Thunderbolts: Civil War to Dark Reign
Warren Ellis · Christos Gage · Andy Diggle · Jeff Parker · Mike Deodato Jr.
Story era 08 · Wars on Every Front
Ellis, Diggle and Parker follow the Thunderbolts through Civil War and Dark Reign, with Norman Osborn central to the team’s changing purpose.
Setup & reading order
- After Thunderbolts #75 in classic Omnibus Vol. 3
Read Thunderbolts #76–81 in Dark Reign, return to classic Vol. 3 for Avengers/Thunderbolts #1–6, New Thunderbolts #1–18, Thunderbolts #100–109, and Zemo: Born Better, then resume Dark Reign at #110.
Optional context & path
Path: Thunderbolts. Related projects that read well in this order; the order is a suggestion, not a requirement.
Useful background and earlier stops: Thunderbolts by Busiek & Nicieza · Bendis Avengers Phase 1 · Bendis Avengers Phase 2 — Secret Invasion to Siege.
Only required setup and earlier volumes in the same project affect the queue. Everything here is optional.
About these books · 4 sources
Publisher and reference pages describe the editions. Reviews and reader discussions offer different views of the stories.
- r/OmnibusCollectors — Thunderbolts: Dark Reign omnibus proxy review (opens in a new tab)Readers
- the m0vie blog — Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato Jr. Thunderbolts retrospective (opens in a new tab)Critics and editors
- Penguin Random House — Thunderbolts: Dark Reign Omnibus (opens in a new tab)Publisher
- Grand Comics Database — Thunderbolts (1997) series (opens in a new tab)Reference
The books
Thunderbolts: Dark Reign Omnibus
Book 1 of 1 · Wars on Every Front
Thunderbolts #76–81 connects the earlier team to the later Civil War and Dark Reign stories in #110–143.
See reading checkpoints9781302968618Planned edition#76–81, #110–143#1#1#1#1#1–5#8–9#7–9#1#1Collects two separated stretches of the title (#76–81 and #110 onward); the reading checkpoint interleaves it with Thunderbolts Omnibus Vol. 3 in publication order.
Edition sources
Each ISBN identifies a specific printing and cover. “Owned copy” identifies the edition on my shelf; “Planned edition” identifies the edition listed for collecting.
Duplication across this project
These books share full issues or parts of issues with other books in the plan. Open the lists below to see which stories repeat.
Show exact issues
Secret Warriors (2009) #7Secret Warriors (2009) #8Secret Warriors (2009) #9Show source issues
Civil War: The Initiative (2007) #1Things to know
- Reception is strongest for the Ellis/Gage/Diggle core and weaker for the omnibus’s final stretch.
- The Civil War and Dark Reign volume interrupts classic Vol. 3’s chronology, with one reading checkpoint preserving publication order.