DC’s “Infinite Frontier” begins in 2021, hot on the heels of the “flash forward” stories of the two-month long “Future State.” Here you’ll find a complete reading order and checklist for the relevant DC Comics as they’re released!
Previously: Future State and Endless Winter
By: Nathan Payson
Road to Infinite Frontier:
Infinite Frontier is fairly straightforward to start, but there are a couple of things to read that will make your experience easier. Specifically, the Batman family begins with James Tynion IV run which continues straight into Infinite Frontier. While you can definitely jump into Infinite Frontier without any context, I strongly recommend reading the following books to get ready.
Road to Infinite Frontier: Batman
Batman: Infinite Frontier is the expansion of the bold ideas that Tynion IV that Tynion established in his Batman including new heroes, and villains. His run is coming off an 85 issue run on Batman by Tom King where King focused on two things: the romantic relationship between Batman and Catwoman, and the masterplan of Bane. At the end of his run, Bane basically left Gotham in near collapse and desperately in need of repair. Bruce, obviously, decides to help rebuild it in his image, and chaos breaks loose. First off, you should read Tynion’s opening arc.
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Collects: Batman #86-94
Dark Design leads into DC’s Joker War which is the final big event for the Batman family in Rebirth. You can check out CBH’s Joker War reading order here, but if you want the fast track, make sure to read these three essential books:
Collects: Batman #95-100
Detective Comics #1027: Story “The Black Casebook”
And the Joker War story in Catwoman #25 (The First One)
Following Joker War, most of the bat books are concluding plot threads from before Joker War, but there are three stories you should make sure to read.
Collects: Batman #101-105, a story from Detective Comics #1027 (probably “The Black Casebook”), and Batman Annual #5
Detective Comics: Joker War Aftermath
Collects: Detective Comics #1028-1033
Punchline #1 is a must read to enjoy the back-issue of the Joker series, and it’s surprisingly super fun.
Road to Infinite Frontier: Justice League
The Justice League Family has two very important books to read going into Future State.
First, you should check out Endless Winter Reading Order. Though the crossover isn’t a must read, it does provide a bunch of really cool teases for Infinite Frontier including the establishment of the Teen Titans academy and the increasing importance between Black Adam and Hypolyta.
Secondly, you should read Dark Knights: Death Metal. Death Metal is the big event that concludes DC Rebirth. It’s ending directly leads into Infinite Frontier #0 and is essential to understanding ideas like the omniverse and the current origins of the DC Universe. You can read all of Dark Knights: Death Metal #1-7 and you should be all set to go, or if you want you can read the entire event with Comic Book Herald’s Death Metal Reading Order.
Road to Infinite Frontier: Future State
Following Death Metal, the future is full of infinite possibilities. To explore the possible future of DC, multiple creators wrote books and back-issues with a possible future of their run. These stories take place anywhere from 3 to 1000000 years in the future, and reveal the dangers of enemies like the Magistrate and Merlin, and introduce us to new heroes like Yara Flor. You can check out the Comic Book Herald Reading Order here.
Infinite Frontier Part 1:
This book kicks off the era with an incredibly important set of stories that define the universe’s direction for the next couple of years. It includes important teases for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the upcoming Infinite Frontier Event and More.
Batman Family Part 1:
Follow the Jokers newest attacks the Batman family is forced to react. With Gotham full of new threats and allies, the Batman Family begins a new era. The Batman Family is trying to create a very connected line of books. Events in Catwoman will inform your reading of Harley Quinn, while the back-issue of a Batman book may spin-off into another series like Robin.
Read: Batman #106-108, and the Ghost-Maker Back Issue: Batman #107-108
Detective Comics: Infinite Frontier
Read: Detective Comics #1034-1036 and the Huntress Back Issue: Detective Comics #1035-1036
Read: Joker #1-3 and Punchline Back Issue: Joker #1-3
Read: Red Hood Story in Batman: Urban Legends #1-3, Grifter in Batman: Urban Legends #1-3, The Outsiders in Batman: Urban Legends #1-3, Oracle in Batman: Urban Legends #2, and Batwing in Batman: Urban Legends #3
Harley Quinn: Infinite Frontier
Read: Harley Quinn in Batman: Urban Legends #1 and Harley Quinn #1-3
Read: Nightwing #1-3
DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1
Catwoman Vol.4: Come Home Alley Cat
Collects: Catwoman #14-15, and #22-29
There is no way to really get into Infinite Frontier: Catwoman without reading Catwoman #25-28. While it is possible to start at 29, 29 assumes you’ve read #25-28. Don’t worry about the rest of the issues in that volume. Just read Catwoman #25-28. Catwoman #28 also sets up a plot point for Harley Quinn’s Batman: Urban Legends story, so it’s good to read too.
Read: Catwoman #29-31
Read the Prelude (“Demon or Detective”): Batman #106 then Detective Comics #1034, and then Robin #1-2.
Batman: Detective
Read: Batman: The Detective #1-2
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight
Read: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1
Superman Family Part 1:
Read: Superman #29 and Action Comics #1029
Action Comics: War World Rising
Read: Action Comics #1030-1031 and the Midnighter Back issue in Action Comics #1029-1031.
Superman: The One Who Fell
Read: Superman #30-31 and the Tales of Metropolis Superman back-issue in Tales of Metropolis in Superman #29-31
Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom
Read: Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom #1-6
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Read: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow #1-8
Wonder Woman Family Part 1:
Wonder Woman: Infinite Frontier
Read: Wonder Woman #770-772 and the Young Diana Back-issue in Wonder Woman #770-772
Wonder Girl: Infinite Frontier
Read: Wonder Girl #1
Justice League Family Part 1:
Suicide Squad: Assault on Arkham
Read: Suicide Squad #1-2
Justice League: Infinite Frontier
Read: Justice League #59-61 and the Justice League Dark back-issue: Justice League #59-61
Read: Swamp Thing #1-10
Teen Titans Academy: Infinite Frontier
Read: Teen Titans Academy #1-2
Teen Titans Academy/Suicide Squad Crossover
Read: Suicide Squad #3 and Teen Titans Academy #3
Flash: Infinite Frontier
Read: Flash #768-770
Stargirl: Spring Break Special #1
Green Lantern: Infinite Frontier
Read: Green Lantern #1-2
Justice League: Last Ride
Read: Justice League #1
The Multiverse Part 1:
Read: Crime Syndicate #1-6 which includes an Ultraman Story in Crime Syndicate #1, Owlman in Crime Syndicate #2, and Superwoman in Crime Syndicate #3
Batman/Superman: Infinite Frontier
Read: Batman/Superman #16-18
Infinite Frontier Part 2
Infinite Frontier #1-6
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Actually, is there any way someone can explain the transition from Batman Rebirth to Batman Infinite Frontier? Does the order go Tom King’s Rebirth, James Tynion’s Rebirth, Death Metal, Future State: The Next Batman, then Infinite Frontier. Any replies I would appreciate. Thank you!
Thanks a lot! Really helped me understand better!
Awesome! Thanks for this!
awesome, thank you. love comicbook herald