Meet Liesel Van Helsing, the daughter of the legendary vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing, who lives in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe by Zenescope Entertainment.
She spent years trapped in a hell dimension known as the Shadowlands. She has been brought to the present day and uses her skills to take on all forms of the undead, from Dracula and Frankenstein to mummies and werewolves. Liesel is a deadly force to be reckoned with for all creatures who stick to the shadows.
One of the most popular Zenescope characters, Van Helsing has inspired a Syfy television series. Beware, if you discovered the television version before, it does not have a lot in common with the comic version, except maybe the last name and vampires.
A sequel to DC’s 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths (see the reading order here), Infinite Crisis is a storyline published in 2005–2006 written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway. Like the original “crisis”, it’s about the Multiverse
OMAC robots are rampaging, magic is dying, villains are uniting, and a war is raging in space. And in the middle of it all, a critical moment has divided Earth’s three greatest heroes: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. It’s the DCU’s darkest day, and long-lost heroes from the past have returned to make things right in the universe… at any cost. Heroes will live, heroes will die, and the DCU will never be the same again!
What to read before Infinite Crisis?
Everything started with Crisis on Infinite Earths (see reading order), but after the events of the 2004 storyline Identity Crisis (see reading order), DC Comics launched the “Countdown to Infinite Crisis”, multiple miniseries leading to the main Infinite Crisis event:
The OMAC Project
Collects The OMAC Project #1–6, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, and Wonder Woman #219.
Superman: Sacrifice
Collects Superman #218-220, Adventures Of Superman #642-643, Action Comics #829 And Wonder Woman #219-220. This book tied in The OMAC Project.
Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Dick Grayson is one of the most compelling characters from DC. From The Flying Graysons to being Robin (aka Batman’s sidekick), then to becoming Nightwing and finding his own way in life, he’s the friend you need, the leader who listens, the guy who wants to help and does good because it’s the right thing to do. And he’s always working to become a better version of himself and to make the world a better place. What’s not to love here?
Dick Grayson made his first appearance as Robin in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), but today we are more interested in his history after he became Nightwing, in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984).
What to read before Dick became Nightwing?
As said above, we’re focused on this reading order in stories taking place after Dick became Nightwing, meaning stories where he is not Robin anymore. Before diving in, you can check out a few stories to know more about the time Dick Grayson was Robin:
Batman Dark Victory – A sequel to The Long Halloween, this story by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale takes place three or four years into Batman’s career as a crime fighter. It’s a Batman story that doubles as an origin story for Robin.
Robin: Year One – Written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty and illustrated by Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin, it takes place after Dark Victory and tells of Dick Grayson’s first year as Batman’s sidekick, Robin.
Teen Titans: Year One – A light miniseries that retraces the early days of the Teen Titans, by Amy Wolfram and Karl Kerschl.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a supernatural television drama series that aired between 1997 and 2003. It follows the adventures of Buffy Summers, the Chosen One. She is gifted with the strength and skills to fight vampires, demons, and other supernatural creatures. As Buffy grows up, she must face the challenge of every teenager (and after) life and also the darkness. She is surrounded by friends and family who help her in her mission.
Now, you can continue this adventure in comic book form. Some depict events and situations unseen during the series’ run, while other comics follow the characters after the conclusion of the show’s official run. Some are canon, some are not.
What to read (and watch) before the Buffy and Angel comics?
If you are here, it means you are familiar with Buffy Summers for at least the television series, Buffy the Vampire Series. Our heroine made her first appearance in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before becoming the badass heroine of her own television show and comic books. Obviously, you want to have watched both Buffy (seasons 1-7) and Angel (seasons 1-5) at least once before diving into the comic books.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic publication began during the television show aired. Most of those stories during that time take place in parallel with the series’s events. Despite that, they are not all considered canonical.
There is more than one Swamp Thing, the swamp monster/Elemental of the DC Universe (not Marvel’s Man Thing). The first one was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971) in a stand-alone horror story.
At first, the Swamp Thing was an anthropomorphic mound of vegetable matter fighting to protect his swamp home, but he eventually broadens his scope to protect the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats, becoming a DC Superhero in his own way.
During the 1970s, Swamp Thing had his first ongoing series, but it didn’t last. When he became the star of a Wes Craven movie in 1982, a second series was launched. It was almost canceled before Alan Moore became the main writer and made it a real creative success, rewriting the mythology of the character and expanding his powers and reach.
Since then, more writers worked on the titles and Swamp Thing even started fighting alongside other DC heroes.
Started in 2008, Amulet is an American graphic novel series illustrated and written by Kazu Kibuishi. The story follows the adventures of Emily and Navin, two young siblings who moved into their great-grandfather’s country house after their father’s death in a car accident.
While exploring the house, the brother and sister discover a magical amulet that gives Emily extraordinary powers. As they try to uncover the amulet’s mysteries and protect their mother from the Elf King, the siblings find themselves having to fight a formidable and malevolent monster and battle for the freedom of a parallel world. Thankfully, they can count on the help of newfound friends to face all those new dangers.
Discover the fantasy adventures following the Amulet Reading Order!
Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Catwoman is the name used by notorious Gotham City’s burglar Selina Kyle who’s known for loving cats and for using a bullwhip as a weapon. Originally, she was an adversary of Batman, but became some kind of antiheroine, and even an ally of the Dark Knight—and more on the romantic side.
Even if Catwoman made her first appearance in Batman #1 (1940) under the name “The Cat,” she had to go away for a time between September 1954 to November 1966 after losing the battle against the Comics Code Authority. She came back to commit more crimes in the pages of the DC Comics titles. But those stories are not part of the current continuity, so we will focus on what is called the “Modern Era” of DC Comics.
Like others like her, her origins are not clear, multiple authors revised them, but it is firmly established that Selina Kyle grew up on the streets of Gotham, and spent some time in an orphanage and a juvenile detention center. She was working as a dominatrix at some point (in Batman: Year One) before becoming a successful thief who likes to rob the rich and powerful men of Gotham.
Catwoman had her first solo ongoing series in 1993 and took part in the major events of that era. At one point, she fought with the Justice League and later completely reformed, but it was more complicated than a crisis of conscience. Talking about a Crisis, after Infinite Crisis (see reading order), Selina is no longer Catwoman. Holly Robinson took over for a short period of time. Later, Catwoman formed the Gotham City Sirens with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. At one point during the New 52 era, Eiko Hasigawa became Catwoman (and Selina was one of the Gotham City crime bosses). With Rebirth, Catwoman occupied a prominent role in the third volume of Batman, her relationship with Batman played a major role in the story.
The end of New 52 is around the corner, as Justice League: The Darkseid War is the penultimate story of this era, leading into DC Rebirth. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jason Fabok, the story shows the return of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, but this time he’s set his sights on the world-shattering Anti-Monitor.
The Justice League is caught in a war between those two gods, and are they enough to protect Earth from becoming collateral damage in this fight?
What to read before Justice League: Darkseid War?
Darkseid War takes place at the end of the New 52 Justice League, written by Geoff Johns. There are hints and setup for the event throughout the series. That said, if you haven’t read his Justice League (you can find a full reading order here), you’ll find the most essential background in the first volume (with the introduction of Darkseid) and the sixth volume. Then, Forever Evil leads into the event…
Created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, the Young Avengers are a superhero team featuring numerous adolescents with powers, costumes, and codenames inspired by classic Avengers members.
The newspapers labeled those young heroes the “Young Avengers”, a name that they didn’t like, but better than Avenger babies or Avengers sidekicks.
Here is the official synopsis: When the original Avengers disband, costumed teens Patriot, Asgardian, Hulkling, Iron Lad, Hawkeye, and Stature unite to fill the gap. Their first order of business: surviving the wrath of Kang the Conqueror! Second? Weathering the disapproval of the adult Avengers! But when their teammate Billy’s magical powers spiral out of control, the Young Avengers set out to find the one person who might help: the Scarlet Witch, who might be Billy’s mother…and whose own uncontrollable powers caused the Avengers’ dissolution! Once the young heroes find her, nothing will ever be the same!
Since their formation in 2005, the Young Avengers had only two runs, but some members are now popular characters in the Marvel Universe.
What to read before Young Avengers?
There is no prior reading for Young Avengers, as their adventures are self-contained, but it’s the perfect place to indicate that the series follows the events of the 2004–2005 Avengers Disassembled storyline (check out the Reading Order).
During the first Civil War event (full reading order), Peter Parker revealed his Spider-Man identity on live television. This leads to a tragedy and this knowledge was quickly erased from the world with the event of the story arc called “One More Day”.
This is when J. Michael Straczynski stopped being the main writer of The Amazing Spider-Man (see Spidey’s JMS reading order). When he left, Marvel decided to get Spider-Man back to basics. This means that Peter Parker and Mary Jane had never married, and he had no memory of being married to her. Also, Harry Osborn was alive again.
It was the beginning of “Brand New Day.” Marvel decided to alternate writers for The Amazing Spider-Man series. One of them was Dan Slott who became the sole writer at issue #648 (Jan. 2011), launching the Big Time storyline. It was the beginning of what became the longest run in Spidey’s history.
During that era, Slott created new characters, updated old ones, developed the Spider-Verse, gave us the Superior Spider-Man, and more. He only left the title in 2018, his final issue being #801. But he came back to write Spider-Man in 2022, introducing the Spider-Boy and developing a sequel to his Superior Spider-Man series.
What to read before Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man?
Of course, you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today. But, as I was saying, Brand New Day marked the start of the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man, and Dan Slott was one of the writers, and you can start with that:
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Omnibus Vol. 1
Collects Free Comic Book Day 2007 (Spider-Man), Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #546-583, Amazing Spider-Man Annual (2008) #1, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1-3, Presidents’ Day Celebration Digital Comic, Spider-Man: Fear Itself One-Shot (2009), Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #2, Spider-Man: Swing Shift Director’s Cut One-Shot And Material From Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #1.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Omnibus Vol. 2 (coming soon)
Collects TBA
Spider-Man: Brand New Day — The Complete Collection Vol. 4
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #592-601 and Annual #36, Spider-Man: The Short Halloween, Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1-3, Amazing Spider-Man: American Son Sketchbook and material from Amazing Spider-Man Family #7.
Spider-Man: The Gauntlet – The Complete Collection Vol. 2
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #627-637, Grim Hunt: The Kraven Saga (2010) #1, Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat (2010) #1-4, material from Web of Spider-Man (2009) #6-7.
Spider-Man: Origin of the Species (no Dan Slott contribution here)
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #642–647; Spider-Man Saga; Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #12.
