Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Dave Buesing's Comic Book Herald Writing!

Dave founded Comic Book Herald in 2011 and has written a lot about comics since that time. See for yourself below!

Krakin’ Krakoa #110: 8 Major Secrets in the X of Swords Handbook!

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In general, Marvel event handbooks are a quick recap, a visual Wikipedia, of story details that can help readers understand the players, reasons, and storylines applicable to the event comic. While this is true of the X-Men: X of Swords handbook, there’s so much we still don’t know, and so many fascinating mysteries in the event and the Hickman era of X-Men at large, that I was deeply engaged with the handbook’s 50+ pages hunting for clues.

Today I’ll answer:

  • What are the most interesting secrets and ideas present in the handbook comic?
  • What surprising character inclusions promise much more to come in X of Swords?
  • Theories and predictions for what’s to come in X-Men!

Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow!

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Creannotators #24: “Billionaire Island” Interview With Writer Mark Russell

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This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Mark Russell about Billionaire Island and Second Coming from Ahoy Comics, as well as his DC Comics career including Flintstones, and what comes next!

On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics!

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The Essential Marvel’s S.W.O.R.D. Comics Reading Order!

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Marvel’s SWORD, the Sentient World Observation and Response Department, is the intelligence equivalent of SHIELD, dealing with the extraterrestrial threats of the Marvel Cosmic scene. Whereas SHIELD has been with the Marvel Universe since the Jack and Stan Silver Age, SWORD debuted in 2004’s Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. Since that time, SWORD, and most specifically the unit’s delightfully no-nonsense commander, Abigail Brand, have been an integrated, yet sporadic part of the Marvel Universe fabric, although most commonly tied to the pages of X-Men.

Despite the memorable debut, clear purpose, and compelling role in Marvel Cosmic, SWORD only has one solo five issue miniseries prior to the launch of Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti’s hotly anticipated entrance into the X-Men’s Dawn of X. There are good stories involving SWORD and Agent Brand – as a matter of fact I have a list of 10 essentials – but I’d also argue there’s a definite sense of untapped potential. 

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