A while back, DC announced a new line of reprints, called DC Finest, that packages about 500 pages of comics from various eras into a $40 softcover. From all appearances, it looks to be an attempt to mimic Marvel's successful Epic Collections line, in which complete runs of their books are reprinted in similar paperbacks, but often out of order. So you might get Fantastic Four volume 3 (The Coming of Galactus) before volume 1 (the early stuff), but the volumes have all been mapped out, and gaps get filled in as time goes on.
DC announced a bunch of collections, ranging from the Golden Age (All-Star Comics, Superman) to the 2000s (Wonder Woman), with plenty in between. In October's solicitations, they've finally nailed down the contents for most of the announced books. Here's what's been announced so far.
DC FINEST: WONDER WOMAN: ORIGINS & OMENS
ON SALE 10/8/24
DC Finest: Wonder Woman: Origins & Omens collects these Wonder Woman issues from October 2007 to 2009: Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #14-35, Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Wonder Woman/Grace #1, and The Brave and the Bold #7.
DC FINEST: SUPERMAN: THE FIRST SUPERHERO
ON SALE 11/5/24
The First Superhero covers Summer 1938 to Fall 1940 and reprints classic stories from Action Comics #1-25, Superman #1-5, and New York World’s Fair #1.
DC FINEST: BATMAN: BATMAN: YEAR ONE & TWO
$39.99 US | 592 pages | 6 5/8″ x 10 3/16″ | Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-77952-835-3
ON SALE 11/5/24
Collects Batman #404#401-414, Batman Annual #11, and Detective Comics #571- #568-581.
DC FINEST: CATWOMAN: LIFE LINES
ON SALE 12/17/24
Collects Catwoman (vol. 1) #1-4, Catwoman (vol. 2) #1-12, Catwoman Annual #1, Batman/Catwoman: Defiant #1, and stories from Action Comics Weekly #611-614 and Showcase ’93 #1-4.
DC FINEST: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN EARTHS
ON SALE 11/19/24
Collects Justice League of America #45-72 from July 1966 to June 1969.
DC FINEST: GREEN LANTERN: THE DEFEAT OF GREEN LANTERN
ON SALE 12/3/24
Featuring works from revered comics writers and artists such as John Broome, Gardner Fox, and Gil Kane, this volume collects classic stories from Green Lantern #19-39, The Flash #143, and The Brave and the Bold #59.
DC FINEST: EVENTS: ZERO HOUR PART ONE
ON SALE 12/10/24
This first of two collections features Superman #93, The Flash #94, L.E.G.I.O.N. #70, Green Lantern #55, Super-man: The Man of Steel #37, Team Titans #24, The Darkstars #24, Valor #23, Batman #511, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31, Detective Comics #678, Legionnaires #18, Hawkman #13, Showcase ‘94 #8-9, Steel #8, Superboy #8, Outsiders #11, and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3-4.
DC FINEST: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: ZAP GOES THE LEGION
ON SALE 12/10/24
This first collection starring the greatest heroes of the 30th century features stories pulled from the pages of Action Comics #378-387 and #389-392, Adventure Comics #374-380 and #403, and Superboy #172-173, #176, #183-184, #188, #190-191, #193, #195, and #197-203.
DC FINEST: THE FLASH: THE HUMAN THUNDERBOLT
ON SALE 11/26/24
Collects Showcase #4, #8, and #13-14, and The Flash #105-123.
DC FINEST: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: FOR AMERICA AND DEMOCRACY
ON SALE 12/3/24
Collects All-Star Comics #3-12.
DC has also announced three more for January, although the exact contents aren’t announced yet:
DC Finest: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters – 21st of January, 2025
The most iconic stories starring Green Arrow! (From the cover, it looks like it’s the start of the Grell run, starting with The Longbow Hunters miniseries.)
DC Finest: Supergirl: The Girl of Steel – 14th of January, 2025
The earliest stories starring Supergirl! (Looks like Supergirl, from the beginning.)
DC Finest: Aquaman: The King of Atlantis – 7th of January, 2025
The earliest stories starring the King of the Seas: Aquaman! (Silver Age Aquaman, with Jack Miller, Robert Bernstein, and Ramona Fradon listed as creators.)
So for the purposes of discussion... which ones of these interest you the most? And looking forward, where would you go for the second volumes of these titles?
Replies
Sooner than I thought! There's a new DC Finest in town, pod'nuh! And it's coming in December!
DC Finest: Western: Requiem for a Gunfighter
Available Dec. 8
Written and Illustrated by Various
The Wild West—and Jonah Hex—come alive in these Bronze Age classics!
Get ready to hit the trail once more with the second DC Finest: Western volume, which introduces the most steely-eyed and scar-faced stalwart of justice to ever ride the range: Jonah Hex! DC Finest: Western: Requiem for a Gunfighter features a wagon train’s worth of frontier adventures from the bygone years of 1973 through 1977—all crafted by some of comics’ most accomplished hands, including Michael Fleisher, José Luis García-López, John Albano, Tony DeZuniga, Dick Ayers, George Moliterni, Noly Panaligan, and more.
Collects all the tall tales from Weird Western Tales #18-43, Jonah Hex #1-7, and a never-before-reprinted Jonah Hex parody story from The Amazing World of DC Comics #13.
It looks like this volume follows immediately on the heels of the first DCF Western book, The Hangman Never Loses. This volume has a lot more Jonah Hex in it, and will take us past where the Jonah Hex Showcase Presents b/w volume left off. I'll add it to the master list of dates.
Will it only have the Jonah Hex stories or will it include any backups?
I assume this will include everything. It's not listed as a Jonah Hex volume, it's listed as DC Western. I think DC has made a statement to the effect of Jonah Hex not having his own series, but instead being incorporated into DC Western line. Further down the line I'd expect that he'd be sharing the series with Scalphunter as well.
I checked! Scalphunter begins in Weird Western Tales #39 (Ap'77) so he's already in this volume!
Which is good because I never read his initial adventures!
That is a nice run of issues to reprint. I expect a little bit of El Diablo (Lazarus Lane) there as well.
Apparently the previous volume did not include the Bat Lash and Pow Wow Smith reprints, so they probably won't be featured in this volume either.
Yeah, I think they're restricting themselves to material that's original to the era. And hopefully with publish some volumes of the earlier stuff when the time comes
Wow. Even though I have just about all of these stories as individual issues (I never followed the adventures of Scalphunter), they are not within easy reach so I guess I will buy this one..
I could justify buying the DC Finest Sgt. Rock volume because I don't have ALL of those early stories. Most of them, but not all.
In reading -- actually, savoring -- that volume, I've discerned when Rock started wearing those ammo belts. He didn't sport them in his true first appearance in Our Army at War #83 (June 1959),* and he didn't get them until OOAW #97 (August 1960). And then, he wore them criss-crossed over his torso, like a Mexican bandito, which makes sense. I well remember the two Sgt. Rock stories drawn by the greal tegendary John Severin. Being the stickler for accuracy that he was, he drew Rock weaing a single ammo belt hung around his neck like a shawl, which makes sense. The way most artists draw them, as loops just resting on his shoulders, would mean they would just fall off. And what good is that?
I also got the DC Finest War volume (it made a wonderful Father's Day gift!), but I haven't dug into that because I'm still reading the Sgt. Rock one.
*Some sources, including DC itself, name Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) as that first appearance. but they're wrong. That was a prototype for the character. Conveniently, the DC Finest Sgt. Rock volume includes a couple of those early prototype stories. But on the downside, said stories are not identified as such.
That never-before reprinted Jonah Hex parody story from The Amazing World of DC Comics #13 is almost worth the price of admission by itself. I actually have a copy, and it's a real treat! It's very much in the vein of Not Brand Ecch, especially when the actual artists of a given title do the spoof (like Gene Colan doing "Scaredevil, The Man Who's Afraid of Fear"). This Jonah Hex spoof is wrtten by Michael L. Fleischer and drawn by Tony De Zuñiga. and they seemed to be having fun with it.
That's so good to hear! I'm really looking forward to it. There'll be a bunch of Hex stories I don't have in this one, and a bunch of others I've never read in color. And I never really followed Scalphunter either, and have just picked up and issue or two with him as back issues over the years. So I'm really excited for this.
We should be getting information on a bunch of new DC Finest titles in the next month. So here are my guesses as to what they might be.
I'm guessing there'll be 18 titles, averaging 3 per month.
-
74
-
75
-
76
-
77
-
78
of 82 Next