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After only a few stories in Blue Beetle, and a compilation of unpublished materials in Mysterious Suspense #1, The Question‘s run at Charlton Comics ended.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.
Making his first appearance in Fantastic Four #48, published in 1966, The Silver Surfer didn’t have a name at first. In fact, even Stan Lee who is credited as its co-creator didn’t have an idea of who he was. It was Jack Kirby who imagined him. Following the “Marvel Method, ” Lee pitched to his collaborator “the Galactus trilogy,” a new ambitious story that included the god-like creature Galactus, but no surfer.
Charged with coming up with the details while plotting and drawing the book, Kirby apparently thought that an entity as powerful as Galactus would certainly require “a herald who could serve as an advance guard.” Kirby simply called him “The Surfer,” and draw him as a gleaming bald man on a surfboard. Stan Lee loved the character and bring him back for more FF stories before giving him his own solo book two years later.
With artist John Buscema, Lee worked at giving a backstory to the surfer–without consulting Jack Kirby. We learned that he was Norrin Radd and he offered Galactus to take him as his herald in exchange for the life of the inhabitants of his home planet, Zenn-La. Lee loved the Surfer so much that he prohibited anyone to use him without his approbation. This stands until the 1980s.
In 1982, John Byrne wrote and draw a Silver Surfer one-shot, then the second ongoing series was launched with Steve Englehart as the writer. But it was when Jim Starlin, then Ron Marz, took over (after #31) that the book really found its success–leading to the Infinity Saga. The series ran 146 issues, through 1998.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the Silver Surfer came back for a short series before appearing in the famous Annihilation event, but he only got multiple miniseries after that for some years. It was only in 2014 that he got another ongoing series, this time in a different style than the previous ones, as writer Dan Slott wrote it as a Doctor Who-inspired adventure–drawn by Mike Allred.
As a Marvel character, Silver Surfer is really powerful and moves fast. He wields the Power Cosmic, granting him superhuman strength, endurance, and senses and the ability to absorb and manipulate the universe’s ambient energy. He fought villains like Doctor Doom, Mephisto, Thanos, and more. He teamed up with the Fantastic Four of course, but also with the Hulk, Namor, and Doctor Strange in “The Defenders.” He saved the Universe, found love (more than once), dealt closely with symbiotes, was displaced in time, and more.
In 2010, before becoming very well-known by working on the Batman series at DC Comics, Scott Snyder teamed up with artist Rafael Albuquerque to launch the ongoing American Vampire comics series at Vertigo. A title that gained a lot of attention at first with Stephen King writing a storyline.
King only put his name on the first 5 issues (backstories only), the story went on for a few years after that. In fact, it concluded in October 2021. That said, we didn’t get a decade’s worth of American Vampire comics as it was divided into three cycles published non-continuously. The first series lasted 34 issues, from 2010 to 2013; the second series was called “American Vampire: Second Cycle,” and lasted 11 issues, from 2014–2015; and the third series, called “American Vampire: 1976“, lasted 10 issues, from 2020 to 2021.
But what is theAmerican Vampire comic book about? Vampire in America, of course! In a way, it’s about the story of America. It’s about Skinner Sweet, a violent outlaw who lived in the Wild West. He was going to be killed for his crimes, but an accident led him to be turned into a vampire, the first one to be made in America. He was of a new breed, one that doesn’t suffer from the same limitations as the vampires from the old continent—he is impervious to sunlight, but also faster and stronger.
In the middle of James Tynion IV’s run on Batman, the DC Universe was once more softly relaunched. Following the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Generations, and Future State, the DC Multiverse has in fact expanded into a larger Omniverse (and everything became canon). This was how the Infinite Frontier era was introduced—and launched in March 2021. It concluded with the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, in December 2022.
It was less than two years, but a lot has happened in Batman’s life with events like Fear State and Shadow War, and a new costume at one point. As usual, the Dark Knight’s adventures were published in Batman and Detective Comics, but also in the anthology Batman: Urban Legends, the team books Batman/Superman and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, and more!
There’s also a new Batman Incorporated series and a new and different Batman in I Am Batman—Jace Fox is first introduced as the new Batman during Future State, but soon got his own series, written by John Ridley—, and a lot of miniseries, most being out-of-continuity.
The Joker War Saga
Collects Batman (vol. 3) #95–100; Batgirl (vol. 5) #47; Detective Comics #1025; Red Hood: Outlaw #48; Nightwing (vol. 4) #74; The Joker War Zone #1; material from Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #75 and Catwoman (vol. 5) #25
Following Dark Nights: Death Metal, the DC Universe went to the future with Future State. It may be skipped, but it is better to be familiar with some elements of this story to fully apprehend what is at stake, especially during the Fear State event. You can learn more about Future State in the dedicated reading order.
Future State: Dark Detective
Collects Future State: Dark Detective #1-4 (main story), Future State: Catwoman #1-2, Future State: Harley Quinn #1-2, Future State: Robin Eternal #1-2, Future State: Batman/Superman #1-2.
Future State: The Next Batman
Collects Future State: The Next Batman #1-4, Future State: Nightwing #1-2, Future State: Dark Detective #1 & 3 (select stories), and backup stories.
Introduced in 1973 in Wonder Woman #204, Nubia was created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Don Heck. She is an Amazon, and DC Comics’ first Black woman superhero.
At first, Nubia was Wonder Woman‘s long-lost fraternal twin–she was raised by Mars the god of war as his weapon of destruction against the Amazons. Mars’ plan failed and Nubia only made a few appearances after that, then disappeared for 20 years!
When reintroduced during the Post-Crisis/Modern Age era of the DC Universe in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) Annual #8 in 1999, she was renamed Nu’Bia and was charged to guard “Doom’s Doorway” a very long time ago. So long in fact that the Themyscirian Amazons assumed she had perished. It was a short comeback.
But now in the Infinite Frontier era, after appearing in Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman, Nubia is fully back. Reintroduced as an Amazonian champion tasked with guarding Doom’s Doorway, Nubia shortly became Queen of Amazons and started sharing the title of Wonder Woman with Diana.
Back in the Chris Claremont days, Carol Danvers and the X-Men fought alongside each other in the original Brood Saga, a famous story that ended with Carol becoming Binary, and the X-Men making sacrifices.
The Broods are back for a double-story arc, “Revenge of the Brood” and “Lord of the Brood.” Captain Marvel is joined once again by the X-Men to fight the parasitic predators known as the Brood. They plan to infect the cosmos and the heroes must stop them.
Here is how Marvel officially introduces the stories:
In “Lord of the Brood,” the X-Men get a distress call from deep space and find that the galaxy’s Brood problem is not as solved as they’d thought! When the X-Men’s close friend Broo became the Brood King, he gained the ability to control the savage alien race he was both a part of and so different from. Now he is experiencing his own nightmare scenario—the Brood are killing his friends, and there is nothing he can do to stop it! Rogue Brood factions have begun running wild, and it’s up to the X-Men to get to the bottom of why!
In “Revenge of the Brood,” Carol Danvers is on an X-press elevator to her own personal hell! And the Brood Empress is determined to ensure the Captain and all of her friends make it to their destination. Rescuing their team and getting out alive has always been the goal, but the odds are more deeply stacked against her team than Carol can even imagine. Overwhelmed and trapped in the Brood’s backyard, Captain Marvel and her team are forced to sacrifice one of their own. But the Brood let Carol through their clutches once before, and in so doing, created one of their worst enemies. They won’t make that mistake again.
This Captain Marvel/X-Men epic cosmic story is coming from Kelly Thompson, writer of Captain Marvel, with art by Juan Frigeri, and Gerry Duggan, writer of X-Men, with art by Stefano Caselli.
Things never get easy for the X-Men. Right after A.X.E: Judgment Day and Dark Web, the Mutants are thrown into another crossover event, Sins of Sinister. This time, however, it’s an X-Men-only crossover.
The tagline is: “From his vaunted position on the Quiet Council of Krakoa, Mister Sinister has plotted and schemed. Now, at last, his plans come to fruition beyond his wildest dreams … and his darkest nightmares! Can the X-Men survive the experience? Can anyone?”
If we are to believe Marvel, Sins of Sinister is set in “a horror timeline that makes Age of Apocalypse look like the X-Men Swimsuit Special.” This story takes the Marvel Universe further and further into a dark future, dramatically escalating the stakes with each startling time jump. 10 Years … 100 Years … 1000 Years…
This crossover could be confusing because three current series are renamed for the occasion Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red, and Legion of X are—respectively—replaced by the limited series Immoral X-Men, Storm & The Brotherhood of Mutants, and Nightcrawlers.
Current X-Men writers Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, and Si Spurrier are in charge of writing the new titles, joined by artists Paco Medina, Andrea Di Vito, and Alessandro Vitti.
Launched in 1991 by Vertigo with a miniseries, The Books of Magic is a creation of Neil Gaiman (with artists John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, and Paul Johnson)—and contrary to some beliefs it was not developed as a spin-off of The Sandman, even if the Endless appeared in it. In fact, it was commissioned by DC Comics as a way to highlight the already existing mystical characters in its universe.
The original miniseries introduced us to Timothy Hunter, a twelve-year-old boy who could be the most powerful magician in the world (a character inspired by T. H. White’s The Once and Future King and other classic fantasy stories). The question is: does he really want to be? To find the answer, Tim goes on a trip through the magical world, guided by John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult, a group of magicians (aka the Trenchcoat Brigade). They want to aid Timothy in his decision.
Once the original Books of Magic miniseries concluded, the story continued with an ongoing 75-issue series by John Ney Rieber (who wrote the first 50 issues) and artists Gary Amaro, Peter Gross, and Peter Snejbjerg. We reconnected with Tim when an enigmatic man named Tamlin decided that he was the key to saving the dying world of Faerie. But exactly how Tim is supposed to do that? And who Tamlin really is? Read the book to discover the answers!
The Books of Magic ongoing series was punctuated with other miniseries, there even was a two-issue crossover miniseries with Hellblazer. Once it concluded, Tim’s story continued in a five-part miniseries by Dylan Horrocks called Names of Magic that opened the way for a new ongoing series, Hunter and the Age of Magic.
An alternate Tim Hunter was also introduced in 2004 with Si Spencer’s 15-issue series called “The Books of Magick: Life During Wartime.” Another version of Timothy was also created during the New 52 era in a Justice League Dark storyline.
In 2018, when Neil Gaiman launched a new Sandman Universe imprint, The Books of Magic was partially rebooted (by writer Kat Howard). Timothy Hunter is back to being a 12-year boy destined to be the world’s most powerful magician who has to learn how to control his burgeoning abilities as well as figuring out whom he can trust—and who wants him dead. Even if it was somewhat of a fresh start, past events were referenced.Read More »Books of Magic Reading Order, The Adventures of Tim Hunter
Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery is composed of animal-themed characters like the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and plenty more, but also of people who altered—voluntarily or not—their bodies to become super-powered or who built some kind of devices to commit crimes like Sandman, Electro, Shocker, Hammerhead, Hydro-man, and of course, the Green Goblin.
Kraven the Hunter found its place in the middle of that. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (see our Spider-Man Reading Order to find the story), Kraven came to New York wanting to hunt Spider-Man. This Russian is after “the most dangerous game.”—like another famous fictional Russian big game hunter, General Zaroff.
Like with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, IDW has been the house of the Ghostbusters comics for years–starting in 2008, the last miniseries was published in 2020. That’s a lot of miniseries, one-shots, ongoing series, and crossovers.
The Ghostbusters franchise started with the first movie directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It introduced us to this team of ghost hunters, professors Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler–quickly joined by Winston Zeddemore–who had to face the evil Zuul to save New York. They became heroes and came back for a second movie, and a lot more.
The Franchise gave us some pretty successful TV animated shows, video games, books, and of course comic books. In that domain, NOW Comics and Marvel UK started publishing The Real Ghostbusters, comics based on the TV series of the same name, in the late 1980s. The Quebec-based comic company 88MPH Studios also did that in the 2000s. There even was a one-shot Manga in 2008.
And then, IDW acquired the right to publish the Ghostbusters comics and went in a different direction, forgetting the TV show to focus instead on the main continuity established by the first two movies–and the 2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
