DC's Digital Backlist - Secret Society of Super Villains spotlight!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

A while back, I logged some week-to-week posts on DC’s digital reprint program through Comixology. It’s been a while, and their digital offerings have matured, so I thought I’d take another look at what they’re adding each week. Currently, they seem to be doing about 30 books a week. I might not list all the issue numbers going forward – if the 90s Superman titles continue moving forward at two of each a week, there’s not much value in listing each issue. But let’s take a look at this week’s, and let’s see where the patterns take us, shall we?

 

90s Superman: DC is following the 90s Superman titles (soon to be the 2000s Superman, as this week’s titles are from December 1999) pretty quickly, giving us 8 issues of the books every week. There’s a lot of material to get through, but that’s still an admirable clip. We may only have a few more weeks of this, judging by Action Comics (the one title of the bunch that doesn’t change its numbering and continues for a long while) – 761 is the most recent issue, and Action already seems to be in the digital library from 769 on. Superman, Adventures of Superman and Superman: Man of Steel have bigger gaps, though. 

Action Comics 760, 761

Adventures of Superman 574, 575

Superman 152, 153

Man of Steel 95, 96

 

Arion: 11, 12

DC has been adding two issues of Arion: Lord of Atlantis a week for the last 6 weeks. There are 35 issues and a special, so there's a way to go before the series is completed.

DC Comics Presents: 75, 76

DCCP started out at a faster pace, but has been going two a week for a little while now. There are about 20 issues to go. Bonus: More Arion this week, in issue 75!

Guy Gardner: Warrior: 33

11 issues to go.

Huntress: 19, 4-issue 1994 series

We wrap up the Cavalieri/Staton ongoing that introduced Helena Bertinelli, and then power through a Chuck Dixon mini from 1994. Will Huntress return next week, or will we move on?

Justice League America (Bwa-ha-ha) 51, 52

This one has a ways to go before having everything available.

Manhunter: 34

Four more issues till it’s all there!

Mister Miracle: 23-25

This wraps up the 70s run – Kirby and then Marshall Rogers, it’s all there! (I think DC also recently wrapped the 70s Return of the New Gods run, too.)

Superman (Bronze Age): 233

This is an interesting one. The Kryptonite Nevermore cover – I’m surprised it wasn’t available before this. Will DC continue from here? Their 70s Superman offerings on Comixology are paltry.

Wanderers: 7, 8

This 80s Legion spinoff ran 13 issues, so we’re almost there.

Wonder Woman (Silver Age): 130, 131

DC has been making silver age Wonder Woman stories available, probably wishing to expand their catalog in anticipation of the movie. At this point the silver age issues go from 112-131, with a couple of gaps.

Swamp Thing (Diggle/Dysart run): 25

4 more issues to go.

Trigger: 5

This Vertigo sci-fi series lasted 8 issues. I don’t remember it at all.

 

That’s a pretty exhaustive look at this week’s offerings. Next week, I’ll probably just note new additions (what will replace Mister Miracle? The '89 and '96 series have already been collected, so we might be in for something new. And there might be more Huntress comics that haven't been reprinted yet, but Comixology has a bunch of them listed already, and the Bat-universe is so sprawling it's tough to search), unexpected omissions, breaks from the patterns, and go forward from there. 

And to make things easy to follow:
Week 2. (April 6, 2017)

Week 3 (April 13, 2017)

Week 4 (April 20, 2017)

Week 5 (April 27, 2017)

Week 6 (May 4, 2017)

Week 7 (May 11, 2017)

Week 8 (May 18, 2017)

Week 9 (May 25, 2017)

Week 10 (June 1, 2017) -- All the golden age Wonder Woman goodness!

Week 11 (June 8, 2017)

Week 12 (June 15, 2017)

Week 13 (June 22, 2017)

Week 14 (June 29, 2017)

Week 15 (July 6, 2017)

Week 16 (July 13, 2017) -- Our Worlds at War! Underworld Unleashed!

Week 17 (July 20, 2017) -- The Great Ten! More Wonder Woman!

Week 18 (July 27, 2017) -- Batman Confidential and Deathblow? Young Heroes in Love?? Doom Patrol!

Week 19 (Aug 3, 2017) -- Some Bronze-age Batman!

Week 20 (Aug 10, 2017) -- Loeb/Sale Challengers begins!

Week 21 (Aug 17, 2017) -- Silver Age Challs!

MIDWEEK SALE BLAST (Aug 22, 2017): Wildstorm!

Week 22 (Aug 24, 2017) -- Holding pattern...

Week 23 (Aug 31, 2017) -- chugging along

Week 24 (Sept 7, 2017) -- Same old, but with newer Challengers

Week 25 (Sept 14, 2017) -- Baron/Jones Deadman debuts

Week 26 (Sept 21, 2017) -- Holding steady, with more Deadman

Week 27 (Sept 28, 2017) -- Deadman in Action Comics Weekly?

Week 28 (Oct 5, 2017) -- A slow swerve into Batman

Week 29 (Oct 5, 2017) -- Doom Patrol finishes in the smallest week ever

The Gap List: a list of unexplained or awkward skips.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Luke Blanchard said:

Creators sometimes recreate moments that had a big impact on them. It's my guess the reveal at the climax of #244 was modelled after the end of Adventure Comics #369. 

I wouldn't be surprised, either. That first Mordru appearance casts a big shadow.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

It's worth noting that this was only Mordru's 5th story appearance. He was introduced in the 2-parter in Adventure 369-370 (although he'd faced the Legion before, in an untold story). Then he made two appearances in backups (Superboy 173 and 188), and then he was the villain in the JLA/JSA/Legion teamup in JLA 147-148, which is probably where I first saw him. 

He's probably my favorite Legion villain, but we didn't see a whole lot of him in his first decade. 

[Luke Blanchard]

He also had a role in the cover story in Superman #213. He catches Superman in a magical trap. His voice is heard, but he isn't seen.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oh, wow! I never knew that. But considering there's a giant vault on the cover, maybe I shouldn't be surprised!

[Luke Blanchard]

I never made that connection! He says "I've imprisoned you in here forever... as you once imprisoned me!" But I've not read his first appearance, and thought he just meant underground.

This is a spoiler by the way, but I might be too late saying that.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oh, I think that cat's outta the vault by now.

In other news, DC Comics Presents is closing in on its conclusion. There are 7 issues left going forward in the run till the last issue (97), plus another 3 (issues 70, 71, and 74) that were skipped a few weeks ago. There are also 4 annuals, none of which have made it onto Comixology yet. But that's 14 issues, max, and at 3 a week there are only 5 more weeks of DCCP releases -- assuming everything gets filled in and there are no slowdowns.

DCCP is the one area in which Superman shows up Batman. Almost the entire 97-issue run of the Superman team-up title is represented, while there are only 18 Brave & Bold issue online right now...and only 12 of them are Batman team-ups. (There are also the three JLA issues, the two Teen Titans issues, and one Supergirl/Wonder Woman pairing.) Although there are a lot more grouped into the two Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo collections available, so if DC are so inclined it's probably a simple matter to break those up and remarket them as single issues.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Incidentally, I picked up a the first three issues of Arion a few weeks ago, and started reading them; I'm halfway through issue 2.

I love Jan Duursema's art -- and every now and then I find a page that looks like it was assisted by her husband, Tom Mandrake, whom Wikipedia tells me she met when they were students at the Kubert School. 

Paul Kupperberg's writing is a little much, though -- it's pretty purple, and stacked high with the kinds of high-fantasy names that are stumbling blocks when too many of them appear at once. (I had a higher tolerance for that when I was in middle school, I'm sure.)

I'm enjoying issue 2 more than issue 1 -- the first issue picks up in media res, where the backups in Warlord (which I've never read) left off. It's a wonder I ever picked up issue 2 as a kid. But I I loved art (I traced the cover to issue 1 so much!) and the pre-flood Atlantis setting, and those things -- and, I think, a desire to move past superheroes a bit -- carried me right along.  

(And yes, I'm just going to let this project take me down memory lane as certain books come up. I hope you all do the same!)

[Detective 445]

Yeah, I'm planning on getting some of those Arion issues as well. I remember reading the Warlord backups and getting the first 8 or 10 issues when I was in middle school so I'd like to give them another look.

I've picked up a few of the DCCP issues from that era as well. I got the Global Guardians and He--Man issues mostly for nostalgia reasons but the two I was really looking forward to were the George Perez OMAC issue and the soon to be available (hopefully) Annual #1.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Oh, that OMAC issue is gorgeous!

I'm looking forward to reading the Superman/Blackhawk teamup from issue 69. I picked it up at a con a while back, and its stacked in with my Blackhawk back issues, so I'll read it approximately in the order it came out.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

The new DC Comixology backlist is up… and there’s a whole lotta Legion goin’ on!

Let’s start, though, with the 2000s Superman books. Action Comics brings in issue 768, the final issue to close the gap between these books and this week’s issue. From what I can tell from a quick glance, every issue of Action Comics from 1991’s Action #669 is now available. That’s pretty impressive.

Adventures of Superman brings in issues 584 and 585 – skipping issues 580 and 581 for some reason, and then jumping past 582 and 583, which were already on the service. I’m going to have to start making a list of the strange issue skips I notice.

Superman: Man of Steel brings us issues 103 and 106, straddling the pre-existing Emperor Joker storyline without a gap. Superman, on the other hand, is already past Emperor Joker, bringing us issues 162 and 163.

There’s no 70s Superman this week… nor is there any Silver Age Wonder Woman.

We do get our customary 2 issues of Arion, 3 issues of DC Comics Presents, another issue of Guy Garner: Warrior, two issues of Justice League America, and an issue of Manhunter (completing the series). Vertigo brings us 2 issues of Swamp Thing now… there’s just one more to go!

Debuting this week is Hawk & Dove, the first 3 issues of the 5-issue mini from 1991 from Barbara Kesel, Karl Kesel, and Rob Liefeld. This is weird for a number of reasons. For some reason Comixology credits the art to Greg Gulder, and the writing to Karl Kesel alone. What’s that about? And then, when I looked for other Hawk & Dove stories on  Comixology, I found that this whole miniseries has been available since 2011… with the proper credits. So some wires obviously got crossed here.

And then there’s the Legion books. Not only do we get two more 70s Superboy & the Legion issues (consecutive from the two a couple weeks ago…now with Pulsar Stargrave!), but we also get all 6 issues of the Legion Worlds miniseries from 2001.

So that’s it! Plenty of weirdness this time…but plenty of open spaces for next week, considering Manhunter’s done, Legion Worlds is done, Hawk & Dove may not be back if they realize they’ve been there all along. That’s nine slots right there!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

And since I said I would...here's the Gap List: a current list of skipped books I've noticed in the runs of comics DC is currently reprinting on Comixology:

Action Comics: 360-363, 729

Adventure Comics: 432 (The Spectre); other issues of Adventure are doubled and tripled up, omitting backup features: 435-436-437; 441-442; 443 & 445; 446-447; 449-450; 451-452; 453-454-455.  

Adventures of Superman: 580, 581

Aquaman (1962): 1 (and issues 33 & 35 are b/w only)

Batman: 349

Black Magic: 6

Brave & the Bold: 137 (guest-starring The Demon)

DC Comics Presents: 70, 71, 74

Detective Comics: The last issues needed after 300: 386, 397, 404-406, 546, 563, 579, 639-641.

Doom Patrol (2001): 21, 22

Gen 13: 13 

Green Arrow Annual 1 (part 2 of Batman/GA/Question annual crossover, "Fables")

Justice League of America  162-165, 169, 175, 206

Justice League International/Justice League America: 33-36, 41, 42, and 60. 

Lobo: 1 Million

The Spectre (1987): 7, 13, 29, 30

Steel: Annual 1

Stormwatch: 15

Strange Adventures: 219, 221, 223

Super Friends: 33, 34

Superman: 157

Teen Titans (1966): 23-28

Wasteland: 6 (apparently shelved for sensitive content)

Weird Mystery Tales: 5-7

WildCATS: 14

The Witching Hour: 3

Gaps filled since I've been keeping track: 

Action Comics 319, 331, 333, 341, 343, 351, 352, 355
Arion: Lord of Atlantis Special #1 (at least 2 years after the series ended)
Arion the Immortal 6
Aquaman, Sword of Atlantis: 49
Batman 233, 338
Brave & Bold 122 (guest-starring Swamp Thing before his TV show came out)
Detective 585 (probably never skipped, but a glitch in the system), 501 (added in 2019, a couple years after part 2 of the story), 524 (possibly overlooked from the week before).
Wonder Woman (Post-Crisis): 76
Justice League of America: 112, 159, 160
Justice League Europe: 29-36 (the even-numbered chapters of the Breakdowns crossover)
Our Worlds At War: Green Lantern: 1
The Legion: 37 & 38
Secret Origins: 4 (Firestorm), 44 (Batman vs The Mud Pack), 25 (Legion/GA Atom)
Swamp Thing (2004 series): 29
New Teen Titans (1984): Annual 2
Teen Titans Spotlight 15
Wonder Woman (Silver Age): 111, 113, 123, 143, 198 
Wonder Woman (Post-Crisis) 81, Annuals 3 & 4

Title Overviews:

Action Comics
Teen Titans

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Oh, nice! I wish they would print a hardcover of Legion Worlds to go with my hardcover of Legion Lost, but at least now they are available to download.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

And then there’s the Legion books. Not only do we get two more 70s Superboy & the Legion issues (consecutive from the two a couple weeks ago…now with Pulsar Stargrave!), but we also get all 6 issues of the Legion Worlds miniseries from 2001.