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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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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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Zero Hour Reading Order, a Crisis in Time

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Zero Hour Reading Order

Written and illustrated by Dan Jurgens, along with Jerry Ordway and others, Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time was the major event of 1994 in the DC Universe. In fact, it was the biggest since 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths as it involved almost every DC Universe monthly series published at the time, and, in the end, some past events were changed—and some series were rebooted.

Here is the official synopsis of Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time: All of reality comes under attack when a mysterious force of entropy begins slowly erasing time itself—making its way from both the past and future toward the present! As history itself unravels around them, the heroes of the world—including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, The Justice Society, and the Titans—scramble to fix the broken timestream. But even if they stop the true source of the chaos, the world they save will never be the same!

What to read before Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time?

Being an event affecting all of the DC Universe, every character came in with baggage, but what’s really important is the motivations of Hal Jordan. Here is what is recommended before reading Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time:

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Frank Miller’s Batman Series Reading Order (The Dark Knight Universe)

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In 1996, Frank Miller reinvent Batman as a more controversial and ruthless figure in The Dark Knight Returns. And he followed up with Batman: Year One, cementing his version of Batman which will influence many writers.

In the DC Universe pre-flashpoint, all these tales are part of the Earth-31, also known as The Dark Knight Universe or Millerverse. On this Earth takes place the best and the worst of Batman’s stories.

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DC Identity Crisis Reading Order

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DC Identity Crisis Reading Order

Created by writer Brad Meltzer and the artistic team of penciler Rags Morales and inker Michael Bair, Identity Crisis was the event that shook the DC Comics superhero community in 2004 (published from June to December 04). It revolves around a murder mystery that exposed the dirty deeds of the heroes.

Here is the story: After the spouse of a member of the Justice League of America is brutally murdered, the entire superhero community searches for the killer, fearing their own loved ones may be the next targets. But before the mystery is fully solved, long-buried secrets of the heroes rise to the surface, threatening to tear apart and divide the heroes before they can bring the mysterious killer to justice.

What to read before Identity Crisis?

Being the first “crisis” in the DC Universe continuity after the massive event Crisis on Infinite Earth (see reading order here), Identity Crisis is, of course, a notable event, even if its reputation is quite bad.

The fact is that this event is important for what followed, meaning Infinite Crisis (see reading order here). But it’s pretty much a standalone story in the sense that no prior readings are required—except if you are not familiar with the characters (do not start exploring DC Comics with this event!).

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The Batman Who Laughs Reading Order (the breakout character of DC Comics’ Dark Nights Metal)

Batman Who Laughs Reading Order

Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo in 2017, Batman Who Laughs was the breakout star of Dark Nights: Metal. This evil version of Bruce Wayne comes from Earth-22 of the Dark Multiverse.

Presented as Batman’s worst nightmare, he is a sort of hybrid of Batman and Joker. He is stripped of all sense of ethics, with Bruce Wayne’s intelligence and physical strength and the Joker’s psychopathy and warped, sadistic sense of humor. Without surprise, he has no problem killing people.

When Batman Who Laughs is introduced, he is a member of The Dark Knights, a team he assembled for Barbatos who wants to destroy the regular Multiverse.

This reading order gives you a listing to discover his story.

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The Best Aquaman Comics to Read, explore the Seven Seas with Arthur Curry

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Created by writer Mort Weisinger and artist Paul Norris, Aquaman debuted in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), where he co-starred with Doctor Fate, The Spectre, Johnny Quick, and Green Arrow (who made his first appearance in the same issue as Aquaman). In his first story, Arthur was saving refugees whose ship was torpedoed by a Nazi submarine.

A few years later, he left the pages of More Fun Comics in favor of Adventures Comics, but it was during the 1950s and 1960s that the character took a more important role. New elements to his backstory were introduced, as well as new supporting characters. And he was a founding member of the Justice League!

Still, despite growing popularity in the 1960s thanks to his animated series, and having his own title, Aquaman fails to grab readers the same way the other major DC superheroes did. Launched in 1962, his first solo series was canceled in 1971, before being revived in 1977 for a short time. After that, it would take 8 years for the character to have his own title again, yet again for a brief time.

Aquaman will have to wait for the nineties and Peter David to be redefined for a new generation, but the title will lose in popularity after the writer’s departure and poor Arthur Curry was again without a title.

Aquaman was not considered a bona fide superhero for a long time, and was perceived as a lesser one, even a joke — everybody who watched Entourage will never forget that Aquaman storyline in seasons 2 and 3!

But all of that changed with Geoff Johns, who confronted the public perception and rehabilitated the character. It was the beginning of a new era for Arthur Curry, one that launched the character towards good to great storylines. And of course, the cherry on the cake for his fans was the DC movie, where Jason Momoa plays the famous King of Atlantis, making him as mainstream as he has ever been.

Arthur Curry well deserved some love, and Comic Book Treasury has put together a recommended Reading list to discover the best Aquaman stories.

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DC Infinite Crisis Reading Order

A sequel to DC’s 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths (see the reading order here), Infinite Crisis is a storyline published in 2005–2006 written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway. Like the original “crisis”, it’s about the Multiverse

OMAC robots are rampaging, magic is dying, villains are uniting, and a war is raging in space. And in the middle of it all, a critical moment has divided Earth’s three greatest heroes: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. It’s the DCU’s darkest day, and long-lost heroes from the past have returned to make things right in the universe… at any cost. Heroes will live, heroes will die, and the DCU will never be the same again!

What to read before Infinite Crisis?

Everything started with Crisis on Infinite Earths (see reading order), but after the events of the 2004 storyline Identity Crisis (see reading order), DC Comics launched the “Countdown to Infinite Crisis”, multiple miniseries leading to the main Infinite Crisis event:

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Nightwing Reading Order (Dick Grayson, Titan member, Outsiders leader, hero of Bludhaven and Gotham)

Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, Dick Grayson is one of the most compelling characters from DC Comics. From The Flying Graysons to being Robin (aka Batman’s sidekick), then to becoming Nightwing and finding his own way in life, he’s the friend you need, the leader who listens, the guy who wants to help and does good because it’s the right thing to do. And he’s always working to become a better version of himself and to make the world a better place. What’s not to love here?

Dick Grayson made his first appearance as Robin in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), and grew up to become a superhero in his own right as Nightwing. Dick also took on the mantle of Batman on different occasions and was known as Agent 37 at one point.

Find out more about Dick Grayson’s story in our Nightwing Reading Order, which covers everything from his transformation into Nightwing in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984) to the present day. You can read about his solo adventures, his time as Batman, his leadership of the Titans and the Outsiders, and much more!

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