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Judge Dredd Reading Order

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Cover art Judge Dredd Megazine 423

In Mega City-One, one man is the law: Judge Dredd! Created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra in the second issue of the British weekly anthology 2000 AD (1977), Judge Joseph Dredd is a lawman in a massive dystopian city where crime is rampant. In this world, Dredd is a judge, jury, and police officer – he can arrest, convict, and execute criminals. And he is the toughest of them all! As we already said: he is the law!

Judge Dredd exists to bring justice and is constantly working. He’s never without his signature helmet, though he has no secret identity and no life outside of work. He’s here to deliver instant justice in a city on the verge of chaos. And he has done it since 1977, getting older as the years pass. It’s been 66 years of active service for Dredd, and 46 years worth of stories!

Through decades of comics, Judge Dredd became one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, and one the most famous satire of American and British culture, exploring authoritarianism, policing, mass surveillance, and every other aspect of society.

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Sam Wilson Reading Order, The Falcon and Captain America

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Sam Wilson is The Falcon

When Rick Jones stepped down as Captain America’s sidekick, a new partner was on the horizon. In Captain America #117, released in September 1969, writer Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan introduced Sam Wilson as he worked to rally people against the Red Skull’s forces. Wilson’s meeting with Steve Rogers inspired him to adopt the mantle of the Falcon and create a distinctive green costume. Together, they won their fight against their common enemy, and Sam quickly became Captain America’s trusted partner.

Sam Wilson became Marvel’s first African American superhero. His origins were retconned over the years—from a Harlem social worker to a thug whose life was transformed by the Cosmic Cube. He was also briefly portrayed as a mutant, though this was later revised. Sam’s most significant evolution over the decades was headlining his own title, not as Falcon but as Captain America.

Sam Wilson has fought alongside Captain America, the Avengers, the Defenders, S.H.I.E.L.D., the Winter Soldier, and more. He shares a telepathic bond with his bird, Redwing, and later discovered he can also control other birds and see through their eyes. With his mechanical wings granting him the ability to fly, Sam was also trained in hand-to-hand combat by Steve Rogers himself—and he’s well-versed in using Captain America’s shield.

Samuel Thomas Wilson also became a major figure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the past decades, making his first appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a skilled combatant and tactician who became a close friend of Stever Rogers and even being recruited by him to join the Avengers. Played by Anthony Mackie, the character is making his comeback on the big screen wielding the shield in Captain America: Brave New World (2025)!

In the meantine, it’s the perfect occasion to explore his comic book history, from his first appearance as the Falcon to his debut as Captain America and beyond! Check out our Sam Wilson Comics reading order for a comprehensive guide to the many stories featuring Marvel’s winged warrior!

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The Authority Reading Order, The DC/Wildstorm series

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The Authority Reading Order

Created in 1999, when Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics (After Jim Lee left Image Comics), The Authority is a dark and violent superhero comic created by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan) and illustrated by Bryan Hitch (JLA).

The Authority is a spin-off set in the StormWatch universe. Following the events of the WildC.A.T.S/Aliens one-shot that saw the deaths of multiple characters, Jenny Sparks (aka “The Spirit of the Twentieth Century”), Jack Hawksmoor (aka “The God of Cities”), and Swift (aka “The Winged Huntress”), the survivors of the StormWatch Black team, went on to form a new team: The Authority.

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Godzilla Comics Reading Order, From Marvel to IDW and Legendary

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Like King Kong, Godzilla is a monster and an international pop culture icon. This prehistoric reptilian monster made his debut in the 1954 movie directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. A movie franchise was developed, and the kaiju appeared soon enough in various other media. It never stopped since.

Naturally, he was featured in several mangas, but we’re here today to talk about Godzilla in American comics.

Following a deal with Toho Studios, Marvel Comics published a Godzilla Comics set in the Marvel Universe. The King of Monsters was depicted more as an anti-hero way too big for our time! It lasted two years before Marvel lost the rights to the monster. Following this loss, Marvel would find a way to continue to use Godzilla for a few years afterward by introducing a mutated version of the character who no longer looked like the Toho versions.

Years later, Dark Horse acquired the comic rights to the Godzilla franchise. The company published various comic books (one-shots, miniseries, ongoing series) based on the monster for the next 12 years.

But no one has used Godzilla as much as IDW, a company that also published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. They began publishing Godzilla comics in 2011 and still hold the license, offering a variety of stories and several continuities (the miniseries are all standalone stories).

IDW is not, right now, the only publisher putting comics with Godzilla out there. Legendary has also released several tie-in graphic novels with Godzilla, all part of their Monsterverse Universe.

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Booster Gold Reading Order

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Not to be confused with Green Lantern, Booster Gold was created by Dan Jurgens and made his debut in Booster Gold #1 in February 1986. He’s the first significant new hero introduced after the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Booster Gold, aka Michael Jon Carter, is presented as an opportunist hero who likes a good publicity stunt and making money. Simply put, he’s no Superman and he knows it!

Michael and his twin sister Michelle were born in the 25th Century Gotham. They had a loving mother and debts inherited by a gambling father who abandoned them. At first, Michael was dreaming of a career in football but had to stop when his mother fell ill. He turned to illegal gambling to help pay for treatment but was caught by the authorities.

Michael tried to rebuild his life in Metropolis where he worked at the Space Museum and studied superheroes and villains from the 20th century. This is where Michael stole several devices in order to go back in time and make money as a superhero. For his first adventure, he saved the life of the President of the United States Ronald Reagan.

Our gold-seeking hero would soon join the Justice League (International), until the group disbanded in 1996. This is where he met his new best friend, Blue Beetle II (Ted Kord), known together as “Blue and Gold”.

Like other DC Comics Superheroes, Booster Gold goes through a lot of personal tragedies and other traumatic experiences, and all those events push him to become a more honest hero, despite having quite a reputation for being a glory-seeking character!

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Black Widow Reading Order (Natasha Romanoff)

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Created by Stan Lee, Don Rico, and Don Heck, Black Widow made her debut as Tales of Suspense #52 in 1964. During her first decades on the pages of Marvel Comic books, the woman also known as Natasha Romanoff has been a villain and a hero, a femme fatale and a spy, a love interest and a superhero. Once she chose the path of heroism, she was at first reduced to being Hawkeye’s girlfriend, then Daredevil’s.

Trained by the “Red Room” to be the ultimate Super Spy, Black Widow is a former Russian KGB Agent who defected to the United States of America and joined the S.H.I.E.L.D. Later, she would also become a member of the Avengers and has been part of the team on several occasions. A woman with a mysterious past, Black Widow served for a long time as a female sidekick or team member in Daredevil, Captain America, The Champions, and of course, The Avengers.

It took her almost 40 years to finally have her own title, a limited series part of the Marvel Knights line when she found herself having to defend her codename from a certain Yelena Belova. From then on, Black Widow became a more prominent figure in the Marvel Universe, and her introduction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010, played by Scarlett Johansson, clearly helped solidify her place.

She is now one of the most famous Marvel characters, and it’s time to explore her history with this Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff reading order!

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Red Sonja Reading Order

At the beginning of 1973, the Conan the Barbarian comics was a success, and writer Roy Thomas wanted to expand Marvel’s sword and sorcery line with a spin-off title. With artist Barry Windsor-Smith, Thomas created Red Sonja, a character loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino from Robert E. Howard’s short story “The Shadow of the Vulture.”

Red Sonja was to be a fierce warrior that could be Conan’s match. She could battle at his side and keep her feminine side. That was the author’s ambition and, in Conan the Barbarian #23, their last book together, Thomas and Smith introduced Red Sonja as she was wielding a sword against guards, wearing a long-sleeved chain mail shirt. One issue later, Conan declared that she was his equal.

She made a few appearances in Conan the Barbarian, The Savage Sword of Conan, and Kull and the Barbarians before finally getting her solo series in 1975. She became quite popular and Marvel Comics published stories featuring Red Sonja for a good decade—she also appeared in novels and, in 1986, got her movie starring Brigitte Nielsen in the title role.

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The Question Reading Order, from Vic Sage to Renee Montoya

Like The Peacemaker, The Question was originally a Charlton Comics character. In fact, he made his first appearance in Blue Beetle #1 in 1967–in the backup feature. Created by Steve Ditko, he was based on Mr. A, a hero based on Ditko himself. The Question was however more mainstream, even if he was more ruthless than what readers could expect at that time.

The Question is Vic Sage, a TV investigative journalist who fights crime, hiding his true identity behind a special mask created by his former professor, the scientist Aristotle Rodor–inventor of an artificial skin called Pseudoderm. That mask transformed Sage into a man without a face. He had no power, but a great sense of what is right or wrong.

After only a few stories in Blue Beetle, and a compilation of unpublished materials in Mysterious Suspense #1, The Question‘s run at Charlton Comics ended. He only reappeared briefly in the anthology Charlton Bullseye years later, before joining DC Comics in 1983.

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Wally West Reading Order (Kid Flash, the Flash III, the Scarlet Speedster)

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Created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, Wally West made his debut in The Flash #110 in December 1959, as the original Kid Flash.

Wallace Rudolph “Wally” West is the nephew of Iris West who accidentally gained powers while visiting Barry Allen in his Central city police lab. There, he is splattered with lightning-charged chemicals as the freak accident that gave Barry his powers happened again!

Wally West became Kid Flash, the sidekick to the second Flash, and distinguished himself with a primarily yellow costume. He also was a founding member of the Teen Titans, where he became close friends with Dick Grayson (alias Robin/Nightwing).

He eventually succeeded Barry Allen as the Flash and had to deal with the difficult task of replacing his mentor. At the same time, he became a founding member of Justice League Europe, then moved to the Justice League of America, and had stints with Titans and Justice League Elite.

This Scarlet Speedster has appeared in many animated television series and video games and was played by Keiynan Lonsdale in the Arrowverse.

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David Haller (Legion) Reading Order

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David Haller was the first X-Men character to receive a live-action TV Series. You could then easily imagine that he was a prominent X-Men. Even though he made his debut in the 80s, he doesn’t appear in many Marvel comic books. Despite that, David Haller, also known as Legion, left his marks on the X-Men Universe and the readers.

Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz, David Haller made his first appearance in New Mutants #25 (March 1985). He is the mutant son of Charles Xavier, the famous leader of the X-Men, and Gabrielle Haller, a Holocaust survivor who chooses not to tell Xavier she was pregnant after their amicable breakup. Xavier would learn sometime after founding the New Mutants that David was his son.

David is one of the most powerful mutants who have the ability to create spontaneous mutations with varying attributes and can warp reality. He also suffers from a dissociative identity disorder. David can absorb the psyche of someone upon their death and create new alter egos. Each one of his personalities is associated with a power, like telepathy (Jemail Karami), telekinesis (Jack Wayne) or pyrokinetic (Cyndi).

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

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