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
The Original Blue Beetle fought his successor in Americomics #3 (1983) where he was actually revived!
He also appeared in JLA Year One (1998) though not very well!
I'm sorry the Americomics stories won't be included in the DC Finest volume -- I assume because of rights issues, but who knows?
I'm not really sure what the DC Finest has, though, as the numbers they list reproduced above don't quite match up... I'm hoping they're just confused...
I'm sure that's the case.
I'd love for the 1955 revival to be in there, too, but I guess you can't have everything.
You can if you buy "The Blue Beetle: Volume 11" (Gwandanaland Comics #1312).
For more about the Blue Beetle, see "Blue Beetle's Adventures in Gwandanaland."
I'm updating the list of publication dates to reflect the new volumes. I suspect I'll be doing it again fairly soon, but here's what we know now.
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
August 5: Justice League 2 (Detroit)
August 12: Blue Beetle
Sept 2: Batman 3 (Red Skies)
October 21: Crisis on Infinite Earths 1
Hopefully, we'll see one more book listed for August, and then two more for September and October soon. Flash and Green Lantern are the two earliest lines that haven't yet gotten a second volume; I'd expect to see them in the mix.
Edited to add: There's no additional information in the DC Solicits today, with just JLA and Blue Beetle listed for August. But a few months ago, Batman was left out of the May solicitations, and was included in the next month's offerings; I'm hoping that is what's happening with a third August book here, too.
DC FINEST: TEAM-UPS — CHASE TO THE END OF TIME
DC Team-Ups reprints DC Comics Presents 1-14 and Brave & Bold 141-155. The B&B stories appear in the Brave & the Bold Bonze Age Omnibus #2, but the DCCP stories haven't appeared in either line, at least as a unit like this. Several of them have appeared in the Superman by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez hardcover collections.
WARNING: The reproduction of the DCCP issues is clear, but the linework of the B&B issues is muddy. Check before you buy to see if it's up to your standards.
I've already ordered it; I hope it's OK. Overall, I'm not too picky, so unless things are really egregious I should be happy with it.
Most of The Brave & Bold stories were in the Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 2 and 3.
DCCP #13-14 (The Legion/Superboy) were in, unsurprisingly, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 2.
I just wrapped up DC Finest: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, and I really enjoyed it. Some of the stories were hit-and-miss, but when they missed, they struck out on pitches comics don't really swing at anymore. Also, it was interesting to see the continuity Grell was building. Somehow I didn't remember the money Ollie gets at the end of The Longbow Hunters being a continuing plot point in his ongoing series, and I hadn't realized Eddie Fyers, who becomes so important during Dixon's Connor Hawke run, was created by Grell and became a recurring character. Similarly, a woman named Rita, a drug addict who crashes through the flower shop window in Longbow Hunters, has later gotten clean and returns in Green Arrow 7.
For the next volume, they could simply continue with the next bunch of Grell stories; I've been enjoying them. But I'd be even more interested to go further back, and collect the original Mike W. Barr/Trevor Von Eeden miniseries and the backups in Detective Comics. Those stories in Tec lasted for about 40 issues; add them to the backup run in the World's Finest dollar comics, and a few DCCP and Brave and Bold appearances, and you've got a solid volume of 80s comics!
The "Ollie runs for mayor" storyline happened all over the place, including one issue of DC Comics Presents, and took years. Collecting those stories in chronologial order could be a centerpiece of a Green Arrow volume that collects much or all of his significant apperances between joining the JLA, getting his new costume in B&B, getting his new personality in JLA, the GL/GA stories, the Flash backup story (amounting to a 91st issue of GL/GA), wherever he decided to run for mayor and steps on that journey (which I want to say started in the rebooted Green Lantern series by Grell), various momentous events on that journey, including DCCP, and other significant issues would probably fill two volumes. I'd get them, despite having read all those stories, just to see them in order, and better understand the context. Back inna day, you would just hit a GA story and say, "Oh, is he still thinking about running for mayor?" and it would be like six months before it was mentioned again. Taken in order, they would probably be more impactful. And as it stands, 40 years later I don't remember very well what happened where. (I do remember the DCCP story because I didnt expect it to address GA continuiity, such as it was, and did.)
Captain, I think that the "DCCP" story you're thinking of is World's Finest Comics #210 (Ma'72) from that period where WFC had Superman team-ups! Here reporter Clark Kent tries to interview mayoral candidate Oliver Queen.
It was written by Elliot S! Maggin, not Denny O'Neil though it does reference Green Lantern/Green Arrow #87.
Of course, it would be several years until the storyline actually ends in the Dollar World's Finest era.
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