DC Trade Solicitations for October 2017 - Aquaman: Atlantis Chronicles, Detective Comics and Justice League of America Rebirth Deluxe, Titans: Lazarus Contract, Odyssey of Amazons, Two-Face: 75 Years, Batwoman Rebirth
Of course, let's not overlook that an especially significant item coming out this month is Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles, a deluxe edition of Peter David's sweeping history of the underwater city. Atlantis Chronicles has been on my list of books I wished DC would collect for a long time, and I thought it had the best chance mainly because it was a miniseries; I did not think DC would be following it with a seemingly-ongoing collection series of David's Aquaman series itself, which they are. Hopefully all the hoopla around the Aquaman movie gives this one a bump, but I can't overemphasize that pre-ordering is your friend in these situations.
Take a look with me at this month's list.
• Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles Deluxe Edition HC
We have waited a very long time for DC to collect Peter David's masterwork of Aquaman mythology, and the best news is that this is only the start, because DC plans to follow it with a collection of Peter David's hook-handed Aquaman stories proper.
• Batman Year Two 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition HC
Getting a lot of play, apparently, because there's also a Dark Knight Detective trade series coming up that will collect the same material, this is Mike W. Barr's "Year Two" from Detective Comics #575-578 plus the Full Circle sequel.
• Batman: Detective Comics: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book One HC
It seems DC is releasing some but not all of the Rebirth titles in two-trade deluxe hardcovers. Among them, Detective Comics is a great read (including the "Night of the Monster Men" issues) and Eddy Barrows's art is going to look fantastic in deluxe format.
• Batwoman Vol. 1: The Many Arms of Death TP
Marguerite Bennett's first Batwoman collection sees a paperback trade, collecting the Rebirth special and issues #1-6.
• Flash Vol. 4: Running Scared TP
• Green Arrow Vol. 4: Blood and Oil TP
I've had a look at what's coming up in both Flash and Green Arrow and I couldn't be more excited for November to get here for these books. The Flash trade, of course, follows the "Button" crossover with Batman. The Green Arrow book is on the short side, just three issues and an annual, but lately Benjamin Percy's been knocking it out of the park so I'm not even going to worry about it.
• Gotham Academy Second Semester Vol. 2: The Ballad of Olive Silverlock TP
Collects the issue #4 interlude and issues #9-12.
• Justice League of America Vol. 2: Curse of the Kingbutcher TP
• Justice League of America: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book One HC
November sees both the second collection of Steve Orlando's Justice League of America series and also the first deluxe hardcover. Usually these deluxes come out along with the third volume, but it seems DC's counting the Road to Rebirth collection; Vol. 2 has issues #7-11 while the deluxe has all the specials plus issues #1-6. Between Lobo, Ray, Lord Havoc and the Extremists, and a title like "Curse of the Kingbutcher," Orlando seems to be riffing on a 1990s vibe that I'm excited about even as I haven't cracked the book yet.
• Justice League Vol. 4: Endless TP
The next collection of Bryan Hitch's Justice League collects issues #20-25.
• New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 HC [New Edition]
This new edition of the omnibus doesn't totally map to what came before, at least as far as the solicitations can be believed; this collects issues #21-41, the first two annuals, and Batman and the Outsiders #5, but lacks from the previous book the third annual and Tales of the Teen Titans issues #42-44.
• Odyssey of the Amazons TP
I've really heard nothing about the Kevin Grevioux series since its original announcement, which makes me wonder whether many people picked it up and whether it has been a success for DC or not. A smart marketing person would probably slip James Robinson a note and ask him to drop a reference to it into an upcoming issue of Wonder Woman; otherwise I'm not quite sure what ongoing life this will have.
• Superman Vol. 4: Black Dawn TP
• Superman: Action Comics Vol. 4: The New World TP
Admittedly I am someone given to feeling enthusiastic about what's coming out of DC Comics, but I've been reading some really good Rebirth releases lately, and now here we have DC releasing the next volumes of Action Comics and Superman -- the fourth volumes, each following Superman Reborn -- both in the same month. Not only are these books coming out fast, but they're also good -- what more could you ask for?
• Superwoman Vol. 2: Rediscovery TP
The second Superwoman collection includes a "Superman Reborn" tie-in, the last issue written by Phil Jimenez.
• Titans: The Lazarus Contract HC
The dedicated "Lazarus Contract" collection is said to collect Titans #11, Teen Titans #8, Deathstroke #19-20, and Teen Titans: The Lazarus Contract Special. This still leaves Titans #12 missing, neither collected here nor in Titans Vol. 3, though I'm sure DC is going to pick it up somewhere.
• Two-Face: A Celebration of 75 Years HC
The credits mention Peter Tomasi and Greg Rucka, among others, which probably means material from Tomasi's Batman and Robin: The Big Burn and either Gotham Central or something from Rucka's Detective Comics. The promotional cover, though, shows Batman Annual #14, a superlative origin of Two-Face by Andrew Helfer that details the abuse Harvey Dent suffered as a child. That annual has only been reprinted once before in a now out-of-print volume, and it was not included in the Batman: Arkham: Two-Face collection, so I'm hoping that we do see it here.
• A Very DC Universe Rebirth Christmas TP
A curious exercise in repackaging, this is the DC Rebirth Holiday Special plus just the Batman Annual #1 and Harley Quinn #10. At the same time I'm not sure if that Batman annual is collected anywhere else, so maybe I'm going to get suckered in.
• Wonder Woman Vol. 4: Godwatch TP
Collects issues #16, #18, #20, #22, #24, and Greg Rucka's story from the first annual, marking the final volume of Rucka's latest run on Wonder Woman.
Bunch of Rebirth event collections coming out soon -- which one are you most looking forward to? Superman Reborn, Button, Lazarus Contract, or another?
The DC Rebirth Christmas trade will be worth it. It's just a collection of holiday-themed short stories, and most of them are quite good.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a Robin Year One Deluxe coming out, which is a bit of a surprise.
Titans #12 will almost certainly be part of Vol. 3, as it's the start of a whole new arc. The Amazon listing is probably wrong.
Is publishing the Atlantis book as a hardcover a wise choice? A $50 hardcover for seven issues of 25+ year old material without any of the usual major characters would seem like it would be tough sell even with taking the rarity of the material into account.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that overpriced, considering each issue is double-sized, but I agree that a TPB would be safer. I hope this HC gets enough pre-orders to go to print, because PAD's Aquaman run would not be complete without it.
DeleteYou forgot to mention the latest Superman Omnibus! !
ReplyDeleteAnyone figured out what DC means by "recut" yet?
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the new edition of New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2, I believe it means it won't skip issue #38 unlike the previous version, and it will end with issue #41 instead of Annual #3. If DC bothered changing the contents of Vol. 2, I think there's a good chance that the new edition Vol. 3 will be a vastly different one that will begin with "The Judas Contract" and won't skip the non-Pérez issues.
DeleteThanks, that makes sense for the NTT omni. I noticed they also used that description for the upcoming Batgirl Bronze Age Omnibus, and few of those tales have been collected except in her Showcase B&W volume. Just seems like an odd phrase. Maybe in that case, the Batgirl Omni will collect stories not in the Showcase volume?
DeleteAppreciate the reply!
Yeah, given the way they did the titans silver age and Bronze Age omni, it seems like they are doing these new versions "right". The big tell will be the trade dress of the new titans vol 1... hopefully it will match the silver and bronze Omnis
Delete"Re-cut," at least for the Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner books, seems to be taking the previously-collected Green Lantern stories and interspersing them with the character's appearances in other titles where applicable.
DeleteOdyssey of the Amazons has not sold well in floppies (per Comics Beat, http://www.comicsbeat.com/__trashed-4/):
ReplyDelete234 - THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS ($3.99)
01/2017: Odyssey Amazons #1 of 6 -- 21,811
02/2017: Odyssey Amazons #2 of 6 -- 14,334 (- 34.3%)
03/2017: Odyssey Amazons #3 of 6 -- 11,013 (- 23.2%)
04/2017: Odyssey Amazons #4 of 6 -- 9,573 (- 13.1%)
05/2017: Odyssey Amazons #5 of 6 -- 8,942 (- 6.6%)
Will the "Two-Face: Year One" miniseries be included in the 75 year collection?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if DC is ever going to release Batman year 3 or the Troika storyline as a HC or TPB?
ReplyDeleteIf the upcoming Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 really is a collection of the first post-Crisis issues of Batman and Detective Comics, maybe one of the subsequent volumes will cover "Year Three" if these TPBs keep going long enough.
DeleteAs for "Troika", right now our best hope is the third Knightfall omnibus, but I'm not holding my breath. What I find funny is that at some point next year we'll have 3/4 of that crossover collected across three separate books: Batman by Doug Moench & Kelley Jones Vol. 1, Batman: Shadow of the Bat Vol. 3 and Robin Vol. 5.
Troika! Troika, Troika, Troika! Are you thrilled?
DeleteI've lost track of these immediate post-Crisis Batman collections. We lost Caped Crusader but gained Dark Knight? I'd like to see them collect "Year Three"; it's rather astounding that isn't collected, just simply for general fan recognition of a book with "Year X" in the title.