Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

DC Comics

Screaming at No One (Lois Lane: Enemy of the State Review!)

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When reading Lois Lane, the question arises time and time again: Why is Greg Rucka writing a Lois Lane Maxi-Series in 2019? The meaning of that question changes as the series goes on. The first time the question is asked is before you begin reading it and you wonder why Greg Rucka is writing it. It’s not that Rucka is a bad author; He’s a bit too fond of the US Military for my tastes, I got tired of Lazurus after a couple of volumes, and “Candor” is quite bluntly the worst thing everyone involved ever wrote. But he’s written some stuff I’ve quite liked: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, “Severance Package,” and the Question/Montoya bits of 52 to name a few.

This is the first major series for the character of Lois Lane since 1974. Why is Greg Rucka and not, say, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marguerite Bennett, or Magdalene Visaggio working on this title? It’s quite possible that Rucka really wanted to write a Lois Lane book and, after the kerfuffle surrounding his Wonder Woman: Earth One book, maybe this was a means of making it up to him. Yet, Lois Lane isn’t one of his traditional spy/criminal/soldier/cop protagonists. She’s a reporter who is often at odds with her militaristic family. Why would Rucka gravitate to such a character? [Read more…] about Screaming at No One (Lois Lane: Enemy of the State Review!)

Injustice Reading Order (DC Comics Universe)!

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Conceptually, I don’t actually *like* Injustice. The premise for this entire comics universe stems first from the 1 on 1 fighting video game, and the brief story of that video game is far from extraordinary.

The story of Injustice begins when Joker and Harley Quinn steal a nuke, launch it at Metropolis, and trick Superman from preventing the tragedy by tricking him into fighting an illusion of Doomsday that turns out to be his wife, Lois Lane. Enraged, Superman finally crosses the “no kill” line, murders Joker, and creeps deeper and deeper into an ironfisted tyrant of the world. As the face of DC’s “Kill No Man” campaign, Batman leads a rebellion against Superman. [Read more…] about Injustice Reading Order (DC Comics Universe)!

Huntress Reading Order!

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For the uninitiated who saw it, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) opened a door in the DC Universe that they may not have known existed. Birds of Prey isn’t exactly an underground property – after all, not just any group of heroes can inspire an ill-conceived early 2000’s WB drama series – but it won’t be winning many popularity contests when placed alongside superhero teams like the Justice League, the Avengers, or even the Teen Titans. It was a bold decision to use the adoration for Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn to introduce an entire line-up of DC heroines to the masses.

While box office receipts initially weren’t stellar and opinions on the quality vary (this writer personally thinks it rules), the movie went a long way to putting names like Black Canary and Renee Montoya into the zeitgeist. One character, however, Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress is given the shortest of shrifts; the character as written and Winstead’s performance are often cited as one of the movie’s strengths, but there’s no denying that Huntress gets the least amount of time to shine. Which is a shame, because she has so much to offer. Well look no further for a rundown on where to start with Huntress and what comes next. Or should that be Huntresses? [Read more…] about Huntress Reading Order!

DC Comics Young Adult Graphic Novels List!

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Starting in 2019, DC formalized their YA comics with the DC Ink imprint dedicated to standalone graphic novels set outside DC Comics expansive continuity. The end result is a growing list of accessible, high quality graphic novels from talented YA creators, and many times writers and artists known to standard floppy comic book fans.

Unlike the “mature readers” Black Label imprint, DC Ink is less centralized around Batman stories (although you’ll find some!), and open to a more diverse array of DC heroes, anti-heroes, and villains. My personal favorite so far is Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass which does a great job of showing the potential in these graphic novels for both new readers and longtime comics fans. [Read more…] about DC Comics Young Adult Graphic Novels List!

Cyborg Reading Order

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Universes change, but some things never do. Is Victor Stone a promising young student devastated by a science experiment gone wrong or a football star saved by alien technology after a brutal accident? Though origins are mutable, Victor’s essential character is not. At once a founding member of the Justice League as well as a long-standing figure in the history of the Teen Titans, Cyborg has been a mainstay of the DC Comics Universe for 40 years, leading to appearances in cartoons (Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!), TV series (Smallville, Doom Patrol), and movies (Justice League). [Read more…] about Cyborg Reading Order