Skip to content

DC Comics

Heroes in Crisis Reading Order, Welcome to Tom King’s Sanctuary

  • by

Heroes in Crisis Reading Order

Written by Tom King and penciled by Clay Mann, Heroes in Crisis is a 2018-2019 DC event from the Rebirth Era, dealing with trauma and murder.

The story takes place at the Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes and reformed supervillains who’ve been traumatized by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold!

It’s up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman to investigate–but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition?

What to read before Heroes in Crisis?

Nothing is essential for understanding the story. For those who want a better picture and understanding of why specific characters are at the Sanctuary, you can read:

Read More »Heroes in Crisis Reading Order, Welcome to Tom King’s Sanctuary

Jason Todd Reading Order (Second Robin, Red Hood, Wingman and Arkham Knight)

  • by

Jason Todd / Red Hood Reading Order

When Dick Grayson became Nightwing, Batman find himself without a Robin, until he met Jason Peter Todd, in Batman #357 (1983). Jason became the second Robin, the new sidekick to the Dark Knight, introduced initialy as a substitute to Dick, having a similar story (son of circus acrobats, killed by a criminal). The major difference then was his red hair (that he doesn’t have anymore).

Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Jason is rebooted by Max Allan Collins, giving him his own backstory and making him an enthusiastic student, but also the most troubled kid, because of his former life on the streets. It will lead us to a tragedy in one of the most famous Batman story now.

It will take more than 15 years (in our timeline) for Jason to come back, now known as the anti-hero Red Hood. Once again, Jason Todd doesn’t have it easy with some reboot changing again his history, personality and relationships.

Let’s just say it’s not easy being Jason Todd, a character deserving, if you want my opinion on that subject, of more love and better storylines.

Read More »Jason Todd Reading Order (Second Robin, Red Hood, Wingman and Arkham Knight)

The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison Reading Order

  • by

Grant Morrison is back on a regular DC Comics series, but not on Batman. As part of the DC Rebirth relaunch in 2016, the regular Green Lantern series was canceled and replaced with “Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps” and “Green Lanterns.” After that, the Scottish writer teamed up with British comic book artist Liam Sharp to give us a new kind of Green Lantern series with a very European style.

This new series began when one of the famous Green Lanterns from Earth, the intrepid Hal Jordan, encountered an Alien hiding in plain sight. This set off a chain of events that rocks the Green Lantern Corps to its foundations.

The Green Lantern is divided into two “seasons” with a miniseries between them, for a total of 27 issues + 1 annual

Read More »The Green Lantern by Grant Morrison Reading Order

Doom Patrol Reading Order (The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, Grant Morrison, Gerard Way…)

Doom Patrol Reading Order

Created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, and artist Bruno Premiani, the Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The first iteration of the team appeared for the first time in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). At the time, the book was not selling well and something was needed to revive it. Arnold had the idea about “freaks who banded together and the man in the wheelchair guiding them.” (see American Comic Books Chronicles: The 1960s).

From the start, The Doom Patrol was not an ordinary superhero team. Also dubbed at first the Legion of the Strange, these were victims of catastrophic accidents who became freaks–the actress Rita “Elasti-Woman” Farr, the race car driver Cliff “Robotman” Steele, the pilot Larry “Negative Man” Trainor, and there was their leader, Niles “Chief” Caulder. Garfield “Beast Boy” Logan and Steve “Mento” Dayton joined soon after.

The Doom Patrol has known multiple iterations of the team, but this was always a group of super-powered misfits whose “gifts” caused them alienation and trauma. And this is why they have sometimes been dubbed the “World’s Strangest Heroes.”

Read More »Doom Patrol Reading Order (The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, Grant Morrison, Gerard Way…)

Sweet Tooth Comics, a Reading Guide for the Jeff Lemire series

  • by

Originally presented as a limited series (and now a Netflix Show!), Sweet Tooth was written and drawn by Jeff Lemire — and published by Vertigo (DC Comics) between 2009 and 2013. Now the series came back, and there are multiple editions. Here is a guide to help you navigate all this.

But first, what’s the story? Here is the official Sweet Tooth Synopsis: Seven years ago, the Affliction raged like a forest fire, killing billions. The only children born since are part of a new breed of human-animal hybrids. Gus is one of these children: a boy with a sweet soul, a sweeter tooth—and the features of a deer. But kids like Gus have a price on their heads.

When vicious hunters descend on his isolated forest home, a mysterious and violent man called Jepperd rescues Gus. The hulking drifter promises to lead Gus to the Preserve, a fabled safe haven for hybrid children. As the two cross this dangerous new American frontier, will Jepperd corrupt the boy he’s nicknamed “Sweet Tooth,” or will Gus’ heart change Jepperd?

Read More »Sweet Tooth Comics, a Reading Guide for the Jeff Lemire series

Batman by Scott Snyder Reading Order, Dark Knight’s stories from the New 52 to Rebirth, Metal and beyond

  • by

The end of Grant Morrison’s famous run on the main Batman comics series in 2011 also marked the end of the long post-Crisis era, also known as the Modern Age. After that came the New 52 and Scott Snyder. With stories about The Court of Howls, Batman Eternal, the Dark Nights: Metal & Death Metal events, and more, Snyder became one of the major authors of the decade.

During that time, Scott Snyder mostly worked with artist Greg Capullo and writer James Tynion IV. He gave us one of the best Batmans and many great adventures. The impact of his work on the character is important, and there are many great stories to read.

But this didn’t end with that. In the fall of 2024, Snyder came back to the DC Universe to launch the Darkseid-fueled universe called the Absolute Universe and started writing a new type of Batman comics.

Also, even if this reading guide covers a lot of New 52 Batman, it’s not a full reading order for this era. For Snyder and everyone else’s Bat-titles reading order, follow that guide.

Read More »Batman by Scott Snyder Reading Order, Dark Knight’s stories from the New 52 to Rebirth, Metal and beyond

Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe

  • by

There are a lot of characters in the DC Universe (in the Marvel one too) and it’s not always easy to track them down when they are not the star of their own ongoing series. Characters like Zatanna Zatara appeared in a lot of stories over the years, but rarely as the star of the show.

Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna made her first appearance in Hawkman #4 (published in November 1964). She is known to be a stage illusionist as well as an actual magician, like her father Giovanni Zatara.

Zatanna is controlling her powers by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backward. She is known for her involvement with the Justice League (Dark), John Constantine, and the rest of the magic side of the DC Universe.

Read More »Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe

Batman Rebirth Reading Order (From the Monster Men to Batman’s Wedding, City of Bane, The Joker War and more)

With the end of the New52/DC You era, the DC Universe entered the Rebirth era. A new beginning of sorts, with a new creative team taking charge of the Dark Knight.

Batman was rebooted and began shipping twice monthly. In August 2016, the third volume of Batman written by Tom King, with artwork by David Finch and Mikel Janín, began from #1, but Detective Comics (from Writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez) resumed its original numbering system starting with June 2016’s #934.

If Batman famously centered on Batman, his relationship with Catwoman, and his fight to save Gotham, Detective Comics became for a time a team book with Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Clayface, led by Batman and Batwoman.

As always, there were more Batman series. In fact, Scott Snyder came back for more with All-Star Batman. There also were Batman and the Outsiders and some major events like Dark Nights: Metal (and Death Metal), The Joker War, and some less important ones.

What to read before Batman Rebirth?

First, you can explore the Batman New 52 era or even follow The Batman Modern Age Reading Guide. However, as it is a new beginning, you’ll need an introduction to the famous DC Universe: Rebirth #1 that explains why it’s a reboot. It’s about how the world of the Watchmen collided with the DC Universe and the return of Wally West.

Read More »Batman Rebirth Reading Order (From the Monster Men to Batman’s Wedding, City of Bane, The Joker War and more)

Batman Beyond Reading Order, Terry McGinnis is the Batman of the Future

Like Harley Quinn, Terry McGinnis was created for television, more specifically in his case for the Batman Beyond animated television series (1999–2001), as a continuation of The New Batman Adventures, originally meant as a character for the DCAU. And it would take 10 years for Terry to make his first appearance in the main DC Universe, in Batman #700.

Created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett, Batman Beyond takes place in a futuristic Gotham City where Terry McGinnis has taken over the mantle of Batman, under the tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne. He is a high school student and a former delinquent. Under the pretense of doing errands for Bruce, Terry fights crime as the new Batman.

Where to start with Batman Beyond/Terry McGinnis?

This is where we naturally recommend watching Batman Beyond, the animated TV Series, comprised of three seasons, 52 episodes, and one direct-to-video feature film.

Read More »Batman Beyond Reading Order, Terry McGinnis is the Batman of the Future

The DC Comics Events and Crossovers List

 

DC Comics Universe Events Crossovers

Like Marvel Comics did (see the full events & crossovers list here), DC Comics started to organize big events and crossovers during the ’1980s. The first one was Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that changed DC Comics continuity forever, a huge creative accomplishment from Marv Wolfman and George Perez. After that, more crossovers followed, some big and ambitious, others more modest in scope, connecting heroes and series.

Like I said about Marvel events, even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculative boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Batman to the Green Lanterns, from Superman to Harley Quinn.

This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different DC Comics series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries, as DC Comics continues to announce more and more of them.

Read More »The DC Comics Events and Crossovers List