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 #404-414, Batman Annual #11, and Detective Comics #571-581.
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
I think you're right about the Golden Age Superman Omnibuses. This DC Finest Superman volume looks like it's doing the same thing, but with 200-some fewer pages than volume 1 of the Omnibuses, so it doesn't get quite as far. But you've already got all this material, very likely in this same order.
Yeah, I've got all the Golden Age Superman omnibuses, although they've only reached the early '50s, I think. But the ones I've read have all the Superman, Action and World's Finest (solo Superman) stories in chronological order. If the series follows the pattern set by the Golden Age Batman omnibus series, it will drop World's Finest stories when they become Superman/Batman team-ups in 1954 (and have their own Omnibus line). With fewer stories, and decreasing page counts in Action and Superman, the Omnibus series should move faster to the finish line in 1958 (Action Comics #240/Superman #121).
The Batman Omnibus series, which includes Batman, Detective and Batman solo stories in World's Finest, is complete. It reached the Silver Age Batman Omnibus Vol. 1 last year, I believe. That means, as Jeff of Earth-J says, that it's possible to read all the Batman stories from 1939 to 1958. My own Bat-collection begins in 1962 or 1963, so I'm eagerly awaiting the next Silver Age Batman Omnibus (or two).
The Golden Age Wonder Woman Omnibus series has also reached the early '50s, collecting Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman stories from Sensation Comics and Comic Cavalcade. The series has long passed the point where Comic Cavalcade went funny animal (#30, 1949) and has just passed the point where Sensation goes all suspense (#107, Jan 52). So if they continue the series it ought to move quickly, as it will be simply be a Wonder Woman reprint book. And Wonder Woman was bi-monthly through issue #61 (Sep-Oct 52) when it went up to 8 times a year. Again, the finish line is 1958.
A word of explanation here... My Superman omnibus collection begins with v5, my Batman with v5, and my Wonder Woman with v3 (and SA Flash and Green Lantern both begin with v2) because I made a conscious decision not to duplicate material already reprinted in the archive series. (Besides, as we have already discussed, at the time the omnibus seires started, there was no guarantee DC would remain "serious" about it.) I'm okay with having the GA Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in two different formats... except when it comes to Batman, in which the order of the earliest stories is more important (hence the GA Batman v1 tpb). It is not as important to me to read the earliest Superman stories in chronological order, but if they're going to release an affordable tpb of them, I'll buy it.
I haven't seen these officially announced yet -- though I have seen Paul Kupperberg comment on a Spanish-language listing of the Peacemaker volume on a foriegn Amazon site -- but it looks like we've got seven more volumes in 2025 beyond the Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Aquaman volumes. We've got:
Peacemaker (perhaps all of the Charlton, plus Kupperberg's DC work with him)
Superman Family (possibly all silver-age Jimmy Olsen stories)
Suicide Squad (early Ostrander/Yale/McDonnell issues)
Plastic Man (golden age Cole material)
Harley Quinn (I'd expect Batman Adventures appearances as well as the Kesel/Dodson series)
Doom Patrol (Probably the first volume of silver age stories)
Teen Titans (the Judas Contract and surrounding stories)
These all seem like good picks to me!
I wonder if DC would consider a collection of their science fiction stories from Mystery In Space, etc.
I think they've mentioned that war and westerns are genres they'll get to with these books, so I'd say SF and horror are also likely to turn up at some point.
I just looked on Amazon, and all the new books are there. While I was there, I wrote down the release dates -- though I notice that they differ from the release dates DC announced for the first wave, so we'll see, for instance, if Wonder Woman comes out on Nov 12 or October 8, as initially scheduled. These could just be the dates Amazon gets them, which might contractually be after they arrive in comic shops.
Nov 5: Batman, Superman
Nov 12: Wonder Woman
Nov 19: JLA
Nov 26: Flash
Dec 3: JSA, Green Lantern
Dec 10: Zero Hour, Legion
Dec 17: Catwoman
Jan 7: Aquaman
Jan 14: Supergirl
Jan 21: Green Arrow
Feb 4: Titans
Feb 11; Doom Patrol
Feb 18: Harley Quinn
March 4: Plastic Man
March 11: Suicide Squad
April 1: Peacemaker
April 15: Superman Family
As 2025 goes on, it looks like the rate is slowing to two a month. However, we'll see how the line sells, and if DC changes its plans after that. These books are $40 apiece, so even two a month is a stretch for completists. I'll be buying a handful of these around their sale date, and there are more I'll look for at conventions and online to see if I can find for a cheaper price.
I wonder if, come May, we'll have some second volumes of existing lines? I'm honestly surprised that DC hasn't gone directly back to the Batman well yet (although the Catwoman and Harley Quinn volumes scratch that itch as well, same as the Supergirl and Superman Family volumes extend the Superman line).
Bleeding Cool has compiled more of the DC Finest line into 2025...including second volumes for characters! I'll start with the volume 2 stuff. DC is following the Batman, Catwoman, JSA, and Zero Hour volumes directly, and staking out new territory with 70s Superman and 80s Wonder Woman.
DC Finest: Events: Zero Hour Part Two
May 6, 2025 600 pages
Collects The Flash #0; Green Arrow #90; Adventures of Superman #516; Justice League America #92; Action Comics #703; Justice League International #68; Legion of Super-Heroes #61; Green Lantern #0; Superman: The Man of Steel #0; Guy Gardner: Warrior #24; Justice League Task Force #16; Catwoman #14; Robin #10; Showcase '94 #10; Damage #0, #6; Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0-2; Anima #7.
DC Finest: Batman: The Killing Joke and Other Stories
May 20, 2025 600 pages
Collects Batman: The Killing Joke #1; Batman #413-422; Detective Comics #580-589; and Batman: Son of the Demon #1.
DC Finest: Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore
On Sale Date: 03 June 2025 572 pages
Collects stories from Action Comics #393-406; Superman #233-238, #240-246.
DC Finest: Catwoman: Vengeance and Vindication
On Sale Date: 10 June 2025 624 pages
Collects Catwoman #0, #13-32; and Catwoman Annual #2-3.
DC Finest: Wonder Woman: The Legend of Wonder Woman
On Sale Date: 01 July 2025 632 pages
Collects stories from Wonder Woman #306-329; DC Comics Presents #76; Blue Devil #10; The Legend of Wonder Woman #1-4.
DC Finest: Justice Society of America: The Plunder of the Psycho-Pirate
On Sale Date: 08 July 2025 600 pages
Collects All-Star Comics #13-24.
Plus there are some new volumes: Science Fiction, Metamorpho, DC Comics Presents/Brave & the Bold, and the Cassandra Cain Batgirl!
DC Finest: Team-Ups: Chase to the End of Time Paperback
560 pages March 18, 2025
Collects stories from DC Comics Presents #1-14; The Brave and the Bold #141-155.
DC Finest: Batgirl: Nobody Dies Tonight
April 8, 2025 552 pages
The Cass Cain Batgirl! Collects stories from Batgirl #7-27, Superboy #85, and Supergirl #63.
DC Finest: Metamorpho: The Element Man
On Sale Date: 17 June 2025 600 pages
Collects Justice League of America #42; The Brave and the Bold #57-58, #66, #68, #88, #101; Metamorpho #1-17
DC Finest: Science Fiction: The Gorilla World
On Sale Date: 15 July 2025 632 pages
Collects stories from Action Comics #183-196; Strange Adventures #35-48; Mystery in Space #16-22.
I've also seen a cover for a Silver Age Superboy volume that purportedly reprints Adventure Comics 199-216 and Superboy 33-43. I have't yet seen that in an article, but I feel confident it's on the docket too.
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