Comics 101: Chronology

The world of comics is wide and daunting. Looking for an in to a specific character or franchise in the wake of Marvel and DC’s recent film endeavors is not a task for the faint-hearted. Both Marvel and DC boast thousands of characters and over seventy-five years of publication, and finding a starting point in the sea of characters is overwhelming. As a recent comic fan, I’ve found myself relying mostly on Google and recommendations from friends in choosing what I read. I came into the world of heroes after a long love affair with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films and a lengthy flirt with Batman films and video games. One thing that helped was knowing what I was dealing with by familiarizing myself with major events in the Marvel and DC universes. Based on the films, I also had an idea of which characters most interested me. (I tend to lean toward Marvel heroes, but I also don’t buy into the whole Marvel-versus-DC-which-is-better mentality. Real talk, y’all, we can have both. That is a glorious thing.) One of the absolute worst ways (in my opinion) to tackle the Marvel and DC universes as a fresh-faced, eager-eyed, ready-to-learn comic fan is to read chronologically. Some characters, such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Captain America, have been around since the 1930s and 40s. That’s a lot of reading to catch up on. (Seriously. Thousands of comics.) I'm certain it can be done, but by people far more ambitious than I. However, it does help to understand the chronology of each universe. Universes include story arcs (a main story that begins and ends in a single, ongoing comic book), crossovers (a main story that starts in a single book and continues in several books, or starts in several books and ends in a single book), limited series (a main story begins and ends in a single book and has a finite, limited run), and events (a main story begins and ends in a single book, but side stories are concurrently published in multiple books).

[See a full timeline for this post here.]

Some of the most notable Marvel arcs include:

• The Golden Age (1940-46): Includes the original Human Torch; formation of the All-Winners Squad also includes Captain America and best pal Bucky, among others.

• The Silver Age (1965-70): Includes story arcs involving the Fantastic Four, as well as crossovers including Daredevil, Thor, Spider-Man, and the Avengers.

• Kree-Skrull War (1971-72): Crossover series involving the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Captain Marvel. This event is still referenced in contemporary comics and is actually a major plot point of Young Avengers.

• Secret Wars (1984-85): A limited series in which super-mega-villain Beyonder kidnaps various heroes and villains.

• The Infinity Gauntlet (1991): Event in which Thanos (another super-mega-villain, whom readers may recognize from MCU’s Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy) becomes an even bigger super-mega-villain.

• House of M (2005): Event in which Scarlet Witch attempts to use her powers to put mutants in charge of the world and accidentally achieves quite the opposite.

• Civil War (2006-2007): Event in which the U.S. government passes the Super-human Registration Act. Heroes are divided between pro- and anti-registration. (Captain America vs. Iron Man! Angst!)

• Secret Invasion (2008): Event in which the Skrulls return. Sneakily. Also an event featured in the animated series, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Secret Invasion was followed up by Dark Reign and Siege.

• Age of Ultron (2013): Event in which Hank Pym’s (Ant-Man’s) creation, the artificial intelligence known as Ultron, returns, and also ruins everything. This is also the event MCU’s Avengers 2 will be based on.

These arcs are the ones I have noticed being continually referenced in various comics. While it isn’t necessary to read all of them, even Googling and glancing through this Wikipedia page or Marvel's wiki page will better help new readers to understand some important context. DC’s chronology is a little more difficult to pin down. DC's Golden Age was characterized by the introduction of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Additional arcs that signified important or became starting points for a character include:

• Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985): Supervillain Anti-Monitor attempts to destroy DC’s Multiverse but instead creates one cohesive universe. This also leads to the death of the Flash (Barry Allen) and Supergirl. The Man of Steel and Green Lantern Corps series stem from this event.

• Cosmic Odyssey (1988): Supervillain Darkseid searches for the Anti-Life Equation, which would allow him control over the minds of all sentient beings. This is the basis for the series, New Gods.

• War of the Gods (1991): The ancient Roman gods and Olympian gods are at war, threatening Wonder Woman and her fellow Amazons; meanwhile, sorceress Circe frames the Amazons for a series of murders. This series was meant to celebrate Wonder Woman’s 50th anniversary.

• Bloodlines (1993): Alien parasites threaten the DC hero crew. This event also leads to the creation of new heroes.

• Infinite Crisis (2005-2006): An alternate Superman attempts to change the universe, but alters history instead. Oops.

• 52 (2006-2007): A 52-issue series; each one detailed what happened every week after the end of Infinite Crisis.

• One Year Later (2006): Jumps all narratives to one year after the end of Infinite Crisis.

• Flashpoint (2011): The Flash attempts to change the universe (heroes never learn, apparently) by altering time (really, a terrible idea) in order to save his mother, and changes the course of history. Dramatically. (Surprise, surprise.) Leads directly to the “New 52” series.

• New 52 (2011-present): DC’s revamp of its entire comic book line. This was particularly controversial because DC cancelled all of its existing series, and launched fifty-two new titles.

Keep in mind that this is only a basic sketch of each universe's chronology. (A more complete listing of events can be found on Wikipedia.) Comic Vine and DC's own wiki also have articles detailing these events. However, for the timid, time-pressed, or financially fraught (it’s okay, I’m a college student, I understand) graphic novels are a great way to test the waters, and many are available for reduced prices on Amazon or at your local library. They’re designed to stand well on their own but feature full-length stories in a compact arc. Alan Moore’s Watchmen is probably one of the most famous graphic novels published in recent years. Batman: Year One and Wonder Woman: The Circle are good introductions to these characters and require no pre-existing knowledge of the character’s history or ability. (Year One is Batman’s origin story, originally published in four issues but later compiled into a graphic novel.) Finding a character, story arc, or writer to cling to is a good way to read up on the character, but is also a good way to branch out into the corners of comic universes. Somewhere out there, someone is waiting to be your new favorite hero.

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