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Marvel’s Blood Hunt Reading Order, Vampires Takes Over The World

Hot on the heels of Gang War, a far more primal menace has emerged … and this time, the carnage isn’t contained to the streets of New York. It’s a global extinction event. Welcome to BLOOD HUNT, Marvel’s definitive vampire epic.

Coming from the bloodthirsty duo of Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, this event begins as the sun vanishes, leaving the Marvel Universe at the mercy of the children of the night. As the official synopsis warns: ‘Earth’s final night has fallen. Can even the heroes of this doomed world stem the tide of blood?’ From the front lines of the Avengers and Doctor Strange to the personal battles of Blade, Bloodline, and the X-Men, this is the complete map to navigating Marvel’s darkest hour.

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Gambit Comics Reading Order, Your Favourite Cajun (X-Men)

He’s a cajun, a professional thief, and one of the X-Men’s most charming members. A master of kinetic energy from New Orleans, he has been called Le Diable Blanc but he is known as Gambit alias Remy LeBeau!

Gambit was created in 1990 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee. Initially, the writer had planned for him to be, at first, an adversary or traitor to the X-Men. Following Claremont’s departure from the X-Men, the writers altered the original plan to better fit the readers’ expectations of the character. Our charming thief had indeed quickly conquered the hearts of the readers and became one of the most popular X-Men characters of the 90s.

Gambit made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266. In the story, he helped a de-aged Storm with amnesia and they formed a partnership as thieves. When Storm returned to her true self, she invited Remy to join the X-Men. The secretive Gambit accepted the proposition to redeem himself of past actions. While Gambit’s past will eventually catch up with him, he quickly integrated into the team and formed close relationships with several members, including Rogue – with the two starting a turbulent romance and becoming one of the most iconic X-Men relationships.

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Jeff The Land Shark, Marvel’s cult-favorite landshark (with a reading order!)

It’s been only five years since Jeff the Land Shark first showed up in the Marvel Universe, stealing the hearts of West Coast Avengers readers. Created by Kelly Thompson and Daniele di Nicuolo, Jeff the Land Shark, also called Jeffrey, became the adorable pet sidekick of superheroine Gwenpool, named after Gwen’s own kitten.

Jeff quickly became a hit online and won over Marvel fans with his undeniable cuteness, landing him numerous cameo appearances and variant covers (this would make a great ‘Where’s Jeff?’ book!). All of this will naturally lead to our boy Jeff headlining his own series, and prompting Comic Book Treasury to make a dedicated Jeff The Landshark Reading Order, further solidifying his place as a cherished icon in the Marvel universe.

But first…

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Nick Fury Reading Order

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Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Colonel Nicholas Joseph “Nick” Fury Sr. has a long career in the Marvel Universe! Born around 1920, he enrolled in the American Army at the age of 20 and became leader of an elite U.S. Army Ranger unit during WWII in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (1963).

After the war, he trained and became a Colonel in the Central Intelligence Agency O.S.S., the predecessor of the CIA. He worked for them until Tony Stark recruited him to lead the counterespionage agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury has never been the type of man sitting behind a desk and he transformed himself into a sort of James Bond-like spy, going on the field for important missions. The agency grew under his command and built important alliances with the Avengers and other teams of superheroes.

But all is not what it seems in the spy world, and soon, Nick Fury finds himself in some complex spying game, leading him to disband and rebuild the S.H.I.E.L.D. Like many Marvel Characters, be assured that Nick died at some point and came back, quit, or retired from his position. And more improbable things completely change his place in the Comic book world.

So today, we dive into the long history of Nick Fury (and his many SHIELD missions!) with this Nick Fury Reading Order!

This reading order was suggested by Jal Hicham, one of our readers! Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or write to us with some other suggestions!

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Ka-Zar Reading Order, Adventures in Marvel’s Savage Land

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Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in The X-Men #10 (1965), Kevin Plunder is Ka-Zar. The New Ka-Zar to be precise as he used the same hero name as David Rand, a character from a pulp magazine created by Bob Byrd in 1936–published by one of the many companies owned by Martin Goodman. When Goodman began publishing comics with Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, writer-artist Ben Thompson adapted one of Byrd’s stories.

Since then, this Ka-Zar appeared in multiple Marvel comics like Marvel Mystery Comics or Human Torch. Then, during the Silver Age, Marvel reintroduced some of his Golden Age characters. Most of them have updated origins. However, Ka-Zar became a new character. He is now clearly a Tarzan-like hero but he is stuck in a Jules Verne setting–David Rand was lost in the jungles of the Congo, not in the dinosaur-populated Savage Land. But he quickly found his place in the Marvel continuity.

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Nightcrawler Reading Order, Your Kurt Wagner Comic Book Guide!

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In another Earth, Nightcrawler is part of the DC Universe, as creator Dave Cockrum first submitted the character to the competitor of Marvel. But in our reality, DC rejected him, and Cockrum used him when he started working in the X-Men in 1975. Nightcrawler then became German as editor Roy Thomas wanted the new X-Men to be an international team.

The character made his debut in the now classic Giant-Size X-Men #1, an issue written by Len Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum. The first X-Men story in five years, it also serves as a bridge between the original X-Men and the New Team, introducing several new X-Men such as Wolverine (who already made his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181), Storm, Colossus, Thunderbird, and as already said, Nightcrawler.

Nicknamed ‘Elf’ by Wolvie, Nightcrawler would go on to become one of the most well-liked and respected members of the X-Men. Born Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler is a former circus acrobat and skilled swordsman fan of Errol Flynn! His physical mutation made it impossible for him to go unnoticed in a crowd, with his dark blue fur, two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, yellow eyes, pointed ears, long sharp canines, and a prehensile tail. His demonic look contrasts with his Catholic faith. He also possesses superhuman strength, the capacity to teleport and to wall climb.

Since his introduction almost 50 years ago, Nightcrawler has lived many adventures with the X-Men but also as a founding member of Excalibur, in solo, and more recently as Spinnenmann. Following is a reading order to help you learn more about the character, or rediscover his rich history!

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Man-Thing Reading Order, Marvel’s Swamp Monster

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The Man-Thing Reading Order

When the Comics Code Authority went into action in the 1950s, the horror genre was the most affected by it. But in 1971, the code was finally revised and the creatures of the night finally got some leeway. A lot of restrictions were still in place, but the undead monsters starting to make a comeback. Before Werewolves and Vampires became prominent again, muck monsters got their chance to scare the readers.

Launched by DC Comics in House of Secrets #92, Swamp Thing created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson was thought of as a one-off character. In another one-shot simply titled The Heap #1, Skywald Publishing revived The Heap, a swamp monster from the 1950s (another version of the character also appeared in Skywald’s magazine Psycho). And Marvel had of course the Man-Thing.

The timing was strange, but those characters were different enough from one another to avoid any conflict (even if Marvel thought about suing DC for a time). Also, muck monsters were not a new thing in the comics world.

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The War of the Realms Reading Order, the Marvel Event from Jason Aaron

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The main event of 2019 in the Marvel Universe, The War of the Realms was written by Jason Aaron (with art by Russell Dauterman) who was, at that time, also the writer of the main Thor series. It was the culmination of his run, the conclusion of a story arc he started a long time ago.

For some time now, the Dark Elf known as Malekith the Accursed has been conquering the Ten Realms one by one until there is only one left: Midgard (Earth!). Thor lost his precious Mjolnir, but he’s still fighting to prevent the war. With a lot of Asgardian warriors and Earth’s heroes, they must now fight against a full-on invasion and defeat Malekith.

What to read before The War of the Realms?

Being a Thor Event, The War of the Realms story began in the Thor series. Jason Aaron wrote organically the progression of Malekith the Accursed’s plan into his series from The Goddess of Thunder storyline to the crossover – see the full reading order of his run. That said, you’ll only need to read the last relaunch of the series, Thor #1–11.

It’s optional, but Avengers by Jason Aaron Vol. 2: World Tour is a good introduction to the last iteration of the Avengers team (and the Agents of Wakanda) at the center of The War of the Realms event.

Also, the easiest way to read the essential issues before immersing yourself in The War of the Realms event is a book Marvel published called War of the Realms Prelude.

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Agents of Atlas Reading Order

This was in 1958. The government had formed a superhero team to rescue President Eisenhower, who had been kidnapped by the Yellow Claw. Following the team’s success in completing this mission, they existed briefly before being disbanded by those in authority. However, nearly 40 years later, their former leader, Jimmy Woo, reunited them to defend humanity. They are the Agents of Atlas!

You may never have heard of the Agents of Atlas because this retro team didn’t actually exist in the 1950s. They originated from an old ‘What If?’ issue which asked, ‘What if the Avengers had fought evil during the 1950s?’, featuring an alternate team of Golden Age heroes. This team reappeared in Avengers Forever, where their reality was destroyed.

Conceived as a love letter to the forgotten heroes of Atlas Comics, the team was finally reintroduced to the twenty-first century and made part of the main continuity as the Agents of Atlas. Although they never became popular, the group gained a cult following, enough to save the world in several short comic book series.

After several years of inactivity, Marvel relaunched the team in 2019 with the creation of a group now made up of Asian and Asian American superheroes. They are the New Agents of Atlas. Despite not having a title of their own for the past years, the team still exists and pops up on some rare occasions.

To find out more about these underrated heroes, check out our Agents of Atlas Comics Guide!

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From Russia, With Love: A Brief History of Black Widow and Winter Soldier’s relationship

 

During February, love is in the air because of Valentine’s Day. In the Comic Book World, you’ll find many classic and great tales of love stories, from the iconic couple of Clark Kent and Lois Lane and the more complicated relationship of Batman and Catwoman at DC Comics, to the long history between Sue Storm and Reed Richards or Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker at Marvel Comics. And many many more!

Today, we turn the spotlight on a ‘more’ recent romantic relationship in the pages of Marvel with the tragic history of Black Widow and Winter Soldier — Natasha Romanova and James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. This spy couple was created during the classic modern run of Ed Brubaker on Captain America. As the writer said himself “One of the reasons I thought she and Bucky made sense together was that they both have that brainwashed aspect, and I also thought it was a clever way to integrate her preexisting continuity as the femme fatale/fake ballerina.”

The perfect mix of espionage, thriller, and romance, Black Widow and the Winter Soldier’s romantic history is as complicated as it is tragic. Today, we revisit their history in comics!

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