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Cloak and Dagger Reading Order (Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen)

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Created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan, Cloak and Dagger made their debut over 40 years ago in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982). These Marvel Comics superheroes are two runaway teenagers who, after being injected with a synthetic heroin, developed the ability to manipulate light and darkness.

Their powers and backgrounds represent two opposites. Tyrone “Ty” Johnson, a young man from Boston, struggled with a chronic stutter and carried the guilt of his best friend’s death—a tragedy that occurred when he was unable to speak up during a police encounter. Overcome with grief, he fled to New York, where he met Tandy Bowen.

Tandy came from a vastly different world. Raised in privilege, she ran away after feeling neglected by her wealthy mother, who prioritized her social life over her daughter. Naïve about the dangers of the streets, she accepted an offer of shelter, with Ty by her side for protection. However, they were instead delivered into the hands of Simon Marshall, a criminal chemist experimenting with a deadly synthetic drug.

Unlike previous victims, Tyrone and Tandy survived the injection—but they emerged transformed. Tyrone became a living conduit of darkness, able to teleport and turn intangible. Tandy gained the ability to generate daggers of light and heal others. Taking the names Cloak and Dagger, they dedicated themselves to protecting the vulnerable and fighting against injustice.

Since then, the duo has starred in their own comic book series, appeared as guest characters across the Marvel Universe, and joined various superhero teams. They also made the leap to live-action television, headlining a two-season show with Aubrey Joseph as Ty and Olivia Holt as Tandy.

Now, let’s explore their comic book history with this Cloak and Dagger reading order!

Where to Start reading Cloak & Dagger comics? The Omnibus Collection

In recent years, Marvel Comics released two omnibuses. It’s always a great way to discover past stories from characters like Cloak and Dagger–if you can find them at a good price, that said!

  • Cloak and Dagger Omnibus Vol. 1
    Collecting Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #64, #69-70, #81-82 And #94-96; Cloak And Dagger (1983) #1-4; Marvel Team-Up Annual #6; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #19; New Mutants (1983) #23-25; Cloak And Dagger (1985) #1-11; Doctor Strange (1974) #78; Marvel Graphic Novel: Cloak And Dagger/Power Pack – Shelter From The Storm And Material From Strange Tales (1987) #1-2.
  • Cloak and Dagger Omnibus Vol. 2
    Collecting Marvel Graphic Novel: Cloak And Dagger — Predator And Prey, Strange Tales (1987) #7, Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger #1-13, Cloak And Dagger (1990) #14-19, And Material From Strange Tales (1987) #3-6 And #8-19.

Cloak & Dagger Reading Order: The Paperback Collections

Cloak & Dagger Comics: The Early Adventures (1983-1985)

Cloak and Dagger were introduced as guest stars in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man before landing their own limited comics series. During those first years, they also appeared in the team book Power Pack.

Cloak & Dagger Comics: The Mid-Eighties (1985-1990)

Following the success of their limited comic book series, Cloak and Dagger headlined their first ongoing comics while participating in several Marvel events.

  • Cloak And Dagger: Lost And Found
    Collects Cloak And Dagger (1985) #1-11, Material From Strange Tales (1987) #1-2. During this period, Cloak and Dagger are embroiled in Secret Wars II, with issue #4 a tie-in to this event.
  • Power Pack Classic Vol. 3
    Collects Power Pack (1984) #18-26 and Thor (1968) #363. Cloak and Dagger appear in #19 & #24-26.
  • Cloak and Dagger: Predator and Prey
    Collects Strange Tales (1987) #3-6 (A Stories), #7 And #8-19 (A Stories); Marvel Graphic Novel: Cloak And Dagger – Predator And Prey; Cloak And Dagger/Power Pack: Shelter From The Storm And Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger #1-4.
  • Cloak and Dagger: Agony and Ecstasy
    Collects Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger #5-13, Cloak And Dagger (1990) #14-19 And Doctor Strange (1974) #78.

Around Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger #7-8, Dagger (mostly) appears in a few Atlantis Attacks tie-ins, all collected in the Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic. Cloak And Dagger Vol. 3 continued the numbering from Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger, starting with issue #14.

Cloak and Dagger Comics: Friends of Spider-Man and the New Warriors (1991-1999)

With sales decreasing, the Cloak and Dagger comics was canceled and the two heroes found themselves relegated to guest starring during most of the nineties, helping Spider-Man and the New Warriors. On occasion, they had their own stories in Marvel Comics Presents. Dagger also joined the Secret Defenders for a few issues.

  • The Amazing Spider-Man & The New Warriors: The Hero Killers
    Collects Amazing Spider-Man Annual #26; Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #12; Web Of Spider-Man Annual #8 And New Warriors Annual #2.
  • Marvel Comics Presents #115, 119-122
    Cloak and Dagger star in the story “And Let There Be Light Part 2: In A Dark Place” with Ghost Rider, uncollected.

  • The New Warriors: Darkness & Light
    Collects New Warriors (Vol. 1) #27-36 and Annual #3; Night Thrasher: Four Control #1-4; and material from Marvel Holiday Special (Vol. 1) #2 (1993). Titled “Darkness & Light”.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Maximum Carnage
    Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #378-380, Web Of Spider-Man (1985) #101-103, Spider-Man (1990) #35-37, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #201-203, Spider-Man/Punisher/Sabretooth: Designer Genes And Material From Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #1-2.
  • Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #133
    Cloak and Daggers star in the ‘Nocturnal Cravings’ story, uncollected.
  • New Warriors #48-51
    Dagger joins the New Warriors in #48 but it only lasts a few issues before she becomes part of another team, Secret Defenders. The New Warriors issues are all collected in The New Warriors Classic Omnibus Vol. 2
  • Deadpool and Secret Defenders
    Collects Secret Defenders #15-25.

Cloak and Dagger Comics: from Marvel Knights to Spider-Island (2000-2012)

Several low-profile characters find themselves again in the spotlight, thanks to the Marvel Knights comics line. Cloak and Dagger are among them. The duo find themselves increasingly in the limelight, participating in several Marvel events, such as House of M and Civil War.

  • Marvel Knights By Dixon & Barreto Defenders Of Streets
    Collects Marvel Knights (Vol. 1) #1-15.
  • Cloak and Dagger: Runaways and Reversals
    This trade collects all of Cloak & Dagger’s duo stories and major guest appearances arcs from 1998 to 2016. For the moment, you should read only Runaways (Vol. 1) #11-12. Also included: Runaways (Vol. 2) #9-12; Cloak and Dagger (Vol. 4) #1; Spider-Island: Cloak and Dagger #1-3; Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #6-8; and material from Strange Tales: Dark Corners; Marvel Knights Double-Shot #3; Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2; Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #663; and Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) Annual #1.
  • House of M (Omnibus)
    Cloak was part of the Human Resistance Movement during House of M, appearing in issues #3-7, as well as in the tie-in Captain America Vol. 5 (2004) #10.
  • Runaways (Vol. 2) #9-12
    Collected in Cloak and Dagger: Runaways and Reversals.
  • Civil War
    Collects Civil War (2006) #1-7. The duo is present in almost every issue.

Following the conclusion of the classic Civil War comics event, Norman Osborn took over the Marvel Comics Universe for a Dark Reign era. During that time, the duo was recruited to be part of the Dark X-Men (despite the fact they are obviously not X-Men). Cloak also later helped Wolverine deal with Daken and Romulus. Finally, the duo is significantly featured throughout the Spider-Island event.

Spider-Island: All the apparitions of Cloak and Dagger during this Spider-Man crossover event are collected in the Runaways and Reversals book, but you’ll also find this event in the following two trades:

  • Spider-Man: Spider-Island
    Collects Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #666-673; Venom (Vol. 2) #6-9; Spider-Island: Deadly Foes #1; and Spider-Island Spotlight #1.
  • Spider-Man: Spider-Island Companion
    Collects Amazing Spider-Girl (Vol. 1) #1-3; Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #1-3; Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #1-3; Herc (Vol. 1) #7-8; Spider-Island: Avengers #1; Spider-Island: Spider-Woman #1; Spider-Island: I Love New York City #1; Black Panther (Vol. 1) #524; and Spider-Island: Heroes for Hire #1.
  • Wolverine: Sabretooth Reborn
    Collects Wolverine (Vol. 2) #310-313.

All-New, All-Different Cloak and Dagger (2015-2018)

Cloak and Dagger were completely absent during the Marvel Now era, except for one appearance in Superior Spider-Man Team-Up (2013) #1. Spider-Man helped the duo at the beginning of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative, in time for them to participate in the Secret Empire comic book event.

  • Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide
    Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #1-11. Cloak and Dagger are present in issues #6-8.
  • Secret Empire
    Collects Secret Empire #0 and 1-10; Secret Empire Omega #1; Captain America (Vol. 8) #25; and material from Free Comic Book Day 2017 (Secret Empire 1).

Cloak and Dagger in Marvel Fresh Start (2018-)

After a few years on the sideline, Cloak and Dagger are in the spotlight again, thanks to the Marvel TV Series aired on the Freeform channel. They starred in two limited comics series, joined the fight against the Cult of Carnage, and more recently, were part of the Savage Avengers formed by Doctor Strange and Elektra.

During the Absolute Carnage crossover event, Cletus Kasady’s return as Carnage and chaos ensued. Called to action by Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger joinged the fight in Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #2 & 3.

During the Marvel’s Gang War comics event  (not to be confused with the 1980s Spider-Man storyline of the same name), Cloak and Dagger joined Mayor Luke Cage to fight the gangs putting the city on fire.

During the big comic book event that was Blood Hunt, Vampires used people controlling the dark force to plunge Earth into obscurity. Cloak is one of them and you can read about that in Blood Hunt #1. As a result, Dagger teamed up with Elsa Bloodstone, White Widow, and Hallows’ Eve to deal with the vampires in the streets of New York. This team-up continued after the event concluded.

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