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X-Men Reading Order – Part 1: The Silver Age & the Chris Claremont Era

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the first X-Men series was launched in September 1963. Since then, a lot happened and it can be overwhelming to try to make sense of it all. That said, each new era began as a new entry point in this vast universe. But first, if you’ve lived in a cave during the last decades, you may not know who are the X-Men.

They are led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, the X-Men are mutants, people born with superhuman abilities activated by what is called the “X-Gene.” They have incredible powers that make them, for some, dangerous people. Even if the X-Men fight for a world in which mutants and humans can be equals, they have not succeeded yet.

They must face anti-mutant bigotry, and all the powers in the world can’t seem to solve that problem. All the powerful mutants don’t see the world like Xavier and his X-Men, they want to rage war against humans. As new threats from Earth and Space continue to emerge, and enemies keep coming back, the X-Men must persevere.

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Hellboy Universe Reading Order (Hellboy, BPRD, Abe Sapien), from the mind of Mike Mignola

The Hellboy Universe is vast and full of monsters. It’s also composed of multiple series and miniseries, stories published in a non-chronological order. The following article is not the ultimate reading order, it’s a reading guide, an attempt to offer a good view of one of the best comic book universes.

Created by writer-artist Mike Mignola (you can read about the origin of the creation of the character here), Hellboy is a half-Demon who was summoned from Hell to Earth as a baby by the “Mad Monk” Grigori Rasputin for the Nazis. Adopted by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, the man behind the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (also called the B.P.R.D.), Hellboy grew up with humans and learned to hunt monsters. Adult, he is easily identifiable. After all, he is red-skinned, huge with a tail, horns, and cloven hooves for feet, and his right is hand made of stone.

Working with the B.P.R.D., he hunts Nazis, witches, and other types of Lovecraftian monsters, teaming up with the amphibian humanoid Abe Sapien, and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman. As the years pass, Hellboy must confront who he really is and fulfill his destiny as the B.P.R.D. becomes the first line of defense against cosmic menaces.

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Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Reading Order

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Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Reading Order

One of the most famous superheroes of the DC Universe, Wonder Woman was created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter in 1941. Like Batman and Superman, the Princess Diana of Themyscira became a real icon. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman was rebooted in 1987 by George Péres (you can find more in our Wonder Woman Reading Order). This era—the volume 2—gave her a new notoriety. If Péres is one of the most famous artists who worked on the title, Greg Rucka is also one of them.

Rucka’s runs on the character are some of the most celebrated. He helped redefine Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, more than once. In fact, he did it twice. So, here is a little guide of his work related to the main WW series.

I was in a coma for so long, refresh my memory, who is Wonder Woman? Princess Diana of Themyscira fights for peace in Man’s World. As Wonder Woman, she’s a symbol of truth, justice and equality to people everywhere. Raised on the hidden island of Themyscira, Diana is an Amazon, and her people’s gift to humanity. As Themyscira’s emissary to Man’s World, Diana has made it her duty to lead by example, even if the differences between her birthplace and new home sometimes present hurdles for her to jump. She is a beacon of hope to all who find themselves in need. She stands as an equal among the most powerful Super Heroes, with a sense of purpose to protect the world from injustice in all forms.

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Final Crisis Reading Order, a DC Comics Event by Grant Morrison

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Final Crisis Reading Order

Coming from Grant Morrison, Final Crisis is a crossover event published by DC Comics in 2008, during the post-Crisis era. If you are familiar with most of Grant Morrison’s work in the DC Universe, you know how much he loves to explore the past and, in his own way, to try to make sense of most of it, even if it often ends up hard to follow. That said, Final Crisis is a mostly self-contained story.

Final Crisis deals with alien villain Darkseid’s plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe. Here is the official synopsis: Using the soul-destroying Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid is remaking the heroes, villains, and everyday people of Earth in his dark image … and destroying the very fabric of reality itself in the process. Now superheroes from around the world—and across the Multiverse—must make a last, desperate stand against the forces of Anti-Life. Will Earth endure? And when the Crisis reaches its climax, who will make the ultimate sacrifice?

What to read before Final Crisis?

A lot of mostly nothing—you can go with DC Universe #0 and then the main event. If you want to be more thorough there’s a lot to read. You can begin with Death of the New Gods, then go to 52 volume #1 (collects 52 #1-26), 52 volume #2 (collects 52 #27-52), Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison.

To stay in what was published before the event, connecting directly to Final Crisis, here is a list:

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Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy Reading Order, a Marvel/Spider-Man event

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Taking place in 2017, after the Civil War II event (no need to read it here, but reading order here anyway), Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy is a Spider-Man story written by Dan Slott, with Christos Gage, and Jim Cheung is the artist.

For more details, here is the official synopsis: Amidst a gauntlet of his deadliest rogues, an old foe returns to the fore. Loved ones lost are dead no more as Peter Parker plunges headlong into The Clone Conspiracy! The Jackal has returned, more driven and determined than ever. He’s offered Spidey’s greatest rogues a chance to reunite with their loved ones in exchange for loyalty.

But to what end? With the Rhino, the Lizard, Electro, and even Doctor Octopus at his side, things are looking bleak. But who else from Spider-Man’s past has reappeared?!

What to read before Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy?

It’s probably too much to say that you should probably start with the first Clone Saga (full reading order). It’s a big read (too big). That said, the last time we saw Jackal was during the Superior Spider-man era — it’s a really good read –, but it’s still not a necessity. Like it’s not an obligation to read The Spider-Verse Event (full reading order), but if you want to know what happened to Kaine, that’s where you should go.

Though, what you need to read to be up-to-date is:

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Original Sin Reading Order, A Marvel Crossover Event: Who Shot The Watcher?

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Original Sin Reading Order

Written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Deodato, Original Sin is a Marvel Crossover Event published from April to September 2014. The story began when Uatu, the mysterious space-god who’s been watching mankind from the moon for as long as we can remember … is found dead. But who shot the Watcher?

As the official synopsis reveals, Nick Fury takes the lead of the murder investigation. With the help of the heroes of the Marvel Universe, he must quickly find answers as other forces are marshaling and other questions are arising. Such as why is Black Panther gathering a secret team of his own, including Emma Frost, the Punisher and Dr. Strange? Who is the Unseen? What was stolen from the Watcher’s lair? Fury’s cosmic manhunt leads to the far corners of the universe and beyond, but just when the Avengers think they’ve cornered their murderer … everything explodes, unleashing the Marvel Universe’s greatest secrets and rocking the heroes to their core! What did the Watcher see? What was the Original Sin?

What to read before Original Sin?

The Original Sin event was not one of those long-prepared universe-shattering crossover. In fact, it started quite suddenly. The only thing you’ll need to read is the “Behold the Watcher” story from Point One #1 (collected with the rest of the event).

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Amazing Spider-Man: Last Remains Reading Order, by Nick Spencer

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Amazing Spider-Man: Last Remains Reading Order

“Last Remains” is not an event, but a storyline taking place in the continuity of Nick Spencer’s run on Spider-Man (go to the full reading order). That said, there’s a crossover component to it with a lot of adjacent spider-heros joining the story (like Miles Morales, Gwen “Ghost-Spider” Stacy, Silk, Spider-Woman for example).

Here is the official synopsis: Spider-Man just took the beating of his life … but we’re just getting started. Prepare yourself for the horrors of Last Remains! Kindred—the mystery villain who has been plaguing Peter Parker’s life from the shadows—is stepping out on stage for the first time … and Spider-Man is not ready for the havoc that will result. Now, the wallcrawler must seek out the aid of one of his oldest allies—Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. But it’s not going to be enough. In order to take the fight to Kindred, will Peter be forced to consider the unthinkable?

What to read before Amazing Spider-Man: Last Remains?

The “Last Remains” storyline is about a new villain known as Kindred. Nick Spencer did a lot of built up around his mysterious identity. The best way to read “Last Remains” is, of course, by being up-to-date with Spencer’s run.

If you only want to read what can just before, you’ll have to take a look at those:

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Lumberjanes Reading Order (Boom! comics)

Friendship to the Max! Comic book series created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Brooklyn A. Allen, Lumberjanes is published by Boom! Studios

The story takes us at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!

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Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan Reading Order (with the Champions!)

 

When Carol Danvers got her promotion (see Carol Danvers reading order to learn more about that) and officially became known as Captain Marvel in 2014, a place opened up for a new Mrs. Marvel. That’s when Kamala Khan became a Marvel superhero.

Kamala Khan is a teenager, Pakistani-American, Muslim, and Inhuman with shapeshifting abilities (mostly elongation, shrinking…) from Jersey City. After discovering her power, she assumes the mantle of Ms. Marvel because Carol Danvers was her idol. Of course, she had to learn how to be a superhero, but she quickly joined famous teams such as the Avengers, the Champions, Secret Warriors, and more (she’s quite popular).

She rapidly got her own series and took part in major Marvel events. She’s young, but there’s already a lot to read. Also, even if she’s still a fairly new character, Kamala has already been killed and resurrected, coming back to life with a new perspective on the origins of her powers (she’s a mutant now!).

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Rick and Morty Comics Reading Order (the comics spin-off by Oni Press)

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Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!!! The crazy world created by Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland in their hit Adult Swim animated show Rick & Morty goes beyond the screen and into the comic book world!

Published by Oni Press, the Rick & Morty comic book series expands the universe of the super scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty—but also his teenage granddaughter Summer, his veterinary surgeon daughter Beth, and his hapless son-in-law Jerry—with a lot of as insane adventures.

What to read before Rick and Morty’s comics?

Reading is not right, watching is more appropriate. Even if you can read the comics without knowing much about the show, you’ll miss a lot. I recommend watching at least the first 2/3 seasons of Rick & Morty before picking up those books. Especially before the third book of the first volume, when the comics became canon (the first two volumes are inconsequential).

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