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Mister Mxyzptlk, Recommended Reading for The Annoying Imp From The 5th Dimension (DC Comics)

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Some characters from the DC Comics universe are old. In the case of the infamous Mister Mxyzptlk, we are talking 80 years old. It was in the Superman daily comic strip by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist Wayne Boring that the mischievous imp made his first official apparition.

However, like with Bizarro, the planning of publication pushed the real first issue a bit later as Mister Mxyzptlk was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Ira Yarborough in a story published in Superman #30 (fall 1944).

Mister Mxyzptlk is a magical being from the fifth dimension (like Bat-Mite) who enjoys causing mischief and playing pranks on Superman and other characters within the DC universe. In fact, where he comes from, he works as a jester, a powerful magical one. He possesses the ability to warp reality and manipulate the laws of physics, often leading to bizarre and surreal situations.

He loves challenging Superman to some sort of game or contest, and Superman can only defeat him by tricking him into saying or spelling his own name backward (“Kltpzyxm”)–a fine trick that was modified in the 1986 Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot. After that point in time, Mr. Mxyzptlk changes his condition to leave with each new apparition (even if saying his name backward eventually came back).

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Jeff The Land Shark, Marvel’s cult-favorite landshark (with a reading order!)

It’s been only five years since Jeff the Land Shark first showed up in the Marvel Universe, stealing the hearts of West Coast Avengers readers. Created by Kelly Thompson and Daniele di Nicuolo, Jeff the Land Shark, also called Jeffrey, became the adorable pet sidekick of superheroine Gwenpool, named after Gwen’s own kitten.

Jeff quickly became a hit online and won over Marvel fans with his undeniable cuteness, landing him numerous cameo appearances and variant covers (this would make a great ‘Where’s Jeff?’ book!). All of this will naturally lead to our boy Jeff headlining his own series, and prompting Comic Book Treasury to make a dedicated Jeff The Landshark Reading Order, further solidifying his place as a cherished icon in the Marvel universe.

But first…

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Ka-Zar Reading Order, Adventures in Marvel’s Savage Land

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in The X-Men #10 (1965), Kevin Plunder is Ka-Zar. The New Ka-Zar to be precise as he used the same hero name as David Rand, a character from a pulp magazine created by Bob Byrd in 1936–published by one of the many companies owned by Martin Goodman. When Goodman began publishing comics with Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, writer-artist Ben Thompson adapted one of Byrd’s stories.

Since then, this Ka-Zar appeared in multiple Marvel comics like Marvel Mystery Comics or Human Torch. Then, during the Silver Age, Marvel reintroduced some of his Golden Age characters. Most of them have updated origins. However, Ka-Zar became a new character. He is now clearly a Tarzan-like hero but he is stuck in a Jules Verne setting–David Rand was lost in the jungles of the Congo, not in the dinosaur-populated Savage Land. But he quickly found his place in the Marvel continuity.

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Crossed Reading Order, Garth Ennis’ Post Apocalyptic Universe

Writer Garth Ennis is known for creating stories depicting hyper-violence, and Crossed is no exception to the rules. A Post-Apocalyptic Comic book published by Avatar Press, Crossed follows survivors dealing with a pandemic that causes its victims to carry out their most evil thoughts, spreading evil and hunting down the last dying members of our species. Carriers of the virus are generally known as the “Crossed” due to a large, cross-like rash that appears on their faces.

While Garth Ennis and artist Jacen Burrows created the fictional world of Crossed, other writers penned stories set in this universe, from David Lapham (Stray Bullets) to Alan Moore. What it means for the readers is mostly many story arcs that can be read as self-contained and can be read in any order. With that said, there are a few crossovers, where characters introduced in a story appeared on another arc later that would justify following a certain order. So today, we are exploring the dangerous post-apocalyptic world of Crossed!

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Man-Thing Reading Order, Marvel’s Swamp Monster

The Man-Thing Reading Order

When the Comics Code Authority went into action in the 1950s, the horror genre was the most affected by it. But in 1971, the code was finally revised and the creatures of the night finally got some leeway. A lot of restrictions were still in place, but the undead monsters starting to make a comeback. Before Werewolves and Vampires became prominent again, muck monsters got their chance to scare the readers.

Launched by DC Comics in House of Secrets #92, Swamp Thing created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson was thought of as a one-off character. In another one-shot simply titled The Heap #1, Skywald Publishing revived The Heap, a swamp monster from the 1950s (another version of the character also appeared in Skywald’s magazine Psycho). And Marvel had of course the Man-Thing.

The timing was strange, but those characters were different enough from one another to avoid any conflict (even if Marvel thought about suing DC for a time). Also, muck monsters were not a new thing in the comics world.

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Something Is Killing the Children Reading Order, Explore The Slaughterverse

Launched as a five-issue limited series by BOOM! Studios in 2019, Something Is Killing the Children has since become a successful award-winning franchise with multiple spin-off series. Created by writer James Tynion IV and artist Werther Dell’Edera, this ongoing comic book series is about hunting monsters!

Everything starts when the children of Archer’s Peak begin to go missing. If some never return, a few resurfaced with horrible stories to tell about terrifying creatures living in the shadows. Those tales seem too improbable for most, but one mysterious stranger named Erica Slaughter believes what the children are saying because killing monsters is what she does. She’s here for that and won’t be stopped. But what will happen when the monsters are dealt with?

As Something Is Killing the Children explores the adventures of Erica Slaughter, her relationship with the mysterious Order of St. George who employs her, and her past, the spin-off series House of Slaughter goes further into the backstory with an exploration of the secret history of the Order. And the new Book of Butcher series is now exploring Maxine Slaughter’s journey from white to black mask.

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Millarworld Reading Order

According to Mark Millar, all of the titles that are part of his created-owned imprint Millardworld, take place in the same continuity. It may be confusing at times, but it’s because some of the stories are fiction in this fictional universe–like the Jupiter’s Legacy stories.

Launched in 2003 with the miniseries Wanted, the Millarworld imprint published all of Mark Millar-created series and the works of some authors who write stories in his universe (like with the Hit-Girl series). Millar worked with popular artists to give life to his stories like John Romita Jr. (Kick-Ass), Frank Quitely (Jupiter’s Legacy), Greg Capullo (Reborn), Stuart Immonen (Empress, The Magic Order 2), Rafael Albuquerque (Huck, Prodigy), Olivier Coipel (The Magic Order), Pepe Larraz (Big Game), Dave Gibbons (Kingsman: Secret Service), and a lot more.

Most of those series work as standalone. In fact, the links to the other parts of the Millarworld are often limited to easter eggs or one-line references. However, the Big Game series is a crossover that connects a lot of the previous series (Hit Girl, Empress, Kingsman, The Chononauts, Kick-Ass, Nemesis, Huck, The Magic Order, and more). With that, the idea of reading the series in a certain order started to make sense.

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The Dresden Files Graphic Novels in Order

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files Graphic Novels in Order

Popular urban fantasy book series written by Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files grew beyond its initial prose to embrace other types of storytelling. The story expanded to the Graphic Novel format with adaptations of some of the books, but most notably new stories that are really part of the canon.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a professional wizard living in modern-day Chicago. He operates as a private investigator and magical consultant, offering his services to both the magical and mundane communities. In this universe, magic is real and exists alongside the ordinary world, hidden from the majority of humanity—and vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, outsiders, and other monsters are also present.

In 2008, Jim Butcher worked with Dabel Brothers Productions to create a Dresden Files graphic novel series. Everything started with a prequel story before the first novel was adapted. Published by Dynamite Entertainment, the series continued with new stories taking place between novels. They have been illustrated by Ardian Syaf, Chase Conley, Joseph Cooper, Carlos Gomez, and Diego Galindo, but all were written by Jim Butcher and Mark Powers.

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Bat Family Comics, A Beginner’s Reading Order Guide to the crimefighters of Gotham City

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So, you want to read about the Bat Family? Maybe you are a new reader and want to know more about Batman and his many allies. Or you have seen an animated movie and would like to explore further the unique dynamics of the Batman Family. Or, yet, you already know quite a bit but would like to revisit the history of the Batfamily. Whatever your position, there are several ways to approach the Bat Family:

  1. Focusing your reading on one member of the Batfamily! This is maybe the best and simplest approach. You like a character and go on reading many adventures featuring him/her. Along the way, you discover you have quite an interest in another member and do the same. All the main characters from the Batfamily (except Alfred, sorry Alfred!) have their own reading order on the website. Go check out our Batfamily Introduction Guide for this part.
  2. Reading some Comic Books with the Whole Family! Thanks to many Batfamily events and many catastrophes affecting Gotham, the members of the Batfamily have to work together regularly, and you will find in those stories some great interactions between the characters, helping you have a better understanding of the family dynamics. For this part, we made a selection of comics to read.
  3. A Batfamily Reading Order! For the most ambitious reader out there, Comic Book Treasury has just compiled a reading list of many comic books featuring the members of the Batfamily, from the beginning of Batman to the actual era. This is not a complete reading order, but a sort of essential/very long starter pack to know the most important facts there is to know and live some fun adventures with your favorite characters.

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Howard the Duck Reading Order

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Howard the Duck Reading Order

Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik in the pages of Adventure into Fear #19 (cover-dated Dec. 1973), Howard the Duck is now probably better known in the world of comics for the feud between Marvel Comics and Gerber who tried to claim the right of the character—and for the 1980s live-action movie. But the three-foot-tall anthropomorphic duck’s adventures went beyond the courtroom and continued long after his creator stopped writing him.

But let’s start at the beginning. Introduced as a secondary character in the adventures of Man-Thing, Howard the Duck went on to get his own title and to become a candidate during the U.S. Presidential campaign of 1976. He was not elected, as you may know. It’s not easy when you are a write-in candidate. Anyway, Howard is originally from an alternate Earth populated entirely by ducks instead of humans. After being transported to Earth against his will, Howard finds himself in the Florida Everglades where he meets Man-Thing.

When he got his ongoing series, Howard saved model Beverly Switzler who became his sidekick, the two went on crazy adventures as the sarcastic and wisecracking duck had to navigate through various adventures (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror…) and often dealt with absurd and satirical situations—the character gained popularity for his unique and humorous take on the superhero genre.

Nowadays, Howard works as a private investigator, but that was not always the case. In fact, he was a cab driver for a time, a politician, and other jobs as his stories satirized various aspects of society and pop culture.

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