order thanks to Tokyo Ghoul!

Written and illustrated by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul is a dark fantasy manga taking place in a world where Ghouls live among us. Ghouls are a cannibalistic humanoid race that can only eat human and other ghoul flesh. So, ghouls regularly attack humans to feed. The government tries to keep the situation under control with a special entity called the GCC and its investigators who specialize in exterminating ghouls.

Ken Kaneki was an ordinary college student with a passion for literature when a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.

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Stephanie Brown Reading Order (Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl)

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Stephanie Brown Reading Order (Spoiler, Robin IV, Batgirl III)

Created in 1992 by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle as a plot device in Detective Comics #647-649, Stephanie Brown is a DC Comics superheroine considered part of the Batfamily. She is first introduced as the vigilante Spoiler, had a brief stint as Robin, and has also taken the mantle of Batgirl.

Before the New 52 reboot, Stephanie Brown had a difficult life, one that had some similarities with Jason Todd’s. Her mother was a drug addict and her father was the third-rate villain known as Cluemaster. It was in order to stop him that Stephanie Brown became the vigilante named Spoiler (as she was trying to ‘spoil’ things for her abusive father), starting out with little training, relying on her determination and natural agility. She lived in poverty and didn’t have a great track record when it comes to her love life.

Initially seen as an amateur, Spoiler’s tenacity caught the attention of Tim Drake/Robin II, with whom she developed a romantic relationship–though she didn’t know his real name for a long time. Stephanie’s relationship with Batman was a difficult one, a sort of reflection of the way some people at DC Comics seemed to perceive her–leading us to some mistreatment of her character.

During the DC New 52 era, Stephanie Brown’s story was rewritten, her past and her relationship with Batman were way less harsh and complicated than it has been before. In the subsequent reboots of the DC line of comics, she remained part of the Bat Family, sometimes questioning Batman’s methods but ultimately establishing herself as a valuable ally.

Right now, Stephanie Brown is protecting Gotham City as one of the Batgirls, alongside Cassandra Cain, while being guided by Oracle/Barbara Gordon.

The following is Stephanie Brown’s reading order to discover all her adventures.

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The Final Night Reading Order, 1996 DC crossover event

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Published in 1996, The Final Night is a DC Comics crossover event written by Karl Kesel with art by Stuart Immonen. For a change, it was not about a Super-Villain fighting the Heroes, but about an extraterrestrial entity called the Sun-Eater that envelopes and extinguishes the Sun, causing Earth to freeze and wither into ecological collapse. It’s an End of the World scenario in which heroes, villains, and everybody else had to work together to surmount the impossible.

Here is the official synopsis: In The Final Night, the heroes and citizens of Earth face the impending end of the universe. When a cosmic force of nature known as the Sun-Eater extinguishes the Sun, Earth is thrust into its final night. Deprived of the massive star’s illumination and heat, the world experiences a catastrophe of epic proportions.

But even in a situation devoid of hope, the world’s greatest champions struggle on against the inevitable. Featuring many of the heroes of the DC Universe, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, this book graphically illustrates the true definition of a hero, as Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern, makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.

What to Read Before The Final Night?

The Final Night is a self-contained event, but you may want to be familiar with the character of Parallax to have a better understanding of his decisions in this story. First, the famous Emerald Twilight storyline (Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48–50), collected in:

Second, the event “Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!” You can find our reading order here.

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