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Here we are at the last part of my writeup! If you're a glutton for punishment like me, or if anything in Parts 1 or 2 struck your fancy, here are a variety of suggestions for further reading. While obviously incomplete, hopefully you find something in here you like! This section also doubles as (some of) my sources cited, if you’re into that.
If you just want a TL;DR recommendation, personally, I would say read Suicide Squad (1987) and Checkmate (2006) for a great sampling of DC’s world of spies and politics.
I will also take this space to offer a robust thank you to my editors and beta readers, who helped me catch things even after it went to print. Spot fixes save the day.
Suicide Squad
If you're interested in reading about the Suicide Squad you’re in luck, because there are three titles just about them! Suicide Squad (1987) is the first and, in my opinion, the best. It ran for 66 issues and was revived in 2010 for a 67th issue to tie in with the Blackest Night event. This establishes Amanda Waller’s character and details how she put the Suicide Squad together. The entire series would be published in a series of eight books, published 2011-2019.
If you want to read the Janus Directive crossover, mentioned several times here, you’re in luck! It was collected in 2016 as Book 4 of the series reprinting all of SS ‘87. However, if you want to read it in singles, you can do that as such:
- Checkmate (1988) #15
- Suicide Squad (1987) #27
- Checkmate (1988) #16
- Suicide Squad (1987) #28
- Checkmate (1988) # 17
- Manhunter (1988) #14
- Firestorm (1982) #86
- Suicide Squad (1987) #29
- Checkmate (1988) #18
- Suicide Squad (1987) #30
- Captain Atom (1987) #30
After SS ‘87 ended, their next main book would be Suicide Squad (2001). This series would spin out of the Our Worlds At War crossover, and is set during the time period when Lex Luthor is the U.S. President and Amanda Waller is the Director of Metahuman Affairs. It is collected as Suicide Squad: Casualties of War, published in 2021. This one has much less Waller in it, and is only loosely connected in the final issues to anything that came before it.
The Squad’s last titular series would be Suicide Squad (2007). This book is set during Amanda Waller’s time in Checkmate, and details the Squad’s involvement in Operation: Salvation Run. It was collected in 2008 as Suicide Squad: From the Ashes. Lots of past Squad members return for this one. If this run really grabs you, you can also read Salvation Run (2008). It was collected under the same name in 2008.
Checkmate
Checkmate has had two primary runs in the post-Crisis, New Earth continuity. The first is Checkmate (1988), which covers the Harry Stein era of Checkmate. It ran for 33 issues, with the Janus Directive crossover happening roughly halfway through. This run follows from Checkmate’s first appearance in Action Comics (1938) #598, also in 1988.
Checkmate pops up a few times during the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive comic arcs. These arcs are too long for me to detail them all out here, but they were both collected in 2014 as self-titular books. For Checkmate specific issues, check out Detective Comics (1937) #768-777. This arc deals with David Said working as a Knight for Checkmate, and the organization’s recruitment of Sasha Bordeaux. If you want to see Said working as King, that’s in Gotham Knights (1999) #37-40.
Checkmate would receive its major revamp in 2005, with Maxwell Lord as King. This saga is chronicled in Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005) #1, The OMAC Project (2005) #1-6, and Infinite Crisis Special: The OMAC Project (2005) #1.
After the events of The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis, Checkmate would be rechartered as a U.N. organization and receive a new self-titled ongoing series. Checkmate (2006) would run for 31 issues. This series would crossover with Outsiders (2003) with the story CheckOut, which would run
- Checkmate (2006) #13
- Outsiders (2003) #47
- Checkmate (2006) #14
- Outsiders (2003) #48
- Checkmate (2006) #15
- Outsiders (2003) #49
Checkmate (2005) #1-25 is collected, including the CheckOut crossover, in Checkmate by Greg Rucka Books 1 and 2, published in 2017 and 2018, respectively. #26-31 is collected in Checkmate: Chimera published 2009.
Cadmus
Okay, I’m going to cheat a bit here. Before Crisis happened, Jack Kirby created the DNA Project in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen (1937) #135. You can read that in Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby published 2019. A lot of this stayed on after Crisis, and it’s Kirby, so that’s fun.
In New Earth, if you want to read about Cadmus, I sort of have to recommend The Death and Return of Superman story arc. The thing is, that story is giant, and I can’t list all the Cadmus stuff individually. If you’re interested, DC reprinted the entire arc over four books in 2016. These are The Death of Superman, Funeral for a Friend, Reign of the Supermen, and The Return of Superman. This chronicles Cadmus’ response to Superman’s death and the subsequent debut of Superboy. If you’re interested specifically in Superboy’s first appearance escaping Cadmus, that’s in Adventures of Superman (1987) #500.
The Battle for Metropolis and Fall of Metropolis feature Cadmus’ clone virus and its subsequent fallout:
- Action Comics (1938) #699
- Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #34
- Superman (1987) #90
- Adventures of Superman (1987) #513
- Action Comics (1938) #700
- Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #35
- Superman (1987) #91
- Adventures of Superman (1987) #514
- Action Comics (1938) #701
Cadmus continues to pop up through Superboy (1994), which is unfortunately generally uncollected. The first ten issues, as well as the Zero Hour #0 special, were collected in 2018 as Superboy: Trouble in Paradise. You can see Superboy suffering from the clone plague a bit in there, which is a nice bit of continuity, though the series doe not officially crossover.
A.P.E.S.
This group exclusively shows up in the pages of Young Justice (1998), which ran for 56 issues. The entire run is collected in five books, published 2017-2020.
Department of Extranormal Operations
The DEO first shows up in Batman (1940) #550, which is also Cameron Chase’s first appearance. This issue serves as a sort of “backdoor pilot” to Chase (1998), which ran for 9 regular issues and a DC One Million tie-in. This series dealt with Chase’s adventures as an agent of the DEO. Cameron Chase and Director Bones would later become major supporting characters in Manhunter (2004).
Evidence of the DEO’s research camps, orphanages, and training groups can be found in various titles. Notably, Young Justice (1998), Relative Heroes (2000), and Titans (1999).
Wonder Woman’s adventures as Diana Prince, agent of the Department of Metahuman Affairs are chronicled in Wonder Woman (2006). The DMA is heavily involved in the “Amazons Attack” storyline that runs #6-13, but be forewarned, that arc is not exactly… loved… by Wonder Woman fans. The story “Who Is Wonder Woman,” which runs #1-5 is good, and Gail Simone’s acclaimed run starts at #14. Make of that information what you will.
Spyral
As previously mentioned, Spyral has a bit of a funny publication history, debuting in the New Earth continuity, but then being largely fleshed out in the post-Flashpoint continuity that directly follows from the pre-Flashpoint timeline.
Spyral first appears in Batman Incorporated (2011) #4. The group would continue to appear through Batman Incorporated (2012). Spyral features prominently in Grayson (2014), in which Dick Grayson is forced to give up the Nightwing identity and becomes an agent of Spyral throughout the comic’s twenty issue run, concluding in Nightwing: Rebirth (2016) #1.
