The 5YL Legion Reading Order

The Definitive 5YL Timeline

• Part 1: Five Year Gap, year 1 (June 2989-June 2990)
• Part 2: Five Year Gap, year 2 (July 2990-June 2991)
• Part 3: Five Year Gap, year 3 (July 2991-June 2992)
• Part 4: Five Year Gap, years 4-5 (July 2992-October 2994)
• Part 5: Five Years Later (Oct 2994-Dec 2994)
• Part 6: Five Years Later (Jan 2995-April 2995)
• Part 7: Five Years Later (May-July 2995)
• Part 8: Five Years Later (Aug 2, 2995-Sept 20, 2995)
• Part 9: Five Years Later (Sept 21, 2995-Oct 1, 2995)
• Part 10: Five Years Later (Oct 1-2, 2995)

Over at the Legion of Substitute Podcasters, here is the order in which we recapped the issues, which is pretty much publishing order. We grouped the early Valor issues, the Timber Wolf miniseries, and the Amethyst miniseries as one just to get them out of the way. The Eclipso storyline is mostly irrelevant, but it introduces him to the greater DCU and he gets the name Valor here. I'm leaving out the L.E.G.I.O.N. series, since Tinya was already gone from the main Legion series, until the crossover at the very end of this list.

Note that this is the reading order if you're going to read full issues. If you want to know the intricate chronology of this time period you can follow the continuity of Valor and Legionnaires (which overlap, show expanded versions, or versions from different points of view) or the definitive chronology of the entire 5YL timeline which I've just published in 10 parts (using the links at the top).

• LSH v4 #1-13
• LSH v4 Annual #1
• LSH v4 #14-24
• LSH v4 Annual #2
• LSH v4 #25-30
• LSH v4 Annual #3
• LSH v4 #31-36
• Timber Wolf miniseries #1-5 (doesn't need to be here precisely, but this a convenient location)
• LSH v4 #37-41
• * Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1, various annuals, #2 [see note at bottom]
• Legionnaires #1
• LSH v4 #42
• Legionnaires #2
• LSH v4 #43
• Legionnaires #3
• Amethyst (1987) miniseries #1-4 (reveals the new origin of Mordru plus it's an intro to Amethyst who will play a part in the series coming up)
• LSH v4 #44
• Legionnaires #4
• LSH v4 #45
• Legionnaires #5
• LSH v4 #46
• Legionnaires #6
• Valor #1-11 (the early issues are mostly irrelevant, but there are some plot points introduced here that pay off later; takes place in the 20th century)
• LSH v4 #47
• Legionnaires #7
• LSH v4 Annual #4
• Valor #12
• LSH v4 #48
• Legionnaires #8
• Valor #13
• LSH v4 #49-50
• Legionnaires #9
• Valor #14
• LSH v4 #51-52
• Legionnaires #10
• Valor #15
• LSH v4 #53
• Legionnaires #11
• Valor #16
• LSH v4 #54
• Legionnaires #12
• Valor #17
• LSH v4 #55
• Legionnaires #13
• Valor #18
• LSH v4 #56
• Legionnaires #14
• Valor #19
• LSH v4 #57
• LSH v4 Annual #5
• Legionnaires #15
• Valor #20
• LSH v4 #58
• ** Legionnaires #16
• Valor #21
• LSH v4 #59
• Legionnaires Annual #1
• L.E.G.I.O.N. #68 pages 22-24 only
• L.E.G.I.O.N. #69 
• Legionnaires #17 (End of an Era part 1)
• Valor #22 (End of an Era part 2) 
• LSH v4 #60 (End of an Era part 3)
• Showcase '94 #8-9 (not Legion-related, but kicks off Zero Hour)
• Zero Hour #4
• L.E.G.I.O.N. #70 pages 7-9 and 16-17 only
• Legionnaires #18 (End of an Era part 4) 
• Valor #23 (End of an Era part 5) 
• Superboy v3 #8
• Zero Hour #3
• Zero Hour #2
• LSH v4 #61 (End of an Era part 6) 
• Zero Hour #1
• Zero Hour #0

* Eclipso was a 20-issue story spanning that year's Annuals, that took place in the 20th century and spun off the Valor solo series (also set in the 20th century). In the first issue, Eclipso eclipses Lar Gand, then spends the next 18 story issues trying to figure out what to do next with all of the other heroes he has eclipsed. Of course, he is defeated in the end, but Lar Gand not only gets a boost in name recognition but he gets a new name (Valor) and his own series ("Valor"). It's pretty forgettable, but here is the reading order for the Eclipso story. 

1. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1
2. Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #1
3. Green Lantern Annual #1
4. Detective Comics Annual #5
5. Superman Annual #4
6. Justice League America Annual #6
7. Demon Annual #2
8. Flash Annual #5
9. Green Arrow Annual #5
10. Action Comics Annual #4
11. Robin Annual #5
12. Hawkworld Annual #3
13. Deathstroke Annual #1
14. New Titans Annual #8
15. L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #3
16. Wonder Woman Annual #3
17. Justice League Europe Annual #3
18. Batman Annual #16
19. Adventures of Superman Annual #4
20. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2

Or, if you don't want to read 1100 pages, you can read the recaps here (part 1, part 2).

** Valor #11-21 takes place pretty much in between pages and panels of Legionnaires #16. It partially takes place in the 20th century, and partially outside of time when he meets the 30th century Legion. You can read the Valor issues in the same order as above, as by the time you get to #16 you're already caught up in the Valor series, which by this point is tied into regular Legion continuity. But see this blog post for the details of what happens when and where.