Forever Evil Reading Order

JL = Justice League
FE:A = Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.
FE:RR = Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion
JLA = Justice League of America
Justice League issues are from the Vol. 2 series
Justice League of America issues are from the Vol. 3 series
The Flash issues are from the Vol. 4 series

Overview

Forever Evil (Review) is a large DC Comics event that deals with the Crime Syndicate's invasion of Earth. This event is kicked off with the imprisonment of most members of the Justice League (Reading Order), the Justice League of America (Reading Order), and the Justice League Dark (Reading Order) and the arrival of the Crime Syndicate (Reading Order). This particular premise allows this event to place most of its focus on a few of DC's most notorious villains.

The majority of the story is told within the Forever Evil event series. Readers can simply read the seven issues of this series and have all the necessary information they need to understand what is going on. However, a few tie-in comics expand upon what is taking place during this event and even detail some background information that would otherwise go unrevealed. 

Tie-Ins

The tie-in comics for Forever Evil (Review) are rather erratic and are not nearly as straightforward as other events. Each tie-in has a connection to the main event but some of these connections are more significant than others.

The following list briefly explains the premise of each tie-in and how it relates to the main event:

• Justice League: Forever Heroes
  • These Justice League issues focus on two separate topics. One details the backgrounds/origin stories for the members of the Crime Syndicate. The other details a resistance effort against the Crime Syndicate that directly impacts events in Forever Evil #7. Out of all of the Forever Evil tie-ins, this one may be the most directly related to the story.
  • This story is contained within Justice League #24-29, collected in Justice League: Forever Heroes (Review).
• Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion
  • These comic issues showcase the Rogues' attempt to rebel against the Crime Syndicate. The first three parts of this story arc are directly related to the Forever Evil event and, in some places, even depict some of the same activities. Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #3-6 are less directly related but still play a part in the same arc.
  • This story is contained within The Flash #23.3 and Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion #1-6, all of which is collected in Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion (Review).
• Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.
  • This miniseries follows Steve Trevor's attempt to save the Justice League from the Crime Syndicate's control. Most of this miniseries occurs on the sidelines of the main event and is less relevant than other tie-ins. However, its conclusion, together with the conclusion of Justice League of America: Survivors of Evil, has a direct impact on Justice League #29, which has a direct impact on Forever Evil #7.
  • This story is contained within Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. #1-6, collected in Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. (Review).
• Justice League of America: Survivors of Evil
  • These Justice League of America issues show what is happening to the imprisoned members of the Justice Leagues while the events of Forever Evil are taking place. Most of these issues occur on the sidelines of the main event and are less relevant that other tie-ins. However, its conclusion, together with the conclusion of Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S., has a direct impact on Justice League #29, which has a direct impact on Forever Evil #7.
  • This story is contained within Justice League of America #8-14, collected in Justice League of America: Survivors of Evil (Review).
• Justice League #23.4: Secret Society
  • This single issue gives a lot of background information about Owlman and the Outsider. It isn't essential to the story but does explain a lot that is not explained elsewhere.
  • Currently, this issue is only collected in the DC New 52 Villains Omnibus.

Before Reading

Forever Evil (Review) directly follows the conclusion of the Trinity War (Reading Order) (Review) event. This event, by far, has the largest and more direct impact in kicking off Forever Evil. 

In some ways, this event is also preceded by actions taking place in a few other comics. The weakening of multiversal barriers, as a result of Darkseid's defeat in Justice League: Origin (Review), is listed as a cause of this event. In addition, readers can see hints toward the Crime Syndicate's plans start to come together in Justice League of America: World's Most Dangerous (Review).

After Reading

The conclusion of Forever Evil (Review) brings about a number of changes to the DC Universe. Most directly, it kicks off the next major Justice League (Reading Order) story arc in Justice League: Injustice League (Review).

Less specifically, events occurring over the course of Forever Evil create a few major shakeups in other comic books. These include:

• Dick Grayson (Reading Order) starts a career as a spy in Grayson: Agents of Spyral (Review).
• The Teen Titans (Reading Order) are sent to the future in Teen Titans: The Trial of Kid Flash (Review).
• The Suicide Squad (Reading Order) is shut down at the conclusion of Suicide Squad: Walled In (Review) and is reorganized at the start of New Suicide Squad: Pure Insanity (Review).
• The Justice League of America (Reading Order) is shut down at the conclusion of Justice League of America: Survivors of Evil (Review) but returns as the Justice League United in Justice League United: Justice League Canada (Review).

Spin-Offs

In addition to comics that directly relate to the Forever Evil event, there are also a few that start because of actions taken at the very start of Forever Evil but quickly develop into completely separate entities. These comics were left off of our main event Reading Order because they do not have an impact on the event itself. However, since they all have some connection to Forever Evil, they are still worth explaining.

These spin-off comics include:

• Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order)
  • This is a massive crossover event all on its own. It deals with DC's magical villains attempting to launch their own evil plan in the wake of Forever Evil. Though there are small ties to the main event, Forever Evil: Blight (Review) (Reading Order) is almost entirely independent and ends up having no effect on what takes place in Forever Evil.
  • We suggest readers read Forever Evil #1 and then jump over to our Forever Evil: Blight Reading Order if they want to experience this independent event. 
• Forever Evil: Arkham War (Review)
  • This is a straightforward miniseries that deals with what is happening in Gotham City while Forever Evil is taking place. Besides being kicked off by the general state of anarchy created when Forever Evil started, there are few connections between this comic and the main event.
  • Readers interested in experiencing this miniseries can simply read Forever Evil: Arkham War (Review) to know exactly what is going on.
• Suicide Squad: Walled In (Review)
  • This Suicide Squad (Reading Order) story arc has the Squad dealing with the chaos from Forever Evil while also attempting to stop a plan originally put in motion by the Crime Syndicate. However, besides this initial connection, these two arcs do not end up affecting one another.
  • Readers interested in this story should check out Suicide Squad #24-30, collected in Suicide Squad: Walled In (Review).
• Villains Month
  • When Forever Evil was originally published, "Villains Month" special issues were released in conjunction with many of the series DC was publishing at the time. The vast majority of these issues had no impact on this overall event, as most simply told a villain's origin story or showed what they did during the anarchy of Forever Evil. The issues that are actually relevant to the main event are included in the Reading Order above.
  • Many of the "Villains Month" issues are collected in collections from the series in which they take place (e.g. The Flash #23.2: Reverse Flash is collected in The Flash Vol. 4: Reverse (Review)). However, the only volume that collects all of them is the DC New 52 Villains Omnibus.

All DC Comics Event Reading Orders