Created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan, Cloak and Dagger is a Marvel superhero duo that came into the scene more than 40 years ago, in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982). They are teenagers who were injected with a synthetic heroin that granted them the dual ability to control both light and dark forces.
Cloak and Dagger represent two opposites, from their powers to their backgrounds. Tyrone “Ty” Johnson is a young man from Boston suffering from a chronic stutter and who felt responsible for the death of his best friend after they both witnessed a robbery and Tyrone was unable to talk and defend his best friend to a police officer. Following this tragic event, he ran away to New York where he met Tandy Bowen.
Like Ty, Tandy ran away from home, but she comes from a completely different background. She left behind her privileged upbringing, as her multi-millionnaire mother was more interested in her career and social life than in passing time with her daughter. Oblivious to the danger you can encounter on the streets, Tandy accepted an offer of shelter, with Ty accompanying her to protect her. They are in reality delivered to the criminal chemist Simon Marshall, who injects them with a new synthetic heroin that has killed everyone until then. This time, Tyrone and Tandy survived and fled the scene, but the injection changed them into super-powered beings. Engulfed by darkness, Tyrone can teleport and turn intangible through the darkforce. Dagger can create daggers of light and use her power to heal. They chose to call themselves Cloak and Dagger and to help others.
They have done that since then, with headlining their own titles, many guest appearances, and as part of different teams. They also found their way into television, as the duo was the star of a two-season live-action television series, with Aubrey Joseph as Ty Johnson and Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen.
Let’s dive into their comic book adventures with this Cloak and Dagger reading order!
Where to Start reading Cloak & Dagger? The Omnibus Collection
In the past years, Marvel released two omnibuses. It’s always a great way to discover past stories from characters like Cloak and Dagger – if you can find the first one 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 Comics Order Guide: The Paperbacks collection
Cloak & Dagger, 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 series. During those first years, they also appeared in the team book Power Pack.
- Cloak and Dagger: Shadows and Light
Collects 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; And New Mutants (1983) #23-25. - Power Pack Classic Vol. 1
Collects Power Pack #1-10.
Cloak & Dagger in the mid-eighties (1985-1990)
Following the success of their limited series, Cloak and Dagger headlined their first ongoing series 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.- Cloak And Dagger Vol. 3 continued the numbering from Mutant Misadventures Of Cloak And Dagger and started with issue #14.
- 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.
- Dagger also appears alone in Power Pack (Vol. 1) #53, collected in Power Pack Classic Omnibus Vol. 2 or Acts of Vengeance: Marvel Universe
- Infinity Gauntlet
Cloak and Dagger are part of this Marvel event, taking place after Cloak And Dagger (1990) #19, despite issue #18 being listed as a tie-in. During this event, Cloak also appears in Silver Surfer #52.
Cloak and Dagger, friends of Spider-Man and the New Warriors (1991-1999)
With sales decreasing, their series was canceled and Cloak and Dagger found themselves relegated to guest starring during the most part 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, from Marvel Knights to Spider-Island (2000-2012)
A number of low-profile characters find themselves again in the spotlight, thanks to Marvel Knights. 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 of this event.
Following the conclusion of Civil War, Norman Osborn took over the Marvel 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.
- Avengers/X-Men: Utopia
Collects Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #513-514; X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 1) #226-227; Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus #1; Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1; Dark Avengers (Vol. 1) #7-8; Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1-3; and Dark X-Men: The Confession #1. - Wolverine: Origins: Seven the Hard Way
Collects Wolverine: Origins (Vol. 1) #41-45. - Wolverine: The Reckoning
Collects Wolverine: Origins (Vol. 1) #46-50, Dark Wolverine #85-87 - Cloak and Dagger (Vol. 4) #1
Collected in Runaways and Reversals - Spider-Island
All the apparitions of Cloak and Dagger during this Spidey event are collected in Runaways and Reversals. Naturally, you’ll find this event in the following 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.
- Spider-Man: Spider-Island
- 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, with the exception of 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 Secret Empire.
- 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’s TV Series aired on Freeform. They starred in two limited series, joined the fight against the Cult of Carnage, and more recently, were part of the Savage Avengers formed by Doctor Strange and Elektra.
- Cloak and Dagger: Shades of Gray
Collects Cloak and Dagger (Vol. 5) #1-6. - Cloak and Dagger: Negative Exposure
Collects Cloak and Dagger: Negative Exposure – Marvel Digital Original #1-3. - Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors
Collects Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1-3 and Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1. Part of the Absolute Carnage event. - Savage Avengers: Time is the Sharpest Edge
Collects Savage Avengers (Vol. 2) #1-5. - Savage Avengers: Escape from Nueva York
Collects Savage Avengers (Vol. 2) #6-10.
Did we forget something? Did we make a mistake? Write to us or Let us know in the comments!