All right, so with the DC Comics November 2022 trade paperback and hardcover solicitations (for collections mostly coming in December), we’re back to a more Batman-and-family-focused month, give or take. But at the same time, DC is continuing their new tradition of dropping two books of Tom King goodness on us for December, so I’ll take it that they’re both Bat-related. Can’t wait. That’s Batman: Killing Time and Batman/Catwoman, plus last December’s Rorschach and Strange Adventures also arrive in paperback if you’re enjoying these a year behind.
Two other big Bat-releases are the Batman: Shadows of the Bat companion volumes House of Gotham and The Tower. Be not confused — these aren’t Shadows of the Bat, the old series, but rather an event in which, amazingly unbeknownst to me, Detective Comics went weekly for three months. The creative teams on these titles seem to have come and gone quickly (possibly exhausted from a three-month weekly event!), but still there’s some Bat-family in here and I’m interested to see how it shakes out.
Quick hits: Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes seems fun to me — at this point it seems clear this’ll have no bearing on the larger DCU but it’s one last hurrah from Brian Michael Bendis. Speaking of last hurrahs, I don’t expect much from Earth-Prime but at least it’s the CW Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow one last time. I’m curious about Deathbed from Joshua Williamson just given how high Williamson’s star has risen at DC of late; I have high hopes for the DC Black Label Suicide Squad: Blaze (reminds me I have “Get Joker” sitting around to read). Nightwing Vol. 2: Get Grayson, Flash Vol. 17: Eclipsed (jeepers, one of the few times I wonder why don’t they restart the trade numbering!), and Nubia: Queen of the Amazons all also on my list.
Let’s dig in …
• Batman & Robin by Tomasi and Gleason Omnibus (2022 Edition)
New collection of the stories by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. Includes Batman & Robin #20–22, Batman & Robin #0–40 (including #23.1) (New 52), Batman & Robin Annual #1–3, Robin Rises: Omega #1, Robin Rises: Alpha #1, a story from Secret Origins #4, and apparently Detective Comics #27 — I’m guessing that’s the New 52 version, maybe Tomasi’s future-set story without Gleason or maybe Gleason’s pin-up from the issue.
Paperback collection of the six-issue Neal Adams miniseries, following the hardcover.
I recall these one-shots being a pretty easy pass in the late 2000s, outside mainstream events and without particularly mainstream creative teams (though with the benefit of time I see now we have Kelley Jones on Clayface and Guillem March on Poison Ivy). Most relevant I think is that what was once two paperbacks is now one, coming in December. Collects Joker’s Asylum: Joker #1, Joker’s Asylum: Penguin #1, Joker’s Asylum: Poison Ivy #1, Joker’s Asylum: Scarecrow #1, Joker’s Asylum: Two-Face #1, Joker’s Asylum II: The Riddler #1, Joker’s Asylum II: Harley Quinn #1, Joker’s Asylum II: Mad Hatter #1, Joker’s Asylum II: Killer Croc #1, and Joker’s Asylum II: Clayface #1. That’s a full deck!
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Recent DC Comics Trade Solicitations |
It’s pretty awesome to see Tom King back on Batman so soon after the end of Batman/Catwoman; glad that was not the end of the two’s shared history. In hardcover in December, collecting the six-issue heist caper.
• Batman: Shadows of the Bat: House of Gotham
If I’m understanding correctly, among the 12-part “Shadows of the Bat” story that recently ran weekly in Mariko Tamaki’s Detective Comics #1047–1058, this is the dedicated collection of the “House of Gotham” backup stories by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Fernando Blanco.
• Batman: Shadows of the Bat: The Tower
Collects the main story from the weekly “Shadows of the Bat” event that ran through Mariko Tamaki’s Detective Comics #1047–1058, in hardcover in December, shipping on the same day as the companion House of Gotham collection.
In hardcover in December (same as Tom King’s Batman: Killing Time), collecting the 12-issue miniseries by King and Clay Mann, plus the Batman/Catwoman special and material from Batman Annual #2, Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, and Detective Comics #1027 (so all of King’s “imagined” Batman/Catwoman future-set stories in one place, which is great).
• Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection
Just in time for the new pairing, this collects Batman/Spawn: War Devil by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant, and Klaus Janson, and Spawn/Batman by Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane. In hardcover in November.
The big Dark Nights: Metal omnibus you’ve been waiting for, this collects Dark Nights: Metal #1–6, Dark Days: The Forge #1, Dark Days: The Casting #1, Batman: The Red Death #1, Batman: The Devastator #1, Batman: The Merciless #1, Batman: The Murder Machine #1, Batman: The Drowned #1, Batman: The Dawnbreaker #1, Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs #1, Batman: Lost #1, Hawkman: Found #1, Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt #1, Nightwing #29, Flash #33, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #32, Green Arrow #32, Suicide Squad #26, Teen Titans #12, and Justice League #32–33.
New collection of the 2018 Vertigo miniseries by Joshua Williamson and Riley Rossmo.
In paperback in January, collecting the six-issue CW TV miniseries. What feels like a nice good-bye to a few of these.
Issues #772–779 starring Wally West, by Jeremy Adams. This ends just before the War for Earth-3 crossover.
• Harley Quinn Vol. 1: No Good Deed
In paperback, following the hardcover, collecting issues #1–6 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo and a story from Batman: Urban Legends.
• House of El Book Three: The Treacherous Hope
Continuing the graphic novel series by Claudia Gray and Eric Zawadzki.
• Justice League vs. the Legion of Super-Heroes
Premiering in paperback(?!), the six-issue miniseries by Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski, arriving in December.
• Nightwing Vol. 1: Leaping Into the Light
By Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, in paperback following the hardcover, collecting issues #78–83.
• Nightwing Vol. 2: Get Grayson
Following the Nightwing: Fear State collection, this is Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing #87–91, plus Taylor’s Superman: Son of Kal-El #9. In hardcover.
The same titled miniseries, at least, but otherwise contents aren’t listed for this volume, coming in hardcover.
Paperback of the 12-issue Tom King miniseries, in December. I reviewed Rorschach last December and very much enjoyed it.
Paperback collecting of the 12-issue miniseries by Tom King, following the hardcover. I enjoyed Strange Adventures, though I liked the contemporaneous Rorschach better.
At this point there’s just no DC Black Label title I’ll say no to, and I’m so impressed with the sometimes-stuffy DC for being willing to lend their mainstream IP to more mature material. Of course the Suicide Squad is a perfect fit, and while I’m a bit leery of what seems like a Squad made up of all new characters, I’m up for it nonetheless. The three-issue miniseries by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, in December in hardcover. I rather hope Superman villain Blaze makes an appearance, but I'm doubtful.
Paperback of the six-issue miniseries, following the hardcover.
May not be the best place to mention it, but I haven't been receiving the posts by email lately. :(
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