The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in September:
BATMAN: CACOPHONY TP
Writer: Kevin Smith
Artists: Walt Flanagan and Sandra Hope
Collects: BATMAN: CACOPHONY #1-3
$14.99 US, 160 pg
BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE HC
Writer: Kevin Smith
Artists: Walt Flanagan and Art Thibert
Collects: BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE #1-6
$19.99, 176 pg
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: TEAM HISTORY HC
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter and Andy Kubert
Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #38-43
$19.99 US, 192 pg
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: BLACK ADAM AND ISIS TP
Writers: Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway
Artists: Dale Eaglesham, Jerry Ordway and others
Collects: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #23-28
$14.99 US, 160 pg
THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 2 TP
Writer: John Broome
Artists: Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson and others
Collects: THE FLASH #107-112
$14.99 US, 160 pg
LOBO: HIGHWAY TO HELL TP
Writer: Scott Ian
Artist: Sam Kieth
Collects: LOBO: HIGHWAY TO HELL #1-2
$19.99 US, 144 pg
THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: PROLOGUE TO DARKNESS TP
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Pat Broderick, Keith Giffen and Bruce Patterson
Collects: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #284-289 and THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL #1
$19.99 US, 208 pg
R.E.B.E.L.S: THE SON AND THE STARS TP
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Claude St. Aubin, Geraldo Borges and Scott Hanna
Collects: R.E.B.E.L.S #10-14
$17.99 US, 144 pg
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL. 4 TP
Writers: James Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell and Cary Bates
Artists: Curt Swan, Win Mortimer, Jack Abel, George Tuska, Dave Cockrum and Murphy Anderson
Collects: ADVENTURE COMICS #369-380, ACTION COMICS #378-392 and SUPERBOY #172, 173, 176, 183, 184, 188, 190 and 191
$17.99 US, 512 pg
RED ROBIN: COLLISION TP
Writers: Christopher Yost and Bryan Q. Miller
Artists: Marcus To, Lee Garbett, Ray McCarthy and Trevor Scott
Collects: RED ROBIN #6-12 and BATGIRL #8
$19.99 US, 192 pg
SUPERGIRL: DEATH AND THE FAMILY TP
Writers: Sterling Gates, Helen Slater and Jake Black
Artists: Fernando Dagnino, Jamal Igle, Raul Fernandez and Jon Sibal
Collects: SUPERGIRL #48-50 and SUPERGIRL ANNUAL #1
$17.99 US, 144 pg
SUPERMAN ARCHIVES VOL. 8 HC
Writesr: Don Cameron, Bill Finger, Jerry Siegel, Alvin Schwartz and Whitney Ellsworth
Artists: Ira Yarbrough, Ed Dobrotka, Joe shuster, Sam Citron and George Roussos
Collects: SUPERMAN #30-35
$59.99 US, 256 pg
SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE HC
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Shane Davis
Original graphic novel
$19.99 US, 128 pg
SUPERMAN: MON-EL – MAN OF VALOR HC
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Fernando Dagnino, Bernard Chang, Javier Pina and Matt Camp
Collects SUPERMAN #692-699, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #14 and SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2009 #1
$24.99 US, 224 pg
SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON VOL. 2 TP
Writers: Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates
Artists: Renato Guedes, Pete Woods and Jamal Igle
Collects: SUPERMAN #682-683, SUPERGIRL #35-36 and ACTION COMICS #872-883
$17.99 US, 160 pg
TINY TITANS: THE FIRST RULE OF PET CLUB… TP
Writers: Art Baltazar, Franco and Geoff Johns
Artist: Art Baltazar
Collects: TINY TITANS #19-25
$12.99 US, 160 pg
WARLORD: THE FORGOTTEN TP
Writer: Mike Grell
Artists: Mike Grell and Chad Hardin
Collects: WARLORD #7-12
$17.99 US, 144 pg
THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES TP
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Alexc Ross
Collects SUPERMAN: PEACE ON EARTH, BATMAN: WAR ON CRIME: SHAZAM!: POWER OF HOPE, WONDER WOMAN: SPIRIT OF TRUTH, JLA: SECRET ORIGINS and JLA: LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
$39.99 US, 400 pg
The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in October:
ABSOLUTE ALL-STAR SUPERMAN HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Collects: ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #1-12
$99.99 US, 320 pg
BATMAN: LIFE AFTER DEATH HC
Writer: Tony Daniel
Artists: Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea
Collects: BATMAN #692-699
$19.99 US, 200 pg
BATMAN: THE STREETS OF GOTHAM – LEVIATHAN HC
Writers: Paul Dini, Christopher Yost and Mike Benson
Artists: Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs
Collects: BATMAN: THE STREETS OF GOTHAM #5-11
$12.99 US, 160 pg
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: George Pérez and Scott Koblish
Collects: BATMAN: FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1-3
$14.99 US, 168 pg
THE GREEN LANTERN CHRONICLES VOL. 3 TP
Writer: John Broome
Artists: Gil Kane, Joe Giella and Carmine Infantino
Collects: GREEN LANTERN #10-14 and THE FLASH #131
$14.99 US, 160 pg
POWER GIRL: ALIENS AND APES TP
Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Amanda Conner
Collects: POWER GIRL #7-12
$17.99 US, 144 pg
JONAH HEX: COUNTING CORPSES TP
Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke, Dick Giordano, Jordi Bernet, Paul Gulacy and Billy Tucci
Collects: JONAH HEX #43 and 50-54
$14.99 US, 160 pg
JSA ALL-STARS: CONSTELLATIONS TP
Writer: Matthew Sturges
Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
Collects: JSA ALL-STARS #1-6
$14.99 US, 144 pg
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE TP
Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artists: Ed Benes, Shane Davis, Sandra Hope, Jose Luis and others
Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #27, 28 and 30-34
$17.99 US, 512 pg
THE STARMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 5 HC
Writers: James Robinson, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns
Artists: Steve Yeowell, Peter Snejbjerg, Wade von Grawbadger, Keith Champagne, Steve Sadowski, Lee Moder, Chris Weston, David Ross and others
Collects: STARMAN #47-60, 1,000,000, STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. #0, ALL STAR COMICS 80-PAGE GIANT #1 and JSA ALL STARS #4
$14.99 US, 464 pg
LUTHOR HC
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Berejo
Collects: LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL #1-5
$19.99 US, 128 pg
SUPERMAN: NIGHTWING AND FLAMEBIRD VOL. 2 HC
Writers: James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann
Artists: Bernard Chang, Pere Pérez and Bit
Collects: ACTION COMICS #883-889 and SUPERMAN #696
$24.99 US, 176 pg
WONDER WOMAN: CONTAGION TP
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Aaron Lopresti, Nicola Scott, Matt Ryan and Doug Hazlewood
Collects: WONDER WOMAN #40-44
$14.99 US, 128 pg
The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in November:
BATMAN: THE BATTLE FOR THE COWL TP
Writers: Tony Daniel and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Tony Daniel, Guillem March, ChrisCross, Jamie McKelvie and others
Collects: BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL #1-3, GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN DEAD? #1 and GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN ALIVE? #1
$14.99 US, 160 pg
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: THE FEARSOME FANG STRIKES AGAIN TP
Writers: Landry Q. Walker and J. Torres
Artists: Eric Jones, Carlo Barberi, J. Bone and Terry Beatty
Collects: BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #7-12
$12.99 US, 128 pg
BATMAN AND ROBIN: BATMAN VS. ROBIN DELUXE EDITION HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Cameron Stewart and Andy Clark
Collects: BATMAN AND ROBIN #7-12
$24.99 US, 160 pg
THE BOY COMMANDOS BY JOE SIMON AND JACK KIRBY VOL. 1 HC
Writers: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Artists: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Collects: Stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #64-73 and WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #8-9, and BOY COMMANDOS #1-2
$49.99 US, 256 pg
SECRET SIX: DANSE MACABRE TP
Writers: John Ostrander and Gail Simone
Artists: Jim Calafiore, Peter Nguyen and Doug Hazlewood
Collects: SECRET SIX #15-18 and SUICIDE SQUAD #67
$14.99 US, 128 pg
GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EMERALD ECLIPSE TP
Writes: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman
Collects: GREEN LANTERN CORPS #33-38
$14.99 US, 160 pg
GREEN LANTERN: AGENT ORANGE TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Philip Tan, Jonathan Glapion, Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert
Collects: GREEN LANTERN #39-42
$14.99 US, 128 pg
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS: SONGS OF THE SIRENS HC
Writers: Paul Dini, Guillem March and Marc Andreyko
Artist: Guillem March
Collects: GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #8-14
$19.99 US, 168 pg
HUMAN TARGET TP
Writers: Len Wein and Peter Johnson
Artists: Bruno Redondo, Chris Sprouse, Sergio Sandoval and Karl Story
Collects: HUMAN TARGET #1-6
$17.99 US, 144 pg
JLA DELUXE EDITION VOL. 4 HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Howard Porter, John Dell, Drew Geraci, Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines and Frank Quitely
Collects: JLA #34, 36-41, JLA CLASSIFIED #1-3 and JLA: EARTH 2
$29.99 US, 368 pg
THE NEW TEEN TITANS: GAMES HC
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artists: George Pérez, Al Vey and Mike Perkins
Original graphic novel
$24.99 US, 144 pg
SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI DELUXE EDITION HC
Writers: Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
Artists: Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Terry Austin
Collects: ALL-NEW COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-56
$19.99 US, 96 pg
SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI FACSIMILE EDITION HC
Writers: Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
Artists: Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Terry Austin
Collects: ALL-NEW COLLECTORS’ EDITION #C-56
$39.99 US, 80 pg
OUTSIDERS: THE ROAD TO HELL TP
Writer: Dan DiDio
Artists: Philip Tan, Don Kramer and others
Collects: OUTSIDERS #26-31
$14.99 US, 144 pg
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY: FIVE STAGES TP
Writers: Andrew Kreisberg and J.T. Krul
Artists: Mike Norton, Bill Sienkiewicz and Will Conrad
Collects: GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #27-30
$17.99 US, 128 pg
MANHUNTER: FACE OFF TP
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artists: Georges Jeanty, Jeremy Haun, Cliff Richards and others
Collects: Stories from BATMAN: THE STREETS OF GOTHAM #1-13
$17.99 US, 128 pg
SGT. ROCK: THE LOST BATTALION TP
Writer: Billy Tucci
Artist: Billy Tucci
Collects: SGT. ROCK: THE LOST BATTALION #1-6
$17.99 US, 160 pg
SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON HC
Writers: James Robinson, Sterling Gates and Eric Trautmann
Artists: Pete Woods, Julian Lopez, Jamal Igle and others
Collects: SUPERMAN: LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON #1, ADVENTURE COMICS #8-8, SUPERMAN #698 and SUPERGIRL #51
$24.99 US, 160 pg
The following DC Universe titles are scheduled to arrive in stores in December:
AZRAEL: ANGEL IN THE DARK TP
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Ramon Bachs and John Stanisci
Collects: AZRAEL #1-6
$17.99 US, 144 pg
BATGIRL: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD TP
Writers: Gardner Fox, Frank Robbins, Dennis O’Neil, Elliot S. Maggin, Bob Rozakis, Kelley Puckett and Devin Grayson
Artists: Carmine Infantino, Sid Greene, Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson, Vince Colletta, Don Heck, Mike Grell, Terry Dodson, Kevin Nowlan and Duncan Fegredo
Collects: DETECTIVE COMICS #359, 396, 400, 422, 423, 424, BATMAN FAMILY #1 and 9, LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE #10-11 and BATMAN CHRONICLES #9
$19.99 US, 160 pg
THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 10 TP
Writers: Joseph Greene, Joe Samachson, Bill Finger, Don Cameron
Artists: Jack Burnley, George Roussos, Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane, Fred Ray and Dick Sprang
Collects: DETECTIVE COMICS #78-81, BATMAN #18-19 and WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #11
$14.99 US, 168 pg
BATMAN: DEAD TO RIGHTS TP
Writer: Andrew Kreisberg
Artists: Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens
Collects: BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #22-25 and 29-30
$14.99 US, 144 pg
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT ARCHIVES VOL. 7 HC
Writers: Don Cameron, Jack Schiff, Joseph Greene, Bill Finger and Alvin Schwartz
Artists: Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson, Jack Burnley and George Roussos
Collects: BATMAN #26-31
$59.99 US, 264 pg
BLUE BEETLE: BLACK AND BLUE TP
Writers: Will Pfeiffer and Matthrew Stuges
Artists: David Baldeon, Carlo Barberi, Mike Norton, Steve bird and others
Collects: BLUE BEETLE #27-28 and stories from BOOSTER GOLD #21-25 and 28-29
$17.99 US, 168 pg
BOOSTER GOLD: THE TOMORROW MEMORY TP
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund
Collects: BOOSTER GOLD #26-31
$17.99 US, 160 pg
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: OUR ARMY AT WAR VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Dave Wood, David Kahn, Robert Kanigher, Hal Kantor, John Reed, Robert Bernstein, William Woolfolk, France Herron and others
Artists: Frank Giacoia, Irwin Hasen, Gil Kane, Joe Giella, Carmine Infantino, Bob Oksner, Mort Drucker, Irv Novick, Eugene Hughes, Jerry Grandenetti, Bernard Krigstein, Gene Colan, Sy Barry, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito and others
Collects: OUR ARMY AT WAR #1-20
$17.99 US, 512 pg
HITMAN: LOCAL HEROES TP NEW PRINTING
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: John McCrea, Carlos Ezquerra and Steve Pugh
Collects: HITMAN #9-14
$17.99 US, 144 pg
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: AXIS OF EVIL TP
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artists: Travis Moore, Jesus Merno, Dan Green and Jesse Delperdang
Collects: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #34-40
$14.99 US, 168 pg
SUPER FRIENDS: HEAD OF THE CLASS TP
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Artists: J. Bone, Dario Brizuela, Stewart McKenny and Dan Davis
Collects: SUPER FRIENDS #15-21
$12.99 US, 144 pg
TEEN TITANS: RAVAGER – FRESH HELL TP
Writers: David Hine and Sean McKeever
Artists: Georges Jeanty, Yildiray Cinar, Mark McKenna and Julio Ferreira
Collects: FACES OF EVIL: DEATHSTROKE #1 and stories from TEEN TITANS #71-76 and 79-82
$14.99 US, 144 pg
TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS VOL. 3 TP
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artists: Joe Staton, Bruce Paterson and Mark Farmer
Collects: GREEN LANTERN #201-206
$19.99 US, 144 pg
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Replies
THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 2 TP - I made a post a few weeks back about trying to decide between the Showcase and the Chronicles, and I went with the latter. I'm so glad I did, and I'm delighted to see a 2nd volume on the way. Hopefully, there will 2 volumes in 2011.
THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: PROLOGUE TO DARKNESS TP - Sadly, during the big move of 2006, most of my Legion issues went MIA, so this is a no brainer ...
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES VOL. 4 TP - Awesome news. That is all.
SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON VOL. 2 TP - One of my many tradewaits on this list
WONDER WOMAN: CONTAGION TP - ditto
SECRET SIX: DANSE MACABRE TP - ditto on that ditto
GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EMERALD ECLIPSE TP - and one more time
THE NEW TEEN TITANS: GAMES HC - tempted to wait for a softcover, but who knows how long a wait that would be?
SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI DELUXE EDITION HC - Sad to say, I've never read this story
MANHUNTER: FACE OFF TP - I decided to pass on Street of Gotham, hoping this would be collected before long
BATGIRL: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD TP - Interesting, I would never have guessed that batgirl would be a candidate for this line
THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 10 TP - I LOVE the Chronicles series. I know I don't have the GL Chronicles on the list, only because I have the first Showcase ... and I'm still tempted to get it.
BOOSTER GOLD: THE TOMORROW MEMORY TP - another tradewait
We might have similar tastes, as I would be getting a lot of the ones you mentioned, if I had a slightly bigger comics budget.
My buying of the Showcases have fallen behind the publishing of them.
Because Superman, Legion of Superheroes, and Supergirl interwine, I've decided to buy collections that have the the earliest published stories first. This means I currently have to buy Supergirl Showcase vol 2 before buying LoSH vols 3 and 4. I love all these Silver Age Superman Family stories. They are high quality stuff.
I meant to chime in with your earlier conversation regarding to buy or not to buy the Silver Age chronicles. I grew up reading B&W Marvel UK reprints, so the Marvel Essentials don't bother me without colour. I think I read somewhere that Kirby, for one, would have preferred his comics to be viewed in black and white, as its closer to how he penciled it. I've been coming to the Silver Age DC stuff completely fresh, and initially I thought B&W would be fine with them too.
But I've come to realise colour is a huge story element in Silver Age DC. Colour is right there in the fabric of most of the storytelling.
Very obvious examples are GREEN Lantern being vulnerable to YELLOW objects, Superman being vulnerable to all those differently coloured Kryptonites.
Look at Prof Zoom and Mon-El, who have inverse colouring to the Flash and Superboy respectively, so colour is thematically important.
Even the nuts and bolts of the stories have colour front and centre.
I'm working my way through the Elongated Man Showcase, and many of the mystery elements revolve around colour. A PURPLE pony. A giant RED Barn door. There is even one where Elongated Man twigs what is happening due to the shade of his wife's suntan, which was invisible in B&W.
This emphasis on colour isn’t as apparent in the 60’s Marvel comics. I wonder why there was the difference?
I think DC deliberately skewed their comics to a younger reading audience. Colour is a big fascination of the young mind, and they get pleasure in dividing the world up according to colour. Instead of scientific theories, they are presented with colour being the reasons for things being the way they are in the DCU. They understand colour. Who knows? A smarter mind than mine might figure it out…
So, ideally I'd like to get the Flash and Green Lantern stories in colour chronicle form, but having said all that, I'm not as big a fan of either to justify the higher story-to-dollar expense. 6 stories in each TPB isn't a lot. Still, if I was a fan, colour would be the way to go.
I find Silver Age GL, Flash, and JLA to be quite difficult reads compared to the Superman Family books. The Superman books have an artistry and depth to them that the others don't, in my view. I can see that the art has a beautiful Silver Age elegance in them all, but the non-Superman books are quite 'clunky' and I find it hard to read a succession of them in a row, whereas I read the Superman Family books from cover-to-cover once I buy them. The Superman books have many more memorable stories too than the others. I read the first Green Lantern Showcase, but would be hard-pressed to list many of the stories. Same with JLA showcase. The personalities of the heroes and villains are very one-note and hard to empathise with.
Maybe its just me? Although I think my opinion has some objectivity as I came to them all only a few years ago and don't have much childhood memories of any of them. What does everyone else think?
I'm ecstatic about Muhamad Ali vs Superman. That's a landmark in popular culture, not just comics. I'll be getting the cheaper deluxe edition (which has more pages too).
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS TP
I haven't read this because y'know - Geoff Johns, but then again y'know - George Perez! Hopefully my library will have it, or I might stump up for it.
The Batgirl collection seems to be all about Barbara Gordon. As you say, … interesting. She was persona non grata for a long time at one stage.
The Boy Commandos deserve a place in every serious comic fans collection. They were just massive at one time, probably selling in the millions. And y’know… Kirby and Simon.
Again, having said all that, I’ll probably put off buying this indefinitely. It’s a big ask of the budget! I’ll probably have to settle for reading Jeff of Earth J’s review of them!
I’ve just checked and Sgt Rock won’t appear in the Our Army… showcases until maybe vol 4, (issue 83 fact fans)so perhaps there’s no rush to get this one either.
I think it was the other way around with Kirby. I've seen that mentioned somewhere in relation to In the Days of the Mob, which ran his stories in B&W. Incidentally, his work from the later 60s looks quite dark in B&W, but not in colour.
Sometimes you can see the skill of the artist better in B&W, sometimes the work needs colour to give the figures more weight. I don't think that's a fault, as the work was supposed to appear with it.
Some of the Boy Commandos stories I've seen are genuinely good, but I can't afford the volume (and I don't know whether the art will be reproduced or whether it's been recreated by a modern artist, as I understand it has been for some Archives/Masterworks). It should contain about twenty stories.
As a kid I liked Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern stories, but for me the Sekowsky Justice League of America was an acquired taste. I think the Flash and Green Lantern features both started off a bit dull, but later hit their strides. I used to take Weisinger Superman stuff for granted, but I now appreciate it much more. I'm much more aware of the extent to which the writers are playing with the franchise's formulas, the stories' sly humour, and how well the supporting characters, such as Perry, are characterised.
As well as the actual plot relevance of the colours, I think the Silver Age DC stuff has an innocent four-colour charm that is lost in the Showcase editions.
Luke said I think the Flash and Green Lantern features both started off a bit dull, but later hit their strides.
I've heard this before, and it is another mark against the colour Chronicles. At only 6 issues a pop, it would take ages and $$$ to get the great stuff.
Luke said: I used to take Weisinger Superman stuff for granted, but I now appreciate it much more. I'm much more aware of the extent to which the writers are playing with the franchise's formulas, the stories' sly humour, and how well the supporting characters, such as Perry, are characterised.
There's some wonderful things going on in them. The last one I read was Superman Family vol 3, with Jimmy Olsen. He's the archetypal Holy Fool. In one story he keeps winding up back at this major baseball match where he keeps sabotaging the home team's game. The chances of it happening over and over are astronomical. All the while he's trying to avoid this lawyer who keeps chasing him. Jimmy only finds out in the end that the man represents "the crazy millionaire who gives away his money to random strangers." This is all so crazy its inspired!
And then the cover image is from a story where Superman leaves Jimmy in charge of an magic potion from ancient Camelot that says on the label it will turn anyone into a Werewolf.
"Phooey!" says Jimmy, "I'll use it to wash down my sandwich..."
And that's only the first page.
Ah, Jimmy....
I'm happy I chose to go with Chronicles for the Flash. I think the Flash stories would also lose a lot in B&W. Although quaint and old fashioned, I find the stories to be more clever than clunky. In contrast, I found the GL stories to be hit and miss, and the JLA stories, well, clunky describes them perfectly. I'm sorry, I know Gardner Fox is a legend, but I found the stories to be extremely formulaic, what little personality the heroes show completely interchangeable, and Snapper Carr enough to drive the Amish to drink.