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Fourth World Reading Order, Jack Kirby’s DC Comics Epic Saga

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Jack Kirby's Fourth World Reading Order

Jack Kirby’s name is mostly associated with Marvel, but he left to join DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. During that time, he created the Fourth World Saga. Even if, in the end, The King was not treated better by DC than he was at Marvel, his work there was still heavily influential. In fact, DC would not be what it is today without it.

When he joined DC Comics, Jack Kirby took over Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and, with issue #133 (Oct. 1970), he began the Fourth World. The three other original titles in which the saga developed were The Forever People, Mister Miracle, and The New Gods. The story is basically about the battle between good and evil as represented by the worlds of New Genesis and Apokolips.

Here is the story: Raised in exile as a living instrument of peace between Apokolips and New Genesis, Orion swore to uphold the life-affirming values of his adopted world. But the bottomless rage and thirst for combat that course through his veins cannot be extinguished. In the end, will he defeat Darkseid and thwart his quest for the Anti-Life Equation–or will he forsake his vow and seize the ultimate power for himself?

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Age of X-Man reading order, an X-Men alternate-universe event

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Age of X-Man Reading Order

There are multiple alternate realities in the Marvel Universe, some more famous and impactful than others. For the X-Man, nothing beats Age of Apocalypse, one of the most iconic storyline for the X-Men. With a name and a premise similar, Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler gave us Age of X-Man in 2019, a utopia led by Nate Grey (X-Man). 

Per the official Marvel synopsis: Enter the Age of X-Man, a perfect world with perfect heroes! In this alt-universe read, the commune-dwelling X-Men live on a utopia planet where fear and hatred are things of the past… along with concepts like “love” and the nuclear family. United under the banner of mutantkind, all mutants idolize the X-Men. Then the cracks begin to show, and a rebellion grows against this weird world order…

What to read before Age of X-Man?

As writer Zac Thompson indicated at the time on Twitter, you just need to know who the X-Men are to jump into this event. For those who like to go deeper, here are some of the recommended stories to read before Age of X-Man:

Nate Grey, also known as X-Man, is an alternate version of the regular Marvel Universe hero Cable, coming from the Age of Apocalypse where he made his first appearance in 1995. This major alternate reality also serves as an inspiration for Age of X-Man, but it is not required reading to understand it. If you want to know more about it, you can consult the complete X-Men Age of Apocalypse Reading Order.

  • X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus
    Collects Uncanny X-Men #320-321, X-Men #40-41, Cable #20, X-Men Alpha, Amazing X-Men #1-4, Astonishing X-Men #1-4, Factor X #1-4, Gambit & The Externals #1-4, Generation Next #1-4, Weapon X #1-4, X-Calibre #1-4, X-Man #1-4, X-Men Omega, Age Of Apocalypse : The Chosen and X-Men Ashcan #2.

After disappearing for a few years from the Marvel Universe, Nate Grey makes his comeback in the rebooted Uncanny X-Men, with the storyline X-Men Dissambled from which spanned out the alternate-reality event (but, despite that fact, you can go read the event without the prelude).

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The Best Vertigo Comics Series: 15 must-read comics books

Best Vertigo Comics

Before there was a DC Black Label, we had Vertigo Comics, an imprint of comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993 and dedicated to the publication of comics with adult content. Liberated of the restrictions of DC’s main line, those comics benefited from the larger creative freedom offered to artists and writers who gave us memorable series.

During the 1980s, DC launched a mature readers’ line, and, following the success of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, this kind of book started to evolve separately from the main line. But the real origin of the Vertigo Imprint was when DC stopped submitting The Saga of the Swamp Thing for approval by the Comics Code Authority. Alan Moore’s book opened the door for a new generation of writers, most of them coming from the UK (the famous British Invasion).

Launched in January 1993, Vertigo Comics offered a mix of new and old series, limited or ongoing, and even graphic novels. The first comic book published under the “Vertigo” imprint was Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman and Chris Bachalo (see Death Reading Order). A lot of books followed during the 1990s and 2000s and became classics (some are even in our best comics of all-time list), but the imprint started to slowly lose its appeal. Karen Berger left the company in 2012 and was replaced by Shelly Bond. In 2016, new changes at the head of the imprint did nothing to help save it. In fact, even the return of the Sandman Universe (see reading order) didn’t stop the inevitable. DC announced that, as part of a consolidation into a unified branding, the Vertigo imprint would be discontinued in January 2020. 

For a long time, Vertigo was synonymous with quality comics for adults, innovative storytelling, and great art. Here is the list of our favorite Vertigo books. Don’t hesitate to submit yours in the comment section.

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Superior Spider-Man Reading Order

Coming from Dan Slott, with artwork by Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, and Giuseppe Camuncoli, The Superior Spider-Man series was launched after Amazing Spider-Man #700 in which Peter Parker finally loses his battle against Otto Octavius.

The famous Doctor Octopus swapped consciousnesses with Parker and left him to die in his decaying body to ensure his own survival. Otto became Peter, but arrogant as he is, he also decided to become a better Spider-Man than Parker ever was, and a better man than he was as Otto Octavius. He became the Superior Spider-Man.

This was a controversial move, but the Superior Spider-Man quickly became a fan favorite anyway. Of course, Peter Parker had to come back at some point, but Otto wore the costume for enough time to change things a little. And this was not the end of the Superior Spider-Man, as you’ll see in this reading order.

To know what came before The Superior Spider-Man series, take a look at our Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man Reading Order.

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Amazing Spider-Man Beyond Reading Order

More than a decade ago, when J.M. Straczynski stopped writing The Amazing Spider-Man (see JMS’ Spidey reading order), Marvel decided to launch “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”, a storyline written by multiple writers used to reshape the series—after that, Dan Slott became the main writer (see Slott’s Spidey reading order).

Nick Spencer took over after Dan Slott, but he made a deal with Substack and announced that he decided to leave Marvel altogether (see Spencer’s Spidey reading order). That’s when it was announced that, once again, not one team, but a whole group of artists—Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar, Patrick Gleason, and Zeb Wells—would take over to give us a huge storyline before a new solo writer can take over.

Titled “Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond,” the story brings Ben Reilly back! Here is the official synopsis: Ben Reilly has been through hell, but now with the support of a major corporation, Ben is thwipping once again and being the best Spider-Man he can be. And what does Peter think? Well, he’s just been through the Sinister War and he’s exhausted! But even if Peter is against Ben’s return to the limelight, does he have a choice? The webs that are about to be woven will take you to places you’ve never been … pit our spectacular heroes against classic villains reloaded, as well as brand-new foes … and make you rethink the whole concept of Spider-Man! But what will all this change and upheaval mean for Mary Jane, the Black Cat, Aunt May—and all of New York City?!

What to read before Amazing Spider-Man Beyond?

This is the first time Ben Reilly has been the official Spider-Man since the 1990s, with the Clone Saga event. If you are not familiar with Ben, Spider-Man’s Clone (or…is it??) you can take a look at our Ben Reilly Reading Order–and you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today.

Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond is being treated as a possible entry point for new readers. But if you want to know what came just before, you can take a look at our Nick Spencer’s Spider-Man reading order–and at the Sinister War reading order, the last event of that era.

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X-Men Reading Order, Part. 7: Destiny of X, The Second Age of the X-Men of Krakoa

 

This is Part #7 of our tentative to compile a comprehensive X-Men Reading Order using the collected editions – You can find the first part here (The Silver Age & Chris Claremont, 1963-91), the second part here (Age of Apocalypse & Onslaught, 1991-2001), the third part here (From the Grant Morrison era to Civil War), the fourth part that leads us to Avengers Vs. X-Men, the fifth part (from Marvel NOW Reading Order to ResurrXion Era), and the sixth part (The Jonathan Hickman Era).

Titled “The Second Age of the X-Men of Krakoa,” the X-Men era is not a new one. It’s the continuation of the Jonathan Hickman Era, without Hickman. He left after the last Inferno miniseries. It’s the direct sequel to “Reign of X.”

The first part of this new age for the X-Men of Krakoa is “Destiny of X“. Like “Dawn of X,” there’s a prelude story and a new collection of spin-off series (like Immortal X-Men, Knights Of X, Legion Of X, and X-Men Red). Here is the pitch: Mutantkind’s future is reshaped once more, as Krakoa’s greatest triumphs and most crushing challenges still lie ahead.

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Doctor Strange Damnation Reading Order (Secret Empire’s fallout)

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Doctor Strange Damnation - Reading Order

Damnation is a short Marvel event centered on Doctor Strange, written by Donny Cates and Nick Spencer and illustrated by Rod Reis. Published in 2018, it deals with the aftermath of Secret Empire, or to be more precise of what happens in Las Vegas. The City of Sin has been completely destroyed during Evil Captain America’s regime and Doctor Strange has raised Las Vegas up from its destruction during this event.

As expected when using magic for something major in Marvel, Doctor Strange inadvertently opens a big door for the embodiment of evil, Mephisto! The devilish villain takes the city for himself and sets his sights on the rest of the world. It’s going to take heroes from all over the Marvel Universe to defeat him, but there’s nothing simple about fighting the lord of Hell.

What to read before Doctor Strange Damnation?

Damnation builds directly on the aftermath of Secret Empire, during which Las Vegas was destroyed. To know more about this major Marvel event, you can check out our full Secret Empire reading order.

  • Secret Empire
    Collects Secret Empire #0-9, Free Comic Book Day 2017 Defenders #1

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Death of Wolverine Reading Order

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Death of Wolverine Reading Order

At the end of 2014, something unimaginable happened in the Marvel Universe: the Death of Wolverine! As one of the most famous X-Man in all the universes and a healing factor, Wolverine was not destined to bite the dust like other Marvel characters.

But all that changed in the pages of Wolverine vol. 5, and when his enemies learned that, finally, Wolverine could be killed, it didn’t take too much time for them to attempt to kill him once and for all. Better yet, there’s a bounty on Wolverine’s head, a price so big his enemies and few assassins can’t pass the chance. The race is on to find Wolverine, but who put out the contract? When Logan discovers that his mystery foe wants him alive, he turns on the offensive. As the hunted becomes the hunter once more, he’s determined to die the way he lived.

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Infinity Saga Reading Order, Jim Starlin’s epic

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Jim Starlin’s epic saga is a trilogy of Marvel Cosmic events published at the beginning of the 1990s – that’s why The Infinity Saga is also known as The Infinity Trilogy.

Everything started when Starlin began writing Silver Surfer in 1990 (with art by Ron Lim) and started a story with Thanos that culminated in the first spin-off limited series of the trilogy. Here is the beginning of the story:

For the Mad Titan, Thanos, the Infinity Gauntlet was the Holy Grail — the ultimate prize to be coveted above all else. With it came omnipotence: the absolute control of all aspects of time, space, power, reality, mind, and soul. But his gaining of supreme might mean the beginning of a black nightmare for the entire universe. Now, on the edge of Armageddon and led by the mysterious Adam Warlock, Earth’s superheroes join in a desperate attempt to thwart this nihilistic god’s insane plunge into galactic self-destruction. Should the heroes fail, the astral gods of the universe wait to step into the fray.

What to read before the Infinity Saga?

If you want some background, Jim Starlin introduced a number of important characters and relationship elements related to the Marvel Cosmic Universe in Warlock:

The quest that led to Infinity Gauntlet began in Silver Surfer! Back from the dead, Thanos is after the power to bring the rest of the universe with him on a return trip! Can the Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer, and others stop the cosmic iconoclast before he uses reality as a token of his affection for Death?

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Moon Knight Reading Order

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Created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in 1975, Marc Spector (alias Moon Knight) was born in Chicago, Illinois, the Jewish-American son of a rabbi. But Marc refused to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he became a boxer before joining the Marines. Later, he worked for the CIA and as a mercenary.

It’s during a mission gone wrong in Egypt that Spector is left for dead at the feet of an idol to the Egyptian god Konshu, moon god and protector of travelers at night. Konshu resurrected Marc, giving him for the occasion enhanced physical abilities, making him the moon’s “knight of vengeance,” the “fist of Khonshu.”

Back in the United States, Spector becomes the crime fighter Moon Knight and creates other identities to help him gain information and navigate between different social circles to fulfill his missions. He uses four other identities: billionaire businessman Steven Grant, taxicab driver Jake Lockley, red-haired little girl Inner Child, and suited consultant Mr. Knight. It is later revealed Marc Spector has dissociative identity disorder, due to childhood trauma or the result of “brain damage”, depending on the story.

To know more about Moon Knight, his crime-fighting activities, and other personalities, follow the guide…

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