I resisted making a Peacemaker reading order for the entire first season of James Gunn and John Cena’s HBO Peacemaker, even though I committed to learning the full choreography of Wig Wam’s “Do You Wanna Taste It”. It just seemed like there wasn’t enough meat on the bone for Peacemaker’s actual comic book history to justify a full guide.
Well, turns out a role as one of the most celebrated and shockingly critical players in the new DC film universe leads to more printed comic books for our boy Peace. So sure, it doesn’t have the history and depth of the Superman reading order, but let’s give Peace a chance!
Below you’ll find a complete guide for Peacemaker comics, from his 60s origins with Charlton Comics to his 80s reinvention with DC after DC purchased the rights to the Charlton characters in 1983.
DC Finest: Peacemaker – Kill for Peace
Collects: The Fightin’ 5 #40-41, Peacemaker Vol. 1 #1 to #5 (1967), Peacemaker #1-4 (1987), and his cameos from the pages of Checkmate #16-26, #28, and #32-33, Suicide Squad #27-30, Vigilante #36-38 and #41-43, Showcase ’93 #6-#11, and Eclipso #11-13
The newer DC Finest selection covers off on pretty much the complete collected Charlton Comics origins and 80s DC revival for Peacemaker.
Note that the Suicide Squad and Checkmate issues initially crossover as part of “The Janus Directive.” They can be read as follows:
Suicide Squad #27
Checkmate #16
Suicide Squad #28
Checkmate #17
Suicide Squad #29
Checkmate #18
Suicide Squad #30
And from there you can proceed to Checkmate #19 through issue #33.
Watchmen
For decades, Peacemaker was most notable as the Charlton Comics character who served as the basis for Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgin’s Comedian. Honestly the most remarkable feat James Gunn has achieved with the DC Universe is breaking Peacemaker free from that shadow.
For obvious reasons, you should read Watchmen. But as part of the Peacemaker journey, this is more what-if comic book history.
Collects: Peacemaker #1 to #4 (1987)
The post-Watchmen, “Uh, we better keep this Peacemaker IP out of Moore and Gibbon’s hands before they make him unusable for our plans for a 2020s character revival!”
The Keith Giffen and John Rogers run that introduced Jaime Reyes brings the Charlton bros together, with a nearly unrecognizable Peacemaker playing a sort of mentor to Jaime.
Morrison and Quitely’s final word on Watchmen, complete with the Charlton Comics inspirations for their better known Watchmen-verse versions.
For more on what’s happening here, check out our excellent Who Watched the Watchmen essay from Ritesh!
Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Give Peace a Chance
Collects: Future State: Suicide Squad #1-2 and Suicide Squad #1-6
Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Ambushed!
Collects: Suicide Squad #7-12 and Suicide Squad 2021 Annual
Collects: The Flash #780; Suicide Squad #13; Teen Titans Academy#13; and War for Earth-3 #1-2
War for Earth-3 reading checklist:
War for Earth-3 #1
Suicide Squad #13
The Flash #780
Teen Titans Academy #13
War for Earth-3 #2
Suicide Squad #14
Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace
Collects: Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace #1 (2022)
Garth Ennis jumps in for an over-sized one-shot between Gunn’s Suicide Squad and Peacemaker series. As a result, Ennis is taking Peacemaker entirely serious, more in line with the type of work he’s done on Frank Castle in Punisher.
Hellblazer team extraordinaire Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell team-up for a Peacemaker era Suicide Squad tale for DC’s Black Label. Apart from Pax Americana, the best-looking comics Peacemaker has ever been a part of!
Collects: Peacemaker Tries Hard! #1-6
This is the read for HBO series fans, as Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh match the comic mania of John Cena’s yoked lunatic.
Collects: Green Arrow (2023) #1 to #6
Peacemaker (and the new Peacewrecker) cameo in the rebooted Dawn of DC Green Arrow. Eventually, Peacemaker also makes his way to the 2024 Absolute Power event through the pages of Green Arrow as well.
Peacemaker Presents: Vigilante: Double Feature
Collects: Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature! #1-5
No finer proof that Peacemaker is a hit than Vigilante and Eagly sharing a miniseries.
Jason Aaron has a riff on Peacemaker in his Absolute Superman reimagining. You can see more in the full DC Absolute Universe reading order.
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