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!

Update 09-03-08

As I've posted over at the Collected Editions blog, I've just updated the DC Trade Paperback Timeline. This update completes most of our One Year Later work and delves into the first volume of Countdown. Among events referenced here are the creation of the Justice League and Green Arrow's proposal to Black Canary, before Amazons Attack deposits us firmly in Countdown-land.

[Countdown, Volume One spoilers follow.]

One tricky spot in the timeline is placing the Teen Titans: Titans East collection before Countdown, Volume One. Bart Allen appears in Titans East, and I wanted all of his "alive" appearances to come before his death; this necessitates Titans East before Countdown. However, Duela Dent's death, which happens mainly in Countdown, is also shown in Titans East; to place Titans East before Countdown "spoils" Duela's death.

Ultimately I decided that preserving the order of Bart Allen's appearances was more important than doing so for Duela Dent, and Titans East should come first. Titans East does a good job with Duela's death, showing it on-screen rather than just referencing it, and so I didn't think it took anything away from that scene to put Titans East before Countdown, whereas the same couldn't be said for the opposite. So there you go.

I'm also still sorting out Captain Boomerang's appearances between Checkmate, Outsiders, Flash, and Countdown. I'm not sure there's a way around Boomer's appearance in Flash spoiling that he leaves the Outsiders in Five of a Kind, but I'm still looking in to this.

As always, any corrections you may find are much appreciated.

DC Countdown and the TPB Timeline ...

No updates lately, mainly because I've finished reading the Infinite Crisis crossover trades and placed them on the timeline, but I haven't yet started reading the One Year Later trades. But I did briefly scan over the DC Comics MySpace Countdown preview issues, and I see that Countdown #50 apparently crosses over with Justice League of America #8 or #9. Not to mention the upcoming three-way Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, and Countdown crossovers--which is to say, when we finally get to the Countdown trades, there's going to be much fun to be had in timeline-land.

Stay patient--more timeline updates soon.

UPDATE: A little bit more on this over at The Roar of Comics.