Aquaman New 52 Reading Order

This reading order is designed to show exactly how to read the Aquaman New 52 comics. It will walk you through an explanation of how to read Aquaman comics in this era and then provide you with a list of Aquaman New 52 comics. By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to read Aquaman comics with no problem at all.

Aquaman New 52 Reading Order

With the start of the New 52, the DC Universe was reset. This effectively wiped away almost all of Aquaman’s history. At the start of this era, he is still a hero with some ties to Atlantis but those ties haven’t been fulled explored yet. In addition, his relationship with Mera (Reading Order) still exists but has significantly regressed, to the point where it seems the relationship is relatively new.

Aquaman starts to reestablish his presence as a hero through the Aquaman series. In this, the Geoff Johns Aquaman run (Reading Order) reintroduces Aquaman as a hero and starts to explore his connection to Atlantis. At the same time, Aquaman has significant appearances in the Justice League series, where the first issues show the team’s founding and later issues show some of their modern adventures. These two comics come together in the Throne of Atlantis (Reading Order) event which, despite being a crossover, has way more of an impact on Aquaman than it does on the Justice League.

After Geoff Johns’s Aquaman run, other comics continue to explore ideas and concepts that were introduced in that run. Aquaman appears in Aquaman and the Others, which significantly expands on his connection to the Others and answers a lot of questions about them. Then, his appearances from Aquaman #26 to Aquaman #40 expand on some mysteries relating to Aquaman’s mother and some relating to the very nature of Atlantis. Because of this, we highly recommend reading the entire Aquaman series in order to this point, because everything builds on everything else.

After this, there is somewhat of a break in the storytelling. Aquaman #41-48 introduce a dramatic change to the status quo. The whole series is different for this chunk of issues. Theoretically, this would make it easy for newer readers to jump into the series at this point. However, future comics mostly ignore this storyline so it doesn’t actually work as a good starting point.

Instead, the final few issues of this era accomplish this goal. Aquaman #49-52 present a relatively light adventure. Alongside this, they wrap up most things that have happened in this era while setting up a few things that will be important in the next era. Readers following along for this whole journey should not miss these final few issues and even new readers can feel free to jump in around this point, as doing so will prepare them for the Rebirth Aquaman adventures (Reading Order).

JLA = Justice League of America
AatO = Aquaman and the Others
Aquaman issues are from the Vol. 7 (2011) series
Justice League issues are from the Vol. 2 (2011) series
Secret Origins issues are from the Vol. 3 (2014) series
Swamp Thing issues are from the Vol. 5 (2011) series
Batman and Robin issues are from the Vol. 2 (2011) series
Justice League of America issues are from the Vol. 4 (2013) series
Batman/Superman issues are from the Vol. 1 (2013) series

Notes

1. These issues detail the formation of the Justice League (Reading Order) and show Aquaman's role in that formation. This arc establishes his importance to the team going forward. In this way, they are some of the most important appearance of Aquaman in the Justice League series.
2. These are all comics where Aquaman appears as a member of the Justice League but where his appearance doesn't have much of an impact on his personal story. You can read them to see him take on threats with his teammates but you can also skip them without much worry.
3. These issues technically take place in an alternate future. However, they relate to the rest of the Aquaman and the Others series in a way that fans may find interesting.
4. The first of these two issues is a straightforward team-up between Aquaman and Batman, focused on Aquaman helping Batman with a problem. The second shows the repercussions of this team-up at a later point in time. They aren't really important to Aquaman's personal story but may be of interest for readers who want to see Aquaman and Batman working together.
5. These issues detail an adventure with the Justice League (Reading Order). However, they place more of an emphasis on Aquaman's connection to Atlantis than other issues from the series.
6. These issues are mostly about Batman and Superman. However, they feature Aquaman as a pseudo-antagonist, which may be interesting for some readers to see.
7. These issues have Aquaman and the other members of the Justice League appear in a Batman adventure. They don't really focus on Aquaman much at all though so they can easily be skipped.

Aquaman New 52 Reading Order FAQ

What to Read Before New 52 Aquaman

The New 52 era offers a nearly complete start for Aquaman. So, you don't really need to read anything specific before reading his New 52 adventures.

What to Read After New 52 Aquaman

Aquaman's story from the New 52 era directly continues in the Rebirth era. This starts with a surprising twist in the DC Universe: Rebirth (Review) starting issue and continues in the Rebirth Aquaman series, which starts with Aquaman Vol. 1: The Drowning (Review). For more details about exactly what Aquaman comics to read, see our Aquaman Rebirth Reading Order.

Where Is a Good Starting Point for New 52 Aquaman?

The best place to start reading New 52 Aquaman is at the beginning. Simply start with Aquaman #1 (or the optional Justice League issues) and work your way down through this reading order. Working through the reading order in this way works best because Aquaman's appearances heavily build on each other, with each storyline further developing things that happened earlier.

If you don't want to start all the way at the beginning, you can potentially start around Aquaman #41, which DC Comics designed as a fresh start for new readers, and read through the contents of Aquaman Vol. 7: Exiled (Review). However, this storyline doesn't play a large role in Aquaman's history and is also not that good of a storyline. So, we don't really suggest starting here.

Instead, Aquaman #49-52, collected in Aquaman Vol. 8: Out of Darkness (Review) is a much better starting place. While this does effectively skip most of the comics in the New 52 era, it does a fantastic job of wrapping things up and preparing readers for the next era.

Do I Have to Read New 52 Justice League Alongside New 52 Aquaman?

Aquaman is a big part of the Justice League (Reading Order) series. So, many people read his Justice League appearances alongside his Aquaman ones. This provides the reader with a greater picture of what Aquaman is up to in the New 52 era.

However, with one exception, this is absolutely not necessary. Aquaman's Justice League appearances are mostly secondary appearances. They don't do much to advance his personal story and most of them end up focusing on other characters more than they focus on Aquaman.

The one exception is the Throne of Atlantis event (Reading Order). This event is a direct crossover between the Aquaman and Justice League comics and is a particularly important part of Aquaman's journey.

Is New 52 Aquaman a Separate Continuity?

Yes and no. The beginning of the New 52 reset the DC Universe. So, most of the storylines in this era, including Aquaman's, are the start of a brand new continuity. However, this is still the main DC Universe. So, it is essentially a fresh start in the same world.