Comic Book Treasury

Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe

by Fabien
Updated on May 23, 2024

There are a lot of characters in the DC Universe (in the Marvel one too) and it’s not always easy to track them down when they are not the star of their own ongoing series. Characters like Zatanna Zatara appeared in a lot of stories over the years, but rarely as the star of the show.

Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna made her first appearance in Hawkman #4 (published in November 1964). She is known to be a stage illusionist as well as an actual magician, like her father Giovanni Zatara.

Zatanna is controlling her powers by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backward. She is known for her involvement with the Justice League (Dark), John Constantine, and the rest of the magic side of the DC Universe.

Marvel Civil War II Reading Order, Choose your side

by Carole
Updated on June 7, 2023
3 Comments

Presented as a sequel to 2006’s Civil War event (see Reading Order) putting heroes against each other, Civil War II is another big Marvel crossover event, with the mission to capitalize on the release of the 2016 Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, Civil War II was published between June and December 2016 and opposed this time Iron Man to Captain Marvel. When a new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, Captain Marvel wanted him to work with the Ultimates, in order to preemptively tackle disasters before they happen, but Iron Man opposed the idea, suggesting it was dangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. This is the beginning of a conflict with a lot of tie-ins!

Batman Rebirth Reading Order (From the Monster Men to Batman’s Wedding, City of Bane, The Joker War and more)

by Fabien
Updated on June 19, 2024
3 Comments

With the end of the New52/DC You era, the DC Universe entered the Rebirth era. A new beginning of sorts, with a new creative team taking charge of the Dark Knight.

Batman was rebooted and began shipping twice monthly. In August 2016, the third volume of Batman written by Tom King, with artwork by David Finch and Mikel Janín, began from #1, but Detective Comics (from Writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez) resumed its original numbering system starting with June 2016’s #934.

If Batman famously centered on Batman, his relationship with Catwoman, and his fight to save Gotham, Detective Comics became for a time a team book with Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Clayface, led by Batman and Batwoman.

As always, there were more Batman series. In fact, Scott Snyder came back for more with All-Star Batman. There also were Batman and the Outsiders and some major events like Dark Nights: Metal (and Death Metal), The Joker War, and some less important ones.

What to read before Batman Rebirth?

First, you can explore the Batman New 52 era or even follow The Batman Modern Age Reading Guide. However, as it is a new beginning, you’ll need an introduction to the famous DC Universe: Rebirth #1 that explains why it’s a reboot. It’s about how the world of the Watchmen collided with the DC Universe and the return of Wally West.

Inhumans Vs X-Men Reading Order (IvX)

by Fabien
Updated on November 5, 2022

Written by Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire with art from Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort, and Javi Garron, Inhumans Vs X-Men (IvX) is a 2016 Marvel crossover event about the fight for survival opposing the Inhumans against the X-Men.

The X-Men and Inhumans have been on a collision course ever since the link was proven between the Inhumans’ precious Terrigen Mist and the sickness and death of many mutants. And when the Beast discovers that mutantkind has only two weeks left before planet Earth becomes completely uninhabitable for them, an Inhuman/mutant war is unavoidable!

It all begins with one choice, and the world will never be the same! New Attilan comes under attack, and the Inhumans won’t surrender without a fight – but when the X-Men target the Terrigen cloud, will that mean the end of the line for the entire Inhuman legacy? Karnak vs. Fantomex! Emma Frost vs. Medusa! The Nuhumans vs. Magneto! IVX delivers sensational set pieces and gargantuan grudge matches that promise to shatter the Marvel Universe as you know it!

What to read before Inhumans Vs X-Men?

Death Of X is a 4-part miniseries set a few months before the events. It’s roughly an introduction. It’s optional, but it’s a way to start if you are not familiar with this universe.

Death Of X
Collects Death Of X #1-6.

Batman Beyond Reading Order, Terry McGinnis is the Batman of the Future

by Carole
Updated on June 14, 2024
6 Comments

Like Harley Quinn, Terry McGinnis was created for television, more specifically in his case for the Batman Beyond animated television series (1999–2001), as a continuation of The New Batman Adventures, originally meant as a character for the DCAU. And it would take 10 years for Terry to make his first appearance in the main DC Universe, in Batman #700.

Created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett, Batman Beyond takes place in a futuristic Gotham City where Terry McGinnis has taken over the mantle of Batman, under the tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne. He is a high school student and a former delinquent. Under the pretense of doing errands for Bruce, Terry fights crime as the new Batman.

Where to start with Batman Beyond/Terry McGinnis?

This is where we naturally recommend watching Batman Beyond, the animated TV Series, comprised of three seasons, 52 episodes, and one direct-to-video feature film.

Thor by Jason Aaron Reading Order

by Fabien
Updated on May 19, 2023

In 2012, after Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction wrote Thor stories for a few years, Jason Aaron picked up where they left off and started to build an epic that lead us to The War of Realms (full reading order here).

Not as big as Dan slott’s run on Spider-Man, Jason Aaron’s one on Thor is still big and full of now historic events. With the Original Sin event, the God Butcher, the now-famous female Thor, and the War of Realms, Jason Aaron saw big and wrote some surprising and huge stories.

Here is the official synopsis: Across the ages, gods are vanishing — and the God of Thunder must unite with his past and future selves to stand against Gorr the God Butcher! Meanwhile, Malekith the Accursed begins a bloody rampage that will spread war throughout the realms. Which makes it a terrible time for the Odinson to be rendered unworthy of lifting Mjolnir! Another hero will hold the hammer high, fighting for Asgard and Midgard as Thor — the Goddess of Thunder! She’ll battle Malekith, Loki, Roxxon…and even Odin! But who is she under the mask? And what is this new Thor’s terrible secret?

The DC Comics Events and Crossovers List

by Fabien
Updated on May 7, 2024
3 Comments

Like Marvel Comics did (see the full events & crossovers list here), DC Comics started to organize big events and crossovers during the ’1980s. The first one was Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that changed DC Comics continuity forever, a huge creative accomplishment from Marv Wolfman and George Perez. After that, more crossovers followed, some big and ambitious, others more modest in scope, connecting heroes and series.

Like I said about Marvel events, even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculative boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Batman to the Green Lanterns, from Superman to Harley Quinn.

This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different DC Comics series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries, as DC Comics continues to announce more and more of them.

Tintin Reading Order: How to read The Adventures of Tintin?

by Carole
Updated on January 4, 2023

Created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé in 1929, The Adventures of Tintin follow the intrepid globetrotter reporter and adventurer named Tintin as he travels all over the world to investigate mysteries.

Aided by his faithful dog Snowy and his friends, the brash and cynical Captain Haddock and the intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, Tintin evolves in realistic environments as well as in pure science fiction and fantasy.

Disclaimer: It’s an old comics, so there are some ideas and representations that are quite offensive today. It’s sometimes racist. Just saying. You know, like in the old issues of The Spirit.

The Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List, from the ’80s Secret Wars to today

by Fabien
Updated on May 7, 2024
9 Comments

Since the ’80s with the big success of ”Secret Wars,” Marvel Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. It became a big part of the business, but also of the way stories are built. Even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculator boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Spider-Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy, from Captain America to the X-Men.

This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different Marvel series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries as Marvel continues to announce more and more of them.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: Hellmouth Reading Order: How to read the Buffy/Angel Boom Studios’ event?

by Carole
Updated on January 4, 2023

As explained in the Buffyverse Comic Book Reboot Reading Order by Boom Studios, Dark Horse Comics’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer license expired at the end of 2018, and the license is now in the hands of BOOM! Studios who relaunched the series in 2019 and followed 3 months later with an Angel title. The publisher didn’t lose time and offered the first cross-over event, Hellmouth.

What is the Hellmouth event about? Written by Jordie Bellaire and Jeremy Lambert and illustrated by Eleonora Carlini and Marco Renna, Hellmouth is a miniseries of the crossover event tying into the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel comic book series.

As Boom Studios explain to us, Buffy and her Scooby Gang will have to muster all their strength as they deal with an open Hellmouth that threatens the lives of everyone they love in Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Angel, the vampire cursed with a soul, arrives in town to find his redemption by doing whatever it takes to close the Hellmouth… and no human, demon, or Slayer will stand in his way.

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