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
Just so we have al the information at a glance, here's the most up-to-date schedule of DC Finest releases:
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
August 19: Hawkman
September 2: Batman 3 (Red Skies)
September 9: Horror
September 16: Spectre
October 7: Static
October 14: Supergirl (Peter David run)
October 21: Crisis on Infinite Earths 1
November 4: Super Friends
November 11: War
November 18: Green Lantern 2
December 2: GA Superman 2
December 9: GA Wonder Woman
January 13: Doom Patrol 2
January 27: GA Batman
Some observations:
War: The Big Five Arrive
There are six titles included. Maybe the "Big Five" doesn't include Blsckhawk, but the book does?
Digging through the GCD, it looks like the Blackhawks are the only recurring features here. Theres a story called "The Cloud that Went to War," but I suspect it's just a coincidence, and not a Johnny Cloud story. There's also a story in Star-Spangled War Stories #53 called "The Rock Sergeant," but I'm sure that's another dead end.
Now I'm even more perplexed. Just who are "The Big Five"?
Originally introduced in More Fun Comics #42 in 1940 and co-created by Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, DC’s grim arbiter of justice, the Spectre, resurfaced in the 1960s for all-new–and sometimes controversial–stories demonstrating the true power of his vengeance.
A minor error, but the Ghostly Guardian was introduced in More Fun Comics #52, not 42. And that's if you don't count the one-panel promo at the end of the "The Buccaneer" strip in More Fun Comics #51, a strip "The Spectre" was replacing.
I'm always surprised Static was the standout series from the MIlestone line and was the only one to get its own volumen, Static: Playing with Fire, in this series. The two Milestone titles I liked the best were Icon and Hardware, in that order.
I agree. Originally I think I favored Static, but that may have just been because he got his own cartoon. I really wanted more Icon, maybe because we were denied that -- the book shifted its focus almost immediately to Rocket, about whom I had less interest. I wanted to read stories about Icon's long history through slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, etc. Not only would there be a focus on elements of American history some people don't want taught in high school any more, but he would have a true outsider's view. And now I wonder if, like Rob, my appreciation for Blood Syndicate would increase on a re-read.
The Green Lantern volume contains his part of Zatanna's five-part introductory story. So does the Hawkman volume. I wonder if the other three parts (The Atom #19, Detective Comics #355 and Justice League of America #51) will be collected in Atom, Batman and Justice League volumes soon. (Yes, I know the Detective story was a retcon in JLA #51 to get Batman involved. I don't mind.)
That might need the two previous issues to make sense as Superman has to learn humility.
Darn. I don't suppose that issue of DCCP is collected in the recent "Team-Ups"?
if you have House of Secrets and House of Mystery Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (of each), you already have the HoS/HoM stuff. there was a Phantom Stranger #5 in 1953 and a Phantom Stranger #5 in 1970, and they're both collected in the Phantom Stranger Omnibus (which raises the question in either case, why reprint just that one issue?). The Witching Hour #3-7 and The Unexpected #113-117 have not been collected, so this collections will net you ten "new" issues.
Hrm. Yeah, I do have the HoS, HoM and Phantom Stranger omnibuses. But I might get "Horror" anyway, just to see what was going on in the other suspense books during the issues I've read. I love context! (And given the CCAA stamp of approval on the covers, these books are "suspense," not "horror.")
If you have both volumes of Hawkman archives (Silver Age), you'll still need Hawkman #9-16 and The Atom #7 collected.
Unlike the "suspense" books, I have those Hawkman and Atom issues in periodical form. (I have all of Hawkman, and am just missing the first 3 or 4 Atoms.) Do I also need them on the bookshelf? Oh, what the heck, I'll probably get it just to keep up with discussions.
Blackhawk #107 (DEC56) was the last Quality issue of this title. Blackhawk #108 (JAN57) was the first DC issue. In 108-111 they are battling scientific criminals, more or less supervillains. Not war stories. Is this DC protecting its trademark?
That makes a lot of sense, so you're probably right. One can imagine they'll do a volume of "war" at least once a year for trademark purposes. Which will be OK with me -- I'd prefer 'em faster!
That this collection starts with the first DC Blackhawks can't be an accident, either. That was probably the engine launched this collection. It will be interesting to see if there's any war vibes at all, even Cold War vibes. DC was real world-averse throughout my life until recently, so -- as you say, Richard.-- these issues will probably be a lot more Challengers of the Unknown than Sgt. Rock. That is certainly the case with my own Blackhawk collection. which goes back to the #170 or so in spotty fashion. Lots of weird sci-fi, and no war at all.
Meanwhile, PS Artbooks is reprinting the Quality Blackhawk series, which didn't even start until 1944. There's some Cold War stuff in the current volumes (they're up to issue #69, in 1953), and I can't wait to see what they do right up to where DC takes over. Lucky for me, Blackhawk seems to be a pretty good seller for PS Artbooks, as new volumes are coming out on the regular.
What surprised me was that Justice League of America: The Silver Age went four volumes and ended with #41. The DC Finest JLA volume, The Bridge Between Earths, begins with #45, thus skipping three issues.
This probably isn't helpful, but DC Archives: Justice League of America goes up to #93 (Vol 10) and that's what I've got on my shelf. Even the Omnibus series (two books) goes up to #75, when Black Canary joins. I don't know why the TPBs stopped so soon.
And DC has been parsimonious with reprrints between #93 and the series end at Crisis, with issue #261. There's a few, but it's been spotty. I'm not crazy about most of that material, but some of it is historically important, like the retcon of Black Canary to Black Canary II, and the Detroit Era. (I believe the Detroit Era has been reprinted, or is scheduled to be soon. I probably won't get it, as I found that run pretty painful the first time.) There was a "wedding of The Atom" HC a few years back, which I got, that is basically a JLA collection from the Dick Dillin era that I'd already read, but had forgotten (for good reason). Maybe one or two more.
Oh, one more observation. (A question, really.) How come we've gotten so chatty about these books, which are basically DC's version of Marvel's Epic Collections, and said nary a word about Marvel's offerings? Why are we so much more excited about DC?
Now I'm even more perplexed. Just who are "The Big Five"?
According to this site, DC's "Big Five" war comics are All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Army at War, Our Fighting Forces and Star Spangled War Stories.
I don't suppose that issue of DCCP is collected in the recent "Team-Ups"?
No, DCF Team-Ups goes only as far DCCP #14.
The Witch That Was Retconned into Zatanna That Got Batman Into All This was from Detective Comics #336 (F'65) which was from the Outsider extended storyarc. Her appearance in #355 (S'66) was in the Elongated Man feature. And JLA #51 is already included in the DC Finest Justice League volume which would have been a great place to put the EM story as it explains why he's in JLA #51 in the first place.
They did do a black & white Showcase Presents on the Elongated Man but I sure wouldn't mind a color DC Finest volume!
As for the Justice League itself, I do have the Archives though not Volume 10 (Was that the one that went from $50 to $75?). I did get the Showcase Presents Volumes 5 and 6 but not the earlier ones so that got to the mid-70s but since that period is MY JLA, you can probably imagine that I want those stories reprinted in color too!
The trade paperback JLA: Zatanna's Search reprinted all of the Search for Zatara stories, 21 years ago this month. Even though I had read all of the stories, I bought and enjoyed it. It also had this wonderful cover created for the paperback by Brian Bolland.
In 1973, DC reprinted all the stories of Zatanna's Search for Zatara in several titles, mostly 100 Page Super-Spectaculars.
*Hawkman #4 (N'64) was in Supergirl #5 (Ju'73), missing some pages
*Detective Comics #336 (F'65) was in Detective Comics #439 (Ma'74)
*The Atom #19 (Jl'65) was in Detective #438 (Ja'74)
*Green Lantern #42 (Ja'66) was in Superman #272 (F'74)
*Detective #355 (S'66) was also in Detective #439 (Ma'74)
*Justice League of America #51 (F'67) was in Justice League of America #110 (Ap'74) which was in my Christmas stocking in 1973. Ironically the last part was the first part I read!
As for why we're so excited about DC Finest over the Marvel Epic Collections? I dunno!
Maybe because they're the new thing after years of omnibuses and linear reprints or that they range from the 1940s to the 2010s?
Or recent Epic Collections are more connected to the movies than being organic?
Captain Comics said:
War: The Big Five Arrive
There are six titles included. Maybe the "Big Five" doesn't include Blackhawk, but the book does?
One of Gayle’s favorite statements was “they count funny.”
Now I'm even more perplexed. Just who are "The Big Five"?
I assume that the five war comic titles are the five. Maybe adding the Blackhawk title was a late suggestion for trademarking.
How come we've gotten so chatty about these books, which are basically DC's version of Marvel's Epic Collections, and said nary a word about Marvel's offerings? Why are we so much more excited about DC?
Speaking for myself, so far I’ve only purchased the Superboy volume from DC while I have bought quite a few of the Marvel Epic volumes. I passed up the Avengers, Iron Man and Thor Masterworks, so I have bought the Epic collections of their earlier issues. I think we are paying more attention to the DC Finest collections because they go back further in time and are covering more ground than the earlier hardcover collections.
It's amusing to me that they have apparently copied Marvel’s Epic format even down to using a single story title as the title of the volume (except for the War title).
How come we've gotten so chatty about these books, which are basically DC's version of Marvel's Epic Collections, and said nary a word about Marvel's offerings? Why are we so much more excited about DC?
In a word: Marketing.
Think back to when the Beatles' catalog was released on CD for the first time. The releases were spaced out over the year centering on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band being released on June 1, 1987, the 20th anniversary if its original release in vinyl. there was anticipation, there was a buzz, that carried through the entire year. They were sticklers about preserving the integrity of the original albums by not including singles as extra tracks. (The only mistake the made was to release the first four albums in mono only, whereas back in the sixties, both mono and stereo versions were available.)
Compare that to the Rolling Stones. Their entire catalogue was dumped on the market at the same time with no fanfare whatsoever.
Look now at the way DC has been promoting their DC Finest line. (I'm thinking primarily of those full-page ads which advertise three releases tied to a timeline running along the side of the page.)
Ironically, Marvel has done a better job in actully collecting their material. Look at their output from the '60s. Every major title (except Sgt. Fury) has been collected in its entirety. Now look at DC's Silver Age output. Look at Superman and Batman specifically. There have been collections of some (but not nearly all) of the later Batman, but Superman and Batman both have only one single SA omnibus each. Superman and Batman! (Admittedly, DC has done a better job with their Golden Age material.)
That's not to say Marvel hasn't made some mistakes as far as marketing is concerned. For example, they expanded too quickly into non-superhero 1950s fare (Battlefield, Jungle Adventure, etc.) before the superhero material was complete and look what happened: the entire "Atlas Era" line of Marvel Masterworks collapsed. (I don't know when I'll ever see Captain America Comics #25-75, if ever.) There is a market for the non-superhero "Atlas" line, but it a niche market, one that Fantagraphics is currently capitalizing on (for which I am thankful).
Another reason the DC Finest line is Diversity of material. Instead of picking a series or genre and doggedly publishing it in chronological order, they concentrating their collections on what is most likely to be the peak of the title's run.
There's my answer: Marketing and Diversity.
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