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Static Shock Reading Order

Helped by a popular 4-season animated show titled “Static Shock” broadcasted between 2004 and 2004 on the WB Television Network’s Kids’ WB programming block, Static became the most popular superhero from the Milestone Comics imprint (distributed by DC Comics). Even before the show started, he was already one of the highlights of the line.

Created by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle, and Christopher Priest, Static made his first appearance in a 3-page preview in Icon #1 before the launch of the ongoing Static comics series written by McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III and illustrated by John Paul Leon. The comic book would last 45 issues but the characters appeared in more comics from the Milestone line as it was part of the shared universe called the Dakotaverse.

Static is really Virgil Hawkins, an African-American teenager living in Dakota City who gains his superpowers during the “Big Bang.” The Big Bang happened when the police disrupted a gang conflict by using an experimental gas with catastrophic consequences. This gas gave many people in the area superhuman abilities.
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Spider-Man Omnibus Reading Order!

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With Great Powers comes many comic book stories! Spider-Man has been web-swinging since his first appearance in 1962. Following his introduction in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker has used his intelligence and spider powers to fight crime and help others.

As Marvel’s most popular superhero, the world of Spider-Man has naturally expanded in many directions. He lives many solo adventures in more than one comic book title, has been part of many team-ups, has been a member of several teams, possesses his rogue gallery, and has inspired the creation of countless spider heroes across the Multiverse!

Over the years, Marvel Comics has collected the many tales of Spider-Man in various formats, including classic trade paperbacks, Marvel Masterworks, the popular Epic Collection, and, of course, the Omnibus line!

With more than 30 omnibuses dedicated to Spider-Man—and the number is still growing—, we have decided to create a Specific Spider-Man Omnibus Reading Order. This guide can serve as a roadmap to the spectacular adventures of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in this particular collection, helping new and old readers find their ways in the vast world of Spidey’s Web of Life and Destiny!

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Meet Krypto the Superdog, Superman’s best friend!

Nothing says Golden Age quite like a young sidekick, an imp from the 5th Dimension… or a Super Pet!

Krypto, a true product of this era, was created by Otto Binder and Curt Swan and made his first appearance in Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955). While he never headlined his own book, Krypto appeared in stories with Superboy and other super canines.

The Dog of Steel has already made multiple appearances in TV and film, but this year marks a new milestone in his journey. Krypto the Superdog will make his live-action cinematic debut in the upcoming Superman film by James Gunn.

If you’ve watched the trailer and found yourself asking, “Who is Krypto?“, Comic Book Treasury has the answer for you… and more!

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Seraph of the End Manga Order

From Battle Angel Alita to Attack on Titan and other classics such as Akira and Fist of the North Star, the world of manga is filled with post-apocalyptic stories exploring the survival of humanity. Seraph of the End (Owari no Seraph) is one such manga.

Launched in 2012, Seraph of the End is a dark fantasy manga taking place in a world where an epidemic wiped out every adult on Earth, leaving only children under the age of thirteen alive. From the shadows arose vampires who took advantage of a devastated world to enslave the rest of the human population. In this dark world, Yūichirō Hyakuya wants to avenge his fallen friends, and joins a vampire extermination unit.

Seraph of the End is written by Takaya Kagami, author of The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, with storyboards by Daisuke Furuya, and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto. From the start, it was more than the manga, as a prequel light novel series exploring this universe before the catastrophe was released at the same time. The franchise has expanded with other light novels, an Anime television series aired in 2015-2016, as well as two video games.

The fight continues as the main manga is still ongoing. We invite you to learn more about the dark fantasy world of Seraph of the End with our reading guide.

This manga reading order has been suggested by one of our readers.

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Roy Harper Comics Reading Order (Team Arrow)

While Robin is the most iconic sidekick in the DC Universe, he is not the only one. Speedy made his first appearance alongside Oliver Queen in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941). The duo shared similarities with the famous dynamic duo for many years. Like Robin, Speedy would also go on to live many stories far away from his mentor. In fact, Roy Harper built most of his heroic career away from Green Arrow.

Still, Roy Harper’s journey started as a sidekick. Green Arrow took him under his wing and acted as a mentor and father figure for the young man. Roy has been trained in archery and combat, laying the foundation for Roy to become the Superhero Arsenal, and later Red Arrow. Roy also became one of the founding members of the Teen Titans.

One of the most pivotal moments in Roy Harper’s life happened in the early 1970s, in the two-part classic Snowbirds Don’t Fly (Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85–86). Written by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams, the story explores Roy’s fall into addiction. He battles to overcome it and chooses to go solo afterward, to find his path in life.

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Marvel Gallery Editions: The Complete List

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Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale Spider-Man Gallery Edition

You can buy your comics in multiple formats and collections, but not all editions are equal. People at Marvel Comics know comic book fans don’t have the same relationship with their books. Some comics are good to be read in bulk, some are made to be looked at for hours. For those last ones, Marvel Gallery Editions are perfect.

The Gallery Editions Marvel Comics is publishing are larger than standard comic books, typically measuring around 9.3 x 13.25 inches, which is bigger than any other editions put out by Marvel. The idea behind that format is to allow readers to appreciate the artwork’s fine details and to look at the pencil and ink work in the best possible condition–it’s a chance to take a closer look at the drawings of legendary creators like Sal Buscema, Jim Starlin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Todd McFarlane, Joe Quesada, Tim Sale, and others like you could not before.

Many Marvel Gallery Editions include introductions, essays, or behind-the-scenes insights, offering context about the creative process and significance of the works. They also sometimes reproduce pages directly from the original art boards, including annotations, corrections, and margin notes.

As those Marvel Gallery Editions are high-quality oversized hardcover collections, books that use premium paper and binding, they are also premium-priced.

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Romance Comics: The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of a Genre

Cover of Young Romance #150

Nowadays, comics are de facto synonymous with superheroes. In reality, it’s just one genre among many, but it’s the one that has constantly dominated the market for the longest time and it’s now hard to get away from it. This was not always the case. At some point, horror and crime comics were all the rage, and there was even a romance comics craze.

Post-war America was tired of superheroes. It was 1947 and the comic book market was forced to evolve. At Timely Comics (it was not Marvel Comics yet), Martin Goodman started reducing the number of superhero books and replacing them with humor titles. It was a trend that Archie Comics Publications started with his teenage-oriented comics. Others followed, bifurcating into teenage romances.

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Milestone Comics Reading Order (Hardware, Icon, Blood Syndicate, and Static)

In 1993, DC Comics launched two major lines: Vertigo and Milestone. The first was developed to cater to an older, more mature audience, than the regular DC Comics line. The second was historically more significant as Milestone Comics was the first minority-owned comic book company, cofounded by four African-Americans who wanted to introduce a more realistic cultural diversity in American Superhero comics.

Dwayne McDuffie, Derek T. Dingle, Denys Cowan, and Michael Davis made a deal with DC Comics. Milestone would control the copyrights, the characters, the merchandising, and the creative direction, while DC Comics would print, license, and distribute the comics for a share of the profits. And so, Milestone Comics was launched in February 1993 with the publication of Hardware #1 by Dwayne McDuffie and Jimmy Palmiotti. Then came Blood Syndicate by Ivan Velez Jr. and Chris Cross, Icon by McDuffie and M.D. Bright, and Static by McDuffie, Robert Washington III, John Paul Leon, and Steve Mitchell.

The launch was a total success, but it didn’t last long. Milestone Comics ceased regular publication in 1997 due to financial difficulties. Its cultural impact was nevertheless important (and still is) and its return was discussed for a long time. It finally happened in 2021 and came with a modernized take on the now-classic comics.

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Typhoid Mary Comics Reading Guide, a Marvel List

Not long after Frank Miller concluded his iconic run on Daredevil, Ann Nocenti came along to put Matt Murdock through hell—literally. While still exploring the darkest corners of our hero’s soul, Nocenti didn’t rely on the same elements as Miller, who introduced Elektra and pitted Daredevil against ninjas. Instead, her more political approach led, among other things, to the creation of Typhoid Mary, one of Daredevil’s most emblematic archenemies today.

Though she has appeared in fewer than 200 issues to this day, Mary Walker cannot be ignored. From her striking beauty (and beautiful hair!) to her psychological instability—she suffers from dissociative identity disorder—Mary leaves an impression wherever she goes. She is undoubtedly a dangerous woman—highly trained as an athlete and martial artist, with the added abilities of pyrokinesis and telekinesis.

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Batman By Grant Morrison Reading Order

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Grant Morrison’s 7-year long run on Batman remains one of the most celebrated, influential, and divisive takes on the Caped Crusader. It all started in 2005 when editor Peter Tomasi approached  Morrison about writing the monthly Batman comic. As Morrison later explained, he thought at the time he had “said most of what had to say about the character with Arkham Asylum, Gothic, and Batman’s appearances in JLA. Clearly, I was wrong.” (Batman Incorporated Special #1, October 2013).

Morrison’s work on Batman started at the end of the Modern Age and concluded at the start of New 52. His approach—treating the entire publishing history as Batman’s life story—created one of the most iconic sagas featuring the Dark Knight. It’s an epic, metaphysical tale filled with weird sci-fi elements, colorful and dangerous villains, unexpected plot twists, and, at its core, the tragic effects of trauma and broken families. As often, Bruce Wayne’s loss of his parents is still at the heart of the story, the same way that Damian Wayne, Son of Batman, is.

Structured in three parts, Morrison’s epic tale takes the reader on a wild ride, from the deconstruction of Batman’s history in the first part, to the playful spirit of adventure in the second, and finally, to the ambitious, James Bond-style story of the third. Not everything works, but there is no doubt that when it is, it is sort of magical.

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