After eighteen years at Marvel, Brian Michael Bendis left the House of Ideas to work for DC Comics exclusively. The American comic book publisher makes a lot of noise for his arrival, with Bendis taking the rein of Superman, making his debut with Action Comics #1000.
What follows was, I’m gonna speculate, not what DC hopes, as Bendis’s run on Superman/Action Comics (as he writes BOTH series) became divisive quite quickly.
Here’s the official synopsis: A new era begins for Superman as a threat from his earliest origins reemerges to destroy the Last Son of Krypton. As Superman struggles to come to grips with what has happened to his wife and son, he must also face a new threat that’s determined to burn down Metropolis!
What to read before Superman/Action Comics by Brian Michael Bendis?
Before Brian Michael Bendis took over creative duties on Superman/Action Comics, the character was handled by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason & Dan Jurgens since the beginning of Rebirth. Bendis deals with some elements of this run, mostly by getting rid of Lois and Jon at the beginning of his run. This is not required reading for Bendis, as he creates quickly a new statu-quo, but this is quite a popular run among Supes fans, worth checking out:
Introduced* as a big threat to the Marvel Universe by Donny Cates when he started writing Venom’s new continuing series (go to the Reading Order), Knull, god of the symbiotes, is finally coming to conquer Earth—with an army of thousands of symbiote dragons at his beck and call. Of course, Earth’s heroes will fight back.
Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, is obviously front and center. He has already seen firsthand the chaos that even one of Knull’s symbiotic monsters can wreak. But will he survive an encounter with the God of the Abyss himself?
Here is the official synopsis: Darkness reigns across the Marvel Universe! After a campaign of terror across the galaxy, Knull — ancient and malevolent god of symbiotes — reaches Earth, with an endless army of symbiote dragons at his command! The King in Black is a force unlike any ever faced by Venom and the rest of Earth’s heroes — but now Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner and many, many more must battle an endless wave of darkness! Outgunned and badly outnumbered, can anyone possibly survive Knull’s symbiotic onslaught? Or will they all be forced to bow to the King?
*Knull was really introduced in Thor: God of Thunder #6, but he was not named and he was just an idea that Cates took and developed.
What to read before King in Black?
As I said, the story began some time ago. Even if Knull played a big part in Donny Cates’ run on Venom (here is the reading order), he also appeared in other series. Here is a guide of what you’ll want to read to be up to date:
Knull: Marvel Tales
Collects Venom (2018) #3-4, Venom : Carnage Born, and Venom (2018) #25. It collects what is essential.
Absolute Carnage
Collects Absolute Carnage #1-5, Absolute Carnage Vs. Deadpool #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Captain Marvel #1, Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk #1, Absolute Carnage: Symbiote Spider-Man #1, Absolute Carnage: Symbiote Of Vengeance #1, Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1, Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus #1, Absolute Carnage: Scream #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety #1, Amazing Spider-Man #29-31, Venom #16-20, And Absolute Carnage Stinger Pages. For a more detailed look at this event, go to the Absolute Carnage Reading Order.
Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black
Collects Symbiote Spider-Man: King in Black #1-5. This is and optional miniseries set just after the first “Secret Wars.”
Joker War is over. Death Metal is still going and Future State begins next month. Why not offer a Winter/Christmas Event in December then? You can count on DC to squeeze an event between two others. Justice League: Endless Winter is a 5-week DC Event, marking the end of the year.
The Justice League encounters an extinction-level global storm brewing at the former site of the Fortress of Solitude. Enter the Frost King, a monster mad with power with an army at his command! What devastating mystery lies in his past? And how does he tied to Queen Hippolyta, Swamp Thing, Viking Prince, and their reluctant ally, Black Adam? Two timelines will reveal further clues and secrets throughout each chapter of this blockbuster tale!
What to read before Justice League: Endless Winter?
Written by Andy Lanning and Ron Marz, and penciled by Howard Porter and Marco Santucci, Endless Winter is a self-contained story introducing a brand-new villain. As a result, you can jump right into this nine-part event.
The story of the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird is quite famous, not as much as the series itself. But if you don’t know, go watch the documentaries and read the books.
For now, we are here to talk about the giant fighting turtles named after Italian Renaissance artists that were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo fought crimes from their home in the sewers of New York City and they quickly had to travel into other dimensions and to survive to other types of crazy adventures in comic book form, obviously, but also on TV and in the movies.
Published by Mirage Studios in 1984, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped start the Black & White revolution. But when other series disappeared, the turtles persisted. Well, publication stopped for a short period of time, but they came back, as strong as ever and they still fight the good fight in original stories published by IDW (Transformers, G.I. Joe).
When this new ongoing series started, with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and artist Dan Duncan taking charge of the creative work, it was a new beginning with rewritten origins and an ambitious mythology.
A sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra is an animated American television series with four seasons. The story picks up seventy years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender and follows Korra as she faces the difficult challenges, duties, and responsibilities that come with being the Avatar.
Now, the adventure continues in comic book form, with most stories taking place after the conclusion of the show’s official run. Here is the official synopsis:
“Relishing their newfound feelings for each other, Korra and Asami leave the Spirit World . . . but find nothing in Republic City but political hijinks and human vs. spirit conflict! A pompous developer plans to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park, potentially severing an already tumultuous connection with the spirits. What’s more, the triads have realigned and are in a brutal all-out brawl at the city’s borders–where hundreds of evacuees have relocated! In order to get through it all, Korra and Asami vow to look out for each other–but first, they’ve got to get better at being a team and a couple!”
What to read before The Legend of Korra?
Before going into The Legend of Korra, you can watch and read about The Last Airbender (see Reading Order), then (re)discover The Legend of Korra animated series.
In almost all the universe, there’s a Spider-Man. In a 2014 Marvel Event named Spider-verse, all the Spider-Men were attacked by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors.
Written by Dan Slott, the storyline really began a few years ago during J. Michael Straczynski’s Coming Home story. When the evil Inheritors begin exterminating spider-characters throughout the multiverse in order to feed on their force, every single Spider-Man ever is needed to save the day!
An interdimensional spider-army gathers to fight Morlun and his deadly family, but as the Prophecy comes to fruition, none of them are safe! What will this brutal war for survival mean for Peter Parker…and the rest of the spiders? Starring hundreds of Spider-Men, from the beloved to the obscure!
What To Read before Spider-Man Spider-Verse?
The Spider-Verse brings back a lot of spider-men, A LOT. If you are a long-time reader of the series, you’ll probably remember some. If you are a hardcore fan, you’ll remember all of them. That said, not knowing the cartoon version or the Spider-Ham 2099 will not be an obstacle here, the story may be full of references, and even a neophyte can read it and understand all the important points.
All those big events always use old stories to build their mythology, Spider-Verse is no exception. Here is what you can read before. It’s not obligatory reading, but it helps to understand what is at stake from the beginning.
Spider-Man: Coming Home
Collects The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #30–35. This is the introduction of Ezekiel and Morlun, and the concept of the animal totems.
Spider-Man: The Life & Death of Spiders
Collects Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #46-50. The Spider-Totem story continues here with The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #47–48.
Event Leviathan is a 2019 crossover event created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev for DC Comics, happening during the Year of The Villain.
It follows a team of detectives assembled by Lois Lane who investigates the infiltration and apparent destruction of various intelligence agencies within the DC Universe by Leviathan, the group formerly run by Talia al Ghul.
As the official synopsis says: With startling ease, a newly dangerous and aggressive secret organization called Leviathan has returned and has been systematically wiping out all its competition. The ways of the old world no longer work. Now Leviathan is turning its sights to molding the world into its own radical vision of order.
Can this new threat’s growth be stopped? Join Lois Lane as she leads Batman, Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Manhunter, the Question along with a couple of surprise sleuths in the search of the man who sits behind the cloak of Leviathan. But will whoever find him first capture him…or join him?
What to read before Event Leviathan?
Why Event Leviathan didn’t simply take place in Action Comics is the real mystery here. Bendis’s run on Action Comics leads into Event Leviathan, making it an important read to better understand the event.
The Man of Steel(optional) – Bendis establishes the first elements for his Superman stories here.
DC’s Year of the Villain #1 – One of the three stories focuses on Leviathan and the growing threat it poses.
Superman Leviathan Rising Special – a shorter version of this special is collected in Leviathan Rising. This one offers more info about Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Supergirl.
The life of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man is full of incredible situations and life-changing events. The most famous? Probably The Clone Saga. In fact, there are two sagas. The first one was a storyline published during the 1970s. The second one was more than two years of publications, an editorial nightmare that has affected all the regular Spider-Man series, several limited series, and one-shot issues published between 1994 and 1997.
Everything began after the death of Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Peter Parker. It was controversial, to say the least. The editorial team decided to bring back Gwen into Peter’s life in the following story arc. Writer Gerry Conway introduced a new villain called the Jackal, a cloning expert. It was not the real Gwen or the only person that was cloned. The Jackal cloned Peter and the story ends with a touch of doubt. Is it the original Spider-Man or his clone who had perished in the bomb explosion?
A few years later, Spider-Man encountered Carrion, who claimed to be a degenerated clone of Warren. Then, the clone of Gwen Stacy reappeared too—but it was not a clone or Gwen. The truth about Carrion was finally revealed.
Time passed, then came the second clone saga. Spider-Man’s clone reappeared! He had survived and had lived his life under the name Ben Reilly (go here for the dedicated Ben Reilly Reading Order). He returned to New York City and became the Scarlet Spider. Peter and Ben must face a resurrected Jackal and Kaine, the unsuccessful first clone of Spider-Man, but also another clone of Spider-Man who became the villain Spidercide. And that’s not all. That’s just the beginning.
Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, Powers is a superhero noir comic. More precisely, it’s a noir crime drama set in a world with superheroes. It tells the story of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, assigned to investigate crimes involving “powers”, people with superhuman abilities.
Turns out that Walker used to be one of them, but he lost everything and became a cop. And now, he is working with Deena Pilgrim. She kicks ass and takes names like almost nobody else in the comic universe, just so you know. They started to work together on the famous Retro Girl case, a murder case that will define their lives, even if they don’t know it yet.
The publishing history of Powers is almost chaotic (chic?). Everything started at Image Comics in 2000, but when Bendis’s role at Marvel began to grow, Powers followed him and became one of the first series published by Icon—the created owned imprint by Marvel for Marvel authors. The problem is that Bendis started to work on so many books that the publication of Powers slow down and became erratic. Then, he joined DC Comics where he created his own imprint, JinxWorld, dedicated to his created own work. Powers was reprinted, then a new and final graphic novel was published to end the series. And now, everything is moving again to Dark Horse Comics.
Straight from the world of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, here comes Lucifer Morningstar himself. Let me start by saying that, if you are here to read about the TV version of Lucifer, you’ll probably be disappointed. Even if the FOX/Netflix show was based on this character, the similitudes are quite limited. That said, those books are really good.
From The Sandman Universe, Lucifer Morningstar is a fallen rebel archangel who was cast out of Heaven as punishment for leading the revolt of the angels. Once upon a time, he rebelled against the Kingdom of Heaven and end up in what became Hell, until the day he decided to close shop. He retired to Earth and ran bar named Lux with his mistress Mazikeen at his side.
