Chalk it up maybe to the summer heat, but the DC Comics August 2023 trade paperback and hardcover solicitations aren’t much for regular-series collections, short of Batgirls and Tim Drake: Robin, both on their way out. Of course, at this point we will have had both the Dark Crisis and Lazarus Planet collections, standing at the cusp of “Dawn of DC,” so it’s not necessarily surprising that things take a pause for a month. And there are a couple other things I’ve got my eye on.
Notable for me is Power Girl Returns, simply because it is indeed a “regular series continuity” book (with ties to Lazarus Planet, etc.), though the collection of backups here warrants reminding DC about the “Tales of Metropolis,” “Martian Manhunter,” and on and on backups that have not been collected. Speaking of, Ghost-Maker/Clownhunter by James Tynion also collects some uncollected backups, but even then, there’s still more uncollected material starring those selfsame characters!
I’ll be checking out DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. the Army Of The Dead HC because I’m eager to see DC keep branching out with horror. Seems too to be a month for omnibuses — Batman & Robin Eternal, Batman: Knightfall, iZombie, and Dead Boy Detectives, though the latter I wouldn’t mind seeing in some kind of shorter trades.
Let’s look at the full list, shall we?
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Recent DC Comics Trade Solicitations |
• Batgirl: Year One (2023 Edition) TP
New printing of Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon’s nine-issue miniseries, sequel to Robin: Year One, with art by Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez, in paperback. I wonder if DC had intended this to be coming out alongside the Batgirl movie. In September with a new introduction by Beatty.
• Batgirls Vol. 3: Girls to the Front TP
Issues #13–19 and the Batgirls 2022 Annual by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad, in October, finishing out the series.
• Batman & Robin Eternal Omnibus HC
Originally published in two volumes in 2016 (see my reviews of Batman and Robin Eternal Vol. 1 and Batman and Robin Eternal Vol. 2), this is an omnibus collection of all 26 issues and the lead-in story from the free Batman: Endgame Special Edition comic from Batman Day 2015.
• The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Vol. 3 TP
By Shelly Fisch, Ivan Cohen, and company, with Bath and the Scooby gang up against Ra’s al Ghul, Poison Ivy, the Court of Owls, and more. Collects issues #1–6 of the second series, continuing the collections numbering from the first.
• Batman Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot TP
The lead-in to Batman: Fear State, now (finally) collected in paperback. I reviewed Batman Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot just about a year ago. It's Batman issues #106-111 and material from Infinite Frontier #0 (not Infinite Frontier #1 as listed).
• Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 1 (2023 Edition) HC
New printing; previously collected Batman #484–500, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #16–18, Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1, Detective Comics #654–666, and Showcase '93 #7–8, being the “Knightfall” proper part of the story.
Paperback of the three-issue DC Black Label miniseries by Jock. I reviewed Batman: One Dark Knight this past October; it was not everything I hoped it would be.
• Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 10 HC
Said to collect Batman #86–100 and Detective Comics #211–232, with a new introduction by cinematic Batman’s Michael Uslan.
• DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. the Army Of The Dead HC
The six-issue miniseries by Bruce Campbell and Eduardo Risso, in hardcover in October. I’ve heard nothing about this but I’m inclined to give DC Horror a chance.
• DC Horror Presents: Soul Plumber TP
Paperback of the six-issue miniseries, coming in October.
• DCeased: The Deluxe Edition HC
Deluxe edition of just the initial miniseries and the DCeased: A Good Day to Die special (I reviewed DCeased in January 2020).
• The Dead Boy Detectives Omnibus (The Sandman Universe Classics) HC
Collects Sandman #25, Children’s Crusade #1–2, Sandman Presents: The Dead Boy Detectives #1–4, Dead Boy Detectives #1–12, Jill Thompson’s The Dead Boy Detectives OGN, the revised middle chapter to “Children’s Crusade” from Free Country: A Tale of the Children’s Crusade, and stories from Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3, Ghosts #1, Time Warp #1, and The Witching Hour #1, and pages from Death: At Death’s Door, Swamp Thing Annual #7, and Doom Patrol Annual #2. With a new introduction by Mark Buckingham and various extras. Fervently I wish DC would release shorter trades of all of this, and for the Books of Magic omnibuses, while they’re at it.
• The Fellspyre Chronicles: Book 1 TP
Paperback by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, following the hardcover, and collecting The Last God #1–12, The Last God: Tales From the Book of Ages #1, and The Last God: Songs of Lost Children #1.
• Ghost-Maker/Clownhunter by James Tynion Iv TP
I was just bemoaning that we never did get a collection particularly of James Tynion’s Ghost-Maker backup stories from his Batman run, and now it looks like here they are – this is said to collect, among other things, Batman #107–111 and Batman 2022 Annual, where the Ghost-Maker backups ran. On the Clownhunter side, we have Batman Secret Files: Clownhunter and Batman Annual #5, and the Clownhunter story from Batman: The Joker War Zone. Omitted is the Clownhunter backup stories from Batman #112–114, which would seem appropriate for this book except that they were written by Brandon Thomas and not Tynion. Hopefully DC sees fit to put those somewhere.
• Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Keepsake TP
The second volume by Stephanie Nicole Phillips and Riley Rossmo, in paperback following the hardcover. Issues #7–12 and the 2021 annual, tying in to “Fear State.”
• iZombie: The Complete Series Omnibus (2023 Edition) HC
In hardcover in October, collecting iZombie #1–28 by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred. At some point a solicitation said this also contained House of Mystery Halloween Annual #1, and House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2, but I’m not sure if it does or not.
• The Nice House on the Lake: The Deluxe Edition HC
Deluxe hardcover collection, coming in October, of the 12-issue horror miniseries by James Tynion and Alvaro Martino Bueno. I absolutely adored Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1 and highly recommend the whole thing.
Collects Power Girl backups and sundry by Leah Williams and company. Said to collect (likely a story from) Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton, the backups in Action Comics #1051–1053, and the Power Girl Special.
YA graphic novel by Lamar Giles and Paris Alleyne, with apparently appearances within by other Milestone and Static Shock characters. The Virgil Hawkins character is so popular and so well known, it does seem DC is wasting opportunities not having Milestone be an imprint set within the DCU instead of separate. I think the Young Justice cartoon had it right with Icon right up there next to Superman.
• Tim Drake: Robin Vol. 1: Mystery at the Marina TP
Collects the first six issues by Meghan Fitzmartin and Riley Rossmo, along with the DC Pride: Tim Drake Special, in paperback in September. We know the book is canceled with issue #10; I’d of course like to see DC pack the other four issues in rather than have to figure out a four-issue trade later on.
• Wonder Woman: Blood and Guts: The Deluxe Edition HC
Deluxe edition of the first two New 52 volumes by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, issues #1–12. I reviewed Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood in 2012 and Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Guts in 2013.
• Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 5 HC
Collects Wonder Woman #35–47 and Sensation Comics #90–104 (Action Comics #142, previously listed, is not in this solicitation).
• Wonder Woman: The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 2 HC
Due in October, collecting Wonder Woman #124–149 from the 1960s, with a foreword by Trina Robbins, the first female artist to draw Wonder Woman.
• Zatanna & the Ripper Volume One TP
The first 11 “episodes” of the Webtoons series by Sarah Dealy, Rachel Coo, and Syro, with an appearance by John Constantine, formatted for print reading.
That iZombie omnibus (iZomnibus?) should have the Allred stories from those House of Mystery annuals. The original printing did, and they are a little bit important to the main storyline.
ReplyDeletePlus, any time you can get Mike Allred drawing the Universal Monsters -- do it!