DC Trade Solicitations for June 2017 - Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis, Batman: Caped Crusader Post-Crisis, Dixon Nightwing Vol. 6 and Robin Vol. 4, DC Rebirth Omnibus Extended Edition

Just last week we saw a sneak peek of DC Comics's Fall 2017 collections (links are operational now!), and now here we are with some of those books already showing up in their June 2017 hardcovers and trade paperbacks solicitations. Most notably we see the Justice League International Omnibus now re-named as the Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis Omnibus; there's also the Harley Quinn by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Omnibus and the DC Universe: Rebirth Omnibus Expanded Edition, among other big books.

We also see the next volumes in the reprint series of Chuck Dixon's Nightwing and Robin, and also a collection of some immediately-post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Batman stories that I'm pretty excited about. All of this and further indication of how nicely crossovers are being collected in Rebirth, as we see the contents of the next Justice League Rebirth collections.

Let's dip in and take a look.

• Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis Omnibus Vol. 1 HC

What DC's Fall 2017 solicitations had listed as the Justice League International Omnibus is already solicited this month, for September, as Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis Omnibus Vol. 1. The contents now outpace the six hardcover/paperback Justice League International collections by about a dozen issues or so; the end of Giffen and DeMatteis's run is now within about twenty issues from the end of this, times two series, America and Europe.

Contents are said to be Justice League #1-6, Justice League International #7-25, Justice League America #26-46, Justice League Europe #1-21, Suicide Squad #13, Justice League International Annual #1-3, Justice League America Annual #4, Justice League Europe Annual #1, and possibly more. (A number of people have pointed out that these are too many issues for a 1,000-page omnibus, so we'll see how the contents shake out.)

Given that DC is now doubling-down on their Justice League International collections, we can perhaps surmise that interest in the Justice League: Breakdowns book was so great as to warrant this bigger collection, and not as it seemed that there was too little interest for that book to make it.

At this point I think it's generally accepted that Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis's "bwa-ha-ha" era of Justice League is just as intrinsic to the fabric of the DC Universe as the Silver Age incarnation or Grant Morrison's JLA, and a comprehensive volume is welcome if not overdue.

• Absolute Authority Vol. 1 HC

This is new, and maybe a little controversial, re-releasing an Absolute edition with material not included in the original Absolute edition. Adding to the original issues #1-12 now is the Planetary/Authority graphic novel, and also apparently a "new story by Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary." Honestly this would enthuse me more if DC had kept up the Authority franchise; I'm still surprised they went with Stormwatch instead of Authority in the New 52, and unfortunately that title didn't work out so well anyway. All of which leads me to feel that Authority's time has somehow passed (though if the story related to current political events, that'd be interesting) and I'm more likely to browse the new material when it's invariably released in a cheaper edition.

• Planetary Book One TP

This is a "new cut" of the Planetary collection ("cut" and "recut" being the word of the day in DC's Fall 2017 solicitations), including about half of the original series (#1-14), a "sneak peak" story, and the same Planetary/Authority graphic novel that's also in the new Absolute Authority collection.

• Aquaman: Kingdom Lost TP

This collection by John Arcudi and Patrick Gleason finishes out the Aquaman series that ran parallel to the end of JLA, finishing with a tie-in to Infinite Crisis. The contents are said to be issues #32-39 and the last collection ended with Arcudi's issue #29, which I guess keeps the latter half of this collection series all Arcudi, but in the interest of completeness I wish they'd throw in issues #30-31 by Marc Guggenheim and Andy Clarke, too.

• Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 HC

I'm pleased to see this Batman: The Caped Crusader collection, which appears to collect issues of Batman and Detective Comics that followed Crisis on Infinite Earths and Batman: Year One -- that is, issues that aren't super-duper special, but simply reflect a Batman era that's otherwise mostly uncollected, which for a completist like me is really kind of great.

The contents are Detective Comics #575-584 and Batman #413-420. This does include Batman: Year Two, stories from the recent Jason Todd-centric collection Batman: Second Chances, and Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast, so of about 18 issues, about 12 of them are previously collected, but I'd venture a collection of Ten Nights is pretty hard to find these days, and in all these are some classic, often gritty Batman stories. Stories are by Mike Barr, Jo Duffy, Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Jim Starlin, including two Millennium crossover issues. For those following along at home, the issues around Death in the Family would be coming up in the next volume.

• Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Vol. 2 TP

The second volume of Paul Kupperberg's early 1980s Supergirl series saw the release of the Helen Slater movie, causing the title change from "Daring New Adventures" to just "Supergirl." Indeed the volume includes an Ambush Bug guest-appearance. This is the Supergirl who dies in Crisis on Infinite Earths; indeed she has few appearances after this volume before Crisis.

• Elseworlds: Justice League Vol. 2 TP

The big draw in this volume are three graphic novels by Jean-Mac Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, Superman: Metropolis, Batman: Nosferatu, and Wonder Woman: Blue Amazon, connected and based on classic German movies. Also included is Doug Moench's three-part JLA: Act of God, about the heroes losing their powers, and the famously pulped Elseworlds 80-Page Giant.

• Midnighter: The Complete Wildstorm Series TP

This Midnighter collection has been bopping around DC's solicitations for about a year now, so it's good to see it finally solicited. This is Midnighter #1-20 and the Midnighter: Armageddon special. All of these are collected in other trades, but I imagine fans will like to have them in one place; possibly the only thing this lacks is the Grifter & Midnighter miniseries, also collected on its own.

• Nightwing Vol. 6: To Serve and Protect TP

This new collection of Chuck Dixon's Nightwing series collects the contents of the Big Guns and On the Razor's Edge collections, issues #47-60 plus the Nightwing 80-Page Giant special (the Secret Files and Origins, originally in Big Guns, was moved to the new fourth volume). Issues #51 (a profile of the Tad character) and #53 ("Officer Down," part 5) were previously omitted but have been brought back here.

This marks the end of where this Nightwing series has been collected until issue #101. Dixon would write until issue #70 and then Devin Grayson would take over until issue #117, with a variety of writers after that. Which is to say, hopefully there's more reprint Nightwing volumes to follow, and those should begin to collect Nightwing material that's never been collected before.

• Robin Vol. 4: Turning Point TP

The fourth new collection of Chuck Dixon's Robin collects the Robin/Huntress stories from Showcase '94 #5-6 and Robin #0 and #6-13 (issue #6 crossed over with Showcase '94). This is, admittedly, an issue of "Knightquest," two parts of "Knightsend," two Zero Hour tie-in issues, and three parts of Prodigal. That's wonky, to be sure (it smoothes out a little after that but there's plenty other events on the horizon), but Dixon has subplots that move laterally through his issues, so I maintain there's some value in reading the issues this way.

• Wonder Woman 100 Project TP

Via Jason Waters on Facebook: "The 'Wonder Woman 100' project is brought to you by the Hero Initiative, a non-profit that raises money for the veterans of the comic book industry who fall on hard times. I've been a fundraiser for them for over a decade. Visit www.heroinitiative.org for more info. This is the second DC Comics book we've done."

A covers collection wouldn't usually be for me, but I thought it was interesting this solicitation included "NOTE: There will be ONLY ONE PRINTING OF THIS BOOK EVER! Order yours today!" They're upfront about it, at least.

• DC Universe: Rebirth Omnibus Expanded Edition HC

As we discussed the other day, this is the DC Universe: Rebirth Omnibus all over again, just now with Batwoman: Rebirth, Justice League America: Rebirth and its associated specials, the DC Rebirth Holiday Special, and variably I've heard Super Sons #1 is in there, though the solicitation doesn't say it.

This is fine enough; the manner in which some of these are the first part of stories and some of these are self-contained makes for an uncertain reading experience, and had I bought this omnibus just a year ago only for it to be re-released a year later with just seven more issues in it, I might be annoyed, but good that DC's making it complete-er. But I do wonder why not just a Vol. 2, maybe with Justice League vs. Suicide Squad or some other integral part of the Rebirth story; if DC decides to release more Rebirth specials, how much more can they add to this book before it's time to start a new one?

• Deathstroke Vol. 2: The Gospel of Slade TP

Collects issues #6-11 of the Christopher Priest series. The next collection was just solicited as issues #12-17, but given that "Lazarus Contract" starts with issue #19, we might expect that'll be #12-18 instead.

• Flash Vol. 3: Rogues Reloaded TP

Collects issues #14-20, ending just before the Batman crossover "The Button."

• Flash: The Rebirth Collection Deluxe Edition Book One HC

The solicitation says this collects the Rebirth special and issues #1-12, but the second paperback collection goes to issue #13, so most likely this will, too.

• Gotham Academy: Second Semester Vol. 1 TP

Collects issues #1-3 and #5-8 of the second series. Issue #4, with guest artist Jon Lam, is scheduled to be in the next collection.

• Harley Quinn by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Omnibus Vol. 1 HC

The solicitation for the first Harley Quinn omnibus basically match what DC released the other day -- Harley Quinn #0-16, , Harley Quinn: Futures End #1, Harley Quinn Invades San Diego Comic Con #1, Harley Quinn Annual #1, Harley Quinn Holiday Special #1, Harley Quinn Valentines Day Special #1, and Harley Quinn & Power Girl #1-6 -- except for the Harley Quinn Director's Cut #0 and the story from Secret Origins #4. Complete as this is, I'd be surprised if those weren't in here.

• Injustice Ground Zero Vol. 1 HC

Collects issues #1-6 of the new series. I thought I understood that this was a re-telling of the previous Injustice series from Harley's perspective, but if it's a new story bridging Injustice and Injustice 2, that makes me more interested.

• Justice League by Geoff Johns Box Set Vol. 1

I find these box sets -- previously for Snyder and Capullo's Batman -- pretty attractive, with uniform trade dress for the books. This has the first three Justice League volumes -- Origin, Villain's Journey, and Throne of Atlantis -- collecting Justice League #1-17 and Aquaman #15-16.

• Justice League Vol. 3: Timeless TP

The previous volume collected Justice League #6-11 and this one picks up with issues #14-19, so indeed it skips the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad issues collected elsewhere.

• Justice League: The Rebirth Collection Deluxe Edition Book One HC

Collects the Rebirth special and issues #1-11, which matches what we already know.

• Midnighter & Apollo TP

The six issue miniseries by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco.

• Mother Panic Vol. 1: A Work in Progress TP
• Shade, The Changing Girl Vol. 1: Earth Girl Made Easy TP

Each collect the first six issues of the Young Animal series.

• Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Vol. 2 TP

The second of what must now be three Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka volumes collects issues #206-217, which are the former Eyes of the Gorgon and Land of the Dead collections (missing is Flash #219, which should hopefully be included). Plenty of room in the next volume to completely collect the "Sacrifice" crossover with the Superman titles.

A whole bunch of books solicited lately! Pick one -- ONE -- book that you could purchase; what would it be?