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Spider-Man: Clone Saga Reading Order (with Ben Reilly!)

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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.

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Powers Reading Order (Comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming)

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Powers Reading Order

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.

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Lucifer Reading Order (The Sandman spin-off)

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Lucifer Reading Order

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.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order

Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order

An American animated television series for three seasons, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the adventures of Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.

Now, you can continue the adventure in comic book form. Some depict events and situations unseen during the series’ run, while most comics follow the characters after the conclusion of the show’s official run.

What to read before the comics Avatar: The Last Airbender?

More than reading, it is better to go for a rewatch of the TV series, before or in parallel with the first comics, as you prefer. But it’s also the perfect place to acknowledge Chronicles of the Avatar, a series of novels chronicling the lives of previous Avatars.

Taking also place before the events depicted in the television series, you can read more about Zuko in a graphic novel detailing the years between his banishment and the reappearance of the Avatar. It has been released as a tie-in for the 2010 movie, but it still fits pretty well inside the canon (thanks to Somebody in the comments!)

Finally, you can revisit the animated tv series, with a Screen Comix retelling of the original series with full-color images and dialogue from the series, published by Random House.

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Saga Comic Reading Order, discover Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ epic space opera comic book series

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Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples, published by Image Comics, Saga is an epic space opera/fantasy comic book series heavily influenced by Star Wars.

The story of Saga started as a depiction of two lovers from long-warring extraterrestrial races, Alana and Marko, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their newborn daughter, Hazel, who occasionally narrates the series. Simply put, It is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds.

Wildly popular, the Saga series launched in 2012 will span 108 issues. After the first 54 issues, the series went on hiatus from July 2018 to January 2022.

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Superman/Action Comics Rebirth Reading Order (by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason & Dan Jurgens)

Superman Rebirth Reading Order, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

Following New 52, an era that rebooted DC continuity in 2011 (and have a whole reading order), comes DC Rebirth, a period focused on returning the characters to an earlier status quo while updating the premises for new audiences. For The Man in Steel, it means reconnecting with the Superman from Pre-Flashpoint, a man married to Lois Lane and father of Jon Kent.

Action Comics starring Superman is written by Dan Jurgens and Superman is launched by writers Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason.

What to read before Superman/Action Comics Rebirth?

For full context about Superman, Lois Lane, and the birth of Jon Kent, the answer lies in Convergence. Although it’s probably not strictly necessary, and generally considered not that important… and pretty bad! Superman: Lois & Clark serves as an introduction to Superman’s family.

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The Sandman Reading Order, Neil Gaiman’s comic universe

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Before becoming one of Vertigo’s hits, The Sandman was a DC Comics series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and published between 1974 and 1976, not to be confused with Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman. When DC offered Neil Gaiman the possibility to write a new series, his only obligation was to keep the name.

This Sandman comic is about Dream, one of the seven Endless. He is the all-powerful master of the Dreamworld. In simple terms, he is the personification of dreams.

The story began with the capture of Dream (aka Morpheus). During his 70 years of captivity, nobody controlled the dream world and, when Dream won back his liberty, he needed to rebuild his kingdom to get back his powers. It’s a journey in a metaphorical world that blends mythology and history.

From the success of The Sandman comics grew a whole universe of series, miniseries, and one-shots, from the successful Lucifer to the cult Death miniseries.

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Dark Nights: Death Metal Reading Order, the sequel to Dark Nights: Metal

After the big success of the Dark Nights Metal event, writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo are back with Death Metal, the 2017–2018 massive follow-up with the help of James Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett, Joshua Williamson, Peter J. Tomasi, Garth Ennis, Daniel Warren Johnson, Frank Tieri, Tony S. Daniel, Jamal Igle, Joëlle Jones, Daniel Warren Johnson, Riley Rossmo, Francesco Francavilla and more.

Here is the official synopsis: When the DC Universe is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs (see the reading order dedicated to the character). Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman have all been separated and must fight to survive.

Along the way, Wonder Woman roars across the horrifying Dark Multiverse landscape in the world’s most demented monster truck, with Swamp Thing riding shotgun! And when the Justice League launches its assault on New Apokolips, the team’s goal is to free Superman from his solar prison—but it all goes off the rails when they learn that the Man of Steel is gone for good thanks to the Anti-Life Equation.

What to read before Dark Nights: Death Metal?

When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. But how did we end up in this situation? The following is a short guide through the Dark Multiverse to help you better understand the events taking place in Death Metal:

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Dark Nights: Metal Reading Order, a DC Comics event introducing the dark multiverse

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Published in 2017, Dark Nights: Metal is a Batman Event written by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The two collaborators are back with a new ambitious story about the mysterious Nth metal and the dark multiverse.

Investigating a strange metal, Batman discovers the existence of a dark multiverse and eventually releases seven evil versions of himself into his own universe. That event is led by Barbatos, the dark god who plans to unleash darkness across every Earth. Stopping him will change the DC Universe forever.

What to read before Dark Nights: Metal?

Like any big comic book event, you don’t really need to read anything as all the information necessary should be provide in the story! The event kicked off with a two-issue prelude titled Dark Days, collected in Dark Days: The Road to Metal as well as in the Dark Nights Metal Omnibus – which are the issues you shouldn’t miss before diving into the main event.

For those interested in exploring for more backstories, Dark Nights: Metal event builds on elements introduced during Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman during the New 52 era. This run is collected in two omnibuses, but the most important issues for Metal are the last part of the run, collected in the second omnibus.

If you want to familiarize yourself a little with the myths of Barbatos, you can check out The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison.

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Daredevil Reading Order, Matt Murdock’s Epic Comic Book Story

Daredevil/Matt Murdock Reading Order

Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with character design input from Jack Kirby, Daredevil is a Marvel classic case of a superhero burdened by his superpowers. Matt Murdock was blinded by a radioactive substance that fell from an out-of-control truck after he pushed a man out of the path of the oncoming vehicle. While he no longer could see, his exposure to the radioactive material heightened his remaining senses beyond normal human ability, and gave him a “radar sense.”

A lawyer by day, Matt took up a dual life of fighting against the criminal underworld in New York City, as the masked vigilante Daredevil – also known as The Man Without Fear and The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Matt uses his physical abilities and superhuman senses to help people and protect his communities against villains like the Kingpin or Bullseye.

Where to start reading Daredevil aka Matt Murdock? The Recommended Reading List

Daredevil made his first appearance in April 1964. There are more than 50 years of history to discover. For newcomers, here is essential reading for Daredevil:

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