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DC's Digital Backlist - Secret Society of Super Villains spotlight!
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
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod) on
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I barely even recognize the title Red Thorn! Shows how much my interest has shifted to Image, I guess. Somebody might come along and strip me of my Mr. Vertigo title ;)
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Permalink Reply by Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) on
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The only reason I remember it is that a friend of mine writes novels set in Scotland, and when it was announced I pointed it out to her, since I thought it'd appeal to her. I'm not sure if she every got around to reading it.
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Huzzah! We’re back on track, with 24 books from DC’s silver age to the present day.
First off, we wrap up Starman, with issues 44 and 45 (and check out those sweet Mignola covers!).
We also make excellent progress on Lobo, with 6 issues of the Main Man: Lobo 55-60 are represented. That leaves only 5 issues left: 61-64, and Lobo 1 Million, which was originally published between issues 56 and 57.We’re also back to reprinting the silver age Mystery In Space, which gets three issues of Adam Strange action: 72-74.
And, not to forget the upcoming movie, Justice League of America gets four more bronze age issues made available: 138-141, which starts the classic (and short-lived) Englehart/Dillin era! My first issue of JLA is just a few months down the line.
Infinity Inc. also gets some love. After the first 10 issues were released in 2012, issues 11-16 finally go digital today. Featuring first appearances of both Mr. Bones and Todd McFarlane! (I was thinking issue 16 might also have the first appearance of Hazard, who just showed up on Flash, but she’s not a member of Helix; she’s a member of Injustice, Unlimited, which shows up later in the series. But—idle speculation here—perhaps some of her fellow members might show up on Flash, as well, to be the team of villains the Thinker is creating?)
And we get three more books from the Roy Thomas editorial stable as well: Secret Origins 1-3, featuring origins for Superman, Blue Beetle, and Captain Marvel. Back Issue magazine had a good retrospective of this series a few issues ago; it’s worth taking a look at!
The sale this week is focused on Geoff Johns, and there are a ton of collections and single issues available. I might break down and pick up the New Krypton storyline from the pre-Flashpoint Superman run. There’s also Green Lantern, of course, Flash, and Legion of Three Worlds. There’s also some of those 75 Years compilations that Johns has a story in, but with plenty of other stuff as well: Green Lantern, Justice Society, Lex Luthor, Aquaman, Teen Titans. Plenty of good stuff in those, even if you’re not a Johns fan. Sale runs through Monday.
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Permalink Reply by Luke Blanchard on
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Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:
My first issue of JLA is just a few months down the line.
You do know when it's added the cosmic axis will shift and you'll disappear, right?
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Strangely enough, the book that probably actually *was* my first issue of JLA is already on there -- issue 147, the first part of the JLA/JSA/LSH teamup. But the one I think of as my first issue, #149, where the League fought Dr. Light, is a couple months down the line. It's all a blur; maybe the team-up issue was my friend Dave's; I know it took me a while to track down part 2, but I read his copy.
And I may disappear from this dimension, but sooner or later someone will say my name backward and bring me back!
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We’re in the second week of what I hope is a return to normalcy, with another 24 backlist books from DC.
First off, we nearly wrap up Lobo, with 61-64, and three Lobo Annuals (1-3) I didn’t consider. There’s still Lobo 1 Million, which was originally published between issues 56 and 57.There’s no more Mystery In Space this week, but we get two more issues of The Brave & The Bold, picking up from where we left off: Issues 111 and 112, in which the Joker and hen Mister Miracle team up with Batman. Issue 112 is also a 100-page Super-Spectacular. The other stories reprinted include an Aquaman/Hawkman teamup, a Batman/Green Lantern teamup, and a Silent Knight story. (And come to think of it, it’s no wonder there was a gap in Brave and Bold coverages… these 100-pagers are BIG!)
Justice League of America gets four more bronze age issues made available: 142-145, four more Englehart/Dillin stories. The last is a haunted tale called “The Carnival of Souls” – strangely enough, I just bought a Blu-Ray copy of the 1962 horror movie it takes its name from on eBay.
We also get four more issues of Infinity Inc., 17-20. These issues feature a fight with Helix (the first group led by Mr. Bones) and then a team-up/fight with Justice League Detroit in the midst of the Crisis. Watch out for Red Skies!
Plus, we get five more issues of Secret Origins, 5-9, featuring origins for The Crimson Avenger, then (as the issues grew to accommodate two origins apiece), Halo/Golden Age Batman, Green Lantern/Sandman, Shadow Lass/Doll Man, and the Golden Age Flash/Star Spangled Kid—no wait, he’s called Skyman now (said no one ever). No idea why they skipped issue 4, a Firestorm origin. I’ll put it on the Gap List. (Come to think of it, I'll do the same with Lobo 1 Million, in anticipation of DC's forgetting about it.)
Two more issues round out the list…and I can’t discern an underlying motive for either. First up is Action Comics #308 from 1964, where Superman faces Goliath-Hercules, and Supergirl befriends “The Super-Tot From Nowhere!” It’s the first Action Comics issue in the 300s to appear on Comixology. (The biggest gap now is between issues 31 and 252.)
And next up is Detective Comics 113 from 1946 – our first Golden Age comic in months, even if it’s the tail end of it! – in which Batman and Robin face “Crime on the Half Shell!” There are also Air Wave, Slam Bradley, and Boy Commandos stories. The Batman story has been reprinted in the Archives, but those backups have never been seen since 1946; they’re also available on the digital version, so I'm picking it up. (This one lands in the middle of a big gap, too – between Detective issues 56 and 298, recently reprinted for Clayface content.)
No Wildstorm or Vertigo, but we’ve finally got a new Golden Age book!
It’s a big Justice League sale this week, focusing on the individual members. Sale-wise, they’re not making any bones about Superman’s return…there are plenty of Superman books up for sale. Also Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman…and Green Lantern? Hmmm…how ‘bout that? There’s some new 52 material, and some Rebirth material that’s never been on sale before too. It’s also listed as a “Part 1” sale…so I’d expect a second part next week, probably of the League’s united exploits.
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Apparently they added the two issues of The Legion that were on the Gap List when I wasn't looking (about two weeks after the previous two issues of that storyline arrived; it was probably an oversight that left them off the "new and notable" launch). I've moved them off the list, and sooner or later will get around to checking the rest of the books on it, to see if anything else slipped by.
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Just got word that something else is coming off the Gap List this week...something I'd long lost hope for!
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Another 24 backlist books from DC this week! I think their Comixology program is back on track.
Continuing our current runs, we’ve got five more issues of Infinity Inc., issues 21-25. Still in the McFarlane era, and issue 24 has an appearance by forgotten character update Jonni Thunder!
We also see a couple more issues of Secret Origins, with issues 11 and 15. (Issues 10 and 12-14 already existed on the service.) Issue 11 features origins for Hawkman and Power Girl, and 15 features the Spectre and Deadman.
After a week off, Green Lantern Corps gets five more issues too, picking up where it left off with 211-215. The series ends with 224, but there are also still five earlier issues unaccounted for.
We also see three more Brave and Bold issues, 113-115, giant-size issues that are headlined with teamups with The Metal Men, Aquaman, and The Atom. Reprints include The Viking Prince, Challengers of the Unknown, Aquaman, Atom, and more.
Strange Adventures gets a few issues, too: Issues 157, 222, and 226. The later two issues have Adam Strange material in them, but as far as I can tell, 157 is just random 50s sci-fi stories. Fun!
We also see three more Silver Age issues of Action Comics, 309-311. These directly follow last week’s 308. At this point, Action Comics was completely a Superman family title, with a Superman lead story and then a second story exploring other aspects of the mythos.
Also continuing from last week is Detective 114, with a Batman/Joker lead story, and backups starring Air Wave, Sla Bradley, and the Boy Commandos.
Two more modern books are 1999’s Team Superman special (with Supergirl, Steel, Superboy, etc)…
…and Swamp Thing 29, one of the books that inspired me to start the Gap List! Time to move that baby off, as the Joshua Dysart run has been completed at last! Time also to re-set the Vertigo Clock.
As suspected, this week’s Justice League sale focuses on the League as a team, with trade paperbacks available from throughout their career. (And even teams like Justice League Dark get in on the action.)
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The net tells me the hero of the Space Museum story in Strange Adventures #157 was described as a descendant of Adam Strange. It was a 1963 issue.
When Deadman's feature ended Strange Adventures became a reprint title. Most issues had an Adam Strange reprint. #222 instead had a new 10 pager by Denny O'Neil and Gil Kane. #226 had a new prose story by Gardner Fox with art by Murphy Anderson as well as an Adam reprint.
Most of the covers from this period were new, and the Adam reprints were often cover-featured. The Atomic Knights cover on #223 is notable as it was done by Murphy Anderson and they only got one cover during their original run.
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Action Comics went to a two-story format at the start of 1960. The pages allotted to each feature varied, but the split was often pretty even, as with a split-book. Sometimes it was Supergirl's story that was cover-featured, but Superman was usually included in the cover image.
The Silver Age reprint giants included in the title's numbering featured Supergirl.
If you're looking at Weisinger issues from the later 60s you need to be aware he made use of reprints. For example, the cover story of Superman #196 was a reprint from #87, although the other story was new. The Legion stories in Action Comics #377 and #388 were reprints. The cover story of Jimmy Olsen #111 was a reprint with new pages added.
How many story pages an issue had is also worth checking.
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Thanks, Luke!
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