The Unofficial DC Comics Trade Paperback Timeline - Vol. 1
By Collected Editions
Copyright 2011 Collected Editions
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Pre-Crisis (Recommended Reading)
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In August 2005, as part of the Collected Editions blog, I began compiling the DC Comics Trade Paperback Timeline.
DC Comics had finished publishing their Identity Crisis miniseries at the end of 2004 and they were about to release the hardcover collection. This was the beginning of a time of resurgence, of sorts, for DC Comics. Whereas the company had once published “event crossovers” (event miniseries plus tie-ins with various ongoing series) almost every year, their last few had been lukewarmly-received, including 2001’s Joker’s Last Laugh. Identity Crisis had not been intended as a crossover miniseries, but it proved so popular (or controversial, depending on your point of view) that a number of titles reflected its events before it ended.
Almost immediately, DC began to tie all of their ongoing titles into its next crossover event, Infinite Crisis. This period saw DC publish four “Countdown to Infinite Crisis” lead-in miniseries, and at one point nearly every DC Comics title tied in to one of these miniseries, sometimes even connecting to more than one miniseries at once. This was a time of perhaps unprecedented continuity between the various DC Comics titles, and it proved successful enough to provide a model for DC’s crossover events going forward.
Previously, DC Comics’s trade collections (collections of single issues representing a storyline or event, in hardcover or paperback but colloquially called “trade paperbacks”) had been mostly self-contained. Though the connections seem more obvious now, collections like that of DC’s event Zero Hour or Superman: The Wedding and Beyond usually contained only the story’s most relevant issues; these books were more like souvenirs to mark events gone past, or ways curiosity-seekers could catch up those times that DC Comics made the evening news, than books to be read in a larger context.
Somewhere around DC’s 2002 Batman story Hush, however (and not later than 2003’s Teen Titans relaunch), the entire comics industry saw a change in the growing popularity and prevalence of trade paperbacks. “Trades” became more common and even expected—at DC, Hush began a period of rotating creative teams on the Batman titles writing related stories, with each storyline collected in a trade; starting with Teen Titans: A Kid’s Game, DC collected almost all one hundred issues of Teen Titans in successive volumes, a collection frenzy rarely seen before. Readers began to “wait for the trade,” forgoing monthly issues for the trade paperbacks that would follow soon after; DC now releases one or two trade paperbacks every week, sometimes announcing collections even before all the issues collected in the book have been released individually.
In the period between Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, I saw trade paperbacks take on a new personality. The Justice Society of America collection JSA: Lost actually billed itself as an Identity Crisis tie-in, something I’d never seen a trade do before—DC was actually encouraging readers to follow continuity between collections in the same way they might do between single issues.
Meanwhile, a number of DC Comics writers who handled multiple titles began creating their own tight continuity between their books. Notably, now-Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns began Identity Crisis-era storylines for the characters Impulse and Jessie Quick in the Flash title that would culminate in Teen Titans and JSA respectively; Johns featured the character Hal Jordan in Flash and JSA before returning Jordan to life and to his status as Green Lantern in the Green Lantern: Rebirth miniseries—and all of it could be followed with relative ease through trade paperback collections.
It was interesting enough to me, and I enjoyed enough tracing and re-tracing the story paths, that it was time to get it down on digital paper rather than try to remember the growing continuity swirls. I had begun the Collected Editions blog as a venue for trade paperback fans to discuss our favorite books; if this continuity “timeline” and trade reading order interested me, I imagined it would interest the Collected Editions readers as well. The timeline began with about 150 books, and it’s grown to include over 800. The DC Comics Trade Paperback Timeline remains one of the most viewed posts at Collected Editions.
This ebook edition of the DC Comics Trade Paperback Timeline organizes most every mainstream collection published by DC Comics from the beginning of the modern era (1986’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, but even some earlier collections) through the recent Flashpoint event that lead into DC’s New 52 relaunch and continuity, presenting the complete reading order for over the last twenty-five years of DC Comics. The timeline will continue to expand on the Collected Editions website to include the New 52 collections as they’re released later this year.
This ebook is dedicated to everyone who’s read and supported Collected Editions, the guest-posters, and especially everyone who’s taken the time to leave a comment or share their thoughts over the years. Every comment has been read, and every one has been appreciated. Thank you, and enjoy.
This is a fan-written, non-fiction, informational reading guide—the books and characters referred to herein are the properties of their respective owners.
* Batman: Year One
* Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 1
Technically DC Comics published Batman: Year One after the Legends crossover, but story-wise it takes place before Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 1. Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper takes place during the events of Batman: Year One; this origin of Catwoman has at times been superseded but may largely be back in continuity as of the Ed Brubaker Catwoman series. There’s a somewhat unspoken ten-year gap that occurs after the events of Man of Steel Vol. 1 (the Man of Steel miniseries) during which a number of pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths events (including the creation of the Justice League, the death of Barry Allen, etc.) take place.
* Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Volume 3
* Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals
The Green Lantern and Wonder Woman collections take place after the “ten-year gap” that follows Batman: Year One and Superman: Man of Steel, occurring just before the Legends crossover.
* Legends: The Collection
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 2
* Justice League International Volume 1
Both Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 2 crosses over with Legends. The Keith Giffen-era Justice League begins in Justice League International Vol. 1, following from the end of Legends.
* Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire
* Batman: Birth of the Demon
* Batman in the Eighties
* Batman: Year Two: Fear the Reaper
The 2012 Batman: Birth of the Demon collection contains the Birth of the Demon, Bride of the Demon, and Son of the Demon stories; Son, published about this time, was long considered out of continuity and is generally ignored (though referenced to an extent in Kingdom Come), until returning to continuity in part after Infinite Crisis in Batman and Son; these stories do not entirely fit with Batman continuity of the moment, but can be read for additional reference. Batman in the Eighties contains one generally unrelated Batman story published after Detective Comics crossed over with Legends; Batman: Year Two took place in Detective after this point (and flashes back to after Batman: Year One) -- again, though publishing order is preserved, the events may be slightly out of step with one another in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 3
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 4
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 5
* Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 6
Man of Steel Vol. 6 crosses over with Showcase Presents: Booster Gold and shares an issue in common. Superman meets Jason Todd here prior to A Death in the Family.
* Question: Zen and Violence
* Question: Poisoned Ground
* Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters
Both the Question series and Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters are rather removed from the events of the mainstream DC Universe, but take place about this time. In a continuity gaffe, Green Arrow next appears in Millennium in the new costume he gains here, but the change in Black Canary’s powers won’t be reflected for some time. Longbow Hunters lead in to a Green Arrow series that would run over 100 issues, but no issues are collected except for excerpts in Green Arrow/Black Canary: For Better or For Worse and issues in Green Lantern: Emerald Allies, before Green Arrow would be relaunched in Green Arrow: Quiver.
* Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 5
* Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 6
Saga of the Swamp Thing Vols. 5 and 6 collect Swamp Things first post-Crisis on Infinite Earths appearances. Vol. 6 ends just before events in Swamp Thing that take place during the Millennium crossover.
* Millennium
* Justice League International Volume 2
* Showcase Presents: Booster Gold
* Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Gods
Justice League International crosses over with Millennium (also with the planned Suicide Squad: The Nightshade Odyssey trade, later cancelled). Showcase Presents: Booster Gold stretches from the beginning of Justice League International (and even some pre-Crisis Superman appearances) to just after Millennium. Hawk Hank Hall appears in Showcase Presents: Booster Gold before the new Hawk and Dove series. Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Gods crosses over with both Legends and Millennium.
* Wonder Woman: Beauty and the Beasts
This third collection of George Perez’s run on Wonder Woman includes an issue of Action Comics.
* Wonder Woman: Destiny Calling
* Hawk and Dove
Hawk Hank Hall appears here after Showcase Presents: Booster Gold, but before Invasion. This miniseries introduced a new Hawk and Dove partnership and lead in to a Hawk and Dove ongoing series, which would cross-over with War of the Gods and Armageddon 2001 (both uncollected) and end shortly before the final issues of Superman: Time and Time Again.
* Sword of the Atom
The stories collected in Sword of the Atom begin pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths and continue to about this point. These Atom adventures remain largely in-continuity.
* Cosmic Odyssey
* Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast
* Batman: The Cult
* New Teen Titans: Who is Donna Troy?
Ends just before Batman: A Death in the Family. The final story contains spoilers for Infinite Crisis-era events in Donna Troy’s life, though these are relatively minor in the grand scheme.
* DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
* Batman: The Killing Joke
* Batman: A Death in the Family
Barbara Gordon cameos in Death in the Family after the events of Batman: The Killing Joke. Killing Joke is also collected in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore, along with Batman Annual #11, the first post-Crisis Batman annual.
* Invasion
* Justice League International Volume 3
* Animal Man Volume 1
* Justice League International Volume 4
Both Justice League International Volumes 3 and 4 contain elements of Invasion. The Invasion issue of Animal Man takes place between the Invasion issues of Justice League International, but is not directly related.
* Doom Patrol: Crawling From the Wreckage
* Doom Patrol: The Painting That Ate Paris
Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol run launches from Invasion with Crawling from the Wreckage; the second volume, The Painting That Ate Paris, guest stars the Justice League International. Though Doom Patrol became a Vertigo series after Morrison’s run, its characters are referenced up to and including the Blackest Night-era Doom Patrol series.
* Absolute Sandman Volume 1
* Absolute Sandman Volume 2
* Absolute Death
Like Doom Patrol, Sandman would become a Vertigo title, and its ties to the DC Universe are limited and tenuous, though characters from Justice League International make an appearance in the first volume, and references to the Sandman title are later found in JLA, JSA, Green Arrow: Quiver, Superman: The Black Ring, and elsewhere. Vol. 1 contains the Preludes and Nocturnes, Doll’s House, and Dream Country stories; Vol. 2 contains Season of Mists, A Game of You, and some stories from Fables and Reflections. Absolute Death includes Death: The High Cost of Living and The Time of Your Life, and takes place after A Game of You.
* Question: Epitaph for a Hero
* Question: Welcome to Oz
Question: Epitaph for a Hero includes an appearance by Green Arrow, who was largely unseen in other titles at this time.
* Superman: Exile
* Superman in the Eighties
According to Batman and Superman: World’s Finest (published later, and acting retroactively on these stories), Superman: Exile takes place subsequent to the events of Batman: A Death in the Family. Superman in the Eighties takes place throughout the late Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis Superman stories up to this point, with the latest story taking place just after Superman: Exile.
* Batman: Blind Justice
* Batman: The Many Deaths of the Batman
* Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying
The Many Deaths of Batman reacts to the events of Death in the Family before A Lonely Place of Dying; DC published Blind Justice in Detective about this time, but it remains separate from Death in the Family. Crossover between various titles is somewhat limited at this time, but A Lonely Place of Dying (containing both Batman and New Teen Titans issues) takes place roughly after the end of Superman: Exile.
* Adam Strange: The Man of Two Worlds
Published at about this time, but the story threads here won’t be picked up until Green Lantern: Baptism of Fire and JLA: Strength in Numbers.
* Hawkworld
In 1989, a Hawkworld miniseries expanded on the origin of the Silver Age Hawkman, Katar Hol; but subsequently, DC followed the miniseries with a Hawkworld series that rebooted Hawkman and Hawkwoman, and contradicted Hawkman’s post-Crisis appearances so far. Later on, the Hawkworld series (uncollected) retroactively changed the events of Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 3, Invasion, and Justice League International Vol. 3 such that the Hawkman that appears there is not Katar Hol, but actually a Thanagarian spy posing as the Golden Age Hawkman Carter Hall’s son (this is not at all, of course, reflected in those books). The Hawkman who appears in World Without a Superman, Zero Hour, and other events therefore is now the new Hawkworld iteration of Katar Hol; this Hawkman (who, through a sequence of events, would merge with the Golden Age Hawkman Carter Hall) would enter a limbo dimension) shortly before Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare. The Hawkman that emerges in JSA: The Return of Hawkman is the Golden Age Hawkman Carter Hall, slightly altered; later events, including Blackest Night, affect this further. Along with Adam Strange: The Man of Two Worlds and Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, this “soft” reboot of the Hawkman character was published at about this time.
* Batman: Shaman
* Secret Origins of the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes
Legends of the Dark Knight poses a quandary for the reading order of the DC Universe Trade Paperback Timeline, since the stories are often out of continuity or deal with Batman’s early career, but may also be reflected in present-day books; their placement will endeavor to reflect either publication date or relevance to other stories. The first LODK collection, Shaman, is reflected in the Batman story “The Man Who Falls,” first published in the Secret Origins trade. Secret Origins also includes stories about Superman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and the JLA; the latest-dated origin, of Green Lantern, predates Emerald Dawn and should be read here.
* Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn Volume 1
* Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn Volume 2
* Green Lantern: The Road Back
The Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn miniseries tell Hal Jordan’s origin and are not specifically part of continuity, but were published around this time; they lead in to the Green Lantern series of the time, the first issues of which are collected in The Road Back). Guy Gardner appears in Justice League International, and Hal Jordan will cameo in Superman: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite. This Green Lantern series would not be collected again until Emerald Twilight, around issue 50.
* Animal Man: Origin of the Species
* Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina
* Time Masters
* Justice League International Volume 5
* Justice League International Volume 6
Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina crosses over with the Time Masters collected miniseries and Justice League International Vol. 5; all of these collections were published at about this time, as well as Justice League International Vol. 6.
* Question: Riddles
* Question: Peacemaker
The Question series wraps at about this time. Threads from The Question will be picked up in 52 and the following Question collections.
* Superman: Eradication (The Origin of the Eradicator)
* Lobo’s Greatest Hits
* Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of Superman
Superman: Eradication and issues from Lois & Clark (a selection of comics that “inspired” the TV series) take place at roughly the same time; Eradication has the more dramatic story, but read both for the full picture. The Lobo’s Greatest Hits collection includes issues found in Eradication, as well as Justice League International and uncollected issues of LEGION and Mister Miracle.
* Superman: Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite
* Superman: Time and Time Again
The main bulk of Time and Time Again takes place here, though the final issues jump ahead to after Superman: They Saved Luthor’s Brain (but before The Death of Superman). After Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite but just before Time and Time Again, Superman reveals his identity to Lois Lane (currently uncollected -- start writing letters now).
* Robin: A Hero Reborn
* Robin: Tragedy and Triumph
* Batman: The Last Arkham
These two Robin trades collect issues of Batman and Detective respectively, and the first and second Robin miniseries respectively. The Detective issues in Tragedy and Triumph actually occur before A Hero Reborn, but the first Robin miniseries naturally comes before the second. That is, there’s no way to read these two trades in whole without aspects of one spoiling the other. Batman: Last Arkham, the first collection of the Shadow of the Bat series, takes place about this time.
* Batman: Gothic
* Batman: Prey
* Batman: Venom
Batman: Venom is one of the few Legends of the Dark Knight stories that has bearing on later continuity with the introduction of the Venom drug that factors in to Batman: Knightfall and later. The other Legends of the Dark Knight collections are unconnected to continuity, but were published in the series prior to Venom, so they’re placed here together.