Stating the obvious, perhaps, but you sure can see the influence of movies and TV on the DC Comics April 20220 hardcover and trade paperback solicitations. The four new Sandman paperback collections resolicited this month (after last month), plus two new Flashpoint collections plus a new Flashpoint miniseries — TV and movies all. (Plus a new Arrowverse Earth-Prime miniseries I’m looking forward to — kind of the thing you wish they’d done years ago in more of they heyday. I’d totally read a similar “through the years”-type miniseries, like issue #1 set in Arrow season one, issue two set in Flash season 3, etc., etc.).
No slouch in the regular series trades this month, one of the fuller months in recent memory. Aquaman: The Becoming, Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 2, Crush & Lobo, and Superman: Son of Kal-El Vol. 1 are all both integral books in the ongoing story of the DC Universe and important moments of representation for the LGBTQ+ community. Not to mention Brian Michael Bendis' Justice League Vol. 1 and the Catwoman Vol. 6 “Fear State” tie-in. So all in all, a big month.
Still missing! The DC Comics Summer 2022 catalog would normally have been out in November or December, and here it’s January and still no sign. Troubling …
Let’s take a look at the full April 2022 list.
In hardcover, collecting 100 Bullets #59-100 and 100 Bullets: Brother Lono #1-8, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.
In paperback in May, the six-issue miniseries by Brandon Thomas plus Future State: Aquaman #1-2.
In hardcover in May, collecting the six-issue miniseries by Garth Ennis and Liam Sharp.
• Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 2
In what's going to become an increasingly hard to follow collections schema, this second volume of Batman: Urban Legends is still collecting stories from issues #1-6, same as the first collection, even up through #8-9, and there's still more from some of those issues to go. Anyway, this is stories even involving Future State and "Fear State," with Batwoman, Azrael, and Oracle and the new Batgirls. More importantly, this is also Meghan Fitzmartin's notable Robin Tim Drake story.
|
Recent DC Comics Trade Solicitations |
In paperback in May, this collects Ram V’s Catwoman #34-38, including the tie-in to the “Batman: Fear State” event.
In paperback, in May, the eight-issue miniseries by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. I'd rather like to see them include Tamaki's Crush story from Let Them Live!: Unpublished Tales from the DC Vault #6 as well.
• Doom Patrol by Rachel Pollack Omnibus
Filling a long-unfilled gap in the Grant Morrison-era Doom Patrol collections, this collects Doom Patrol #64-87, Doom Patrol Annual #2, and Vertigo Jam #1 by Rachel Pollack (Totems #1 was also previously listed), with art by Ted McKeever among others. This had been solicited previously and cancelled, so I'm glad to see it back again, though I'd prefer smaller volumes than an omnibus. I'd also like to see the lead-in to Morrison's Doom Patrol, the issues #1-18 et al. (what's called the Doom Patrol "Bronze Age"), collected in something other than an omnibus too.
Lots of ways to enjoy Flashpoint this month, a revival that is clearly more about the forthcoming Ezra Miller Flash movie than anything to do with the controversial event miniseries proper. I am curious how Flashpoint Beyond will navigate the events of Tom King's Batman run, to be sure. Anyway, this is the bare bones collection, Flashpoint #1-5.
• Flashpoint: The 10th Anniversary Omnibus
And if you're looking for something a little heftier, this is Geoff Johns' Flash #8-12 (so says the solicitation, though previously it's been #9-12; either would make sense), Flashpoint #1-5, and what the solicitation says is "all 56 tie-in issues," being Flashpoint: Reverse-Flash #1, Flashpoint: Abin Sur the Green Lantern #1-3, Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #1-3, Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance #1-3, Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #1-3, Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint #1-3, Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1-3, Flashpoint: Deathstroke & the Curse of the Ravager #1-3, Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #1-3, Flashpoint: The Outsider #1-3, Flashpoint: Secret Seven #1-3, Flashpoint: The Canterbury Cricket #1, Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #1-3, Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1-3, Flashpoint: Project Superman #1-3, Flashpoint: Frankenstein & the Creatures of the Unknown #1-3, Flashpoint: Green Arrow Industries #1, Flashpoint: Grodd of War #1, Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #1-3, Flashpoint: The Legion of Doom #1-3, give or take Booster Gold #44-47.
• Justice League Vol. 1: Prisms
It is so weird, an unfortunate byproduct of this comics thing we all love, that here we are in May getting the first volume of Brian Michael Bendis' Justice League collected, just as we already know it's coming to an end and the big event that's going to end it. It feels like something went terribly wrong with Bendis' tenure at DC. Anyway, issues #59-63 and I'm looking forward to it.
• Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 2
This is a large one, Collecting the entire second half of Geoff Johns' New 52 Justice League. Previous solicitations had this at issues #24-52, plus Forever Evil #1-7, DC Universe: Rebirth #1, DC Sneak Peek: Justice League #1, Justice League feat. Secret Society #23.4, Justice League of America feat. Black Adam #7.4, Justice League: Darkseid War Special #1, Justice League: Darkseid War: Batman #1, Justice League: Darkseid War: The Flash #1, Justice League: Darkseid War: Green Lantern #1, Justice League: Darkseid War: Lex Luthor #1, Justice League: Darkseid War: Shazam #1, and Justice League: Darkseid War: Superman #1 — so, as you can see, from Forever Evil all the way to Darkseid War and the end of the New 52. If still included, the two "Villain's Month" titles have only elsewhere been collected in the DC Comics: The New 52: Villains Omnibus, if I'm not mistaken.
• Midnighter: The Complete Collection
“Complete collection” might be a bit of a misnomer, but this is a full collection of the quite enjoyable Midnighter tales by Steve Orlando and ACO, previously collected in three volumes. Said to be the DC You era Midnighter #1-12, Midnighter and Apollo #1-6, and stories from DC Cybernetic Summer and DC Pride 2021.
Collects issues #1-7 of the crossover between the animated series and the Justice League, by Marguerite Bennett and Aneke et al.
What seems particularly notable about these is that, at least in terms of Sandman issues proper, these collect more than the usual number of issues, even more than the Sandman: Deluxe Edition Book One that I just read. That is, the solicitation still says this is #1-20, more than the regular first volume, Preludes and Nocturnes (issues #1-8) and more than the first deluxe edition (being Preludes and The Doll's House, issues #9-16). This book has both of those plus Dream Country, issues #17-20.
Issues #21-37, Sandman Special, and stories from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #1-3.
Issues #38-56 and a story from Vertigo Preview #1.
Issues #57-75 and stories from Vertigo Jam and Dust Covers.
• Superman: Son of Kal-El Vol. 1: The Truth
Previously solicited in paperback, now in hardcover, the first six issues of the new series by Tom Taylor and John Timms. This is the one that made headlines, coming at the end of May.
160-page Teen Titans Go graphic novel, still going strong.
Midnighter and Superman: Son for sure. Maybe on Bendis's JL - I'll wait for a review of the whole thing since the run is so short. I have no idea what to expect out of the Urban Legends trades, so that might be an impulse buy if I see a copy in the store and can flip through it
ReplyDeleteI agree re: Bendis's tenure at DC. I think the pandemic-blamed culling of personnel and other cost-saving measures (cutthroat though they were,) are what did for Bendis in the end. He was a DiDio hire, and likely a very well-paid one, so as soon as DiDio was gone, I feared the worst.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems (at least to me; I get Bendis is not everyone's cup of tea,) that him not getting a run on Batman seems borderline negligent on DC's part, as well that both his Superman and JL runs feel as if they've been cut short.
I wonder if the cancellation of all DiDio's 5G plans isolated Bendis somewhat from the new regime and slowly squeezed him out the door? I guess we'll probably never know.
I think of Kirby's short tenure at DC when I think of Bendis. Neither set the sales on fire, although Kirby of course gave us so much, while for me Bendis really misfired with the aging of Jon Kent and that godawful Legion series (the art was nice, though).
DeleteI think you've got it right, that with DiDio gone the rug was cut out from Bendis one way or the other. I'd have been open to seeing what he could do on Batman, but to me he just wasn't a good DC fit to begin with.
Aquaman: The Becoming, Superman: Son of Kal-EL, that Doom Patrol omni, maybe Catwoman and JL.
DeleteI'm wondering where that Summer catalog is, also. Strange.
He has signed a DC extension , has 2 books currently and has 2 more to be announced soon. That seems like a lot of DC Work IMHO
DeleteThanks for that info, brucewayne.
DeleteDoes Sandman book one contain Sandman Midnight Theater? I think deluxe edition one did...
ReplyDeleteDeluxe edition does, but Sandman Midnight Theatre hasn't been mentioned in any of the solicitations for the new paperbacks.
DeleteKinda crazy that there still haven't been any solicitations for Jeremy Adams' Flash series seeing as just about every other Infinite Frontier series has a trade out or solicited.
ReplyDeleteI've also seen that the comics industry has been hit by a paper shortage which has led some omnibus getting cancelled and rescheduled. Could this be the cause of the delayed catalog?
The first volume of Adams's run (surprisingly titled "The Flash Vol. 16: Wally West Returns", when one would expect DC to renumber the collections now that Williamson's very long run is over) hasn't been solicited yet because it's currently slated for June. In addition to Adams's first arc, it will include the 4-issue arc that Shinick did between Williamson's run and Endless Winter.
DeleteRe: The New 52 Justice League Villains Specials...I've never understood why DC didn't reprint them with the JL collected editions at the time.
ReplyDeleteThey were both pretty essential. Secret Society fleshed out the Outsider and served as a prelude to the Crime Syndicate. Black Adam's was mandatory because of how Adam of course died at the end of the Shazam backups -- and his resurrection makes no sense without that context.
It's the same with the Aquaman villain specials -- and it's one reason I've never bought the Aquamnan omnibus. I own the original HCs and I'm NOT churning out an additional $50 just to get a pair of issues.