Issues:  Action Comics #6 to Legionnaires #4

Years:  1938-1986

Events:  Jack Kirby’s Fourth World,  Aquaman: Death of a Prince,  Crisis on Infinite Earths

First Appearances:  Batman,  Big Barda,  Bizarro,  Brainiac,  Catwoman,  The Creeper,  Deathstroke,  Doom Patrol,  Jimmy Olsen,  John Constantine,  Joker,  Krypto,  Metal Men,  Metallo,  New Gods,  Parasite,  Solomon Grundy,  Supergirl,  Swamp Thing

The first part of the order contains all the Pre-Crisis comics and ends with the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.  The beginning of the order starts off heavily with the Superman Family but gradually other characters are brought in.  A lot of the Golden and Silver age comics rely on extreme amounts of coincidence for their plots,  which doesn’t always make for the easiest reading.  If you are mainly interested in the Post-Crisis DC Universe you should skip this part and begin reading at Part 2.

Issues:  Batman #404 to Mister Miracle Vol. 2 #19

Years:  1987-1990

Events:  Legends,  Millennium,  Invasion!,  Superman: Exile,  Janus Directive,  Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying,  War of the Gods

First Appearances:  None

The beginning of the Post-Crisis era.  We start off with a high concentration of some of the most iconic Batman stories of all time;  Year One,  The Long Halloween,  Dark Victory,  Killing Joke,  and A Lonely Place of Dying.   Also featured is the excellent Man of Steel limited series and the Post-Crisis origins of many of the biggest DC superheroes.  Post-Crisis we also see the beginning of large crossover events.

Issues:  Robin Vol.2 #1 to Detective Comics #707

Years:  1991-1997

Events:  Panic in the Sky,  Justice League: Breakdowns,  Armageddon 2001,  Eclipso: The Darkness Within,  Death of Superman,  Funeral for a Friend,  Reign of the Supermen,  Bloodlines,  DC Universe: Trinity,  Knightfall Saga,  Batman: Prodigal,  Batman: Troika,  Zero Hour,  The Trial of Superman,  Underworld Unleashed,  The Flash: Dead Heat,  Batman: Contagion,  Batman: Legacy,  Final Night

First Appearances:  Azrael,  Bane,  Stephanie Brown

Along with the annual crossover events we also see two of the biggest comic events of the 90’s;  Death of Superman and the Knightfall Saga.  These two events helped fuel the speculator boom of the early 90’s and ultimately played a significant part in the collapse of the comic book market.  The Batman: Contagion event marks the beginning of a series of events that will culminate in Batman: No Man’s Land several years later.  Zero Hour is the second of DC’s large “Crisis” events.

Issues:  JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 to Batman: Nine Lives #1

Years:  1997-2002

Events:  Genesis,  Batman: Cataclysm,  Brotherhood of the Fist,  Behold! The Millennium Giants,  DC One Million,  Batman: No Man’s Land,  Day of Judgment,  The Justice Society Returns!,  Superman: Emperor Joker,  Batman: Officer Down,  Our Worlds at War,  Joker’s Last Laugh

First Appearances:  Cassandra Cain

This part of the reading order starts off with a revamped Justice League being written by Grant Morrison and also sees the return of the Justice Society.  The DC One Million event depicts the DC Universe 83,000 years in the future.  Gotham City continues to have a bad time in Batman: Cataclysm and the government finally says enough is enough in Batman: No Man’s Land.

Issues:  JSA: The Liberty File #1 to Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #5

Years:  2000-2005

Events:  Bruce Wayne: Murderer?,  Bruce Wayne: Fugitive,  World Without Young Justice,  JSA: Black Reign,  Batman: War Games

First Appearances:  None

The popular Batman storyline Hush takes place in this part of the order and we have an updated version of Superman’s Post-Crisis origin with the the Superman: Birthright limited series.  The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again are placed in this section since they have to appear somewhere.  We also have the excellent alternate universe Superman: Red Son limited series.

Issues:  Detective Comics #801 to Booster Gold Vol. 2 #14

Years:  2005-2009

Events:  Identity Crisis,  Countdown to Infinite Crisis,  Batman: War Crimes,  Infinite Crisis,  Batman: Face the Face,  Superman: Up, Up, and Away!,  Amazons Attack!,  Lightning Saga,  The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul,  Sinestro Corps War

First Appearances:  Damian Wayne

And here we go.  First up is Identity Crisis,  followed by the massive Countdown to Infinite Crisis and then the Infinite Crisis event itself.  This is followed by the 52 limited series and the One Year Later storylines,  which explore the changes in the status quo of various heroes after the Infinite Crisis event.  During the Countdown to Infinite Crisis we have the excellent Green Lantern: Rebirth limited series and the beginning of Geoff Johns epic run with the character.

Issues:  Trinity #1 to Flashpoint #5

Years:  2008-2011

Events:  Final Crisis,  Battle for the Cowl,  Blackest Night,  Brightest Day,  Superman: New Krypton,  Batman: Judgment on Gotham,  Reign of Doomsday,  War of the Green Lanterns,  Flashpoint

First Appearances:  Larfleeze,  Pandora

We have yet another “Crisis” event with Final Crisis,  which has major repercussions within the Batman Family series of comics.  There are several huge events such as Blackest Night,  Brightest Day,  and Superman: New Krypton.  Then there is Flashpoint which radically changes the DC Universe and ushers in the New 52 era.

Issues:  Dial H #0 to Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 7 #23

Years:  2011-2015

Events:  Batman: Zero Year,  The Culling,  Night of the Owls,  Rise of the Third Army,  Wrath of the First Lantern,  Rotworld,  Throne of Atlantis,  Superman: H’el on Earth,  Death of the Family,  Green Lantern: Lights Out,  Batman: Requiem,  Gothtopia,  Trinity War,  Forever Evil,  Forever Evil: Blight,  Krypton Returns,  Red Daughter of Krypton,  Superman: Doomed,  Robin Rises,  Green Lantern: Uprising,  New 52: Futures End,  Green Lantern: Godhead,  Batman: Endgame,  Multiversity,  Convergence

First Appearances:  None

Welcome to the New 52 Reading Order. This is a reading order for all DC comics published under the New 52 line, beginning after the Flashpoint event and ending with the Convergence event. The continuity of the New 52 continues in the DC You Reading Order.

Issues:  Gotham Academy #7 to Justice League Vol. 2 #52

Years:  2015-2016

Events:  Superman: Savage Dawn,  Robin War,  Darkseid War,  Final Days of Superman

First Appearances:  None

Welcome to the DC You Reading Order.  Following the Convergence event the New 52 branding was dropped from all DC comics and was replaced by the DC You branding.  DC You begins after the Convergence event and ends with DC Rebirth.

Issues:  DC Universe: Rebirth #1 to Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman #2

Years:  2016-2021

Events:  Night of the Monster Men,  Justice League vs. Suicide Squad,  Superman Reborn,  The Lazarus Contract,  Dark Nights: Metal,  Heroes in Crisis,  Drowned Earth,  Event Leviathan,  City of Bane,  The Infected,  Joker War,  Dark Nights: Death Metal,  Endless Winter,  Future State

First Appearances:  None

Welcome to the DC Rebirth Reading Order.  This is a reading order for all DC comics published in the Rebirth era,  beginning with DC Universe: Rebirth #1 and currently ongoing.  It proceeds directly after the New 52 and DC You reading orders.

Issues:  Superman: Earth One Vol. 1 to Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #6.

Years:  2010-2021+

Events:  Injustice,  DCeased

First Appearances:  None

The New 52, DC You, and DC Rebirth reading orders only contain in-continuity comic issues. This part of the reading order is dedicated to the non-canon comics DC has released since 2011. Non-canon comics in the Infinite Frontier era will also be added to this reading order.

Issues:  Infinite Frontier #0 to Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #4.

Years:  2021-2023

Events:  Fear State,  Trial of the Amazons,  Shadow War,  Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths,  Lazarus Planet

First Appearances:  None

Infinite Frontier is the name of the new era of DC Comics, following DC Rebirth. Rather than serve as a line-wide reboot, Infinite Frontier keeps the previous stories canon, while making many of the pre-Flashpoint storylines canon too. It also focuses on new or reintroduced characters, while allowing writers more creative freedom in telling their stories.