Part of the DAWN OF DC initiative, KNIGHT TERRORS (2023) dragged the heroes, villains and even the civilians kicking and screaming into the Nightmare Realm thanks to the machinations of one man intent on revenge!
Now let’s take a look at the stories that led us to the event that would put the entire planet in jeopardy with disastrous consequences for Earth’s heroes…
Must Reads: Story arcs marked with a ✔are must-read stories from this time period, along with any key related stories and often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue, so you don’t need to read the other four.
References: References in square brackets refer to the Knight Terrors tie-in issues those events relate to.
Earth-One/New Earth/Prime Earth: As with all DC-related ‘What to Read Before” entries, this chronological guide includes stories from Earth-One continuity which is set before the universe-resetting events of Crisis on Infinite Earths; New Earth continuity covers all stories set after Crisis; while the modern-day Prime-Earth continuity is set after the Flashpoint crossover; pick and choose what you feel still counts.
Spoilers: It mostly goes without saying that there’ll be big clues here that’ll spoil Knight Terrors to a degree, so be warned!
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order – just the essential from the Full Reading Order below – without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Strange Adventures #205
- JSA Secret Files & Origins #1
- Secret Origins (2014) #6
- Wonder Woman #779
- Detective Comics #1044
- Justice League (2018) #75
- Dark Crisis #1-2
- Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6-7
- Nightwing (2016) #100
The continuity is split into the pre and post-Crisis continuity, with Earth-One stories taking place before CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS (1985-1986) and New Earth continuity continuing after. This is followed by the current Prime-Earth continuity that was established after FLASHPOINT (2011).
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event / Crossover |
| Detective Comics #350 (1966) The Monarch of Menace was one of the first criminals to actually defeat Batman. 1st appearance: Monarch of Menace [LP: Dark Fate] | ||
| ✔ | Strange Adventures #205 (1967) Circus acrobat Boston Brand is shot dead by a sniper in the middle of his act; the entity Rama Kushna keeps Brand in a state between life and death as Deadman to bring his killer to justice. 1st appearance: Deadman/Boston Brand, Lorna Hill, Hill’s Circus, Rama Kushna, Tiny, Vashnu [KT: First Blood, Knight Terrors] | |
| Swamp Thing #49-50 (1986) Zatanna loses her father Zatanna during a séance run by John Constantine to defend the world from the Great Darkness; during the séance, Mento of the Doom Patrol appears to be lose his mind. [KT: Zatanna] | A MURDER OF CROWS |
| Must Read | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Batman #428 (1988) The Joker murders Robin (Jason Todd), beating him to death with a crowbar. [KT: Robin] | ||
| Doom Patrol #55 (1992) Doom Patrol member Josh Clay is shot dead by team-founder Niles Caulder. [KT: Zatanna] | ||
| Green Lantern #48-50 (1994) Driven mad by the destruction of Coast City, Hal Jordan wipes out the Green Lantern Corps; he emerges from the Central Power Battery on Oa as Parallax. 1st appearance: Alex DeWitt, Green Lantern/Kyle Rayner, Hannu, Ke’Haan, Parallax (entity, behind the scenes) New identity: Green Lantern/Hal Jordan as Parallax [KT: Green Lantern] | EMERALD TWILIGHT | |
| The Final Night #4 (1996) As Parallax, Hal Jordan sacrifices himself absorbing a Sun-Eater to save Earth’s solar system. [KT: Green Lantern] | THE FINAL NIGHT | |
| ✔ | JSA Secret Files & Origins #1 (1999) The prophetic Wesley Dodds – the original Sandman – throws himself from Mount Kailash into the rocks below to prevent the Dark Lord from obtaining information from him. [Knight Terrors, KT: Night’s End] | |
| Doom Patrol #9 (2002) Coagula and Robotman surprise their fellow Doom Patrol teammate Dorothy Spinner by taking her on a trip to meet her birth-parents; this only panics Dorothy who unleashes a psychic explosion that kills Coagula and leaves Dorothy comatose. [KT: Zatanna] | ||
| Doom Patrol #22 (2003) Robotman makes the difficult decision to let the comatose Dorothy Spinner die when he’s told she’s already brain-dead. [KT: Zatanna] | ||
| Identity Crisis #5 (2004) Tim Drake’s dad is murdered by Captain Boomerang. [KT: Robin] | IDENTITY CRISIS | |
| Green Lantern: Rebirth #3 (2005) Hal Jordan discovers Parallax is the living embodiment of fear; the entity Parallax subverted Hal Jordan years earlier, coercing him into wiping out the Green Lantern Corp and taking on the Parallax identity. [KT: Green Lantern] | GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH | |
| JSA Classified #8-9 (2006) The Flash (Jay Garrick) and Wildcat take on the Dragon King when he returns, once again hoping to obtain the Spear of Destiny. [KT: The Flash] |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Hawk & Dove #1-5 (2011-2012) Deadman and Dove are revealed to be in a relationship. 1st appearance: Condor, Deadman/Boston Brand, Dove/Dawn Granger, Dove/Donald Hall, Hawk/Hank Hall, Lords of Chaos, Lords of Order [Knight Terrors] | ||
| Green Lantern #19 (2013) Sinestro’s attempt to defend Korugar from Volthoom, the First Lantern, leads to the planet’s destruction. [KT: Green Lantern] | WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN | |
| Batman: Eternal #12-13 (2014) Batgirl and Jim Gordon find out James Gordon Jr is alive, despite both believing he’d fallen to his death. [KT: Detective Comics] | ETERNAL | |
| Batman: Eternal #23 (2014) Catwoman inherits the role as boss of the criminal Calabrese Family. [KT: Catwoman] | ETERNAL | |
| ✔ | Secret Origins #6 (2014) Deadman realises the goddess Rama Kushna had ulterior motives when she placed him in a state between life and death. [KT: First Blood] |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Free Comic Book Day – Divergence #1 [1/3] (2016) Following the apparent death of Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon takes on the Batman mantle and dons the experimental Superheavy armour. New identity: James Gordon as Batman [KT: Detective Comics] | DIVERGENCE SUPERHEAVY | |
| Superman #51-52 (2016) After being hit by a bolt of energy, Denny Swan gains superhuman powers and believes himself to be Superman; Denny is later revealed to be an impostor. 1st appearance: Doctor Omen, ‘Superman’/Denny Swan, Super-Man Zero [KT: First Blood] | THE FINAL DAYS OF SUPERMAN | |
| Cyborg: Rebirth #1 (2016) Cyborg #1-2 (2016) The android Anomaly creates Malware to oppose Cyborg and almost succeeds in killing him. 1st appearance: Anomaly/OTAC 13, Kilg%re, Malware [Batman: TB&TB] | DC REBIRTH THE IMITATION OF LIFE | |
| Nightwing #9 (2017) The Kobra Cult use Doctor Destiny to develop a device called the Asclepius – or ‘Dream Snake’ – in order to access the Dreamscape and gain the knowledge and skills of anyone they choose. [KT: Angel Breaker] | ||
| Batman #50 (2018) Catwoman chooses not to marry Batman on what was due to be their wedding day. [KT: Batman] | THE WEDDING OF BATMAN & CATWOMAN | |
| Justice League Dark #1 (2018) Wonder Woman joins a new Justice League Dark line-up, alongside Detective Chimp, Man-Bat, Swamp Thing and Zatanna. [KT: Wonder Woman] | NEW JUSTICE | |
| Batgirl #49 (2020) James Gordon Jr takes control of his split personality and, realising the horrifying acts he’s committed, throws himself off a lighthouse to his death. [KT: Detective Comics] | THE JOKER WAR | |
| ✔ | Wonder Woman #779 (2021) Following Wonder Woman’s death, Deadman helps her return to life, almost at the cost of his own existence. [KT: First Blood] | AFTERWORLDS |
| Nubia and the Amaz0ns #1 (2021) Nubia is revealed to be the last of the Amazons born of the Well of Souls. [KT: Wonder Woman] | TRIAL OF THE AMAZONS | |
| Nubia: Coronation Special #1 (2022) Nubia is coroneted as Queen of all Amazons. [KT: Wonder Woman] | QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS TRIAL OF THE AMAZONS | |
| ✔ | Detective Comics #1044 (2021) The prisoners of the devastated Arkham Asylum are sent, instead, to Arkham Tower. New identity: SAFE Headquarters as Arkham Tower [Knight Terrors, KT: First Blood, LP: Dark Fate] | FEAR STATE |
| Batman Secret Files: The Gardener #1 (2022) Flashbacks reveal how Pamela Isley became romantically involved with Jason Woodrue; Pamela helped Jason conduct an experiment for his military benefactors that left Pamela comatose, but later resulted in her gaining superhuman abilities and becoming Poison Ivy. [KT: Poison Ivy] | FEAR STATE |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Shadow War: Alpha #1 (2022) Batman #122 (2022) Deathstroke Inc #8 (2022) Shadow War: War Zone #1 [1/4] (2022) Angel Breaker of the League of Shadows is among those summoned to bring the head of Deathstroke to Talia al Ghul; Angel Breaker leads the attack on Deathstroke Inc; Raptor betrays both the Secret Society of Super-Villains and the League of Shadows, showing his true nature; Angel Breaker defeats Raptor, destroying his credibility in front of Batman; Angel Breaker fails to convince Black Canary to join the League of Shadows. 1st appearance: Angel Breaker [KT: Angel Breaker] | SHADOW WAR | |
| Batman Incorporated #1-6 (2022-2023) Ghost-Maker‘s former-sidekick, Phantom-One, takes on his former-mentor, along with the rest of Batman Incorporated. 1st appearance: Charles de Ghoul (cameo, unnamed), Dai Laffyn (cameo, unnamed), Dusty Bronco (cameo, unnamed), Phantom-One, Joker Incorporated (cameo, unnamed) [Batman: TB&TB] | NO MORE TEACHERS | |
| ✔ | Justice League #75 (2022) Black Adam comes crashing into the Hall of Justice, proclaiming the Justice League are dead. 1st appearance: Dark Army (name revealed) [Knight Terrors] | ROAD TO DARK CRISIS |
| WildStorm 30th Anniversary Special #1 [9/12] (2023) Angel Breaker is revealed to have once been a member of the Coda Sisterhood; Angel Breaker’s origin is revealed. [KT: Angel Breaker] | ||
| WildCATs #1 (2023) Grifter tears up Clark’s Bar. [Batman: TB&TB] | ||
| Free Comic Book Day – Dark Crisis Special Edition #0 (2022) The Hall of Justice is opened to the public as a museum in the Justice League’s honour. [KT: First Blood] | ROAD TO DARK CRISIS | |
| 2023-001 WildStorm 30th Anniversary Special #1 [9/12] (2023) Following the death of the Justice League, Director Bones recruits Winter, Peacekeeper-01, Ravager and Shado into his new StormWatch team; Bones acquires the Justice League’s former Watchtower space station headquarters; StormWatch obtain the Darkness Engine from the Fourth Reich. 1st appearance: Core/Pavlo Stupka, Flint/Victoria Ngengi, Winter/Nikolas Kamarov New identity: Justice League Watchtower as SkyWatch [Batman: TB&TB] | ||
| ✔ | Dark Crisis #1-2 (2022) Doctor Destiny fights alongside the Secret Society of Super-Villains against the Titans. [KT: First Blood] | DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS |
| Dark Crisis #3 (2022) Sinestro is revealed to be a member of Pariah’s Dark Army. 1st appearance: Red Canary/Sienna (unnamed) [KT: Green Lantern] | DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS | |
| ✔ | Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6-7 (2023) The Justice League are revealed to be alive when they return to Earth to battle the Dark Army; the Justice League disband. 1st appearance: Bright (Earth 3), Council of Light, Konfusion (unnamed, Earth 3), Peacewrecker (unnamed) [Knight Terrors, KT: First Blood] | DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS |
| Poison Ivy #7-8 (2023) Janet from HR watches as Poison Ivy single-handedly takes down a business empire. [KT: Poison Ivy] | ||
| ✔ | Nightwing #100 (2023) Nightwing buys the site of the ruined Blüdhaven Private Prison and turns it into the new Titans Tower. 1st appearance: Titans Tower [KT: First Blood, KT: Titans] | THE LEAP |
| Harley Quinn #25-27 (2023) Harley Quinn clashes with other versions of herself from the multiverse, almost causing it to break. [KT: Harley Quinn] | ||
| Batman vs Robin #4 (2023) Batman and Robin only barely escape Lazarus Island before it’s destroyed by King Fire Bull. New identity: Batman/Bruce Wayne as Doctor Fate [FCBD – Dawn of DC: Knight Terrors] | LAZARUS PLANET |
| Must Reads | Title, Issue & Synopsis | Event/Crossover |
| Superman #1 (2023) Lex Luthor signs LexCorp over to Superman, turning into SuperCorp. 1st appearance: Doctor Pharm (unnamed), Graft (unnamed), LL-01, Neo Kekoa New identity: LexCorp as SuperCorp [KT: First Blood, KT: Superman] | DAWN OF DC | |
| Action Comics #1055-1056 (2023) The Super-Twins encounter Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) in a conflict that results in Henshaw’s death. 1st appearance: Eradicator New identity: Sister Shadow/Janan al Ghul as ’Norah Stone’ [KT: Action Comics] | DAWN OF DC | |
| Detective Comics #1064 (2022) Jim Gordon takes in the mysterious boy who’ll become known as Sorrow. 1st appearance: Sorrow (unnamed) [KT: Detective Comics] | GOTHAM NOCTURNE | |
| Poison Ivy #12 (2023) Janet from HR watches first-hand as Poison Ivy cooks up an antidote to a poison, despite being in a delirious state. [KT: Poison Ivy] | ||
| Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 [2/4] (2023) StormWatch carry out a mission to kidnap Dr William Hussk so that Director Bones can force him to work for the team; Phantom-One joins StormWatch. [Batman: TB&TB] | ||
| Punchline: The Gotham Game #1-2 (2022-2023) Punchline becomes leader of the Royal Flush Gang. 1st appearance: King of Hearts/Rex Quintain, Queen of Hearts/Regina Quintain New identity: Bluff as Ace of Diamonds [KT: Punchline] | THE GOTHAM GAME | |
| Batman #136 (2023) Batman returns from the other world he was sent to by Failsafe. [KT: First Blood] | DAWN OF DC | |
| Wonder Woman #1 (2023) Wonder Woman retaliates against Sarge Steel when he accuses her of being responsible for a series of violent killings; she crushes Steel’s hand and leaves the scene, with Steel proclaiming Wonder Woman a fugitive. [KT: First Blood] | DAWN OF DC OUTLAW | |
| Harley Quinn #28-31 (2023) The mayhem in the multiverse caused by Harley Quinn, igniting a conflict with Lady Quark. New identity: Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel as Professor Quinzel [KT: Harley Quinn] | GIRL IN A CRISIS DAWN OF DC | |
| Green Lantern #1 (2023) Hal Jordan returns to Earth, faces Steel Fury and loses his job at Ferris Air; Sinestro is revealed to be stranded on Earth. 1st appearance: Steel Fury [Green Lantern] | BACK IN ACTION DAWN OF DC | |
| Green Arrow #2-3 (2023) Arsenal and Black Canary fight their way into Belle Reve Prison in Louisiana to find out what Amanda Waller’s plans are, but instead face off against Peacemaker, Peacewrecker and Count Vertigo. 1st appearance: Troublemaker [KT: Batman] | DAWN OF DC REUNION |
The story continues in KNIGHT TERRORS (2023)
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Deadman – Book One Deadman Omnibus | Strange Adventures #205 |
| Secret Origins vol.2 | Secret Origins (2014) #6 |
| Wonder Woman vol.1: Afterworlds | Wonder Woman #779 |
| Batman: Detective Comics vol.3: Arkham Rising | Detective Comics #1044 |
| Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths | Justice League (2018) #75 Dark Crisis #1-2 Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6-7 |
| Nightwing: The Leap (vol.4) | Nightwing (2016) #100 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2025
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