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Lady Death – Chaos! Comics Era

canaryfarmer — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 03:20:22 +0000

I noticed that there were one or two reading orders online for the Chaos! Comics era of Lady Death, but I realized pretty quickly that they weren’t accurate. I spent entirely too much time investigating what went where, and while nobody actually needs or wanted this information, I spent too long on it to just keep it to myself. Behold!

PART 1:
Lady Death I: The Reckoning 1–3, ½
Lady Death II: Between Heaven & Hell 1–4
Lady Death FAN Edition
Chaos Quarterly 2 (“Lady Demon”)
Chaos Quarterly 1 (“Lady Death”)
Evil Ernie: Straight to Hell 4
Chaos Quarterly 3 (“Aftershock”)
Lady Death III: The Odyssey 1–4
Lady Death IV: The Crucible ½, 1–6

PART 2:
Lady Death 0–10
Purgatori 2–3
Lady Death 11–16
Lady Death: Dragon Wars
Lady Death: Retribution
Lady Death vs. Vampirella (out-of-continuity)
Lady Death vs. Vampirella II (sequel to the above)

PART 3:
Lady Death: The Rapture 1–4
Armageddon 1
Lady Death: Judgement War Prelude
Lady Death: Judgement War 1–2
Armageddon 2
Lady Death vs. Purgatori
Armageddon 3
Lady Death: Judgement War 3
Armageddon 4
Aftermath
Lady Death: Dark Millennium 1–3
Untold Tales of Lady Death
Lady Death: Tribulation 1–2
Purgatori vs. Lady Death
Lady Death: Tribulation 3–4
Lady Death: Love Bites
Lady Death: River of Fear

PART 4:
Lady Death: Alive 1
Lady Death / Bad Kitty
Lady Death: Alive 2–4
Lady Death: Mischief Night
Lady Death / Medieval Witchblade
Lady Death: Last Rites 1
Witchblade / Lady Death
Lady Death: Last Rites 2–4
Lady Death / Chastity
Lady Death: Heartbreaker
Lady Death and Jade
Lady Death / Bedlam
Lady Death: The Gauntlet 1–2
Lady Death: Goddess Returns 1–2
Lady Death: Re-Imagined
Lady Death / Chastity / Bad Kitty: United
Lady Death: Dark Alliance 1–3 (4 & 5 went unpublished)

Wonder Woman

canaryfarmer — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 03:11:20 +0000

So here is all of Wonder Woman Volume 2. I think I got everything, but if you have questions or additional comments, please leave them below.

Volume 1: (George Pérez)

Wonder Woman 1–13
Millennium 6–7
Wonder Woman 14–16
Adventures of Superman 440*
Action Comics 600**
Wonder Woman 17–22
Wonder Woman Annual 1
Wonder Woman 23–24

* Optional inclusion. The issue is about Superman headed to his date with WW, and ends exactly where AC 600 begins, mid-kiss.
** I left out everything after the Lois story.

Volume 2: (Pérez)

Wonder Woman 25–35
Wonder Woman Annual 2
Wonder Woman 36–57

Volume 3: (Pérez) *

War of the Gods 1
Wonder Woman 58
Superman: The Man of Steel 3
Hawkworld 15
Starman 38
L.E.G.I.O.N. 31
Hawk & Dove 28
Captain Atom 54–56
Doctor Fate 32
Flash 55
Wonder Woman 59
Doctor Fate 33
War of the Gods 2
Justice League Europe 31
Batman 470
Hawkworld 16
Animal Man 40
Captain Atom 57
Suicide Squad 58
Wonder Woman 60
War of the Gods 3
The Demon 17
New Titans 81
Wonder Woman 61
War of the Gods 4
Wonder Woman 62

* This is the entire War of the Gods crossover (in the correct order, safe to say). If you only want to include Perez’s work, just keep the WotG 4-part miniseries and the WW issues, move them to the end of Volume 2, and do a little reshuffling to give yourself equal sized volumes. The “essential” WotG issues are bolded if you don’t want to deal with every crossover issue.

Volume 4: (William Messner-Loebs)

Wonder Woman Special 1
Wonder Woman 63
Wonder Woman Annual 3*
Wonder Woman 64–77
Showcase ’93 11 (WW story)
Wonder Woman 78–84

*It’s an Eclipso annual, but a main character is introduced that will play a very large role for the rest of WML’s run.

Volume 5: (Messner-Loebs)

Wonder Woman 85–90
Wonder Woman 0
Wonder Woman 91–93
Hawkman 16
Wonder Woman 94–100
Artemis: Requiem 1–6
Legends of the DC Universe 4–5*
DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The ’90s

* This arc takes place in the early days of Diana in the USA, but it’s a reunion of WML and Mike Deodato on WW.

Volume 6: (John Byrne)

Wonder Woman Annual 4
Wonder Woman 101–104
Showcase ’96 2 (WW story)
Wonder Woman 105–112
Wonder Woman Annual 5
Wonder Woman 113–117
Wonder Woman Plus Jesse Quick
Wonder Woman Annual 6
Wonder Woman 118–125

Volume 7: (Byrne)

Genesis 1–3
Wonder Woman 126
Genesis 4
Wonder Woman 127–133
Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant 1**
Wonder Woman 134–136
Wonder Woman Secret Files & Origins 1
(GirlFrenzy) Wonder Woman: Donna Troy*
Wonder Woman 137–138
Wonder Woman 1,000,000
Legends of the DC Universe 30–32

* Came out around the time of WW #134, but I’ve moved it down a hair so it doesn’t feel so interruptive. It’s a completely standalone story, anyway.
** Just the “Darkness Fallen” story

Volume 8: (Eric Luke)

Wonder Woman Annual 7
Wonder Woman 139
Green Lantern 108
Wonder Woman 140–141
DC Universe Holiday Bash 3*
Wonder Woman 142
Superman 80-Page Giant 2**
Wonder Woman 143–146
Wonder Woman Secret Files & Origins 2
All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant 1***
Wonder Woman 147–163

* Just the “Heathen Ways” story
** Just the “Redemption” story
*** Just the “Way of the Amazon” story

Volume 9: (Phil Jimenez)

Wonder Woman 164–167
President Luthor Secret Files*
Wonder Woman 168–171
JLA: Our Worlds At War (optional, but helps the flow here on Diana’s end)
Wonder Woman 172
Wonder Woman: Our Worlds At War
Wonder Woman 173–177
Wonder Woman Secret Files & Origins 3
Wonder Woman 178–188
Wonder Woman 189–194**

* Just the “Power Couple” story
** Walt Simonson/Jerry Ordway arc

Volume 10: (Greg Rucka)

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Wonder Woman 195–213

Volume 11: (Rucka)

The Flash 219
Wonder Woman 214–218
The OMAC Project 1–3
Superman 219
Action Comics 829
Adventures of Superman 642
Wonder Woman 219
The OMAC Project 4
Wonder Woman 220
The OMAC Project 5–6
Wonder Woman 221
Infinite Crisis 1*
Wonder Woman 222–223
Infinite Crisis 2**
Infinite Crisis 3***
Wonder Woman 224–226

*,**,*** Including these 3 IC issues is probably up to personal preference, but I think keeping #1 is a good idea at least. IC #2 only ties in for 3 pages, but the double-page spread is pretty sweet. IC #3 is the only issue that actually shows Themyscira disappearing from our reality, which I think is worth keeping in. Check out the issues yourself, and see what works best for you.

Batgirl (2000) – Puckett/Scott

canaryfarmer — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 04:18:18 +0000

The first creative team on Cassandra Cain’s solo title knocked it out of the park, and this 2-volume set includes their entire run.

Kelley Puckett & Damion Scott’s Batgirl

Volume 1:

Batman 567
Detective Comics 734
Legends of the Dark Knight 120
Gotham City Secret Files & Origins – “Night Games”
Batgirl #1–11
Batgirl #13–20

Volume 2:

Batgirl 21–23
Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure
Batgirl 24
Guide to the DC Universe 2001–2002 Secret Files & Origins – “Rematch”
Batgirl 25–26
Batman 600
Batgirl 27–29
Batman 605
Batgirl Secret Files & Origins
Batgirl 30–37

———-
Notes:

Batgirl #12 is part of the Officer Down crossover.

I think Damion Scott would happily have done the art for the Gotham City Secret Files & Origins story, if he wasn’t trying to get the main series off the ground at the same time–I would have loved to see his Catwoman. It is still written by Puckett, though, so it’s part of the run.

Chuck Dixon did a fill-in arc for #30–32, but Scott stays on for art, and it’s a Tim/Steph/Cass/Connor team-up, which I am not going to pass up.

Force Works

canaryfarmer — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 04:16:41 +0000

Nobody’s favorite series, but I’m an absolute sucker for B & C-Level teams. Unfortunately, the tail end of the series got sucked up into The Crossing, a uh, truly classic Marvel crossover, but for this map, it’s kept to a minimum. There are a few artist rotations throughout, but at least Abnett & Lanning stay on for the whole run.

Force Works:

Avengers West Coast 102
Force Works Ashcan (see notes below)
Force Works 1–5
Marvel Comics Presents 169–170 (“In the Hands of the Mandarin”, Parts 1 & 2)
Force Works 6
Marvel Comics Presents 169 (“Century”)
Marvel Comics Presents 170 (“Suzi”)
War Machine 9
Marvel Comics Presents 171 (“War Machine”/”Recorder”)
Iron Man 311
Force Works 7
Marvel Comics Presents 172 (“US Agent”/”Scarlet Witch”)
War Machine 10
Iron Man 312
Force Works 8–12
War Machine 15 (“Brothers in Arms”, Part 2)
Iron Man 317 (“Brothers in Arms”, Part 3)
Force Works 13–18
Century: Distant Sons
Force Works 19
War Machine 22
Force Works 20–22

—————-
Notes:

You could always just start with FW #1, but that last issue of AWC is also written by Abnett & Lanning and does a good job of setting up FW.

The undersized Force Works Ashcan comic poses a bit of a problem, as 1) it’s a good 1/4 smaller in size than a regular comic and 2) it’s a mix of prequel and teaser for the upcoming series. The story in the ashcan actually takes place during FW #1, but you really can’t slip it in there without throwing everything off. I plan on creating a pocket for the ashcan on the inside back cover I can slip it into, but I’ve seen it simply bound before FW #1.

FW #19->WM #22->FW #20 is one long story beat, so not including WM there would make for pretty choppy reading.

If you choose to include the “Brothers in Arms” backup story arc, you will need to get a hold of two copies of FW #12, as the last page of the main story and of the backup share the same page (due to it being a flip book).

Extras to include: Cover and interview from Marvel Age #132, and the Iron Man & Force Works Collectors Preview, which is actually pretty substantial.

Nightwing by Chuck Dixon

canaryfarmer — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 04:16:06 +0000

Chuck sure did love writing about those Batboys. Here’s a 3-volume map of his lengthy stint on Nightwing.

Volume 1:

Nightwing 1–8
Nightwing Annual 1
Nightwing 9–18
Nightwing ½
Nightwing 19–22
Nightwing 24–25
Nightwing 1,000,000
Detective 1,000,000
Nightwing 26–29
Batman Annual 23

Volume 2:

Nightwing 30–35
Nightwing Secret Files & Origins
Nightwing 36–45
Birds of Prey 20
Nightwing 46
Birds of Prey 21
Nightwing 47
Action Comics 771
Nightwing 48–51

Volume 3:

Nightwing 80-Page Giant
Nightwing 52
Nightwing 54–59
Nightwing: Our Worlds at War
Nightwing 60–64
Nightwing: The Target
Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure
Nightwing 65–67
Batman 600 (minus the backups)
Nightwing 68–69
Batman 605
Nightwing 70

————-
Notes:
Batman Annual 23 is part of the JLApe annual crossover, but it’s basically a extended (and pretty fun!) Nightwing one-shot. This is where Blockbuster meets and takes in Grimm the gorilla, which plays a key role in the “Hunt for Oracle” crossover soon to follow.

Nightwing 23 is part of the “Brotherhood of the Fist” crossover & Nightwing 53 is part of the “Officer Down” crossover.

Action Comics 771 is where Nightwing (with Supes’ help) takes down Torque’s Intergang suppliers. Superman/Nightwing team-ups are always fun, and Chuck writes them both perfectly here. This is actually one of the best Nightwing issues he wrote, IMO.

I left in the beginning and conclusion of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive storyline so the Nightwing comics during that time made sense. Batman 600 portrays a key relationship change between Dick and Bruce, and with Scott McDaniel back on art duties, it fits right in. I think it definitely needs to be included, even if you leave out The 10-Cent Adventure & Batman 605.

Nightwing Annual 1 chronologically takes place before the entire series, but putting it first would be weird, so I just stuck with publication order. It’s also by Devin Grayson, not Dixon, and is completely standalone, so it could be removed if you really wanted, but it’s a good story and Greg Land seems to actually be drawing people instead of tracing them at this point in his career.

The Essential Huntress

canaryfarmer — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:57:07 +0000

Here’s a two-volume map for what I consider the highlights of Helena Bertinelli’s role as The Huntress, the Bat-Family’s infamous loose cannon.

Volume 1:

The Huntress 1–2
Justice League America 26
The Huntress 3–6
Justice League America 30
The Huntress 7–19
Justice League International Special 2
Detective Comics 652–653
Robin III: Cry of the Huntress 1–6
Showcase ’93 9 (“Survival”)
Showcase ’93 10 (“Azmageddon”)

Volume 2:

Showcase ’94 5 (“Benedictions, Part 1″)
Robin 6 (“Benedictions, Part 2″)
Showcase ’94 6 (“Benedictions, Part 3″)
Huntress 1–4 (the totally crazy Sin City-esque Dixon/Netzer mini)
The Batman Chronicles 1 (“Midnight Train”)
The Batman Chronicles 4 (“Exposure”)
The Batman Chronicles 14 (“The Lunatic Fringe”)
The Batman Chronicles 15 (“An Answer in the Rubble”)
Batman: No Man’s Land 0
Legends of the Dark Knight 126 (“Endgame Part 1″)
Batman 574 (“Endgame Part 2″)
Detective Comics 741 (“Endgame Part 3″)
The Batman Chronicles 19 (“Rapscallions”)
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood 1–6
Batman: Gotham Knights 38–40 (“Knight Moves”)
Huntress: Year One 1–6

Notes:

JLA 26: the first post-Crisis meeting of Batman and Huntress.
JLA 30: Huntress joins the JLI/kicks ass all over the place
JLI Special 2: Effectively The Huntress #20 (same creative team as her eponymous series)

These two volumes are listed in publication order, which is generally my preference. Also, I didn’t even attempt to include every single Huntress appearance–I went for single stories/arcs/minis where she had major impact or was definitely the star, and even then, there was still editing (such as leaving out Nightwing/Huntress). This was a highly subjective bind, but I tried my best to make this as strong a collection as possible, and spent a long time adding and removing titles before I finally settled on these specifics.

Batman Adventures

canaryfarmer — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:56:22 +0000

Still some of the best Batman comics you can get. Directly based on the Animated Series, these runs fleshed characters out even more and did right by them more often than the main universe ever did. Highly recommended from beginning to end.

The Batman Adventures: Vol. 1
The Batman Adventures 1–17
The Batman Adventures: Mad Love
The Batman Adventures 18–23

The Batman Adventures: Vol. 2
The Batman Adventures 24
The Batman Adventures Annual 1
The Batman Adventures 25–27
The Batman Adventures Holiday Special
The Batman Adventures 28–31
The Batman Adventures Annual 2
The Batman Adventures 32–36
Dark Claw Adventures 1 (Amalgam)

The Batman and Robin Adventures: Vol. 1
The Batman and Robin Adventures 1–12
The Batman and Robin Adventures Annual 1
The Batman and Robin Adventures 13–16

The Batman and Robin Adventures: Vol. 2
The Batman and Robin Adventures 17–24
The Batman and Robin Adventures Annual 2
The Batman and Robin Adventures 25
The Batman Adventures: The Lost Years 1–5
Batgirl Adventures 1

Batman: Gotham Adventures: Vol. 1
Batman: Gotham Adventures 1–22

Batman: Gotham Adventures: Vol. 2
Batman: Gotham Adventures 23–44

Batman: Gotham Adventures: Vol. 3
Batman: Gotham Adventures 45–60
Gotham Girls 1–5
Catwoman 89 (totally optional)

Batman Adventures
Batman Adventures 1–13
Batman: Harley and Ivy 1–3
Batman Adventures 14–17

Catwoman – The Jim Balent Era

canaryfarmer — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:55:53 +0000

Sometimes you just want a globe-trotting, treasure-hunting, ass-kicking Selina Kyle story. Here we have a 4 volume set of the Jim Balent Catwoman era (1993-1999), broken up by writer, stopping at No Man’s Land.

Volume 1: Jo Duffy

Catwoman 1–6
Batman 503–504
Catwoman 7–12
Batman 510
Catwoman 13–14
Catwoman 0

Volume 2: Chuck Dixon

Catwoman 15–21
Catwoman Annual 2 (“Year One”)
Catwoman 25
Catwoman 27–30
Catwoman 33–35
Detective Comics 700
Catwoman 36–37
Catwoman/Vampirella: The Furies
Catwoman Plus Scream Queen
Catwoman/Wildcat 1–4

(I left out: 22–24, which was a terrible fill-in arc by Deborah Pomerantz; 26, a Shadow of the Bat crossover issue; and 31–32, Contagion crossover issues.)

Volume 3: Doug Moench

Catwoman 38–53
Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham 1–2

Volume 4: Devin Grayson

Catwoman Annual 4 (“Pulp Heroes”)
Catwoman 54-71

Batman: Doug Moench & Kelley Jones

canaryfarmer — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:52:19 +0000

Is this the best looking run of Batman ever? I say yes! Kelley Jones is definitely not for everyone, but he brings a style that no one else can match. This is top-drawer Batmanning, folks.

(Technically, Jones started with 515, but that’s part of the Troika crossover.)

Batman

516   Sleeper, Part 1
517   Sleeper, Part 2
518   Black Mask: The Spidered Face
519   Black Spider: Web of Scars
520   Fades to Black
521   Killer Croc: Fast Train to the Wet Dark
522   Swamp Things
523   Scarecrow, Part 1: Dark Wings Fly Away in Fear
524   Scarecrow, Part 2: Haunted Houses of the Head
525   Underworld Unleashed: Frozen Assets
526   Constant Whitewater
527   Two-Face, Part 1: The Face Schism
528   Two-Face, Part 2: Schismed Faces
530   The Deadman Connection, Part 1: Sweat of the Sun, Tears of the Moon
531   The Deadman Connection, Part 2: Cult of the Mummy
532   The Deadman Connection, Part 3: The Spirit Thieves
535   The Ogre and the Ape
536   Darkest Night of the Man-Bat, Part 1: Predation
537   Darkest Night of the Man-Bat, Part 2: Pursuit
538   Darkest Night of the Man-Bat, Part 3: Predemption
539   Boneyard Blues
540   The Spectre of Vengeance, Part 1: Gotham Welcome
541   The Spectre of Vengeance, Part 2: Mask of Guilt
542   Faceless, Part One: Murdicide
543   Faceless, Part Two: Postmarked: Murder
544   Major Arcana, Part 1: Jokin’ with Mister D.
545   Major Arcana, Part 2: Night of the Dying Jokers
546   Major Arcana, Part 3: Hell to Pay
547   Genesis: Dark Genesis
548   The Penguin Returns, Part 1: Burning Faces
549   The Penguin Returns, Part 2: The Egyptian Falcon
550   Chasing Clay
551   Suit of Evil Souls
552   The Greatest Evil

Issues not included are 529 (Contagion) and 533–534 (Legacy). If so inclined, you could always add Batman Annual 21 (Pulp Heroes, with art by J. H. Williams III) after 543.

Justice League International

canaryfarmer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:34:26 +0000

Who knew saving the world could be so fun? This five-volume set collects the entirety of the massive Keith Giffen/J. M. DeMatteis JLI run.

Vol. 1 – Justice League International

Justice League 1–4
Justice League Annual 1
Justice League 5–6
Justice League International 7–13
Suicide Squad 13
Justice League International 14
Justice League International Annual 2
Justice League International 15–24
(at this point, the Leauge splits into America and Europe branches; Volumes 2 & 3 run concurrently to each other)

Vol. 2 – Justice League America

Justice League International 25 (trust me, it goes here)
Justice League America 26–30
Justice League International Annual 3
Justice League America 33–42
Justice League America Annual 4
Justice League America 43–51

Vol. 3 – Justice League Europe

Justice League Europe 1–6
Justice League America 31
Justice League Europe 7
Justice League America 32
Justice League Europe 8–19
Justice League Europe Annual 1
Justice League Europe 20–28

Vol. 4 – Justice League: Breakdowns

Justice League America 52–53
Justice League Europe 29
Justice League America 54
Justice League Europe 30
Justice League America 55
Justice League America Annual 5
Justice League Europe Annual 2
Justice League Europe 31
Justice League America 56
Green Lantern 18
Justice League Europe 32
Justice League America 57
Justice League Europe 33
Justice League America 58
Justice League Europe 34
Justice League America 59
Justice League Europe 35
Justice League America 60
Justice League Europe 36
Secret Origins 33–35

Vol. 5 – Justice League: Loose Ends (or More Injustice)

Justice League Quarterly 1–4
JLA 80-Page Giant 1 (“Mousebusters”)
Formerly Known as the Justice League 1–6
JLA: Classified 4–9 (“I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Justice League”)
DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The ’90s

(I only included the DeMatteis material from JLQ 4.)

To clarify why JLI 25 goes at the beginning of the JLA book, it really is a JLA issue in all but title graphic. It’s the beginning of the Blue Beetle arc that goes through the next few issues of JLA, and if you have the issue in hand, you’ll see that JLI 24 is the best ending point for Vol. 1.