Update 9-7-10 - Sandman, Doom Patrol, Countdown to Final Crisis

If you were following the Collected Editions Facebook page yesterday, you already know that we had an update to the reading order of the DC Comics Trade Paperback Timeline.

In addition to adding Batman: Long Shadows, Wonder Woman: Warkiller, Superboy: Boy of Steel, and generally tightening up some of the explanations around those books, the other big addition was two Vertigo titles, Doom Patrol and Sandman.

Originally my intention was to include Sandman only, but helpful Collected Editions reader Hix rightly pointed out that Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run launches from the conclusion of the Invasion! storyline, which gives the series a natural place in the storyline. I have mostly lumped those Doom Patrol books in one place after that because they don't tie to the DC Universe of that time all that closely, but they're important reading because the current Keith Giffen Doom Patrol refers back to them.

I had avoided for some time including Neil Gaiman's Sandman on the timeline because I want everything on the timeline to be specifically relevant, and I know that Sandman is for the most part far removed from the ongoing DC Universe. It remains, however, that the Sandman characters have appeared in JLA: Strength in Numbers, JSA: Lost and Mixed Signals, Green Arrow: Quiver, and in Paul Cornell's forthcoming Superman: The Black Ring, letting alone that stories in Sandman follow from (the tragically uncollected) Infinity, Inc. That Sandman helps you understand that many books warrants its inclusion on the timeline.

(Fun fact: it seems Sandman: The Kindly Ones is considered an unofficial tie-in to DC's Zero Hour crossover event.)

I also did some reorganizing of the early Countdown to Final Crisis era. This is a very tricky time in that it has to balance one character's death and another's rebirth, Green Arrow and Black Canary's engagement, the Sinestro Corps War, and more. Thanks again for the suggestions; I think those books are about set now.

More updates on the way. Thanks for following along!