Friday, May 31, 2024

The Reboot Reading Order (part 1)

I was recently asked to create a Reboot Legion reading order list, to go with my 5YL reading order list. For the most part, you'll just alternate back and forth between "LSH" and "Legionnaires", but there are some odd appearances here and there in other titles (in particular, XS with Impulse and/or Flash, or appearances in Showcase '95 or '96). 

Additionally, there are some published stories that take place out of chronological publishing order - for example, Legionnaires Annual #3 came out after Legionnaires #43 but it takes place chronologically before Legionnaires #35. These stories are marked with an asterisk (*).

  1. LSH v4 #0
  2. * LSH Secret Files #1 (story 1 only)
  3. Legionnaires #0
  4. * LSH v4 Annual #6 (story 1 only)
  5. LSH v4 #62
  6. Legionnaires #19
  7. LSH v4 #63
  8. Legionnaires #20
  9. LSH v4 #64
  10. Legionnaires #21
  11. LSH v4 #65
  12. Legionnaires #22
  13. LSH v4 #66
  14. Legionnaires #23
  15. LSH v4 #67
  16. Legionnaires #24
  17. LSH v4 #68
  18. Showcase '95 #6 (Legion story 1 only)
  19. Legionnaires #25
  20. New Titans Annual #11 
    • Not a Legion story, but the Pre-Zero Hour Time Trapper appears in a video, retconning some Titans history and some of Zero Hour. Time Trapper next appears in Legionnaires Annual #3.
  21. LSH v4 #69
  22. LSH v4 Annual #6 (stories 2 and 3)
  23. * Showcase '95 #6 (Legion story 2 only)
  24. Legionnaires #26
  25. LSH v4 #70
  26. Legionnaires #27
  27. LSH v4 #71
  28. Legionnaires #28
  29. Legionnaires Annual #2
  30. * Superboy v3 #17-19 (for Lar Gand appearance)
    • Published concurrently with LSH 70-72, but reads best all at once and this is a good spot for it
  31. LSH v4 #72
  32. Legionnaires #29
  33. * Guy Gardner, Warrior #29 (Brainiac 5 has a cameo in this story that ties into Legionnaires #29)
  34. LSH v4 #73
  35. Legionnaires #30
  36. Superboy v3 #21 (Future Tense)
  37. LSH v4 #74 (Future Tense)
  38. Legionnaires #31 (Future Tense)
  39. Underworld Unleashed
    • Not required to read the whole thing, but it explains what's going on with Chronos in the next two issues
  40. LSH v4 #75
  41. Legionnaires #32
  42. LSH v4 #76
  43. Legionnaires #33
  44. LSH v4 #77
  45. Legionnaires #34
  46. LSH v4 #78
  47. Dead Heat storyline (Flash & Impulse with XS)
    • Note: the Dead Heat storyline was published simultaneously with LSH 75-79, but reads best all at once and fits best here. XS leaves the 20th century after a few pages of Flash #112 and immediately goes into Legionnaires Annual #3.
    1. Flash v2 #108
    2. Impulse #9
    3. Flash v2 #109
    4. Impulse #10
    5. Flash v2 #110
    6. Impulse #11
    7. Flash v2 #111
    8. Impulse #12
    9. Flash v2 #112
  48. * Legionnaires Annual #3 (Dead Earth)
  49. Legionnaires #35
  50. LSH v4 #79
  51. Legionnaires #36
  52. LSH v4 #80
  53. * Showcase '96 #8 (Legion story only)
  54. Legionnaires #37
  55. Flash v2 #114 
    • Wally meets the Tornado Twins in the future pre-Legion - not essential reading, but this is where it fits into publishing order
  56. LSH v4 #81
  57. Sergio Aragones Destroys DC #1
    • Non-continuity, but this is publishing order
  58. Legionnaires #38
  59. LSH v4 #82
  60. Legionnaires #39
  61. LSH v4 #83
  62. Legionnaires #40
  63. LSH v4 #84
  64. Wonder Woman Gallery #1 
    • Pin-up book, one page shows some Legionnaires for some reason, but not required reading
  65. Legionnaires #41
  66. LSH v4 Annual #7 (Dead Earth)
  67. Power of Shazam! Annual #1 (Dead Earth)
As of Legionnaires #41, we find that the teams have been split and half are back in the 20th century (the LSH book) while half are still in the 30th century (the Legionnaires book). One of the first things that Team 20 runs into is the Final Night crossover....

This concludes part 1 of the Reboot Reading order, covering about the first two years of publishing history. Look for part 2 sometime in late 2025 when the 20th century team makes it back to the 30th century. Oops, spoilers!

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