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
Larry Davis:
Daphne Dean: film actress, Barry Allen's childhood sweetheart
Scott Free: Mister Miracle
Jeannine Gale: Someone sings songs about Wonder Woman and Superman here, and I think it's her. No idea where she comes from, though.
Kathy Kane and her Daredevils: Batwoman, maybe with Bat-Girl and some others?
Steve Lombard: Retired football player, now sportscaster. He's the worst
Dexter Myles: Shakespearean actor, curator of Flash Museum
Chip O'Dool:
Wilfred Pennyworth:
Gregory Reed:
Carlo Di Rienzi: Magician, member of the Secret Six. We see him perform a trick in this story.
Linda Turner: (Don't know who she is, but she's acting with Daphne Dean in this story)
Zatanna the Magician: Zatanna, a magician
Jeanine Gale is a singer who debuted in Super Friends. She later became one of the Elementals.
Chip O'Doole was a rock n' roll singer once impersonated by Jimmy Olsen.
Wilfred Pennyworth is Alfred's Shakespearean actor brother.
Gregory Reed is an actor famous for portraying Superman in movies.
Linda Turner is the Golden Age heroine, THE BLACK CAT who was an actress.
Larry Davis was the superhero FUNNYMAN created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the late 40s.
He meets Superman in that issue, saying they have "mutual friends".
Awesome -- thanks, Philip! Those are some DEEP cuts!
A master class!
The second DC Finest Green Arrow volume, The Trial of Oliver Queen, is available today through InstockTrades.com. I ordered it, along with reaching back for DC Finest: Superman Family: The Giant Turtle Man. Looking at the calendar, I'll probably be back to monthly orders of two books apiece for the next few months, with Flash and the Demon coming up next!
I've already got a thread started for DCF Demon (although I'm primarily intersting in the post-Kirby material).
I sped through the second Doom Patrol volume, The Death of the Doom Patrol, and I really enjoyed it though it was the most un-DC DC book I've ever read!
Amazingly they married Elasti-Girl to Mento, a non-member and the JLA and the Teen Titans are there! (Talk about unplanned foreshadowing!) Not only that but Super-Hip is now in continuity!
What I didn't expect was the depth of the Chief and Madame Rogue's ill-fated romance and how long it was and that this woman was mentally tortured from both sides! The Chief calls her the only woman he ever loved but in the New Doom Patrol section in the same volume, we meet his hidden wife, Celsius!
And Mento wants revenge...and never gets it. And Beast Boy is not even there and wouldn't reappear until Teen Titans #50 in 1977!
That last issue, #121, is brought up again in New Teen Titans #13-15 (1981), though many of the audience never read Doom Patrol.
Nice! I've passed on that one, since I've got all the Doom Patrol Archives, so I'm just missing the New Doom Patrol stuff (which I bought off the stands in the first few months of my collecting comics). But maybe someday, if I ever see it cheap...!
I loved Doom Patrol as a kid, and it sure was a non-DC DC book! Arnold Drake was supposedly trying to write a Marvel-style comic book, and whether he succeeded or not, I loved every bit of it. And I can't leave out Bruno Premiani's artwork -- not only was it cool and kinda European-looking, but it was about as far from DC's pervasive, conservative house style as you could get.
Now I have the original comics, the Archives AND the DC Finest. I couldn't stop myself.
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