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My Jason Todd Rec List and Character Manifesto! (Version 3.0! Edited and updated first on 28/01/2024 and then again on 23/09/2024)

This is a fuckin mess my ghouls, but I got categories and I got opinions and who can stop me from typing em out? Certainly not @lazaruspiss who is the reason this thing got made!

The format is gonna be:

title and page numbers (No #s if I'm recommending the whole title IMPORTANT UPDATE: Each title will be a direct link to a free digital copy! Make sure you have a good adblocker and enjoy!) picture Summary and general notes My estimate of how unhinged he is in this portrayal What his morals are like; note this isn't about whether he's a protagonist or antagonist

Since cream rises to the top, let us start with:

The Creme de la Creme

The best of the best. The most fun, the most compelling, the most interesting looks into his character.

Seeing Red aka Green Arrow (2001) #69 - #72

This one really does have it all. Jason runs rings around both Batman and Green Arrow at the same time, all the while going after a goal neither of them ever truly figures out in large part because this story wasn't afraid to let Bruce be either wrong or lying about Jason's motives. It also wonderfully leverages the ways in which the Bats and the Arrows are really good foils for each other. I think I'm going to be turning over the ways these interactions went down for a long ass time. I've been really wanting to go page by page for a comparison between the way Jason treats Mia in this and the way Jason treats Tim in the Titans Tower showdown. Bottom line for this one: It's just so good!

Jason's sanity level: Six out of Ten hinges affixed. He's got a solid grip on things, is reasonably level headed, only problem is he might have completely forgotten how to interact with other human beings outside of combat. Love him for that.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Sympathetic Villain. Decidedly willing to mow down some "brain donors", and his goals are pretty morally grey, but he clearly still has a strong code of ethics.

Task Force Z

This whole comic one big love letter to Jason Todd. The author, Matthew Rosenberg, very deliberately takes time to showcase all the strengths and flaws of his character that make him so beloved. He's competent, he's mistrustful, he's determined, he's heroic and yet poses as the villain, he's human yet badass, and he holds his ground against the rest of the Bats while still clearly loving them. If I was ranking these comics purely by plot and pacing this would not be in creme de la creme territory, but it's a fantastic synopsis of what Jason is all about and if I could only give someone a single series in order to let them understand who Jason is (and I couldn't give them Under the Red Hood), I'd give them this.

Jason's sanity level: Eight out of Ten hinges affixed. He's pretty level headed, but at the same time he very clearly is way too casual about violence to be full hinges affixed - the PTSD is very apparent in him.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. His motives are understandable and firmly rooted in doing the right thing, but at the same time he is very willing to be ruthless and to kill when he feels it's the right decision. Balanced!

Pay as You Go aka Outsiders #44 - #46

Jason's role in this story is fairly small, but it's a wonderful bit of characterization for him. The way he approaches Nightwing to offer his help and the way Nightwing accepts that offer are fascinating and very deserving of your time!

Also there's gay sex and a prison breakout, like, what more could you want? Actually I suppose you could also want (what I'm pretty sure is) Roy's first time meeting Jason as the Red Hood and some really cute scenes of him and Lian, and guess what this story has got that too!

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. He's deliberately choosing to play the villain, but he's very willing to work with the Heroes and is going out of his way to exonerate an innocent man.

Batman (1940) #408 - #411 Jason's debut featuring Ma Gunn's School and his first ever outing as Robin fighting Two-Face

Just LOOK at this PRECIOUS BOY! I wanna pinch him on his cheeks and give him a handful of these bad boys

Jason has a ton of personality to him right out the gate. The first story has Ma Gunn as the villain and she's a lot of fun. The second story in here with Two-Face is also enlightening with regards to Jason's early personality, even if it's not quite as fun.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Under the Red Hood would be next if it wasn't already filed under ->

Foundational Texts

This is the shit that defines Jason as a character. Much is mutable in any given comic, but somehow, someway, all depictions of Jason are impacted and informed by these three stories. Enough has been said about all of them that I'm gonna keep it brief.

Red Hood: The Lost Days

(You may have heard a lot about Talia's role in this one: I would encourage you to read my analysis of her in this story and do your best to see her perspective in all this, she's a heck of a lot less villainous than people keep saying she is)

Jason's sanity level: Eight out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. He kills some incredibly nasty people, while also doing some genuinely heroic shit. The only places where his morals deteriorate are in the presence of Batman and the Joker.

Under the Red Hood

Jason's sanity level: Four out of Ten hinges affixed. Remember how his morals deteriorated in the face of Batman and the Joker? Yeah, that's mostly because he's way, way too personally invested to think straight about them. He's strategic as fuck, but this is not a stable man's strategy for dealing with his issues.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Sympathetic Villain. He is a revenant, a vengeful juggernaut, and breaks an awful lot of eggs making this brilliant disaster of an omelette.

Batman (1940) #426 - #429 A Death in the Family

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Joker becoming an ambassador to Iran plotlines count: One too many.

Solid Storylines

These ain't the vaulted heights, but not everything has to be the Sistine Chapel. They're solid, and if you're wanting more Jason I do certainly recommend them.

Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer and Countdown to Infinite Crisis (special note here: Countdown to Infinite Crisis must be read backwards, meaning you start with Issue #51 and then read down to Issue #1 and Countdown Presents isn't in chronological order and just... oh boy this storyline is a mess, but much of it is also quite good)

Jason is in what I like to call his Purposeless Depression Era during this. It's after his plans in Under the Red Hood fail and he's really just got no place to go, no place to be. He's keenly aware that on a cosmic level, he truly does not belong in this world anymore. He's supposed to be dead. There's something I find quite neat about this team up, with Donna Troy and Kyle Raynor and Bob, it's out of the ordinary for Jason, it's not bat related, and the ways he fits and doesn't fit with the other characters are just neat.

I especially recommend Gotham by Gaslight. The plot will be a lil hard to follow if you haven't read the others, but by the end of it Jason hopes to return to Steampunk Gotham instead of his own Gotham where he doesn't think he belongs, and the moments of him hoping to literally leave his universe behind are both sweet and sorrowful.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's just sad and lonely.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero. Even if only Donna is willing to tentatively try to see him that way.

Robin (1993) #177 and two pages of #182 and the front half of #183

Despite how much Jason is known for it, I think this is the only time we see him trying to run organized crime outside of Under the Red Hood (and uh debatably Battle for the Cowl). Short lil string of appearances, but critical for understanding how he's seen by Tim during this era if you care about that. Also I think this combined with Outsiders #44 - #46 (further down this list) it really cemented my understanding of Jason being strangely honest and forthright.

I think a major way other Bats fail to comprehend him is that they expect him to manipulate through lying, which just isn't his style. He doesn't lie about his motives; he doesn't obfuscate his tactics; he doesn't hide how he's feeling. Hell, he doesn't even try to lie his way out of prison! I could not tell you why this series of interactions gave me this impression but it is why I have such faith that when Jason says something, he probably just means it, even when characters like Dick or Tim assume otherwise.

Pity this was the lead up to Battle for the Cowl.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's even attempting to pick himself up out of his Purposeless Depression Era slump at the start.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero.

Nightwing (1996) #118 - #122 aka Brothers in Blood aka the One Where Jason Gets Tentacles

COWARDS and KNAVES will tell you "the tentacles are so icky and everyone is so OOC" or whatever but again they are KNAVES and COWARDS because bitch this shit is GREAT

Jason: Wow! My bestest big brother killed someone who deserved it, so now I (the person he's rejecting only because I kill people who deserved it) have a real chance at being his family again!! :D Hooray! :) Dickie-Bird why don't you look happy to see me? :) Dickie-Bird I went out of my way to get us matching outfits and stalked your work and killed people in your name so it's nice and easy to make room for me in your life! :) :) :)

Dick:

Jason's sanity level: Two out of Ten hinges affixed. My mans is off his rocker and I adore him like this. Frankly, the entire storyline is unhinged, and it only feels appropriate that Jason is similarly bonkers in yonkers.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Villain. You can sympathize with him, and he is still trying to carry out justice, but I have to call it for straight villain when he's threatening to bomb a building full of innocent people.

Batman and Robin (2009) #23 - #25

I don't have much to say about this one. It's good. The above page is pretty much the highlight.

Wait actually I do have something to say and it is that I would like to lick Jason's abs, pls & thx, because the other highlight is that Winick clearly believes in redeeming Jason's value as a villain through sex appeal and it is working lmao

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. Certifiably sane, he's passed all his psych exams!

Jason's moral compass bearing: Villain. He threatens to bomb a train station full of innocent people. While he does do that in service of freeing himself and Scarlet, thus making it not completely self centered, I still gotta put him firmly in Villain.

Nightwing (2016) 2021 Annual

In high contrast to the previous two in which Jason acts as a villain to Dick, this one has them working together and the tentative peace and cautious trust they've got going is interesting to me. Very reminiscent of his appearance in Outsiders!

Jason's sanity level: Nine out of Ten hinges affixed. He's quite chill, but there's just this little edge to him that says his relationship to violence is a little too casual a little too deep to really be fully hinged.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Edgy Hero.

Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing

With Jason's return to being an antagonist after a long stint in the Hero bin comes his return to being really fucking dangerous and whip smart! My boy quotes serious philosophy that gives him a real point to make against non lethal vigilantes and cops! I also think the part where he lets himself be arrested just... it says so much and all of it is wonderfully interesting and feels fitting for his character. He's kept deeply human, and just all of this portrayal gels together really well.

Originally I had this up in Creme De La Creme because really, even though Jason isn't the star of the show, and even with Gotham War having, er, Minorly Derailed Jason's role in things, and one or two inevitable scenes where ya just have to accept that he's not as trigger happy as he should be because DC is married to the Joker - even though all of that is true, this is still a phenomenal rendition of Jason. However, with all of those annoyances and with Task Force Z being written by the same author, I decided to put it down here and leave TFZ in it's place. Basically it's got an arguably better story-line than TFZ, but contains less Jason.

Also I like that he's friends with my favorite, Stephanie Brown :3 and he and Rose's chemistry is nice. On top of all that? It's a fun comic. Like, I generally hate the Joker, but I found myself enjoying watching the Joker do his Joker things in this one.

Jason's sanity level: Nine out of Ten hinges affixed. Level headed, calm, careful, really the only reason this isn't a 10/10 is cause he's obsessively focused, which like, honestly is pretty reasonable I think.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Clearly Justified Antihero. I almost put down Hero on this one, but ultimately he is just far enough over the line with how he treats the less threatening of the rogues like Killer Moth.

Your Mileage May Vary

These stories I can't recommend without major caveats or warnings, but I still think are worth mentioning.

Gotham War (It's such a mangled mess that I'm just gonna link a reading guide. The same website that all the others are on will get you to all the titles this guide lists)

So, the main problem here is that Gotham War spans five different titles and had three different authors whose renditions of Jason do not feel cohesive or even coherent. The funny thing is though, each rendition has real merits, and while it doesn't go far enough in condemning Bruce's horrifying treatment of Jason for many people's tastes, I have to point out that it's one of the only comics to condemn an instance of Bruce mistreating Jason at all. The fact that the other Robins come to his defense is a HUGE thing! The bar may be in Hell, but it did clear the bar!

Due to how disjointed it is, I'm going to very loosely separate Jason out into two versions of himself. Think of these not as hard lines, but more a spectrum he slides across depending on what author has him that issue.

Jason Primus combines the ideas in Jason's Under the Red Hood speech about controlling crime rather than trying to stomp it out with his more Heroic modern interpretation. He's a chill, funny, smart guy whose protectiveness over the mooks is really charming.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Jason Secundus is much more violent, not used to working with other people, and paranoid and antsy in a way that causes him to take it out on people who really don't deserve it. This is a compelling take on him, though I like him closer to Jason Primus. His trauma has clearly shaped him a lot, both for better and for worse.

Jason's sanity level: Seven out of Ten hinges affixed. Jason's moral compass bering: Anti-Hero, most of this focuses on him antagonizing two former Joker goons which kinda doesn't work well cause they're mostly scarecrow goons actually and also at one point he hurts them in a way that borderline just seems like stress relief. It's nothing worse than what we see Batman himself doing countless times, but it's still jarring because we've been made to strongly sympathize with the goon in question.

Batman: Three Jokers <- I read it while typing this up (the first version of this lol), so I got a lotta thoughts

Guh, this one is just fucking sad

So, I don't mind a story being blunt with its message as long as the message actually holds up. Unfortunately, this three parter's attempt at the cycle of violence lesson is... bad. Real bad.

Jason in it is neat! This is a good Jason portrayal somehow despite literally everything about the way this comic frames him! The narrative expects us to believe he is a danger to society on the cusp of becoming another Joker, because he *checks notes* shot the Joker dead, shot at a Joker loyal guy, and roughly interrogated an injured child abuser. At no point does he show signs of wanting to hurt innocent people. At no point does he show signs of doing any hurting without premeditation or a need to defend himself. I'm baffled by this.

My kingdom for a fucking CRUMB of nuance, I swear, smh...

I hear a lot of people hate his one sided romance towards Barbara. This is understandable as it squanders the opportunity to have a female character not be stuck as the narrative sponge for man emotions. I like it from the perspective of a Jason fan, and give condolences for the Barbara fans. It's not healthy, and good fucking job on the janitor sweeping away his letter to her so poor Babs doesn't have to deal with that shit, but I do like Jason's desperation to be loved by someone, anyone, who might show him compassion.

Jason's sanity level: Six out of Ten hinges affixed. He's sad, he's lonely, he needs some PTSD specific therapy, he's a bit creepy about his crush on Barbara, but quite frankly he has it together a lot more than the narrative would like us to believe. The way the other characters treat him like he's some kind of monster just waiting to snap and start maiming people indiscriminately makes me really uncomfortable.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. Quite frankly I'm tempted to say Hero out of spite.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #1 - #43

There are three transcendental character moments in this run that I think make it worth reading even if not all of it's your cup of tea. On the other hand though there are some big issues that could very easily be deal breakers. Oh and anything after #43 is a wasteland and #43 is included purely for the implication that being transgender made a woman immortal.

The narrative structure is really heavily dependent on rule of emotional impact/cool/allegorical usefulness. Many events will not make any fucking sense based on petty things like basic logic or the laws of physics, but they do work just fine in the area of what makes the story more fun or the emotional beats hit harder. Stronger than average suspension of disbelief is necessary for the reward of getting a lot of stuff that's, like, just really fuckin cool.

The romantic side plot with Artemis is... odd. Either the author, Scott Lobdell, intended to write Jason as a desperate loser trying to date his uninterested lesbian friend who he co-parents with, or he accidentally wrote a romance so awkward and comp-het that I cannot wrap my head around reading it as reciprocated. This works for me because I have a lot of fun reading Jason as a desperate loser who's not even actually in love with her, he just is desperate to cling to the closest thing he's ever gotten to a nuclear family and in denial about being either aro/ace or gay.

Now, lets explore a lil bit of the whole Jason is a loser angle, cause it's not the whole story, there are many points in which Jason gets to be a badass motherfucker, but he is much, much less of the hypercompetant, highly determined, murderous threat he used to be. Almost none of the newer renditions of Jason are. This Jason in particular though is very soft and cuddly, and fits the archetype of man trying to be the edgy bad boy but who secretly just wants a hug and a warm glass of milk.

If I were to describe my personal Jason in a few sentences I would say that he is someone who loves himself viciously. He feels he has been wronged and is willing to burn down the world to rectify that. He will hold your ass at gunpoint and demand the hugs and warm glasses of milk that he fucking well deserves!

This Jason is about as far away from that as you can possibly get. I still like him though, and I do not count him as being a different character, because when you start with emotional logic that goes like this:

It wasn't my fault + I deserve better = I get to burn the world down in order to get better

It becomes extremely difficult to ever stop burning the world without also deciding "It was my fault" or "I don't deserve better". Jason is meant to have changed a lot, and this is a plausible evolution of the Jason I prefer.

Finally, the handling of Bizarro, a mentally disabled character, is a sensitive enough topic that your mileage will vary, even if I can't think of a bad thing to say about it. Jason and Artemis are really pretty good about treating him with respect, giving him help where he needs it and autonomy where he's capable of taking it. They raise him, but don't control him, and he is literally like three days old when they find him so this isn't infantilization. It takes the framing of Lenny from of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon and rejects them in a way that I am satisfied with. You'll just have to read it for yourself to see if you're satisfied as well.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. I kinda wish he was more unhinged.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero. He even saves a puppy and gives them pats.

Knight Terrors: Robin

Have you ever been in the mood for a syrupy sweet hurt/comfort fanfiction in which Jason and Tim were magically forced to talk about how much they like each other in order to overcome their own insecurities? Do you wish that existed as a lavishly illustrated two issue comic?

If you answered yes to those two questions then congratulations! It does exist; this is it; go have fun!

If you think that sounds like ham fisted garbage turning what should be several long arcs of serious reconciliation and deeply meaningful character moments into two issue fan service schlock then condolences! I wish you all the best in denial, as all comic fans sail that river sooner or later and I shall join you upon it someday.

What category do I fall into? Well I think this is definitely ham fisted, but I won't kick a boar out of bed as long as they ain't a bore, and this little ditty is certainly entertaining.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason't moral compass bearing: Hero.

Batman and Robin Eternal

This is a decent portrayal of Jason in his modern, much friendlier, and much more bat family integrated rendition. He has some fun moments in it, and I like his staby bracers.

I don't like this comic. It commits the most dire of writing sins: Being boring. I think about Jason every second of every minute of every day; if your comic that majorly features a good portrayal of him cannot hold my attention, then something has gone very wrong. Hopefully one of you will like it more than I do.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Hero.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! (Content warning for suicide, skip to the hot take if this'll get to ya - also spoiler warning cuz I can't discuss this properly without discussing the ending)

A three issue miniseries in which Jason is inducted into the Suicide Squad on a mission to kill the Joker. He's highly competent as a team leader, grounded, intelligent, and uses measured violence in a way that is satisfyingly tactical. The squad they threw together honestly has some pretty neat chemistry as a whole, and the characters were appropriately messy and quite likable.

This isn't higher on the list because it thinks it earned it's ambiguous ending, and frankly, it's wrong about that. Ambiguous endings live and die by the question they make the audience sit with - It has to be worth losing out on the emotional payoff of a solid ending.

The question of "If you left Jason in a room with the Joker and a gun with one bullet, would he shoot the Joker or himself?" is a really shitty question. Like, did the authors not realize that just on a logistical level, Jason could leave the room and find a second bullet after shooting the Joker? Like, seriously, even if we accept the premise that Joker's speech got to Jason, there are no reasons for him not to choose the "both" option. The only way I can imagine this working is if the Joker is actually the fucking Purple Man from Jessica Jones using mind control.

So we exchanged the validation of literally all our protagonists' struggles/sacrifices paying off for... the vague implication that Jason unforgivably betrayed his teammates, himself, and the entire world because he was so eager to die that he couldn't wait ten fucking minutes. If I loved the Joker I might feel differently about it, but as is, I felt insulted.

This would have been Solid Storylines or maybe even Creme de la Creme if not for that implication. It's not boring though! The rest of it up to the end is honestly pretty damn good, if a bit convoluted, and much of the ending's sour taste can be assuaged by getting out a sheet of paper and doodling Jason opening Joker's head with a handgun and then going out for icecream with the team.

Jason's sanity level: Ten out of Ten hinges affixed. He's a sad, sad lad tho.

Jason's Moral Compass Bearing: Anti-Hero, forced to be much more violent than he wants to be.

A Hot Take

I bet you thought the tentacles were the hot take! HAH! MuahahaahhHAHAHAH - Prepare now, puny mortals, to witness me defend Pill Helmet Jason AND his fashion choices!

No, I am not talking about Winick's redo late in the game, we've already been over that one. I mean I will defend Grant Morrison's flop era, three foot head gear wearin, goofy ass, unwashed ass, "how to build ur brand" reading maniac

It's time to talk about Batman and Robin (2009) #1 - #6

The interpretation of one scene makes or breaks this Jason:

If you believe he is being insincere and manipulating her into putting all her emotional eggs in the basket of his crusade, ignoring her wellbeing in favor of his 'brand', then this is probably the worst mischaracterization of Jason ever written.

If you believe he is being sincere, genuinely comforting her in the only way that he's got to deal with his own trauma, giving her real affection and not pushing her to take either option with the mask because he trusts her to make that decision for herself, then this gets Jason very right.

No matter what Morrison might have intended, I choose to believe it's the latter. This is terrible advice to give a trauma victim, but it makes perfect sense for Jason to believe that about his own trauma, and thus to pass that maladaptive view along.

He doesn't try to assure her that the mask can come off safely or that he'll get her a doctor because he really can't promise her either of those things. It would be cruel to her to pretend that he's got a solution. Jason can't undo the damage that was done to her any more than he can force a dead Bruce to kill the Joker.

Instead he offers her purpose, and reassurance that she's gonna look badass if she never does take it off, and protects her when she's in trouble.

You can claim this is just him acting out his chosen Hero role, but like, WHY would he have chosen to method act that role 24/7 if he wasn't trying to BE a Hero who protects people like Scarlet? There's nothing in it for Jason to fake this.

I also think if he was being written out of character as a manipulator we would have seen him use a romantic or sexual angle which he absolutely doesn't do.

Dickie, you are such a funny Batman, they never shoulda brought Bruce back tbh.

Instead, he seems to be taking a more parental role, in a near perfect reflection of how Bruce took him in when he was a kid. Just he's doing it his way, meaning that whenever Scarlet goes further with the violence than Jason seems to want to, he backs her up instead of chastising her.

Speaking of violence and morals, Let the Punishment Fit the Crime is a coherent moral position to take, even if you (understandably) disagree with it, or disagree with what punishments fit which crimes. It's basically the same moral position as every other version of Jason there's ever been! Like, is he even killing more people than he used to in stories like Under the Red Hood? No, I don't think he is. In fact, I would argue that Morrison's Jason is significantly less violent than Winnick's overall!

The branding thing is weird, lil annoying too after a while, but ultimately it still makes sense. And brings me around to my promised defense of his fashion choices.

First of all the symbolic importance of the fact that he wears white cannot be overstated in my mind. Will I elaborate? No, this post is way too long already lmao! Second off, it's supposed to be silly. I believe the silliness was a conscious, calculated choice, and the right one to make.

Jason doesn't believe that fear works, he's not trying for pure intimidation, and he knows that he's going to have to appeal to people in his bid to be seen as a Hero. Making himself seem big but non-threatening, a bright patch in the night, makes real sense.

Take a look at this view of Jason from Scarlet's POV when he comes to rescue her from the cops after she kills her dad:

He's got a smoking gun in his hand and he just shot two cops dead, yet we're hard fuckin pressed to find him intimidating aren't we?? Cornball dialogue, and the silliest fuckin hat in the universe, because he's not meant to be from this era, he's emulating the Golden and Silver age comics and all their goofiness. He's trying to be the older, happier, sillier batman that used to exist (at least in his head), while doing what he believes is right and necessary.

The costume makes sense dammit!

Also it just doesn't look bad, I can't provide an argument for this, it's just true!!

Also also every one of these fuckers should be wearing a helmet too, this is basic brain safety, if you're gonna go around antagonizing fuckers with guns you need to make your head at least nominally bulletproof, it's that simple!!!

Also also also the fact that he had red hair in this is oft maligned, but it gives Jason an in universe avenue to express a grievance with a super important part of the way Bruce treats him in his post-crisis time as Robin - Bruce was using him as an emotional replacement for Dick.

Morrison may not have liked Jason, but he demanded that every single iota of Batman lore be treated as important canon and that means that he also treats all of Jason's history as important canon too.

Now... do I recommend you read this? (This section was rewritten on January 28th, 2024)

Yes, with significant caveats. There's a reason I chunked this in with YMMV.

First is the Batman typical ableism of just really fucked depictions of mental illness. I normally wouldn't warn for this because everyone knows most of the rogues and will be aware of what they bring to the table, but Professor Pyg is obscure enough I wouldn't expect people to know, and the way he's written just... hurts. Like there's just something about him that is painful to read as someone that's got several schizophrenic friends who are near and dear to my heart. I would hesitate to recommend it to any of them the same way I'd hesitate to recommend Silence of the Lambs to most other trans people.

Secondly this comic is Extremely Gay (a definite positive!) however it is Extremely Gay in a way that kinda requires some onboarding and analysis to properly parse and that is actually why this post was edited:

The first time I read this comic, my impression was that it was vitriolically homophobic. Considering that at the time I had heard many things about Grant Morrison, and none of them good, I went with my gut. I put here that while I would defend Jason's characterization, I couldn't in good faith recommend something so bigoted, detailed what felt bigoted, and went on with my day.

Then a while later I saw a post that I suspect was talking about this one saying something along the lines of "How the hell could you call Grant Morrison, who gave us so many of our most iconic gay characters, homophobic? The racism and such I can understand but homophobic? No."

To which my initial response was a resounding: Wha??? Like, genuinely how was I supposed to read this and not get homophobia out of it?? But I went and looked Morrison up and yeah sure enough the guy's queer so I dug deeper and mulled it over until I figured out what the fuck I was missing. So, this section is a correction and an apology about that earlier homophobia claim. Sorry about that.

The styling of this queerness are highly akin to that of the John Waters movie Pink Flamingos which I'll let Matt Baume explain better than I ever could. This guy right here is pretty much the perfect example, Hell, he's even literally named The Flamingo.

Essentially it's queerness is all aggressive, unapologetic, and designed to be provocatively shocking, which can be jarring if you're not ready to flow with it. Also he likely had to arrange a lot of things to get around censorship, same as Judd Winick did. For instance the fact that Dick spoke the same circus lingo as the troupe of Very Queer Freakshow Workers who destroy the police precinct was meant to imply that Dick is Very Queer too. Pretty sure he would've said that in a far less convoluted way if he could've.

So, with the bulk of my initial reservations about this comic disproven... I have no choice but to straight up recommend it to anyone who thinks they can jive with this vibe of storytelling!

Jason's sanity level: One out of Ten hinges affixed. Obsessive, not taking care of himself, possessed of some really maladaptive trauma coping frameworks, completely unhinged. My condolences to his mental health, but I do love to see it.

Jason's moral compass bearing: Antihero. It's weird because this is undeniably a much darker comic, and Jason certainly feels darker, but in terms of what he actually does, and what the other characters do, his violence is honestly very tame.

So, cards on the table, here is the core of who Jason is to me:

He's got clear moral motives and a drive to help as well as harm, though violence and harm are the main ways in which he tries to improve the world.

When confronted he does not back down; he does not let himself be overshadowed or silenced. He is confident in his decisions and every bit of push back is already accounted for in his head.

Everything he does is premeditated. He is not impulsive. His plans may sometimes be unhinged but they are methodically planned.

He is painfully sincere, the way fire is painfully hot.

He desperately desires love and connection, but it will take many years of constant rejection and fighting before he is willing to accept any kind of compromise to his ethics for the sake of civility.

Under all the hurt and combativeness, he's a pretty goofy guy! He's got a sense of fun and likes to be flamboyant and silly when he can!

He's a villain, a hero, a protagonist, an antagonist, and everything between the extremes. He exists as a powerful counter-thesis to Batman, and as such DC can't ever fully answer the question of what to do with him. He exists in this waffling limbo state as his morals are debated, stretched, refuted, turned on their head. I think that makes him a wonderfully fascinating character to love.

I hope you enjoyed this and, like, go have fun reading comics!

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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Hal Jordan Reading List

|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯| ¯¯¯/ /¯¯¯\ \¯¯¯ | | | | __\ \__/ /__ |_____________|

❝ Hal Jordan – he’s the anti-Batman. Batman has everything mapped out seven ways, while Hal will jump off a cliff and figure out how not to die on his way down. ❞

- Kurt Busiek

Q: Why is Hal killing all these people? I thought he was a good guy? Why does he have thigh-high boots?

A: In January of 1994 (Green Lantern v3 048) Hal’s home aka Coast City is destroyed by Mongul while battling Superman. Hal kind of goes insane and basically turns into a supervillain named Parallax who only wants to “fix” the universe. The writers have stated in various interviews that they were rushed for time so if the story seems rushed & out of place well.. it’s because it is. Still, it’s a part of Hal’s history! The whole thing was basically retconned in Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns. The boots are because Parallax is really just a big a drama queen. Hal is Parallax from 1994-1996.

Q: Why is Hal a big tortured green ghost? I thought he was Green Lantern?

A: After the events of Final Night Hal gets sent to purgatory and is only released to become the Spectre, the Spirit of Vengeance in the DC Universe. The Spectre basically needs a human host in order to exist on the physical plane so Hal is chosen because he feels like he deserves to be punished for what he’s done. Hal the Spectre from 1999-2004.

Q: Who’s Hal? I thought Green Lantern was John/Kyle/Guy/Simon/Jessica–

Boy do I have news for you…..

This is my recommended reading order that I think will give you a good introduction to Hal Jordan as a character.

You could always start at the chronological beginning and make your way forwards, but that usually isn’t the best way to get into a character. Start with the stuff that will get your attention and is easier to digest, and then you can go hard and dive into the huge volume of works all about my favorite green boy.

Q: How do I read these? I’m broke af!

A: There are many places to read comics online! Readcomiconline.to has most of these! If you need to read first online and then when you get $$ buy them IRL or online (with Comixology, Amazon, etc.) then I don’t judge you.

Q: I have a question about (insert continuity question here) or (insert random comic here)..

A: I’m always open to asks about anything related to my son. :’) HMU! I will explain everything I promise.

Q: You missed one / there’s a typo in this list / I think you should have put x comic in y section..

A: If you think I missed anything please let me know! I may have forgotten one, or there may be a Hal comic lurking around that I haven’t read.. doubtful.. but it’s a possibility..

Any suggestions about reading order please send as well! I’m always open to changing the list/having convos about my son.

Q: Are there any new comics with Hal comic out rn??

A: Yes! Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps gets updated every 2 weeks. There’s also a Green Lantern / Star Trek series called Stranger Worlds, and a Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern series that are both on-going. Hal will also make an appearance in Flash v5 024 (june 14), and will be featured in the upcoming DC event-prequel called Dark Days - The Casting 001 and also in the DC Metal event in certain issues (which #s are unconfirmed). He is currently not on the Justice League title.

Darkseid War: Green Lantern

Green Lantern: Rebirth

Green Lantern: No Fear

Green Lantern v4 a.k.a. Geoff John’s run 001-042

Blackest Night (043-052)

Green Lantern v4 053-067

Green Lantern v5

Green Lantern: Future’s End

Hal & the Green Lantern Corps (current on-going series)

Now you have a basic introduction to Hal Jordan’s character and what he’s all about. Now it’s time to start in on some of his relationships! Hal’s main relationships in his life are: Carol Ferris, Barry Allen, and Oliver Queen. Carol is his on-again off-again romance spanning from the 60s to mid-GL v5. Barry, a.k.a. the Flash, is his best friend. Oliver Queen is his other good friend.

BARRY ALLEN

Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave & The Bold

Flash v4 Annual 002

Flash v5 023-024 (out june 14!)

Justice League n52 001-012

Flash v1 131, 143, 168, 175, 191, 222, 225, 275-277, 322

Green Lantern v2 013, 020, 043, 200

Justice League of America v1 096, 139, 156, 170, 186

Flash: Rebirth 001

General Mills Presents: Justice League 003

Christmas with the Super Heroes 002

OLIVER QUEEN

Hard Traveling Heroes a.k.a. Green Lantern v2 076-122.

Green Arrow v1 001

Green Arrow v2 019-020, 095-096, 136

Green Arrow v3 007-009, 017, 065

Green Arrow & Black Canary 001, 004-005, 007, 029-032

Legends of the DC Universe 007-009

DC Universe - Decisions 001-003

Justice League - Cry for Justice (note.. most people think this is terrible & OOC. But you can decide for yourself!)

CAROL FERRIS

Green Lantern: Secret Files and Origins

Green Lantern: Rebirth

Green Lantern v2 073, 083, 145, 172, 180-185, 190

Green Lantern v3 021-024, 026-027, 032, 036, 041, 119

Green Lantern v4 018-020, 029-035, 038, 050, 053, 063, 067

Green Lantern v5 001, 003-007, 020

DC: The New Frontier

JLA: The Nail

Now that you have a grasp on Hal’s relationships, I have a few favorite one-shots and Hal appearances that I think are excellent reads.

DC: The New Frontier

Green Lantern / Superman - Legend of the Green Flame

Green Lantern - Ganthet’s Tale

Green Lantern - Willworld

JLA / Spectre - Soul War

Justice 001-012

Brave and the Bold v3 001-002, 004-006, 012, 015, 019-022, 030

DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern

Harley’s Little Black Book 002

JLA 035, 115-120

JLA: Year One 001-012

Alright now you’re ready to sink deep into the rest of Hal Jordan history. Basically the best thing to do at this point is to start at the beginning and work your way up to present day! NOTE: I have included every single appearance of Hal (not already mentioned above) in this section so I put a lot of it under a READ MORE! Don’t miss out on it if you’re on mobile! :-)

Green Lantern v2

Green Lantern Corps v1

Green Lantern v3 001-047 aka Pre-Parallax

Green Lantern 048-050 aka Emerald Twilight

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time

Green Lantern v3 055, Annual 004, 063-064, 100-106

Final Night

Green Lantern v3 081

Day of Judgement

The Spectre v4

Green Lantern v3 119, 145, 150, 155

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly 001-005, 008

Green Lantern Corps v2 016, 020-022, 026, 045, 058-059

Green Lantern Special 001-002

Green Lantern: Circle of Fire 001-002

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn (note: this is an alternate version of Hal’s origin story that is not considered canon)

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II (still not canon..)

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 002, 008-010

Green Lantern: Mosaic 003, 005, 015-018

Star Trek / Green Lantern: The Spectrum Wars

Star Trek / Green Lantern: Stranger Worlds (on-going)

Planet of the Apes / Green Lantern (on-going)

Green Lanterns 024

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps 001-003, Annual 002

Green Lantern Legacy: The Last Will & Testament of Hal Jordan

Green Lantern: Fear Itself

Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special :’)

Green Lantern 80-page Giant 001

Green Lantern vs Aliens 001

Green Lantern / Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception

Green Lanterns: Rebirth

Sinestro Corps Special 001

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Ion

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax

War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath 001

Brightest Day 000-001, 015

Flash v2 069-070, 074, 077, 079, 130, 198, 200, 207, 215-216, 219, 246, Annual 008

Legends of the DC Universe 001, 007-009, 012-013, 028-029, 033-036, 038

Time Masters: Vanishing Point

Action Comics 601-635

Justice League of America v1 001-056, 058-68, 070-083, 085-093, 095-122, 125-130, 132-133, 135-137, 139-144, 147-153, 155-180, 182-190, 192-195, 197-200, 206, 211-213, 219-220, 224, 231, 240, 250, 261

Justice League of America v2 000-010, 012, 015, 022-024, 026, 029, 031, 041-043, 045, 051-053, 059

Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 001

Justice League Europe 039-045, 047, 049-050

Justice League International 010, 024, 051, 053-057, 060-061

Keep reading

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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i need arrowfam comic recs

pls they seem so cool

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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WHO IS HE?

Connor Hawke is a fictional DC Comics superhero who operated as the second Green Arrow. He’s the son of Oliver Queen, the original Green Arrow, and his former girlfriend Sandra “Moonday” Hawke.

PREVIOUS READING

Zero Hour - context for Green Arrow #0. Read / buy / download

ESSENTIAL READING

Green Arrow #0 (1994) — introduction

Green Arrow #91-109 (1995-1996)

Green Lantern #76 / Green Arrow #110 / GL #77 / GA #111 (1996)

Green Arrow #112-124 (1996)

JLA #5, #8-9 (1997)

Green Arrow#125 / Green Lantern #92 / GA #126 (1997)

Green Arrow #127-129 (1998)

Green Lantern #96 / Green Arrow #130 / The Flash #135 (1998)

JLA #10-15 (1998)

Green Arrow #131-133 (1998)

Green Arrow #134 (1998)

Detective Comics #723 (1998)

Robin #55 (1998)

Nightwing #23 (1998)

Green Arrow #135-137 (1998)

Green Arrow #10000 (1998)

Green Arrow Volume.3 (2001-2007)

Green Arrow/Black Canary (2007-2011)

LINKS

Green Arrow volume.2: read / buy / download Green Lantern Volume.3: read / buy / download JLA volume.1: read / buy / download Green Arrow volume.3: read / buy / download Green Arrow/Black Canary: read / buy / download

Under the cut more appearances in chronological order

Keep reading

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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Who is Connor Hawke? - A Reading Guide

Connor Hawke is the son of Oliver Queen and Sandra "Moonday" Hawke. He is best known for his role as the Green Arrow, taking on the mantle upon his father's death and continuing as the Green Arrow after his resurrection. Connor was raised by his mother, and struggled in school due to being bullied for being mixed race (his mother is Black and Korean and his father is white). At around age thirteen Connor was able to talk his mother into letting him move to a Buddhist Ashram that his father had once stayed at, and there Connor entered the care of Master Jansen, learned martial arts and archery, and became a Buddhist monk. It was at the Ashram that Connor decided to continue the Green Arrow legacy. While serving as the Green Arrow, Connor teamed up with the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and the Flash Wally West, Robin Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, and the Justice League.

While Connor is most known for his connection to the Arrow family, as this was what was focused on most heavily in Green Arrow Vol. 3- it is important to remember Connor has strong connections outside of the family as highlighted in Green Arrow Vol. 2! These characters include: Sandra "Moonday" Hawke, Nathan Hawke (Connor's "Gran"), Mastern Jansen, Eddie Fyers, Kyle Rayner, Wally West (and his wife Linda), Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain!

As of June 2022, Connor has been confirmed as asexual, which solidifies his ace coding from both Green Arrow Vol. 2 and 3!

Reading list with RCO links under the cut!

Only three comics will be listed after the N52 because they are the only three that give us anything resembling an in character Connor Hawke- I will not now nor ever include Robin (2021) on this list.

The following is a chronological list of Connor's appearances:

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #0

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #91-105

Robin Vol. 2 #25

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #106-109

Showcase '96 #5

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #76

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #110

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #77

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #111-124

JLA #5, 8-12

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #125-129

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #96

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #130

Flash Vol. 2 #135

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #131-134

Detective Comics #723

Robin Vol. 2 #55

Nightwing Vol. 2 #23

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #135-136

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #104

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #137

Green Arrow Vol. 2 #1,000,000

Robin Vol. 2 #78-79

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #1, 8-11, 13-15, 21

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #162

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #24-25

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #164

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #27-32, 34-50, 52, 56-59, 66-68

Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood #1-6

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #73-75

Green Arrow/Black Canary #1-7, 13-15

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration

Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

DC: Pride (2022)

The following issues have an unclear place in Connor's chronology and are presented here in chronological order by publication date:

JLA: Paradise Lost #2-3

Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant #1/2

JLA/Titans #2-3

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #110, 117

JLA #38, 40

Batgirl #30-32

Birds of Prey #43-46

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3

Identity Crisis #1, 6

Flash Vol. 2 #216

Richard Dragon #8-12

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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DC characters TBR and Reading Guides (to be updated):

Enter Mia Dearden stage left! by lornahs And here's a more complete one for my girl ❤️❤️

Top 5 jason comics, by laufire

Barbara Gordon (I need to read Thrillkiller) by residentwordsofaffirmationdealer

Batman comics with kids by damianbugs

On Batman and capitalism by phantobats

Who is Mae Kent? By tumblr user mae-kent

Cassie Sandsmark sounds so fun! by lornahs

Keeping up with the al Ghuls by 24hrsoda

Just a Guy doing some Gardening (insert Green Thumb joke) by lornahs + specific comic recs by sunlitlemonade

Big up for Big Barda! by medusamagic

Batman/batfam comics in general by fantastic-nonsense

The second Crimson Avenger is my baby and she can do no wrong. Also reading her entirely will take you an hour tops so it's a fun quick break!

Give it up for the Bat, Signal by casscainmainly+ Duke thomas essential readings by twistpixel

The Huntress is in the Place by annah-kitathryne

Comic series with fourteen issues or less by damianbugs

Favourite nightwing comics by dickgraysonsptsd

Recommended series by hmslusitania

Tim Drake reading list by umbrellajam

Women-led comic recs by shyjusticewarrior

Talia al ghul reading list by jostenneil

Green Arrow by Dennis O Neil Omnibus by greenarrow-core

The complete Batman by Dennis O Neil reading order by greenarrow-core

Modern dc comics by delphissoracle + havendance

Jason Todd Rec List and Character Manifesto by redhoodinternaldialectical

Hellblazer reading guide by milfzatannaz

Garth of Shayeris reading guide by cicatricis

Donna troy reading guide by dailywonderfam

Also do check out lornahs's blog they do so many reading guides for so many characters seriously it's super cool!!

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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do you have a reading guide for oliver? i wanna get into him bc i love myself an archer

Hehe... How do I explain to you that I lost that guide?

@greenarrow-core Bro, help me with this 💔

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purpelpy · 28 days ago

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Who is...Oliver Queen | Green Arrow? - A Reading Guide

Oliver Queen is a hero from DC comics that was first introduced in 1941. Ollie is a character based firmly in the folk hero genre with an unmistakable heavy-handed influence from the Robin Hood mythos. Ollie is best known for being canonically a socialist, befriending assassins and "villains", and for having his most common enemy be the police. He is the father of Roy Harper (Speedy, Arsenal, Red Arrow), Connor Hawke (Green Arrow), Mia Dearden (Speedy), Tim North, and Robert Queen II. He's the older brother of Emiko Queen (Red Arrow). And the long-time partner of Dinah Lance (Black Canary) and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). Ollie is often at odds with other heroes, which makes his epitaph the most fitting way to sum up his character in that he always makes the right enemies.

A reading list with totally legal links is under the cut!

As always

Origins: these comics deal specifically with Ollie's experience on the island

Green Arrow: Year One Green Arrow: The Wonder Year Green Arrow: Stranded (non-canon but still an AMAZING look at the island)

Select Golden and Silver Age Stories: it is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED to read these before reading GL/GA and particularly Snowbirds Don't Fly to get full context of the Pre-Snowbirds GA/Speedy dynamic.

More Fun Comics #78, 81-82, 89, 91-92 World’s Finest Comics #7, 57, 70 Adventure Comics #121, 133, 137, 151, 155, 164, 166, 179, 184, 189, 196 Adventure Comics #233 World’s Finest Comics #88 Adventure Comics #246, 256, 260-263 Teen Titans Vol 1 #4, 11, 19-43

Green Lantern/Green Arrow: possibly the most famous stories involving Ollie, GL/GA is a quintessential must-read for the emerald archer! As stated above, PLEASE read the Golden and Silver Age issues before reading GL (1960) #85-86.

Green Lantern (1960) #76-87, 89 The Flash (1959) #217-219 Green Lantern (1960) #90-100, 102-124

Green Arrow Titles: See parenthetical notes for specific commentary on the various series

Green Arrow (1983) Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (this is a direct lead in to Green Arrow 1988) Green Arrow (1988) (while Chuck Dixon's run has been included for completion's sake please note that he has gone on the record saying that the hates Oliver Queen and his writing reflects this) Green Arrow (2001) (this series seriously drops in quality FAST once Judd Winick takes over and his characterization isn't even consistent with what comes before him in the 2001 series let alone in past series, Winick's GA also features significant anti-black racism) Green Arrow/Black Canary (please keep in mind that Judd Winick's characterization is still SHIT but this has been included for completion's sake) Green Arrow: Brightest Day Green Arrow (2011) #17-34

Other Titles and Storylines:

Identity Crisis Final Crisis Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

I am not including much of N52 because it is bad. And I am not including Rebirth because it should not be included in reading lists that are meant to teach you about the character, it exists to make you question if Ben Percy has read Green Arrow comics after YOU have read the comics he supposedly drew inspiration from.

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purpelpy · 29 days ago

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This was gonna be longer but I got bored and I'm a nerd, not a graphic designer. Obviously this is not a complete list of his appearances, just a selection. Anyway love my boy please

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purpelpy · 1 month ago

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[ID: Helena Bertinelli holding her Huntress suit and mask while dressed in her Batgirl costume (the one that has the mouth covered by a patch of fabric stitched to the cowl). She is in front of a gradient that starts out black at the top, then goes to a dusty purple, and finally ends with a light mustard yellow color at the bottom. There is white text that reads: “Helena Bertinelli in No Man’s Land Reading Guide” End ID]

It is undeniable that Helena Bertinelli was one of the major players in the 100-issue, year-long, mega-crossover event that was No Man’s Land. Below, you will find (what I consider to be) Helena’s essential appearances during the NML. As a quick note, I recommend a total of 25 issues from 15 different story arcs in this guide, so if you only go off this list, you will end up reading a fourth of the entire event. That being said, you might be a bit lost about background plot details and minor characters as NML was actually quite impressive in its level of continuity, but Helena’s journey during this era of Gotham history should be clear from the issues I included. Happy reading!

No Law and a New Order (Parts 1 & 2 Only)

. Batman: No Man’s Land #1

. Shadow of the Bat #83

Fear of Faith*

. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #116

. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #84

. Batman (1940) #564

. Detective Comics (1937) #731

Mosaic

. Batman (1940) #565

. Detective Comics (1937) #732

Claim Jumping

. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #119

. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87

Mark of Cain

(Part 1 Only)**

. Batman (1940) #567

Assembly

. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120

Fruit of the Earth

(Part 2 of 3 Only)***

. Batman (1940) #568

Spiritual Currency

. The Batman Chronicles #18

The Code

. Batman (1940) #570

. Detective Comics (1937) #737

Assembly Redux

. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93

By Force of Arms

. Nightwing #39

Ground Zero

. Batman: No Man’s Land #0

Shellgame

. Batman (1940) #573

. Detective Comics (1937) #740

Endgame

. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #126

. Batman (1940) #574

. Detective Comics (1937) #741

Epilogue: Days of Auld Lang Syne

. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #94

* As I was doing my first read-through of NML, I marked down all the storylines & self-contained issues that I thought were the best parts of this event. After going back through in the process of making this guide, I decided to put in bold all the ones related to Helena that still made the cut

** Mark of Cain is coincidentally the debut arc for Cassandra Cain, a breakout character in this event. For those that want to read the full 2-issue storyline, Detective Comics (1937) #734 is the second issue. Cass is involved in multiple arcs listed here, but there are many important appearances for this character that you will not find in this guide. She becomes a larger part of the event as it goes on, so you’ll definitely get a good idea of who she is starting out if you ever choose to read the entirety of No Man’s Land

*** As you can see from the bolded title, “Fruit of the Earth” is one of the storylines from No Man’s Land that truly stood out in my eyes. A major turning point for Helena takes place in the second issue, but she does not appear in this arc’s first or third issues. If you’d like to go ahead and read the entire thing, the reading order goes: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88, Batman (1940) #568, and Detective Comics (1937) #735

“I didn’t need to raise a fist. I didn’t need to say a word. They took one look at me—one look at my shadow—And they ran. No. Not my shadow. Now I get it…and I like it.”

- Batman: No Man’s Land #0

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purpelpy · 1 month ago

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ULTIMATE SUPERGIRL READING GUIDE

since i've been asked a few times in the past for various reading guides for kara, i thought i'd compile them all into one post for the sake of convenience!

this guide has reading orders for supergirl comics in PRE-CRISIS (1959-1985), POST-CRISIS (2004-2011), NEW 52 (2011-2016), REBIRTH (2016-2021), and INFINITE FRONTIER (2021-present).

if you have any questions at all don't be afraid to shoot me an ask!

for each section bolded comics are required, italicized comics are recommended, and everything else is optional!

[PRE-CRISIS]

ORIGIN AND MIDVALE ERA (NOTE: you'll have to flip to the back of each issue to get to kara's section!) action comics (1938) #252, 258, 267, 276, 278-282, 285, 295, 309-310, 313, 317

STANHOPE COLLEGE action comics (1938) #318, 366-368, 372, 374 world’s finest (1941) #169 adventure comics (1938) #381, 386, 391, 395, 397

K-SFTV REPORTER — SAN FRANCISCO adventure comics (1938) #406-407, 410-415, 419-424

VANDYRE UNIVERSITY supergirl (1974) #1-10

STUDENT ADVISOR — FLORIDA (NOTE: every member of the superfamily has a story in the superman family (1974), so you'll have to flip through to find kara's section!) the superman family (1974) #165, 168, 171, 174, 177, 180, 182 justice league of america (1960) #132-134 the superman family #183, 184-186, 187-189, 191-193, 194, 196-198, 199, 200, 201-202, 203, 204-205, 206-207

ACTRESS — NEW YORK the superman family (1974) 208-210, 211-214, 215-216, 217, 218 superman (1939) #373 (second story titled “an eye (and ear) on the world!”) detective comics (1937) #508-510 the superman family #219-222

THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA (i recommend this storyline in it's entirety, but kara only appears in the last issue!) legion of superheroes (1980) #290-294

LAKE SHORE UNIVERSITY supergirl (1982) #1-12 (cw: nazi imagery in the brief interlude in #12) supergirl (1982) #13-15 (cw: antisemitism, nazi imagery, depictions of the holocaust.) supergirl (1982) #16-23

LAST APPEARANCES AND DEATH legion of super-heroes (1980) #300-303 dc comics presents (1978) #28 tales of the legion of super-heroes (1984) #314-315 crisis on infinite earths (1985) #4-7

BONUS POST-COIE APPEARANCES christmas with the super-heroes (1988) #2 (last story titled “should auld acquaintance be forgot”) supergirl (1996) #49, 75-80 solo (2004) #1 (third story titled “young love”) convergence: adventures of superman (2015) #1-2

[POST-CRISIS]

ORIGIN superman/batman (2003) #8-13 (or you can watch superman/batman: apocalypse (2010) instead which I recommend! the art is a lot more tasteful and it's a very faithful adaptation of the comic so you won’t be missing out on anything.)

KARA WITH THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES supergirl and the legion of super-heroes (2006) #16-36

LOEB AND KELLY HELL ERA supergirl (2005) #1-5, 9-10, 19 (you don’t have to read any of this since it gets retconned anyway, but if you’re interested in kara’s early characterization, the beginnings of her friendship with cassie sandsmark, or her difficulty fitting in on earth then you’re welcome to read what i’ve provided.)

KELLEY PUCKETT ERA Amazons Attack! teen titans (2003) #47-48 amazons attack! (2007) #3 supergirl (2005) #20 amazons attack! (2007) #4 teen titans (2003) #49

supergirl (2005) #21-22 teen titans (2003) #50, 51-55 supergirl (2005) #25-33

Superman: Brainiac action comics (1938) #866-870

GATES AND IGLE HEAVEN ERA supergirl (2005) #34

New Krypton (new krypton is one of my favorite events and i recommend it in its entirety, but for the sake of brevity I’ll only be listing the issues relevant to kara.) superman: new krypton special #1 superman (1939) #681 adventure comics special featuring guardian #1 action comics (1938) #871 supergirl (2005) #35 superman (1939) #682 action comics (1938) #872 supergirl (2005) #36 superman (1939) #683 action comics (1938) #873

teen titans (2003) #66 supergirl (2005) #37-42

Friends and Fugitives superman: secret Files 2009 #1 supergirl (2005) #43 action comics (1938) #881 supergirl (2005) #45 action comics (1938) #882 supergirl (2005) #46-47

supergirl (2005) annual 1, #48-50

Last Stand of New Krypton adventure comics (2009) #8 superman: last stand of new krypton #1 supergirl (2005) #51 superman (1938) #698 adventure comics (2009) #9 superman: last stand of new krypton #2 adventure comics (2009) #10 supergirl (2005) #52 superman (1938) #699 superman: last stand of new krypton #3 superman: war of the supermen (2010) #0, 1-4

supergirl (2005) #53-57, annual 2, 58-59

END OF SUPERGIRL VOL 5 supergirl (2005) #60-64 supergirl (2005) #65-67

[THE NEW 52]

ORIGIN and SUPERGIRL VS THE WORLDKILLERS supergirl (2011) #1-7

SUPERGIRL and SILVER BANSHEE supergirl (2011) #8-11

SUPERGIRL and SUPERBOY superboy (2011) #6

SANCTUARY supergirl (2011) #12, 0, 13

H’EL ON EARTH superman (2011) #13 supergirl (2011) #14 superman (2011) #14 superboy (2011) #15 supergirl (2011) #15 superboy (2011) #16 superboy (2011) Annual #1 supergirl (2011) #16 superman (2011) #16 superboy (2011) #17 supergirl (2011) #17 superman (2011) #17

SUPERGIRL and POWERGIRL supergirl (2011) #18-20

CYBORG SUPERMAN supergirl (2011) #21-23 action comics (2011) #23.1 supergirl (2011) #24

KRYPTON RETURNS action comics (2011) annual #2 superboy (2011) #25 supergirl (2011) #25 superman (2011) #25

SUPERGIRL VS LOBO supergirl (2011) #26-27

RED DAUGHTER OF KRYPTON supergirl (2011) #28-29 red lanterns (2011) #28-29 supergirl (2011) #30 red lanterns (2011) #30 supergirl (2011) #31 red lanterns (2011) #31-32 supergirl (2011) #32-33

SUPERMAN: DOOMED (this is a whole storyline but I'll only be listing the issues that kara appears in!) superman/wonder woman (2013) #9 action comics (2011) #33 supergirl (2011) #34 superman: doomed (2014) #2 action comics (2011) #35 supergirl (2011) #35

FUTURES END supergirl: futures end (2014) #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED justice league united (2014) #1-5 justice league united (2014) annual #1 justice league united (2014) #6-10

CRUCIBLE supergirl (2011) #36-40

FINAL DAYS OF SUPERMAN (kara only appears in the issues i've italicized and bolded, but i put all the relevant issues if you wanted to read the full storyline!) superman (2011) #51 batman/superman (2013) #31 action comics (2011) #51 superman/wonder woman (2013) #28 batman/superman (2013) #32 action comics (2011) #52 superman/wonder woman (2013) #29 superman (2011) #52

[REBIRTH]

KARA IN NATIONAL CITY supergirl: rebirth #1

supergirl (2016) #1-8 batgirl (2016) annual 1 supergirl #9-12

supergirl (2016) annual 1supergirl #13-20

world's finest: batwoman and supergirl #1-2

ROGOL ZAAR and THE SINS OF THE CIRCLE the man of steel #1-2, 3-6 supergirl #21-33, #34-36

LEVIATHAN and BATMAN WHO LAUGHS superman: leviathan rising special #1 supergirl #34-36 supergirl (2016) annual 2 supergirl #37-42

HOUSE OF KENT action comics (2016) #1022-1023 action comics (2016) #1024-1028

FUTURE STATE superman of metropolis (2021) #1-2 kara zor el, superwoman (2021) #1-2

[INFINITE FRONTIER]

action comics 2021 annual

WOMAN OF TOMORROW supergirl: woman of tomorrow (2021) #1-8

WORLD'S FINEST batman/superman: world's finest (2022) #2-6, 8, 12

A WORLD WITHOUT CLARK KENT and RED MOON (kara is featured in the back-up story! if you want the full context of this plot i recommend reading the full warworld arc in action comics [action comics #1030-1046, superman: warworld apocalypse #1]!) action comics (2016) #1044-1046, 1047-1049

DAWN OF DC action comics (2016) #1051-1053, 1055-1056 superman (2023) #1-3 power girl special #1 steelworks (2023) #1-3

KNIGHT TERRORS knight terrors: superman (2023) #1-2

DAWN OF DC (continued) action comics: doomsday special (2023) superman (2023) #7 hawkgirl (2023) #4 supergirl special (2023)

NEW WORLDS [this arc starts on action comics #1057—kara doesn't appear in that issue but I recommend reading it for context!] action comics (2016) #1058-1060 action comics 2023 annual

JOURNEY TO FERIMBIA powergirl (2023) #5, 6-7

HOUSE OF BRAINIAC action comics (2016) #1064 superman (2023) #13 action comics (2016) #1065 superman (2023) #14 action comics (2016) #1066 superman (2023) #15

UNIVERSE END action comics (2016) #1070-1081

MISCELLANEOUS RECENT APPEARANCES: justice league unlimited (2024) #1, 4-6 superwoman special #1 superman (2023) #21-22 MISADVENTURES IN MIDVALE supergirl (2025) #1

UPCOMING: supergirl (2025) [monthly ongoing] new history of the dc universe (2025) #2 [out july 23rd] dc's kal-el-fornia love (2025) [out july 30th]

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