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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW Reading Order

Originally published by Mirage Studios in 1984, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a black-and-white, self-published comic created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird that quickly gained traction, helping to ignite the independent comics boom of the 1980s.

Unlike many of its contemporaries, which faded into obscurity, TMNT evolved into a long-lasting franchise. The original comics follow four mutated turtles—Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo—who are trained in ninjutsu by their rat sensei, Splinter. Living in the sewers of New York City, they battle crime, alien threats, and supernatural forces, expanding their adventures across multiple dimensions in comics, television, and film.

While the original Mirage series ended in 1995, TMNT publications continued in various forms. The property moved to Image Comics in 1996, returned to Mirage in the early 2000s, and was later acquired by Nickelodeon in 2009. Since 2011, IDW Publishing (Transformers, G.I. Joe) has produced an ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series, spearheaded by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, writer Tom Waltz, and artist Dan Duncan. This iteration introduced a revised origin story and an expanded mythology, ensuring that the heroes in a half shell continue their legacy in fresh and ambitious ways.

After 150 issues, IDW decided to relaunch the main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series and announced Volume 2 now written by Jason Aaron. A new era of the Turtles began.

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The Legend of Korra Comics Reading Order, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender

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The Legend of Korra Comic book Reading Order

A sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra is an animated American television series with four seasons. The story picks up seventy years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender and follows Korra as she faces the difficult challenges, duties, and responsibilities that come with being the Avatar.

Now, the adventure continues in comic book form, with most stories taking place after the conclusion of the show’s official run. Here is the official synopsis:

“Relishing their newfound feelings for each other, Korra and Asami leave the Spirit World . . . but find nothing in Republic City but political hijinks and human vs. spirit conflict! A pompous developer plans to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park, potentially severing an already tumultuous connection with the spirits. What’s more, the triads have realigned and are in a brutal all-out brawl at the city’s borders–where hundreds of evacuees have relocated! In order to get through it all, Korra and Asami vow to look out for each other–but first, they’ve got to get better at being a team and a couple!”

What to read before The Legend of Korra?

Before going into The Legend of Korra, you can watch and read about Avatar: The Last Airbender, then (re)discover The Legend of Korra animated series.

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Spider-Man Spider-Verse Reading Order

In almost all the universe, there’s a Spider-Man. In a 2014 Marvel Event named Spider-verse, all the Spider-Men were attacked by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors.

Written by Dan Slott, the storyline really began a few years ago during J. Michael Straczynski’s Coming Home story. When the evil Inheritors begin exterminating spider-characters throughout the multiverse in order to feed on their force, every single Spider-Man ever is needed to save the day!

An interdimensional spider-army gathers to fight Morlun and his deadly family, but as the Prophecy comes to fruition, none of them are safe! What will this brutal war for survival mean for Peter Parker…and the rest of the spiders? Starring hundreds of Spider-Men, from the beloved to the obscure!

What To Read before Spider-Man Spider-Verse?

The Spider-Verse brings back a lot of spider-men, A LOT. If you are a long-time reader of the series, you’ll probably remember some. If you are a hardcore fan, you’ll remember all of them. That said, not knowing the cartoon version or the Spider-Ham 2099 will not be an obstacle here, the story may be full of references, and even a neophyte can read it and understand all the important points.

All those big events always use old stories to build their mythology, Spider-Verse is no exception. Here is what you can read before. It’s not obligatory reading, but it helps to understand what is at stake from the beginning.

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Event Leviathan Reading Order, a DC mystery Event by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

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Event Leviathan Reading Order

Event Leviathan is a 2019 crossover event created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev for DC Comics, happening during the Year of The Villain.

It follows a team of detectives assembled by Lois Lane who investigates the infiltration and apparent destruction of various intelligence agencies within the DC Universe by Leviathan, the group formerly run by Talia al Ghul.

As the official synopsis says: With startling ease, a newly dangerous and aggressive secret organization called Leviathan has returned and has been systematically wiping out all its competition. The ways of the old world no longer work. Now Leviathan is turning its sights to molding the world into its own radical vision of order.

Can this new threat’s growth be stopped? Join Lois Lane as she leads Batman, Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Manhunter, the Question along with a couple of surprise sleuths in the search of the man who sits behind the cloak of Leviathan. But will whoever find him first capture him…or join him?

What to read before Event Leviathan?

Why Event Leviathan didn’t simply take place in Action Comics is the real mystery here. Bendis’s run on Action Comics leads into Event Leviathan, making it an important read to better understand the event.

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Spider-Man: Clone Saga Reading Order (with Ben Reilly!)

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The life of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man is full of incredible situations and life-changing events. The most famous? Probably The Clone Saga. In fact, there are two sagas. The first one was a storyline published during the 1970s. The second one was more than two years of publications, an editorial nightmare that has affected all the regular Spider-Man series, several limited series, and one-shot issues published between 1994 and 1997.

Everything began after the death of Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Peter Parker. It was controversial, to say the least. The editorial team decided to bring back Gwen into Peter’s life in the following story arc. Writer Gerry Conway introduced a new villain called the Jackal, a cloning expert. It was not the real Gwen or the only person that was cloned. The Jackal cloned Peter and the story ends with a touch of doubt. Is it the original Spider-Man or his clone who had perished in the bomb explosion?

A few years later, Spider-Man encountered Carrion, who claimed to be a degenerated clone of Warren. Then, the clone of Gwen Stacy reappeared too—but it was not a clone or Gwen. The truth about Carrion was finally revealed.

Time passed, then came the second clone saga. Spider-Man’s clone reappeared! He had survived and had lived his life under the name Ben Reilly (go here for the dedicated Ben Reilly Reading Order). He returned to New York City and became the Scarlet Spider. Peter and Ben must face a resurrected Jackal and Kaine, the unsuccessful first clone of Spider-Man, but also another clone of Spider-Man who became the villain Spidercide. And that’s not all. That’s just the beginning.

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Powers Reading Order (Comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming)

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Powers Reading Order

Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, Powers is a superhero noir comic. More precisely, it’s a noir crime drama set in a world with superheroes. It tells the story of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, assigned to investigate crimes involving “powers”, people with superhuman abilities.

Turns out that Walker used to be one of them, but he lost everything and became a cop. And now, he is working with Deena Pilgrim. She kicks ass and takes names like almost nobody else in the comic universe, just so you know. They started to work together on the famous Retro Girl case, a murder case that will define their lives, even if they don’t know it yet.

The publishing history of Powers is almost chaotic (chic?). Everything started at Image Comics in 2000, but when Bendis’s role at Marvel began to grow, Powers followed him and became one of the first series published by Icon—the created owned imprint by Marvel for Marvel authors. The problem is that Bendis started to work on so many books that the publication of Powers slow down and became erratic. Then, he joined DC Comics where he created his own imprint, JinxWorld, dedicated to his created own work. Powers was reprinted, then a new and final graphic novel was published to end the series. And now, everything is moving again to Dark Horse Comics.

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Lucifer Reading Order (The Sandman spin-off)

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Lucifer Reading Order

Straight from the world of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, here comes Lucifer Morningstar himself. Let me start by saying that, if you are here to read about the TV version of Lucifer, you’ll probably be disappointed. Even if the FOX/Netflix show was based on this character, the similitudes are quite limited. That said, those books are really good.

From The Sandman Universe, Lucifer Morningstar is a fallen rebel archangel who was cast out of Heaven as punishment for leading the revolt of the angels. Once upon a time, he rebelled against the Kingdom of Heaven and end up in what became Hell, until the day he decided to close shop. He retired to Earth and ran bar named Lux with his mistress Mazikeen at his side.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order

Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order

An American animated television series for three seasons, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the adventures of Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.

Now, you can continue the adventure in comic book form. Some depict events and situations unseen during the series’ run, while most comics follow the characters after the conclusion of the show’s official run.

What to read before the comics Avatar: The Last Airbender?

More than reading, it is better to go for a rewatch of the TV series, before or in parallel with the first comics, as you prefer. But it’s also the perfect place to acknowledge Chronicles of the Avatar, a series of novels chronicling the lives of previous Avatars.

Taking also place before the events depicted in the television series, you can read more about Zuko in a graphic novel detailing the years between his banishment and the reappearance of the Avatar. It has been released as a tie-in for the 2010 movie, but it still fits pretty well inside the canon (thanks to Somebody in the comments!)

Finally, you can revisit the animated tv series, with a Screen Comix retelling of the original series with full-color images and dialogue from the series, published by Random House.

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Saga Comic Reading Order, discover Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ epic space opera comic book series

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Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples, published by Image Comics, Saga is an epic space opera/fantasy comic book series heavily influenced by Star Wars.

The story of Saga started as a depiction of two lovers from long-warring extraterrestrial races, Alana and Marko, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their newborn daughter, Hazel, who occasionally narrates the series. Simply put, It is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds.

Wildly popular, the Saga series launched in 2012 will span 108 issues. After the first 54 issues, the series went on hiatus from July 2018 to January 2022.

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Superman/Action Comics Rebirth Reading Order (by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason & Dan Jurgens)

Superman Rebirth Reading Order, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

Following New 52, an era that rebooted DC continuity in 2011 (and have a whole reading order), comes DC Rebirth, a period focused on returning the characters to an earlier status quo while updating the premises for new audiences. For The Man in Steel, it means reconnecting with the Superman from Pre-Flashpoint, a man married to Lois Lane and father of Jon Kent.

Action Comics starring Superman is written by Dan Jurgens and Superman is launched by writers Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason.

What to read before Superman/Action Comics Rebirth?

For full context about Superman, Lois Lane, and the birth of Jon Kent, the answer lies in Convergence. Although it’s probably not strictly necessary, and generally considered not that important… and pretty bad! Superman: Lois & Clark serves as an introduction to Superman’s family.

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