Trade Reading Order

For most books, this information is collected from the book itself and double checked against several other resources. If this particular book hasn't yet been released, the information probably comes from the publisher's press releases and Amazon.com.

Sometimes a book is listed here based upon a past solicitation, but never actually comes out. I like to keep these in the database, but I try to make a note of the situation.

I try to list the earliest publication date. For books with a hardcover and softcover or multiple editions this will be for whichever came first. Same for the ISBN numbers.

If there have been similar releases that have significant differences, eventually both will be listed. This means that Showcase and Archives that collect similar material are listed as separate books. Likewise, Omnibus, Deluxe, or Absolute editions will have a separate page, though they will probably be close in the timeline.

If you think any of the information on this page is off, feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion! You may also leave links to relevant information, alternative publications, reviews, or anything you think would be helpful to site visitors.

Each book is tagged and sorted by the terms above. Every link in this section (in orange) can be used to generate a dynamic reading list based on the term.

The Lists are large reading orders including every book that falls under them. For example, the DC Universe list includes every book in that shared universe. This taxonomy is hierarchical, which means that there can be sub-lists under the main lists. The DC Universe Pre-Crisis list is an example, allowing you to narrow the selection of DC books. The distinction is important, because eventually there will be Silver Age book lists for Marvel and DC, and the lists will not be intermingled because of that hierarchy. Look to the list information in the sidebar to see all the lists currently active. Check the header of each listing for specific information about each one.

The Series/Event taxonomy, like the rest, is not hierarchical. Not every book is part of a particular publication series, nor necessarily included in the reading order for an event. Events often include specific crossovers and tie-ins, but many event reading orders also include books purely because they are recommended for appreciation and understanding of that event.

The Creators will be tagged in every book in the database. These include all the writers, artists, and editors that worked on the collected material, as well as anyone who significantly contributed to the collected edition.

The Characters are very important to this database, since most users enjoy seeing a reading list generated by their favorite heroes and villains. Since each book is tagged with any reoccurring character inside, the amount of orders that can be generated through these tags is staggering.

Since there is so much information to be found in each book, it's relatively common for a couple tags to be missed. If you think this book needs attention - should be given any additional tags or moved off a particular list, for example - just leave me a comment and I'll get right back to you!

These links take you to the previous or next book in the database. It's worth a mention that, at this point, this is specifically in the database.

That means that if you came to this book page via a specific character reading order, for example, the links may point to books that were not listed on the previous page's reading order. This is because they are taking into account the entire database.

At this time, they go by the Recommended Reading Order (or equivalents for non-DCU lists) for determining which books to link.

I am currently looking into getting them to give direction based on what page you came from, but it's possible that there is no solution to that issue.

The Unique Reading Order ID determines this book's placement in all lists generated from the Recommended Reading Order (or equivalents for non-DCU lists).

The Chronological List Value is determined by the most recent publication date of collected contents. This value determines book placement on all lists generated chronologically.

These values are provided for the purposes of sorting your own collections. You could, for example, keep an excel spreadsheet or google document with the titles of the books in your collection. In columns next to the books, place each of these numbers. Then when you display the list sorted numerically by either of these columns, your books will fall into order.

The ability to export these sorting values and the information above directly into your personal list or collection will be coming in a future update.