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Batman Infinite Frontier Reading Order


In the middle of James Tynion IV’s run on Batman, the DC Universe was once more softly relaunched. Following the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, Generations, and Future State, the DC Multiverse has in fact expanded into a larger Omniverse (and everything became canon). This was how the Infinite Frontier era was introduced—and launched in March 2021. It concluded with the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, in December 2022.

It was less than two years, but a lot has happened in Batman’s life with events like Fear State and Shadow War, and a new costume at one point. As usual, the Dark Knight’s adventures were published in Batman and Detective Comics, but also in the anthology Batman: Urban Legends, the team books Batman/Superman and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, and more!

There’s also a new Batman Incorporated series and a new and different Batman in I Am Batman—Jace Fox is first introduced as the new Batman during Future State, but soon got his own series, written by John Ridley—, and a lot of miniseries, most being out-of-continuity.

Of course, this is mostly about Batman, but the BatFamily is also featured. Nevertheless, their books are not necessarily included. Though, you can find them on their dedicated pages: Nightwing, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Batwoman, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Terry McGinnis (The Batman Beyond).

What to Read Before Batman Infinite Frontier?

As this new era started during James Tynion IV’s run, it is recommended to be up-to-date with his work.

  • Batman Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs
    Collects stories from Batman (vol. 3) #85-94 and Batman Secret Files #3
  • The Joker War Saga
    Collects Batman (vol. 3) #95–100; Batgirl (vol. 5) #47; Detective Comics #1025; Red Hood: Outlaw #48; Nightwing (vol. 4) #74; The Joker War Zone #1; material from Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #75 and Catwoman (vol. 5) #25
  • Batman Vol. 3: Ghost Stories
    Collects Batman (vol. 3) #101–105, Annual (vol. 3) #5; Detective Comics #1027

Following Dark Nights: Death Metal, the DC Universe went to the future with Future State. It may be skipped, but it is better to be familiar with some elements of this story to fully apprehend what is at stake, especially during the Fear State event. You can learn more about Future State in the dedicated reading order.

  • Future State: Dark Detective
    Collects Future State: Dark Detective #1-4 (main story), Future State: Catwoman #1-2, Future State: Harley Quinn #1-2, Future State: Robin Eternal #1-2, Future State: Batman/Superman #1-2.
  • Future State: The Next Batman
    Collects Future State: The Next Batman #1-4, Future State: Nightwing #1-2, Future State: Dark Detective #1 & 3 (select stories), and backup stories.

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Spider-Punk Reading Order (Hobie Brown)

Artist Olivier Coipel created the design of Spider-Punk to be for Spider-UK. Writer Dan Slott rejected it for being “too punk”, but the design was too popular to be ignored and a new character was born.

Spider-Punk made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #10 (January 2015). He is the Spider-Man of Earth-138, but he is not Peter Parker. Behind the mask hides teenager Hobart ‘Hobie’ Brown who fights for freedom on his Earth. He became a Spider-Totem following the classic bite by a spider that was irradiated by OsCorp’s illegal waste dumping.

He was recruited by Superior Spider-Man to be part of the army of Spider-Men during the first Spider-Verse, where some other Spiders called him Spider-Punk, a nickname Hobie disliked at first.

Since then, Hobie lived several adventures and found its way into other media. He appeared in the video games Spider-Man Unlimited and Marvel Strike Force, and made a cameo in an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man. More importantly, he is set to appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced by Daniel Kaluuya.

It’s now time to become more familiar with another member of the Spider-Verse with this Spider-Punk Reading Order!

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Nubia Reading Order (Wonder Woman)

Introduced in 1973 in Wonder Woman #204, Nubia was created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Don Heck. She is an Amazon, and DC Comics’ first Black woman superhero.

At first, Nubia was Wonder Woman‘s long-lost fraternal twin–she was raised by Mars the god of war as his weapon of destruction against the Amazons. Mars’ plan failed and Nubia only made a few appearances after that, then disappeared for 20 years!

When reintroduced during the Post-Crisis/Modern Age era of the DC Universe in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) Annual #8 in 1999, she was renamed Nu’Bia and was charged to guard “Doom’s Doorway” a very long time ago. So long in fact that the Themyscirian Amazons assumed she had perished. It was a short comeback.

But now in the Infinite Frontier era, after appearing in Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman, Nubia is fully back. Reintroduced as an Amazonian champion tasked with guarding Doom’s Doorway, Nubia shortly became Queen of Amazons and started sharing the title of Wonder Woman with Diana.

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Sonic IDW Comics Reading Order, Gotta Go Fast!

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Gotta go fast! Like with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Transformers, or the G.I. Joe franchise, IDW took over the Sonic franchise to tell new adventures with the Blue Blur. The Hedgehog was at Archie Comics for 24 years before entering a new era at IDW which passed a deal with Sega in 2017 to produce a new series of Sonic Comics. The editor even recruited lead writer Ian Flynn and artist Tyson Hesse, who both worked on Archie Comics’s Sonic the Hedgehog before.

Set in a universe similar to the game universe, after the events of Sonic Forces, the Sonic Comics follows the Blue Blur and his friends on new adventures as they race around the world to defeat the evil Dr. Eggman’s robotic forces, and more!

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Revenge of the Brood Reading Order, The X-Men and Captain Marvel Crossover

Back in the Chris Claremont days, Carol Danvers and the X-Men fought alongside each other in the original Brood Saga, a famous story that ended with Carol becoming Binary, and the X-Men making sacrifices.

The Broods are back for a double-story arc, “Revenge of the Brood” and “Lord of the Brood.” Captain Marvel is joined once again by the X-Men to fight the parasitic predators known as the Brood. They plan to infect the cosmos and the heroes must stop them.

Here is how Marvel officially introduces the stories:

In “Lord of the Brood,” the X-Men get a distress call from deep space and find that the galaxy’s Brood problem is not as solved as they’d thought! When the X-Men’s close friend Broo became the Brood King, he gained the ability to control the savage alien race he was both a part of and so different from. Now he is experiencing his own nightmare scenario—the Brood are killing his friends, and there is nothing he can do to stop it! Rogue Brood factions have begun running wild, and it’s up to the X-Men to get to the bottom of why!

In “Revenge of the Brood,” Carol Danvers is on an X-press elevator to her own personal hell! And the Brood Empress is determined to ensure the Captain and all of her friends make it to their destination. Rescuing their team and getting out alive has always been the goal, but the odds are more deeply stacked against her team than Carol can even imagine. Overwhelmed and trapped in the Brood’s backyard, Captain Marvel and her team are forced to sacrifice one of their own. But the Brood let Carol through their clutches once before, and in so doing, created one of their worst enemies. They won’t make that mistake again. 

This Captain Marvel/X-Men epic cosmic story is coming from Kelly Thompson, writer of Captain Marvel, with art by Juan Frigeri, and Gerry Duggan, writer of X-Men, with art by Stefano Caselli.

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Poison Ivy Reading Order

Created by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, Poison Ivy made her debut in Batman #181 in June 1966. She is a botanist with the power to control all plant life. Determined to protect all plants, whatever the costs, she became an “eco-terrorist of global importance,” as she calls herself.

Also known under the name Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, Poison Ivy is also part of Batman Rogues Galleries, and one of his most famous enemies, at first juggling between wanting him to fall in love with her or kill him.

Poison Ivy walks the fine line between antagonist and antiheroine, as her several team affiliations illustrate it. She has been a member of the Injustice Gang and Secret Society of Super Villains, as well as part of the Gotham City Sirens,  the Birds of Prey, and Suicide Squad.

Today, she is most famous for her partnership with her best friend, recurring ally, and love interest Harley Quinn. And like all relations in comic books, it’s complicated!

She has been featured in several adaptations of live-action, animated, and video games. She has been portrayed by Uma Thurman in the movie Batman & Robin; Clare Foley, Maggie Geha, and Peyton List in the television series Gotham, and Bridget Regan in the third season of Batwoman.

This reading order was requested by Nani, one of our readers! Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or write to us with some other suggestions!

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Doctor Aphra Reading Order (Star Wars)

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A young character in the Star Wars Universe, Doctor Aphra made her first appearance in Star Wars: Darth Vader #3 in March 2015. Created by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Salvador Larroca and editors Jordan D. White and Heather Antos, she was a breakout character and soon will headline her own comic title.

Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, called Doctor Aphra, is a criminal archaeologist who is recruited by Darth Vader to help him get an army of droids.  Aphra is quickly established as an anti-heroine, a morally ambiguous and sometimes unreliable character who tends to use people to serve her own interests, but also makes mistakes that put her in grave danger. If she succeeds to stay alive, it’s simply because Aphra is quite smart and is good at improvisation.

The best way to become familiar with Aphra is, of course, to read her adventures following this Doctor Aphra reading order! For an expanded experience, check out our Star Wars Canon Comics Reading order.

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X-Men Sins of Sinister Reading Order, a Marvel crossover event

Things never get easy for the X-Men. Right after A.X.E: Judgment Day and Dark Web, the Mutants are thrown into another crossover event, Sins of Sinister. This time, however, it’s an X-Men-only crossover.

The tagline is: “From his vaunted position on the Quiet Council of Krakoa, Mister Sinister has plotted and schemed. Now, at last, his plans come to fruition beyond his wildest dreams … and his darkest nightmares! Can the X-Men survive the experience? Can anyone?”

If we are to believe Marvel, Sins of Sinister is set in “a horror timeline that makes Age of Apocalypse look like the X-Men Swimsuit Special.” This story takes the Marvel Universe further and further into a dark future, dramatically escalating the stakes with each startling time jump. 10 Years … 100 Years … 1000 Years…

This crossover could be confusing because three current series are renamed for the occasion Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red, and Legion of X are—respectively—replaced by the limited series Immoral X-Men, Storm & The Brotherhood of Mutants, and Nightcrawlers.

Current X-Men writers Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, and Si Spurrier are in charge of writing the new titles, joined by artists Paco Medina, Andrea Di Vito, and Alessandro Vitti.

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Books of Magic Reading Order, The Adventures of Tim Hunter

Launched in 1991 by Vertigo with a miniseries, The Books of Magic is a creation of Neil Gaiman (with artists John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, and Paul Johnson)—and contrary to some beliefs it was not developed as a spin-off of The Sandman, even if the Endless appeared in it. In fact, it was commissioned by DC Comics as a way to highlight the already existing mystical characters in its universe.

The original miniseries introduced us to Timothy Hunter, a twelve-year-old boy who could be the most powerful magician in the world (a character inspired by T. H. White’s The Once and Future King and other classic fantasy stories). The question is: does he really want to be? To find the answer, Tim goes on a trip through the magical world, guided by John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult, a group of magicians (aka the Trenchcoat Brigade). They want to aid Timothy in his decision.

Once the original Books of Magic miniseries concluded, the story continued with an ongoing 75-issue series by John Ney Rieber (who wrote the first 50 issues) and artists Gary Amaro, Peter Gross, and Peter Snejbjerg. We reconnected with Tim when an enigmatic man named Tamlin decided that he was the key to saving the dying world of Faerie. But exactly how Tim is supposed to do that? And who Tamlin really is? Read the book to discover the answers!

The Books of Magic ongoing series was punctuated with other miniseries, there even was a two-issue crossover miniseries with Hellblazer. Once it concluded, Tim’s story continued in a five-part miniseries by Dylan Horrocks called Names of Magic that opened the way for a new ongoing series, Hunter and the Age of Magic.

An alternate Tim Hunter was also introduced in 2004 with Si Spencer’s 15-issue series called “The Books of Magick: Life During Wartime.” Another version of Timothy was also created during the New 52 era in a Justice League Dark storyline.

In 2018, when Neil Gaiman launched a new Sandman Universe imprint, The Books of Magic was partially rebooted (by writer Kat Howard). Timothy Hunter is back to being a 12-year boy destined to be the world’s most powerful magician who has to learn how to control his burgeoning abilities as well as figuring out whom he can trust—and who wants him dead. Even if it was somewhat of a fresh start, past events were referenced.Read More »Books of Magic Reading Order, The Adventures of Tim Hunter

Who is Kraven the Hunter?

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Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery is composed of animal-themed characters like the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and plenty more, but also of people who altered—voluntarily or not—their bodies to become super-powered or who built some kind of devices to commit crimes like Sandman, Electro, Shocker, Hammerhead, Hydro-man, and of course, the Green Goblin.

Kraven the Hunter found its place in the middle of that. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (see our Spider-Man Reading Order to find the story), Kraven came to New York wanting to hunt Spider-Man. This Russian is after “the most dangerous game.”—like another famous fictional Russian big game hunter, General Zaroff.

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