As seen in the Batman vs. Robin miniseries, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted. This would mean plenty of volcanic ash in the atmosphere under normal circumstances. However, this is the DC Universe. Instead, the volcano released dangerous and transformative chemicals into the air, resulting in chaos. People have developed strange new abilities and altered the powers of heroes and villains alike.
DC Universe: Lazarus Planet is a comic book event that will explore these changes and help set up new stories for DC Comics for 2023 and beyond. So you don’t miss out on any of the action, this reading order guide has been put together. It lists all the issues, creative teams, and background information you need to start reading Lazarus Planet with ease.
How to read DC Universe: Lazarus Planet
Lazarus Planet doesn’t follow the usual comic book event structure. While it will be released weekly, the story isn’t specifically linear.
It’s bookended by Alpha and Omega issues, with several one-shots in between. These one-shots are not part of a linear story but show what’s going on in different corners of the DC Universe – as established in the Alpha issue. Readers will see the changes happening with dozens of characters and how they react to the Lazarus Volcano.
As each of the one-shots explore a different corner of the DC Universe, there isn’t a strictly linear story throughout them. However, you get a wider understanding of the Lazarus Planet landscape if you read more of them. It’s totally up to you which ones you read.
The direct follow-up, Lazarus planet: Revenge of the Gods, is more of a traditional comic book event. It’s contained to a 4-part miniseries and a couple of tie-ins.
Background reading
Are you the kind of reader who likes to do background reading before reading a comics book event? If so, check out the following comics.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #1-5
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Dan Mora.
The Devil Nehza is a central villain to Lazarus Planet. Check out Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #1-5 if you want to learn more about what the characters is all about and his origin. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest is a really fun comics, with wonderful art, so it’s worth reading regardless.
These issues have been collected in a hardcover called Batman/Superman: World’s Finest Volume 1: The Devil Nezha. A trade paperback collection will be available on 26th March, 2024.
Batman vs. Robin #1-5
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Mahmud Asrar.
Batman vs. Robin sets up Lazarus Planet. Batman vs. Robin #4, in particular, shows the events leading up to and the cause of the Lazarus Volcano erupting. It leads directly into Lazarus Planet Alpha #1.
Monkey Prince #10
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by Bernard Chang.
Ties into Batman vs. Robin but Monkey Prince will also be featured in Lazarus Planet. It’s a good way to get a feel for the character before jumping into the comic book event.
Want to read more about Monkey Prince? The first trade paperback will be available on 3rd January and collects Monkey Prince #1-5 and a story from DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration.
Lazarus Planet reading order
Take a look below at the recommended reading order for DC Universe: Lazarus Planet, along with creator credits, release dates, and annotations.
Lazarus Planet: Alpha #1
Written by Mark Waid and Gene Luen Yang. Art by Riccardo Federici, Billy Tan, and more.
Available 10th January
Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton #1
Written by Nicole Maines, C.S Pacat, Frank Barbiere, and Leah Williams. Art by Skylar Patridge, Scott Godlewski, Sami Basri, Marguerite Sauvage.
Available 17th January
Notes: Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton #1 will feature stories starring Power Girl, Dreamer, and Jonathan Kent. The Power girl story will continue in the pages of Action Comics and Jon Kent will get a new series. Find out more about these comics in the After Lazarus Planet section below.
Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods #1
Written by Francis Manapul, Dan Watters, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Josie Campbell. Art by Francis Manapul, Max Dunbar, Jack Herbert, and Caitlin Yarsky.
Available 24th January
Note: Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods #1 will feature stories starring the Amazons of Themyscira, Martian Manhunter, and Shazam and his extended family.
Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn #1
Written by Alex Segura, Greg Pak, Alex Paknadel, and Dennis Culver. Art by Clayton, Chris Mitten, Minkyu Jung, and Jesus Merino.
Available 31st January
Notes: Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn #1 will feature stories starring Nightwing, City Boy (a new hero), The Question, Firestorm, Raven, and Harley Quinn. City Boy will return in a new series, which you can find more about in the After Lazarus Planet section below.
Batman: Legends of Gotham #1
Written by Andy Diggle. Art by Karl Mostert.
Available 31st January
Note: The solicitations for Batman: Legends of Gotham #1 mention Lazarus Planet. However, it might not be a strict tie-in and might be better suited for the After Lazarus Planet section below.
Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution #1
Written by Ram V, Brandon T. Snider, Chuck Brown, and Delilah S. Dawson. Art by Lalit Kumar, Laura Braga, Alitha Martinez, Mark Morales, Ro Stein.
Available 7th February
Note: Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution #1 will feature stories starring Red Canary, Flatline, Dead Eye, and a new team called The Vigil. The Vigil will have their own miniseries. Find out more in the After Lazarus Planet section below.
Monkey Price #11 (tie-in)
Written Gene Luen Yang. Art by Bernard Chang.
Available 7th February
Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1
Written by Tim Seeley, Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, A.L. Kaplan, and Alyssa Wong. Art by Baldemar Riva, Chris Burnham, A.L. Kaplan, and Haining.
Available 14th February
Notes: Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 will feature stories starring Doom Patrol, Huntress, The Flash, Xanthe, and a number of new villains. This will help set up a new Doom Patrol series and Spirit World. Find out more about these comics in the After Lazarus Planet section below.
Lazarus Planet: Omega #1
Written by Mark Waid and Gene Luen Yang. Art by Riccardo Federici, Billy Tan, and more.
Available 21st February
Batman vs Robin #5
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Mahmud Asrar.
Available 28th February
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Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods reading order
That’s not the end of Lazarus Planet! Before the comic book event could even begin, DC Comics announced a follow-up that takes place immediately after. Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods stars Wonder Woman and Shazam, pitting their respective pantheons against each other.
Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #1 (of 4)
Written by G Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan, and Michael W. Conrad. Art by Cian Tormey and Alitha Martinez.
Available 14th March
Wonder Woman #797 (Tie-in)
Written by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Josie Campbell. Art by Amancay Nahuelpan.
Available 21st March
Note: Wonder Woman #797 contains a back-up feature starring Mary Marvel.
Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #2 (of 4)
Written by G Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan, and Michael W. Conrad. Art by Cian Tormey, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Alitha Martinez.
Available 28th March
Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #3 (of 4)
Written by G Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan, and Michael W. Conrad. Art by Cian Tormey, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Alitha Martinez.
Available 11th April
Wonder Woman #798 (Tie-in)
Written by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Josie Campbell. Art by Amancay Nahuelpan.
Available 18th April
Note: Wonder Woman #798 contains a back-up feature starring Mary Marvel.
Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #4 (of 4)
Written by G Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Josie Campbell. Art by Cian Tormey, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Alitha Martinez.
Available 25th April
After Lazarus Planet
Are wondering what you should read next after completing Lazarus Planet? DC Comics has given you plenty of options, with the comic book event being a foundation building block in the Dawn of DC publishing initiative. Take a look below at some suggestions.
Action Comics #1051-1053 (Power Girl story only)
Written by Leah Williams. Art by Marguerite Sauvage.
Power Girl’s story continues in the pages of Action Comics.
Monkey Prince #12
Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by Bernard Chiang.
Find out what happens next with Monkey Prince.
Power Girl Special #1
Written by Leah Williams. Art by Marguerite Sauvage.
Check out this special if you’re following the Power Girl story in Action Comics.
Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1
Written by Tom Taylor. Art by Clayton Henry.
Read more about Jon Kent’s new status quo in this series.
Unstoppable Doom Patrol #1
Written by Dennis Culver. Art by Chris Burnham.
Spinning out of Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate #1 is a new Doom Patrol series.
Shazam! #1
Written by Mark Waid. Art by Dan Mora.
Find out what’s next for Shazam after the conclusion Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods in this new solo series by the team behind Batman/Superman: World’s Finest.
Spirit World #1
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Haining.
Check out this series if you want to know more about Xanthe, who was introduced in Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate.
The Vigil #1
Written by Ram V. Art by Lalit Kumar Sharma.
Discover more about The Vigil in this six-part miniseries.
Detective Comics #1070-1071
Written by Ram V. Art by Riccardo Federici.
The Vigil will also appear in the pages of Detective Comics.
City Boy #1
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Minkyo Jung.
City Boy returns in their own six-part miniseries.
Dawn of DC: Primer
Written by Joshua Williamson. Art by Leonardo Fernandez.
This was a free comic that DC gave away in May 2023 to start to link the events of Lazarus Planet and Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths to something that the publisher is slowly building towards that will happen in 2024.
Action Comics Presents: Doomsday Special #1
Written by Dan Watters. Art by Eddy Barrows.
Find out what’s next for Doomsday with this one-shot that will help set up a Superman comic book event in 2024.
Knight Terrors
Written by Joshua Williamson and others. Art by Howard Porter and others.
The next DC Comics comic book event is Knight Terrors and connects to Lazarus Planet in an interesting way. The story’s villain, Insomnia, origin story is tied to Lazarus Planet.
Find out how to read Knight Terrors and it’s tie-ins in this handy reading order.
Collected editions
Is reading comics in a collected format more your thing? These are the hardcovers/trade paperbacks you will want to read to get the full Lazarus Planet experience.
Lazarus Planet
Collects: Lazarus Planet: Alpha, Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton, Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods, Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn, Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution, Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate, and Lazarus Planet: Omega
Batman vs. Robin
Collects: Batman vs. Robin #1-5
Monkey Prince Volume 2: The Monkey King And I
Collects: Monkey Prince #0, #7-12, and backup stories from Lazarus Planet: Alpha and Lazarus Planet: Omega
Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods
Collects: Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods #1, Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #1-4, and Wonder Woman #797-798
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