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Swamp Thing Reading Order

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There is more than one Swamp Thing, the swamp monster/Elemental of the DC Universe (not Marvel’s Man Thing). The first one was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971) in a stand-alone horror story.

At first, the Swamp Thing was an anthropomorphic mound of vegetable matter fighting to protect his swamp home, but he eventually broadens his scope to protect the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats, becoming a DC Superhero in his own way. 

During the 1970s, Swamp Thing had his first ongoing series, but it didn’t last. When he became the star of a Wes Craven movie in 1982, a second series was launched. It was almost canceled before Alan Moore became the main writer and made it a real creative success, rewriting the mythology of the character and expanding his powers and reach.

Since then, more writers worked on the titles and Swamp Thing even started fighting alongside other DC heroes.

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Amulet: The Complete Reading Order of the Graphic Novels

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Started in 2008, Amulet is an American graphic novel series illustrated and written by Kazu Kibuishi. The story follows the adventures of Emily and Navin, two young siblings who moved into their great-grandfather’s country house after their father’s death in a car accident.

While exploring the house, the brother and sister discover a magical amulet that gives Emily extraordinary powers. As they try to uncover the amulet’s mysteries and protect their mother from the Elf King, the siblings find themselves having to fight a formidable and malevolent monster and battle for the freedom of a parallel world. Thankfully, they can count on the help of newfound friends to face all those new dangers.

Discover the fantasy adventures following the Amulet Reading Order!

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Catwoman Reading Order

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Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Catwoman is the name used by notorious Gotham City’s burglar Selina Kyle who’s known for loving cats and for using a bullwhip as a weapon. Originally, she was an adversary of Batman, but became some kind of antiheroine, and even an ally of the Dark Knight—and more on the romantic side.

Even if Catwoman made her first appearance in Batman #1 (1940) under the name “The Cat,” she had to go away for a time between September 1954 to November 1966 after losing the battle against the Comics Code Authority. She came back to commit more crimes in the pages of the DC Comics titles. But those stories are not part of the current continuity, so we will focus on what is called the “Modern Era” of DC Comics.

Like others like her, her origins are not clear, multiple authors revised them, but it is firmly established that Selina Kyle grew up on the streets of Gotham, and spent some time in an orphanage and a juvenile detention center. She was working as a dominatrix at some point (in Batman: Year One) before becoming a successful thief who likes to rob the rich and powerful men of Gotham.

Catwoman had her first solo ongoing series in 1993 and took part in the major events of that era. At one point, she fought with the Justice League and later completely reformed, but it was more complicated than a crisis of conscience. Talking about a Crisis, after Infinite Crisis (see reading order), Selina is no longer Catwoman. Holly Robinson took over for a short period of time. Later, Catwoman formed the Gotham City Sirens with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. At one point during the New 52 era, Eiko Hasigawa became Catwoman (and Selina was one of the Gotham City crime bosses). With Rebirth, Catwoman occupied a prominent role in the third volume of Batman, her relationship with Batman played a major role in the story.

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Darkseid War Reading Order, a Justice League Event (New 52)

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The end of New 52 is around the corner, as Justice League: The Darkseid War is the penultimate story of this era, leading into DC Rebirth. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jason Fabok, the story shows the return of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, but this time he’s set his sights on the world-shattering Anti-Monitor.

The Justice League is caught in a war between those two gods, and are they enough to protect Earth from becoming collateral damage in this fight?

What to read before Justice League: Darkseid War?

Darkseid War takes place at the end of the New 52 Justice League, written by Geoff Johns. There are hints and setup for the event throughout the series. That said, if you haven’t read his Justice League (you can find a full reading order here), you’ll find the most essential background in the first volume (with the introduction of Darkseid) and the sixth volume. Then, Forever Evil leads into the event…

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The Amazing Spider-Man by Dan Slott Reading Order

During the first Civil War event (full reading order), Peter Parker revealed his Spider-Man identity on live television. This leads to a tragedy and this knowledge was quickly erased from the world with the event of the story arc called “One More Day”.

This is when J. Michael Straczynski stopped being the main writer of The Amazing Spider-Man (see Spidey’s JMS reading order). When he left, Marvel decided to get Spider-Man back to basics. This means that Peter Parker and Mary Jane had never married, and he had no memory of being married to her. Also, Harry Osborn was alive again.

It was the beginning of “Brand New Day.” Marvel decided to alternate writers for The Amazing Spider-Man series. One of them was Dan Slott who became the sole writer at issue #648 (Jan. 2011), launching the Big Time storyline. It was the beginning of what became the longest run in Spidey’s history.

During that era, Slott created new characters, updated old ones, developed the Spider-Verse, gave us the Superior Spider-Man, and more. He only left the title in 2018, his final issue being #801. But he came back to write Spider-Man in 2022, introducing the Spider-Boy and developing a sequel to his Superior Spider-Man series.

What to read before Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man?

Of course, you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today. But, as I was saying, Brand New Day marked the start of the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man, and Dan Slott was one of the writers, and you can start with that:

  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day Omnibus Vol. 1
    Collects Free Comic Book Day 2007 (Spider-Man), Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #546-583, Amazing Spider-Man Annual (2008) #1, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1-3, Presidents’ Day Celebration Digital Comic, Spider-Man: Fear Itself One-Shot (2009), Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #2, Spider-Man: Swing Shift Director’s Cut One-Shot And Material From Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #1.
  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day Omnibus Vol. 2 (coming soon)
    Collects TBA

The Previous Brand New Day Collection:

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Batman Fear State Reading Order

DC Batman Fear State Reading Order

To conclude his run on Batman (see reading order), James Tynion IV planned an event named Fear State that will get us through the end of 2021. All of the Bat-Series are involved, so here is the guide.

Gotham City is on the brink of martial law as Batman fights a two-front battle! The Scarecrow is unleashing a devasting attack on the city while the Magistrate has made their move to invade! Gotham City is on the brink of a violent evolutionary path and the danger level to Batman and his allies reaching a fever pitch!

The Magistrate now has full support from the mayor to handle high-level law enforcement in Gotham and has branded the Dark Knight as Public Enemy #1. Batman must also contend with the return of the Scarecrow who pursues his own terrifying agenda as he takes this chaotic moment to launch his Fear State.

What to read before Batman Fear State?

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Paper Girls Comics, a Reading Guide for the Brian K. Vaughan series

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Paper Girls Reading Order

Following the success of The Boys, Amazon Prime tried to adapt another comic book but with more of Stranger Things vibe: Paper Girls! Unfortunately, the television adaptation didn’t find its audience and was canceled after one season of only eight episodes.

But before the television show, there was the comic book series and it was a pretty popular one! Paper Girls was written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang—and published by Image Comics between October 2015 and July 2019. If you want to read it, there are multiple editions. Here is a guide to help you navigate all this.

First, what’s the story? Here is the official Paper Girls synopsis: In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

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Batman No Man’s Land Reading Order

Batman No Man's Land Reading Order

During the Post-crisis era, the end of the 1990s was full of disasters for Batman and Gotham City. We got Batman Knightfall (full reading order here), then Batman: Contagion, and its follow-up Batman: Legacy. After that, there was the Batman: Cataclysm crossover event that lead right to Batman No Man’s Land. The title alone is full of promises.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, here is the official synopsis: After suffering a cataclysmic earthquake, the U.S. government has deemed Gotham City uninhabitable and ordered all citizens to leave. It is now months later and those who have refused to vacate “No Man’s Land” live amidst a citywide turf war in which the strongest prey on the weak. Batman and his allies including the enigmatic new Batgirl, Nightwing, Oracle, and Robin must fight to save Gotham during its darkest hour and return Justice to the destroyed city.

Note: Cassandra Cain was introduced during this event. She became the official Batgirl after that. For more about her, go to Cassandra Cain Reading Order.

What to read before Batman No Man’s Land?

As I wrote at the beginning of this article, there was one disaster after the other—the one you need to read before Batman No Man’s Land is Batman: Cataclysm. You can find it in a dedicated TPB. But reading Cataclysm is not imperative (even if it’s recommended), most of the stories leading to (and explaining) the event are collected in what DC Comics called Batman: Road to No Man’s Land, as you’ll see below in the full reading order.

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Power Rangers Comics Reading Order (by Boom! Studios)

It’s morphin’ time! Based on the Japanese franchise Super Sentai, The Power Rangers became a pop-culture phenomenon with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series that aired on Fox Kids between 1993 and 1998 and, of course, a large line of toys.

The adventures didn’t stop there for the five teenagers with an attitude, as the franchise expanded with other television series, movies, more toys, video games, books, and… Comic books! Since the first release by Hamilton Comics, a spin-off of the television series, several Power Rangers Comics have been published by different publishers, including Marvel Comics, Image, and, since 2016, by Boom Studios!

This line of Power Rangers Comics is based on the television series, telling new stories in a contemporary setting, mixing classic concepts with new ideas. Since the official launch in 2016 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Power Rangers Boomverse has expanded with several spin-offs, crossovers, and relaunch/reboots.

It’s now time to morph into action and discover the comic book adventures of the Power Rangers with our Reading Guide!

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Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Reading Order (plus Green Lantern Corps, Blackest Night, Red Lanterns and more!)

When you look into Green Lantern comics, Geoff Johns’s run is considered the one to read. It certainly is influential and led to the famous Blackest Night event. It was epic and full of colors.

Johns started by bringing back Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern Corps (he became The Spectre after his redemptory appearance as Parallax in the 1996 event The Final Night), then he introduced new concepts and expanded the Green Lantern mythos in a big way that still defined it to this day–see The Emotional Spectrum Explained for more detail.

If Geoff Johns is mostly credited for the success of the Green Lantern comics at that time, he was not alone. Peter Tomasi was in charge of the Green Lantern Corps comic book series, and reading the two together is highly recommended.

Here is the official synopsis: It’s been years since the death of Hal Jordan and the end of the Green Lantern Corps. But as the Torchbearer Kyle Rayner is about to find out, the adventure of epic and mythological proportions is about to begin as the former Lantern returns to the land of the living to atone for his sins. And the cosmos will never be the same as Sinestro wages his war against the Green Lanterns with his newly founded, Sinestro Corps!

What to read before Green Lantern by Geoff Johns?

It’s a new beginning. You can go ahead with Green Lantern Rebirth, but if you want to know the basics about Green Lantern, these two books are recommended:

  • Green Lantern: Secret Origin
    Collects Green Lantern #29-35
  • DC Universe by Alan Moore
    Collects Action Comics #584, Batman Annual #11, Dc Comics Presents #85, Detective Comics #549-550, Green Lantern #188, The Omega Men #26-27,  Secret Origins #10, Superman #423, Tales Of The Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 & 3, Superman Annual #11 and Vigilante #17-18.

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