Age of Darkness and Realm War: the road to Grimm Fairy Tales #100

Age of Darkness and Realm War: the road to Grimm Fairy Tales #100 Spoiler note: I've finished the original Grimm Fairy Tales run through #125 and Realm War, but I'm only partway through Wonderland #32. I'm keeping later Wonderland plots and V2 out of this. The side books are reading options, without their endings explained. This era covers the buildup after Unleashed, the Age of Darkness event, and its continuation in Realm War. The most important interruption to the main numbering comes between #98 and #99: three separate specials carry the first three parts of Realms Fall. Reading only #94–100 skips those chapters. The other important boundary is #100 → Realm War #1–12 → #101. Arcane Acre begins one year after Realm War. The books overlapped in publication, which is why jumping straight from #100 to #101 can feel as though a story is missing. The #101 recap states the time jump directly. [Creator's #101 preview](https://t.co/kINylqdzi5) MAIN READING ORDER 1. Grimm Fairy Tales #86–90. These follow Unleashed in the story, even though the original releases overlapped that event. 2. Realm Knights #1–4, if following the team branch. Read the separate 2013 Realm Knights one-shot first if it was not already covered. These are different from the 2014 Age of Darkness one-shot below. 3. Optional story extras: Wounded Warriors Special (2013) → Grimm Fairy Tales 2013 Halloween Special → Grimm Fairy Tales 2013 Holiday Edition. Then Grimm Fairy Tales #91–93. This is a convenient grouped placement for the specials, not another numbered crossover. 4. The Dark Queen: Age of Darkness one-shot, then Grimm Fairy Tales #94–98. The optional buildup branches below can be read around this block without alternating every issue. 5. Grimm Fairy Tales #0, the 2014 Free Comic Book Day edition. This is the event-era #0, not a prelude to the 2005 first issue. 6. Grimm Fairy Tales 2014 Annual. Realms Fall, part 1. 7. Realm Knights: Age of Darkness one-shot. Realms Fall, part 2. 8. Grimm Fairy Tales 2014 Giant-Sized Edition. Realms Fall, part 3. 9. Grimm Fairy Tales #99, then #100. These finish the Realms Fall sequence. If following the Wonderland branch below, read Wonderland #24–25 here before Realm War. 10. Realm War: Age of Darkness #1–12. This completes the main event before Arcane Acre. 11. Optional wartime catch-up: Inferno: Rings of Hell #1–3; Cinderella: Age of Darkness #1–3; White Queen: Age of Darkness #1–3. These take place during the war. For an expanded reread, a fan chronology groups them between Realm War #6 and #7, but that is not a verified mandatory crossover sequence. They can be read separately after finishing Realm War. [Expanded community order](https://t.co/lCCc6xDb1u) Keep steps 6–9 in that order. The publisher's release checklist is useful for identifying event books, but its monthly schedule is not itself the narrative order. The Realm Knights one-shot is explicitly indexed as Realms Fall part 2. [Publisher's contemporary release checklist](https://t.co/pUezrgPZFX), [issue record](https://t.co/ByoN5JWPo4) OPTIONAL BUILDUP BRANCHES These expand the event without turning every book carrying an Age of Darkness banner into a required chapter. Finish whichever branches you want before the Realms Fall run, except for Wonderland #24–25 and the explicitly flagged Oz option. • Myst: Quest #1–5. Read as a complete mini before the event's final push. • Britney: Code Red #1–5. • Robyn: Robyn Hood: Wanted #1–5 → Robyn Hood: Age of Darkness one-shot → Robyn Hood: Legend #1–5. If starting her story from scratch, the original Robyn Hood #1–5 and Robyn Hood vs. Red Riding Hood come earlier. Do not put Legend before the Age of Darkness one-shot. [Robyn reading order](https://t.co/b9FGyQXTKF) • Neverland: Neverland: Age of Darkness #1–4, after the earlier Neverland and Neverland: Hook stories. • Gods and other event players: Ascension #1–5; Godstorm: Hercules Payne #1–5; Helsing #1–4. These are complete side stories, not alternating chapters of Realms Fall. Godstorm: Age of Darkness, Inferno: Age of Darkness and The Dark One: Age of Darkness are separate one-shots to add before the final event run. • Wonderland: Wonderland #11–15 → Down the Rabbit Hole #1–5 → Through the Looking Glass #1–5 → Wonderland #16–23 → Wonderland: Asylum #1–5 → Clash of Queens #1–5 → Wonderland: Age of Darkness one-shot → Wonderland #24–25. Hold Wonderland #24–25 until after GFT #100 in the combined route. White Queen #1–3 belongs to the Realm War catch-up above. No need to read beyond Wonderland #25 for this era. [Wonderland guide](https://t.co/uWZHnmdSBy) • Oz: preserve the branch order Oz #1–6 → Warlord of Oz #1–6 → Oz: Reign of the Witch Queen #1–6. Tales from Oz Vols. 1–2 are optional background. Oz: Age of Darkness was released during the event but looks ahead in the Oz branch; for an Oz-first, spoiler-conscious read, save that one-shot until after the trilogy. That is a reading recommendation rather than a claim that all the books were released in this order. [Oz guide](https://t.co/0Ggo60LFOR) TRADE ROUTE AND DUPLICATES • Age of Darkness Vol. 1: The Dark Queen one-shot and GFT #94–98. • Vol. 2: Robyn Hood, Inferno and The Dark One Age of Darkness one-shots. • Vol. 3: Oz, Wonderland and Godstorm Age of Darkness one-shots. • Vol. 4: the 2014 FCBD #0, Annual, Realm Knights one-shot, Giant-Sized Edition, and GFT #99–100. This is the main collection for the missing Realms Fall chapters. • Vol. 5: Inferno: Rings of Hell #1–3, Cinderella #1–3 and White Queen #1–3. It is a war-era side collection, not a replacement for Realm War. • Realm War Vol. 1 covers #1–6; Vol. 2 covers #7–12. Check the actual contents if an edition lists #6 twice. Read a trade or its constituent singles, not both as new chapters. Neither Age of Darkness Vols. 1–5 nor Realm War collects every optional mini listed above. [Zenescope Vols. 1–2 catalog](https://t.co/zfBS9GzxLd), [Zenescope Vol. 3](https://t.co/6xFQX8Jj6h), [Vol. 4 contents](https://t.co/5KFXTxyZpA), [Zenescope Vol. 5](https://t.co/ith6ug2XM5)