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
That strikes a bell! This was when the Huntress desperaltely wanted Batman's approval like he was like, I don't know, a father figure or something!
Ha, yeah! Weird how that happens.
I'm sure there's enough Cassandra material pre-Batgirl #7 to justify a volume. Or two, if they include a lot of No Man's Land for context.
I've always wanted more text in my reprints, at least a foreword to explain where the material fell in context of the universe in which it's set, the historical context of its times, the story (if any) about why this creator came to or left a series. (Sometimes they died!) Something like DC Finest Batgirl Volume One could benefit from text pieces between excerpts of Cassandra appearances explaining enough of what happened in between so the reader can keep up with the broader story, at least as far as it impacts on Cassandra and explains her appearances.
But it'll never happen until I'm king of the world and take over DC and Marvel with an iron fist.
I think that'll happen -- perhaps not as extensively as we might like -- with that early volume of Batgirl, if it ever happens. (I have a feeling it won't be a high priority for DC, but if the current one sells, it's a possibility!)
That's my favorite thing about these books: the contemporary context. So in the Wonder Woman book, even though it's mostly the Gail Simone run, we also get two team-up stories in other titles. In my proposed Batgirl volume 1, we'd get a bunch of No Man's Land stuff... but also an appearance in Young Justice, which is a book with an entirely different tone from the wider DCU, as part of DC's effort to introduce Cass to people beyond the Bat-universe. Outlier that it is, for my money that could be the most fascinating book she appeared in before she got her own title.
I said in the past that Cassandra (pushed to murder as a child) taking over as Batgirl was a good thing and that Barbara Gordon should have remained as Oracle. Healing her paralysis could have still happened* but she should have remained as Oracle.
* Having a hero with a major disability is something that DC should have promoted
Even though I have the originals and the Archives (and other reprints), I'm having a ball going through JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: The Bridge Between the Earths containing JLA #45-72 (Ju'66-Ju'69) with three JLA/JSA team-ups and the shift from Mike Sekowsky to Dick Dillin.
However in 2019, DC published JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: The Last Survivors on Earth that reprinted JLA #77-95 (D'69-D'71) and called it "Volume 1", whatever that meant at the time.
I don't know if the next JLA DC Finest will continue with the practically the same book they did five years ago but if they don't, they're skipping #73-76! That's the JLA/JSA teamup with Aquarius, the first modern appearance of the Earth-Two Superman, the death of Larry Lance, the unofficial crossover with the Avengers and Black Canary leaving the JSA to join the JLA which has been retconned into the debut of Black Canary II!
Plus a reprint giant but that doesn't count!
I've been wondering what the next JLA volume would be. If I had my preference, it would jump a decade or so and reprint a run that included George Perez's tenure with the book.
Hoping to get some news of new DC Finest volumes soon. ComicsPro is happening now, and DC will be soliciting the final known DC Finest volumes this week... so we're due for more!
Thinking of features that haven't appeared yet, I wouldn't be surprised if we got some Nightwing, Birds of Prey, or Swamp Thing. I'd love to see a Jonah Hex or Sgt Rock volume. Warlord, too, although Mike Grell has announced there are some omnibuses in the works for his run. A Zatanna collection would be pretty diverse and wide-ranging, as she's rarely had her own series -- it'd be a lot of guest appearances and teamups, and would probably be a really fun volume!
As for second volumes, I'd expect more Flash, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, and Justice League.
These are all hunches -- I know nothing!
"I know nothing!"
Exactly what I was thinking when I wrote that!
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