Blackest Night Reading Order Checklist

Fallen heroes and villains have risen from the dead as Black Lanterns to bring an end of all of life. The Green Lantern Corps, rival emotional spectrum Corps, and the heroes of the wider DC Universe must band together to stop this from happening, even if that means confronting their long-dead comrades.

This is the basic premise of Blackest Night, one of DC’s most loved comic book events of the 2000s. The aforementioned adoration is well deserved as this story balances grand stakes with character-driven storytelling. Even more impressive is the way that builds upon the Green Lantern mythos and incorporates the wider DC Universe in the process.

If you’ve heard good things about Blackest Night and want to read it then you’ve come to the right place. Blackest Night Reading Order Checklist has everything you need to know if you want to read all or some of this epic event, including background reading, prelude, trade paperback collections, and what to read afterwards.

Background Reading

Tygers (Green Lantern Corps Annual (1986) #2)
Written by Alan Moore. Art by Kevin O’Neill.

While not essential reading to understand the story, this eight-page story serves as the inspiration for Blackest Night.

Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern run up this point
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Various.

While it incorporates the wider DCU, Blackest Night is firmly a chapter within Johns’ Green Lantern run. Blackest Night builds upon what has been happening with the conflict between the different Corps of the emotional spectrum, and those conflicts are mentioned throughout the event.

That being said, it’s a lot of comics to read before getting to Blackest Night. The trade paperback has a quick summary of what has happened, but Blackest Night is written in a way that you can follow what’s happening if you’re not fully aware.

Identity Crisis
Written by Brad Meltzer. Art by Rags Morales.

This seven-issue miniseries is referenced throughout Blackest Night, especially in regards to a few resurrected characters. It’s a story that has many readers divided due to the way the story is structured and some very unsavoury events. As a result, it might be better to read the Wikipedia entry on it instead.

The Flash: Rebirth
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Ethan van Sciver.

Read this in regards to what has recently happened to The Flash.

Final Crisis
Written by Grant Morrison. Art by J.G Jones, Marco Rudy, Carlos Pacheco, and Doug Mahnke.

For those who want to know what happened to Batman.

For more on what you can read in the lead-up to Blackest Night check out this primer on io9.

Before Blackest Night

These are the comics that lead up to Blackest Night and act as a prelude to it.

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #33 (Prelude)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #34 (Prelude)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #35 (Prelude)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #39 (Prelude)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #36 (Prelude)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #40 (Prelude)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #37 (Prelude)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #41 (Prelude)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #38 (Prelude)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #42 (Prelude)

Blackest Night Reading Order

Now we’re into the meat of Blackest Night! Below is the recommended reading order for the event with all of the tie-ins. This is perfect for those who want to read everything or want to know how the tie-ins they’re interested in fit into the larger story.

Issues marked in bold signify the main story.

Blackest Night #0 (of 8)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #43 (Prologue)

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #1 (of 8)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #44 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #39 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Batman #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #2 (of 8)

Blackest Night: Superman #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Titans #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #45 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #40 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Batman #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #3 (of 8)

Blackest Night: Superman #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #46 (Tie-in)

Solomon Grundy #7 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Titans #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Batman #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #41 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Superman #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #4 (of 8)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #47 (Tie-in)

Doom Patrol (2009 series) #4 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #42 (Tie-in)

R.E.B.E.L.S. (2009 series) #10 (Tie-in)

Booster Gold (2007 series) #26 (Tie-in)

Superman/Batman #66 (Tie-in)

Outsiders (2007 series) #24 (Tie-in)

Adventure Comics (2009 series) #4 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #5 (of 8)

Teen Titans (2003 series) #77 (Tie-in)

Justice League of America (2006 series) #39 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #48 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: The Flash #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Doom Patrol (2009 series) #5 (Tie-in)

R.E.B.E.L.S. (2009 series) #11 (Tie-in)

Adventure Comics (2009 series) #5 (Tie-in)

Booster Gold (2007 series) #27 (Tie-in)

Justice League of America (2006 series) #40 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #43 (Tie-in)

Superman/Batman #67 (Tie-in)

Outsiders (2007 series) #25 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #49 (Tie-in)

Teen Titans (2003 series) #78 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: JSA #1 (of 3) (Tie-In)

Blackest Night #6 (of 8)

Suicide Squad (1987 series) #67 (Tie-In)

Weird Western Tales #71 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Catwoman (2002 series) #83 (Tie-in)

Secret Six (2008 series) #17 (Tie-in)

The Power of Shazam #48 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #44 (Tie-in)

The Phantom Stranger #42 (Tie-in)

Starman (1994 series) #81 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: The Flash #2 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #50 (Tie-in)

The Atom and Hawkman #46 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: JSA #2 (of 3) (Tie-In)

The Question #37 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Note: Adventure Comics (2009 series) #6 does not tie into Blackest Night.

Adventure Comics (2009 series) #7 (Tie-in)

Secret Six (2008 series) #18 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #45 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #51 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: The Flash #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Blackest Night: JSA #3 (of 3) (Tie-in)

Green Arrow (2007 series) #30

Blackest Night #7 (of 8)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #46 (Tie-in)

Green Lantern (2005 series) #52 (Tie-in)

Blackest Night #8 (of 8)

Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #47 (Epilogue)

Untold Tales of Blackest Night #1

After Blackest Night

While Blackest Night closes many doors it also opens a few new ones too. Check out the comics below for what you can read next.

Brightest Day
Written and art by various.

Brightest Day is one-half event and the other-half publishing initiative which picks up on the threads of Blackest Night, with the focus being on the recently revived heroes. It is told through a 25-part series as well as through a bunch of ongoing series. I’ll do a reading order guide for it if there is enough demand.

Action Comics #890-900
Written by Paul Cornell. Art by Pete Woods.

This focuses on Lex Luthor as he goes on the quest to recapture some of the power that he received during Blackest Night. This is collected in Superman: The Black Ring Volumes 1-2.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night
Written by Tim Seeley. Art by Kyle Hotz.

This is a one-shot that tells a what-if style story around Blackest Night.

Blackest Night Trade Paperbacks

Prefer to read your comics in collected editions? These are the ones you’ll need to track down.

Blackest Night
Collects: Blackest Night #0-8

Blackest Night: Green Lantern
Collects: Green Lantern (2005 series) #43-52

Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
Collects: Green Lantern Corps (2006 series) #39-47

Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns
Collects: The Atom and Hawkman #46, The Question #37, Phantom Stranger #42, Starman #81, The Power of Shazam! #48, Catwoman #83, and Wierd Western Tales #71, Green Arrow #30, and Adventure Comics #7

Blackest Night: Black Lanterns Corps Volume 1
Collects: Blackest Night: Batman #1-3, Blackest Night: Superman #1-3, and Blackest Night: Titans #1-3

Blackest Night: Black Lanterns Corps Volume 2
Collects: Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1-3, Blackest Night: JSA #1-3, and Blackest Night: The Flash #1-3

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps
Collects: Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1-3, Green Lantern #49, and Aventure Comics #4-5.

Have Your Say!

Will you be reading all of Blackest Night? Sound off in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.