The Joker War Reading Order

Overview

The Joker War (Review) witnesses the Joker launch a massive attack on Gotham City. This starts an all-out war between the Joker and the Bat-family.

The main Joker War storyline plays out in the Batman series. Issues #95-100 of Batman contain the entire main storyline from this war.

Alongside the main storyline, a number of tie-in issues expand on everything that takes place during the war. Most of these tie-in issues focus on individual members of the Bat-family, showing how Joker's plan impacted them and how they responded to it. These are not essential to the reading experience but help give a greater picture of the entire event.

Before Reading

The Joker War (Review) is a straightforward continuation of the narrative in the Batman series. Specifically, it directly continues the storyline from Batman #85-94, collected in Batman Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs (Review). This story arc is critical in setting up this event and is easily the most important comic to read before reading Joker War. In addition to this, Joker War heavily references a death that occurred in the Batman: City of Bane (Review) storyline, so readers also may want to be familiar with this before jumping into The Joker War.

The Joker War also receives a bit of a prelude in other Bat-family comics. Detective Comics #1022-1024, collected in Detective Comics Vol. 5: The Joker War, shows something Joker did to prepare for the war. Meanwhile, Nightwing #70-73, collected in Nightwing: The Joker War (Review), provide some setup for the Red Hood: Outlaw and Nightwing tie-in issues. However, neither of these storylines are essential in setting up The Joker War.

After Reading

The aftermath of The Joker War (Review) is most immediately felt in the next story arc from the Batman series, Batman #101-105, collected in Batman Vol. 3: Ghost Stories. This story arc shows how Batman, a few other characters, and Gotham City in general are reacting to the fallout from the event.

Fallout from the event is also felt in individual issues from comics involved in this crossover. Batgirl #48-50, collected in Batgirl Vol. 8: The Joker War; Catwoman #26, currently uncollected; Detective Comics #1026, collected in Detective Comics Vol. 5: The Joker War; Nightwing #75-76, collected in Nightwing: The Joker War (Review); and Red Hood: Outlaw #50, collected in Red Hood: Outlaw Vol. 4: Unspoken Truths (Review), all continue storylines from their respective tie-in issues. However, these all have less to do with the main event and more to do with how the event has impacted individual characters.

All DC Comics Event Reading Orders