A Martian Reading Order

I’ve been asked about this, so I thought I’d share with you my own suggested Martian reading order.

Of course, you can read whatever you want, and most stories stand on their own. Also, most stories have dates, so you can figure out where they occur. But for those who want Julian’s reading order, here you go.

Start with The Girl from Mars. Although set in 2014, it was our inaugural story, and I think of it as our starting point, meant to be read before anything else. Vol. 1 has been released, and that story continues in Martian Comics #22.

After this, I suggest reading everything chronologically. Right now, you can think of everything else as fitting between stories in Martian Comics Vol. 1 (which spans the entire timeline).

The story of the first millennium A.K.M. is the story of the cities of Mars getting closer together and evolving past our current level of Earth technology. Right now, this period only has three stores: the first two in Martian Comics Vol. 1 (“One Small Step” and “The Canals of Mars”) and Martian Comics Vol. 2: The Tears of Khera. (Although The Tears of Khera is set a little after 1000 A.K.M., it rounds out the story of the first Martian millennium.)

The Synthetics comes next, taking place during the second millennium. I’d suggest reading issue #2, then #0, then #1, then #3… I know that’s weird, but it’s as close to chronological order as you can get reading a whole issue at a time. The collected edition will put everything in order. New issues of the series will focus on this same period of time.

From the third to the ninth millennium, there are fewer stories. Some focus on Mars’s expanding space presence, while others focus on the Projection Tank (the technology seen in The Girl from Mars). “Dinosuars of Mars!” to “The Galilean” (stories #3-8) from Martian Comics Vol. 1 take place during this lengthy period of time.

Lazarus #0-1 take place here, following “The Galilean.” Later Lazarus stories will take place throughout Earth’s previous two millennia — from this point in the timeline to the present.

We’ve done a couple Medieval stories: “I Dream of Hell” from Martian Comics Vol. 1 and “The Last Safe Place on Earth” (from Martian Comics #23).

Kimot Ren #1-5 take place in 1849-1850. This series will mostly continue this same story, so it’ll continue to be set here in the timeline.

Finally, we have stories set after Kimot Ren: from “The Second Most Dangerous Game” until the end of Martian Comics Vol. 1. This set of stories includes The Girl from Mars side stories, and we see the influence of the villain from that story.

New material is being added to every portion of the above. I’m a weird writer who doesn’t work chronologically — even within a big story, I usually don’t write from start to finish. I know that makes these strange stories even stranger! I just hope it’s not too overwhelming, and that you enjoy watching this intricate universe continue to grow — in all places and all times.