Absolute All-Star Superman Tops DC Fall 2010 Trade List, Batman: Widening Gyre, and Levitz/Giffen Legion

 ·  17 comments

New trade paperback solicitations starting to roll in for the end of 2010! Let's see what we've got ...

* Absolute All Star Superman

We've been predicting this one ever since DC released All-Star Superman in separate hardcovers; finally All-Star Superman gets the oversized treatment it deserves (and I can finally read it!).

* Batman: The Widening Gyre

The next volume of Kevin Smith's current take on Batman arrives in September, along with the paperback of Batman: Cacophony. I've heard mixed reviews of these books, but obviously DC seems content to let Smith have a go at it for a while.

* Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Prologue to Darkness

I had thought this was the beginning of a series collecting the Keith Giffen "five years later" Legion series, but I see now this is a collection of the Paul Levitz and Giffen run prior to the acclaimed "Great Darkness Saga." (But a collection of the "five years later" stories would be good, too). My other theory was that Giffen could shortly be joining Levitz on the new Legion of Super-Heroes series, and this could be the first collection of that.

* Luthor

Following their successful Joker graphic novel, Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo return with Luthor. The two already did a take on Lex Luthor, Man of Steel, with which I wasn't terribly impressed; maybe with the success of Joker, DC will give them a longer leash on this new book. Part of Joker's success, I thought, was proximity to the Dark Knight movie; I wonder if Luthor can stand on its own without an equal push.

* Starman Omnibus Vol. 5

Writer Sterling Gates congratulated DC Comics Collected Editions editor Anton Kawasaki on the Starman Omnibuses the other day, and indeed the praise is well deserved -- these books are beautiful, and these books are complete. Probably the fifth volume collects the trade paperbacks A Starry Knight and Stars My Destination, issues #47-60, before the sixth volume finishes it out.

* Superman: Nightwing & Flamebird Vol. 2

* Superman: Mon-El - Man of Valor

* Supergirl: Death and the Family


As I speculated the other day, here's the final Nightwing and Flamebird and Mon-El volumes that, along with Superman: New Krypton Vol. 4, close out the "New Krypton" storyline. Next up, "Brainiac and The Legion of Super-Heroes," "The Fall of New Krypton," and "War of the Supermen."

* Batman: Streets of Gotham Vol. 2: Leviathan

* Batman: Life After Death

* Red Robin: Collision


I might pass on the "substitute Batman" stories for now, short of Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin, but I'm sorely tempted to get Batman: Life After Death by Tony Daniel, since he single-handedly wrote and drew Batman: Battle for the Cowl, and I'm interested to see how he follows it up. Likely Red Robin: Collision includes Batgirl issues after the first trade of that series.

* Secret Six Vol. 3: Danse Macabre

* Power Girl Vol. 2: Aliens & Apes

* Wonder Woman: Contagion

* JSA All-Stars: Constellations

* R.E.B.E.L.S. Vol. 3: The Son and the Stars


Trade collection of ongoing series as expected. Wonder Woman now firmly in paperback; JSA All-Stars gets its first collection, but I continue to wonder if the JSA franchise can support two titles.

So, Absolute All-Star Superman, eh? A bevy of Bat-books to choose from? What's on your to-buy list (and for that matter, what have you dropped lately)?

Comments ( 17 )

  1. ToastedBagelFebruary 02, 2010

    The three main bat-books for sure. Damn you Paul Dini for being so awesome! and I can't miss Red Robin. Worried about buying tony daniel's batman in HC though... wondering about SC schedule?

    I'll leave the widening gyre for later, when I already have the continuity-heavy books.

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  2. Excellent news the Legion trade! I've been waiting this for a while and now finally I can (or hope to) collect the whole Levitz's Legion. I'm hoping the carry on collecting his run.

    Also, I wonder how and where it will be collected the co-feature of JSA All Stars...

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  3. Absolute All-Star Superman? Yes yes YES! And I thought we'd see it in 2011 at the earliest!

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  4. I wonder if S6:DM will include the Suicide Squad #67 as well. It would be nice because if not I'd have to buy the volume collecting the other resurrected titles as well. I can't imagine it wouldn't be included.

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  5. So glad they're finally publishing the Absolute All-Star Superman; I've been holding out on the trades forever.

    Tony Daniel's post BftC Batman work has been excellent, I would definitely reccomend checking it out.

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  6. Still no Absolute Batman: Dark Victory or a new printing of Batman: Year One Deluxe Hardcover? Meh, here's hoping for em being released when the next batfilm comes.

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  7. Is there a chance to see the source of this information? I'm interested in the actual solicitations and which issues are collected. Thanks!

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  8. Spooky, considering the release dates on a lot of those books being well into the year, I wouldn't hold my breath on official solicitations until a couple of months.

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  9. I noticed a John Ostrander credit on the new Secret Six trade; I don't know if that's the Deadshot profile issue, or indeed the Suicide Squad issue will be cross-collected. I don't favor that myself, as I think it's a slippery slope that leads to unnecessary double-collecting (as with the Tales of the Sinestro Corps issue).

    Was maybe going to get Absolute Superman For Tomorrow next holiday, but now I have to consider Absolute All-Star Superman instead. I know which one you all recommend ...

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  10. I'm pretty sure the Suicide Squad issue will be collected in the Secret Six trade. From what I've heard, it's a part of the following small arc. I'm usually a bit iffy on double collecting as well, but I don't mind it when it's an ongoing series collecting it's tie-in or highly relevant issue (see Marvel's "Dark Reign: The List" for one example, as leaving the Punisher issue out of a regular Punisher collection would be stupidly ridiculous considering what happens in it.

    Going with Tony Daniels "Life and Death", but I think I'm otherwise skipping the substitute Batman stories as well when they hit softcover, at least for a good while. Morrisons Batman & Robin is the only one that seems to be really doing anything interesting or great with the concept, which is part of the reason it's best The Man is returning sooner rather than later.

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  11. Did you miss this...
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401226973/ref=pd_luc_sim_01_02
    ... Or was it me who missed your mentioning it on some previous entry?

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  12. I haven't seen you post the solicitation for Team-ups of the Brave and the Bold (Hardcover) by J. Michael Straczynski (Author), Jesus Saiz (Illustrator)
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401227937/ref=oss_product

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  13. Actually, the biggest news for me is Joe Casey and Dustin Nguyen's Wildcats Version 3.0 Year One, which implies that the second half of that awesome, awesome series will finally be collected.

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  14. You missed the Second Half of Astro City: The Dark Age and the next Jonah Hex trade

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  15. Thanks for the additional information. Note that these are highlights, so items not mentioned aren't "missed," per se; they just might not have had resonance for me personally. If you see ones I didn't mention that are meaningful to you, please don't hesitate to chime in and tell me what you're looking forward to.

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  16. You are quite right, of course. It would be absurd for you (not to mention nearly impossible) to provide an exhaustive tracking of all paperbacks and hardcovers coming our way, so I understand you are just focusing on those you find of special relevance.
    It just stroke me as odd that the SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN hardcover wasn't one of them, and that's why I wondered aloud if maybe it could have skipped your radar, or maybe it was me who had missed here in some previous entry on your blog.
    Congratulations on your work, and thank you for sharing it with us.

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  17. Of course you know I appreciate the suggestions, jmm -- sometimes indeed I have missed something, and I love the head's up!

    As for Superman: Secret Origin, though, you must've missed Collected Editions class that day; here's our take on it:

    http://collectededitions.blogspot.com/2009/09/deluxe-format-for-johnsfranks-superman.html

    You're coming back two weeks from Wednesday for our fifth anniversary bash, right?

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