Original Valiant Comics Universe Full Reading Order

The Valiant Universe is an independent superhero universe created in the 1990s by Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith, Steve Englehart, and dozens of other excellent comic creators. The idea was to take a trio of forgotten heroes from the Gold Key Comics library (Magnus Robot Fighter, Turok Son of Stone, and Dr. Solar Man of the Atom) and use them as the launching point for an entire universe of superheroes. From this, heroes such as X-O Manowar, Ninjak, Bloodshot, Shadowman, and others spawned and a wonderful shared universe was born. I am a massive fan of the original Valiant universe. I managed to collect a full run of every title through several years of hunting at conventions and shops. That being said, I do not think the popular fan-made reading order is an ideal tool for most readers, especially new readers. It is based on publication date which leads to many stories and crossovers between one or two titles to be broken up with a half dozen issues in between. This leads to confusion and a feeling that the story moves at a snail's pace. As a result, I decided to make my own reading order which preserves the individual stories without breaking up reading rhythm. For ease of reading, I have split the order up into omnibus-sized "chunks". I hope this is useful to those interested in diving into one of the most unique universes in comics history. 

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 1: The Birth of Valiant

• Magnus Robot Fighter 0-4
• Magnus Robot Fighter 5/Rai 1 (Flipbook)
• Magnus Robot Fighter 6/Rai 2 (Flipbook)
• Magnus Robot Fighter 7/Rai 3 (Flipbook)
• Magnus Robot Fighter 8/Rai 4 (Flipbook)
• Solar: Man of the Atom “Alpha and Omega” (pull-out feature in Solar: Man of the Atom 1-10)
• Solar: Man of the Atom 1-7
• X-O Manowar 1-3
• Harbinger 0-4
• X-O Manowar 4-6
• Magnus Robot Fighter 9-12
• Shadowman 1-3
• Solar: Man of the Atom 8-11
• Harbinger 5-7
• Magnus Robot Fighter “Trial and Error” (pull-out feature in Magnus Robot Fighter 12)
• Magnus Robot Fighter 13-14
• Archer and Armstrong 0

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 2: Unity

• Rai (Ongoing series) 1-5
• Unity 0
• Eternal Warrior 1
• Archer and Armstrong 1
• Magnus Robot Fighter 15
• X-O Manowar 7
• Shadowman 4
• Rai 6
• Harbinger 8
• Solar: Man of the Atom 12
• Eternal Warrior 2
• Archer and Armstrong 2
• Magnus Robot Fighter 16
• X-O Manowar 8
• Shadowman 5
• Rai 7
• Harbinger 9
• Solar: Man of the Atom 13
• Unity 1
• Unity: The Lost Chapter
• Rai 8
• Archer and Armstrong 3-6
• Magnus Robot Fighter 17-19
• Solar: Man of the Atom 14-16
• X-O Manowar 9-12
• Solar: Man of the Atom 17
• X-O Manowar 13
• Solar: Man of the Atom 18
• Shadowman 6-8
• Harbinger 10-13
• H.A.R.D. Corps 1-4
• Predator vs Magnus Robot Fighter 1-2
• Rai 0
• Eternal Warrior 3-5
• Magnus Robot Fighter 20

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 3: The Rise of Darque

• Bloodshot 1-3
• H.A.R.D. Corps 5
• Shadowman 9-12
• Eternal Warrior 6-7
• Archer and Armstrong 7
• Archer and Armstrong/Eternal Warrior 8 (Double book)
• X-O Manowar 14-15
• Solar: Man of the Atom 19-20
• Harbinger 14-17
• Eternal Warrior 9-10
• Archer and Armstrong 9-10
• Solar: Man of the Atom 21-23
• Harbinger 18-20
• X-Manowar 16-20, 0
• Shadowman 13-16
• Archer and Armstrong 11-15
• H.A.R.D. Corps 6-9

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 4: The War for the Year 4002

• Magnus Robot Fighter 21-24
• Bloodshot 4
• Rai and the Future Force 9
• Magnus Robot Fighter 25
• Bloodshot 5
• Rai and the Future Force 10-14
• Magnus Robot Fighter 26-29
• Rai and the Future Force 15
• Magnus Robot Fighter 30
• Rai and the Future Force 16
• Magnus Robot Fighter 31
• Rai and the Future Force 17
• Magnus Robot Fighter 32
• Rai and the Future Force 18
• Magnus Robot Fighter 33
• Rai and the Future Force 19
• Magnus Robot Fighter 34
• Rai and the Future Force 20
• Magnus Robot Fighter 35
• Rai and the Future Force 21
• Magnus Robot Fighter 36
• Rai and the Future Force 22
• Magnus Robot Fighter 37
• Rai and the Future Force 23
• Magnus Robot Fighter 38
• Rai and the Future Force 24
• Magnus Robot Fighter 39
• Rai and the Future Force 25
• Magnus Robot Fighter 40
• Magnus Robot Fighter/Nexus 1-2
• Magnus Robot Fighter Yearbook 1

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 5: Deathmate

• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 1-3
• Bloodshot 6-7
• Solar: Man of the Atom 24-25
• Secret Weapons 1-2
• Solar: Man of the Atom 26-28
• Harbinger 21-22
• X-O Manowar 21
• Harbinger 23-25
• X-O Manowar 22-24
• Bloodshot 8-10
• Eternal Warrior 11-16
• Secret Weapons 3
• Bloodshot 11
• Deathmate Prologue
• Deathmate Green (Preview)
• Deathmate Red
• Deathmate Pink/Orange (Preview)
• Deathmate Yellow
• Deathmate Blue
• Deathmate Black
• Deathmate Epilogue

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 6: The Universe Expands Part One

• Shadowman 17-19
• Archer and Armstrong 16-18
• Eternals Warrior 17-19, Yearbook 1993
• H.A.R.D Corps 10-13
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 4-9
• Secret Weapons 4
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 1-2
• Solar: Man of the Atom 30-32
• Secret Weapons 5-7
• Harbinger 26-28
• Secret Weapons 8
• Harbinger 29
• Armorines 0/X-O Manowar 25 (Flipbook)
• X-O Manowar 26-29
• H.A.R.D. Corps 14-16
• Bloodshot 12-14, 0

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 7: The Universe Expands Part Two

• Valiant Era Companion 1
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 10-15
• Shadowman 20-22
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 3-5
• Shadowman 23
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 6-7
• Shadowman 24
• Archer and Armstrong 19-22
• Shadowman 0
• Archer and Armstrong 23-24
• Eternal Warrior 20-24
• Archer and Armstrong 25
• Eternal Warrior 25
• Armorines 1-3
• Harbinger Files 1
• H.A.R.D. Corps 17-18
• Harbinger 30
• H.A.R.D. Corps 19
• Harbinger 31
• H.A.R.D. Corps 20
• Harbinger 32
• Bloodshot 15
• Secret Weapons 9-10
• Bloodshot 16-19
• Armorines 4
• Darque Passages 1

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 8: The Chaos Effect

• Ninjak 1-4
• X-O Manowar 30-32
• Ninjak 5-7
• Solar: Man of the Atom 33-37
• Shadowman 25-28
• Harbinger 33
• H.A.R.D. Corps 21-22
• Secret Weapons 11-12
• Bloodshot Yearbook 1
• The Secret Life of Doctor Mirage 8-10
• Secrets of the Valiant Universe 1
• Psi-Lords 1-2
• The Chaos Effect: Alpha
• Shadowman 29
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 11
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 16
• Secrets of the Valiant Universe 2
• Bloodshot 20
• Secret Weapons 13
• Ninjak 8
• Eternal Warrior 26/Archer and Armstrong 26 (Double book)
• Harbinger 34
• Armorines 5
• X-O Manowar 33
• H.A.R.D. Corps 23
• Solar: Man of the Atom 38
• Psi-Lords 3
• Rai 26
• Magnus Robot Fighter 41
• The Chaos Effect: Omega
• The Chaos Effect: Epilogue 1-2

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 9: End of the 41st Century

• Psi-Lords 4-7
• Destroyer 0
• Psi-Lords 8-10
• Secrets of the Valiant Universe 3
• Rai 27-28
• Magnus Robot Fighter 42-46
• Rai 29-33
• Magnus Robot Fighter 47-64

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 10: Chaos Lingers

• Timewalker 1-5
• Eternal Warrior 27
• Geomancer 1-2
• Eternal Warrior 28-32
• Geomancer 3-4
• H.A.R.D. Corps 24-26
• Bloodshot 21-23
• Turok Yearbook 1, 17-20
• X-O Manowar 34-36
• Secret Weapons 14-18
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 12-15
• Armorines 6-8
• Ninjak Yearbook 1, 9-12
• Harbinger 34-37, Files 2
• Solar: Man of the Atom 39-41
• Shadowman Yearbook 1, 30-34

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 11: Birthquake

• X-O Manowar Yearbook 1, ½, 37-40
• Shadowman 35-36
• X-O Manowar 41
• Shadowman 37-38
• Eternal Warrior 33-35, Yearbook 2
• H.A.R.D. Corps 27-30
• Bloodshot 24-26
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 20-23
• Secret Weapons 19
• Bloodshot 27
• Secret Weapons 20
• Bloodshot 28
• Secret Weapons 21
• Bloodshot 29
• The Second Life of Doctor Mirage 16-18
• Armorines 9-12
• Geomancer 5-8
• Harbinger 38-41

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 12: The Visitor

• The Visitor vs the Valiant Universe 1-2
• Timewalker 6-9
• Ninjak 13-17
• The Visitor 1-2
• Solar: Man of the Atom 42-45
• X-O Manowar 43-48
• Shadowman 39-43
• Timewalker 10-15, 0
• Eternal Warrior 36-40
• The Visitor 3-13

Valiant Universe Omnibus Vol 13: Decline of the Valiant Universe Part One

• Bloodshot 30-35
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 24-27
• Ninjak 18-21, 0, 00
• Solar: Man of the Atom 46-54
• X-O Manowar 49, 50-X, 50-O, 51-56
• Eternal Warrior 41-50