Starman Omnibus Vol. 3 is coming, Aquaman by Geoff Johns Omnibus, DCU by Neil Gaiman, Batman Noir: Killing Joke, Supergirl digital series, Sandman Mystery Theatre, Elseworlds: Justice League, more in DC Comics Summer 2016 solicitations
We've recently seen a bunch of these listed online including Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman and Checkmate, new Suicide Squad and Elseworlds collections, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, a new edition of Superman: Panic in the Sky and others.
But now we have catalog listings for a bunch more, and they include ... a real, honest-to-gosh Starman Omnibus Vol. 3 listing! I know some of you have been waiting for that a long time. Also a "noir" (black and white) Killing Joke, an omnibus of Geoff Johns's Aquaman, the first hints of an upcoming digital series based on the Supergirl TV show, Matt Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre collections, Joe Kelly and company's JLA Vol. 8, Elseworlds: Justice League as well as the Superman book, DC Universe by Neil Gaiman, and still more after that! Read on!
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Note that all of this information is subject to change before publication. Not all links may yet be functional.
UPDATE (12/4/15):
• Aquaman: Sub Diego Vol. 2
• Static Shock Vol. 1
• Superman and the Justice League of America Vol. 2
A couple of exciting updates. Aquaman: Sub Diego Vol. 2 seems to collect issues #23-29 of that series, which is after the Will Pfiefer run (which is what I think we all thought they were collecting) and into the John Arcudi run, still set in the sunken Sub Diego. The common denominator there is art by Damian: Son of Batman's Patrick Gleason. More Gleason art is never a bad thing and a second collection is exciting when I never expected the first.
Static Shock collects issues #1-22 of the Dwayne McDuffie Milestone series, to go along with the new Icon collection. Only four issues of the original Static series were ever collected, so this is also exciting; included here are parts of the "Worlds Collide" Superman crossover.
Finally, we can stop speculating, there's also a Superman and the Justice League Vol. 2 collection by Dan Jurgens, said to include issues #69-77. This goes through the Justice League parts and into a fairly frightening, alternate reality story ahead of its time; I'm pleased and impressed to see these good stories collected even though Superman's not "there."
End update ...
• 52 Book 1
Issues #1-26, whereas the first paperback collected issues #1-13, so this would seem to be a new collection of 52 in two volumes instead of four.
• Absolute Preacher Vol. 1
• All-Star Section Eight
• American Vampire Vol. 8
• Aquaman By Geoff Johns Omnibus
There was previously a solicitation for an Aquaman by Geoff Johns deluxe edition, which was then cancelled ("deluxe" being a larger size hardcover; "omnibus" usually denoting a whole slew of issues). The issues listed for this one, just like that one, are Aquaman #0-16, Justice League #14-16, which goes through "Throne of Atlantis" but omits #17-25, "Death of a King." I would think, especially for an omnibus, that this will end up collecting all the Johns issues.
• Arrow Season 2.5 Vol. 2
• Astro City Vol. 13
• Batgirl Vol. 3
• Batgirl: Cassandra Cain Vol. 2
I acknowledge this is a head-scratcher because Vol. 1 in these reprints of the Kelley Puckett series seems to have just been cancelled. If released, this is supposed to collect issues #13-25, of which issues #15, #16, #21 (a "Joker's Last Laugh" tie-in) have never before been collected.
• Batman & Robin Eternal Volume 2
• Batman Arkham Vol. 4: Killer Croc
So, so curious what will be in this. No word so far.
• Batman Noir: The Killing Joke
A black and white printing of Killing Joke sounds like a cool and scary read to me. Includes the graphic novel and a story from Batman: Black and White.
• Batman: Arkham Knight Vol. 2
• Batman: Arkham Knight Vol. 3
• Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 7
• Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 8
• Batman: Earth One Vol. 2
• Batman: New Gotham
Said to be Greg Rucka's Detective Comics #742-753, which includes all the previously-released Evolution plus a Poison Ivy story, though this is not even close to all of Rucka's Detective work. If you don't know, this is Rucka's run with Shawn Martinbrough using distinct, muted color palettes -- a great read, a visual treat, and it sets the groundwork for both Checkmate and Gotham Central.
• Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 2
• Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1
• Batman/Superman Vol. 4
• Batman/Superman Vol. 5
Pairs the "DC You" Superman with the new armored Batman, by Greg Pak and Adrian Syaf.
• Batman/TMNT Vol. 1
• Best of Looney Tunes Vol. 1
• Best of Vixen
• Checkmate By Greg Rucka Vol. 1
Said to collect Rucka's Checkmate #1-12, which goes right up to the crossover with Judd Winick's Outsiders. Rucka's run (with Eric Trautmann) goes to issue #24 and the start is as good as the finish, so I'm hopeful for a volume 2.
• Clean Room Vol. 1
• Constantine: The Hellblazer Vol. 2
• Daring Adventures of Supergirl Vol. 1
Said to be issues #1-12 of the 1980s series. That book went to issue #23 before Crisis on Infinite Earths (retitled just Supergirl after issue #12), so I'm hopeful there's another collection to follow.
• Dark Night: A True Batman Story
The autobiographical graphic novel by Paul Dini coming from Vertigo.
• DC Super Hero Girls
• DC Universe By Neil Gaiman
Said to include Batman #686 and Detective Comics #853, the Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader stories, plus selections from Secret Origins and Batman: Black and White (also included in the Caped collection), as well as Green Lantern/Superman: Legend Of The Green Flame and a story from Wednesday Comics (shrunk down?).
• DC: The New Frontier
• Demon: The Longest Day
Issues #49-58 of the Garth Ennis run, with, the solicitation promises, lots of Hitman appearances.
• DMZ Book Two
• Doom Patrol Book Two
Collects Grant Morrison's previous Doom Patrol collections "Down Paradise Way" and "Musclebound," issues #35-50.
• Elseworlds: Justice League Vol. 1
No contents listed but the cover (subject to change) suggests Justice Riders, at the least.
• Elseworlds: Superman Vol. 1
Again, no contents listed, but here's the description: "Reimagined with different histories and in different settings, these alternate reality tales see Superman take up Batman’s mantle and a cyberpunk Man of Steel." That's Speeding Bullets, at least (one of my personal favorites); can anyone place the other?
• Flash Vol. 7
• Flash Vol. 8
• Flash: Season Zero Vol. 2
• Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Gary Frank
• Grayson Vol. 3
• Green Arrow Vol. 8
• Green Arrow: A Celebration of 75 Years
• Green Lantern: The Silver Age Vol. 1
• Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol. 2
• Harley Quinn Book & Mask Set
A Harley Quinn ... mask? And now I totally want a Harley Quinn/The Mask crossover.
• Harley Quinn Vol. 3
• Harley Quinn Vol. 4
• Icon Vol. 1
Said to be issues #1-21, which includes the Icon parts of the Superman crossover "Worlds Collide." Which will read kind of weird without the other parts, but I'll take it. The only other Icon collection went to issue #8, so this is a big one, and another collection of this size could capture the rest of the series, which ended at issue #42.
• Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four Volume 1
• Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four Volume 2
• Jacked Vol. 1
• JLA Vol. 8
Said to be issues #94-106, so Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Jerry Ordway's Tenth Circle, and Chuck Austen's Pain of the Gods (which I liked even though I don't think anyone else did). Also Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, and Tom Nguyen's JLA #100, which pits the JLA against the Elite and lead into Kelly's Justice League Elite miniseries, though I don't as yet see that that's in here.
• John Constantine: Hellblazer Vol. 14
• Justice League of America Vol. 1
• Justice League United Vol. 3
• Justice League Vol. 8: Darkseid War Part 2
• Legends 30th Anniversary Edition
Appears for the moment just to be the John Ostrander/John Byrne crossover miniseries and no extra issues, which is fine but one can dream.
• Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Vol. 3
• Lucifer Vol. 1
• New Romancer Vol. 1
• New Suicide Squad Volume 3
• New Teen Titans Vol. 5
For those keeping track of how far these New Teen Titans paperbacks collect, this is up to issue #34, in the Terra Incognito period and still well within what's already been collected.
• Northlanders Book 1
• Omega Men: The Complete Series
The Tom King miniseries.
• Prez: The First Teen President
Said to collect "all the appearances of Prez since his 1973 debut," including Neil Gaiman's Sandman #54, Ed Brubaker's Vertigo Visions: Prez, the first issue of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Strikes Again, a story from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, and Supergirl #10.
• Red Thorn Vol. 1
• Robin Vol. 3
Said to collect Chuck Dixon's regular series Robin #1-6 and the Annuals #1-2. There's a crossover here with Showcase '94 and I'd be surprised if those issues weren't in there, too. The annuals are an Eclipso: The Darkness Within tie-in (!) and a Bloodlines tie in (!!).
• Roots of the Swamp Thing Vol. 2
• Sandman Mystery Theatre Book 1
A new collections run of the series, said to start with issues #1-12, so that would be previous collections The Tarantula and The Face and the Brute.
• Scalped Deluxe Edition Book Five
• Shadow of the Bat Vol. 1
Said to be issues #1-12 of the series, so that's the previously collected #1-4, "Last Arkham," and ends a couple issues before Knightfall starts.
• Slash & Burn Vol. 1
• Starman Omnibus Vol. 3
I didn't want to get too excited about the resurrection of the previously-cancelled Starman Omnibus Vol. 3 until it looked more official ... but now it's looking more official. Solicited contents are right in line with what was in the Vol. 3 omnibus hardcover. I don't have to tell you to pre-order if you don't want to get stuck in the exact same position with volume 4.
• Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot
• Suicide Squad Vol. 4
Very exciting, if the John Ostrander Suicide Squad collections keep coming out to this point, this one will include all the issues of the Janus Directive crossover: Checkmate #15-18, Suicide Squad #27-30, Manhunter #14, Firestorm #86, and Captain Atom #30.
• Suicide Squad: The Silver Age
• Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures of the 8th Grade (New Edition)
• Supergirl: Digital First Vol. 1
No information on writers yet, but I'm hoping for at least some stories by former Supergirl scribe Sterling Gates, who also wrote for the Flash: Season Zero digital comic.
• Superman - Action Comics Vol. 7
• Superman - Action Comics Vol. 8
• Superman: American Alien
The collection of the Max Landis series.
• Superman: Lois & Clark
• Superman: Panic in the Sky (New Edition)
No contents additions, it doesn't seem, but this remains one of my favorite "Triangle Titles" stories, in which almost all the DC Universe heroes of the time appear without this being the big multi-title affair it would be now. Leads into the recently-solicited Superman and the Justice League collection by Dan Jurgens.
• Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 2
• Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 3
• Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 4
• Swamp Thing Vol. 3: Trial By Fire
Collects Mark Millar's issues #161-171. It's a little hard to keep up with all these Swamp Thing collections but I don't think this material has ever been collected before.
• Teen Titans: Earth One Vol. 2
Jeff Lemire's first Teen Titans: Earth One volume was great, but the whole story was prologue to the real action getting underway. The description sounds very exciting: "Picking right up after the cliffhanger ending to the first volume, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Terra and Aqualad are in desperate straits -- they’re homeless, destitute, and on the run from Cadmus ... Unfortunately, Cadmus has more surprises up its sleeve ... and a whole new set of teenage weapons, with none of the bothersome morals of the originals!"
• Telos Vol. 1
• Titans Hunt Vol. 1
• Unfollow Vol. 1
• Wonder Woman '77 Vol. 1
• Wonder Woman By George Perez Vol. 1
There had been a solicitation for a second Wonder Woman by George Perez omnibus, collecting previously uncollected material, that now seems to have disappeared. This paperback volume is said to collect issues #1-14, so short of the issues #1-24 in the first omnibus. We can hope maybe this paperback series will eventually get to uncollected material, but it'll be a while.
• Wonder Woman By Greg Rucka Vol. 1
Said to collect Rucka's Wonder Woman issues #195-#213, which is Down to Earth, Bitter Rivals, and Eyes of the Gorgon. Rucka's whole run goes to issue #226, so one more volume should do it. Wonder Woman meets West Wing; this is one of my favorite total runs and highly recommended.
• Y: The Last Man Book Five
I know you're all excited for that Starman book. What else grabs your attention on the list? Sound off in the comments and let me know!
That first Cassandra Cain trade is back up on Amazon with a release date of January 26.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see it. I wonder what the hitch was.
DeleteNo excitement for Roots of the Swamp Thing volume 2?!? When did volume 1 come out, like 10 years ago or something?? This is crazy and awesome. More Pre-Alan Moore Swamp Thing stories is a great thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited. DC reprinted the Wein/Wrightson Swamp Thing in a few oversized specials when I was a kid, and I loved them. Still do.
DeleteNice to know the contents of these leaked, yet-to-be-solicited collections. Here are some observations:
ReplyDelete- Shouldn't the second Cassandra Cain: Batgirl volume include issue #12? It was guest-written by Dixon and tied into "Officer Down", but it's not really a chapter of that crossover, which is why it wasn't collected along with it. Or did they go back and include it in volume 1? Either way, I'm glad that this volume will go up to issue #25, meaning the next one will probably get to Puckett's last issue (#37).
- I had forgotten about JLA #100, which explains why Amazon credits Joe Kelly as one of the authors of JLA Vol. 8. I guess Justice League Elite won't be included in these TPBs after all, and volume 9 should collect the series's last 19 issues.
- The Batman: New Gotham trade looks like a more complete version of the Batman: Evolution TPB, ending right before "Officer Down". I hope that crossover is the next big storyline from that era to get collected, and that there are plans to collect Rucka's second year on Detective Comics, plugging the hole between "Officer Down" and "Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive".
- I'm disappointed that Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 1 will skip the Hiketeia graphic novel. I guess it could still be included in vol. 2, but I'm not sure there will be room for it, especially if it collects the entire "Sacrifice" crossover with the Superman books, plus The Flash #219 (which continues in WW #214). Rucka also wrote the Blackest Night tie-in mini, but that was so many years after this run that I think they should leave it out.
And finally, as Dan said, the first Cassandra Cain trade has a new listing at Amazon, and it's set to come out next month:
http://www.amazon.com/Batgirl-Vol-1-Silent-Knight/dp/1401266274
I was really hoping the Justice League Elite issues would be included too! I'm still holding out hope they might put out collections of them and other JLA limited series once the main run is finished, there was an awful lot of them I seem to remember and I couldn't afford them and the main run when it was a case of choosing how to spend pocket money back then :P heck there's still JLA classified too. They did put out League of One + Cold Steel, so fingers-crossed.
DeleteJustice League Elite Vol.1 and Vol.2 are still in print and can be ordered from your local comic shop.
DeleteI own both volumes, but these new JLA TPBs would have been a good opportunity to collect this series in better paper stock. Also, both are actually out of print, but some Amazon Marketplace retailers still have new copies available for a fair, non-inflated price.
DeleteI own both volumes, but these new JLA TPBs would have been a good opportunity to collect this series in better paper stock. Also, both are actually out of print, although some Amazon Marketplace retailers still have new copies available for a fair, non-inflated price.
DeleteI'd have liked to see Hiketeia included, too, though it doesn't ruin it for me without it (as an OGN, I kind of think of Hiketeia as "already collected"). However, I'm happy for them to leave the Blackest Night miniseries out, which didn't at all follow up on the Wonder Woman run as well as I'd hoped.
DeleteDidn't Veronica Cale end up in 52 Aftermath: Four Horsemen or Keith Giffen's Doom Patrol? Obviously that doesn't have a place in the Rucka book but it was fun to see that character continue on for a while.
Thanks shagamu and Anon, I've not been able to find the old Elite books for a reasonable price in the UK, but I'll keep looking :)
DeleteCale showed up both in 52 Aftermath - Four Horsemen & Doom Patrol. Both by Giffen I believe.
DeleteI think another "hey DC, here's some ideas regarding your collections" e-mail is in order, and the more people do that the better. Those aren't accurate anyway, so it's hard to say what the plans actually are and whether they're correct, but the earlier we let them know, the better.
ReplyDeleteBatgirl #12 might end up in Officer Down collection, but from what I heard it's like a side story, so Batgirl trade is possibly better place for it. There's some short thing from one of Secret Files that usually shows on maps around those issues too.
It's still suspicious that Batman: New Gotham is not a vol. 1. Maybe #755-765 will be out under some other title.
Should Checkmate start with OMAC Project, just like Secret Six started with Villains United?
I don't get the insistence on splitting second Brotherhood of Dada arc in Doom Patrol between two collections. The original trades did that, but don't know why the new ones should do that again. Move #51-52 to Book 2, then maybe fill Book 3 with Flex Mentallo?
New Teen Titans Vol. 5 in this state doesn't bode well for completeness of this project. Next big story, The Judas Contract, ends in #44 and Annual #3, and there's also a Batman and the Outsiders issue in between. Vol. 5 should have #35-36 too.
Robin Vol. 2 was solicited with 100 pages more than the two mini-series that are supposed to be in it. I was thinking that at least Annual #1 will actually be in that book too (it goes between 2nd and 3rd mini-series anyway). Vol. 3 should of course have Showcase issues and would be better if ended on #7.
Shadow of the Bat Vol. 1 seems alright on paper, but what do you do with vol. 2? Start repeating the stuff from Knightfall trades? It makes more sense to me to go up to #15 and then do another book with post-Knightsagas/Prodigal/Troika issues.
Well, there seems to go the hope of completely collecting Superman period between Byrne and Doomsday in chunks built around the bigger stories. But we'll see about it yet, because at this stage not only this trade doesn't add anything new, it also skips one of the actual PitS chapter from Superman #65.
The lack of GN in Wonder Woman By Greg Rucka Vol. 1 is not unexpected, but sure it would be nice.
I'm sure that Panic in the Sky omitting Superman #65 is a misprint, just like the solicitation stating Action Comics #474-475 when it means #674-675.
DeleteHa, haven't even noticed that. :)
DeleteI hope those aren't the only misprints, and the book does have another month of the titles, too. Otherwise, eh...
@Marek
DeleteOh man, so much 'YES' on Shadow of the Bat. Grant's Knightfall-era stories are solid but I'm fine with them remaining in Knightfall volumes.
If we exclude all the big and small crossovers and events of the era (which are already collected, like Knight/fall/quest/send, Prodigal and NML and surrounding events, or will be in the nearest future, like Contagion and Legacy), we're left with 48 issues of Shadow of the Bat. Mind you, final count may be a bit different, because I quite unceremoniously excluded #0, Annuals (not sure how many they published) and uncollected issues of Knightquest (England-set part of "Search" might be a hoot for completist but I'm not sure if there's much sense to publish it without other stories). Also, I'm not quite sure about the page count of #50.
Still, if DC will go with 12 issues per trade format (akin to "Second Chances"), we could have it wrapped up in just 4 volumes. If they would go with 15-16 issues (which I would prefer enormously), we have it in 3 pleasantly thick volumes. Of course, it all depends on the their stance on collecting already quite comprehensively collected crossovers. I wonder what they'll gonna do with stuff from #73-82. On one hand, all of this will be - correct me if I'm wrong - already collected in both Road to No Man's Land volumes. On the other, it's still Alan Grant writing Batman, dealing with his favorite themes. Shadow of the Bat loses this semi-'creator owned' feel only after beginning of proper NML, when stories begin to 'jump' through all Batfamily titles.
Well, we shall see. I personally hope they'll at least bump vol. 1 by one story - "Nobody" from #13. Quite a low key tale but probably one of my favorite efforts from Grant & Breyfogle. I have it in an almost desintegrated Polish edition from the 90s so it would be nice to get it in a trade (especially together with The Last Arkham).
Anyway, I've got to say I'm thrilled that for the past year or so we saw so many editions of DC's late 80s-early to mid 90s stuff (Dark Knight, Dark City, Wonder Woman by Perez, Dark Knight over Metropolis with some new MoS trades, Dixon's Bat-family, Batman by Moench & Jones, Breyfogle's Detective Comics, new editions of Knightfall and so on, and so forth...), with more to come. Good times.
Great recap of how they might collect Shadow of the Bat. Personally I don't mind putting parts of crossovers in there if they're going to be sequential throughout, but I know some people don't like the double-dip for NML, etc.
DeleteIt has been a good year for '80s-'90s stuff -- also War of the Gods, Superman and the Justice League, etc.
Elserworlds collections : Yeah !
ReplyDeleteRucka collections : Yeah !
Gaiman DC collection : Yeah !
Aquaman by Johns and Wonder Woman by Perez, maybe ..
What I really want now is big collections of Superman material from the 90's-00's !
And I'm still waiting for my Flash by Waid collections !
I SO NEED Waid Flash complete collections!
DeleteThe two that really jump out at me are:
ReplyDelete- Golden Age Superman omnibus vol. 2
- Golden Age Batman omnibus vol. 2
I've been putting off collecting the Archive editions in the hope that the omnibus lines would continue, as they are by far my preferred format. I'll be glad to see these when they are published.
Re; JLA Vol 8. Do you mean you're the only one who appreciated Tenth Circle or Pain of the Gods? I really liked Pain of the Gods! Not so much Tenth Circle. In fact I was kinda hoping they'd skip Tenth Circle though and pair 'Pain' with Syndicate Rules, then I'd have the entire JLA run in mix of old and new trades. Ah well
ReplyDeleteIt was a long time ago, but apparently I liked JLA: Pain of the Gods too, despite the flak Austen was getting at the time (if you want to see a really old Collected Editions review, take a gander). Also looking back it seems I thought Tenth Circle was OK, too, but I remember Pain of the Gods more fondly.
DeleteI could certainly see if you were reading the monthly issues over six months you might start of think Pain of the Gods was directionless and repetitive, but it makes a nice trade.
DeleteAs an avid Archives collector, I'm disappointed that line is dead. Nice to see the GA and SA omnibi, but it seems DC is mining the same material over and over again here. With the defunct Chronicles, that's what, 3 collection series that have reprinted the same material? Both Flash and GA have a lot of uncollected material when those Archives series stopped, and I would love to see the JLA issues at least up until the induction of Firestorm reprinted. Oh, well, nice to dream.
ReplyDeleteA good number of these books were originally out when I was out of the comics loop, so I'll be getting most of them. I am happy to see the 80s Supergirl series, and I would love to see her 70s 10 issue series, along with some of her Adventure Comics run that preceded it.
A bit disappointing not so see any new Showcase Presents, either. The Mystery books have a long way to go, and look better in black and white. Plus some of the more obscure DC stuff from the 70s and 80s would be great in this format (like the Blule Beetle and Blue Devil collections).
I hope the Archives are just on hiatus (possibly the 75th anniversary books are taking their place for now?) and not dead. But I've only been buying them for a few years, and had never gone far into the Batman and Superman lines, so the Omnibus lines are my first choice there. I have all the All-Star volumes, and I might repurchase that material if it were to appear in the Omnibus format.
DeleteAny Golden Age DC that's kept in print is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
I hope you're right about the Archives. Marvel keeps churning out their Masterworks volumes at a steady clip and are now printing various Bronze Age titles like Spider-Woman, Ms Marvel, and Luke Cage.
DeleteIf it looks like the Archives won't come back, and DC publishes Omnibi past where the archives end, then I'll pick them up. Not much of a double-dipper here. I did pick up the New Teen Titans Omnibi because they printed more than the Archives volumes did.
To be fair, the Legion Archives are just about to the point were the series sucked for a couple of years or so before the Levitz/Giffen era began, and there are some nice hardcovers of a lot of their work already.
My biggest problem with the Archives editions, besides the inflated prices, of course, was the horrible trade dress. Whoever designed the format must have been asleep at the wheel. Title down the spine vertically? Stripes? Seriously? If the idea was to make an expensive-looking collection, it was a failure.
DeleteI own every Archive. THey are my preferred format over Omnibi. - Levitz has said in the past that the Archive line is functionally dead. Ask him on FBOOK- he's pretty talkative and forthcoming.
DeleteAnd i love the trade dress of the Archives. They look.. classic, regal, stoic. Love it.
DeleteI'm with you, Michael, on the Archives. I love the trade dress and they way they look like they belong together. I don't know what David means by inflated prices, either, considering the paper quality of them.
DeleteWell, I hope DC will eventually print stories from where the Archives left off. It makes me wonder if Marvel's Masterworks are making much money, but they must be because they keep churning them out about every other month.
I"m also curious as to how the Marvel Masterworks are profitable, but the Archives weren't. Do the Masterworks have some sort of buyer loyalty subscription program or something? Do they use a lower quality paper stock?
DeleteI don't know of any buyer's program. I think it has a lot to do with better sales, to be honest. In the Hachette catalog (I think), it gave the print runs for the Masterworks volumes scheduled to be released next year. The average was about 2000. I think the last few Archives had print runs under a thousand. I love DC's Silver and Golden (and Bronze) Ages, but it seems that Marvel's comics of the same period are in greater demand. As far as the paper stock is concerned, I'm not sure.
DeleteIt seems to me that new TPBs lines like the upcoming Batman: The Golden Age and Justice League of America: The Silver Age are the best bet to see DC eventually reprint GA and SA material that hasn't already been collected. I just wish they were thicker, like Marvel's Epic Collections, because then they would surpass the point where the Archives left off a lot faster.
ReplyDeleteThey obvously can do that judging by Milestone collections that have over 20 issues, but not always choose to.
DeleteMan, I'd love to see all of Englehart's JLA Giant stories reprinted. And All-Star Squadron (all of it -- and in color), and Infinity, Inc. (beyond the first handful of issues). I second the Waid Flash collection. Been wanting that for YEARS!
ReplyDeleteDo you think DC will continue the Aparo Batman series with Batman & the Outsiders?
"Reimagined with different histories and in different settings, these alternate reality tales see Superman take up Batman’s mantle and a cyberpunk Man of Steel." That's Speeding Bullets, at least (one of my personal favorites); can anyone place the other?"
ReplyDeleteTo hazard a guess, I'd say it's referring to "Superman: At Earth's End", the sequel to the Elseworlds Kamandi miniseries.
I'd hope if that was the case they'd include the Kamandi miniseries, but that's six issues in the trade that's not Superman-Elseworlds proper. MarkReyes on reddit thought it was maybe it was Superman/Batman: Doom Link, a comic given away with the Kenner Toys Superman.Batman Cyber-Link Armor multipack, which is such a weird idea that now I want it to be true.
DeleteAmazon's updated the listing to include the contents and it looks like you're both right!
Delete"SUPERMAN: SPEEDING BULLET #1, KAMANDI: AT EARTH'S END #1-6, SUPERMAN: KAL #1, SUPERMAN: AT EARTH'S END #1, SUPERMAN/BATMAN DOOM LINK #1 and SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN: WHOM GODS DESTROY #1-4"
I remember getting Superman: Kal as a gift when it came out when I was 7. It was a case of my brother buying something for me just cause it had Superman in the title and was one of tge earliest comics I remember owning so I'll always have fond memories of it.That being said other then the cover art and a vague recollection of the concept, I have no memory of it otherwise so I'm looking forward to reading it again as well as those other Elseworlds stories. Man, I miss Elseworlds.
DeleteI recall especially the distinctive Dusty Abell art on Whom Gods Destroy. Never thought I'd see a collection of that, and Speeding Bullets, to boot. What a fine collection.
DeleteMeanwhile, the Elseworlds: Justice League book is League of Justice #1-2, Justice Riders #1, Elseworld's Finest #1-2, Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl #1, Titans: Scissors Paper Stone #1 and Wonder Woman: Amazonia #1. Didn't the Elseworlds Finest: Supergirl and Batgirl make it into Countdown to Final Crisis? Paging the timeline ...
DeleteNo new absolute editions? Too bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the Multiversity Absolute Edition (not that I know for sure it's coming). Maybe they'll wait until Multiversity Too is either coming out or finished? I don't get many AEs, but that one will look great next to Final Crisis
DeleteI'm still waiting for Spectre vol. 3 and upwards by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.
ReplyDeleteAnd Martian Manhunter ... sorry, there's something in my eye ...
DeleteI should have bought TWO copies of Martian Manhunter and Spectre. I want to see these in print so badly. I have custom bound copy of MM- but I still bought the official TPB's. One of the true lost gems of comics.
DeleteI see you added the books for September 6th too. Another one with older material is Superman/Batman vol. 5. I think someone is confused here, because it should be vol. 4 - vol. 5 would be the next volume of current Batman/Superman series, but the description says it's the collection of the old one.
ReplyDeleteSuperman and Justice League by Jurgens could use Superman #74 (and probably pages from next part of Doomsday saga), it's by Jurgens too. And could come out in one volume like that huge Milestone collections.
The link to Jim Aparo Batman Vol. 3 now leads to a Batman by Alan Brennert volume. Kind of a good news/bad news thing I guess.
ReplyDeleteOMG!! I have wanted--no, yearned for--a collection of all of Brennert's DC work for YEARS! I am so psyched! I believe these are among the most beautiful, touching stories ever told in comic book form. If you don't know them, do yourself a favor and check them out!
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that Static Shock v1 has apparently been listed as cancelled & postponed indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose you've heard anything about this.