Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Marvel Characters

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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The Essential Galactus Reading Order!

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I’ve been thinking about it for a hot ten minutes now, and you’d be hardpressed to find a more famous hungry character than Galactus. The cosmic planet eater created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee is right up there with Scooby and Shaggy, Kobayashi, and Garfield for famous personas revolving around eating.

Of course, Galactus has plenty more going for him, starring in arguably the first Marvel Comics event, and functioning as the center of the entire Marvel Cosmic universe for decades since the Silver Age. Galactus inevitably brings a presence – and yes, a hunger – to any story, enhancing the stakes and consistently taking traditional “beat ’em up!” solutions off the table. [Read more…] about The Essential Galactus Reading Order!

Magik (Illyana Rasputin) Reading Order!

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The tale of Illyana “Magik” Rasputina is a tragic one, full of torture, dashed hopes, and betrayal. Born and raised to early childhood behind the Iron Curtain, Illyana’s young life was saved from a tractor accident when the mutant powers of her brother Piotr manifested. Piotr went on to become the X-Man Colossus, and Illyana eventually joined him in the United States under the supervision of Charles Xavier. That’s the happy part of the story. 

Illyana spent 7 years in the Limbo dimension as the captive of an evil sorcerer named Belasco, during which time her own mutant abilities of teleportation presented themselves. Illyana also learned to use magic under the tutelage of another reality’s version of Storm. When Illyana finally emerged from Limbo, almost no time had passed in the real world. Illyana was never quite the same after this. Joining the New Mutants and becoming friends with her teammates helped, but the dark aspect of Illyana’s soul never healed, even after a death and rebirth.  [Read more…] about Magik (Illyana Rasputin) Reading Order!

Deathlok Reading Order!

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As far as evocative comic book names go, it’s hard to top having “death” in the mix. Deathstroke. Lady Deathstrike. Thanos’s ever-elusive intended, Death herself. And let’s not even think about expanding to characters with “dead” in their name. But then there’s Deathlok – a moniker that is more a title than a name. There have been many Deathloks throughout Marvel Comics history, each of them a man turned into a mindless killing machine (literally), forced to overcome his programming to take down those who exploit him, and fight for the greater good.

There are about a half dozen Deathloks worth tracking through the Marvel chronology, and that’s not counting the many nameless or throwaway Deathloks that pop up from time to time. If it sounds like a difficult task to keep them all sorted, just wait until I tell you that sometimes there’s more than one hanging about at a given time. Don’t give yourself a headache, though, because your friends here at Comic Book Herald are prepared to do all the hard work for you. Read on to find out where to start with Deathlok, and where things go from there. [Read more…] about Deathlok Reading Order!

The Essential Nightcrawler Reading Order!

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Nightcrawler’s been my favorite X-Man as long as I can remember. This stems from some combination of the X-Men Arcade Game and the Age of Apocalypse inspired action figure with a flaming sword. I don’t know how many 7 year olds were rocking the blue and red with a spiked tail at their elementary school Halloween, but I’m right there with you. [Read more…] about The Essential Nightcrawler Reading Order!