Hard to believe that here we are in August, and it's already time for
Collected Editions' 2008 Trade Paperback Speculations list. It seems trades are being announced earlier and earlier these days, and as of Monday, DC's solicitations for November may very well contain trade paperbacks for January! It seems it's become a lot easier to predict upcoming trades since the graphic novel boom--we know we'll see collected editions of
Teen Titans,
Birds of Prey,
Blue Beetle, the new
Booster Gold series and the like, but here's a handful that bear special mention.
Countdown - Everyone knows the name of DC's game these days is
Countdown, and now that all the
52 trades have been solicited,
Countdown trades are just around the corner, as early as January--no way will DC wait to collect
Countdown like they did with
52. A collection of thirteen issues (#51-39) wouldn't be unheard of, or even smaller, eight-issue trades. Also undoubtedly getting collections will be all the various
Countdown miniseries, popping up throughout 2008.
Superman: Last Son - Now that Geoff Johns and Richard Donner's "Last Son" storyline has finally concluded, look for it to receive the hardcover treatment in 2008. Since it's technically just four issues (though some are oversized), it's up in the air whether their "Bizarro World" story will appear in the same book, or a separate one; capitalism would suggest "separate." Kurt Busiek's
Action Comics Countdown tie-in will likely appear elsewhere, along with his
Superman Countdown issue and the
Action Comics #850 anniversary issue.
Justice League of America/Justice Society of America: The Lightning Saga - Expect hardcover treatment for this
JLA/JSA crossover.
Justice League #7 is a stand-alone issue that wasn't part of the first
Justice League hardcover, and could make it's way here; similarly, including
Justice League #11 and #12 here would finish out Brad Meltzer's
Justice League run.
Flash: The Fast Life - Expect an early trade of Mark Waid's new run on
The Flash. This'll undoubtedly contain
All-Flash #1, as well as the first couple of issues of the
Flash relaunch.
Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps - The most recent
Green Lantern hardcover ended just before the "Sinestro Corps" storyline begins, and the next will likely be a hardcover of this story. This would be a big trade, encompassing both the
Sinestro Corps specials and issues of
Green Lantern Corps; it's possible DC may do a volume 1/volume 2 with this.
Absolute All-Star Superman - I've been predicting this for a long time, and I restate it here: expect a second
All-Star Superman hardcover, and then an
Absolute edition of all twelve issues. No question we'll see this in late 2008 or early 2009.
Green Arrow/Black Canary: The Wedding Album - I'd bet we'll see all three
Green Arrow/Black Canary wedding specials collected in one volume in 2008. There's also the
Green Arrow: Year One and
Black Canary miniseries; our budgets could hope, perhaps, that these will be collected together, but they'll probably come out separately.
Batman: Head of the Demon - The recent
Batman and Son hardcover collects up to issue #666 of Grant Morrison's run on
Batman; expect another hardcover in 2008 collecting the new "Head of the Demon" storyline. Hopefully the volume will collect some of the disparate parts like the short story from the upcoming Robin Annual. Morrison has three issues between the end of
Batman and Son and the beginning of "Head of the Demon," and we'll cross our fingers that DC doesn't forget about these.
Outsiders: CheckOut - After
Pay As You Go,
Outsiders has four more issues until the series ends, three of which are part of a crossover with
Checkmate. This lines up with the end of the most recent
Checkmate trade, too, so expect to see this crossover collected, possibly with
Outsiders #50, too. After that will certainly come a trade of the
Outsiders: Five of a Kind event before the new
Batman and the Outsiders series.
That's a start, and we'll keep referencing this list as the year goes on. Tune back in on Monday to see if any of these get a mention in the new solicitations. Which forthcoming trade are you most hoping for? Expecting any that aren't on this list?