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Green Lantern: The Emotional Spectrum Explained

When Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, made his debut in All-American Comics #16 (1940), created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell, his powers came from a mystical green flame contained within a lantern, which he used to craft a ring. This power ring was magical. Those who followed were not.

With the Silver Age came test pilot Hal Jordan who became the official new Green Lantern in John Broome and Gil Kane’s comics Showcase #22 (1959). Like Alan, Hal got a ring, but this one was given to him by Abin Sur, a Green Lantern who crash-landed on Earth. This alien was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force created by the Guardians of the Universe, immortal beings who watched over the cosmos from the planet Oa.

This new Power Ring was powered by the Central Power Battery that was installed on Oa by the Guardians of the Universe, immortal beings who watched over the cosmos. Each ring is charged by a personal lantern-shaped Power Battery–which is connected to the Central Power Battery—and allows those who, like Hal Jordan, were chosen to were one, to tap into the emotional spectrum, specifically the green light of willpower.

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Domino Reading Order (X-Men)

Black Cat is not the only Marvel character with lucky-based powers. While Felicia Hardy brings bad luck to those around her, the woman known as Domino shifts the odds in her favor. A member of the X-Men family, Domino often worked as a mercenary, taking on questionable jobs but still guided by a moral compass that pushes her to do the right thing when necessary.

Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, Domino first “appeared” in New Mutants #98. However, it was later revealed that this was an imposter, with her real first appearance taking place in X-Force #8. You know the World of Comics, it’s complicated!

While she was often called “Beatrice” (a name meaning lucky) at first, Domino’s real name was revealed to be Neena Thurman. She became one of the most emblematic members of the X-Force team, a long-time ally to the time-traveling mutant Cable and one of Deadpool’s closest friends. Domino is also visually striking, with her pure-white skin and distinctive black eye patch. As Rob Liefield explained in a Comics Beat interview: “I was obsessed with the game dominoes. And I always thought that a character who was 100% black and white would be a tremendous visual.” He also gave her luck powers, because “when you play dominoes, it’s a game of chance.”

Check out our Domino reading order, guiding you through the essential comics and story arcs featuring Marvel’s luckiest mutant!

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Ghost Machine: Your Gateway to the new Creator-Owned Comics Universes (by Geoff Johns & Al.)

Many new universes have recently emerged in the comic book world! After the Massive-Verse and the Energon Universe, we’re now taking a look at the shared universes of the recently formed creator-owned company, Ghost Machine!

What is Ghost Machine?

Let’s talk business for a moment! In the early ’90s, seven of Marvel Comics’ most recognized illustrators left the company to found Image Comics, seeking ownership of their creations, better pay, and fairer treatment. As it is said, it changed the industry forever. Since then, Image Comics has published popular titles like The Walking Dead, Witchblade, Savage Dragon, Saga, Criminal, The Wicked + The Divine, Stray Bullets, Chew, Revival, and many more!

So, what does all of this have to do with Ghost Machine? Founded in October 2023, Ghost Machine is an independent studio, or if we want to be more specific, a creator-owned comic book creative studio. The creators own the company, the characters, and the universes together (as well as everything coming from it in other forms of media and merchandising). Image Comics is simply in charge of the promotion and distribution.

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The Shadow Comics: The Comic Book History of a Pulp Hero

Created for the magazine publishers Street & Smith, the character of The Shadow started in 1930 on the Detective Story Hour radio show as a mysterious host before moving to print the following year. He would stay on the air for a few years, but this original incarnation would be forgotten and replaced by the one created by writer Walter B. Gibson (under the pen name of Maxwell Grant).

Gibson was tasked to write stories about “The Shadow” and, inspired by classic literary works and the French character Judex, he composed a character that would eventually become the prototype of the American Superhero. Through the years, The Shadow prospered in the pulps, on the radio, and even got a comic strip in the early 1940s.

The Shadow was a former World War I aviator named Kent Allard who faked his death and became a crime-fighter. Upon returning to the United States, he adopted several different identities to aid him in his war on crime. The most famous one is Lamont Cranston, a wealthy socialite who went abroad and Allard stole his identity, impersonating him to gain access to the rich and powerful of the world.

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Jonah Hex Reading Order, DC Comics’ Western Hero

Introduced for the first time in 1972 in the comics All-Star Western #10, Jonah Hex is a creation by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. A bad-tempered brutal bounty hunter, Hex emerged at a time when the Western genre was deconstructed and the character contributed to that with his two-face. Looking at him from one side, he looked like the handsome cowboy, but from the other side, with half of his face disfigured, he was a terrifying killer.

The comics introduced him like this: “He was a hero for some, a villain to others… and wherever he rode people spoke his name in whispers. He had no friends, this Jonah Hex, but he did have two companions: one was death itself… the other, the acrid smell of gunsmoke…” Enough said!

At a time when the Comic Code regulations started to loosen up, the violent Jonah Hex became popular in the pages of the Weird Western Tales comics (DeZuniga drew the character for years, but Albano only wrote the first ten adventures of Hex), and after a few years, he finally got his own book. The Crisis on Infinite Earths event put an end to his regular adventures and, since then, he has made multiple comebacks.

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Earth X Reading Order (the Alex Ross Universe)

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The Multiverse is made up of many alternate realities, each unique and full of possibilities. Some are more famous than others. Among the most notorious are the Ultimate World of Miles Morales and The Maker, the dystopian future of Marvel 2099, the Zombieverse, and the Age of Apocalypse.

In the late nineties, artist Alex Ross designed one of Marvel’s most iconic dystopian realities: Earth-X. This world first appeared in Wizard Magazine, where the legendary artist was asked to create a possible future for the Marvel Universe. Ross depicted a future where superpowers had become commonplace. These initial concepts, today known as the Earth-X Sketchbook, attracted readers, and the magazine quickly sold out. This success led Marvel to commission a full comic series, developed by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, with artists John Paul Leon and Doug Braithwaite.

While Earth-X started as a possible future of Earth-616, the series retconned the origins of superheroes, disconnecting them from the mainstream Marvel Universe entirely. Earth-X evolved to become Earth-9997, an alternate reality.

Today, we jump into the world of Earth X, a dystopian reality where most of the population has gained superpowers, many heroes have fallen or been reimagined, and the future remains uncertain. Check out our complete comic reading order for Earth-X, including every issue and appearance, along with our guide to omnibus and trade paperback editions.

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Hellblazer John Constantine Reading Order, from the Swamp Thing to the Justice League Dark

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Created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben in 1984 in The Saga of Swamp Thing series, John Constantine is an arrogant foul-mouthed working-class occult detective and con man from London. Originally a supporting character, he continued to appear in the series before getting his own ongoing in 1988, Hellblazer.

As Alan Moore was too busy (or didn’t want to) do it, DC Comics recruited another British writer, Jamie Delano, to develop the Hellblazer comics in which John Constantine was faced with much horror, demons, and others in Great Britain. This quickly cemented him as the antihero of the DC universe. Not loved by many, he still found people to join him during his fight against vile creatures, and they are often the ones who have to pay the harsher price.

Known for his cynicism, his deadpan snarking, his ruthless cunning, and his constant chain-smoking, John Constantine wants to help save lives, but his technique can be deadly if it’s for the greater good. Being his friend can be as dangerous as being his enemy.

The long-running Hellblazer comic book series was part of the Vertigo line and lasted 300 issues. After that, John Constantine was made a little more respectable as he joined the other magic heroes of the DC main universe. He joined teams and helped save the world, the universe, and reality.

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Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale’s Batman Reading Order

Happy Halloween! No team in the Batman mythos is associated with this celebration more than Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale for their The Long Halloween story. Presented as a classic detective story, The Long Halloween is one of the most celebrated and influential Batman tales, featuring Tim Sale’s striking art, a good introduction to the world of Gotham, Batman’s Rogue Gallery, and an origin story for Two-Face.

For Loeb and Sale, it all started with Challengers of the Unknown (1991), their first creative collaboration that would lead to more iconic works. When editor Archie Goodwin asked artist Tim Sale in the early ’90s to work on another Legends of the Dark Knight arc after Blades (with James Robinson), Sale asked if Loeb—who was working in Hollywood at the time—could write it. This resulted in what is now known as The Haunted Knight, a collection of three Halloween-themed stories.

For Loeb, the plan was to stop there—he had another job. However, Archie Goodwin had other ideas. He asked Frank Miller about the gangsters featured in Year One, and Miller said he had no further plans for them, giving Goodwin free rein. As Loeb recalled, “Archie thought we should do something bigger with this group in mind, maybe something longer than the 80 pages of the first Halloween special. Maybe… a year.” (from The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition.)

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Ghost in the Shell Manga Order

Following the success of Akira, a wave of influential Japanese cyberpunk works emerged, such as Battle Angel Alita, Cowboy Bebop, and, as today’s subject, Ghost in the Shell. Created by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell began publication in 1989 in Kodansha’s manga anthology Young Magazine. Consisting of only 11 chapters, the original manga concluded in November 1990.

However, it started a cyberpunk franchise that has since spawned spin-off manga and comics, animated and live-action films, several animated TV series, video games, tie-in novels, and art books. The franchise continues to expand, with a new manga in publication and an anime adaptation slated for release in 2026.

Set in the 2030s in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama, also known as New Port City, Ghost in the Shell follows the members of Public Security Section 9, a special operations task force composed of former military officers and police detectives, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi. Kusanagi is a strong-willed, intelligent cyborg who excels at deduction, hacking, and military tactics—though this doesn’t prevent her from occasionally acting immature.

Section 9 handles political intrigue, corruption, cybercrime, and counter-terrorism in a future where technology has advanced to the point that most people possess a “cyberbrain”—a device that integrates with the brain and connects individuals both physically and virtually to various platforms (a kind of brain-computer interface).

Discover the original world of Ghost in the Shell with this comprehensive reading guide, exploring the original manga and its many spin-offs in order!

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Energon Universe Reading Order (Skybound’s Transformers, GI Joe, Voir Rivals…)

At the end of 2020, IDW lost the license to publish comic books from the Hasbro Universe. Therefore, series like Transformers and G.I. Joe went elsewhere. More precisely, they went to Image Comics via Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment imprint.

Naturally, the new creative teams didn’t continue with what was done at IDW. Instead, a new comic book universe was launched: The Energon Universe. It uses creative elements from Transformers and G.I. Joe, such as familiar concepts and characters, but also introduces original materials, notably with the all-new Void Rivals.

“I’ve loved these characters for most of my life and to have the opportunity to add to the already rich tapestry Hasbro has built with the all-new Void Rivals is an unbelievable opportunity. If you look at everything done with Transformers and G.I. Joe, you can see the inkling of a vast universe with tremendous potential for crossovers and interaction that will enhance the fan experience while staying true to the individual identities of both concepts. I look forward to exploring that potential for years to come.” – Robert Kirkman.

Juggling between ongoing and limited series, with some one-shots added to the mix, the Energon Universe was officially launched in June 2023. The creative teams are made of top talents with writers like Robert Kirkman, Daniel Warren Johnson, Joshua Williamson, Kelly Thompson, and Dan Watters (and more to come), and artists like DW Johnson, Lorenzo De Felici, Jorge Corona, Tom Reilly, Andrea Milana, Marco Ferrari, and more.

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