#comic reading guide

[doomrichards]

how to get started with doomreed!

Fantastic Four Special #1 "My Dinner with Doom"

Fantastic Four (1961) #5

Fantastic Four (1961) #10

Fantastic Four (1961) Annual #2

Fantastic Four (1961) #200

Fantastic Four (2018) #32

Doom 2099 (2019)

Fantastic Four (1994) (film)

Fantastic Four: Doomgate (novel)

The main guide is here.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick Grayson & Tim Drake: Reading Guide

Once upon a time, two kids met at a circus... and the rest is history.

table of contents:

who are these losers?

what's fun about them?

why a reading guide?

how does the reading guide work? (tl;dr: there are quick recs, a selected chronological list, and a complete chronological list)

where is the spreadsheet? (x)

who are they?

Dick Grayson and Tim Drake: the first Robin and the third Robin.

Also known as the circus boy and the earnest computer geek, the hotshot and the pretender, the slighted prince and the new apprentice, the acolyte and the hanger-on, Nightwing and Robin, Batman and Robin, Batman and Red Robin, and Marcia and Cindy (BftC 3, N 110 & 119, B 617, DC 677, Detention Comics 1, R 168, RR 14).

Or as Jason calls them, "You idiots" (TT 47).

More seriously, Dick Grayson is one of the most enduring comic characters ever - he's been around since Detective Comics 38 in 1940! He's Batman's first ward, first partner, and eldest son. When Dick's parents are murdered, Bruce identifies with him, comforts him, and takes him into his home, where Dick ultimately volunteers to join his crimefighting mission. By candlelight, the Dynamic Duo swear an oath: That we two will fight together against crime and corruption and never swerve from the path of righteousness!

Tim Drake was created in Batman 436 and formally introduced in Lonely Place of Dying. He's a lonely kid who imprints on Dick when they meet as children, and Dick hugs him and promises to do a quadruple somersault for him; he's horrified and worried about Dick in the aftermath of the Graysons' murder, which he witnesses. He watches Batman comfort Dick, deduces Robin's secret identity, and becomes a secret devotee of the Dynamic Duo. Though he admires them both, it's ultimately Dick who he idolizes and tries to emulate when Bruce is spiraling: Batman needs a Robin. No matter what he thinks he wants.

Their slow-burn strangers-to-friends-to-brothers-to-antagonists-to-brothers-again arc develops from 1989 to 2011, and it's one of the standout examples of the DC Post-Crisis era's commitment to gradual character development and careful continuity.

what's fun about them?

SO MUCH!!! But one of my favorite things is their friendship has RANGE!! They go from sweet kids to tense strangers to loyal friends to brothers over the course of real-life years and tons of comics. They fight, they tease each other, they get protective, they worry, they chase each other down, they walk away... there's just so much story here.

They meet at the circus as children, when both their parents are still alive. They meet again, years later, when Bruce is reeling from Jason's death and they team up to stop him from hurting anyone. In the early days, they're brothers-in-arms and never quite family - instead, Dick is Bruce's loyal-but-estranged eldest son, and Tim is Bruce's new loyal-but-wary apprentice, with his own family and his own semi-estranged dad. The slow process of evolving toward found-family is a delight to watch.

They work together as Nightwing and Robin over four years of in-universe time and for over twenty years of real-time, gradually forging a fierce bond of friendship and, ultimately, brotherhood.

Then Bruce dies, and they have some huge fights.

But even when they're estranged, even when they're not speaking... they never stop loving and trying to protect each other. No matter what.

why a reading guide?

Quotes from New Titans 60 and Batman 441 (1989), Nightwing 25 (1998), Nightwing 69 (2002), Red Robin 1 (2009), Red Robin 12 (2010), Gates of Gotham 3 and Detective Comics 874 (2011)

I think reading guides are cool!! And somebody asked me about one!

More generally, I think reading guides are always helpful, but especially with Dick & Tim... you know, when I first started out trying to read their comics, I got kinda overwhelmed. Because on the one hand there's SO MUCH CONTENT - they're one of the classic enduring friendships in all of post-Crisis! their relationship is a HUGE BIG DEAL! they're constantly calling each other and hanging out and supporting each other and arguing!

But at the same time, all of that content is scattered across lots of different books, in Robin and Nightwing and Detective Comics and Batman and New Titans and Titans and Young Justice and Teen Titans and Shadow of the Bat and Gotham Knights and Birds of Prey and Showcase and DC Holiday Specials and so on and so forth. There's not One Definitive Place where you can read The Dick-and-Tim Story.

So: a reading guide!

how does the reading guide work?

Dick and Tim are in over 400 comics together and over 800 comics each separately. That's a whole lot of comics! So I've made a spreadsheet with three different reading guides, depending on how interested you are in these two:

1-5 Quick Recs: If you just want to check out a couple comics, check out these quick recs for "if you like fluff," "if you like angst," etc.

200 Starter Comics: If you want to do a comprehensive, chronological Dick-and-Tim read without committing to all the comics, this list has some of their major team-ups plus some solo comics so you know what the heck is going on. Most of them have a "sneak peek" you can use to decide if you want to read it.

Big List: A complete list of all the comics Dick and Tim are in, in chronological order, with links to dc.fandom and to DC Universe Infinite. It has filter views.

This spreadsheet was a labor of love, obsession, and SO MUCH PROCRASTINATING doing other things. I update it sometimes.

where is the spreadsheet?

it's here. have fun <3

[namorthesubmariner]

Hello! You’ve probably gotten this ask before, but I’m relatively new to Namor, knew him through rivals and then looked through his tag and one of your posts sold me on our fishy king, but I wanna start reading his comics! I have the new series and sub-mariner the depths, but I saw you saying that you would not recommend the new series to beginners and am curious as to which series you recommend? I wanna read and learn about our fishy king<3

Welcome to Namor Nation! I def would not recommend Namor (2024) to readers, new or old, it's not a good series and the writer is to blame, they do not understand the character and the whole series is worth skipping, you really are not missing anything imo, it contradicts a lot of Namor lore/characterizations for characters.

I would recommend:

Saga of the Sub-Mariner (1988) #1-12 - this series is a summary of Namor's life from the golden age until the start of the 90s series, its good for fans who wanna get a history without reading 100s of comics just yet and familiarizes you with the character.

2. King in Black: Namor (2020) #1-5 - best present day series for Namor, it has flashbacks to his childhood, as well as sheds more light on Attuma, and some spotlight for Lady Dorma. This series is also called Namor: The Black Tide.

3. Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #1 - War's End - Namor during WWll, written by one of my favorite Namor writers, this is a heavy but important read.

4. Marvel's Snapshots: Sub-Mariner (2020) - Told from Betty Dean's PoV, it finally canonizes Namor's PTSD, a great single issue comic

5. Sub-Mariner (2007) #1-6 - This is personally one of my favorite series, but I'm not too fond of the ending, however Namor sets out to find out who is behind a series of attacks on the surface world.

Those are a good start but if you wanna dive in more, then this guide I made is split up by different sections so that if you wanna read a certain era. I would definitely recommend reading The Defenders because it's my favorite modern team for Namor.

If you have any other questions then please send them in!

[kwxnnxn]

Kwannon (Revanche / Psylocke) Reading Guide

Were Kwannon's body is well known she herself had been dead for decades after her time with The X-Men as Revanche. Coming back to life Kwannon took the name Psylocke and has joined an array of teams using her lethal fighting skills alongside her telepathy and telekinesis. This reading order follows her appearances throughout the years.

Bolded: she's a main character/it is an important issue for her. Italic: she's not necessarily a main character but still has interesting moments. Normal: She appears but it is not entirely important to her character.

Introduction + Body Swap

X-Men (1991) #17, #18, #20-#24

X-Men (1991) Annual #2

X-Men (1991) #25-#28

X-Men (1991) #31 [Death]

Resurrection

Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor (2018) #4 [only in one panel]

Uncanny X-Men (2018) #16-#20

Krakoa

Fallen Angels (2020)

Hellions (2020) #1-#11

Excalibur (2019) #18-#20

Hellions (2020) #12-#15

Inferno (2021) #1 [brief appearance but important for context]

Hellions (2020) #16-#18

Marauders (2019) Annual #1

Marauders (2022)

Love Unlimited Infinity Comic (2022) #34-#36

Captain Marvel (2019) #43-#49

Hellfire Gala (2023) [brief appearance but important for context]

Uncanny Avengers (2023)

From the Ashes

X-Men: Blood Hunt - Psylocke (2024)

X-Men (2024)

Psylocke (2024)

[thequiver]

Guthrie Family Reading Guide Masterlist

Lucky for you, I've created a reading list for each of them and have compiled them all here in a masterlist for your use! All information and links are under the cut!

Sam Guthrie | Cannonball

Sam is the oldest Guthrie sibling and with over 700 appearances, his reading list is in two parts, reblogged together for ease of use. Sam has been a member of the New Mutants, X-Force, the X-Men, X-Corporation, and the Avengers. Sam has also been staff at the Xavier Institute.

Paige Guthrie | Husk

Paige is the second oldest Guthrie sibling and has over 200 appearances. Paige has been a member of Generation X, X-Corps, and the Legionnaires. Paige has also been staff at the Xavier Institute.

Jay Guthrie | Icarus

Jay is the third oldest Guthrie sibling and has around 50 appearances. Jay was part of the New X-Men during the Academy X era.

Melody Guthrie | Aero

Melody is the fourth oldest Guthrie sibling and has less than 20 appearances. Melody was part of the Xavier Institute at the same time as her brother Jay, and was one of the mutants depowered after M-Day. She was the first mutant to undergo the crucible on Krakoa in X-Men (2019) #7!

Jebediah Guthrie

Jebediah is one of the younger Guthrie siblings and has 9 appearances. Jeb has never attended the Xavier Institute or ever joined a team, he is a depowered mutant who did not seek to regain his powers by undergoing the crucible on Krakoa.

[atlasfoundation]

A Reading Guide for Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu

[kitausuret]

Flash Thompson Venom Recs

@vulpinesaint asked for some recommendations on getting into Flash-as-Venom, so I decided to put together a little guide. Mind you, this is geared towards already having familiarity with Eddie, and of course by extension the Venom Symbiote.

Now -- let me start by saying it may be helpful to see first where it all started going downhill for Eddie and the Symbiote (because we don't get to other hosts until after their breakup). Are any of those comics good? Not really!

But If you really wanted to you could check out Spectacular Spider-Man (2003, Jenkins/Ramos) #1-5 and Marvel Knights Spider-Man (2004, Millar/Cho) #5-12 or thereabouts, which will take you through the official breakup, Angelo Fortunato, and the introduction of Mac Gargan.

For a little taste of what the symbiote had been up to before Chosen Blond Man #2, I also recommend Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man (2009, Reed/Bachalo) #1-4 and Siege: Spider-Man (Reed/Santucci, one-shot, just because it's funny).

At the risk of being controversial I also rec the fabulous "New Ways to Die" arc (Amazing Spider-Man #568-573, Slott/Romita Jr.) for a peek at what's going on with Eddie during this time.

If you'd like a primer on Flash Thompson before you jump into Symbiote nonsense, you can check out Amazing Spider-Man #574, which is not a great issue but it is helpful to see what was going on with him. I also recommend the Amazing Spider-Man #622 B story "Stages of Grief" which IS really good and delightful.

Flash officially kicks off as Agent Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #654-654.1 (really -- there's a point-one issue). It's written by Dan Slott so it's not, you know, great, but if you've read Venom Inc. you know what to expect.

Venom (2011) is the real meat of Flash's time. He's kind of silly, as you can see, but for the most part I enjoyed this series. Does it have problems? Sure, but it's worth a read.. The first part (#1-27.1) is written by Rick Remender, and the second (#28-42) is by Cullen Bunn. The latter is, at least in my experience, better-loved for its introduction of Mania in #38, but they are both worth reading.

My personal highlights are: #2 (very good Flash/Symby at the end) #6-8 (Spider-Island tie-ins, you get to see what Eddie is up to) #13-14 (Circle of Four!!!) #17-22 (Savage Six, more fun with Eddie) #33-36 (esPECIALLY #35 oh my god #35 is everything to me. I'm normal don't look at me) #38-42 (Mania -- need I say more?)

I would also be remiss to leave out Superior Spider-Man (2013) #22-25 because while the story is.. meh..?? ...it does have some great Flash/Symby. I would live for them.

Agent Venom additionally appears in Secret Avengers (2010) and Thunderbolts (2013), but all I can really recommend here is the T-bolts Annual. It's a fun one.

And now we get into Cosmic Bullshit Shenanigans!

Flash and the Symbiote join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy (2013, Bendis) in #14, but are officially introduced in the Free Comic Book Day GotG special. My only recommendations here are #21-23, but they're big recommendations.

Once you've read #23, you can jump right into Venom: Space Knight #1-13 (R. Thompson), which is by FAR my favourite Venom series of all time and I'm not even joking. I can't even express how much I adore this series. WOMEN. I LOVE WOMEN. Just. Just read it. And then cry that it's only 13 issues

And from there, you know how it ends if you read Venom #150. Such was the end of Flash's time as Venom, but what a wild ride it was.

now we just need to get eddie on board with a third

If you're curious about Flash's story post-resurrection (he died, if you missed that from the Cates run) you can check out my little guide here, and also the most recent Carnage series by Torunn Grønbekk. What the future holds for Flash Thompson is up in the air (as it always is with Spidey's supporting cast) but I've got to have hope!

Happy reading!

[imperiuswrecked]

I'm not sure if you answer questions like this, but I'm trying to get into Marvel, and I'd love to read more about "Cap’s Kooky Quartet" do you have any reading list recommendations of them?

I love Cap's Kooky Quartet so much, and I do give comic guides/recs upon request if I'm able to. This era may not have lasted long but it's my favorite.

For a quick overview of this era check out; marvelsilverage.

To see Cap's Kooky Quartet in animation they appear in one of the episodes of Marvel Super Heroes (1966) which you can see for free on the Internet Archive, it basically covers a few of their adventures.

Cap's Kooky Quartet Comic Reading Guide

The Avengers (1963) #16-19

Journey into Mystery (1953) #120

The Avengers (1963) #20

Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 3

The Avengers (1963) #21-22

Tales of Suspense (1959) #72

The Avengers (1963) #23-28

A few of these issues just have cameos but the bulk of their adventures are in Avengers. After issue 28 it's no longer a Quartet as more members join.

Avengers (2016) #3.1

As you read through comics you will often find little flashbacks to this era, especially when characters like Quicksilver rehash their backstories. This guide is meant to get you started but you can read on in The Avengers comics to see the character's journeys. There's a lot of resources for new comic readers. Also If you check Marvel Fandom Wiki and search for specific comic characters then you will find their full appearance list towards the bottom of each character page that you can use as a guide if you want to follow that character. That's the best way to get started reading because it helps you to narrow down which comics you want to start with and where they show up next. Hope this guide helps!