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Knight Terrors Reading Order, DC Comics’ horror event of the summer

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Knight Terrors Reading Order

Introduced as the next Dawn of DC milestone event, Knight Terrors is this summer’s massive crossover event at DC Comics. Horror is invading the DC Universe as Super Heroes or Super-Villains must confront their worst nightmares in a “Nightmare Realm.” 

The main Knight Terrors event starts with the oversize special Knight Terrors: First Blood #1 from Joshua Williamson (Dark Crisis) and Howard Porter (The Flash). This introduction sees Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman find the body of one of their earliest enemies inside the Hall of Justice, their investigation takes them past the land of the living, beyond the land of the dead, and directly to a new villain called Insomnia, who uses his powers to engulf every single hero and villain in their own dark and twisted nightmares. The only way to save the world is to call for the help of an unlikely hero—Deadman!

What follows is the four-issue Knight Terrors miniseries written by Williamson with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli (The Joker), Stefano Nesi, and Caspar Wijngaard (Home Sick Pilots), in which Boston Brand—a.k.a. Deadman—serves as the supernatural tour guide. Everyone in the world is trapped inside their nightmares, and Batman and Deadman are trying to figure out who Insomnia really is…and why he wants revenge on the heroes of the DC Universe! 

Then, Wesley Dodds, the Sandman, teams up with Batman and Deadman to uncover one of his oldest cases, which haunted him until the day he died. The trio are pointed in the direction of the Nightmare Stone, but Insomnia has unleashed his army, the Sleepless Knights, to hunt them down.

Most of the event is composed of a host of two-issue miniseries featuring the nightmares of superheroes, but also of villains.

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ElfQuest Reading Order

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Elfquest Reading Order

Published by Dark Horse Comics (home of Hellboy) since 2013, ElfQuest is much older than that as it was launched in 1978. Back then, the Fantasy series created by Wendy and Richard Pini was self-published, taking advantage of the emerging Direct Market. Things didn’t start without a bump.

The first Elfquest story was the lead feature in Fantasy Quaterly #1. But with Independent Publishers Syndicate immediately going out of business after one issue, the adventure could have ended pretty quickly, especially as the publisher refused to give the Pinis back the work they already provided for issue 2. Richard had to take a very long trip to get everything back. After that, the couple learned as fast as possible how to become publishers. They formed WaRP Graphics and put ElfQuest #2 out.

ElfQuest became a success story, one of the most popular self-published comic books (and brand). There were difficult times through the years, like the 1990s bubble. WaRP Graphics was closed in 2003, but ElfQuest is still here.

The story of ElfQuest started with the “Original Quest.” It was about Chief Cutter and the Wolfriders being driven from their forest home by the threat of annihilation. As they wander an ever-changing landscape inhabited by excitable humans–and other odd creatures–they discover other elf tribes as well. Alliances are forged, enemies discovered, and savage battles fought…

It is an epic fantasy adventure with sci-fi elements about nature-loving elves trying to survive on a world that isn’t theirs to begin with.

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Emiko Queen Reading Order (Red Arrow)

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In March 2013, Team Arrow expanded with the introduction of a new member, Emiko Queen. Created by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino, Emiko made her first appearance in Green Arrow, Vol. 5 #18 as Oliver Queen’s half-sister.

For those of you who were watching the TV Show Arrow at the time, Emiko was inspired by Thea Queen, an original character from the Arrowverse, before being introduced in the series in season seven. She was played by Sea Shimooka.

In the DC Comic Book pages, Emiko is the daughter of Shado and Robert Queen. She was kidnapped and raised as an assassin by Simon Lacroix/Komodo, ignoring her real origins for a long time. She freed herself of her oppressor and followed Oliver Queen back to Seattle for a fresh start.

A skilled archer, she first chooses to also call herself Green Arrow, but will later take another codename, becoming the second Red Arrow – the mantle was used pre-Flashpoint by Roy Harper.

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30 Days of Night Reading Order

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30 Days of Night Reading Order

Published by IDW in 2002, 30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book series written by Steve Niles (The October Faction) and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. Multiple miniseries followed, as well as novels and movie (and audio) adaptations. It did in fact become a movie after Niles wrote the comic version of the unsuccessful film pitch he had developed.

The story is about vampires in Barrow, Alaska, a place where the sun sets for about 30 days. As most of the locals go away during that nightly time, the ones who stayed become the target of a group of vampires. The town’s only hope of survival lies in the hands of Stella and Eben, the local husband-and-wife sheriff team. They have to face the vampire elder Vicente and survive until the sun came back.

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Summer of Symbiotes Reading Order, an entire season of symbiote insanity at Marvel

Summer of Symbiotes Reading Order

To celebrate 35 years of the first appearance of Venom, the flavor of the summer ’23 at Marvel will be coming from space. It’s the Summer of Symbiotes! It will be Symbiotes crossovers after Symbiotes crossovers with even more Symbiotes. Yes, a lot of Symbiotes.

In fact, everything begins this spring with Carnage Reigns, a crossover that is presented as Miles Morales vs Carnage written by Alex Paknadel and Cody Ziglar and featuring art by Julius Ohta, Jan Bazaldua, Federico Vicentini, and Francesco Manna. Here is how it starts:

Cletus Kasady is back, and of course, he is more powerful and bloodthirsty than ever before! “With his soul trapped within the Extrembiote Armor created by Tony Stark during the King in Black event, Cletus has the means to level an untold amount of chaos and, well, carnage on New York City and the entire Marvel Universe. But like any good Tony Stark invention, the Extremis coursing through Cletus’ symbiotic veins needs POWER, and that means Cletus is HUNGRY. Good thing Brooklyn’s very own Spider-Man is there to stand in his way! If he survives their first encounter, that is.”

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Doctor Fate Reading Order

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Doctor Fate Reading Order

Like with Captain Marvel or Robin, there are multiple superheroes named Doctor Fate. The original version of the character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman during the Golden Age of comics era, in the pages of More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940).

Wearing blue-and-yellow tights and a golden helmet, Doctor Fate was operating from a stone tower, windowless and doorless, situated on the outskirts of Salem, Massachusetts–so you know it was about magic. Under the costume, there was Kent Nelson who, while on an archaeological expedition in the Valley of Ur with his father, accidentally awakened Nabu by opening its tomb–and kills his father in the process.

Nabu is a fictionalized version of the Mesopotamian god of the same name, a cosmic being affiliated with the Lords of Order. He takes Kent under his wing, teaching him how to become a sorcerer and fight his enemies, the Lords of Chaos. After two decades, Nabu gave him a mystical helmet, an amulet, and a cloak. Now well-equipped, Kent went back to America and started fighting crimes and supernatural evil–like armies of the undead, the green-skinned Wutan, and other fish creatures and elder gods. Kent also became a founding member of the All-Star Squadron and the Justice Society of America.

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Doctor Doom Reading Order

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Meet Doctor Doom! With recent news that Robert Downey Jr. (aka Iron Man) will portray Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making his first appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) in a post-credits scene, the popularity of the monarch of Latveria is sure to spike! Not that he needed it—he’s already one of Marvel’s most iconic supervillains.

If you’re here today, it’s because you want to learn more about Doctor Doom, alias Victor Von Doom! Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as a “super sensational new villain,” he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962), with his origin story revealed two years later in Fantastic Four Annual #2.

Raised as part of a Latverian Romani tribe, Victor’s mother died when he was young, sacrificing herself to the dark arts. His father was killed while trying to escape an order from Baron Von Doom. Victor survived and discovered his mother’s occult instruments. He chose to study both magic and science, aiming to combine the two. Obsessed with building a machine to free his mother’s soul, his invention backfired and scarred his face. Doom then embraced his iconic iron mask and emerald cowl, becoming Doctor Doom!

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James Bond Comics Reading Order (Dynamite Entertainment)

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His name is Bond. James Bond. 007. Created by Ian Fleming in 1953, the most famous British Secret Service Agent launched his career on paper, in the novel Casino Royale, became a movie star, had his own video games and radio drama, but also his own comic book line.

The first James Bond Comics spawned from the success of our Secret Agent after the start of the film franchise in 1962. It was a comic book adaptation of Dr. No published by Classics Illustrated in United Kindgom. It would take 20 years for another James Bond comic to be published afterward, with this time an adaptation of For Your Eyes Only, followed in 1983 by an adaptation of Octopussy.

Permission to Die was the first original James Bond comic, published by Acme/Eclipse in 1989. Then, Dark Horse obtained the rights and released several original stories until 1996. Nothing new will be released for the next 20 years when the comic book publishing license was picked up by Dynamite Entertainment (Red Sonja, Evil Dead).

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The Spectre Reading Order

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In comic books, dead men can come back to life to seek vengeance. Created by by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Bernard Baily, The Spectre belongs to this particular kind of superhero: the avenging spirit.

It all began a very long time ago when Aztar was part of a rebel band of angels led by Lucifer Morningstar. But he came to repent and was punished by becoming the vessel for God’s Wrath.

In More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940), hard-boiled cop Jim Corrigan is murdered by thugs and his spirit is then fused with Aztar/The Spectre. Together, they work to avenge victims and combat evil. He even was part of the JSA.

Jim Corrigan was The Spectre for a very long time, but he has not been the only host of The Spectre. The two other most important hosts were Hal Jordan (a famous Green Lantern) and Detective Crispus Allen. He would also sometimes wander hostless before being bound with another human host.

Though he is weaker without a host, The Spectre is one of DC Comics’ most powerful characters.

Throughout the years, the mythology surrounding him has been explored and expanded, and you can discover more about the Spectre in this following reading order!

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DC Icons Series: The Complete list of the DC Young Adult novels

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In 2017, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment partnered with Random House Books for Young Readers to publish young adult novels naturally set outside DC Comics’ main continuity. Those are coming-of-age stories centered on the characters when they are younger and discovering who they are and what it means to be a hero.

Those are all original stories, and not retellings of classic origin stories, written by some of the most famous young adult novel writers right now. And if this all began in the book format, some of those stories have also been adapted into graphic novels (it’s DC Comics after all!).

The DC Icons Series is one of the lines developed by DC Comics to attract a younger and new audience to the world of superhero comics and for them to become more familiar with those pop culture icons that everybody knows by name.

Below you’ll find a list of the DC Icons book series, with Batman, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and more…

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