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Jonathan Hickman X-Men Reading Order – The Age of Krakoa

Welcome to Part 6 of our ongoing effort to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order through the lens of collected editions. If you’re just joining us, you can start from the beginning with Part 1: The Silver Age & Chris Claremont (1963–1991), then follow through Part 2: Age of Apocalypse & Onslaught (1991–2001), Part 3: From the Grant Morrison Era to Civil War, Part 4: The Road to Avengers vs. X-Men, Part 5: Marvel NOW to ResurrXion, and Part.7: The Second Age of the X-Men of Krakoa.

After the Age of X-Man event, Marvel set out to redefine the X-Men for a new era and entrusted writer Jonathan Hickman to lead the charge. He began with the groundbreaking House of X / Powers of X miniseries, which reimagined the X-Men’s place in the Marvel Universe with a bold new premise.

In this story, Professor X unveils the island nation of Krakoa, a sovereign mutant homeland offering humanity miraculous scientific advancements in exchange for recognition. “While you slept, the world changed,” the story begins. Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence is over. In its place rises a new vision, one that spans centuries and ambitions to challenge not just human prejudice, but the inevitability of machine-dominated futures.

Following this successful relaunch, Marvel expanded the line under the banners of Dawn of X and later Reign of X, introducing a wave of interconnected series, new mutant teams, political intrigue, and existential threats, all orbiting the fragile promise of the Krakoan dream.

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The Incal Reading Order, The French Comic Book by Jodorowsky and Moebius

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The Incal is a French graphic novel series (“L’Incal” in French) written by Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Moebius (aka Jean Giraud) that started in 1980 in the pages of “Métal hurlant.”

As the official synopsis explains it, The Incal is about the tribulations of the shabby detective John Difool as he searches for the precious and coveted Incal. John Difool, a low-class detective in a degenerate dystopian world, finds his life turned upside down when he discovers an ancient, mystical artifact called The Incal. Difool’s adventures will bring him into conflict with the galaxy’s greatest warrior, the Metabaron, and will pit him against the awesome powers of the Technopope. These encounters and many more make up a tale of comic and cosmic proportions that has Difool fighting for not only his very survival, but also the survival of the entire universe.

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Cassandra Cain Reading Order (Batgirl, Orphan, Black Bat)

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Created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, Cassandra Cain is a member of the Batfamily who made her first appearance in Batman #567 (July 1999), during the No Man’s Land event. She then became the official Batgirl and got her own solo series. She’s also known as Black Bat and Orphan.

Cassandra Cain is the deadliest member of the Batfamily. The daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, she was raised to be a killer. In fact, she was conditioned to become the world’s greatest assassin. To this end, she was deprived of speech and human contact during her childhood, which enabled her to develop an incredible ability to interpret body language to the extent that she could read complex thoughts. In essence, body movement was her first language, and she didn’t speak for a long time. This unique way of communicating has made her a martial artist like no other.

Batman took her under his wing and, with Barbara Gordon’s blessing, she soon became the new Batgirl. This happened before the New 52 era. After being reintroduced in the DCU in the Batman & Robin Eternal series, she got a new origin story.

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The Flash Reading Order (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen)

The Flash is the fastest man alive, meaning that he possesses super-speed and can run, move and think extremely fast. Sometimes, it looks like the laws of physics don’t apply to him.

Created in 1940, The Flash is not just one person. To this date, four men have called themselves the Flash. The first was Jay Garrick, during the Golden Age. The second, Barry Allen (The Flash II), worked at Central City. Wally West (Flash III) began as Kid Flash before taking the mantle. And for a short time, Bart Allen (Flash IV) was also the Flash before Wally takes back the title, then Barry makes his return… and things are complicated, let’s be honest!

There’s a lot of Flash stories out there, so it’s time to run to discover them!

Where to start with The Flash?

The Flash made his first appearance more than 80 years ago and several characters have used the mantle since. So to help you find your path in this rich history, we made a short listing of books that can serve as a sort of entry point in the universe:

  • The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years hardcover – A collection of stories ranging from his seven decades as a mainstay in the DC Comics universe. From the original Flash, Jay Garrick, to his successors Barry Allen and Wally West, this anthology is a good way to retrace the evolution of the scarlet speedster (from the Golden age to the Flashpoint series) and, in the end, to become familiar with the character in a flash!
  • The Life Story of The Flash by Iris West – Although not up to date, this biography of Barry Allen by his wife Iris (or really by author Mark Waid) can be seen as a crash course on the superhero’s life (covering his pre-Crisis life).
  • The Flash by Mark Waid – (with Wally West) With ‘Born to Run’ (The Flash v.2 #62-65), Mark Waid wrote a story that’s also a perfect starting point for anyone to get to know Wally West, the third Flash, and then continue with his run, of course.
  • The Flash By Geoff Johns – (with Wally West) After Mark Waid reinvented the Flash mythology, Geoff Johns followed up with reinventing the rogues gallery.
  • The Flash, by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato – (with Barry Allen) The DC universe was rebooted with the New 52 initiative, offering a new starting point to readers. This is the one for The Flash.
  • The Flash by Joshua Williamson – (with Barry Allen) Another reboot from DC gives us the Rebirth era, reconnecting with old elements, in this case, Barry’s quest to reunite his family.

The Flash Wally West 48Also, for a more detailed reading order about Flash III
We invite you to check out our Wally West Reading Order!

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Annihilation Reading Order, a Marvel Cosmic Event

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Annihilation Reading Order

At a time when Marvel was all about its Civil War, another massive event took place. This 2006 cosmic crossover storyline was written by Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Simon Furman, Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Andy Lanning, with art by Renato Arlem, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Di Vito, Scott Kolins, Jorge Lucas, Mike McKone, Gregory Titus, and Kev Walker. It was the beginning of the modern Marvel Cosmic saga.

Here is the official synopsis: Annihilus, lord of the Negative Zone, has declared war! And as his unstoppable Annihilation Wave swarms into the Marvel Universe, demolishing all in its path, only a handful of heroes can resist the destruction! As Nova learns the ways of war from Drax the Destroyer, the Silver Surfer seeks out his former master Galactus for aid, the Super-Skrull fights for his son’s life and Ronan the Accuser faces Gamora and her woman warriors! Nova and Quasar’s army leads the charge, but as heroes fall and Annihilus rises, the universe’s one remaining hope may be Thanos, the Mad Titan.

What to read before Annihilation?

Most of the Annihilation prelude miniseries are considered part of the event, but one is often not treated as such:

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Locke and Key, a Reading Order Guide for Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s series

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Welcome to Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them… and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all…

This is the premise of Locke and Key, the comic book series written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez published by IDW, which is also now a Netflix series. The original run of the series has been published as a set of limited series, followed since then by a series of short stories set in the past. The Locke and Key universe continue to expand, slowly, but still…

And, as a very popular comic book, there are multiple editions. Here is a guide to help you navigate all this.

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Old Man Logan Reading Order

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Old Man Logan Reading Order

In Marvel Comics, Wolverine is one of the most popular characters. So much that there is more than one! We are not speaking about X-23, maybe the most famous Wolverine after the Original, but about Old Man Logan today. But be careful as there are actually three versions of the older and grimmer Logan!

The original Old Man Logan made his first appearance in Fantastic Four (1998) #558 before appearing in Wolverine #66. Created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, he lives in a dystopian future where the villains won — Earth-807128, aka the Wastelands timeline. He is mostly the star of a famous storyline and made a few other appearances.

Another version of the character was introduced in Secret Wars and found its way into Marvel’s main continuity after his Earth-shattering events. If you thought that the two characters were the same Old Man Logan, nobody could blame you! It was first suggested as such, with the character blending elements from the original dystopian story with elements from 616 Wolverine. It was later explained that this version was this was another Old Man Logan. And, let’s not forget that an alternate version of the second Old Man Logan was introduced in Edge of Venomverse #4.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at both versions of Old Man Logan—to avoid any confusion—starting with the story that began it all, then moving on to the second Old Man Logan’s many adventures across the Marvel Universe.

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Batman: Gothtopia Reading Order

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Gothtopia Reading Order DC New 52

What if Gotham was a utopia where everybody is happy and no crimes happen? This is the reality shown in Batman: Gothtopia, a little Batman crossover published in 2014, during the New 52 era.

Here is the official synopsis: Who – or what – created this twisted vision of the Dark Knight’s hometown? As far as anyone knows, Gotham City is and always has been a crime-free utopia, patrolled by the white-clad Batman and his sidekick Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catbird.

What to read before Gothtopia?

Gothtopia is a stand-alone storyline and doesn’t require any pre-reading. You can still pick up Birds of Prey (Volume 3) #27 in which there is a hint something weird is going on in Gotham, but nothing is shown.

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New Mutants Reading Order (The X-Men)

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With Chris Claremont at the helm, the X-Men became big business for Marvel Comics in the ’80s. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter decided to expand the franchise with a spin-off call The New Mutants. Claremont was a bit reluctant to do it at first, but the series will soon—with the arrival of artist Bill Sienkiewicz (Bob McLeod was the artist at the beginning)—become something different and a real success.

But what New Mutants is about? Here is the official synopsis of the beginning of the series. Meet the future of the X-Men! Karma. Wolfsbane. Sunspot. Cannonball. Moonstar. They’re teenagers, thrown together by the X-gene that makes them different. Follow the adventures of these young mutants from Karma’s first meeting with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to their early days at the Xavier School!

The New Mutants’ on-the-job training begins in earnest with battles against Sentinels, the Silver Samurai, Viper, and the Hellfire Club; a team-up with Spidey and Cloak and Dagger — and the team gets a taste of life as X-Men in a disturbing encounter with the Brood! Plus: Meet fiery new recruit Magma, and discover how Colossus’s sister, Illyana, became the demon sorceress known as Magik!

Being part of the X-Men Universe, you can find how to read the New Mutants with the other X-series in our complete X-Men Reading Order.

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Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski Reading Order

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From 2001 to 2007, J. Michael Straczynski was the main writer of The Amazing Spider-Man series. An important run, even if Marvel’s editors ruined it at the end (Civil War! One More Day!!!). In January 1999, Howard Mackie started to write volume 2 of the series, and Straczynski took over with issue #30.

His run is mostly famous for his great and lengthy “Spider-Totem” arc that questioned the source of Spider-Man’s powers (Magic?). Also, Aunt May discovered the truth about her nephew, Mary Jane came back, and Peter started to teach at his former high school.

Of course, with the Civil War, things didn’t go well for Spidey, everything changed until it was time to clean up and let another writer take over (after a short while, Dan Slott started his 10-year run).

What to read before Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski?

First, you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today.

As J. Michael Straczynski took over The Amazing Spider-Man after Howard Mackie, you might be tempted to take a look at what was done at that time (it’s optional, of course). Mackie’s run is not fully collected for now, but you can find the last storyline, which was published after the Marvel Crossover event Maximum Security.

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