* Superman: Earth One Vol. 2
(UPDATE: Can't believe I forgot this one first time around!) I am quite excited for the second volume of Superman: Earth One. At this point the concept of an accessible, younger Superman has been superseded by the DC New 52; the Earth One volumes are emerging too slowly to be a viable reading alternative for trade-waiters; writer J. Michael Straczynski is even more controversial (if possible) with his statements on Before Watchmen; the "Earth One" concept is even more confusing (if possible) with the advent of James Robinson's Earth 2 series; and remarkably the Earth One Superman costume actually begins to look a little "old" in comparison to the DC New 52 costume -- and still, Superman: Earth One Volume 1 was such a plucky little volume, such a widescreen cinematic Superman story, and such a media sensation that I'm counting the days to the sequel. Bring it on.
* Legends of The Dark Knight: Alan Davis HC
I salute DC for releasing these artist-focused collections -- we can't forget comics are a collaborative process -- but the contents stymie me. The first part of Batman: Year Two and the sequel Full Circle, but not Year Two chapters two, three, and four? Personally, I'd rather read selections from various comics eras, with full stories but emphasis on the artists, or have the collections dedicated to one artist but fill out full stories anyway, than have the reading experience be so incomplete. Does anyone know if these collections include the scripts for comparison purposes, by chance?
* Batman: The Dark Knight Vol. 1 -- Knight Terrors HC
* Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Trouble In Mind TP
* Fury Of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men Vol. 1 -- The God Particle TP
* Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 1 -- The Ring Bearer HC
* Legion Lost Vol. 1: Run From Tomorrow TP
* Teen Titans Vol. 1: It's Our Right To Fight TP
* Voodoo Vol. 1: What Lies Beneath TP
This is a month of DC New 52 collections I'm rather not sure of. Can David Finch and company provide readable Batman that stands toe-to-toe with Scott Snyder's? How will Duane Swierczynski's Birds of Prey stand up to the legendary runs of Gail Simone and Chuck Dixon? Will Firestorm be engaging enough to follow when it's just Ethan Van Sciver's on his own? I haven't liked Tony Bedard's Green Lantern Corps and Fabian Nicieza's work is sometimes hit or miss for me -- what does that portend for New Guardians and Legion Lost? Is Voodoo more than just a "bad girl" book? Can Scott Lobdell provide a respectable Teen Titans? These are a bunch of books I'm on the fence about, and that's exciting and intimidating all at the same time.
* Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3 -- Knightsend TP New Edition
No improvement here from the contents as originally solicited by DC, in terms of including aspects of the "Knightfall: The Search" storyline that appears to be omitted from these collections. I guess we'll just see when the books come out -- but again, if they exclude the actual chapters where Bruce Wayne's broken back is healed, that seems a big omission from the "full" Knightfall collections.
* Stormwatch Vol. 2 HC
Also showing no improvement from the original DC solicitations is this second "classic" Stormwatch volume, which still does not include the WildCATS/Aliens special that ended Stormwatch and lead into Authority. I don't know if perhaps Stormwatch #11 ends on a high note and DC wanted this collection to feel "complete" and not beholden on Authority, but I'd still like WildCATS/Aliens in here (and no counting on it appearing in the WildCATS collection now that that's cancelled.
* Showcase Presents: Amethyst, Princess Of Gemworld Vol. 1 TP
I won't be picking this up right away, but the fact that Amethyst's ties to the origin of Legion of Super-Heroes villain Mordru are back in continuity (I think) puts this on my list to check out one of these days.
* Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters TP New Edition
* Green Arrow: The Archer's Quest TP New Edition
Not surprised to see these two jump back on to the solicitations list not long after the new CW series Arrow got the green light. Longbow is definitive Green Arrow (read my review) and Archer's Quest is plenty good, too, though neither offers the kind of "young Green Arrow" that CW fans might expect; most likely Andy Diggle's Green Arrow: Year One is still in print.
What's on your buying list for August? Are you buying more trades lately, less, or about the same?
I'd actually prefer older material. I really hope that the fresh Green Arrow Collections make way for more of Mike Grell Green Arrow collections (never been collected, save an issue or a few pages in Green Arrow/Black Canary: For Better or Worse and Judd Winick Collections (I guess most are out of print now)
ReplyDeleteStormwatch is a doom collection. Answer from Dan Didio about the collection was:
ReplyDelete"the problem with cross company projects is that when the rights expire with the partner company, you can no longer produce that material".
On the other hand, I'm so dissapointed because I was waiting improvements in two collections: Knightfall Vol. 3 and Absolute Sinestro Corps War.
About the latter, Didio told me that there will be improvement on the Solicitations, but no such of luck. Regarding Knighfall Vol. 3, see a slight difference from the original Solicitation:
ORIGINAL:
BATMAN #509, 510, 512-514, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #29, 30, 32-34, DETECTIVE COMICS #676, 677, 679-681, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #62 and 63, ROBIN #8, 9, 11-13, CATWOMAN #12, 13 and SHOWCASE 94 #10
NEW:
BATMAN #509-514, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #29-34, DETECTIVE COMICS #676-681, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #62-63, ROBIN #8-13 and CATWOMAN #12-13
Hello to Batman #511, Shadow of the Bat #31, Detective Comics #678, Robin #10... but goodbye SHOWCASE 94 #10.
Oh, well, on the WildCATS/Aliens. I'd certainly rather have the classic Stormwatch hardcovers sans WildCATS/Aliens than no Stormwatch hardcovers at all.
ReplyDeleteThe inclusion of those Batman issues in the Knightfall collection -- Zero Hour tie-ins -- is a riot. I'd still rather all the parts of The Search, but guest-appearances by the time-lost Batgirl Barbara Gordon and Robin Dick Grayson will be fun, too. Only, if they've got the Zero Hour issues and then Prodigal, don't they need the #0 issues to fill in a bit of a gap?
I don't see the point of including the Zero Hour tie-ins, either. It's sad how fans seem to know how to run better the TPB program than DC.
ReplyDeleteIt's rather sad that DC is going about these artist-centric collections in a way that Marvel was smart enough to realize didn't work more than years ago. I can't commend Marvel enough for seeing the light and not skipping over fill-in issues in books like the Gruenwald-written Captain America collections, the Bill Mantlo Hulk trades, the two X-Men by Claremont & Lee Omnibuses, and the Amazing Spider-Man by Michelinie & McFarlane Omnibus.
ReplyDeleteThe old Spider-Man: Todd McFarlane Visionaries and X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee trades, by contrast, skipped practically every other issue, making them virtually unreadable -- and now these Batman hardcovers, in some cases, are doing just the same thing. The fact that Marvel's collections department has gone to such pains to set itself straight makes it even more troubling that it's still mildly surprising to us when DC does something as small as including the original covers.
For the record, this is a hurdle that DC still hasn't managed to surpass -- the Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Vol. 1 hardcover skips all covers not drawn by Aparo, even when the rest of the issue is included. They didn't manage to eliminate all of the non-Aparo art, though, since there is one image drawn by Nick Cardy; hilariously enough, it's the first full image that you actually see inside the book.
1. Why does Volume 2 of KNIGHTFALL lack JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE issues?
ReplyDelete2. What else are the KNIGHTFALL volumes going to have missing once 1-3 are out?
3. Why include ZERO HOUR tie-ins, but leave out the #0 issues, Catwoman (both), and LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT (both)?
4. Nice to get "Prodigal," though, right?
5. Is Dark Horse the reason we're not getting WILDCATS/ALIENS, or is it DC not wanting to share with DHC (money / contracts)? If anyone can remember, the 5 SC volumes of STORMWATCH (now OOP) did include the entire run plus that one-shot.
6. Why is DC a) so stingy with their reprints from the 70s, 80s, and 90s b) so inconsistent and illogical? c) quick to omit necessary issues, and d) so frustrating
I'd love to have seen those Justice League Task Force -- Bruce Wayne, not Batman, in a Mission Impossible-type story -- but I held out less hope for those than for the "Search" issues. Ten more years down the road, maybe we'll get a couple hardcover volumes of Knightfall that'll really bring the whole thing together.
ReplyDeleteThe Dark Knight Rises was the only hope I had for the Knightfall story to be collected in entireity. Knightquest: The Search is 3 issues of Batman: Shadow of the Bat, 3 issues of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and 2 issues of Justice League Task Force. It seems odd to think how inclusion of Zero Hour Crossovers would make more sense than including those issues. Also, Azrael as Batman appears in issues of the Outsiders, Chain Gang War and Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire. I understand how odd it would seem to include parts of Chain Gang War (art by Dave Johnson, no less) but I would have expected at least the KnightQuest issues would be there.
ReplyDeleteThe Zero Hour issues would make for a disjointed story for sure, because as far as I remember, except the Alfred issue (Shadow of the Bat) and Detective Comics issues, none have a proper conclusion as such. Same for the 0 issues. Legends of the Dark Knight 0 was a teaser for upcoming storylines, while the others had origin stories featuring some aspect of the caped crusader's past life. I would, however, think that Robin 0 warrants inclusion as it leads in directly to Prodigal, and has an appearance by Two Face as well, one of the Big Bads in Prodigal.
Does anyone have an idea what's going on with the remaining JLoA collections from James Robinson?
ReplyDeleteThe Rise of Eclipso HC was moved to an undisclosed date. And I think the respective SC should have been included in the August Solits for a 9/26 release, but its not there.
What are the chances, that the remaining two Softcovers (Eclipso and Omega) will even be printed?
I have a certain fondness of Kelley Jones' Batman art, but the above image is the single worst Batman cover I've ever seen, Jones or otherwise.
ReplyDeletePregnant Azbats isn't stylish, it's just stupid.
Fortunately, odds are the cover to the collection will be a different image entirely.
Glad we're getting "Prodigal" - the aftermarket price on that trade is crazy.
Disappointed that we'll never see "The Search" - I guess I'll have to bind that storyline myself into a slim little hardcover.
As for the lack of "Legends of the Dark Knight #0" - can't say I'm upset. That's a terrible issue, taking a few pages each from previous "LOTDK" issues for the artwork, with new captions and speech bubbles, to make a single brand new story. A cool concept in theory, but it just didn't work.
@Spooky, according to Amazon, The Rise of Eclipso HC will now come out in October. What's odd is that DC has yet to resolicit it. Frankly, I don't get why they cancelled it in first place. Did they realize it would be a bad idea not to include Superman/Batman Annual #5 in it?
ReplyDeleteDo you know what happened to the paperback version of Justice League Generation Lost 1?
ReplyDeleteIt was supposed to be released in february, but it's not available anywhere.
It was cancelled and it won't be resolicited, unfortunately.
ReplyDelete@Zaid: It's not a new cover image, it was the cover to Batman 510, with a different background tint.
ReplyDeleteAbout Lotdk 0 you are partly correct - it did not feature pages from previous issues, but was used as a 'teaser' for coming stories.