Skip to content

Batman: Joker War Reading Order, a Batman event by James Tynion IV

  • by

Batman: Joker War Reading Order

Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Jorge Jimenez, Batman: The Joker War is taking us to issue #100 of the series with a story in which The Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight Detective go head-to-head for the last time.

So, here is the official synopsis: The Joker has never wanted to win before, he’s never wanted his battle with Batman to end, but now his motivation has shifted. As The Joker’s plan to assemble an army materializes, the only person who can save Batman from the brink of true madness is Harley Quinn. And while all this is happening, the villains of Gotham City are waiting out the carnage Joker has unleashed—and Catwoman assembles an army of her own!

What to read before Batman: Joker War?

  • Batman: Their Dark Designs
    Collects Batman #86-94. This is the previous storyline written by James Tynion IV, which took place before the Joker War. It’s a new day in Gotham City, but not the same old Batman. With Bane vanquished and one of his longtime allies gone, Batman has to start picking up the pieces and stepping up his game. Batman has a new plan for Gotham City, but he’s not the only one. Deathstroke has returned as well, under a mysterious new contract that could change everything.

You can also find a little bit of a prelude to the Joker War in the following issues, showing Joker preparing for the War. These storylines are optional:

  • Detective Comics #1022-1024
  • Nightwing #71-73

Read More »Batman: Joker War Reading Order, a Batman event by James Tynion IV

Age of Ultron Reading Order, a post-apocalyptic future Marvel Event

  • by

More than the title of an Avenger movie, Age of Ultron is a crossover storyline by Brian Michael Bendis, with artists Bryan Hitch and Brandon Peterson. Published in 2013, it consisted of 10-issue core miniseries and a number of tie-in books.

Submit or perish! The artificial intelligence known as Ultron has fought for years to eradicate mankind…and now, it has all but succeeded. The few remaining heroes are battered, broken, almost beaten, and left considering desperate measures – some more desperate than others. But when Wolverine breaks ranks and pursues his own plan to defeat Ultron, will his drastic action cause more problems than it solves?

What to read before Age of Ultron?

You will hear voices telling you you waste your time reading Age of Ultron, an event that doesn’t require a lot of preparation thanks to its self-contained nature.

That said, some great stories have been written with Ultron, worth checking out, more than the event itself :

Read More »Age of Ultron Reading Order, a post-apocalyptic future Marvel Event

Black Hammer Reading Order: How to read Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston comic book series?

  • by

American comic book series created by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dean Ormston, Black Hammer is published by Dark Horse Comics and tell a rather different superhero story.

Everything started ten years ago when the famous Black Hammer and six other superheroes from Spiral City fought the deadly Anti-God in order to save the world.

They win, but they also disappeared after the fight. The world believes them dead, but they became trapped in Rockwood, a small city in the middle of nowhere. They just can’t leave. Black Hammer died trying. They must live mundane lives in this timeless rural city.

They don’t really know where or when they are and they lost almost all hope to leave one day or to discover the truth about what happened to them.

Read More »Black Hammer Reading Order: How to read Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston comic book series?

Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, Deadpool first appears in The New Mutants and X-Force as a supervillain before becoming one of Marvel’s most iconic anti-heroes.

He is a mercenary aware of his existence as a fictional comic book character, often breaking the fourth wall and conversing with his two internal monologues (but how old is he?).

His past remains shrouded in mystery, with multiple versions of his origin. Whether his childhood was difficult or not, we do know that Wade Wilson became an international assassin, working for various governments. After developing an aggressive form of cancer, he enrolled in the Weapon X program, which gave him a healing factor from another member (you know… Wolverine) and put him to work for them.

The consequences of his time there included a diminished mental state, a healing factor that couldn’t cure his cancer or heal his scars, an infatuation with death, and the freedom to return to mercenary work.

Also known as “The Merc with a Mouth” he set out as Deadpool to kill and have a good time doing it. With time, Deadpool walked the fine line between criminal and hero, working with or against X-Force, the X-Men, and the Avengers. He made a big name for himself in the Marvel Universe and shines in his many team-ups, but it has to be said, there’s no one he loves as much as Spider-Man! 

Deadpool has lived many adventures and even became a movie star (looking like Ryan Reynolds!) and we invite you today to explore all those stories with our Complete Deadpool Reading Order! For suggestions to start reading Deadpool, explore our beginners’ guide to the Merc with a Mouth!Read More »Deadpool Reading Order: How to read Wade Wilson’s comic book story?

Spider-Man Spider-Geddon Reading Order (the sequel to Spider-verse)

  • by

As the name suggests, Spider-Geddon is a Spider-Man event taking place in the Marvel comics universe. It’s a sequel to the massively popular event Spider-verse.

The Inheritors have escaped their radioactive prison planet and made their way to the Marvel Universe. As the villains draw first blood, a whole Spider-Army must reunite to keep them at bay!

Starring Spider-Man, Otto Octavius, Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, Spider-Punk, the live-action Japanese TV Spider-Man, the Spider-Man from the new PS4 video game, and many more Spiders — including some brand-new ones!

Prepare to meet Web-Slinger, Spidey of the Wild West! May Parker: Spider-Ma’am! And more! But as the threat they face builds, things do not look good for our web-heads and wall-crawlers. The end of the Spider-Verse is here!

What to read before Spider-Man: Spider-Geddon?

The way comics are written, there is plenty of exposition, you will probably understand most of the event even if you didn’t read the Spider-verse event (go to the Reading Order), but I’m quite sure that reading is pretty much required to understand and to enjoy everything.

  • Spider-verse
    Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #7-15, Superior Spider-Man #32-33, Spider-Verse #1-2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1-3, Scarlet Spiders #1-3, Spider-Woman (2014) #1-4, Spider-Man 2099 (2014) #6-8 And Material From Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians Of The Galaxy) #1.

Also, you can check out our Spider-Man Reading Order that covers the adventures of Spidey from the start to today.

Read More »Spider-Man Spider-Geddon Reading Order (the sequel to Spider-verse)

Brian Michael Bendis Superman/Action Comics Reading Order

Superman by Michal Bendis Reading Oder

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:

Read More »Brian Michael Bendis Superman/Action Comics Reading Order

King in Black Reading Order: How to read Marvel’s crossover, the sequel to Absolute Carnage?

King in Black Reading Order

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.
  • Silver Surfer: Black
    Collects Silver Surfer: Black #1-5.
  • 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.”
  • King in Black: Namor
    Another optional miniseries set in the past.

We also invite you to read our guide to the main symbiotes characters if you want to refresh your memory about the most important symbiotes in the Marvel universe.

Read More »King in Black Reading Order: How to read Marvel’s crossover, the sequel to Absolute Carnage?

Justice League: Endless Winter Reading Order, a DC December Event

  • by

Justice League; Endless Winter Reading Order

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.

If you want more stories from this era, check out our Justice League Rebirth Reading Order.

Read More »Justice League: Endless Winter Reading Order, a DC December Event

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW Reading Order

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.

Read More »Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW Reading Order

The Legend of Korra Comics Reading Order, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender

  • by

The Legend of Korra Comic book Reading Order

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.

Read More »The Legend of Korra Comics Reading Order, the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender