Foundational Thor stories with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from his first appearance in Journey into Mystery in 1962. Kirby introduces Asgard as an entire universe with gods, giants and realms connected by a cosmic tree. Jack Kirby in Thor is one of the artistic peaks of American comics: the model that every Thor artist since has imitated.

The Flash by Mark Waid Omnibus Vol. 2 is Wally West in full confidence: the Flash family, Max Mercury, Impulse, Dead Heat, Abra Kadabra and the Speed Force as philosophy rather than simple power source. Waid turns speed into inheritance, responsibility and identity, which is why this run still defines how later adaptations talk about Flash.

Second volume with the central arcs of the Triangle Era experiment: the time when editorial coordination between the four Superman titles was at its creative peak, with weekly crossover sagas and consequences that spanned months. The heart of an entire decade of the character's history, culminating in the run-up to the Death of Superman. Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens, and Louise Simonson write complementary threads that reward reading in publication order. The most ambitious Superman publishing experiment ever attempted.

Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 1 begins DC's 1990s weekly Superman machine, where Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Superman and Man of Steel function as one coordinated reading order. The numbered triangles turn the line into a continuous serial rather than separate titles. Jurgens, Ordway, Stern and Simonson build the dense ecosystem that leads toward Death of Superman and the most interconnected Superman publishing era.

Superman: Action Comics by Dan Jurgens Omnibus Vol. 1 is the Rebirth Action Comics shelf: a more traditional Superman voice running alongside Tomasi and Gleason, built around family, classic villains, Mr. Oz mystery and the return of a confident heroic center. The volume matters because it places Superman inside DC's post-Rebirth restoration, where legacy, family and Metropolis action reconnect after the New 52 period.

The Clone Saga begins: Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker created years ago by the Jackal, reappears in New York and soon the question is radical: who is the real Peter and who is the clone? One of the most talked about and debated sagas of the character. Read from the beginning, it has a coherence and mystery that make it enjoyable.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 2 is Geoff Johns turning the launch-era League into the spine of DC's event machine. Trinity War, Forever Evil and Darkseid War make the team less a simple superhero roster and more the point where Lex Luthor, the Crime Syndicate, the Anti-Monitor and the New Gods all collide.

Peter David takes Hulk in 1987 and plants the thesis of dissociative disorder: Savage Hulk, Grey Hulk, Banner as separate personalities. This theory was adopted as canon in later film, television and comics. Art by Dale Keown, one of the key names in the Hulk aesthetic of the 90s. Beginning of one of the longest runs ever written about a Marvel character.

The second volume of Morrison's run executes his riskiest move yet: kill off (apparently) Bruce Wayne and let Dick Grayson take up the mantle. The Dick-Damian duo Morrison builds here is one of the best Batman and Robin ever written. Art by Frank Quitely, Morrison's long-time collaborator on All-Star Superman and We3.

Closing of seven years of Morrison on Batman. Bruce Wayne is back, publicly declares that he is funding the Dark Knight and launches Batman Incorporated: a global Batman network in every country. Damian Wayne's death in combat is one of the most memorable moments of the modern Batman. Art by Chris Burnham.

Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo Omnibus Vol. 1 is the New 52 Batman starting point because it makes Gotham feel unknowable again. Court of Owls is not just a new villain group; it is a claim that Bruce has never fully understood his own city. Death of the Family then turns Joker into a horror presence aimed at Batman's found family. Capullo gives both arcs the muscular, theatrical identity that defined modern Batman for a decade.

Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo Omnibus Vol. 2 carries their New 52 Batman into Zero Year, Endgame and Superheavy, where Bruce's origin, the Joker's final escalation and Jim Gordon's replacement-Batman era all test what the symbol can survive. The book is not just a sequel volume; it is the half where Snyder and Capullo push Batman from secret history into mythic reinvention.

With Bruce Wayne convalescing, Jean-Paul Valley takes up the mantle in a radically different version: claws, flamethrower and zero moral restraint. It raises the central question of the saga: what makes Batman Batman, the suit or the principles? The answer the writers give redefines the character permanently. Valley's increasingly erratic behaviour forces the question of whether Gotham needs Batman or just any powerful protector. Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench write the central conflict with genuine moral weight.

Batman: No Man's Land Omnibus Vol. 2 closes the ruined-Gotham saga after months of gang borders, collapsed institutions and Bat-family survival. Lex Luthor enters with reconstruction money, the Joker delivers one of the era's cruelest final blows and Batman has to decide what saving Gotham means after the city has already been abandoned.

The era that transformed Daredevil from a minor title to one of Marvel's most respected comics. Frank Miller creates Elektra, reinvents the Kingpin, introduces the Hand Ninjas and writes Born Again: considered one of the 10 best superhero comics ever written. Miller also draws the seminal story — his art on Daredevil is raw, urban and unlike anything else in 1980s Marvel. Direct basis for the Netflix series and the Daredevil reboot.

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol. 1 is the modern rehabilitation of Hal Jordan and the launchpad for the emotional spectrum era. Rebirth brings Hal back, Sinestro Corps War expands the conflict and the Corps becomes cosmic mythology again. Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Carlos Pacheco help define the visual scale, while Johns builds the architecture that leads toward Blackest Night.

Blackest Night in full: after years of building the emotional Lantern spectrum (green will, yellow fear, red rage, violet love, blue hope), Johns introduces an eighth colour: the black of death. Black Hand awakens DC's dead as Black Lanterns. Most visually iconic event of the modern Green Lantern and peak of the Johns run.

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol. 3 closes Johns' long Lantern architecture with War of the Green Lanterns, Sinestro's impossible return to the Corps and the road into the New 52. Its value is resolution: Hal, Sinestro, the Guardians and the emotional spectrum all reach the point where the mythology has to break, reset or transform.

The moment when Peter David merges the three personalities of the Hulk into a single entity: Professor Hulk. Body of the original, intelligence of Banner, cunning of Grey. Considered by many to be the best Hulk ever written and the version Marvel Studios adopted for Avengers: Endgame. Dale Keown on the art.

Closing of the longest run ever written about the Hulk: 12 uninterrupted years of Peter David on the title. It collects the final arcs of the run, the process of defusion of the Hulk's personalities and the narrative closure of all the threads that David had opened for more than a decade. End of the cycle.

Closing of the Snyder-Tynion run with Year of the Villain and Justice/Doom War. Perpetua, an entity that predates the creation of the DC multiverse, threatens to rewrite the entire reality. Jorge Jiménez pencils epic compositions that define the current Justice League aesthetic. End of the Snyder cycle at DC.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 1 is the flagship book of DC's 2011 relaunch: Geoff Johns and Jim Lee rebuilding the League from first contact, suspicion and Darkseid-scale pressure. It matters because the team is being invented inside a universe where superheroes are new, feared and not yet trusted.

After Avengers Disassembled, Bendis relaunches the title with a heterodox roster (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Woman) and turns the Avengers into Marvel's most commercial team. Beginning of a decade of Bendis domination of the title: Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege start here. David Finch on art.

Civil War from the perspective of the underground Avengers: the team divided and holed up in secret, living in illegality, doubting if they did the right thing. Perfect setup for Secret Invasion. It's Bendis at his most intimate, and central reading to follow the logic of Marvel 2006-2010. Art by Leinil Yu.