Well, we’re pretty thin on regular series collections in the DC Comics September 2024 trade paperback and hardcover solicitations; seems like the “headline” of the month is the new DC Finest collections. Looking back to August, September, and October of last year, I don’t see that things were particularly this thin, though I’m not worried — DC’s collections have been steady and my anecdotal sense is that just not as many regular series are being published these days. Plus a new raft of catalog solicitations should be out before the end of the summer.
Among those regular series, what we do have is the Superman: House of Brainiac collection. DC Finest brings us the Big Three from different eras to start out — DC Finest: Superman: The First Superhero (Golden Age), DC Finest: Batman: Batman: Year One & Two (early Bronze Age), and DC Finest: Wonder Woman: Origins & Omens (much later modern age).
Also notable is that massive everything-and-the-kitchen-sink Green Lantern/Green Arrow Omnibus, collecting about everything from that 1970s era plus extras. Speaking of extras, the JSA Compendium One is another one of these great “compendium” volumes that includes the characters' other major appearances of the time — here we have not only the beginning of the Geoff Johns/James Robinson/David Goyer series, but also seemingly the crossovers with “Our Worlds at War,” “Sins of Youth,” “Day of Judgment,” and more.
I might snag the WildC.A.T.s Compendium One if there’s a discount, and I’ll probably give Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins' Bat-Man: First Knight a look.
Let’s check out the full list.
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Recent DC Comics Trade Solicitations |
• Absolute Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War HC
New printing of the Sinestro Corps War Absolute edition, collecting Green Lantern #21–25, Green Lantern Corps #14–19, and Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1, with behind-the-scenes extras. I reviewed Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War in 2008.
• Absolute Transmetropolitan Vol. 3 (2024 Edition) HC
The final Absolute Transmetropolitan volume, collecting issues #40–60.
• Adventures of Superman Jon Kent TP
Paperback of Tom Taylor’s six-issue miniseries, following the hardcover, coming in October.
• The Bat-Man: First Knight HC
Avoiding spoilers so I’m not wholly sure what this is about, but coming in November from Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins.
• Batgirl Stephanie Brown Vol. 1 TP
A new printing of the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown series, collecting issues #1-12 of Bryan Q. Miller’s superlative series (I reviewed Batgirl Rising in 2010). Sure, I’m happy this is being kept in print, but something else DC could do is give us a compendium collection of all of Spoiler’s early appearances, warts and all.
• Batman Vol. 2 I Am Suicide (2024 Edition) TP
New printing of Tom King’s Batman issues #9–15. I reviewed I Am Suicide in 2017.
• Batwoman: Elegy (2024 Edition) TP
New printing of the Kate Kane stories by Greg Rucka and JH Williams, in Detective Comics #854–860.
• Birds of Prey Murder and Mystery (2024 Edition) TP
New collection of Gail Simone’s first issues on Birds of Prey, #56–67. This is the Of Like Minds and Sensei and Student collections. Can we talk about the serif font on the covers? It’s not my favorite.
• DC Finest: Batman: Batman: Year One & Two TP
Collects Batman #404–414, Batman Annual #11, and Detective Comics #571–581. That’s “Batman: Year One” plus some but not all of the stories from the Batman: Second Chances collection (stories introducing Jason Todd, sans Batman #402–403 and #415–416) and “Batman: Year Two,” and give or take the contents of Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 (sans Detective #568–570 and #582). Complete is complete and I’d as soon not have any issues missing, but basically these are the concurrent Batman/Detective issues from 1987.
• DC Finest: Superman: The First Superhero TP
The first two year of Superman’s Golden Age adventures, Action Comics #1–25, Superman #1–5, and New York World’s Fair #1. Previously called DC Finest: Superman: The Coming of Superman.
• DC Finest: Wonder Woman: Origins & Omens TP
Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman run, including The Circle, Ends of the Earth, Rise of the Olympian (one of my very favorites), and Warkiller. This collects Wonder Woman (2006) #14–35; Outsiders: Five of a Kind - Wonder Woman/Grace #1 (Marc Andreyko), and Brave & Bold #7 (Mark Waid).
• Elseworlds: Justice League Vol. 3 (2024 Edition) TP
Collects Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat, Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table #1-2, Batman: Knight Gallery, Batman: Masque, and Batman: Scar of the Bat.
• Elseworlds: Justice League Vol. 3 (2024 Edition) TP
Collects Conjurors #1–3, Flashpoint (1999) #1–3, Superman and Batman: World’s Funniest #1, JLA: Created Equal #1–2, and Green Lantern: 1001 Emerald Nights.
• Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book Three (2024 Edition) TP
Collects Green Lantern #18–25, Green Lantern Corps #14–18, Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1, Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime #1 and Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1. You might look at this as a more complete collection than Absolute Sinestro Corps War, also solicited this month.
• Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book Four (2024 Edition) TP
Collects Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 and Green Lantern #26-38, with ties to both Final Crisis and Blackest Night.
• Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes Omnibus HC
Talk about a comprehensive collection! If it involved Green Lantern and/or Green Arrow in the 1970s (or refers back to that point), it seems to be in here.
First up is the “classic” Green Lantern/Green Arrow “Hard-Traveling Heroes” run of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams' issues #76–87, #89, and the backups from Flash #217–219. We’ve also got O’Neil’s Green Lantern backups from Flash (with Dick Giordano and Mike Grell, among others), issues #226–228, #230–231, #233–234 (though not Green Lantern’s team-up with Flash in #235 by Cary Bates), #237–238, and supposedly #240–246, though I don’t believe #244 has Green Lantern in it. Then there’s O’Neil and Grell’s Green Lantern/Green Arrow #90–106 (the “Space-Traveling Heroes” era), and O’Neil’s stories all the way through to Green Lantern taking solo billing again with #123.
But — still more — also a smattering of other related issues, including stories from World’s Finest Comics #201, #210, and #255, Brave and the Bold #100, DC Special Series #1, DC Super-Stars #17, Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1, and DC Retroactive: Green Lantern — The '70s #1 (not mentioned in previous solicitations!). With an introduction by Mike Grell, this collects “nearly two dozen never-before-collected issues”!
And another! This is JSA #1–25, JSA Secret Files #1–2, JSA Annual #1, Day of Judgment #1–5, Day of Judgment Secret Files #1, The Golden Age Secret Files #1, Superman #172 and Action Comics #780 (both (“Our Worlds at War,” though surprisingly, and perhaps mistakenly, the JSA: Our Worlds at War special isn’t in here)), Action Comics #813 (got me — might be the Gog backup story); Impulse #67, Martian Manhunter #18–19 (both JSA cameos), Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9, Hourman #9, #18–19; Secret Files & Origins Guide to DCU 2000 #1, Sins of Youth: Starwoman and the JSA (Junior Society of America) #1, Young Justice #16, Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1–2, and Young Justice: Sins of Youth Secret Files #1.
I’m sorry, did you say all of Day of Judgment?
• Robin: Son of Batman by Patrick Gleason: The Deluxe Edition HC
Patrick Gleason’s (and also Ray Fawkes’s) DC You Damian Wayne series was a bit unusual, seemingly mostly an exercise in moving Damian out of the way while Batman was otherwise occupied during “Superheavy” (though it did introduce us to character find of 2015 Goliath). Still, Damian’s popularity surely makes this worth having in print. In 2017 I reviewed Robin, Son of Batman Vol. 1: Year of Blood and Robin, Son of Batman Vol. 2: Dawn of the Demons. In hardcover in November.
Collects Jason Aaron’s Scalped #1–29, of 60 issues total.
• Scooby-Doo's Greatest Adventures (2024 Edition) TP
Collects issues including Scooby-Doo #1, #10, #35, #68, and #72; Scooby-Doo Team-Up #2, #5, #7–9, #12, #18, #37, and #40; and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #48, #51, #54, #71, #78, #79, #83, and #85. Solicitation says it includes appearances by Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Swamp Thing, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, and the Super-Pets.
• Superman: Exile and Other Stories Omnibus (2024 Edition) HC
New printing that collects Adventures of Superman #445–459, Superman #23–27, Action Comics #643–646, and Action Comics Annual #2. That helps a little with what the Triangle Era omnibus omits, but not entirely. If you missed it, see my open letter regarding the upcoming Triangle Titles omnibus.
• Superman: House of Brainiac TP
Well, that’s an event collection in paperback only. Once upon a time we’d have worried about that. Collects Action Comics #1064–1066, Superman #13–15, and Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1, said to be “the full House of Brainiac story,” though the stories from Green Lantern and Power Girl are not listed as included.
• WildC.A.T.s Compendium One TP
Collects WildC.A.T.s #0–13 and #15–20, Team One: WildC.A.T.s #1–2, Team One: Stormwatch #1–2, WildC.A.T.s Special #1, WildC.A.T.s Trilogy #1–3, and WildC.A.T.s Sourcebook #1–2. In paperback in November, the solicitation calls this “all-new recutting of the saga.”
• Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol 6 HC
In hardcover in November, collecting Wonder Woman #48–71 and Sensation Comics #105–106 from the 1950s.
Batman Year One & Two surely isn't "Early Bronze Age".
ReplyDeleteSure, guess I flubbed that one. Would you say "Early Modern Age"?
DeleteSuperman: Brainiac and Exile for sure. Debating Finest Batman. Otherwise, I already own most of these stories in one format or another. Which is probably good since both DC/Marvel omnis were moved to September
ReplyDeleteSurprised you hadn’t already snagged Exile. Did the publishing of the Triangle omnibus influence your decision?
DeleteYes, it absolutely did! I'd almost pulled the trigger a few times, but just never thought it was *that* important since it'd be orphaned (also, I have so much else to read, it's always easy to talk myself out of a big purchase that's not an immediate "top of the read pile" book). I have a lot more faith that we'll get the interstitial volume because DC is releasing this and Triangle v1 in such close proximity.
DeleteOf course, never let it be said that DC's collections department can't disappoint me with lack of follow-through, but this fall's publication initiatives suggest to me that they're going to really try this time. We'll see
I am really eager to see that interstitial volume, should it ever happen. Probably some of my favorite stories of that era would be in there. Now why not back up the Triangle Titles omnibus and start there, I couldn't say ...
DeleteWould love to finally get the 2nd compendium to Sandman Mystery Theatre but I’m worried this will never happen
ReplyDeleteSame. Maybe something will move around second season of Netflix series - granted, connection between Gaiman's Sandman and Wagner's SMT is tenuous at best but when did it stop anyone from marketing something? It'd be shame if they didn't go through with it, I believe just one more volume would be enough to collect the entire series...
DeleteWondering if the solicit for the DC Finest Wonder Woman trade will change... it ends at #35, but Simone stayed on the book until #44 (and had a story in #600 that was a good coda to her story). I'd rather have those pieces than the Andreyko and Waid issues from other runs.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little steamed about the JSA Compendium. The "JSA by Geoff Johns" trades fizzled out, with the most recent volume being printed out of order but never recalled/reprinted. All the other add-ons, though, make this volume tempting.
And Dan Jurgens doing a Golden Age-y Batman is always worth a look!
Black Label, no less!
DeleteRegarding Wonder Woman, I imagine they'll put the rest of Simone's run with 600 and JMS's run in the next volume - I'm not sure there's enough material before The New 52 to fill a DC Finest volume otherwise.
DeleteI really liked JMS's Wonder Woman run, Odyssey. Very possibly I'm the only one who did. Separate thought, has Simone written enough Wonder Woman outside of the Wonder Woman title to pad out a trade?
DeleteI am waiting for new collection of Jonah Hex stories like the Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti run.
ReplyDeleteI've been scooping up the Phil Noto issues of Jonah Hex for the art, but I'd give the rest of the run a look for a reasonably-priced compendium. (I have the Darwyn Cooke issues in his Graphic Ink HC, but I'd love to own the floppies, too!)
DeleteAt first I thought Action Comics #780 and Superman #172 were included in JSA Compendium One in order to provide some context for the JSA: Our Worlds at War special, which will probably be collected at the beginning of the next volume, but now it seems to me that they're only there to set up the Gog backup from Action Comics #813, in which he appears to be meeting his past (or present, in our point of view) self who just lost his family in the destruction of Topeka.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that that version of Gog gets heavily retconned by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross during the Thy Kingdom Come arc, which reveals he didn't come from the future after all, and that he's simply a missionary who happened upon the the original Gog (an Old God from the Third World) and then got powers from him and a bunch of visions of Earth-22 that drove him insane and led them into mistaking them for memories of his childhood. As I see it, this retcon renders the backup from AC #813 irrelevant (if not incoherent), and including it in the first JSA Compendium will only confuse readers.
As for the WildC.A.T.S. Compendium One, while I understand DC doesn't have the rights to issue #14 (written and drawn by Erik Larsen during a stunt where all Image Comics founders swapped books for a month, and featuring appearances by Savage Dragon and Freak Force, owned by him), I think it could be improved by the inclusion of Savage Dragon #13 (which DC owns, believe it or not, and features Max Cash's first apperannce, with art by Jim Lee), Wildstorm Rising #1 (written by James Robinson, and leads right into his WildC.A.T.S #20), Union #4 (also by Robinson, and resolves the cliffhanger from #20) and Wildstorm Rising #2 (has major consequences for the team and sets up Alan Moore's run, which starts with issue #21).
Geoff has a tendency to create uncessary retcons that mess with a character's development just for the sake of his stories.
DeleteI think you're on the right track, shagamu, though that is *wild.* As we understand, it's a good 87 issues plus before the Gog stuff becomes relevant to the Justice Society — hard to say if the compendiums will even go that far. Maybe if you tilt your head and squint, the Gog backup makes sense, but surely Action Comics #780 and Superman #172 are overkill just to explain why Topeka exploded and was never mentioned again 20-some years ago.
DeleteIt's awful late for a solicitation to be wrong, but sometimes these solicitations feel like a game of telephone, like someone said, "The JSA Compendium One will have JSA: Our Worlds at War in it" and someone else heard "Our Worlds at War" and went and looked it up and was like, "But that's a Superman event, what does it have to do with the JSA? Oh, here's that Gog guy, maybe that's what they meant" and put it in the solicitation, with no actual connection to reality. If anything, Hippolyta's death in Our Worlds at War is more relevant to the JSA — that volume could do well with JSA: Our Worlds at War and the JSA pages from World's Finest: Our Worlds at War.
As a collector of the Caped Crusader and Dark Knight collections, this Year One and Year Two thing is frustrating. Are they going to keep going forward and undo those collections, which were already flawed for leaving out various issues anyway? I bought all of those except volume 4 which is impossible to find.
ReplyDeleteAside from "Year Two," "Death in the Family," and "Lonely Place of Dying," which issues are missing from the DKD/CC trades? There were some crossover issues that were collected in one volume or the other (Destroyer, Penguin Affair, Idiot Root, and The Return of Scarface), but not both.
DeleteWith the Second Chances trade, they're pretty comprehensive (though Batman #401 is somehow, impossibly and inexplicably, not collected anywhere, despite being a Legends banner issue with a John Byrne cover).
Yeah. I was referring to Year One, Year Two, Death in the Family, Lonely Place of Dying, and Batman 401. It's annoying those aren't in the books. I started a read of everything earlier this year and it was annoying having to organize it all when I thought the point of those books was to do it for the readers.
DeleteGlad Gleason's Robin's getting the deluxe HC treatment. Not perfect, but a nice extended epilogue to his and Tomasi's Batman and Robin run (and gave us both the introduction of Maya Ducard and the continuing post-Grant Morrison rehabilitation of Talia's character).
ReplyDeleteStill frustrated though that there's not update on the next Williamson Flash Omnibus. I assume it's coming, but I haven't bought the first volume until I'm certain DC's not going to cut and run.