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Justice League Dark

Justice League Dark Reading Order, Your Guide to DC Comics’ supernatural team

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Published by DC Comics, Justice League Dark was created by writer Peter Milligan and artist Mikel Janín and first debuted in September 2011, as part of DC’s The New 52 publishing initiative.

Conceived as the supernatural equivalent of the traditional Justice League, the series focuses on characters within the occult and mystical realms of the DC Universe who confront threats beyond the scope of conventional superhero teams.

As a team, the Justice League Dark is composed of a rotating cast of magical and paranormal figures who are called upon to combat arcane and metaphysical dangers, the type of crisis that the main Justice League is neither equipped nor qualified to handle. The original lineup included John Constantine, Zatanna Zatara, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, and Shade, the Changing Man.

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Detective Chimp, DC Comics’ Chimpanzee investigator in the occult

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All of DC Comics’s heroes don’t wear a cape, some are not even qualifiable as heroes, but they still fight crimes in their way, especially when there are occult elements involved. That is the case of Bobo T. Chimpanzee, the world’s greatest simian detective–his real name is unpronounceable, but can be translated as “Magnificent Finder of Tasty Grubs.”

Better known as Detective Chimp, Bobo first appeared in 1952 on the pages of Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Bobo started as an abnormally intelligent chimpanzee. When his trainer, Fred Thorpe, was killed, Bobo helped Sheriff Edward Chase to catch the murderer. Maybe he could not speak, but he always knew how to make himself understand–and how to outsmart criminals. After that, he became the lawman’s unofficial partner.

This became the career of a lifetime. You may not be too familiar with this Detective Chimp as it was the 1950s version of the characters. Decades later, Bobo’s story was retcon.

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Deadman Reading Order (DC Comics)

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Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Carmine Infantino for DC Comics in the pages of Strange Adventures #205 (October 1967), Deadman was a tough sell at first as the Comics Code Authority frightened the editor into staying away from potential horror material. After all, Deadman is a ghost.

It’s a bit more complicated than that as the late 1960s saw an interest in the mystic growing in America. Drake was interested to use the Zen movement, Hare Krishna, and things like that in a story to explore the “notion of a being that was neither living nor dead.”

The story begins when Boston Brand, a circus trapeze artist who performed under the name Deadman, is shot dead during a performance by the mysterious murderer known as the Hook. Brand didn’t really die as a Hindu god named “Rama Kushna” gave his spirit the power to possess any living being in order to find his killer.

Even if Arnold Drake left the title after two issues over creative differences, Deadman continued his search—and found the truth. After that, when Neal Adams took over the series, Deadman got a new mission: to establish a balance between Good and Evil. Nevertheless, Strange Adventures was canceled soon after.

Deadman became a recurring supporting character in the DC Universe. In the mid-1980s, he finally got a new series, but it was a short one. It also was not the last one as the character continued to appear in limited series as well as a guest star in other titles. He became part of the mystical part of the DC Universe, which led him to the Justice League Dark (during the New 52 era and beyond).

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Justice League Rebirth Reading Order (with Justice League of America, Justice League Odyssey and Justice League Dark)

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Following the ending of The New 52 era, DC Comics relaunched its entire line in 2016 under the Rebirth banner. For this occasion, the company restored the timeline to a form much closer to what it was before the famous Flashpoint storyline while still maintaining several elements of the New 52.

What does it mean for the Justice League? The most famous DC superteam still continues saving the world! No continuity changes were introduced at the beginning, but the team’s roster changed with the two Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz joining the League (taking the place of Hal Jordan).

Here is the official synopsis: Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Cyborg. Green Lantern. They’re more than just a team of superheroes. They’re the Justice League…and they’re about to enter a whole new era! The Superman these incredible heroes once knew is dead, leaving an older, wiser Man of Steel from a vanished universe to take up the fight against evil. Hal Jordan, the greatest of the Green Lanterns, has taken to the stars, entrusting his place in the League to his powerful but untested young protégés, Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz. Now the Justice League must get used to these new faces and learn to work as a team once more. But they’d better do it fast. They’re about to confront the biggest threats they’ve ever faced, from godlike machines capable of converting all life on Earth into a weapon, to a humble hacker who’s ready to hit them where it hurts most…

What to Read Before The Justice League Rebirth Comics?

As a new era is launched, it’s fairly safe to simply jump right in with the one-shot DC Universe Rebirth #1 serving as an introduction. But if you want a little more context, here are the comics you may be interested to read before:

As the Justice League has been active since the 1960s, you can obviously explore the team’s past.

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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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