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Lobo Reading Order (DC Comics)

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When he was first introduced by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen in Omega Men #3 (1983), Lobo was a villain from planet Velorpian, the last of his race, who partnered with Bedlam. You can forget about that. This was not DC Comics’ Main Man, the Lobo who gained fame during the 1990s.

Reintroduced by Giffen in Justice League International, then in L.E.G.I.O.N. (and R.E.B.E.L.S.), before getting his own miniseries famously written by Alan Grant (plotted by Giffen) and with art by Simon Bisley that retconned his origins, Lobo is an interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter from the utopian planet of Czarnia. He is brash, indestructible, and likes being violent.

Drenched in black humor, Lobo was deliberately outrageous as he was used to parody the violent excesses of the time. As Giffen said it, “I have no idea why Lobo took off.  I came up with him as an indictment of the Punisher, Wolverine, badass hero prototype and somehow he caught on as the high-violence poster boy. Go figure.”

As a product of the 1990s, Lobo appeared less often during the following decades, but he still came by from time to time to collect a bounty and be chaotic.

Lobo Comics Reading Order

Lobo wrecks the 1990s

In 1988, Lobo was (re)introduced in the pages of Justice League International #18-21 written by J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen, with art by Kevin Maguire and Ty Templeton. Then, the galactic bounty hunter was hired to destroy the Justice League.

Once this affair concluded, Keith Giffen and Alan Grant put Lobo in L.E.G.I.O.N.  (Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network) where he was presented with an offer he couldn’t refuse. So he became a regular on the title, a member of L.E.G.I.ON. for a long time, and he even was in the follow-up series, R.E.B.E.L.S. ’94 (not collected), for the first storyline of this one.

There is no collected edition for the L.E.G.I.O.N. series, but the issues are now available on digital:

During that time, Lobo was not confined to L.E.G.I.O.N. as he really gained momentum with his solo adventures. When people talk about Lobo, this is what they mostly refer to. That’s also when British artist Simon Bisley added his touch to the character, making Lobo iconic. You don’t have to read L.E.G.I.O.N. to read those self-contained stories–mostly miniseries and one-shots.

DC Comics doesn’t do a great job at collecting stories from the 1990s, but things are changing, and a new compendium collection starts filling the holes:

  • Lobo Big Fraggin Compendium #1
    Collects Lobo (miniseries) #1-4, Lobo #0-9, Lobo Annual #1-2, Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special #1, Lobo’s Back #1-4, Lobo: Blazing Chain of Love #1, Lobo: Infanticide #1-4, Lobo: Portrait of a Victim #1, Lobo: Unamerican Gladiators #1-4, Lobo Convention Special #1, Lobo: A Contract on Gawd #1-4, Lobo: In the Chair #1, Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #8, Superman: TheMan of Steel #30, The Demon #11-15, The Omega Men #3, profile pages from Who’sWho #8, and the Lobocop #1 parody.

Some stories are still missing like The Eternity Quest published in the Demon Vol. 3 #31-39, and other guest-starring appearances, but this is the most-important work concerning Lobo.

Following the mini-series success, DC Comics decided it was time to give the Main Man his own ongoing series. Launch even before Lobo: A Contract on Gawd and around the conclusion of L.E.G.I.O.N., what is known as Lobo Volume 2 soon became the only place to find Lobo’s stories during the second half of the 1990s. It lasted for 64 issues and you can only find them in digital format.

Lobo discreetly entered the 2000s

During the 1990s, the brash Lobo was a hit. But as we entered the 2000s, it became clear that the character had lost his spark–or at least his appeal to DC Comics readers. Following the end of Lobo Volume 2, a magical accident transforms Lobo into a teenager and he becomes “Lil’Lobo” for a short period of time in the Young Justice series. But he is barely in the book, and it was quickly forgotten by the Main Man himself. Still:

More importantly, Keith Giffen who had left the character behind almost a decade prior came back to write a new miniseries. Lobo Unbound saw the bounty hunter trying to reconnect with the glory days. He just wants to be “the greatest mass-murderer ever known,” but things get complicated.

After that, Lobo disappeared for a few years before reappearing in the pages of the miniseries 52. While Adam Strange, Animal Man, and Starfire are in space, they meet Lobo who reveals that he has found religion. He has made a vow of non-violence, and this is not easy to keep.

He appears first in chapter #17, then in #19-20, 28, 31-32, 35-37, 51. The story is fully collected in The 52 Omnibus.

After that, Lobo had a crossover 2-issue miniseries with Batman written and drawn by Sam Kieth called Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious that is collected in:

  • Batman: Ghosts
    Collects Batman Confidential #40-43 and Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #1-2.

He then found himself embroiled in Hellish affairs in the Reign in Hell miniseries by Keith Giffen and Thomas Derenick, and the Lobo: Highway To Hell miniseries by Scott Ian and Sam Kieth.

In 2010, Lobo came back to Earth during the Brightest Day storyline. He is there for a bounty and left with a ring before getting recruited into the new iteration of R.E.B.E.L.S..

The New (52) and Rebooted Lobo

In 2011, DC Comics rebooted its continuity with the New 52 initiative. Some characters were barely affected, Lobo was completely rebooted. Introduced in Deathstroke (vol. 2) #9 written by Rob Liefeld, the New Lobo got a retconned origin story. He became  a Czarnian slaver who annihilated his own people (with one exception).

Then, things got complicated with a redesigned Lobo introduced in Justice League (vol. 2) #23.2 who claimed to be the real Lobo and went on hunting the other Lobo. This more… educated Lobo was the bodyguard to the Czarnian royal family and, when in a tragic turn of events the royal family and everyone connected to them became crazy, he had to kill them.

This version got an ongoing series by writer Cullen Bunn before being discreetly pushed out in an issue of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps (#12 collected in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2: Bottled Light.).

Lobo Rebirth

In 2016, DC Rebirth undo what New 52 did to Lobo by restoring the previous continuity. During the crossover Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, Lobo was part of Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad but Batman got him out and, to repay the favor, he joined the Justice League (!?!).

In 2021, Lobo made his debut in DC’s Black Label with an out-of-continuity story titled Superman Vs. Lobo from writers Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie and artist Mirka Andolfo. Despite the title, it was not really a confrontation between the two characters.

Lobo’s Infinite Frontier

In recent years, with the Infinite Frontier/Dawn of DC initiatives, Lobo didn’t have a lot to do, unlike his daughter Crush who became a Teen Titan. Being in jail may be the reason why. But with help from Crush, Lobo has a chance to regain his freedom.

And now, he plays a part in the House of Brainiac crossover event.

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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