It seems some months are all about the classic trades, and then some months -- maybe fitting for the post-holiday offerings -- the New 52 comes roaring back. That's what's got most of my attention this time, between parts of Superman: Doomed beginning to emerge and more titles collecting their Futures' End tie-in issues. Shall we dig in?
• Superman: Doomed HC
I've no idea yet whether Superman: Doomed is good or not, but DC is surely betting hard on it, if that's any indication, running the story in Action, Superman, Superman/Wonder Woman, Batman/Superman, and Supergirl. Based on scope alone, I'm looking forward to it.
There's been some concerns that this Superman: Doomed collection wouldn't include the whole story, but if I'm not mistaken, this is more or less it: Superman: Doomed #1 and 2, Action Comics #30-35, Superman/Wonder Woman #7-12, Superman #30, Action Comics Annual #3, Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #1, Supergirl #34-35 and Batman/Superman #11.
The only problem I potentially see is the exclusion of Superman #31, but given how otherwise complete this collection is, my guess is that's just an oversight in the solicitation. And to be sure, these issues will also be collected in their individual trades.
• Batwing Vol. 5: Into the Dark TP
As with many of the books for this month, Batwing Vol. 5 includes the Futures' End tie-in issue; I'm glad to see so many Futures' End tie-in issues collected, in contrast to last year's Villains' Month. This marks the final collection of Batwing, a title I more or less lost track of after "Night of the Owls"; I'll probably get around to reading it one day -- Batwing appears in Batman: Eternal, right? -- but it's not necessarily high on my list.
• Constantine Vol. 3: The Voice in the Fire TP
• Justice League Dark Vol. 5: Paradise Lost TP
Both the Constantine and Justice League Dark series see their first trades after the Forever Evil: Blight crossover, and both contain their Futures' End tie-in issue.
• Justice League United Vol. 1: Justice League Canada HC
It's a cute nod that the title once called "Justice League Canada" gets that as the title of its first collection. It's interesting that in addition to collecting its own Futures' End tie-in issue, this trade also includes the Justice League proper title's Futures' End collection. You'll have to tell me if one leads into the other.
• Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 2: War and Peace HC
I really liked Charles Soule's first Superman/Wonder Woman collection, much more than I was expecting, and I'm looking forward to the second one, though -- as I mentioned above -- this trade collects the Superman/Wonder Woman issues of Superman: Doomed separate from the full collection. The book also includes not only the Superman/Wonder Woman Futures' End tie-in issue, but also the Wonder Woman Futures' End issue written by Soule.
• Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 5 – Godkillers TP
Green Lantern: New Guardians gets a trade of its own between the "Lights Out" crossover previous and the "Godhead" crossover to come. Another series I've lost track of -- really I've lost track of the Green Lantern titles overall. I thought Geoff Johns wrote some good interactions for Hal Jordan in the Justice League, and personally I'm eager to see Hal with closer ties to the DC Universe again.
• Teen Titans Vol. 5: The Trial of Kid Flash TP
Finishes out the Scott Lobdell Teen Titans run. Presumably we'll see the Futures' End issue collected with the first of Will Pfeifer's new series.
• Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United TP
Once again, the great news is that Gail Simone's Secret Six is back in the New 52, and this explains the new spate of "classic" Secret Six trades. This book includes the Villains United miniseries, the Secret Six miniseries, and the Villains United Infinite Crisis special, which is about two trades worth of material. No word yet on what the second collection will contain, but I don't think anyone would mind if DC collected the Six's appearance in Simone's Birds of Prey along with this.
I might have preferred hardcover for these reprinting, but I'm happy for anyone who hasn't had a chance to read Secret Six to be able to do so now.
• Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City TP
"Dark Knight, Dark City" is a classic on its own (I reviewed it some time ago when it came out as a DC Comics Presents volume), but I adore this kind of "putting it in context" collection that includes Peter Milligan's Detective Comics stories from the same time. This early Tim Drake/pre-Knightfall Batman era is largely uncollected, and I hope this is the beginning of more from that era.
• Orion by Walter Simonson Omnibus Edition HC
Doug offered a great preview a couple weeks back of what this will collect. Orion is another of these dynamic 2000s JLA-era series that was never collected -- Tom Peyer's Hourman is another one -- and the fact that it zooms back to us in omnibus form is just splendid. This is the anti-Showcase Presents, in essence; the same way we're getting Orion, I'd have wanted to see the 1980s Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Infinity Inc., and on and on.
• Shazam!: A Celebration of 75 Years HC
Among the contributors listed for this book are Otto Binder, Dennis O'Neil, and Geoff Johns. Hopefully the omission of Jerry Ordway will be corrected in the book; this would not be a proper Shazam celebration without material from Ordway's superlative Power of Shazam (speaking of series that need omnibus collections). Aside from kicking off with a great graphic novel, Ordway's Captain Marvel was not too cheesy, not too modern, and it was in Ordway's book that we saw the beginnings of the Black Adam iteration that Johns would further popularize.
• Secret Origins Vol. 1 TP
Based on the character's named in the solicitation, this would seem to collect issues Secret Origins issues #1-4, at least. Given that we know at least some of these stories will also be collected in the characters' individual volumes, I'll be trade-trade-waiting on this one until I see how the material shakes out elsewhere.
• Batman: The Dark Knight Unwrapped By David Finch Deluxe Edition HC
Last but not least, this collection of David Finch's pencils among a variety of recent Bat-titles. I rather like Finch's Batman work (some other cover work notwithstanding) and I expect this will be an attractive book; indeed I think Finch was ill-served by some of the inking late in the New 52 Dark Knight title, and maybe this book will right those pages a bit.
OK -- what are you buying and what did I overlook?
Marvel: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56465
ReplyDelete*Avengers: The Vibranium Collection Slipcase HC—As with the similar X-Men and Wolverine giant-sized collections, I don’t get why this exists apart from as a table decoration. That’s not to say it’s a bad selection of stories; many of the major stories including “Under Siege” and “Ultron Unlimited” are included. There’s even an arc from Geoff Johns’ run. But yeah, get the individual trades and omnibuses instead.
*Hawkeye by Fraction/Aja Omnibus HC—This, on the other hand, is a collection well-worth your money and space, especially if you’ve never read any of Fraction’s “Hawkeye” run. Scheduling delays and the questionable decision to split the title into different storylines for Clint and Kate aside, it’s won multiple Eisners and helped lead Marvel’s current renaissance.
*[New] Avengers by Jonathan Hickman HC—I knew these were going to come out before “Avengers 2” hits the screen, and it’s good to see them hit early in the year. The “Adjectiveless Avengers” HC is where you can get that great two-parter about Hyperion and Thor in the Savage Land that wasn’t in the “Infinity” hardcover; all of the “New Avengers” HC was collected there.
*Axis: Carnage and Hobgoblin TP—The whole “heroic bad guys” situation post-“Axis” is giving me some bad flashbacks to “Dark Reign” and inviting some comparisons to “Forever Evil”. These two minis seem like the best execution of the concept though, especially since Roderick Kingsley is back as Hobgoblin. And you know me—I can’t resist a crazy Carnage story.
More Marvel
Delete*Avengers World Vol. 3: Ascension TP—Wait, wait, wait… did they ever solicit Volume 2? Did something happen where it didn’t get listed for some reason? Was it moved? It’s on Amazon… I checked the November 2014 solicits and it’s not there. “Avengers World” is a good title and one worth catching up on, but I normally don’t miss something as big as this.
*Spider-Man 2099 Vol. 1: Out of Time TP—With “Spider-Verse” already a success in its lead-up thanks to Spider-Gwen, I’m interested to see this book and how it leads in. Plus it’s done by the original creative team of Peter David and Rick Leonardi along with Will Sliney, three people whose work is worth following.
*Deadpool: The Ones with Deadpool TP—This puts a number of the recent “Deadpool” annuals all in one place. The “Bi-Annual” issue was absolutely hysterical with how it brought back Brute Force and the first Annual explained the Daniel Way-era white caption boxes in a way that made them acceptable and resurrected an old character. I haven’t read the other books collected here, but all have received great acclaim and the “Death of Wolverine” tie-in has resonance with “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, which I reviewed not long ago.
*Inhumanity TP—Marvel, stop trying to make the Inhumans happen. It isn’t working. I get that you can’t use the term “mutant” for the films, but not everything has to match the MCU and the spite against Fox for their X-Men movies is pretty blatant. Plus, why the hell did they recruit Joe Madureira for this? Did they not expect him to be months late?
Marvel Part 3(!)
Delete*Daredevil Vol. 2: West Case Scenario TP—This trade contains issue 7, which was hailed as the most accurate depiction of postpartum depression in not just comics, but in fiction in general. As much as I’d love for Mark Waid to take over as DC’s new EIC, if it meant losing his “Daredevil”, it wouldn’t be worth the shift.
*Deathlok: Rage Against the Machine TP—I really do get the focus on Deathlok thanks to his role on “Agents of SHIELD” but (minor spoiler) he hasn’t shown up yet this season. Maybe they’re biding their time or maybe he’s showing up in “Avengers 2”, but either way, Marvel really needs to get a return on their investment. As for the comic, this is just about as late-90s as you can get with Marvel, complete with art by Ladronn and the Eleventh Doctor. (Okay, it’s a different Matt Smith… I wonder if he, Ralph Macchio and Dan Green have ever commiserated about sharing their names with other famous people.)
*Civil War Prelude: New Warriors TP—This book was my first exposure to Zeb Wells and Skottie Young… and I hated it. Both have gone on to prove themselves in my eyes, the former with “New Mutants” and the latter with “A-Babies vs. X-Babies” and “Rocket Raccoon”. With the upcoming “Secret Wars” revisiting older crossovers, this won’t be the last old tie-in to get recollected.
Dark Horse: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56302
*The Shaolin Cowboy HC—Geof Darrow and Dave Stewart’s series has long been a byword for using action over dialogue. It’s even how they pitch it in the solicitation!
*Dark Ages TP—Medieval knights vs. aliens? Okay, you have my attention.
*Empowered Unchained Vol. 1 TP—I really should get around to reviewing “Empowered” on this site. It’s an unhinged, over-the-top and occasionally brilliant book, and hopefully these specials won’t take me too far out of the timeline.
IDW: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56480
Delete*Transformers: Dark Cybertron HC—I have the monthlies of the first major “Transformers” internal crossover… in fact I think I have most issues twice thanks to the Generations toy line including copies in the deluxe toys. However, if this hardcover contains the special features from the impossible-to-find Deluxe Edition of the first issue, I may have to grab it.
*The Life Eaters TP—Now this is a special treat for sci-fi fans. Years ago, David Brin wrote a short story called “Thor Meets Captain America” in which the Nazis summoned the Norse gods to win World War II. Wildstorm turned it into a graphic novel back in 2003… right during a period where they were being folded into DC and so a lot of projects fell into obscurity (similar to how we’re not getting the “Orion” omnibus until now). I’m really stoked to see a lost story like this republished.
*Transformers Animated Complete Allspark Almanac TP—Jim Sorenson and the rest of the “Allspark Almanac” team retroactively turned “Transformers Animated” into one of my favorite series. These combined volumes contain an immense amount of background material, much of which never made it to the screen or was on-screen for seconds.
*Super Secret Crisis War Vol. 1 TP—Otherwise known as “DC’s Biggest Missed Opportunity”, I’ve been waiting for this sprawling crossover of every Cartoon Network classic character to be collected. There’s the people you expect, like Samurai Jack, Ben 10 and the Powerpuff Girls… but then Ed, Edd and Eddy, Billy and Mandy and more have tie-in stories. Kudos to Louise Simonson for figuring out how to pull this off.
Image: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56302
*Reprints: In general, Image is reprinting over a dozen first trades of various titles, mostly in the non-superhero range. So if you’ve been looking to check out “Criminal”, “East of West” or “Hack/Slash”, amongst others, and you can’t find the trades, you’re in luck. I’m personally going to check out the “Hack/Slash” omnibuses.
*Rising Stars Compendium TP—The trade order for “Rising Stars” can be confusing, so this huge collection simplifies the problem. Plus it has art by Karl Malone! …wait, sorry, I’m being told that’s Karl Moline, sorry.
Valiant: http://www.newsarama.com/22508-valiant-entertainment-january-2015-solicitations.html
*Quantum and Woody Deluxe Edition Book 1 HC—If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, this and “The Delinquents” will get you caught up for the upcoming “Quantum and Woody Must Die!” mini-series. It’s the rare trade where the white supremacist survivalists are the most normal villains to be featured.
On the Image one you linked the Dark Horse solicits. Here's the Image solicits :)
Deletehttps://imagecomics.com/content/view/image-comics-solicitations-for-january-2015
Can anyone tell a Marvel novice like me if I should pick up that Hickman New Avengers book? He also ANOTHER Avengers book coming out too right? Like, a separate title? What's the basic gist? Is it good stuff? I am only just getting into Marvel recently.
DeleteYou should only get that New Avengers hardcover if you're also going to get the Adjectiveless Avengers (Hickman's other title) HC as well. In short, Adjectiveless is the main book which pulls from a roster of almost two dozen heroes; I recommend it without reservation. New Avengers is about the Illuminati (Dr. Strange, Reed Richards, Iron Man, Beast, Black Panther and Namor) dealing with the universe falling apart and alternate Earths destroying each other. Avengers World by Nick Spencer also ties in closely, in this case focusing on the newer members like Smasher, Sunfire, Cannonball and Manifold.
DeleteI personally don't think that New Avengers is as good as Adjectiveless or Avengers World, but it provides a behind-the-scenes perspective of the overarching story that Hickman's been telling for the past few years and which might culminate in the upcoming Secret Wars.
When you say he's been telling it for the past few years, what books would I need to grab to read the whole thing? Thanks!!
DeleteFor Adjectiveless Avengers, here's the list:
Delete*Vol. 1: Avengers World HC/TP
*Vol. 2: The Last White Event HC/TP
*Vol. 3: Skip in favor of Infinity HC
*Vol. 4: Skip in favor of Infinity HC
*Vol. 5: Adapt or Die HC, TP out in March of 2015
*Vol. 6: Infinite Avengers, HC out next month
The upcoming big hardcover contains "Avengers World", "The Last White Event" and the first two issues of "Infinity Prelude", the third trade which I advise skipping.
For New Avengers:
*Vol. 1: Everything Dies HC/TP
*Vol. 2: Skip in favor of Infinity HC
*Vol. 3: Skip in favor of Infinity HC
*Vol. 4: Perfect World HC, out in November on the same day as "Infinite Avengers"
For Avengers World
*Vol. 1: AIMPire TP
*Vol. 2: Ascension TP, apparently out 11/5 even though I can't find the solicit anywhere besides Midtown Comics
I would advise against getting Hickman's "SHIELD: Architects of Forever" trade, as it makes very little sense despite being apparently a key part of the story he's trying to tell. If you can find it, Warren Ellis' "newuniversal" is an excellent if unintentional companion piece as Hickman essentially picked up where Ellis left off in using the New Universe tropes. His "Secret Warriors" title introduced some of the characters in "Avengers", including Manifold, and I hear it's very good, but it's optional.
It looks like you missed Batman: Blink. I wonder if that's a good story.
ReplyDeleteWell, "missed" isn't quite the right word; I knew of it, I just didn't list it because it wasn't on my person buying list per se. But, the draw there is that it's written by the late, great Dwayne McDuffie; I think you can't really go wrong there.
DeleteCould you perhaps post a link to the solicitations themselves in these kinds of posts, then? That way, we can see what other releases might interest us, even if it didn't necessarily grab your attention.
DeleteThanks!
I will try to remember for next time, but then again, these solicitations are kind of everywhere and I wasn't sure if a link was needed necessarily -- the DC site has them, Comic Book Resources has them, Newsarama has them. I figure you've read them somewhere else and are just coming here to discuss.
DeleteYes and no. I saw your post not knowing the solicits were already out there, so I had to go somewhere else to see the full list.
Delete(btw I'm not the Anonymous person :P)
Secret Six, Hellblazer vol 10, JLD and maybe JLU are on my list. I may get the Doomed Collection, but not a huge Superman fan here. I may also get the Scooby Doo team up collection, which looks fun.
ReplyDeletePretty sparse month for me, so I'll most likely pick up some earlier trades I passed by when they first came out.
Agreed on Scooby Doo; even as I don't read the title, I'm always looking in the solicitations to see who they're going to team up with next. I admit I saw the Jetsons one and it didn't register for a moment, and then I thought, wait, *that's* new. Jetsons, Scooby Doo, and Flintstones all together would be *awesome.*
DeleteAgreed, it's great that DC appear intent on collecting the Futures End one-shots in their proper places. The Justice League & JLUnited issues do indeed flow into each other, containing a 2-part story (with both parts written by Lemire, IIRC.)
ReplyDelete-Mike
and regarding Superman: Doomed... sigh. I read the entire thing in proper release/reading-order in single issues and was hoping I'd enjoy it so much more than I did. I'm a big fan of Pak and Soule's work elsewhere, and was also enjoying their own retrospective solo arcs on Action and S/WW before Doomed came along. To their credit, the redesigned Doomsday is more of a terrifying force of pure death than the original ever was, but the "Infected" aspect of the story just dragged on and didn't do it for me. I feel DC editorial may be most at fault here, as, taken alone, Pak and Soule's respective work feels just fine, but the flow from issue to issue while bouncing back and forth just felt incredible scattershot in tone.
ReplyDelete-Mike
Does reading it individually by series offer any benefit?
DeleteIn my opinion, no. This upcoming mammoth-sized HC collecting the whole crossover really is the best way to read these issues, although I could do without the Supergirl tie-ins. The one problem with skipping the next Action Comics and Superman/Wonder Woman volumes in favor of the Doomed HC is that you'll miss out on the Futures End two-parter by Soule (which will also be in the omnibus collecting the whole month-long stunt) and apparently a portion of Action Comics #30.
DeleteThe updated content listing at the Edelweiss website says the Superman: Doomed HC will collect Superman #30-31, Action Comics #31-35, Action Comics Annual #3, Superman/Wonder Woman #8-12, Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #1, Supergirl #34-35, Batman/Superman #11 and Superman: Doomed #1-2 with select pages from Action Comics #30 and Superman/Wonder Woman #7. It really is a huge story that warrants the page count, but its last five chapters or so suffered from terribly inconsistent artwork, and the double-sized ones had as many as seven pencillers each.
Definitely plan on getting Dark Knight, Dark City. I have the original individual issues, but it will be nice to have them in a collected format, along with other issues from Milligan's run on Detective Comics.
ReplyDeleteI might also get GL: New Guardians Vol 5. I have the first 4 volumes, but I've only read the first volume so far. If the rest are as good as that first volume, then I'll definitely be getting that one as well. Kyle Rayner's always been my favorite GL.
And I'll also be getting that new Daredevil TP at some point as well. Before I switched to just collecting trades, I read about the first 15 issues or so of Mark Waid's Daredevil run and really enjoyed them. I just haven't gotten around to collecting the trades of his run yet.
I'll be getting Constantine, Justice League Dark, Batman: Dark Knight Dark City (have the individual issues & the DC Presents version, but worth it for a real trade!), Orion, Spidey 2099 & Daredevil. Anyone know if the late 90's Deathlok series is any good? The early 90's Deathlok by Gregory Wright & Denys Cowan was great!
ReplyDeleteP.S.
I wish you wouldn't skip anything in your solicitations. I love hearing your opinion, even if you don't like the book.
Appreciate the comment. Just to be clear, it's not that I don't mention a book in these posts if I have a specific reason I don't recommend it -- usually I will bring that up. What I don't see the need to do is simply list all the books coming out in a single month. Plenty of other sites do that, enough that I don't think you all need another place that does.
DeleteRather I run through the list and comment on what I think is worth commenting on, which isn't a judgment on the books I don't mention or whether they're worth or not worth your time to pick up; it's just that I'm not going to waste your time reprinting solicitations that are publicly available if I don't have anything additional to add. That's what I feel comfortable with, at least.