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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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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.

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

The Lazarus Contract Reading Order, a Titans/Teen Titans/Deathstroke crossover

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The Lazarus Contract Reading Order

The Lazarus Contract is a DC Comics mini-crossover event published in 2017 between three series : Titans, Teen Titans and Deahtstroke. The crossover was written by Dan Abnett, Benjamin Percy and Christopher Priest, with interior art from Brett Booth, Khoi Pham, Carlo Pagulayan and Paul Pelletier.

The title, The Lazarus Contract, is a call back to the classic storyline New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. The story picks up here with Slade Wilson’s discovery that the original Wally West has returned.

He sees that return as an opportunity to bring his son Grant back to life, and nothing will stop him from getting what he wants. Standing in his way? Both the Teen Titans and the Titans! But will the Titans and the Teen Titans be fast enough to stop him from changing the world as we know it?

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Secret Empire Reading Order, the Evil Captain America crossover event from Marvel

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Secret Empire Reading Order

Big Marvel crossover Written by Nick Spencer (with artists Rod Reis, Daniel Acuña, Steve McNiven, and Andrea Sorrentino) published between April and September 2017, Secret Empire is one of those Universe Redefining massive event. One that started with a huge twist, as it was revealed that Captain America is—pardon my French—a f***ing Hydra Agent!

Here is the official description of the event: Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, is living a lie! The Cosmic Cube has remade the world’s greatest hero into a secret true believer in the cause of Hydra, wholly dedicated to its mission of progress through authority and unity through adversity! Now, using the trust and respect he’s been accorded by the great powers of the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers makes Hydra’s ideals a reality—and changes the landscape of the world dramatically! How will he take some of his biggest threats off the board? Who will remain to stand against him? And which heroes will fi ght on his side? Find out as the impossible becomes real! Hail Hydra!

What to read before Secret Empire?

This limited series event addresses the aftermath of the crossover event Avengers: Standoff! and the ongoing series Captain America: Steve Rogers, in which Captain America has been acting as a sleeper agent and covertly setting the stage to establish Hydra as the main world power.

So, before reading Secret Empire, maybe take a look at the time when we discovered that Cap is a member of Hydra. To do that, you have to read Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 1: Hail Hydra, and you can go after that to Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 2: The Trial of Maria Hill, and then Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 3: Empire Building. If you want to read what’s essential, Marvel published a book collecting exactly that:

  • Secret Empire Prelude
    Collects Captain America (2012) 21, 25; Captain America: Sam Wilson 7 (A story), 8; Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha, Omega; Captain America: Steve Rogers 1-2.

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Fear Itself Reading Order, a Marvel Event with Thor, Captain America and more

Fear Itself Reading Order

Fear Itself is a 2011 crossover Marvel Comics event, consisting of a seven-issue, eponymous miniseries written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, a prologue book (Fear Itself: Book of the Skull) by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Scot Eaton, and numerous tie-in books, including most of the X-Men family of books. Although it is a Marvel-wide crossover, the event emphasizes Captain America and Thor.

The entire planet has been seized by Fear and only chaos reigns. The Serpent, Asgard’s most ancient evil, has awakened and is feeding off the fear of Earth’s populace. Our planet’s only hope lies in the hands of heroes and villains who have not fallen into worldwide panic. But with Odin intent on sacrificing Earth, will their struggles against the Gods be enough? And how do you conquer Fear Itself?

What to read before Fear Itself?

Fear Itself is a self-contained event and doesn’t require any prior reading.

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Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern Reading Order, the follow-up to Rise of the Third Army

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In the outcome of Rise of the Third Army, the mysterious First Lantern is unleashed against the Green Lantern Corps, still under Geoff Johns’s supervision.

As per the official synopsis, The Wrath of the First Lantern is here as the Green Lanterns battle the Guardians of Oa and the Third Army, but who will win and at what cost?

And as First Lantern moves on the brightest of the Corps for his reality-altering experiments, we learn the shocking fate of Hal and Sinestro in this crossover event!

What to read before Wrath of the First Lantern?

Wrath of the First Lantern is taking place after the Rise of the Third Army event. You’ll need to read it first:

  • Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army
    Green Lantern Vol. 5 #13–16, Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 #13–16, Green Lantern: New Guardians #13–16, Red Lanterns #13–16, Green Lantern Corps Annual Vol. 3 #1.

Of course, these storylines are set near the end of Geoff Johns’s run on Green Lantern, we invite you to consult our reading order to know more about what came before (a lot!).

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Convergence Reading Order, When Worlds Collide in the DC Universe

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Convergence Reading Order (DC New 52)

Where do worlds go when they die? It’s a question DC wants to answer in Convergence, a limited series that ran from April 2015 to May 2015, replacing DC Comics’ regular line of comics while the publisher moves their offices from New York City to Burbank California.

In the story, Brainiac collects cities and inhabitants from various timelines that have ended and trap them in domes on a planet outside of time and space. He then exposes the domes to one another to see how the characters interact. This event will lead to the end of the New 52 era – See the New 52 Reading Order.

Here is the official synopsis: Once, there were infinite Earths. Untold timelines. Innumerable Elseworlds. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. Now they all must fight for their future! The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and brought them to a place beyond the Multiverse—a sentient planet of his own design, a world with the power of a god.
As heroes and villains from dozens of worlds battle each other for their very existence, it’s up to a ragtag band of warriors from a slain Earth to put an end to this threat that bends the Multiverse to its will. Reality itself hangs in the balance…

What to read before Convergence?

If you want more background information on Brainiac, Booster Gold, Superman, and the Citizens of Earth-2 before diving into Convergence, you can read:

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Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army Reading Order

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With Geoff Johns as an architect, and written with Tony Bedard, Peter Milligan, Peter J. Tomasi, Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army is a crossover event between The Green Lantern titles—Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Red Lanterns—like Batman: Death of The Family (Reading Order) was for the Batman family.

Here is the official synopsis: “The Guardians of the Universe have gone mad! To preserve order, they have decided that all free will must be eradicated by their new Third Army – emotionless drones whose sole purpose is to convert living creatures into soulless beings like themselves.

How can the Green Lanterns stand against them? Hal Jordan is dead, Guy Gardner has been stripped of his ring and his powers, and John Stewart and Kyle Rayner have been called into deep space on seemingly impossible missions. The remaining ring-wielders – along with a most unexpected new human Green Lantern – will unite to take on the mad Guardians. But will their desperate assault unleash an even greater evil…?”

The beginning of the end of the Green Lantern universe starts here!

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Final Crisis Reading Order, a DC Comics Event by Grant Morrison

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Final Crisis Reading Order

Coming from Grant Morrison, Final Crisis is a crossover event published by DC Comics in 2008, during the post-Crisis era. If you are familiar with most of Grant Morrison’s work in the DC Universe, you know how much he loves to explore the past and, in his own way, to try to make sense of most of it, even if it often ends up hard to follow. That said, Final Crisis is a mostly self-contained story.

Final Crisis deals with alien villain Darkseid’s plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe. Here is the official synopsis: Using the soul-destroying Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid is remaking the heroes, villains, and everyday people of Earth in his dark image … and destroying the very fabric of reality itself in the process. Now superheroes from around the world—and across the Multiverse—must make a last, desperate stand against the forces of Anti-Life. Will Earth endure? And when the Crisis reaches its climax, who will make the ultimate sacrifice?

What to read before Final Crisis?

A lot of mostly nothing—you can go with DC Universe #0 and then the main event. If you want to be more thorough there’s a lot to read. You can begin with Death of the New Gods, then go to 52 volume #1 (collects 52 #1-26), 52 volume #2 (collects 52 #27-52), Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison.

To stay in what was published before the event, connecting directly to Final Crisis, here is a list:

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The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers Reading Order, a New 52 crossover story arc

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The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers Reading Order

A crossover storyline coming from writer Scott Lobdell and Tom DeFalco, The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers involved three titles from the DC New 52 line-up: Teen Titans, Legion Lost, and Superboy.

Here is the official synopsis: The Culling is upon us! The Teen Titans finally came together during their assault on Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s headquarters, but Superboy, Red Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Solstice, and Skitter’s newfound alliance is met with instant adversity. Finding themselves a mile underneath N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s Antarctic base, the forces behind this nefarious organization surface in the form of the monstrous Harvest.

Now trapped in a deadly arena where young teen metahumans must fight each other to the death for survival, also known as The Culling, the Titans and fellow teen superteam Legion Lost must find a way to escape. Will they be able to coexist long enough to survive? Or to defeat Harvest’s teenage death squad known as The Ravagers?

What to read before The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers?

If you feel like it, you can just read the first issues of each title to have more information, as events taking place leads to this event, especially for Teen Titans and Superboy.

For those you want to explore further:

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