Watchmen Reading Order

Jump to: Watchmen – Before Watchmen – DC Rebirth

Watchmen

At the forefront of anything Watchmen is the seminal graphic novel. The Watchmen series, by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins, tells the essential Watchmen story. There is no prior reading require for Watchmen and fans can simply jump into the main series.

For many years, this was the only entry in the Watchmen franchise. Many, including Alan Moore, still view Watchmen as a finished product on its own and do not suggest reading later additions to the series. However, this opinion is not universal.

Before Watchmen

The Before Watchmen comics expand on the original Watchmen series by exploring the events leading up to Watchmen. Each Before Watchmen entry essentially stands on its own and depicts a specific piece of history from a specific point of view.

This "Before Watchmen Reading Order" attempts to put these entries in a mostly chronological order that avoids having one miniseries spoil the next. The individualized nature of each series could technically allow fans to read these comics in any order they desire; this reading order simply tries to find a way that works best.

Note: Despite the Before Watchmen comics technically existing as prequels, they should not be read before the main Watchmen series. Many of them vaguely foreshadow events in Watchmen and a few of them make direct references to it.

DC Rebirth

The DC Rebirth era officially brought characters and concepts from the Watchmen Universe into the mainstream DC Universe. This began with the DC Universe: Rebirth (Review) one-shot and culminated in the Doomsday Clock limited series.

The story told here starts with a mystery that is introduced in DC Universe: Rebirth. In this issue, the first clues of a crossover between the Watchmen Universe and the DC Universe are revealed. The Doomsday Clock storyline officially brings both universes together in what could be viewed as a sequel to Watchmen.

Notes

1. Characters and concepts from Watchmen are only alluded to in this issue. These help prelude Doomsday Clock but are not necessary to understand it.

All DC Comics Reading Orders