The DC Comics Spring 2018 catalog seems a little slow to fully unroll, but in the meantime Justice League Task Force is only the start of another spate of solicitations that's turned up from online vendors. There's plenty of Rebirth releases here, and I covered earlier what we can learn here about Action Comics #1,000, but also we see now a potential replacement for the cancelled Superman: Man of Tomorrow books, details on what the Batman: New Gotham collections will turn out to be, details on the new Green Lantern: Earth One, early post-Crisis Aquaman and Wonder Woman material, and more.
The new listings are below, and don't miss my first list of DC Comics's Early 2018 trades, including Hawkworld and Peter David's Aquaman.
Justice League Task Force. As I live and breathe ...
• All-Star Batman Vol. 2: Ends of the Earth
Paperback release of the hardcover, due out the same time as the hardcover of Scott Snyder's All-Star Batman Vol. 3. Collects issues #6-9, with art by Jock, Tula Lotay, and Giuseppe Camuncoli, plus the "Cursed Wheel" backups.
• All-Star Batman Vol. 3: First Ally
Collects issues #10-14, the final volume of Scott Snyder's All-Star. This is the "First Ally" Alfred spotlight story with art by Rafael Albuquerque.
• Aquaman: The Legend of Aquaman
Though I tend to think of Peter David's Time and Tide as the post-Crisis origin of Aquaman a la Longbow Hunters and Road Home, it's probably actually Robert Loren Fleming and Keith Giffen's Aquaman special and five-issue miniseries, with art by Curt Swan. I'll say this for the various Justice League movies, we sure are getting a lot of collections of long-lost material.
• Batgirl: Stephanie Brown Vol. 2
The second volume of the new "omnibus" collections of Bryan Q. Miller's Stephanie Brown Batgirl series collects stories from the Flood and Lesson trades, issue #13-24, including a Supergirl, Squire, and Klarion guest appearances and the superlative final issue. Newly included now is the Bruce Wayne: The Long Road Home: Batgirl special.
• Batgirl Vol. 3: Summer of Lies
The third Rebirth volume by Hope Larson collects issues #12-17 and includes an appearance by Catwoman.
• Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77
The six issue miniseries by Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker.
• Batman Arkham: Hugo Strange
Hugo Strange is a Batman villain used so rarely, and sometimes so inconsistently, that I'm always riveted when he's on the scene. Certainly Gotham has done the character a good turn lately, as did Rebirth. I'll be curious to see what's collected here; there's some Gotham Knights material to mine, I think.
• Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 5
The fifth volume of James Tynion's Detective Comics collects issues #963-968, the two-part "Longer Chains" Spoiler story, plus "A Lonely Place of Living" that takes place concurrent to Superman's "Oz Effect."
• Batman by Neal Adams Book One
I'm pretty sure most of what's collected here has been collected before, but I'm not sure if this is in some way spotlighting something different for Neal Adams or if it's a new edition of an already-published book. Collects Batman #219, Detective Comics #395, 397, 400, 402, 405, and 407, The Brave and the Bold #79-86, and World's Finest Comics #175-176.
• Batman: New Gotham Vol. 2
It would seem then that the Batman: New Gotham collections are just going to collect Greg Rucka's Detective Comics (not that there's anything wrong with that), as this includes issues #755-765. That jumps over issue #754, not included in the last volume -- the individual part of Officer Down -- and continues with Rucka's work from there. It runs right up into Batman: Murderer/Fugitive, after which Rucka left the title (until his Batwoman work), so I'd bet that's probably it for this collection series.
• Batman Noir: The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Admittedly it's been a long time since I read Dark Knight Strikes Again, I didn't really get it the first time, and it basically put me off the whole Dark Knight saga. I have a sense that's probably true for most people. I wonder how this might read differently without the bold, sometimes purposefully-absurd coloring.
• Batman: Tales of the the Man-Bat
This collects Chuck Dixon and Flint Henry's Showcase '94 #11 and Man-Bat miniseries, and then Bruce Jones's unrelated Man-Bat miniseries from about ten years later that involved the Gotham Knights-era Hush.
• Bug! The Adventures of Forager
Collects issues #1-6 of the Young Animal series by Lee Allred and Mike Allred. I'm not grooving on this one necessarily; I'm leaning more toward the Shade and Mother Panic urban horror than some of Young Animal's wackier material.
• DC Comics: The Art of Darwyn Cooke
No word on the contents yet but we know it's going to be gorgeous.
• DC Universe by Brian K. Vaughan
No question why it behooves DC to have as many collections out there with Brian K. Vaughan's name on it as possible, but this is a pretty eclectic collection. There's Titans #14, a Tempest story; Sins of Youth: Wonder Girl from the middle of that fifth week event; Young Justice #22, a "day in the life" story; the JLA Annual #4 from the 2000 "Planet DC" event; and parts, but not all, of the Kyle Rayner Green Lantern: Circle of Fire story.
• Flash by Mark Waid Book Four
Solicitations have issues #80-94, which is the contents of Book Three. I'm still thinking something like #95-107, which will collect "Terminal Velocity" and go right up to the "Dead Heat" crossover with Impulse.
• Flash Vol. 5
Collects issues #28-32 and #34, skipping the DC Metal tie-in issue #33.
• Future Quest Presents Vol. 1
Collects issues #1-7 of Jeff Parker and Ariel Olivetti's new Future Quest series.
• Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1
Here's the solicitation as listed:
Hal Jordan yearns for the thrill of discovery, but the days when astronaut and adventure were synonymous are long past. His gig prospecting asteroids for Ferris Galactic is less than fulfilling -- but least he's not on Earth, where technology and culture have stagnated. He might be a nobody, but he's in space.
When Jordan finds a powerful ring, he also finds a destiny to live up to. There are worlds beyond his own, unlike anything he ever imagined. But revelation comes with a price: the Green Lantern Corps has fallen, long since murdered by ruthless killing machines known as Manhunters. The odds against reinstating the Corps are nearly impossible ... but doing the impossible is exactly what an astronaut like Hal Jordan was trained to do.
From creator Gabriel Hardman, the critically acclaimed author of INVISIBLE REPUBLIC, comes a soaring new epic original graphic novel in the tradition of the best-selling WONDER WOMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 1 by Grant Morrison and BATMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 1 by Geoff Johns! GREEN LANTERN: EARTH ONE VOL. 1 is a radical look at the Lantern mythology and a great entry point for new readers.
• Green Lanterns Vol. 5
Collects issues #22-27. Issues #22-25 are the "Lost in Space" storyline, and issues #26-27 are the first parts of the ongoing "Out of Time" story. That doesn't end until issue #31, so maybe they're splitting it between two volumes.
• Hawk & Dove: The Silver Age
Collects Showcase #75, Hawk and Dove #1-6, and Teen Titans #21 from the 1960s, with work by Steve Skeates, Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano.
• Hellblazer Vol. 3
Issues #13-18 sees John Constantine framed for murder -- unless he's the murderer himself!
• Justice League of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2
I tend to find Bronze Age material more readable than Golden and Silver Age, so this piques my interest. Collects Justice League of America #114-146 and DC Super-Stars #10, including team-ups with the Marvel Family, the Freedom Fighters, and the Justice Society.
• Justice League of America Vol. 3: Panic in the Microverse
You've got to love a book called "Panic in the Microverse." Steve Orlando's Rebirth JLA gets small in the third collection, issues #12-17.
• Justice League: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 2
The second deluxe hardcover collection of Bryan Hitch's Justice League includes issues #12-25, the third and fourth paperbacks. Hitch, if you hadn't heard, is leaving Justice League, though he's still on the book through issue #31 at least.
• Justice League Task Force Vol. 1
I have truly now seen everything. This should collect JLTF issues #1-12 with material by such notable writers as David Michelinie, Chuck Dixon, Michael Jan Friedman, Dennis O'Neil, Peter David, and Jeph Loeb. These wonderfully oddball stories of a Justice League of rotating members led by the Martian Manhunter includes appearances by Nightwing and the "Bloodlines" New Bloods, a tie in to Batman: Knightquest, and an all-female Justice League -- including J'onn J'onzz! With issue #13-14, JLTF was part of the "Judgment Day" crossover that should be collected in the next Wonder Woman and the Justice League collection, and after that this becomes more of a "farm team" Justice League title, though notably with the Ray on the team, and written by Mark Waid and Christopher Priest.
• Justice League Vol. 5: Legacy
Collects issues #26-31; as stated before, possibly this could be Bryan Hitch's final volume of the series. DC is really pushing the Justice League movie in these solicitations.
• Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus
Collects all 40 issues of Jack Kirby's Kamandi run now in one omnibus instead of two.
• Planetary Book Two
Collects issues #15-27, Planetary/JLA, and Planetary/Batman. These have been collected plenty of times before but if you haven't seen it, DC's got a nice new "Wildstorm Classic" trade dress for their newest Wildstorm collections.
• Suicide Squad Vol. 5
Collects issues #21-25 of the Rob Wiliams Rebirth series.
• Supergirl Vol. 3
The third collection of Steve Orlando's Supergirl includes issues #12-14, with appearances by the Legion of Super-Heroes' Emerald Empress and New Super-Man Kong Kenan.
• Superman: Action Comics Vol. 5
• Superman: Action Comics Vol. 6
As I detailed earlier, the fifth Rebirth Action Comics collection is said to have issues #993-999, and the sixth should have issues #1,001-1006(!). That skips #985-992 between Vols. 4-5, and also of course skips Action Comics #1,000, but now at least we know DC will continue the title's numbering after #1,000.
• Superman: Exile Omnibus
I was sorry to see the Superman: Man of Tomorrow collection cancelled some months ago, which seemed to collect the post-John Byrne proto-"Triangle Titles" stories on the way to "Death of Superman" and beyond. We see now thankfully a new hardcover collection, dubbed Superman: Exile Omnibus, though the contents are still uncertain. This is supposed to be Superman #23-27, Adventures of Superman #445-459, Action Comics #643-646, and Action Comics Annual #2; that's the "Exile" story and then some for Adventures and Action, but Superman should be through about issue #36 to keep up with the rest. (Man of Tomorrow had Superman through #27, like this, Adventures through #450, and no Action).
This book would end kind of in the middle of things, so maybe we can hope that DC is ditching the Man of Tomorrow Book One, Book Two, etc. for a series of individual, sequential volumes, like the next one might be Superman: Day of the Krypton Man Omnibus or Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite.
• Superman Vol. 5: Imperious Lex
No contents on the fifth Rebirth Superman volume, but it ought start with issue #27 and the "Imperious Lex" storyline goes through at least issue #33.
• Superman: The Many Worlds of Krypton
Collects Superman #233, #236, #238, #240, #248, #257 & #266, Superman Family #182, World of Krypton (1979) #1-3, and World of Krypton (1987) #1-4. Paul Kupperberg writes and Howard Chaykin draws the earlier miniseries; John Byrne and Mike Mignola did the latter.
• Wonder Woman: Forgotten Legends
Another uprooting of popular post-Crisis on Infinite Earths mythos, this collects the Legend of Wonder Woman miniseries by Kurt Busiek and Trina Robbins that bridged the gap between the end of Crisis and George Perez's seminal run. Robbins here also became the first woman to draw Wonder Woman for publication. Also Busiek's Wonder Woman #318, another by Robbins from Wonder Woman Annual #2, and Wonder Woman Gallery.
• Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 3
The next paperback collection of the George Perez series collects issues #25-35, within the midst of the Omnibus Vol. 2.
Justice League Task Force! Can you believe it? What're the collections you're most looking forward to these days?
Flash by Waid, New Gotham v2, JLA (Orlando), Supergirl (Orlando), maybe both Stephanie Brown Batgirl books (never read it, but like the character well enough), and Green Lanterns (my favorite Rebirth title outside of Batman) for me
ReplyDeleteBryan Q. Miller's Stephanie Brown Batgirl books might be the best that character's ever been written, if that helps.
DeleteSuper excited for the JLA Bronze Age Omnibus, but it sure would be much better if it was extended out to collect through issue #150. That was the last of Steve Engelhart's short run, and it ties up the loose ends of his various subplots very nicely. Even if #147 and #148 were skipped, I'd be down for that, as those two issues were the annual JLA/JSA team-up, guest starring the Legion, but written by Levitz/Pasko. So DC could just add #149 and #150, and save the JLA/JSA/LSH issues for the next volume. There weren't any particular continuity issues, from what I recall.
ReplyDeleteStill, #146 is a decent place to stop. That was the issue Hawkgirl and the newly reanimated Red Tornado joined the team.
I'd love to have that Silver Age Hawk and Dove book, but those issues have been reprinted in the Ditko Omnibus as well as the Teen Titans Silver Age omnibus, and so I'm not looking to triple dip. Those are some good books, though, and not as unreadable as, say, the more mainstream DC books from that time. Worth checking out if you haven't read them.
Surprised DC isn't shoehorning in the 70s Man-Bat two issue series, as well as his other solo stories from the Batman Family days into that Man-Bat book. Didn't the recent Wildcat book have his team-ups with Batman from Brave and the Bold?
Aquaman: Legend of Aquaman is also a must get for me. Robert Loren Fleming was a unique talent at DC those days, although Curt Swan's art, although nice, lacked some of the oomph by that time.
My money's on the Darwyn Cooke collection being an updated version of his Graphic Ink book (same cover on the Amazon link).
ReplyDeleteThey'll probably avoid the overlapping with the recent Batman: Ego collection and add the Golden Age omnibus covers he did before he passed (B:E has the first two Batman and GI the first for Batman and Superman). I hope they include his short Catwoman run with Brubaker, and at least the covers of Twilight Children, his final miniseries (and that TC gets its own deluxe hc).
My list is:
ReplyDeleteThe Darwyn Cooke Book
JLA Task Force
JLA Bronze Age Omnibus vol 2
Wonder Woman Forgotten Legends
Superman Exile Omnibus
Flash by Waid Book 4
Batman 66/Wonder Woman 77
Batgirl: Stephanie Brown vol 2
Green Lantern Earth One
I really like this 90s fever DC is having with collections! Also, silver and bronze age collections are great. I really like TPBs instead of Omnibus hardcovers.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I always look into those Bronze Age Omnibus from justice league undecided. I really want them, but I like TPBs more. I'm getting silver Age tpbs and wonder woman by george perez in tpb (glad they announce vol 3, coming from omnibus 2) but so fat, no anouncement regarding Bronze Age omnibus getting tpb treatment, right?
Do you think DC will do TPBs of that material?
If JL taskforce sells well enough, it might finally convince DC to put John back on the League or at the very least, have form his own team. I really want to see the Manhunter Again so badly.
ReplyDeleteALso, it's good to see Hugo get some recognition at last.
As for the rest of 2018, I think I know the next set of titles that will be collected:
The entire first run of Jamie Reyes's Blue Beetle run
Denny 'O Neil's Question
The final volume of John Ostrander's SS and possibly his work on Manhunter and the Spectre
Jerry Conway's run of Captain Marvel
A collection of the best Flash Rogue stories
And finally, the best Aquaman stories from the silver age.
I'll add a prediction here: a new Wonder Woman by XXX collection - either a complete Jimenez run or book one of Simone's run.
DeleteIt would be nice to see new collections of The Question, no doubt. Wonderful series.
DeleteI wish they finally collected Question Quarterly to complete O'Neil's run. Same with Ostrander's Martian Manhunter and The Spectre. I hate when the runs collection midway. I would be happy for anything collected from the old titles couple of years ago but now i expect to see whole runs available. Got spoiled that way ;P
DeleteEspecially with J'onn on Supergirl, it is surprising not to see him in a DC book. Martian Manhunter: Rebirth, anyone?
DeleteYes. It has been too long since J'onn had a title for himself. I really hope he gets another solo series or a team book where he is the leader.
DeleteA new Wonder Woman by xxx collection would be nice. The trade dress for the latest Pérez and Rucka TPBs are great, don't you think? Those spines look great and they are really handy TPBs.
DeleteI don't understand why they did John Byrne Vol 1 in HC though... it's not like they did it in an Omnibus book (like Perez) and then published ut in TPBs with fewer pages. Byrne Vol 1 looks like a regular TPB like Perez and Rucka's... but in HC. It's weird!
I am super excited that we are getting the second half of the Stephanie Brown run, but somewhat disappointed that the Brian K. Vaughan collection is missing some of the GL: Circle of Fire story. I know that he did not write all of event, but I would have liked for the all of the pieces to be collected for completion's sake.
ReplyDeleteStrange that the second Batman: New Gotham book doesn't contain Superman #168, the issue that leads into Batman #756.
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping Batman Arkham: Hugo Strange contains Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11
Justice League: Task Force and the Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus are going directly on my to buy list.
Yeah, not including Superman #168 is an oversight; I hope they correct that.
DeleteI am happy to see the Post-Crisis Superman stories continue. However, having that collection stop at Superman #27 cannot be right, as 27 stops just before the titular Exile story begins and the rest of the issues listed go well into it and beyond. I wonder if it means to say 37, which brings it up to the stopping point of the other series.
ReplyDeleteIssue #37 sounds right; I really doubt they wouldn't stop at the same month for all the books in the collection. But none of these are really conclusive, right? The end of this book is going to beg for a follow up?
DeleteI took a look at this. Isn't Superman #36 the same month as Adventures #459 and Action #646? Those days before Man of Steel, what was leading the month? Ending with #646 finishes with Superman burying the Eradicator (with art by Keith Giffen), and then if they did another one, you'd have Superman #37 and Adventures #460 before Action #647 begins "Brainiac Trilogy." If Action started the month, maybe they need to go as far as #460?
DeleteAlthough Superman #37 didn't come out in the same month as Adventures of Superman #459 and Action Comics #646, it was the next issue published after those two. The box at the bottom right corner of the cover to AC #646 (direct market variant) even says "don't miss Superman No. 37 in two weeks", so it was Superman that started the month.
DeleteThen I'd end with Superman #36, Adventures #459, and Action #646. It's not "conclusive" per se but at least it's not a total cliffhanger, and all the more incentive for DC to keep collecting after that.
DeleteI am not sure about the conclusiveness of Superman 37. It just seemed like a possible endpoint given where the other series end at. Also, I was just wondering if it was a typo (27 vs 37) or just left over from the previous solicitation from the cancelled Man of Tomorrow collection.
DeleteI know that Amazon listings aren't definitive, but the Superman Exile omnibus is listed as 912 pages, but the issues said to be included wouldn't amount to even half of that. The price would be awfully high for 15 issues as well.
ReplyDeleteSomething certainly seems to be missing.
I am looking forward to all the Captain Marvel reprints that will come about because of the movie in 2019.
ReplyDeleteOrdway's Power of Shazam series collections for the win.
Delete_I_ will have truly seen it all when we get Kurt Busiek's "The Power Company" in an Omnibus (though I would settle for it in any HC or TPB configuration)! What an under-appreciated treasure!
ReplyDeletePower Company characters do have a habit of showing up here and there, don't they? In the otherwise not-so-hot second New 52 Teen Titans series, Josiah Power was in Teen Titans Vol. 1: Blinded by the Light.
Delete