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  1. #1
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    Default New 52 "The Dark" reading order.

    Hello, i am intersted in reading The New 52 "The Dark" titles i.e swamp thing, animal man, justice league dark, constatine, so those sort of titles, but what i would like to know would i need to reading anything pre New 52.

    this is the link the titles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...t_publications

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    Not really. New52 basically erased all DC history for characters other than Batman and Green Lantern and what history the rest had was rewritten extensively. Or just not mentioned at all.

    If you choose to venture down the path of DC Dark, there is nothing pre-New52 that you need to read.

    Just don't look over at the other path...
    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

  3. #3
    Savior of the Universe Flash Gordon's Avatar
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    Alan Moore's SWAMP THING and Grant Morrison's ANIMAL MAN, might help. They're also the best of the best, so no reason to not read em.

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    Make sure to check out the I Vampire and Demon Knights series too. Both were awesome.

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    Thanks for the help , what's the reading order for all the dark titles in trades

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    Here's an unoffical list I put together using the release dates of the trades and the various crossovers as a guide.
    Hopefully, it'll help.

    1. Animal-Man v.1
    2. Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE v.1
    3. Demon Knights v.1
    4. Resurrection Man v.1
    5. Swamp Thing v.1
    6. I, Vampire v.1
    7. Justice League Dark v.1
    8. DC Universe Presents v.1 (Deadman)
    9. Animal-Man v.2
    10. I, Vampire v.2
    11. Shade v.1
    12. Dial H v.1
    13. Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE v.2
    14. Swamp Thing v.2
    15. Demon Knights v.2
    16. Pantom Stranger v.1
    17. Resurrection Man v.2
    18. Justice League Dark v.2 (begin with #9; #7 & #8 are in I, Vampire v.2 so you would've already read those two.)
    19. DC Universe Presents v.2 (Vandal Savage)
    20. Sword of Sorcery v.1 (it was actually labeled in red 'New52' on the covers so technically it was an Edge book, but it was solicited in the Dark section. Amethyst is traditionally a magic character and Constantine guest-stars.)
    21. I, Vampire v.3
    22. Animal-Man v.3 (read side-by-side with Swamp Thing v.3)
    23. Swamp Thing v.3 (read side-by-side with Animal-Man v.3)
    24. Demon Knights v.3
    25. Justice League Dark v.3
    26. Dial H v.2
    27. Animal-Man v.4
    28. Swamp Thing v.4
    29. Constantine v.1 (read #s 1-4, stop)
    30. Phantom Stranger v.2 (read #s 6-10, stop)
    31. Justice League Trinity War v.1
    32. Constantine v.1 (resume with #6)
    33. Pandora v. 1 (start with #4)
    34. Animal-Man v.5
    35. Constantine v.2 (read #s 7-8, stop)
    36. Phantom Stranger v.3 (read #12-13, stop)
    36. Forever Evil: Blight v.1
    37. Pandora v.2 (begin with #10)
    38. Phantom Stranger v. 3 (resume with #18)
    39. Swamp Thing v.5
    40. Constantine v.3
    41. Justice League Dark v.5 (note you'll be skipping v.4 as the first half is in Trinity War and the second half is in Blight)
    42. Swamp Thing v.6
    43. Klarion v.1
    44. Trinity of Sin v.1
    45. Constantine v.4
    46. Justice League Dark v.6

    Post-Convergence:
    (Note that only Constantine really continues Post-Convergence. However, Gotham by Midnight features Jim Corrigan/Spectre and Dr. Fate features, well, Dr. Fate. Dark pretty much ended with Convergence but these three titles, and the currently running Swamp Thing mini, are currently the closest to what would be Dark titles.)

    Gotham by Midnight v.1
    Constantine: The Hellblazer v.1
    Dr. Fate v.1
    Gotham by Midnight v.2

    Future trades to consider would be Swamp Thing and the Secret Six volume that collects the recent storline featuring many of the Dark characters.

    And when Rebirth happens, you may want to check out the Young Animals line. It looks to be heavily influenced by the corner of Vertigo that the Dark line was based on.
    Last edited by Lee Stone; 04-11-2016 at 06:05 PM.
    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

  7. #7
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    awesome thanks for that reading order lee stone, i didn't expect you to go that far with the reading order, i really appreciate it
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Stone View Post
    Here's an unoffical list I put together using the release dates of the trades and the various crossovers as a guide.
    Hopefully, it'll help.

    1. Animal-Man v.1
    2. Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE v.1
    3. Demon Knights v.1
    4. Resurrection Man v.1
    5. Swamp Thing v.1
    6. I, Vampire v.1
    7. Justice League Dark v.1
    8. DC Universe Presents v.1 (Deadman)
    9. Animal-Man v.2
    10. I, Vampire v.2
    11. Shade v.1
    12. Dial H v.1
    13. Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE v.2
    14. Swamp Thing v.2
    15. Demon Knights v.2
    16. Pantom Stranger v.1
    17. Resurrection Man v.2
    18. Justice League Dark v.2 (begin with #9; #7 & #8 are in I, Vampire v.2 so you would've already read those two.)
    19. DC Universe Presents v.2 (Vandal Savage)
    20. Sword of Sorcery v.1 (it was actually labeled in red 'New52' on the covers so technically it was an Edge book, but it was solicited in the Dark section. Amethyst is traditionally a magic character and Constantine guest-stars.)
    21. I, Vampire v.3
    22. Animal-Man v.3 (read side-by-side with Swamp Thing v.3)
    23. Swamp Thing v.3 (read side-by-side with Animal-Man v.3)
    24. Demon Knights v.3
    25. Justice League Dark v.3
    26. Dial H v.2
    27. Animal-Man v.4
    28. Swamp Thing v.4
    29. Constantine v.1 (read #s 1-4, stop)
    30. Phantom Stranger v.2 (read #s 6-10, stop)
    31. Justice League Trinity War v.1
    32. Constantine v.1 (resume with #6)
    33. Pandora v. 1 (start with #4)
    34. Animal-Man v.5
    35. Constantine v.2 (read #s 7-8, stop)
    36. Phantom Stranger v.3 (read #12-13, stop)
    36. Forever Evil: Blight v.1
    37. Pandora v.2 (begin with #10)
    38. Phantom Stranger v. 3 (resume with #18)
    39. Swamp Thing v.5
    40. Constantine v.3
    41. Justice League Dark v.5 (note you'll be skipping v.4 as the first half is in Trinity War and the second half is in Blight)
    42. Swamp Thing v.6
    43. Klarion v.1
    44. Trinity of Sin v.1
    45. Constantine v.4
    46. Justice League Dark v.6

    Post-Convergence:
    (Note that only Constantine really continues Post-Convergence. However, Gotham by Midnight features Jim Corrigan/Spectre and Dr. Fate features, well, Dr. Fate. Dark pretty much ended with Convergence but these three titles, and the currently running Swamp Thing mini, are currently the closest to what would be Dark titles.)

    Gotham by Midnight v.1
    Constantine: The Hellblazer v.1
    Dr. Fate v.1
    Gotham by Midnight v.2

    Future trades to consider would be Swamp Thing and the Secret Six volume that collects the recent storline featuring many of the Dark characters.

    And when Rebirth happens, you may want to check out the Young Animals line. It looks to be heavily influenced by the corner of Vertigo that the Dark line was based on.

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    My pleasure.
    Honestly, I was going to do something like this for myself one day.

    And it really shed light on the main problem I had with Dark: the numerous crossovers.
    At first, it wasn't so bad. JLD and I, Vampire crossing over here and Animal-Man and Swamp Thing crossing over there...

    But, as noticed by JLD volume 4, it got a bit out of hand with stuff like Blight and Trinity War.
    But then, I'm an old school Vertigo fan where you could read an entire run of one series and then read an entire run of another without having to jump back and forth between books.

    It's also unfortunate that if someone did buy JLD volume 4 they wouldn't be getting the whole story as every issue in that volume was a part of either Trinity War or Blight.
    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

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