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#401-414, Batman Annual #11, and Detective Comics #571- #568-581.
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
I no longer regret buying the Blue Beetle DC Finest collection.
YAY!
I'm reading it, too, and boy howdy those first five issues are terrible! So much potential, so much bad dialogue! I expect the stories will get better, as we know from other books that he writer (Joe Gill) gets better. But, whew, the first few are cringey.
I'll tell you something else I like about the Blue Beetle volume (and others like it)...
I grew up reading Marvel Comics (and some DC) and simpy accepted as a matter of course how differnet they were than their "Distinguished Competition." The Marvels of the '60s were different from the DCs, that is true, but that's not the whole of it. DCs were professionally produced, well-written and well-told. But ever since we've enter the current Golden Age [I don't even feel the need to add "of Reprints" anymore; it's just "Golden Age"... full stop (or "Second Golden Age" if you like)], I have become interested in reading the output of other companies from the 1960s: Charlton, Gold Key, ACG, Tower,etc. And boy howdy (as someone once said), I have truly gained a new appreciation for the "Marvel Age of Comics"!
DCF: SCIENCE FICTION:
After finishing up "Blue Beetle Challenges the Red Knight" I moved on to "The Gorilla World," which is not as gorilla-heavy as one might think based on the title. Like "The Super-Dog from Krypton," it has but two stories that fir the stated theme: "The Guilty Gorilla" (p.183) and "The Gorilla World" (p.446). I'm buring through this volume. Most of the stories are quite short (4-6 pages), and I've been knocking at least one out every time I sit down. The two recurring characters are Captain Comet and Tommy Tomorrow, but unlike the Blue Beetle volume, these stories aren't "so bad they're good" but are actually quite charming in their simplicity and naïveté.
I'm reading Blue Beetle, 70s Superman, and 50s Science Fiction concurrently, just grabbing whichever is closest at hand, hoping to finish at least one volume before 3 more arrive at the house (the recent Batman, Spectre, and Horror volumes, which I'll be ordering this week).
A couple thoughts: The Science Fiction book is fun, but repetitive. There's at least one more recurring feature, though I'm not sure if there are recurring characters yet, since I've jst read the first installment: Interplanetary Insurance, Inc, in which insurance agents deal with policy problems with alien races. People ridicule Space Cabby (who has one story in this book, but I haven't gotten to it yet), but for my money, this is DC's most ridiculous sci-fi concept of the 50s. Not that it won't be fun! But being an interplanetary insurance agent seems so Jetsons to me -- seeing the future through the corporate constructs of mid-century America.
One thing I've noticed in the Superman books is that they reprint some backup features (Superbaby, Tales of the Fortress of Solitude) but not World of Krypton backups. I wonder if they're planning a World of Krypton DC Finest book? That would be pretty wild, and would probably cover a lot of ground. Maybe start with the Silver Age tales where Superman time travels back to Krypton, then the backup strips, then the miniseries... would there be enough material to fill a book?
And with Blue Beetle, i'm enjoying the formulaic ridiculousness of it all. Dan Garrett investigates something with a woman. Something bad happens and he's forced to become Blue Beetle at the end of the first chapter. In the second and third chapters are the big fights -- usually accomodating pages of shots of Blue Beetle flexing and contorting as he flies or swims at different angles. This results in a lot of awkward layouts where the artists has to add arrows to indicate the reading order.
I've been reading DC FINEST: HORROR: THE DEVIL'S DOORWAY and have been enjoying it more than I thought I would.
Not only does it have the early offerings of Gerry Conway, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, there are great artits like Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Michael Kaluta and Alex Toth plus old favorites like Gil Kane, Dick Dillin, Dick Giordano, Wally Wood, Sergio Aragones, Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson and Mike Sekowsky!
The stories are from May 1969 to April 70 from four books:
The stories and art range from very good to poor, as I expected. They run the gambit of the usual pseudo-Twilight Zone/One Step Beyond/Outer Limits fare. Gil Kane gives us a few fantasy tales and appears to go mad at one point!
To me, the more interesting element are the interactions of the hosts: the eternal rivalry of Cain and Abel, the bickering between the Three Witches and Egor and the nagging question of the nature of the real and the unreal!
Cynthia, especially drawn by Toth, had a lot of potential! She could have been DC's Sabrina or a foil for Zatanna!
All in all, a fun read! Well worth getting!
It looks like DC has changed the cover for DC Finest: War: The Big Five Arrive. The contents seem to remain the same, though. The old one has a grenade; the new one has a knife.
I wonder if the new cover is actually meant for the Sgt Rock cover... which currently doesn't seem to feature Sgt Rock.
Thanks for the overview, Philip! DC Finest Horror arrived in the mail the other day (along with the newest Batman volume and The Spectre). I've flipped through it, but have only dug in to a couple random stories so far. I have about 100 pages to go in Blue Beetle (and a little more than that in Kryptonite Nevermore) before I start rotating the new stuff in.
One thing I've noticed about the 70s Superman stories -- the supervillains are pretty much completely absent! We've got a lot of alien menaces, and some runaway technology, etc, but recurring threats like Luthor and Brainiac are nowhere to be found! Even having read some of these back issues, I don't think I'd ever noticed that before. I guess I'd always assumed the Prankster or whoever was in the issues I hadn't been able to find (or afford) in the back issue bins. But instead, they've all skipped town for a while!
Don't forget Terra-Man! (Oh, wait. Go ahead and forget Terra-Man.)
When Black Adam tore Terra-Man in half, I had mixed feelings. Not that it was he, but that anybody would have that fate.
Sorry, Cap'n but Terra-Man had one of the best Bronze Age Origins ever!
-
47
-
48
-
49
-
50
-
51
of 51 Next