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
Instocktrades.com seems to be the way to go. The first week they're on sale, they've been $17.99. The week after that, they're about $23.
Just ordered my second and third volumes: Zap Goes the Legion! and the Batman: Years One and Two volume. Come January, I'll probably go with Green Arrow and maybe Aquaman.
I was hoping for some more DC Finest volumes announced today, but we just got two solicited for May's books -- Superboy and Zero Hour part 2, which we already knew about. However, Batman v2 was also scheduled for May 20th, and that wasn't mentioned. I'm sure it will be -- if ANYTHING is guaranteed with DC, it's More Batman -- but I didn't see it in the May solicits.
I don't know if that means they're slowing down the line from 3/month to 2, or what. Hopefully it's just an oversight.
I'm having so much fun reading the DC Finest volumes I have. I'm reading Batman: Year One and Two now, with the Legion book on deck. But one thing I'm realizing is that part of the fun is that these collections aren't necessarily limited to one set of creators (though the Wonder Woman largely was) or one storyline -- it's multiple stories, published one after the other. (Again, that depends on the era, and also how many titles are collected in the volumes.) Its rapid-fire, and a lot of fun.
Thinking about other possible volumes, I could see a collection of early Firestorm stories being a good bet. You've got the five issues of the original run, the backups in Flash, DC Comics Presents and Brave & Bold appearances, maybe the two-parter where he's inducted into the JLA, and then the first year or so of the Fury of Firestorm comic. That's a pretty nice collection!
For more Batman and Superman runs, I'd love to see the Conway/Moench run that introduced the Pre-Crisis Jason Todd (a circus kid, basically a carbon copy of Dick Grayson) as the new Robin. That was a fun era for Batman...and there was Don Newton and Gene Colan art!
And I'd love to see the 80s Superman era where Superman was split into two people, each with half of his powerset (so one had x-ray vision, or invulnerability, or flight, etc.) It's my favorite attempt at de-powering Superman, and it was fun to see Marv Wolfman and Cary Bates work alongside each other. (IIRC, there was also an attempt to bring new blood into the Daily Planet at the time, introducing Ron Troupe and Justin Moore, and maybe others.)
So far the only one I've bought/read has been the Superman: The First Superhero one, but the momentum has carried me on to the old DC Archives editions. Next week I will buy Aquaman: The King of Atlantis and the week after that Supergirl: The Girl of Steel, but the one I am really looking forward to is the Superboy one in May.
I'll be picking all of those up, though Supergirl will probably wait a bit. I'm limiting myself to two at a time, and getting Green Arrow and Aquaman this month; I'll probably pick that one up when Harley Quinn comes out.
Thinking about a DC Finest volume for Dr. Fate: Start with Showcase 55 & 56 (the teamups with Hourman), add in the 1st Issue Special and appearances in World's Finest and Brave & Bold, and then the backups in Flash. Then the miniseries, followed by the first chunk of the ongoing (either ending at issue 9 or 13, depending on how things map out). 1965-1989 is quite a span!
Doctor Fate made a couple of guest appearances in The Flash, had his origin retold in a brand-new story in the Secret Origins of Super-Heroes Special and co-starred with Superman in DC Comics Presents during that span.
Thanks, Philip! I'd had the Secret Origins and DCCP appearances in mind from the start, but forgot to include them. I only vaguely remember the guest appearances in Flash. There was one in issue 305, right, which is a team-up between Barry and Jay. Did he appear in the Shade storyline from the year before, too? Or was he somewhere else?
Rob, he appeared with Jay Garrick and Doctor Mid-Nite in The Flash #170 (My'67) though not on the cover and in #236 (S'75), again with Jay!
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