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Batman: Night of the Owls Reading Order, a Batfamily crossover event during New 52

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New 52 was the beginning of a new era for Batman (see reading order), opening with the introduction of the Court of Owls, a mysterious group that run Gotham. Night of the Owls ia a direct following to that storyline.

Written by Scott Snyder, Night of The Owls pits the Batman and his allies against the Court of Owls organization as they attempt to cement their control over Gotham City, which they have been manipulating in secret for centuries.

As evil spreads across Gotham City, Batman’s allies, including Red Robin, Batwing, Robin, Batgirl, the Birds of Prey, Nightwing and even Catwoman find themselves in a battle coming from all sides. The Court of Owls have shown their hand, and it’s up to the collective effort of these heroes, some more unlikely than others, in this sprawling tale of corruption and violence.

What to read before Batman: Night of Owls?

  • Batman: Gates of Gotham (optional)
    Collects Batman: Gates of Gotham #1-5. Not necessary for comprehension, this is a sort of prequel to Court of Owls, where Snyder revisits Gotham history.
  • Batman: The Court of Owls
    Collects Batman Vol. 2 #1-7. The first arc in Snyder and Capullo’s run on Batman, and during which the Night of the Owls takes place, making it a necessary reading.

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Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan Reading Order (with the Champions!)

 

When Carol Danvers got her promotion (see Carol Danvers reading order to learn more about that) and officially became known as Captain Marvel in 2014, a place opened up for a new Mrs. Marvel. That’s when Kamala Khan became a Marvel superhero.

Kamala Khan is a teenager, Pakistani-American, Muslim, and Inhuman with shapeshifting abilities (mostly elongation, shrinking…) from Jersey City. After discovering her power, she assumes the mantle of Ms. Marvel because Carol Danvers was her idol. Of course, she had to learn how to be a superhero, but she quickly joined famous teams such as the Avengers, the Champions, Secret Warriors, and more (she’s quite popular).

She rapidly got her own series and took part in major Marvel events. She’s young, but there’s already a lot to read. Also, even if she’s still a fairly new character, Kamala has already been killed and resurrected, coming back to life with a new perspective on the origins of her powers (she’s a mutant now!).

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Inhumanity Reading Order, a direct follow-up to the Infinity Event

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Inhumanity Marvel Reading Order

Inhumanity is not a proper event, it is the fallout of Infinity and it’s not readable without it. What we have is a 2013–14 crossover storyline, where multiple titles are loosely connected by a mention or a contact with the Terrigen Mists.

More specifically, the actions of Black Bolt have affected not only his people, but the entire Marvel Universe, as a new race of Inhumans rises up!

Here is the official synopsis: For millennia, they were hidden in plain sight – forgotten descendants of a secret race transformed by alien science, living ordinary lives, never knowing their godlike potential. They could be your doctor. Your mailman. Maybe even you. But now the kingdom of Attilan has fallen to Earth. Its royal family has been torn apart. And the Terrigen Bomb has revealed the Inhumans in mankind’s midst.

As individuals across the globe manifest uncanny new abilities, the Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Spider-Man, and more face a world forever altered. And with her husband gone, Queen Medusa must unite her scattered people and lead them into a new Inhuman Age.

What to read before Inhumanity?

As I said before, you can’t read Inhumanity without Infinity and so I guide you toward the Infinity Reading Order for more details.

  • Infinity Hardcover
    Collects Infinity #1-6, New Avengers Vol. 3 #7-12, Avengers Vol 5. #14-23, Infinity: Against the Tide Infinite Comic #1-2
  • Infinity Companion Hardcover
    Collects Captain Marvel Vol. 7 #15-16, Thunderbolts Vol. 2 #14-18, Avengers Assemble Vol. 2 #18-20, Infinity: The Hunt #1-4, Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #1-3, Nova Vol. 5 #8-9, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #3-4, Infinity: Heist #1-4, Fearless Defenders #10, Secret Avengers Vol. 2 #10-11, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 #8-9, Wolverine & The X-Men Annual #1

If you want more stories about the Inhumans, check out our Complete Inhumans Reading Order!

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Rick and Morty Comics Reading Order (the comics spin-off by Oni Press)

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Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!!! The crazy world created by Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland in their hit Adult Swim animated show Rick & Morty goes beyond the screen and into the comic book world!

Published by Oni Press, the Rick & Morty comic book series expands the universe of the super scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty—but also his teenage granddaughter Summer, his veterinary surgeon daughter Beth, and his hapless son-in-law Jerry—with a lot of as insane adventures.

What to read before Rick and Morty’s comics?

Reading is not right, watching is more appropriate. Even if you can read the comics without knowing much about the show, you’ll miss a lot. I recommend watching at least the first 2/3 seasons of Rick & Morty before picking up those books. Especially before the third book of the first volume, when the comics became canon (the first two volumes are inconsequential).

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Flashpoint Reading Order, a DC reboot event by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert

Flashpoint DC Event Reading Order

Flashpoint is a 2011 comic book crossover story arc written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Andy Kubert published by DC Comics. In its end, the series radically changes the status quo for the DC Universe, ending the continuity of New Earth and leading into the New 52 relaunch.

Flashpoint details an altered DC Universe in which only Barry Allen seems to be aware of significant differences between the regular timeline and the altered one, including Cyborg’s place as the world’s quintessential hero, much like Superman is in the main timeline, with Superman himself being held captive as a lab-rat by the United States government within an underground facility in Metropolis. In addition, Thomas Wayne is Batman, and a war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman has decimated western Europe.

Flashpoint consists of 61 issues, with sixteen separate three-issue miniseries, and a number of one-shots.

What To Read Before Flashpoint?

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Empyre Reading Order, an Avengers/Fantastic Four Marvel event

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Marvel Empyre Reading Order

The first big event of the 2020s. It’s an Avengers/Fantastic Four one that takes us on the Moon, beyond, and back on Earth. And here is the official synopsis for the event written by Al Ewing and Dan Slott with art by Valerio Schiti. Old allies make a distress call to the Avengers with news of a terrible enemy that could wipe out humanity. Meanwhile, in the most unlikely of places, the Fantastic Four witness the final conflict of the Kree/Skrull War — and a long-hidden Elder of the Universe stands revealed! With the Kree and Skrulls united under a new emperor, their war fleet charts a course — for Earth!

The Avengers are ready to fight, while the Fantastic Four seek a diplomatic solution. But if they can’t work together, the world may not survive. Either way, both teams will be tested as never before! The new Marvel Space Age begins here!

What to read before Empyre?

The history of the Kree and Skrulls War is quite long, going back to the classic Avengers story “Kree-Skrull War” written by Roy Thomas with art by Sal Buscema and Neal Adams, and the “Celestial Madonna Saga” written by Steve Englehart with art by John and Sal Buscema, Don Heck, Dave Cockrum, and George Tuska.

For the Empyre, it’s probably not necessary to go back this far. All you need to know is in the Empyre Handbook. For more stories, you can also take a look at the Meet The Skrulls miniseries written by Robbie Thompson with art by Niko Henrichon. If you want to know more about the character Huckling, you can read the 2005 Young Avengers series written by Allan Heinberg with art by Jim Cheung.

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Fables Reading Order, Bill Willingham’s Vertigo classic series (with The Wolf Among Us, Fairest, Jack of Fables, and Everafter)

Fables Reading Order

Comic book series created by Bill Willingham and published by Vertigo, Fables is like if Once Upon a Time was dark, edgy and really high quality.

The series is about people from fairy tales and folklore who really exist in magical realms but they were forced out of their worlds by The Adversary and now live in exile in ours. They’re calling themselves Fables and, those who are looking like humans live in New York City, in a community known as Fabletown. The others live at “the Farm” in upstate New York.

One of the main characters is the reformed Big Bad Wolf – also known as Bigby – who is now Fabletown’s sheriff. He works with Snow White who is a member of Fabletown’s government and Old King Cole is the mayor. At the beginning, Fables told different kinds of stories, from a murder mystery to a caper story. As The Adversary resurfaced, the war began to take over everything.

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Brightest Day Reading Order (the sequel to Blackest Night)

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Following Blackest Night (go to the reading order for details), the massive DC Comics crossover event of 2009-10, Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi gave us the follow-up: Brightest Day, a year-long comic book maxi-series depicting the aftermath of the events of the Blackest Night storyline on the DC Universe.

Once dead, twelve heroes and villains were resurrected by a white light expelled deep within the center of the earth. Now, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang, and Zoom must discover the mysterious reason behind their return and uncover the secret that binds them all.

What to read before Brightest Day?

There’s a simple answer to this question: Blackest Night. You can find the reading order here.

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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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