Add to favoritesThere are a few different variations on collecting the Cataclysm crossover and Aftershock follow up. Originally, I bought the original TPB of Cataclysm since it did a decent job of ordering the issues, and Aftershock was one of my earliest Batman bound volumes. After a few years, I decided to redo those books.
Cataclysm (published order)
Prelude – Detective Comics #719
Part 1 – Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73
Part 2 – Nightwing #19
Part 3 – Batman #553
Part 4 – Azrael #40
Part 5 – Detective Comics #720
Part 6 – Catwoman #56
Part 7 – Robin #52
Part 8 – Blackgate: Isle of Men #1
Part 9 - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #74
Part 10 – Batman Chronicles #12
Part 11 – Nightwing #20
Part 12 - Batman #554
Part 13 – Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma #1
Part 14 – Detective Comics #721
Part 15 – Catwoman #57
Part 16 – Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness #1
Part 17 – Robin #53
This is not a great reading order. A few notes:
-Many issues focus on a small set of characters at the time the quake hits. There is a linear story of Batman working his way to the city from SOTB #73, Batman #553, Detective #720, and then Blackgate: Isle of Men. But each of the first 8 parts, plus the later one-shots all show the earthquake from the beginning for a new character.
-Robin #52 is the conclusion of a three part arc in that series that happens to end with Robin returning to Gotham and seeing the quake damage. Completely unnecessary to Cataclysm.
-Azrael #40 is the conclusion of the arc going on in that series, but ties in better to the quake. Still, it’s not really needed. If you do want to include that issue, leaving it as part 4 is fine. While it explains where Sarah Essen-Gordon is when the quake hits (as Commissioner Gordon alludes to a few times in the story), it’s not an important plot point.
-Robin #53 continues directly from Detective #721, and the two issues placed in between should be moved so the momentum of the climax isn’t lost.
-Catwoman #57 doesn’t really contribute to the Cataclysm story, and might have been better served as Aftershock.
-Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness is mostly self contained and does get referenced in the Shadow of the Bat issues of Road to No Man’s Land. It definitely shouldn’t be read as the penultimate chapter as it kills the momentum. In fact, I really like the idea of placing this issue in the previous Shadow of the Bat volume, after #72.
-Blunt Trauma has to take place after Isle of Men, but it doesn’t have to stay exactly in the sequence DC published it in.
-Batman Chronicles #12 has a lot of short stories that take place during the event. The original TPB left one out and spread the rest through the book, mostly around Shadow of the Bat #74 and Nightwing #20. The TPB also put the “Trapped” story in the wrong spot, as it should take place before Nightwing #20 based on Tim Drake’s chronology during the storyline.
Original mapping (including the original Cataclysm TPB)
Cataclysm (original TPB)
Detective Comics #719 (last 4 pgs)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73
Nightwing #19
Batman #553
Detective Comics #720
Catwoman #56
Blackgate: Isle of Men #1
Batman Chronicles #12 (Two-Face)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #74
Batman Chronicles #12 (Ra’s/Penguin)
Nightwing #20
Batman Chronicles #12 (“Trapped”)
Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma #1
Batman #554
Detective Comics #721
Robin #53
Batman Chronicles #12 (“Little Orphan Andy”)
This TPB does not include any covers. The Batman Chronicles stories placed around SOTB #74 and Nightwing #20 do share pages with those issues, but other than that, none of the issues share pages. Finally, the non-quake subplot pages from Nightwing #19 are omitted.
Aftershock (original map)
Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness #1
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75
Batman #555
Detective Comics #722
Robin #54
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #76
Batman #556
Batman Chronicles #16 (first story)
Batman Chronicles #14 (third story)
Green Arrow #134 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 1)
Detective Comics #723 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 2)
Robin #55 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 3)
Nightwing #23 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 4)
Green Arrow #135 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 5)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #77
Batman #557
Detective Comics #724
Batman Chronicles #14 (first and second stories)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #78-79
Batman #558
Detective Comics #725
Batman #559
Detective Comics #726
Batman Chronicles #15
This map was creating based off of the original Cataclysm TPB, hence the inclusion of the Arkham Asylum one-shot at the beginning.
Revised mapping
Cataclysm (adjusted original TPB)
Detective Comics #719 (last 4 pgs)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73
Nightwing #19
Batman #553
Detective Comics #720
Catwoman #56
Blackgate: Isle of Men #1
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #74
Batman Chronicles #12
Nightwing #20
Batman #554
Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma #1
Detective Comics #721
Robin #53
Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness #1
To create this volume, I took apart the original Cataclysm TPB. Other than the Batman Chronicles #12 stories that were placed around Shadow of the Bat #74 and Nightwing #20, no issues share pages. To accommodate moving those stories around and avoiding the need for scanning and printing story pages, I obtained copies of those particular issues. I also obtained the original issue of the Arkham Asylum one-shot. The Huntress/Spoiler one-shot was moved to allow for slightly better pacing. I was able to find printable versions of all of the covers online to include.
Aftershock (revised map)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #75
Batman #555
Detective Comics #722
Robin #54
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #76
Batman #556
Batman Chronicles #16 (first story)
Batman Chronicles #14 (third story)
Green Arrow #134 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 1)
Detective Comics #723 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 2)
Robin #55 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 3)
Nightwing #23 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 4)
Green Arrow #135 (Brotherhood of the Fist part 5)
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #77
Batman #557
Detective Comics #724
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #78-79
Batman Chronicles #14 (first and second stories)
Batman #558
Detective Comics #725
Batman #559
Detective Comics #726
There are probably a number of ways to map out Aftershock. It’s not a single story, just an umbrella to catch all of the aftermath between Cataclysm and Road to No Man’s Land. The basics structure of this map is remembering that the release order in any given month during this period was Shadow of the Bat, Batman, and then Detective Comics. Shadow of the Bat was the only series to have multi-part stories during Aftershock, so those are kept together. I’ve seen other maps and reading orders that put Batman #558-559 and then Detective Comics #725-726 together, and as far as I can tell, there’s nothing within the stories that would contradict that.
Batman Chronicles can be a tricky series to place during Aftershock, mostly because it used seasons for cover dates instead of months. The only issue actually branded as part of Aftershock was #14, which would have had a cover date of October 1998 based on publication order. The two most important stories from Batman Chronicles are the last story of #14 and the first story of #16. Both of these were written by Greg Rucka, and begin the subplot involving Renee Montoya and Two-Face that carries on through many of Rucka’s NML issues. The story in #16 takes place first, and should be read immediately before the third story of #14. It also make more sense to put those stories closer to the beginning of Aftershock. #16 actually came out during No Man’s Land itself, and I feel like the last two stories in that issue work better as epilogues to Road to No Man’s Land.
Batman Chronicles #15 was an all team-up issue that takes place during this time but isn’t necessary. Since it came out halfway through Road to No Man’s Land, the best place to put that issue if you include it would be at the end of the Aftershock volume.
It would also be possible to move the first couple months worth of Aftershock stories into the Cataclysm volume, making a volume break around Brotherhood of the Fist.