DC's Digital Backlist - Secret Society of Super Villains spotlight!

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

A while back, I logged some week-to-week posts on DC’s digital reprint program through Comixology. It’s been a while, and their digital offerings have matured, so I thought I’d take another look at what they’re adding each week. Currently, they seem to be doing about 30 books a week. I might not list all the issue numbers going forward – if the 90s Superman titles continue moving forward at two of each a week, there’s not much value in listing each issue. But let’s take a look at this week’s, and let’s see where the patterns take us, shall we?

 

90s Superman: DC is following the 90s Superman titles (soon to be the 2000s Superman, as this week’s titles are from December 1999) pretty quickly, giving us 8 issues of the books every week. There’s a lot of material to get through, but that’s still an admirable clip. We may only have a few more weeks of this, judging by Action Comics (the one title of the bunch that doesn’t change its numbering and continues for a long while) – 761 is the most recent issue, and Action already seems to be in the digital library from 769 on. Superman, Adventures of Superman and Superman: Man of Steel have bigger gaps, though. 

Action Comics 760, 761

Adventures of Superman 574, 575

Superman 152, 153

Man of Steel 95, 96

 

Arion: 11, 12

DC has been adding two issues of Arion: Lord of Atlantis a week for the last 6 weeks. There are 35 issues and a special, so there's a way to go before the series is completed.

DC Comics Presents: 75, 76

DCCP started out at a faster pace, but has been going two a week for a little while now. There are about 20 issues to go. Bonus: More Arion this week, in issue 75!

Guy Gardner: Warrior: 33

11 issues to go.

Huntress: 19, 4-issue 1994 series

We wrap up the Cavalieri/Staton ongoing that introduced Helena Bertinelli, and then power through a Chuck Dixon mini from 1994. Will Huntress return next week, or will we move on?

Justice League America (Bwa-ha-ha) 51, 52

This one has a ways to go before having everything available.

Manhunter: 34

Four more issues till it’s all there!

Mister Miracle: 23-25

This wraps up the 70s run – Kirby and then Marshall Rogers, it’s all there! (I think DC also recently wrapped the 70s Return of the New Gods run, too.)

Superman (Bronze Age): 233

This is an interesting one. The Kryptonite Nevermore cover – I’m surprised it wasn’t available before this. Will DC continue from here? Their 70s Superman offerings on Comixology are paltry.

Wanderers: 7, 8

This 80s Legion spinoff ran 13 issues, so we’re almost there.

Wonder Woman (Silver Age): 130, 131

DC has been making silver age Wonder Woman stories available, probably wishing to expand their catalog in anticipation of the movie. At this point the silver age issues go from 112-131, with a couple of gaps.

Swamp Thing (Diggle/Dysart run): 25

4 more issues to go.

Trigger: 5

This Vertigo sci-fi series lasted 8 issues. I don’t remember it at all.

 

That’s a pretty exhaustive look at this week’s offerings. Next week, I’ll probably just note new additions (what will replace Mister Miracle? The '89 and '96 series have already been collected, so we might be in for something new. And there might be more Huntress comics that haven't been reprinted yet, but Comixology has a bunch of them listed already, and the Bat-universe is so sprawling it's tough to search), unexpected omissions, breaks from the patterns, and go forward from there. 

And to make things easy to follow:
Week 2. (April 6, 2017)

Week 3 (April 13, 2017)

Week 4 (April 20, 2017)

Week 5 (April 27, 2017)

Week 6 (May 4, 2017)

Week 7 (May 11, 2017)

Week 8 (May 18, 2017)

Week 9 (May 25, 2017)

Week 10 (June 1, 2017) -- All the golden age Wonder Woman goodness!

Week 11 (June 8, 2017)

Week 12 (June 15, 2017)

Week 13 (June 22, 2017)

Week 14 (June 29, 2017)

Week 15 (July 6, 2017)

Week 16 (July 13, 2017) -- Our Worlds at War! Underworld Unleashed!

Week 17 (July 20, 2017) -- The Great Ten! More Wonder Woman!

Week 18 (July 27, 2017) -- Batman Confidential and Deathblow? Young Heroes in Love?? Doom Patrol!

Week 19 (Aug 3, 2017) -- Some Bronze-age Batman!

Week 20 (Aug 10, 2017) -- Loeb/Sale Challengers begins!

Week 21 (Aug 17, 2017) -- Silver Age Challs!

MIDWEEK SALE BLAST (Aug 22, 2017): Wildstorm!

Week 22 (Aug 24, 2017) -- Holding pattern...

Week 23 (Aug 31, 2017) -- chugging along

Week 24 (Sept 7, 2017) -- Same old, but with newer Challengers

Week 25 (Sept 14, 2017) -- Baron/Jones Deadman debuts

Week 26 (Sept 21, 2017) -- Holding steady, with more Deadman

Week 27 (Sept 28, 2017) -- Deadman in Action Comics Weekly?

Week 28 (Oct 5, 2017) -- A slow swerve into Batman

Week 29 (Oct 5, 2017) -- Doom Patrol finishes in the smallest week ever

The Gap List: a list of unexplained or awkward skips.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I noticed in today's current-comics releases that Blue Beetle is battling a giant demon called Arion on the cover of his latest issue. So Arion continues to be re-positioned as a villain...and his current use helps explain why his original comics are being reprinted now. (I still think he's going to show up on the Supergirl TV show.)

With his good/evil shifts, Arion is the Sargon of our times.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Here we are again, and I’ve got a ceiling full of drywall to hang tomorrow, so let’s get to it now. (The comics aren’t actually getting released until tomorrow, but I’ve seen a list of what’s coming, and I’d rather be early than late. We’ll see if the list is accurate, won’t we?)

DC closes out a number of series this week with surprise surges. Hawk and Dove gets four regular issues (up to the final issue, 28), plus its two annuals. Meanwhile, in both the past AND the future, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes wraps up its pre-Superboyless run with issues 254 through 258. (The series became Legion of Super-Heroes with Superboy’s departure in 259, and those issues are already on Comixology.) Plus, we get Arion 35, the last issue of that series. There’s still a Special unaccounted for, but it might have slipped DC’s notice for now.

Also, there’s the done-in-two goodness of the JLA: World Without Grownups miniseries, which appears this week as well.

All told, that’s 14 comics (out of this week’s impressive 35) that are unlikely to come back next week, so it will be interesting to see what DC fills those slots with.

We’ve got a few reliables returning this week, too: Justice League America gets another issue (66 – but there’s no Justice League Europe this time); Lobo gets another three issues (13-15); Starman gets one more (#4) and The Legion increases to four from its usual three (21-24). Plus, we get two more issue of Brave & Bold: 80 and 82, guest-starring The Creeper and Aquaman, respectively. (81, a team-up with the Flash, was already available.)

Next, we’ve got a new issue of Sensation Comics (43) and eight new issues of Silver Age Wonder Woman comics: 149 to 156, picking up where the last batch left off. DC is striking while the Amazon is hot.

And also – WAAAAY out of left field – is DC Special #27, “Danger: Dinosaurs at Large!” starring Captain Comet and the Justice League. Maybe DC’s building up its time-goes-wild backlog in anticipation of season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ve got no idea why this is appearing this week, but I certainly won’t complain.

No Superman titles again, and JLE dropped off right before the Breakdowns crossover. It'll be interesting to see what takes the place of the concluded series next week

ETA: I overlooked Sensation Comics when I wrote the original post.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

By the way, for those looking forward to the upcoming Jim Aparo goodness in Brave & the Bold, it’s worth noting that Comixology already has a lot of it available, albeit only in collected editions. Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume 1 includes Brave & the Bold issues 98, 100-102, and 104-122 --  that’s 33 stories for the admittedly steep cost of $34.99.  Volume 2 includes 123-136, and 138-151, plus Detective Comics 437 and 438, again for $34.99. The books may be a little cheaper as Kindle editions on  Amazon (which will show up on your Comixology account if your Comixology and Amazon accounts are linked). Apparently a Volume 3 (with more Brave & Bold work, among other Batman stories) is due out in late August.

[Detective 445]

DC Special #27 was previously reprinted in a Secret Society of Super Villains trade collection. Maybe it's a sign that we will see more SSOSV issues going forward.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Yep -- it's in Volume 2 of the SSOSV trades (the only one of them on Comixology). SSOSV isn't available in single issues yet.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'm on vacation, so I'm gonna make this a really quick one. 34 books this week!

We've got some of the usuals -- 3 more Lobo, 1 more Justice League America, 3 more Justice League Europe, 3 more of The Legion, 9 more Silver Age Wonder Woman, and 1 more Sensation Comics -- all consecutive from before. Finally we're getting some of the JLE half of "Breakdowns!"

Plus, we've sped up to 3 issues of the Will Payton Starman this week, issues 5-7.

We've also got some new entries: DC Super Stars issues 1 and 2 (the first reprints Teen Titans stories, and the second is DC Super Stars of Space, such as Adam Strange). 

There's also some Young Justice-oriented stuff: Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1, Young Justice Secret Files and Origins 1, and Young Justice: The Secret special. 

Plus, there are an assortment of Brave & Bold issues -- two more in the consecutive run (83 & 84), plus four more with Wildcat as the guest-star (88, 97, 110, and 118). Something's up soon with Wildcat, perhaps? Will he be coming back to Arrow?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

By the way, the recent digitizing of the Stern/Lyle Starman series seems to be pointing to something of a return for the character: He's seen in a portrait in this preview of Dark Nights: Metal #1.

I'm a big believer that these reprints offer clues to future DC publishing and TV projects, and I *still* did not see that coming. 

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Awesome! I hope we get more than that photograph, but you are probably right with your thinking. I have high hopes. I would like to have seen him in his yellow and purple suit, but it will be great to see him again nonetheless.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

By the way, the recent digitizing of the Stern/Lyle Starman series seems to be pointing to something of a return for the character: He's seen in a portrait in this preview of Dark Nights: Metal #1.

I'm a big believer that these reprints offer clues to future DC publishing and TV projects, and I *still* did not see that coming. 

[Philip Portelli]

Unless it's just time to renew the "Starman" copyright!

[Detective 445]

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

By the way, the recent digitizing of the Stern/Lyle Starman series seems to be pointing to something of a return for the character: He's seen in a portrait in this preview of Dark Nights: Metal #1.

I'm a big believer that these reprints offer clues to future DC publishing and TV projects, and I *still* did not see that coming. 

Interesting! That last series of panels has the diagram from Grant Morrison's Multiversity comic.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I'd prefer the yellow and purple uniform, too!

Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man said:

Awesome! I hope we get more than that photograph, but you are probably right with your thinking. I have high hopes. I would like to have seen him in his yellow and purple suit, but it will be great to see him again nonetheless.

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

By the way, the recent digitizing of the Stern/Lyle Starman series seems to be pointing to something of a return for the character: He's seen in a portrait in this preview of Dark Nights: Metal #1.

I'm a big believer that these reprints offer clues to future DC publishing and TV projects, and I *still* did not see that coming. 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Some unexpected stuff in this week's digital reprints!

The biggest bunch are six Our Worlds At War one-shots: Batman, Flash, JSA, Wonder Woman, Young Justice, and Secret Files. These join the already-available JLA, Nightwing, Harley Quinn, and World's Finest issues, as well as the various Superman series where the crossover spawned. Strangely enough, there's a Green Lantern: Our Worlds at War issue that's been skipped so far. We'll see if it arrives next week (along with any other OWAW stories I overlooked, but for now I'm adding it to the Gap List.

In the meantime, I'll be deleting some issue of Justice League Europe from the list, as DC is reprinting 3 more issues of JLE (31-33) that are even-numbered chapters of the "Breakdowns" saga. We'd gone a while with only the odd-numbered JLA chapters being available, but it looks like that will come to an end next week.

There's also another issue of Justice League America (68) showing up, continuing its slow march through the Jurgens run. The next two issues are already available (they were part of the Death of Superman crossover), so next week will likely bring us #71. Or the still-missing #60, but don't hold your breath.

We've also got 3 more issues of Lobo (19-21), 3 more issues of Starman (8-10), 3 more issues of The Legion (28-30), 2 more issues of the consecutive Brave & Bold reprints (skipping the already available 85, which featured Green Arrow's new look, we get 86, with Deadman, and 87, with white-costume-era Wonder Woman). Speaking of Wonder Woman, we get nine more issues of Silver Age goodness, with issues 166-174. Only four issues left before the (already available) costumeless run kicks in! Plus, we get one more consecutive issue of Sensation Comics, issue 45! We are truly in the Age of the Amazon.

But wait...there's more. We also get all three issues of Underworld Unleashed, a fun 1995 crossover from Mark Waid and Howard Porter aimed at amping up DC's villains. And there's also another issue of DC Super-Stars (#3), that reprints some Legion of Super-Heroes stories!

35 comics in all, and a pretty eventful week!