We also noted that Action Comics Vol. 4 collected Action Comics issues #977-984, the Superman Reborn aftermath and "Revenge" storylines, leaving issues #985-992 uncollected (of which #987-998 are "The Oz Effect"). Today we have answers (thanks for a tip from the Facebook page), because indeed in March 2018, DC will release the Superman: Action Comics: The Oz Effect hardcover, collecting Action Comics #985-986, "Only Human" by Rob Williams and Guillem March that leads in to "Oz Effect," and #987-992, "Oz Effect" itself.
The book will have a lenticular cover like the recent Batman/Flash: The Button, for its first run only. No mention of a deluxe-size printing.
This will mark the first time in Rebirth that DC will have pulled issues of a series out of the sequentially numbered trade paperbacks without an inter-title crossover being involved. This will also knock the numbers of the Action Comics trades out of sync with the Superman trades. Since there aren't other titles involved and The Oz Effect could just be Action Comics Vol. 5, this seems a questionable choice, though given the general interest in this story, I imagine DC wanted casual readers to be able to pick this up and not feel they had to go get Action Comics Vols. 1-4 before it.
There remains the question of what DC will do for the regularly scheduled deluxe hardcover edition of Action Comics. For books like Batman, involved in the Night of the Monster Men crossover, DC pulled the crossover issues from the paperback but replaced them in the hardcover. Action Comics: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book Three could conceivably be issues #985-999 -- Oz Effect plus Action Comics Vol. 5 -- putting Action Comics Vol. 6 and Action Comics Vol. 7 in the next deluxe (again, going out of sync number-wise with Superman and etc.). If the Oz Effect standalone hardcover eventually got a paperback, then retroactively that would be the volume for the collectors of the individual trade paperbacks.
I'm not thrilled about the wonky numbering, but if there's a paperback to go with the paperbacks and the deluxe hardcover runs continue uninterrupted, then generally I'm satisfied with how this looks like it's going to go.
The solicitation follows. What do you think of DC's decision to collect The Oz Effect in its own volume? Which edition will you be picking up?
Superman: Action Comics: The Oz Effect
After years of build-up, the Man of Steel discovers the identity of the villainous Mr. Oz in SUPERMAN - ACTION COMICS: THE OZ EFFECT!
Shrouded in mystery for years, the puppetmaster known as Mr. Oz has finally shown his hand. His agents have begun to move as the Man of Steel works to stop the chaos they unleash in Metropolis and across the globe. But when Mr. Oz steps from the shadows, his identity rocks the Last Son of Krypton to his core. Who is he? The answer will change Superman forever.
A mystery that has weaved through the pages of DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH, DETECTIVE COMICS, ACTION COMICS and even Geoff Johns' SUPERMAN: THE MEN OF TOMORROW, is finally resolved here in SUPERMAN - ACTION COMICS: THE OZ EFFECT! Written by legendary scribe Dan Jurgens and illustrated by a team of superstar artists led by Ryan Sook and Viktor Bogdonavic, this graphic novel features a lenticular motion cover only available in the first print run! Collects SUPERMAN - ACTION COMICS #985-992.
So this will essentially be Action Comics, vol. 4.5. Sounds good to me! I think it will prove a nice companion to "The Button," which also pulled its component parts away from their individual series collections. (One imagines a slipcover collection of Rebirth #1, The Button, The Oz Effect, and Doomsday Clock, perhaps?)
ReplyDeleteMakes very good sense to include the "Only Human" two-parter, as it includes a very solid clue to the identity of Mr. Oz. (The villain, The Machinist, last appeared in Geoff Johns's "Men of Tomorrow," which introduced Mr. Oz.)
As for #1000, twice-montly shipping suggests the issue should come out in late March. We're probably two months out from seeing those solicits, unless DC heralds this thing early. Between this and Metal, it's a great time to be a DC fan!
Whoops, 5.5. I can count to 1,000, but evidently not to six!
DeleteI was also thinking that one good thing about DC spotlighting the really integral pieces of Rebirth was that you could have a formidable omnibus (or slipcase) in the end -- Rebirth #1, Button, Oz Effect, Doomsday Clock, maybe bits and pieces from elsewhere, too.
DeleteHow would Superman Reborn fit into all of this?
DeleteHmm ... good question. I guess at least part of the answer is that because it includes both Superman and Action Comics issues, Reborn doesn't knock off the numbering quite like Oz Effect. (I don't even think Superman Reborn knocks Superman off the Batman numbering, given that Reborn was ultimately just a one-month event.) Oz Effect on the other hand is six to eight straight issues of Action Comics, so that's why I think there's greater concern about how it fits collections-wise. It's not that DC hasn't pulled issues from Rebirth collections before, it's just that before it's always been a short inter-title crossover, and this is effectively one series' whole trade.
DeleteFor what it's worth, in my singles collection, I've put the Reborn issues under "Action Comics" (and not "Superman") because Action has been much more concerned with the mystery of the second Clark. But yeah, on a shelf, where would you put "Superman Reborn"?
DeleteFor me unnumbered special volumes always precede a series, e.g. for a random example Superman: Godfall.
DeleteI guess I should have clarified. I was referring to the proposed Rebirth omnibus that Zach King and collectededitions suggested and how Superman: Reborn would fit into that.
DeleteI don't know if it would necessarily. Ultimately Reborn is not a Rebirth story, or at least it's just a stepping stone to Oz Effect, which has more Oz in it than Reborn. If anything, potentially Lonely Place of Living would need to be in there, but I like the idea of a slipcase of "The Lenticulars," acknowledging that neither Rebirth #1 nor Doomsday Clock are such.
DeleteI'm torn. I like the idea of this, The Button, any other important stuff (e.g. the Rebirth special re-released) all in nice, large format HCs. It'll look great on my shelf. Unless, you know, I want to put The Oz Effect w/the other Action titles, and then it'll look a bit out of place. One thing I was really enjoying about Rebirth was a cohesive trade dress and format. Oh, well - all things end.
ReplyDeleteI'm also getting a bit anxious to see how DC intends to collect Metal and the tie-ins. Seems almost certain Metal 1-6 and Batman: Lost will all be collected together. I'd assume Gotham Resistance and Bats Out of Hell will separate 4-issue collections. Then the seven one-shots as another collection. And Hawkman: Found somewhere?
BTW, there's a typo in the second 'graf - the first issue of the 4th collection of AC is 977, not 997.
Agreed on trade dress; I hope Oz Effect comes back around to a paperback that "fits" in the end.
DeleteSlightly off-topic but NYCC has brought us news about Action Comics #1000
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dccomics.com/blog/2017/10/05/dc-to-commemorate-the-1000th-issue-of-action-comics-with-star-studded-celebration-in?sf119425334=1
Apparently it's going to be a giant-sized issue with stories by Jurgens and Tomasi as well as back-ups including a story by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. DC is also releasing a hardcover anthology of notable Action Comics stories, essays, a poster with all 1000(!) covers and unreleased stories.
I find it interesting that DC has decided to split their celebration of #1000 in this way. On the one hand I'm sure there's a financial edge to it (I doubt that hardcover will come cheap) but on the other hand it's interesting that DC is releasing a "Celebration of" type trade (albeit considerably more ambitious) instead of making #1000 its own TPB-size issue with classic stories/essays included. Although I suppose one could imagine that the issue represents the milestone of reaching #1000 itself, and is meant to be a series of "modern" stories that celebrate what the title currently is and the hardcover is a celebration of all the title has been, building up to this point.
Now it still remains to be seen how Action Comics 1000 will be collected. The article doesn't specifically say that it will be included in the hardcover but I someone doubt it, despite the fact that "Action Comics: A Celebration of 1000 issues" (made up the title but I'm calling it now, it will be something like that) would seem more complete if Action 1 and 1000 bookended all the content. More likely it will just be a deluxe-format hardcover of an oversize single issue (a la Killing Joke/ DC Rebirth)
I had not considered before, but it seems more likely now that Action Comics #1,000 will be something like an 80-page issue that DC will later collect in its own individual deluxe trade, and that's why it's not in the Action Comics Vol. 6 collection.
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