Since the incarnation of DC Comics’ New 52 Geoff Johns has been kicking goals writing Justice League. From taking on an invading Darkseid and his army of parademons to stopping the Amazo virus from infecting the world Johns has put the League through some some though trials over the years. Although, with the Darkseid War he has ramped up the scale significantly.
The evil Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, two of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, have declared war with each other and the Justice League has been thrown in the middle of whole ordeal. It’s a huge story and with each issue it’s only getting bigger and more exciting. Can the Justice League stop this war without Earth, or even the Universe, intact? You’ll have to read to find out.
Big storylines like this can get a little but confusing, especially when there’s all kinds of tie-ins involved, so I’ve created Justice League: Darkseid War Reading Order Checklist to make it easy. This simple list will help you figure out what you need to read as well as list all of the tie-in along with the creative teams, release date and any other relevant information I can find. Better yet, this will be updated regularly to reflect any of the delays, new issues or changes that made be along the way. If you notice a change that I haven’t picked up politely let me know in the comments below!
All of the comics list below are available at your local comic book store or digitally on Comixology and DC Comics digital comics platform.
Background Reading
If you haven’t been reading Justice League here are some comics you can read to get some additional background coming into The Darkseid War.
For New 52 introduction of Darkseid:
Justice League #1-6 (Can be read in Justice League Vol 1: Origin)
For the introduction of Earth 3 characters and hints at the Darkseid War to come:
Forever Evil #1-7 (Can be read in Forever Evil hardcover or trade paperback)
For Lex Luthor joining the Justice League and the introduction to the character Power Ring:
Justice League #30-39 (Can be read in Justice League Vol 6: Injustice League)
Darkseid War Reading Order
Justice League #40 (Prologue 1)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Kevin Maguire, Phil Jimenez, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins, Jason Fabok and Jim Lee.
Available April 29th 2015.
Divergence: The Other Amazon (Prologue 2) – Read for free.
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available May 3rd 2015.
Justice League #41 (Part 1)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available June 3rd 2015.
Justice League #42 (Part 2)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available July 27th 2015.
Justice League #43 (Part 3)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available August 19th 2015.
Justice League #44 (Part 4)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available September 30th 2015.
Justice League #45 (Part 5)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Francis Manapul.
Available October 21st 2015.
In between Justice League #45 and #46 are 6 one-shots that spin out of the events of Justice League #45 and focus on an individual character. They’re all singular side stories stories based on the consequences of Justice League #45 and you don’t have to read them all if you’re not interested.
Justice League: Darkseid War: Batman (One-shot)
Written by Peter J Tomasi. Art by Fernando Pasarin.
Available October 28th 2015.
Justice League: Darkseid War: The Flash (One-shot)
Written by Rob Williams. Art by Jesus Merino.
Available November 4th 2015.
Justice League: Darkseid War: Superman (One-shot)
Written by Francis Manapul. Art by Bong Dazo.
Available November 4th 2015.
Justice League: Darkseid War: Green Lantern (One-shot)
Written by Tom King. Art by Evan “Doc” Shaner.
Available November 11th 2015.
Justice League: Darkseid War: Shazam (One-shot)
Written by Steve Orlando. Art by Scot Kolins.
Available November 11th 2015.
Justice League: Darksied War: Lex Luthor (One-shot)
Written by Francis Manapul. Art by Bong Dazo.
Available December 9th 2015.
Justice League #46 (Part 6)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Francis Manapul.
Available December 9th 2015.
Justice League #47 (Part 7)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available December 23rd 2015.
Justice League #48 (Part 8)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available February 24th 2016.
Justice League: Darkseid War Special (One-Shot Interlude)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oscar Jimenez and Paul Pelletier.
Available April 6th 2016.
Justice League #49 (Part 9)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available April 27th 2016.
Justice League #50 (Part 10)
Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.
Available May 25th 2016.
Justice League #52 (Aftermath)
Written by Dan Jurgens. Art by Paul Pelletier and Tony Kordos.
Available June 22nd 2016.
NOTE: Justice League #51 doesn’t relate to this story, but is more to do with DC Rebirth.
After Justice League: Darkseid War
Darkseid War leaves readers with some tasty little plot threads which are slowly taking fruition a year after the story was complete.
Wonder Woman Plot
The Wonder Woman plot will be addressed in Wonder Woman (2016 series) #31 onwards.
Joker Revelation
It has been a long time coming, but you can find out what that Joker reveal is all about in Batman: Three Jokers #1-3, which begins in August 2020. (It took them long enough!)
Justice League: Darkseid War Trade Hardcovers/Paperbacks
For those who prefer to binge on this epic storyline here are the collected editions you should read:
Justice League Vol. 7: Darkseid War Part 1
Collects Justice League #40-44 and Justice League Sneak Peek.
Justice League: Darkseid War – Power of the Gods
Collects Justice League: Gods And Men Superman #1, Justice League: Gods And Men Batman #1, Justice League: Gods And Men The Flash #1, Justice League: Gods And Men Green Lantern #1, Justice League: Gods And Men Shazam! #1 And Justice League: Gods And Men Lex Luthor #1.
Justice League Vol. 8: Darkseid War Part 2
Collects Justice League #45-50 and Justice League: Darkseid War Special
Have Your Say!
Will you be reading this crossover? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook and Twitter.
It seems like there should be something in between Darkseid War and the Justice League Rebirth. What would that be? I’m reading the trades and it seems like there is a gap. Great lists by the way. Thanks.
Hey Peter, you haven’t missed anything in between Darkseid War and the Rebirth series. A lot of the mysteries that came out of it have either not been addressed yet (multiple Jokers) or were addressed in other comics such Wonder Woman, The Last Days of Superman, Action Comics, and DC Universe: Rebirth.
Hi,
Do I need to read darkseid war prior to children of the gods?
Nope, you can read Children of the Gods not really knowing what has happened in the Darkseid War. Any details that are relevant you’ll pick up pretty quickly.
Hey. I couldn’t find all the comics online. Can you send me the links? You can email it to me. Thanks!
Hi Ayra, here’s a like to the comics on comiXology https://comixology.com/Justice-League-2011/comics-series/6602
But its not for free. I need files which i can download
Sorry, How to Love Comics doesn’t promote pirated comics.
Your reading orders are some of the most easily comprehensible. Thank you for taking the time to put these together.
Thanks, Patrick!
things like stopping to explain the one shots spin off from issue 45 makes this a perfect checklist.
Besides this you had to ask a friend if you didn’t want to spend half an hour looking through wikis
hey i just wanted to know which justice issue should i refer just Justice league or Justice league International or Justice League of America? which one? new to comics here 🙂
Hi Anish, this is for the series simply called “Justice League”.
Hi, is there a release date for the complete graphic novel for the darkseid war? covering the whole story?
For the collected edition of part 2(issues 46-51) will all of them be included along with the Special about Grail?
Hey Ben, the 2nd volume collects issues 46-50 and the Special.
The second volume actually covers 45-50. Weird, I know. So you read vol-1, then vol-2 for just one issue, move to the Power of the Gods, then come back to vol-2.
I love this series but the length in-between comics is a killer lol.
It’s optional 🙂
Great guide ! Thank you for this awesome work 😉
Thank you so much for this ! Didn’t know where to start, great work bro !
Is this the complete story or is it still continuing as of February 2016?
Also can you post an order for Secret Wars and Convergence? Pls specify if those two are still continuing as well
Hi! The Darkseid War finishes with issue #50 in April ? As for Secret Wars and Convergence I’ve already done reading guides for those.
You can check out Secret Wars here: http://www.howtolovecomics.com/2015/04/28/secret-wars-reading-order-guide/
And Convergence here: http://www.howtolovecomics.com/2015/03/15/convergence-reading-order-guide/
Both of these have now finished.
Hello Trevor nice article may I ask what other big story lines from either dc & marvel did you enjoy reading?
Hi Jason, I’ve enjoyed a bunch of story lines from the past few years. I’ve been really enjoying Justice League a lot since Forever Evil. While I feel like Forever Evil had a few issues, I really enjoyed that too. Over on the Marvel side of things some of the big storylines I’ve enjoyed lately are Secret Wars, Brian Michael Bendis’ run on All-New X-Men/Uncanny X-Men and while some didn’t like I really enjoyed The Death of Wolverine.
But reading Forever Evil after just 6 Issues completely screws up the timeline, it’s intertwined with Justice League from after #23 till before #30 I think.
Hi, great question!
Justice League #24-#29 tie-in with Forever Evil but it’s not essential reading to really understand the series. It’s very much a side-story of Cyborg’s involvement and one you can read as optional if you wish. If you’re interested in what Cyborg is up to during the events then definitely check it out.
I buy comics by the Vol. which ones do I get to for the complete set?
Hi Felix, The main parts of The Darkseid War will be collected in Justice League vol 7 (available March 15th) and 8 (July 12th). The individual tie-in stories will collected in as Justice League: The Darkseid War: The Power of the Gods (available April 26th). DC Comics are a bit slow when it comes to releasing their collections so it will a few months before you can start reading it, sorry.
Isnt there only 7 issues of Forever Evil, or did i miss one?
Nope, you didn’t miss one. That was a mistake on my behalf. There’s only 7 issues ?
This list is pretty straight forward. Thanks. The Divergence FCBD #1 story is key and a very clever way to explain what’s going on as when Part 1 kicks off I was a little bit confused. It can also be found for free in comixology as “DC Sneak Peek: Justice League (2011-)” #1.