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?
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ADDENDUM: I see that there is an Aquaman volume much as I wanted, beginning with his earliest adventures -- and I hope it's comprehensive. Naturally, I want that to continue up to where the first DC Archives: Aquaman Vol 1 begins, with Adventure Comics #260-280 & 282 and Showcase #30-31 (May 1959 to March-April 1961). There were two more Showcase issues (#33-34), then Aquaman dove into his first eponymous series, which I have in its entirety. It's 1938-1963 material I need from DC, pretty much across the board. I know that makes me an outlier.
It also occurs to me that the period covered by the Superboy volume not only covers the advent of the Comics Code, but also a reduction in page numbers across the line. (This is when the separate Batman and Superman series in World's Finest combined, for example.) I don't know the details, although the Superboy issues might give us a clue.
I'm a little baffled by Gorilla World. Is it just stories with intelligent gorillas? Or is it runs of sci-fi comics that have intelligent gorillas in them somewhere? Or was there an actual "Gorilla World" backup feature that jumped titles?
I see that there is an Aquaman volume much as I wanted, beginning with his earliest adventures -- and I hope it's comprehensive.
I did a comparison of the "DC Finest" editions of Aquaman and Supergirl over in the "Coming Collections" thread:
DC FINEST: AQUAMAN: THE KING OF ATLANTIS...collects stories from Adventure Comics #229-280, #282, and #284: Action Comics #272; Detective Comics #293-300; World’s Finest Comics #125; Showcase #30-33; Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #12; and Aquaman #1-3.
In comparison, Aquaman Archives Vol. 1 (and only) collects Adventure Comics #260-280, 282 and Showcase #30-31.
DC FINEST: SUPERGIRL:THE GIRL OF STEEL... contains Supergirl’s appearances from 1959 to 1962 in the pages of Action Comics #252-288, Adventure Comics #278, Superman #139-140 and #144, Superboy #80, Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #14 and #20, and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #40, #46, #51, and #57.
In comparison, The Silver Age Supergirl Omnibus Vol. 1 collects Action Comics #252-307.
Oh, these are great comparisons, Jeff -- thanks!
I think "Gorilla World" is just the name of the volume, and it will have non-gorilla stories too. They just had to call it something, and this was definitely the Gorilla era of DC SF!
I'm thrilled they're doing this one, and hope we get a nice chunk of Jonah Hex in the near future! (As opposed to Jonah Hex the far future... although if they decided to publish the full run of Hex, I wouldn't turn it down!)
Just thinking about future volumes I'd like to see, and here's an unlikely one: The Omega Men! Start with their early DCU appearances in Green Lantern, Action Comics, and Teen Titans, and then move on to the first year or so of their own title.
We're close enough to the launch of this line that I wanted to put all the announced listings on a single timeline. Batman & Superman launch on Nov 5!
I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear about a few more titles during NY Comicon this week, but here's what we know so far. I'm keeping this timeline simple -- just characters and dates -- but the info about what issues/eras are being covered is further upthread.
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
March 18: Team-Ups
April 1: Peacemaker
April 8: Batgirl
April 15: Superman Family
May 6: Zero Hour Part 2
May 13: Superboy
May 20: Batman 2
June 3: Superman 2
June 10: Catwoman 2
June 17: Metamorpho
July 1: Wonder Woman 2
July 8: Justice Society of America 2
July 15: Science Fiction
Given Jeff's comparison above, these Finest collections aren't going to line up with the Archives/Omnibuses, like Marvel's Epics do with their Masterworks/Omnibuses. That's probably on purpose, to make completists like me buy both versions. Dirty pool, sez I.
I'll have to evaluate them on a case-by-case basis, but I'm really only interested in Silver Age and pre-Silver Age stories that I don't already have. That varies by title (and other reprint collections) but by and large means "before 1962."
I see your point -- especially about the Omnibuses -- but the last DC Archive Edition was published in 2014, and their heyday ended long before that. I can't see how overlapping those is dirty pool, so much as it's old news. I love my Archive Editions, but to the modern market, they essentially don't exist.
As for the Omnibuses, I think your point's a lot stronger. But the formats are so different, I think an argument can be made that they're reaching different audiences with the different lines.
Does Marvel's Epic line really respect the boundaries of its Omnibuses and Masterworks, all of which have different page counts? That honestly sounds impossible to acheive.
Does Marvel's Epic line really respect the boundaries of its Omnibuses and Masterworks, all of which have different page counts?
When the Epic Collections line was originally announced, its raison d'être was to present runs that weren't already available in other formats. Now that they're up to the point where some Epic collections are duplicating runs already presented in Masterworks, there is some overlap.
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