In 1985, DC decided to combine all the infinite worlds of its multiverse into a single universe.
This Reading Order lays out this combined universe, book by book, guided by the amazing work at The Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe. It also includes those books published under the Vertigo banner that nonetheless take place in the DC Universe – such books are marked Vertigo in the Reading Order.
It also, since it didn’t take long for the universe to splinter back into a multiverse again, includes some of those worlds too.
The Main Universe
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- -– Before the Twentieth Century
- -– The Twentieth Century
- -– Year One
- -– Year Two
- -– Year Three
- -– Year Four
- -– Year Five
- -– Year Six
- -– Year Seven
- -– Year Eight
- -– Year Nine
- -– Year Ten
- -– Year Eleven
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Other Universes
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The iconic Western character, of whose assorted appearances it’s remarkable for any two to appear in the actual order they occur.
Obviously, it’s a big assumption that the Man With No Name is in fact the same man in all three films – but they work as a thematic trilogy. On that level, consider this a thematic timeline.
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- The film on Blu-ray. He’s called ‘Blondie’ in this one, but that’s obviously just a nickname.
- Man With No Name, vol. 1: Sinners and Saints
- Reprints The Man With No Name #1-6
- The Man With No Name, vol. 2: Holiday in the Sun
- Reprints The Man With No Name #7-11
- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, vol. 1
- Reprints The Good, The Bad and The Ugly #1-6
- For a Few Dollars More
- The film on Blu-ray. In this one, his nickname is ‘Manco’ (Spanish for ‘one-armed’, because he rarely uses his right hand other than to shoot).
- A Fistful of Dollars
- The film on Blu-ray. He’s called ‘Joe’ in this one.
- A Coffin Full of Dollars
- Novel by Joe Millard.
- A Dollar to Die For
- Novel by Brian Fox.
- The Devil’s Dollar Sign
- Novel by Joe Millard.
- The Million-Dollar Bloodhunt
- Novel by Joe Millard.
- Blood For a Dirty Dollar
- Novel by Joe Millard.
If you have not yet read the adventures of Slippery Jim DiGriz, you’re in for a treat.
If you have, here’s how they all fit together:
- A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born
- Originally published in 1985.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted
- Originally published in 1987.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues>
- Originally published in 1994.
- The Stainless Steel Rat
- Originally published in 1961.
- The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge
- Originally published in 1970.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
- Originally published in 1972.
- The Fourth Law of Robotics
- Originally published in 1989.
This story crosses over with The Asimov Universe Timeline. It is placed here because it clearly takes place much earlier than the main action of the series, making the time travel of the previous story the best fit for it.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!
- Originally published in 1978.
- The Stainless Steel Rat for President
- Originally published in 1982.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell
- Originally published in 1996.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Joins The Circus
- Originally published in 1999.
- You Can Be The Stainless Steel Rat
- Originally published in 1988.
Clearly occurs late in his career, but placed here by fiat.
- The Stainless Steel Rat Returns
- Originally published in 2010.
- The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat
- Originally published in 1993.
This list includes only the actual books – much of the content is actually short stories (the volumes this is the case for are noted below). If you want a thorough accounting of which stories occur in what order, down to a listing of what years they occur in, I recommend Johnny Pez’s Insanely Complete Fiction List for a more detailed reading order.
The Robots Era:
- I, Robot: To Protect
- Novel set in 2035 featuring Susan Calvin and early robots, written by Mickey Zucker Reichert.
- I Robot: To Obey
- Novel set in 2036 featuring Susan Calvin and early robots, written by Mickey Zucker Reichert.
- I, Robot: To Preserve
- Novel set in 2037 featuring Susan Calvin and early robots, written by Mickey Zucker Reichert.
- The Complete Robot
- Contains all of Asimov’s Robot Stories up to the date of its publication.
- Robot Dreams
- Contains additional Robot short stories by Asimov.
- Robot Visions
- Contains additional Robot short stories by Asimov.
- Gold
- Contains additional Robot short stories by Asimov.
- Predator
- Volume 1 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- Marauder
- Volume 2 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- Warrior
- Volume 3 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- Dictator
- Volume 4 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- Emperor
- Volume 5 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- Invader
- Volume 6 of the Robots in Time series by William F. Wu.
- The Positronic Man
- Novel length expansion of Asimov’s short story The Bicentennial Man, co-written with Robert Silverberg.
- Nemesis
- Novel by Asimov.
- The Caves of Steel
- First novel in the Elijah Baley series.
- The Naked Sun
- Second novel in the Elijah Baley series.
- The Robots of Dawn
- Third novel in the Elijah Baley series.
- Odyssey
- Volume 1 of the Robot City series written by Michael P. Kube-McDowell.
- Suspicion
- Volume 2 of the Robot City series written by Mike McQuay.
- Cyborg
- Volume 3 of the Robot City series written by William F. Wu.
- Prodigy
- Volume 4 of the Robot City series written by Arthur Byron Cover.
- Refuge
- Volume 5 of the Robot City series written by Robert Chilson.
- Perihelion
- Volume 6 of the Robot City series written by William F. Wu.
- Changeling
- Volume 1 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Stephen Leigh.
- Renegade
- Volume 2 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Cordell Scotten.
- Intruder
- Volume 3 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Robert Thurston.
- Alliance
- Volume 4 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Jerry Oltion.
- Maverick
- Volume 5 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Bruce Bethke.
- Humanity
- Volume 6 of the Robot City: Robots and Aliens series written by Jerry Oltion.
- Mirage
- Novel written by Mark W. Tiedemann.
- Chimera
- Novel written by Mark W. Tiedemann.
- Aurora
- Novel written by Mark W. Tiedemann.
- Have Robot, Will Travel
- Novel written by Alexander C. Irvine.
The Empire Era:
- Robots and Empire
- Novel by Asimov.
- Caliban
- Novel written by Roger MacBride Allan.
- Inferno
- Novel written by Roger MacBride Allan.
- Utopia
- Novel written by Roger MacBride Allan.
- The Stars, Like Dust
- Novel by Asimov.
- The Currents of Space
- Novel by Asimov.
- Pebble in the Sky
- Novel by Asimov.
The Foundation Era:
- Prelude to Foundation
- Novel by Asimov.
- Foundation’s Fear
- Written by Gregory Benford. First novel in the Second Foundation trilogy.
- Forward the Foundation
- Novel by Asimov.
- Foundation and Chaos
- Written by Greg Bear. Second novel in the Second Foundation trilogy.
- Foundation’s Triumph
- Written by David Brin. Third novel in the Second Foundation trilogy.
- Foundation
- Novel by Asimov.
- Foundation and Empire
- Novel by Asimov.
- Second Foundation
- Novel by Asimov.
- Foundation’s Edge
- Novel by Asimov.
- Foundation and Earth
- Novel by Asimov.
- Nightfall
- Novel length expansion of the Asimov short story of the same name, co-written with Robert Silverberg. Although originally separate from the rest of the Asimov Universe, it was brought in by Kingsbury’s Psychohistorical Crisis, and placed here as it cannot fit anywhere before the fall of the Empire.
- Foundation’s Friends: Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov
- Anothology of stories in the Asimov Universe written by other authors. Although the stories take place all across this timeline, they are mostly expansions of Asimov stories rather than integral parts of the series, and can thus best be read here. One story in this volume crosses over with The Stainless Steel Rat Timeline.
- Psychohistorical Crisis
- Novel by Donald Kingsbury. Although not an official sequel, it is clearly derived from the Foundation series. As noted above, it also brings in the story of Nightfall.
- The End of Eternity
- Novel by Asimov.
Weaving back and forth across novels, comics and movies, the Jurassic Park franchise is not entirely internally consistent, but it is a lot of fun.
I mean, it has dinosaurs. Sometimes even drawn by Walt Simonson.
What more could you possibly want?
- Dragon Teeth
- Novel by Michael Crichton.
Included because its subject matter – paleontologists attempting to use fossils for personal gain – is very much of a piece with the Jurassic Park series.
- Jurassic Park: Dead Islands
- Prequel novel by Fabien Delage
- Jurassic Park
- Novel: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Film: Jurassic Park
- Comic: Classic Jurassic Park, vol.1
- Classic Jurassic Park, vol.2: Raptors Revenge
- Classic Jurassic Park, vol.3: Amazon Adventure
- Classic Jurassic Park, vol.4: Return to Jurassic Park
- Classic Jurassic Park, vol.5: Return to Jurassic Park, Part Two
- The Lost World
- Novel: The Lost World
- Video: The Lost World
- Comic: Classic Jurassic Park, vol.6: The Lost World
- Jurassic Park III
- Survivor: Jurassic Park Adventures, Book 1
- Prey: Jurassic Park Adventures, Book 2
- Flyers: Jurassic Park Adventures, Book 3
- Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games
- Jurassic Park, vol.1: Redemption
- Jurassic Park: The Devils in the Desert
- Jurassic World: The Evolution of Claire
- Prequel novel by Tess Sharpe
- Jurassic World
- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Jurassic World: Dominion
The DC counterpart to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, longer on darkness and angst, shorter on fun – at least to begin with.
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Fables is a story where all the characters from your favourite fairy tales are live in the modern world and are not always terribly pleased about it.
It’s Vertigo’s second longest running series (behind Hellblazer), and deservedly so – it’s got a rich cast, clever plotting and dialogue, and an apparently bottomless well to draw inspiration from. And after more than a decade of working on the title, it still feels like Willingham is just getting started. If you haven’t already read Bill Willingham’s magnum opus, do yourself a favour and dig into it.
- Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
- Original collection (October 2006). This collection was released between volumes 7 and 8 of the main series, but consists entirely of prequels to it. However, nearly every volume of the series contains callbacks to it, so it can be read at nearly any point and still enjoyed.
- Fables, vol.4: March of the Wooden Soldiers
- Reprints Fables #19-21 (January 2004 – March 2004), #23-27 (May 2004 – September 2004) and Fables: The Last Castle (2003).
The story from The Last Castle takes place here by strict chronological order, but the rest of the volume occurs where it is placed below.
- Fables: The Wolf Among Us, vol.1
- Reprints Fables: The Wolf Among Us #1-7 (March 2015 – September 2015).
The first part of a prequel story set not long before the beginning of the series proper.
- Fables: The Wolf Among Us, vol.2
- Reprints Fables: The Wolf Among Us #8-16 (October 2015 – June 2016).
The second part of a prequel story set not long before the beginning of the series proper.
- Fables, vol.1: Legends in Exile
- Reprints Fables #1-5 (July 2002 – November 2002). Also contains an original prose story that occurs between the main action of the book and 1001 Nights of Snowfall.
- Fables, vol.2: Animal Farm
- Reprints Fables #6-10 (December 2002 – April 2003).
- Fables, vol.3: Storybook Love
- Reprints Fables #11-18 (May 2003 – December 2003).
- Fables, vol.4: March of the Wooden Soldiers
- Reprints Fables #19-21 (January 2004 – March 2004), #23-27 (May 2004 – September 2004) and Fables: The Last Castle (2003).
The majority of this volume occurs at this point, but the story from The Last Castle takes place where it is located above.
- Fables, vol.5: The Mean Seasons
- Reprints Fables #22 (April 2004) and #28-33 (October 2004 – March 2005).
- Fables, vol.6: Homelands
- Reprints Fables #34-41 (April 2005 – November 2005).
- Fables, vol.7: Arabian Nights (and Days)
- Reprints Fables #42-47 (December 2005 – May 2006).
- Fables, vol.8: Wolves
- Reprints Fables #48-51 (June 2006 – September 2006).
- Fables, vol.9: Sons of Empire
- Reprints Fables #52-59 (October 2006 – May 2007).
- Fables, vol.10: The Good Prince
- Reprints Fables #60-69 (June 2007 – March 2008).
- Jack of Fables, vol.1: The (Nearly) Great Escape
- Reprints Jack of Fables #1-5 (September 2006 – January 2007).
- Jack of Fables, vol.2: Jack of Hearts
- Reprints Jack of Fables #6-11 (February 2007 – July 2007).
- Jack of Fables, vol.3: The Bad Prince
- Reprints Jack of Fables #12-16 (August 2007 – December 2007).
NB: despite their publication dates, all three of these Jack of Fables collections occur during The Good Prince – subsequent Jack of Fables volumes line up more smoothly with the main Fables title
- Fables, vol.11: War and Pieces
- Reprints Fables #70-75 (April 2008 – September 2008).
- Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
- Original prose novel (October 2009).
Although mostly set earlier than the events of War and Pieces, this is best read after for the events of its epilogue.
- Jack of Fables, vol.4: Americana
- Reprints Jack of Fables #17-21 (January 2008 – May 2008).
- Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
- Reprints Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1-6 (January 2010 – June 2010).
Although published later, this story logically must occur between War and Pieces and The Dark Ages based on internal references.
- Jack of Fables, vol.5: Turning Pages
- Reprints Jack of Fables #22-27 (June 2008 – December 2008).
- Jack of Fables, vol.6: The Big Book of War
- Reprints Jack of Fables #28-32 (January 2009 – May 2009).
- Fables, vol.12: The Dark Ages
- Reprints Fables #76-82 (November 2008 – May 2009).
The conclusions of these last two volumes both lead into The Great Fables Crossover.
- Fables, vol.13: The Great Fables Crossover
- Reprints Fables #83-85, Jack of Fables #33-35 and The Literals #1-3 (all June 2009 – August 2009).
- Jack of Fables, vol.7: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack
- Reprints Jack of Fables #36-40 (September 2009 – January 2010).
- Fables, vol.14: Witches
- Reprints Fables #86-93 (September 2009 – April 2010).
- Jack of Fables, vol. 8: The Fulminate Blade
- Reprints Jack of Fables #41-45 (February 2010 – June 2010).
- Fables, vol.15: Rose Red
- Reprints Fables #94-100 (June 2010 – January 2011).
- Cinderella: Fables Are Forever
- Reprints Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #1-6 (April 2011 – September 2011).
Slightly overlaps the conclusion of Rose Red, but is best read after.
- Fairest, vol.2: Hidden Kingdom
- Reprints Fairest #8-14 (December 2012 – June 2013).
Contains two stories and is placed here based on the timing of the second one. The first story, although longer and set shortly before Fables, vol.1: Legends in Exile, assumes a knowledge of the characters that a new reader would not possess at that point, hence the book’s placement here.
- Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland
- Original graphic novel (November 2012).
Occurs between Rose Red and Super Team.
- Fables, vol.16: Super Team
- Reprints Fables #101-107 (March 2011 – September 2011).
- Fairest, vol.1: Wide Awake
- Reprints Fairest #1-7 (May 2012 – November 2012).
- Fables, vol.17: Inherit the Wind
- Reprints Fables #108-113 (October 2011 – March 2012).
- Fables, vol.18: Cubs in Toyland
- Reprints Fables #114-123 (April 2012 – January 2013), excluding backup stories.
- Fables, vol.19: Snow White
- Reprints Fables #124-129 (February 2013 – July 2013) & backup stories from Fables #114-123 (April 2012 – January 2013).
- Fairest, vol.3: The Return of the Maharaja
- Reprints Fairest #15-20 (July 2013 – December 2013).
- Fables, vol.20: Camelot
- Reprints Fables #130-140 (August 2013 – July 2014).
- Fairest, vol.4: Cinderella – Of Men and Mice
- Reprints Fairest #21-26 (February 2014 – July 2014).
- Fairest In All The Land
- Original graphic novel (November 2012).
- Fables, vol.21: Happily Ever After
- Reprints Fables #141-149 (August 2014 – April 2015).
Confirmed to take place after Fairest in all the Land.
- Fairest, vol.5: The Clamour for Glamour
- Reprints Fairest #27-33 (September 2014 – March 2015).
Contains two stories, one of which parallels Happily Ever After, the other serving as a prequel to Fairest in all the Land.
- Jack of Fables, vol.9: The End
- Reprints Jack of Fables #46-50 (August 2010 – April 2011).
This volume is difficult to place in continuity, as it is set several years – though not a specified number of years – after the preceding volume of Jack. It may yet have its position in this timeline adjusted as more information comes to light. For the time being, it definitely takes place after Fairest In All The Land, based on the appearance of the Page sisters in both volumes.
- Fables, vol.22: Farewell
- Reprints or replaces Fables #150 (June 2015).
The final volume of the series.
- Fables Encyclopedia
- Contains spoilers for issues up to Fables #121.
- Everafter, vol.1: The Pandora Protocol
- Reprints Everafter: From the pages of Fables #1-6 (November 2016 – April 2017).
- Everafter, vol.2: The Unsentimental Education
- Fables Deluxe Edition, vol.16
- Reprints Fables #151-162 (July 2022 – May 2024).
- Reprints Everafter: From the pages of Fables #7-12 (May 2017 – October 2017).
- Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
- Reprints Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham #1-6 (November 2021 – April 2022).
The complete Aliens Versus Predator franchise Continue reading
