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Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, Deadpool first appears in The New Mutants and X-Force as a supervillain before becoming one of Marvel’s most iconic anti-heroes.

He is a mercenary aware of his existence as a fictional comic book character, often breaking the fourth wall and conversing with his two internal monologues (but how old is he?).

His past remains shrouded in mystery, with multiple versions of his origin. Whether his childhood was difficult or not, we do know that Wade Wilson became an international assassin, working for various governments. After developing an aggressive form of cancer, he enrolled in the Weapon X program, which gave him a healing factor from another member (you know… Wolverine) and put him to work for them.

The consequences of his time there included a diminished mental state, a healing factor that couldn’t cure his cancer or heal his scars, an infatuation with death, and the freedom to return to mercenary work.

Also known as “The Merc with a Mouth” he set out as Deadpool to kill and have a good time doing it. With time, Deadpool walked the fine line between criminal and hero, working with or against X-Force, the X-Men, and the Avengers. He made a big name for himself in the Marvel Universe and shines in his many team-ups, but it has to be said, there’s no one he loves as much as Spider-Man! 

Deadpool has lived many adventures and even became a movie star (looking like Ryan Reynolds!) and we invite you today to explore all those stories with our Complete Deadpool Reading Order! For suggestions to start reading Deadpool, explore our beginners’ guide to the Merc with a Mouth!Read More »Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

King in Black Reading Order: How to read Marvel’s crossover, the sequel to Absolute Carnage?

King in Black Reading Order

Introduced* as a big threat to the Marvel Universe by Donny Cates when he started writing Venom’s new continuing series (go to the Reading Order), Knull, god of the symbiotes, is finally coming to conquer Earth—with an army of thousands of symbiote dragons at his beck and call. Of course, Earth’s heroes will fight back.

Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, is obviously front and center. He has already seen firsthand the chaos that even one of Knull’s symbiotic monsters can wreak. But will he survive an encounter with the God of the Abyss himself?

Here is the official synopsis: Darkness reigns across the Marvel Universe! After a campaign of terror across the galaxy, Knull — ancient and malevolent god of symbiotes — reaches Earth, with an endless army of symbiote dragons at his command! The King in Black is a force unlike any ever faced by Venom and the rest of Earth’s heroes — but now Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner and many, many more must battle an endless wave of darkness! Outgunned and badly outnumbered, can anyone possibly survive Knull’s symbiotic onslaught? Or will they all be forced to bow to the King?

*Knull was really introduced in Thor: God of Thunder #6, but he was not named and he was just an idea that Cates took and developed.

What to read before King in Black?

As I said, the story began some time ago. Even if Knull played a big part in Donny Cates’ run on Venom (here is the reading order), he also appeared in other series. Here is a guide of what you’ll want to read to be up to date:

  • Knull: Marvel Tales
    Collects Venom (2018) #3-4, Venom : Carnage Born, and Venom (2018) #25. It collects what is essential.
  • Absolute Carnage
    Collects Absolute Carnage #1-5, Absolute Carnage Vs. Deadpool #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Captain Marvel #1, Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk #1, Absolute Carnage: Symbiote Spider-Man #1, Absolute Carnage: Symbiote Of Vengeance #1, Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1, Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus #1, Absolute Carnage: Scream #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety #1, Amazing Spider-Man #29-31, Venom #16-20, And Absolute Carnage Stinger Pages. For a more detailed look at this event, go to the Absolute Carnage Reading Order.
  • Silver Surfer: Black
    Collects Silver Surfer: Black #1-5.
  • Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black
    Collects Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #1-5. This is and optional miniseries set just after the first “Secret Wars.”
  • King in Black: Namor
    Another optional miniseries set in the past.

We also invite you to read our guide to the main symbiotes characters if you want to refresh your memory about the most important symbiotes in the Marvel universe.

Read More »King in Black Reading Order: How to read Marvel’s crossover, the sequel to Absolute Carnage?

Spider-Man: Clone Saga Reading Order (with Ben Reilly!)

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The life of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man is full of incredible situations and life-changing events. The most famous? Probably The Clone Saga. In fact, there are two sagas. The first one was a storyline published during the 1970s. The second one was more than two years of publications, an editorial nightmare that has affected all the regular Spider-Man series, several limited series, and one-shot issues published between 1994 and 1997.

Everything began after the death of Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Peter Parker. It was controversial, to say the least. The editorial team decided to bring back Gwen into Peter’s life in the following story arc. Writer Gerry Conway introduced a new villain called the Jackal, a cloning expert. It was not the real Gwen or the only person that was cloned. The Jackal cloned Peter and the story ends with a touch of doubt. Is it the original Spider-Man or his clone who had perished in the bomb explosion?

A few years later, Spider-Man encountered Carrion, who claimed to be a degenerated clone of Warren. Then, the clone of Gwen Stacy reappeared too—but it was not a clone or Gwen. The truth about Carrion was finally revealed.

Time passed, then came the second clone saga. Spider-Man’s clone reappeared! He had survived and had lived his life under the name Ben Reilly (go here for the dedicated Ben Reilly Reading Order). He returned to New York City and became the Scarlet Spider. Peter and Ben must face a resurrected Jackal and Kaine, the unsuccessful first clone of Spider-Man, but also another clone of Spider-Man who became the villain Spidercide. And that’s not all. That’s just the beginning.

Read More »Spider-Man: Clone Saga Reading Order (with Ben Reilly!)

Daredevil Reading Order, Matt Murdock’s Epic Comic Book Story

Daredevil/Matt Murdock Reading Order

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with character design input from Jack Kirby, Daredevil is a Marvel classic case of a superhero burdened by his superpowers. Matt Murdock was blinded by a radioactive substance that fell from an out-of-control truck after he pushed a man out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. While he no longer could see, his exposure to the radioactive material heightened his remaining senses beyond normal human ability, and gave him a “radar sense.”

A lawyer by day, Matt took up a dual life of fighting against the criminal underworld in New York City, as the masked vigilante Daredevil – also known as The Man Without Fear and The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Matt uses his physical abilities and superhuman senses to help people and protect his communities against villains like the Kingpin or Bullseye.

Where to start reading Daredevil aka Matt Murdock? The Recommended Reading List

Daredevil made his first appearance in April 1964. There are more than 50 years of history to discover. For newcomers, here is essential reading for Daredevil:

Read More »Daredevil Reading Order, Matt Murdock’s Epic Comic Book Story

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.

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

Donny Cates’ Venom Reading Order

Introduced during the first Secret Wars comic book event in the ‘1980s, this alien symbiote was Spider-man’s black costume for a short period. When Reed Richards realized it was more than a piece of intelligent fabric, he helped Spidey to get rid of it. Following its rejection, the alien symbiote tried to get back to Peter Parker but ended up bounding with Eddie Brock. This reporter for the Daily Globe wrote a story exposing the identity of the Sin-Eater but Spider-Man revealed it was not the truth and Eddie lost his job. At the end of his rope, Eddie met the symbiote. Together, they became Venom.

Friend or foe, Venom changed over the years and became a major Marvel player. He went from Eddie Brock to other hosts but came back to Eddie. When Donny Cates took over the writing duties on his title with artist Ryan Stegman, Venom got back to Eddie who was searching for redemption. To do that, he aligned himself with heroes. During his fight with a cosmic monster, he discovered the real origin of the symbiote, opening a new way in the mythology of this iconic character.

What to read before Venom by Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman?

There are a lot of Venom stories (we have a big article about that) and some are referenced in Donny Cates’s comic book run on Venom. That said, it’s a new start, a new mythology, and a friendly entry point for new readers.

However, you may not be familiar with a character named The Maker who plays a part in this story, so check out our article about this Ultimate Reed Richards.

Read More »Donny Cates’ Venom Reading Order

Absolute Carnage Reading Order

Absolute Carnage Reading Order

Written by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, Absolute Carnage is an event taking place in the Marvel Universe, and more precisely in the Venom continuity (go to Donny Cates’s Venom Reading Order).

The story is set around Cletus Kasady’s return as Carnage. After being resurrected by a cult dedicated to the worship of the god Knull and being bonded to the deific primordial Grendel symbiote, he makes his come back to New York in order to collect codices, traces left inside those who wore a symbiote, even once – and that’s a lot of potential victims, even for him!

Naturally, Kasady’s new reign of terror spells misery for Spider-Man and Venom – but the devastation is felt by Miles Morales, the Avengers, Deadpool, Ghost Rider, the Immortal Hulk, and more! But what is Kasady’s horrific endgame? Experience a new level of crazy as Carnage runs wild!

Venom and Spider-Man (Spidey’s Reading Order) must team up to stop him, but they will need even more firepower to achieve that. The heroes of New York City have to join the fight.

Read More »Absolute Carnage Reading Order

X of Swords Reading Order: Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men 2020 crossover

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marvel x-men X of swords Reading Order crossover

Coming from writers Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard and artist Pepe Laraz, X of Swords is the X-Men crossover event of 2020 that marked the end of the Dawn of X era.

The story of X of Swords is about the X-Men as they must go to battle against the ancient, long-lost mutant champions of Arakko (the sister island of Krakoa). In order to save their home and country, the mutant nation must send ten of the X-Men’s best fighters to confront their enemy with ten special blades, each with their own unique properties. A war began.

Read More »X of Swords Reading Order: Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men 2020 crossover