Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Charlotte Fierro

The Leader Reading Order!

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When it comes to Hulk villains, there is no greater match for the Jade Giant than the Leader. Like Bruce Banner, Sam Sterns got his powers after being bombarded with gamma rays, but instead of his muscles growing like the Hulk’s, Sterns gained incredible intelligence and a brain the size of a soccer ball.

As The Leader, Sterns matches the Hulk brains-for-brawn, but it doesn’t stop there. In many ways, Bruce Banner and Samuel Sterns are two faces of the same coin; one is a self-loathing and guilt-ridden man who wants to be left, while the other is a would-be Ruler of the World, reveling in the strength of his own grey (green?) matter. One man seeks isolation to protect the world from what his strength and rage might do; the other puts himself above other people because they’re not as smart as him. And while other the Hulk villains — from General Thunderbolt Ross to the Abomination — might have come to blows with the emerald enforcer more frequently, the Leader is the one who feels like his true nemesis.

With The Leader featuring in both the end phase of Al Ewing’s Immortal Hulk and promotional material for the upcoming M.O.D.O.K. show (and perhaps in Disney+’s She-Hulk?), now is the perfect time to catch up on Samuel Sterns’ comic book history, from 1964 to today. [Read more…] about The Leader Reading Order!

Black Knight Reading Order!

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The Black Knight is “that guy” on the Avengers. He stands out in his bold choice of Tudor armor, leather jacket, and frequently wielding a lightsaber. And yet he’s never had an ongoing series, never led his own team. The Black Knight’s publishing history mostly consists of a handful of solo mini-series, appearances on various Avengers rosters, and a few random guest appearances sprinkled all over Marvel continuity for good measure. If that doesn’t seem complicated enough, the Black Knight is actually the name of three different characters in Marvel; and while one of them has definitely had more importance over time than the two others, they are all linked by the same lineage and armor.

The most famous Black Knight, named Dane Whitman, will appear in Chloé Zhao’s Eternals movie as played by Game of Thrones’ own Kit Harrington. And although he has had a romance with Sersi of the Eternals in the 90s, Dane is mostly linked to the British and Arthurian parts of the Marvel Universe, teaming up with characters such as Captain Britain, Excalibur, and even Merlin. [Read more…] about Black Knight Reading Order!

Thunderstrike Reading Order!

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What do you get when you cross the Thor mythos with grunge aesthetics? You get Thunderstrike, a new Thor variant made by the 90s, for the 90s. A beefier hero who traded his classic hammer in for an Asgardian mace. It’s a classic epic of a leather jacket fighting other, larger leather jackets.

First introduced as a side character in the pages of Thor, Eric Masterson quickly became the Thunder God’s new human alter ego (yes, the title was still doing the secret identity thing by the late 80s if you can believe it), before forging himself a new identity as Thunderstrike.

Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz in 1988, Eric Masterson is a rare example of a Marvel hero who not only has a clear beginning and end to his story, but has also maintained a pretty consistent creative team throughout his comic book history (with DeFalco writing virtually all of his comics, and Frenz drawing most of them). In 2011, more than a decade after Thunderstrike’s death, the duo even came back to continue Eric Masterson’s legacy in the form of his teenage son Kevin, who inherits his father’s mace and becomes the new Thunderstrike (still active today, as of his last cameo apparition in the pages of Annihilation Scourge: Omega). [Read more…] about Thunderstrike Reading Order!

Ironheart (Riri Williams) Reading Order!

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Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato in the lead-up to Civil War II, Riri Williams is a 15-year-old child genius from Chicago who builds her own Iron Man-type armor and soon finds herself taking over Tony Stark’s mantle.

In recent stories, particularly Eve Ewing’s solo series, Ironheart has started to step outside of Iron Man’s shadow and into a spotlight all her own, whether as a member of the teen hero group, the Champions, or on her own adventures taking her as far from Chicago as Latveria, and recently, Wakanda. [Read more…] about Ironheart (Riri Williams) Reading Order!

The Best Loki Comics!

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If there’s anything I love more than a good villain, it’s a good redemption story. Throughout their comic book history, Loki has had some of the Marvel Universe’s best moments of villainy and treachery, plotting behind the scenes in most of Thor’s adventures, as well as in events such as Acts of Vengeance and Dark Reign. But more recently, since the 2010s and the character’s introduction to the MCU, the God of Lies has been reborn as a more heroic figure (or at least, trying to be) in stories written by acclaimed creators like Kieron Gillen and Al Ewing.

Because Loki comes from the world of Thor and Asgard, their stories are obviously driven by their mythological inspiration. But that notion of gods being myths and stories is all the more crucial for the God of Lies, as although they are a trickster and a magician, supposedly unpredictable and chaotic, in truth, they play the role they’ve always been assigned. They are the God of Evil, eternal enemy of Asgard, and they never seem to be able to break away from that old story… which makes it very interesting to see what happens when they do manage to change and become something new. [Read more…] about The Best Loki Comics!