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'm nearing the end of the Superman Family book... and I'm discovering that I've been preferring Kurt Shaffenberger's art to Curt Swan's in this book. Now, by no means am I saying anything bad about Swan's art -- but for these stories, which lean deeply into comedy, I think Shaffenberger's style suits the tone better. Still, Swan handles the absurd really well -- I loved the story where Werewolf Jimmy keeps kissing every girl he knows, hoping for a cure! Just panel after panel of awkward smooching!
All the same, this has been fairly slow going because the stories are so short. I've got under 200 pages left to go, and still have 18 stories left!
In the Superman Family DC Finest, I just read "The Super-Powers of Perry White" from Action Comics 278... and Perry gets taken over by a hostile alien parasite, and reports to another evil alien named Y'Trom. Which is Morty spelled backwards. I wonder if well-hated editor Mort Weisinger caught the slight?
The results of the Near Mint Condtion DC Finest poll have been revealed in this loooooong YouTube video.
Three hours and 45 minutes!? What's the TLDR?
I do not yet know. I had it on in the background for a bit last night, but wasn't taking notes. Golden. bronze, and post-crisis Wally Flashes all made the top 30, as did a continuation of Westerns. Plus Kyle Rayner and Connor Hawke. The 80s Blue Beetle made the cut too.
After they got to #11, they moved on to new lines for a while, and I called it quits. (Amethyst was the #20 requested new line.)
I can understand the love for Wally, Kyle and Connor, even if I don't share it.
They were a new generation, and gave Millennials a chance to get in on the ground floor of something. As a Boomer, I wasn't crazy about Wally and Kyle being the official Flash and GL of the Justice League during the Grant Morrison era. But, again, I understood it. And if DC had gone that way permanently, I'd have gotten used to it -- probably ended up enjoying it. There's a synchronicity to replacing Flash and Green Lantern every 20 years or so, isn't there? (I think we're stuck with Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne for eternity, tho.)
But for some reason DC brought back both Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. Even this Boomer thought that was a bad idea -- you made a plan, DC, stick with it. Having the "originals" back just brought them back to forefront, and pushed their replacements to the fringes. Eventually Wally managed to struggle back to being the "main" Flash, but Kyle is an afterthought even in Green Lantern Corps. Ditto Connor Hawke, who's fallen so far behind other archers in the line of succession I don't think he'll ever be the main Green Arrow again. (Except maybe in the Absolute line. Jury's still out.)
But yeah, Wally's first run as Flash ought to be in print. So should early Kyle and Connor, even though they didn't go anywhere. They represent an era, and it was the first era for somebody, and those somebodies deserve to relive those times, as I have relived my times so often.
I'm fine with Connor and Wally, even though the earlier seems destined to never get out of the shadow of his father (and, yes, there are plenty of other nearby wonder archers to boot) and the later will probably keep being rotated with Barry for decades to come.
But Kyle Rayner is a puzzle to me at the very best of times. His reason for being was, from all appearances, an editorial decision to piss off Hal Jordan fans. I don't think he ever really found a better one since.
If I am being charitable he serves the purpose of causing discussion now and again... but he does so at the expense of the credibility of the Corps, so I still fail to see the point.
it was the first era for somebody
I got back into DC comics, and comics generally, in part because of Crisis, so I felt that Barry should have stayed dead and Wally should have remained the Flash. What followed wasn't the first era, but it was an era of sorts for me. The Lanterns have never been a big draw for me, so I had no attachment to Hal. The character is one who can be replaced to suit the times. In Crisis the lanterns were, of course, John Stewart and (briefly) Guy Gardner.
Slight correction. There never was a Golden Age Wally West. He was created in the Silver Age as Iris’ nephew.
As a follower of the Barry Allen Flash since issue #111, I’m glad I wasn’t there for his monthly murder trial, though in the near future I will probably be reading it after the fact. I disagree with DC’s choice to invalidate Barry’s sacrifice in Crisis.
I also disagree with their invalidating Hal Jordan’s sacrifice in The Final Night. Hal overcame the influence of Parallax, satisfyingly destroyed the two responsible for the destruction of Coast City (Mongul and the Cyborg Superman) and then reignited our solar system’s sun! Invalidating all that was a big mistake, IMO. I found Kyle Rayner to be interesting, particularly that his artist’s brain came up with (also IMO) very good constructs. I would have been fine if Kyle had continued.
I didn't write that clearly, Richard, but yes, it was Jay in the Golden Age, Barry in the Bronze, and Wally post-Crisis.
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