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Shattered Heroes Reading Order, a follow up to Fear Itself

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Shattered Heroes Reading Order

Launched in October 2011, Shattered Heroes is a comic book branding that ran through a number of books published by Marvel Comics exploring the fallout of Fear Itself, with a number of implications across a number of titles.

The idea was that in the aftermath of Fear Itself, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man have all been changed by the dramatic event. As each deals with the shocking alterations to their lives, can they rise to the occasion and remain Earth’s Mightiest heroes?

What to read before Shattered Heroes?

We invite you to go consult our Fear Itself reading order.

  • Fear Itself
    Collects Fear Itself: Book of the Skull, Fear Itself 1-7.

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Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe

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There are a lot of characters in the DC Universe (in the Marvel one too) and it’s not always easy to track them down when they are not the star of their own ongoing series. Characters like Zatanna Zatara appeared in a lot of stories over the years, but rarely as the star of the show.

Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna made her first appearance in Hawkman #4 (published in November 1964). She is known to be a stage illusionist as well as an actual magician, like her father Giovanni Zatara.

Zatanna is controlling her powers by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backward. She is known for her involvement with the Justice League (Dark), John Constantine, and the rest of the magic side of the DC Universe.

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Marvel Civil War II Reading Order, Choose your side

Marvel Civil War II Reading Order

Presented as a sequel to 2006’s Civil War event (see Reading Order) putting heroes against each other, Civil War II is another big Marvel crossover event, with the mission to capitalize on the release of the 2016 Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, Civil War II was published between June and December 2016 and opposed this time Iron Man to Captain Marvel. When a new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, Captain Marvel wanted him to work with the Ultimates, in order to preemptively tackle disasters before they happen, but Iron Man opposed the idea, suggesting it was dangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. This is the beginning of a conflict with a lot of tie-ins!

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Batman Rebirth Reading Order (From the Monster Men to Batman’s Wedding, City of Bane, The Joker War and more)

Following the conclusion of the New 52/DC You publishing initiatives, DC Comics launched the Rebirth era, marking a soft relaunch of its continuity. As part of this initiative, Batman received a new creative team, signaling a fresh direction for the character and his ongoing series.

As part of the Rebirth initiative, the Batman series was relaunched and began publishing on a twice-monthly schedule. In August 2016, the third volume of Batman debuted with issue #1, written by Tom King with art by David Finch and Mikel Janín. Meanwhile, Detective Comics returned to its original numbering, resuming with issue #934 in June 2016 under writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Álvaro Martínez.

While Batman continued to focus on the Dark Knight’s solo exploits, his relationship with Catwoman, and his ongoing struggle to protect Gotham City, Detective Comics was restructured as a team-based series. Under Batman and Batwoman’s leadership, the title featured a roster including Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Clayface.

In addition to the main titles, several other Batman-related series were published during the Rebirth era. Scott Snyder returned to the character with All-Star Batman, while additional titles such as Batman and the Outsiders further expanded the line. The period also featured major crossover events, including Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal, as well as storylines such as The Joker War, alongside a number of less notable events.

What to read before Batman Rebirth?

First, you can explore the Batman New 52 era or even follow The Batman Modern Age Reading Guide. However, as it is a new beginning, you’ll need an introduction to the famous DC Universe: Rebirth #1 that explains why it’s a reboot. It’s about how the world of the Watchmen collided with the DC Universe and the return of Wally West.

As Rebirth marked a fresh starting point, the most essential entry is DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (2016). This one-shot reintroduced elements of continuity, explained the circumstances of the relaunch, and revealed how the world of the Watchmen intersected with the DC Universe, culminating in the return of Wally West.

However, before going into the Rebirth era, if you want to explore older Batman stories, you can start with Scott Snyder’s run that was launched at the beginning of the preceding New 52 era of Batman, or explore our Modern Age reading guide to find some classic tales.

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Inhumans Vs X-Men Reading Order (IvX)

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Inhumans Vs X-Men Reading Order (IvX)

Written by Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire with art from Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort, and Javi Garron, Inhumans Vs X-Men (IvX) is a 2016 Marvel crossover event about the fight for survival opposing the Inhumans against the X-Men.

The X-Men and Inhumans have been on a collision course ever since the link was proven between the Inhumans’ precious Terrigen Mist and the sickness and death of many mutants. And when the Beast discovers that mutantkind has only two weeks left before planet Earth becomes completely uninhabitable for them, an Inhuman/mutant war is unavoidable!

It all begins with one choice, and the world will never be the same! New Attilan comes under attack, and the Inhumans won’t surrender without a fight – but when the X-Men target the Terrigen cloud, will that mean the end of the line for the entire Inhuman legacy? Karnak vs. Fantomex! Emma Frost vs. Medusa! The Nuhumans vs. Magneto! IVX delivers sensational set pieces and gargantuan grudge matches that promise to shatter the Marvel Universe as you know it!

What to read before Inhumans Vs X-Men?

Death Of X is a 4-part miniseries set a few months before the events. It’s roughly an introduction. It’s optional, but it’s a way to start if you are not familiar with this universe.

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Batman Beyond Reading Order, Terry McGinnis is the Batman of the Future

Like Harley Quinn, Terry McGinnis was created for television, more specifically in his case for the Batman Beyond animated television series (1999–2001), as a continuation of The New Batman Adventures, originally meant as a character for the DCAU. And it would take 10 years for Terry to make his first appearance in the main DC Universe, in Batman #700.

Created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett, Batman Beyond takes place in a futuristic Gotham City where Terry McGinnis has taken over the mantle of Batman, under the tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne. He is a high school student and a former delinquent. Under the pretense of doing errands for Bruce, Terry fights crime as the new Batman.

Where to start with Batman Beyond/Terry McGinnis?

This is where we naturally recommend watching Batman Beyond, the animated TV Series, comprised of three seasons, 52 episodes, and one direct-to-video feature film.

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The DC Comics Events and Crossovers List

 

DC Comics Universe Events Crossovers

Like Marvel Comics did (see the full events & crossovers list here), DC Comics started to organize big events and crossovers during the ’1980s. The first one was Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that changed DC Comics continuity forever, a huge creative accomplishment from Marv Wolfman and George Perez. After that, more crossovers followed, some big and ambitious, others more modest in scope, connecting heroes and series.

Like I said about Marvel events, even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculative boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Batman to the Green Lanterns, from Superman to Harley Quinn.

This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different DC Comics series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries, as DC Comics continues to announce more and more of them.

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Tintin Reading Order: How to read The Adventures of Tintin?

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The Adventures of Tintin Reading Order

Created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé in 1929, The Adventures of Tintin follow the intrepid globetrotter reporter and adventurer named Tintin as he travels all over the world to investigate mysteries.

Aided by his faithful dog Snowy and his friends, the brash and cynical Captain Haddock and the intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, Tintin evolves in realistic environments as well as in pure science fiction and fantasy.

Disclaimer: It’s an old comics, so there are some ideas and representations that are quite offensive today. It’s sometimes racist. Just saying. You know, like in the old issues of The Spirit.

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The Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List, from the ’80s Secret Wars to today

Marvel Universe List Crossovers

Since the ’80s with the big success of ”Secret Wars,” Marvel Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. It became a big part of the business, but also of the way stories are built. Even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculator boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Spider-Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy, from Captain America to the X-Men.

This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different Marvel series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries as Marvel continues to announce more and more of them.

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DC New 52 Reading Order

Let’s go back in time, 10 years ago! We are in September 2011 and it’s the beginning of a new era for DC Comics, named The New 52. Following the conclusion of the Flashpoint limited series (see Reading Order), all titles set in the DC Universe were canceled and relaunched with new #1 issues. It’s a partial reboot for most of our DC’s heroes and villains with a new continuity.

Presented as a new entry point (but not always new reader-friendly, to be honest), various changes were made to sort of update the characters and make them more attractive for newcomers. And for the occasion, the Wildstorm and Vertigo imprints were absorbed into the DC Universe.

Following is a reading order for the New 52 era, going from September 2011 to May 2016. The New 52 branding ended with the conclusion of the ‘Convergence‘ storyline (see our full reading order), but the continuity didn’t stop after that and was maintained during what has been called DC You — a period covered here.

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Let’s begin by pointing out that there is no official DC mini-era during New 52, and it is then a personal way to split the period to make it a little easier to apprehend. You’ll find other approaches on the web, some with more Phase/Part and some with less.

  1. The New 52 era in omnibus form
  2. The New 52 Year One, from Justice League: Origin to Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood
  3. Zero Month, from Superman: Action Comics Vol. 2: Bulletproof to Earth 2. Vol. 2: The Tower of Fate
  4. Trinity War and Forever Evil, from Wonder Woman Vol. 4: War to Batman/Superman Vol. 2: Game Over
  5. Futures End, from Aquaman and the Others Vol. 1: Legacy of Gold to Constantine Vol. 4: The Apocalypse Road
  6. Convergence, with Earth 2: Society
  7. DC You, ending New 52 and the Road to Rebirth

We also have a few character(s) reading order :

  1. Batman New 52 Reading Order
  2. Superman/Action Comics New 52 Reading Order
  3. Justice League New 52 Reading Order
  4. Earth 2 New 52 Reading Order
  5. Green Lantern New 52 Reading Order
  6. Jason Todd Reading Order
  7. Tim Drake Reading Order
  8. The Flash Reading Order

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