DC Relaunch: Trade-Waiting at the End of the Universe

 ·  29 comments


Yeah, yeah, DC Comics relaunch, new #1s, nothing will ever be the same ... but what about the trades?!

The post-Flashpoint reboot, like the "One Year Later" break after Infinite Crisis, is a simultaneous event affecting all DC titles; as just about all DC titles will reach a story conclusion just before the new #1s, this must necessarily affect how they're collected. And I'd be pretty surprised if DC wants to collect pre-Flashpoint stories with post-Flashpoint stories (though they did collect pre- and post-"One Year Later" stories together).

So we're in for a tidy bunch of trades that end the ongoing DC Comics plotlines before the new books emerge, right?

Wrong.

Before I started researching, my guess was that things were probably pretty clean. All the ongoing DC stories are wrapping up in August, so chances are August is a precise stopping point for DC's trades, too, right?

Unfortunately, no. Not to spread panic, but things on the collections front look very messy, worrisomely so. I have significant concerns about certain books and issues never seeing collections to wrap up their storylines.

Let's jump in to it. The list below reflects the book's title, the most recently solicited collection, and the book's collection status, Dancing With the Stars-style -- safe, or still in jeopardy. I'll say right now, of the thirty-eight books I'm profiling, only a handful of them seem safe to me, including Action Comics, Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash. That's a lot of collections unaccounted for.

Action Comics (Superman: Reign of Doomsday)
Safe

The "Reign of Doomsday" storyline concludes in Action Comics #904, and indications are that all the Action Comics issues of this will be collected together (if not Superboy, Outsiders, Justice League, and others).

Adventure Comics
In Jeopardy

Adventure Comics ends its "Legion Academy" storyline with issue #529. The Legion of Super-Heroes: Consequences trade collects up to Adventure Comics #522; no collection is yet solicited for Adventure Comics #523-529.

Batgirl (Batgirl: The Lesson)
In Jeopardy

Batgirl: The Flood collected through issue #14 of that series. Batgirl ends with issue #24, leaving ten issues (from #15-24) still to be collected; that's just on the high end of what DC tends to collect, and I'd be surprised if two more Batgirl Stephanie Brown trades are in the offing since this series gets a Barbara Gordon reboot post-Flashpoint. One to watch, with the concern being that DC might not finish collecting this Batgirl series at all.

Batman (Batman: Eye of the Beholder)
In Jeopardy

Issue #703 appears in the Batman: Time and the Batman collection; afterward, Tony Daniel writes and draws this series from issue #704 to 712, and then Fabian Nicieza finishes it off with issue #713 in August. There is a Batman: Eye of the Beholder collection solicited that will collect some of these issues, but again, ten issues in a collection is a lot. Do we risk DC might not collected issue #713, or more? I'm skeptical that DC would include these issues in a collection of Tony Daniel's new Detective Comics, so this one's got me worried.

Batman and Robin (Batman and Robin: Batman Must Die)
In Jeopardy

The last-solicited Batman and Robin collection was Grant Morrison's Batman Must Die (collecting up to issue #16); the book concludes in August after stories by Peter Tomasi, Judd Winick, and David Hine. It's unlikely DC will collect all eleven remaining issues into one book -- might they skip them all entirely, and just start collecting the series with the new #1?

Batman Beyond (Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond)
In Jeopardy

I have not seen a collection of the regular issues of the Adam Beechen series solicited since the Hush Beyond miniseries. DC's publication of a Superman Beyond #0 special suggested that the Batman Beyond universe was here to stay, but we don't have confirmation yet that Batman Beyond survives the DC relaunch. Until we see such, I think there's a danger that the eight issues of Batman Beyond leading up to August might not be collected.

Batman Inc. (Batman Inc. Vol. 1 Deluxe)
Safe

There's a deluxe Batman Inc. collection solicited, but no word yet on whether it collects all ten issues of Batman Inc.'s first "season," as Grant Morrison recently called it. Of all the series, I think this is the safest bet that we'll see all the issues collected, especially with Batman Inc. returning in 2012.

Batman: The Dark Knight
In Jeopardy

The Dark Knight will only reach five issues before it's relaunched with a new issue #1 in September. I think there's a good chance this will all be collected, but I'm less certain about it than, say, Batman Inc.

Birds of Prey (Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle)
In Jeopardy

Solicitations suggest Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle collects through issue #13 of this series, which marks writer Gail Simone's last issue before Marc Andreyko writes a two-part fill-in in issues #14-15, and then the title's rebooted in September. I think chances are high we won't see issues #14-15 collected at all.

Booster Gold (Booster Gold: Past Imperfect)
In Jeopardy

Past Imperfect collects the Keith Giffen/JM DeMattis run on Booster Gold to issue #38, though their stories continue until issue #43. Dan Jurgens writes the Booster Gold Flashpoint tie-in from #44 to August's #47. Though not yet solicited, I'm fairly sure we'll see a collection of the Dan Jurgens stories; whether the other issues will be collected or not is up in the air.

Detective Comics (Batman: The Black Mirror)
In Jeopardy

Of all the Bat-titles since Final Crisis, Detective Comics has had the most uneven collection route. Batwoman: Elegy collects Detective up to issue #860; then the three-part "Cutter" story by Greg Rucka from #861-#863 remains uncollected. Detective #864-865 appear in David Hine's Arkham Reborn collection; #866, an anniversary story coinciding with Batman #700, is uncollected; #867-880 is Hine's Batman: Imposters; and then #871-873, at least, is Scott Snyder's "Black Mirror" story. How much of #874 to August's Detective Comics #881 will be collected in the Black Mirror hardcover, I'm not sure, but all eleven issues is unlikely. Whether that means some stories will be uncollected, or whether some will appear with the collection of Snyder's new Batman stories remains to be seen.

Doom Patrol (Doom Patrol: Fire Away)
In Jeopardy

I'm about ninety-nine percent positive that Fire Away will include the final issues of the most recent Doom Patrol series (in the same general category as REBELS and Outsiders), else it's unlikely we'll see those collected.

Flash (Flash: The Road to Flashpoint)
Safe

One of our sure things, Flash: Road to Flashpoint collects Flash #8-12, ending just before the reboot.

Freedom Fighters
In Jeopardy

With no Freedom Fighters collections currently solicited for the newest iteration of the Jimmy Palmiotti/Justin Gray series, my guess is this will remain uncollected altogether.

Gotham City Sirens (Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit)
In Jeopardy

Strange Fruit collects Gotham City Sirens #14-20; August's last issue of Sirens is #26. Right now there's no final six-issue collection of Gotham City Sirens solicited, but for completion's sake, here's hoping.

Green Arrow (Green Arrow: Into the Woods)
In Jeopardy

So far DC has only solicited Green Arrow: Into the Woods, collecting the first six issues of JT Krul's new Green Arrow series. Which leaves #7-13 by Krul and #14-15 by James Patrick. With Green Arrow seemingly starting from scratch in the DC relaunch, is there any chance of those latter comics being collected? They're Brightest Day tie-ins, and guest star Swamp Thing, rumored to have his own DC relaunch series coming up; DC couldn't very well skip these, could they?!

Green Lantern (Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns)
Safe

War of the Green Lanterns stretches to August's issue #67 of the Green Lantern proper series, and I can't very well see DC not collecting all the issues of Green Lantern, so I think this one is safe.

Green Lantern Corps (Green Lantern Corps: The Weaponer)
In Jeopardy

The Weaponer predates War of the Green Lanterns, and that latter hardcover will no doubt include the Green Lantern Corps issues. Corps has three issues after War of the Green Lanterns leading up to the September relaunch however; maybe we'll see a War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath trade with the Aftermath miniseries and issues of Green Lantern Corps and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors Vol. 1)
In Jeopardy

The first Emerald Warriors trade is said to collect issues #1-6. If it were to collect #7 as well, that would lead right in to War of the Green Lanterns, and then #11-13 would remain to be collected, maybe with the War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath miniseries.

JSA All-Stars (JSA All-Stars: The Puzzle Men)
Safe

JSA All-Stars: Glory Days ends with issue #13; chances are Puzzle Men collects issues #14-18, finishing out this series.

Justice League of America (Justice League of America: Omega)
In Jeopardy

The Justice League: Dark Things hardcover collected this series through #48, leaving issues #48 through August's #60 currently uncollected; that's twelve issues, too much for one trade. Justice League: Omega likely collects at least the five part "Omega" storyline from #49-53; surely DC wouldn't leave issue #54-60's "Rise of Eclipso" storyline uncollected in favor of the new Justice League ... would they?

Justice Society of America (Justice Society of America: Supertown)
In Jeopardy

James Robinson wrote an epilogue to the JLA/JSA crossover in Justice Society #43; after that, Marc Guggenheim wrote issues #44 through to August's #54. We don't yet know how many issues Justice Society of America: Supertown collects, but chances are it's not all eleven of Guggenheim's issues -- will some of these go uncollected?

Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes: Consequences)
In Jeopardy

Legion of Super-Heroes concludes in August with issue #16. The Consequences trade collects through issue 10; there's no solicitation so far of a collection of issues #11-16.

Outsiders (Outsiders: The Great Divide)
In Jeopardy

Outsiders: The Great Divide is said to collect issues #32-37, the last of which is a "Reign of Doomsday" crossover issue. Outsiders ends at #40, however; will we find more issues in the trade, or will #38-40 remain uncollected?

Power Girl (Power Girl: Bomb Squad)
In Jeopardy

Power Girl: Bomb Squad collects writer Judd Winick's stories to issue #18, but Winick remains on the book until issue #25, and Matt Sturges finishes off the series with #26 and August's #27. Here's another where it remains to be seen whether there's another Power Girl trade in the offing, or if DC will just let it go with this one ahead of the relaunch.

REBELS (REBELS: Starstruck)
In Jeopardy

REBELS: Sons of Brainiac collects to issue #20. The great hope is that Starstruck collects #21-28, giving every issue of this series a collection.

Red Robin (Red Robin: Hit List)
In Jeopardy

Red Robin: Hit List ends with issue #17, taking place before Batman: Time and the Batman/The Return of Bruce Wayne. There's nine issues between this and August's #26; no guarantees if DC will collect those (despite that they include fan favorite Cassandra Cain) or just let this series drift away.

Secret Six (Secret Six: The Reptile Brain)
In Jeopardy

Secret Six: The Reptile Brain collects to issue #29; August's final issue before the reboot is #36. There's no trade of the last seven issues solicited so far.

Superboy (Superboy: Smallville Attacks)
In Jeopardy

There's a Superboy: Smallville Attacks collection solicited right now, though no word on the issues involved. If we omit #10, the "Reign of Doomsday" crossover, that leaves #1-5 and #7-11, ten issues ... the listings have this as 256 pages, so it's possible, though that's more issues than we usually find in a DC trade.

Supergirl (Supergirl: Good Looking Corpse)
In Jeopardy

The Supergirl: Bizarrogirl trade ends at issue #59; August's final issue before the reboot is #67. James Peaty's "Good Looking Corpse" storyline ends with issue #64; it remains to be seen whether we'll see Kelly Sue Deconnick's issues #65-67 collected, or whether they'll be skipped.

Superman (Superman: Grounded Vol. 2)
Safe

August's Superman #714 finishes the "Grounded" storyline; no doubt the second Grounded hardcover will take care of this.

Superman/Batman (Superman/Batman: Sorcerer Kings)
In Jeopardy

The solicited Superman/Batman: Sorcerer Kings will of course collect issues #81-84 by Cullen Bunn, though it remains to be seen whether this will also include Joshua Hale's "The Secret" from #85 to August's #87, or Chris Roberson's DC One Million story "World's Finest" from issues #79-80.

Teen Titans (Teen Titans: Team Building)
In Jeopardy

Teen Titans: The Hunt for Raven collects Teen Titans to issue #87; that leaves thirteen issues, of JT Krul's run, to August's #100. Chances are Team Building doesn't collect all thirteen issues, so either we'll see more than one trade or some issues will remain uncollected.

THUNDER Agents (THUNDER Agents Vol. 1)
In Jeopardy

There's ten issues of Nick Spencer's THUNDER Agents between the launch and August's reboot, more than are usually included in most DC collections.

Titans (Titans: Family Reunion)
In Jeopardy

Family Reunion collects Titans #28-32; the "Methuselah Imperative" storyline that follows goes to issue #38. Though not yet solicited, a Methuselah Imperative would collect those six issues plus the Titans Annual.

Weird Worlds (Weird Worlds)
Safe

Most likely collects the six issue miniseries.

Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman: Odyssey Vol. 2)
In Jeopardy

The Wonder Woman: Odyssey storyline is fifteen issues long; only one volume has been collected so far, but it's doubtful it'll contain the whole thing. A second Odyssey volume must be on the way, despite the character's relaunch.

Xombi
In Jeopardy

With no collections solicited so far, and the series ending in August with issue #6, my guess is this one will remain uncollected.

Zatanna (Zatanna: Shades of the Past)
In Jeopardy

Zatanna: Mistress of Magic collects issues #1-6, and the series ends before the relaunch with issue #16. There's a Zatanna: Shades of the Past series solicited, but it's unlikely it will collect the remaining ten issues; another risk these might remain uncollected.

So that's the outlook -- from my perspective, there's a lot more material from DC's current titles left to collect, or for collections thereof to be solicited, than I had thought was the case. With all signs pointing toward at least some of DC's continuity remaining in tact post-Flashpoint, I hope that means a good portion of these books will be collected. There were collection holes just before "One Year Later," so I'm guessing there will be some here, too.

Our friend Chris Marshall at the Collected Comics Library has a good overview of the state of DC's collections department pre-Flashpoint, too.

So, what do you think DC will collect? How's the DC Relaunch going for you? Chime in and let's discuss.

Comments ( 29 )

  1. Barbara Gordon back as Batgirl??.

    I liked Nightwing, but Dick was making a good job as Batman. I hope they get back to blue in his uniform. Red?. Don't like it. What will happen with Tim Drake?.

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  2. AnonymousJune 07, 2011

    They probably didn't solicit this stuff so that the relaunch would be a surprise. I'm sure they didn't want to say "collecting Adventure comics issues 523-529 ending its run and starting fresh in September with a new #1" before all these press releases. I remember seeing somewhere that DC will release september solicits on June 13th or something so we will have to wait until then. I just want the Legion stuff including Adventure comics, Booster and all the Green Lantern stuff collected.

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  3. With sincere apologies, we had a bug on the site, and I had to delete a bunch of comments that followed the ones above. Here they are, as best as I can recreate them:

    Xavico said...

    Barbara Gordon back as Batgirl??.

    I liked Nightwing, but Dick was making a good job as Batman. I hope they get back to blue in his uniform. Red?. Don't like it. What will happen with Tim Drake?.

    6/07/2011 11:04:00 AM

    Xavico said...

    Holly crap!!!. Does anybody knows if the pin on the link below is real!!!???.

    http://insidepulse.com/2011/05/31/its-official-dc-comics-to-relaunch-everything-in-september/wizard-magazine-136-teen-titans/

    Because if it is...

    NOOOO!!!

    6/07/2011 11:08:00 AM

    Anonymous said...

    They probably didn't solicit this stuff so that the relaunch would be a surprise. I'm sure they didn't want to say "collecting Adventure comics issues 523-529 ending its run and starting fresh in September with a new #1" before all these press releases. I remember seeing somewhere that DC will release september solicits on June 13th or something so we will have to wait until then. I just want the Legion stuff including Adventure comics, Booster and all the Green Lantern stuff collected.

    6/07/2011 11:23:00 AM

    Anonymous said...

    Xavico you have nothing to worry about. Wizard magazine after seeing the success of Marvel's Ultimate line thought that since DC probably wouldn't do an ultimate version of their universe had a little fun and created their own.

    ONCE AGAIN THAT LINK IS A WIZARD MAGAZINE FAKE FANFICTION OF SORTS.

    collectededitions said...

    That's right; I knew I'd seen that in Wizard before and that it wasn't "real" or pertinent to the current DC relaunch, but I couldn't remember what it was; Anonymous has got it.

    @Anon, I would grant that some collections news might be embargoed because of the DC Relaunch, but a lot of DC's collections plans through to the end of the year are solicited, and -- for instance -- a second volume of Krul's Green Arrow isn't part of it.

    Maybe June 13 will settle some of this, but I have some concern that a book like Krul's Green Arrow might not see a second collection, Swamp Thing's new series notwithstanding, if the Green Arrow series is being restarted.

    Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning back on Resurrection Man? Wow. I mean, wow.

    shagamu said...

    I think most of this stuff will be collected eventually. In fact, I'd qualify JLA: Rise of Eclipso, War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath, Wonder Woman: Odyssey vol. 2 and the last Secret Six trade as sure things.

    Mike said...

    I have a feeling that Green Arrow will have another collection with it containing AT LEAST #7 -12 (being brightest day tie ins).
    I think LOSH will have a 3rd trade with 11 - 16 and the LOSV special contained (that being a reasonable size for a trade).
    Although at lot of these series have have upto 13 issues uncollected so far but lets not forget that Green Lantern for the past couple of trades has collected 10 issues in each and most likely will do again for the War of the GL storyline. But it is debatable that theyd do that with every other dc series...Also pretty much every dc series last 7 or so issues will only be 20pgs long...thus condensing the trades further.

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  4. @shagmu - War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath, yes(ish), but the last issues of Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors (the Guy Gardner/Batman one-shot, for instance?), I'm not sure -- and I wish I shared your confidence about JLA: Rise of Eclipso and Secret Six, especially if JLA is getting a reboot and Secret Six may or may not still be in existence.

    Chances are they won't just leave the Wonder Woman: Odyssey story hanging with a single unfinished trade ... but with Wonder Woman rebooted, won't that collection be weird?

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  5. Regarding the main Batman trades; Batman #708 + #709 were part of a crossover with Red Robin and Gotham City Sirens and were not written by Tony S Daniel. I'm hoping they'll be skipped to have 7 Daniel issues in the Eye of the Beholder Trade.

    The Black Mirror Trade is said on Amazon to contain the 'Hungry City' storyline too, this takes us up to #880. #881 might be collected with post relaunch Nightwing looking at the solicit.

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  6. Do you think it will be collected with the new Nightwing series? Whereas with "One Year Later," some trades contained "before and after" stories (JSA, also Birds of Prey), this relaunch is so severe (new #1s) that I wonder if any old will be collected with the new at all.

    If it is, won't that be interesting? It's a clean break for monthly fans, but for trade-waiters, there would be an implied transition. Hmm ...

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  7. Yeah!. As a trade waiter I can see that this whole thing might be a mess, and that a lot of single issues are going to be left in the air.

    Good to know the pic in Wizard is a fake.

    The question remain though... what will happen with Tim Drake and Damian Wayne?.

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  8. @CE With Batman #881 I think it will be jarring whichever series it's collected with. If it's in with Nightwing it's true won't be the blank slate for new readers, but if Dick Grayson discards the cowl at the end of Daniel's run it will go against this strong new Batman character he's built.

    @ Xavico Damian Wayne is staying on as Robin according to the solicits, no word on Tim Drake yet :(

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  9. I didn't even think about how this would effect (or is it affect...I never know) trades, and it would be a damn shame if a lot of these didn't get collected. I don't follow or plan to follow most of those series but there are several that I would hate to lose. I never buy individual issues and I'd hate to have to start now.

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  10. Has anyone mentioned anything yet about the Vertigo series? I worry for John Constantine, Hellblazer, as Peter Milligan has been writing a very solid run since the past 2 years or so & I'd hate to see that go in favour of another DCU storyline

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  11. Doom Patrol: Fire Away was solicited to include up to issue #21. It's most likely that's an error and it will include the story and series finale issue #22. Safe!?!

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  12. I guess everything depends on how fast DC wants to put out the reboot material as hardcovers and paperbacks. If they actually change their policy and want to release the new stuff a lot earlier, then there will probably be gap of issues left uncollected.
    But if they keep their approach, then imho they will continue to publich the material before the reboot in trades because otherwise there would be a hole in their HC/TPB market share.

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  13. To keep stealing from Dancing With the Stars, in jeopardy doesn't necessarily mean "going home tonight," so to speak -- those could be safe, or maybe not. I'm really hopeful that Doom Patrol trade will turn out the way we want, but we can't quite call it safe yet; DC collected all of Peter Milligan's Infinity Inc. except the last couple issues, for instance, so anything could potentially happen.

    I had thought, even with some entrance of Vertigo characters into the DC Universe, that Hellblazer at least was going to continue in Vertigo as well -- is there any other Vertigo book ostensibly set in the DC Universe any more except Hellblazer? Milligan's the writer of the Vertigo series, and of John Constantine on Justice League Dark -- maybe a shoe still to drop is that Vertigo will go to creator-owned projects only, and Justice League Dark's beginning sees the end of Hellblazer?

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  14. I find it unlikely (though I don't discount it entirely) that anything even remotely connected connected to the Batman or Superman family of titles won't get collected, relaunch or not.

    In fact, DC may consider the HC/TP market sufficiently seperate that the relaunch will hardly affect it at all. But it certainly will be interesting to see how everything gets collected once we get 4-6 months into the relaunch and some of the first arcs reach their conclusion.

    I agree with Spooky above; if DC's collections policy remains unchaged, there will be more than enough time to collect everything they think it's worthwhile to collect. But I can't deny that I would be prepared to have some stuff remain uncollected if it was in return for DC shortening the gap between HC and TP collections of the relaunch material to a more Marvel-esque 4-5 months.

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  15. At one point there was a Freedom Fighters trade planned, but it was yanked from the schedule, presumably due to lack of interest. Another of DC's "we were only kidding" solicitations.

    Doubtful some of these issues will be collected, but I'd expect most of the marquee titles to show up, some perhaps early in 2012.

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  16. Batman and Robin sucked anyways...

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  17. AnonymousJune 09, 2011

    Gail Simone announced Secret Six has been cancelled but is happy there are 8 trades out for people to read forever. Currently there's only 7 trades out so number 8 must be the finale.

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  18. Any thoughts on Jonah Hex? Final issue looks to be #70. There's currently 10 trades out collecting up to #60 and "Bury Me in Hell" provisionally listed on Amazon for December. Hope that one includes the last 10 issues.

    Of course if they continue the done-in-one format there's no reason vol 12 couldn't reprint #67-70 and #1-2 of All-Star Western. Who says the trades have to be rebotted as well?

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  19. I wonder if DC will decide to have a new line-wide trade dress for all the relaunched books? If the idea is to entice new readers to the monthlies, does that apply equally to the collections too? Because if it does, it makes sense to distinguish the new books from the old ones, and make them easily identifiable as "new DC" so new readers know exactly where to jump on.

    Just a thought.

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  20. Regarding Power Girl:

    Indeed Bomb Squad will be released at the end of this month. Issues 13-18 and as you stated the Power Girl series stops at 27. That means 9 issues left to be collected. However there are likely at least 10 because you'd have a major hole in the story without it.

    Here's a quick summary of the remaining PG story arcs:
    PG 19-21 + JLI:GL 18 = Max Lord Returns
    PG 22-23 = Dinosaurs w/Superman
    PG 24-25 = Mystery "Hero" w/Batman
    PG 26-27 = Crazy Convention

    (I don't know the actual arc names, I made them up based on what's happening).


    Power Girl #20 ends with "Continued in Justice League Generations Lost #18" and it is indeed very important to understanding what happens before Power Girl #21.

    This particular story arc for PG ends after PG #21 and if you count the JLI:GL issue, that's only 4 issues (PG 19-21 + JLI:GL 18).

    With there being 10 total issues left they could split it into 2 more TPB's (with 5 issues each), but because that JLI:GL tie-in arc only lasts 4 issues and the next arc is 2, that would make a 6-issue TPB leaving 4 remaining uncollected.

    They can't really leave out 19-21 because it ties into 18 which concludes the Bomb Squad TPB, so making the last 6 issues (22-27) into the next TPB wouldn't exactly work... UNLESS...

    The only way it would really work is if they collected Powergirl 19-21 Plus JLI - Generation Lost 18 and either 2 other JLI:GL issues or some parts of several of them... And then collected Power Girl #22-27 in the final TPB.

    Of course they could collect all 10 remaining issues into 1 large TPB (and I'd be very happy with that, even at an increased price)... But I'm not holding my breath.

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  21. I worry DC will treat these pre-Flashpoint collections as half constructed bridges to nowhere. Will they think they're worth completing properly or just try and move on to the shiny new stuff they're developing.

    Certainly, the resetting of the DCU is making me wonder if I should bother getting a book that I wanted to fill a continuity niche. Does Battle of the Cowl matter now? I didn't think it was a great story, but I did think that it mattered as a plot progression. Now, not so much.

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  22. I'm currently re-evaluating my Pre-Flashpoint reading list. Flash and Green Lantern are in (although that's pretty much a given for me no matter what). Morrison's Batman is in. Brightest Day, JL: Generation Lost, and Booster Gold are still in. Do I bother with Cry For Justice, JL: Rise and Fall, Robinson's Justice League, and the new Green Arrow series? Seems like both Ollie and Roy are getting rebooted, and the Justice League is going back to "big 7".

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  23. My guess is that DC won't collect pre- and post-Flashpoint material together, or if they do I think it would be a silly move on their part. If, to make a gross generalization, we guess a lot of the new audience they're trying to get is a bookstore- and not comics shop-buying audience, trades will be a big part of how they get and keep these readers -- nothing says "new start, same as the old start" like collecting pre- and post-Flashpoint books together.

    The difference might not be all that great for Jonah Hex/All-Star Western, for instance, but I still think it would smack of the relaunch being in "name only."

    I would expect, as GarethW mentions, a new line-wide trade dress for all the relaunch books. DC likes to brand things that way (not the ubiquity of the Brightest Day banners for a while), and they can't be doing things new, as Grant Morrison suggested, with the same old covers. Those of you who wait for paperback releases, take note -- I'd venture 52 new series equals 52 first-in-hardcover releases -- and that's if DC doesn't go really wild and decide all their collections will be Deluxe first or something.

    The question of whether to keep reading the current DC Universe, even, and not just skip past Flashpoint to the new universe is a good one -- I considered mentioning that in my new column today on the relaunch (but then didn't).

    Do you buy Battle for the Cowl, Cry for Justice, Justice League: Rise and Fall, Robinson's Justice League, and Green Arrow: Into the Woods? I'd say no, yes, yes, no, and maybe.

    That is -- we know Dick Grayson's going back to being Nightwing, but that he was once Batman, so Battle for the Cowl's still in continuity (but it's not great, and Batman & Robin basically handles the same story). If Eddie Berganza and Bob Harras can be believed in various interviews today, a number of DC stories are still in continuity, and I think some aspect of Arsenal's trouble in Cry for Justice/Rise and Fall will be canon (but I don't know for sure). Whether Robinson's Justice League proper will be canon, or of import, I don't necessarily think so; and I can't tell -- but it seems so -- if JT Krul's previous Green Arrow will lead into his new Green Arrow.

    I did have a moment where I thought to myself, why am I still reading Brightest Day if everything's going to change in September? But, it seems as though everything's not going to change, just some things. Mark Waid's JLA: Year One will be way out of continuity come September, but it's a great story and I'm glad I read it, so I'm letting that notion guide me here and now -- if I've already started reading a series, if I want to know how it ends, I'm holding the course until September, and then we'll see what's real and what's make-believe.

    (Letting alone that we trade-waiters are going to get a great big nothing in September anyway, still following the adventures of the old universe while everyone else has moved on to the next!)

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  24. I have a feeling I'm going to pick up a few of the new #1's (GL books, Flash, JL, DCU Presents, maybe a few others in print - I've never been interested in Aquaman, for example, although I'll probably get it based on the team of Johns/Reis), and then a few others (JLI, Firestorm, Batgirl, maybe Hawkman and Green Arrow) digitally, once the price drops to $1.99 after a month of release. Even though I've been a "softcover-waiter", I'm pretty sure I won't HAVE to have read Flashpoint prior to starting with this new DCU. I might make the jump to 30-day-old digital (to avoid the full price) and then read Brightest Day, Flashpoint, etc. as they come out in softcover.

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  25. As a trade-paperback reader, I certainly look forward to reading the relaunched DCU sometime in 2014! :P

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  26. I'll read Flashpoint anyway -- who was I kidding, thinking for a moment I might not?! -- but I have heard a writer or two mention that Flashpoint specifically leads in to their ongoing series; Paul Cornell hinted at it for Frankenstein, at least, and I think one or two others. And I can't imagine that Barry Allen, at least, won't remember at least some details of Flashpoint.

    I hope Flashpoint specifically ends in the new universe, and it's not like Infinite Crisis where there were hints of a chance but we didn't know for sure. More I think about it, more I'd really like if at least one character -- Barry, not a minor character like Psycho Pirate -- knows that things are different from how they used to be.

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  27. The last Power Girl TPB can be found listed on Amazon.com with a publication date of Feb. 2012 and is listed at 200 pages. Considering each comic issue is typically 20 pages, that would amount to 10 issues in this collection. So it looks like I'm right and it very likely includes Justice League Generation Lost #18.

    BTW it's called "Power Girl: Old Friends" if you care to look it up.

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  28. Just realised that the second Zatanna TP will infact include all of the remaining ten issues (#7-#16). :)
    Good to know, that there still are good news, not only cancellactions!

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  29. The final Jonah Hex TPB arrived in shops this week. It was solicited to collect #61-67, leaving the last three pre-relaunch issues uncollected. I was very pleased to see it goes all the way up to #70, a nice fat 10-issue trade for the original cover price of $18. Thanks DC, keep it up!

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