Some Interesting DC Comics Collected Editions Announced for Fall

DC Comics has released a list of collected editions available for sale in September, October and November of this year and...well, there are some very interesting inclusions. Among other things, there's a Batman, Incorporated hardcover that lists its issues as including Batman, Incorporated #13. Since many fans thought this title might end after Grant Morrison wrapped his run in #12, that's a bit baffling--particularly since it lists only Morrison as a writer, so if there's a creative change and the book continues on, they've omitted the other writer (probably intentionally since no announcement has been made, but still...). It's certainly not a mistake, though; on Twitter, Batman, Incorporated artist Jason Burnham has been promising fans "all will be clear in a few weeks." Meanwhile, the publisher is pushing out an omnibus hardcover based on one of the first massive superhero event/opuses written by Morrison, DC One Million. It apparently won't be a very complete omnibus, as the "#1,000,000" titles listed are Action Comics, Adventures of Superman, Aquaman, Azrael, Batman, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Catwoman, Chase, Chronos, The Creeper, Detective Comics, The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hitman, Impulse, JLA, Legion of Super-Heroes, Legionnaires, Lobo, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Power of Shazam, Resurrection Man, Robin, Starman, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow, Wonder Woman, Young Justice, Booster Gold and JLA in Crisis Secret Files. Besides the fact that Booster Gold #1,000,000 came out in 2008 and seems like an excuse to get Geoff Johns's name in the solicitation text and into the book retailers' computers, it's pretty clear that at least his time-traveling counterpart Hourman (and probably a handful of others) is missing from the list (he had a One Million-themed three-parter in his own story, which seems pertinent since they're including all these things like 80-page giants). Any completists out there care to let us know if they spot any others?

There's more Morrison, too; as he leaves Batman, Incorporated, we get a deluxe hardcover of JLA: Earth 2 and he finally gets credited as a writer on some Authority stories he worked on with Mark Millar, which have been one of many sticking points between the pair for years. There's also a collection of classic Joker stories from his series. The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime collects stories by writers Dennis O'Neil, Elliot S. Maggin and Martin Pasko and will likely give fodder to those who have been saying the villain is in line for his own series at some point in the New 52. Speaking of throwbacks, Batwoman's new hardcover is called "World's Finest." That's an interesting choice with Worlds' Finest still on the stands. Wonder if there's a connection between that and the loss of artist Kevin Maguire--maybe a change in direction that could incorporate other Bat- and Super-characters into that title? Just spitballing... We also get a Superman vs. Mongul trade paperback, which could have implications for future stories, too; after all, it wasn't that long ago that Jim Starlin wanted to use Mongul in the New 52 and was told that the Superman office had plans for him. Then again, we also get Creature Commandos and Dr. Mid-Nite reissues, and while those could turn out to have implications for future stories, we're not gambling on either of them. So maybe sometimes you just release what you think there's a demand for. Certainly DC wants to keep Starlin happy now that he's reinventing StormWatch for them.

Not present? Anything collecting the Tanga stories by Kevin Maguire. She appeared in six issues of Weird Worlds, right before the Flashpoint reboot and then in six issues of My Greatest Adventure after the fact. None of the material has been collected, and not only are fans sorry to see it, but so is Maguire. "Just read the list of upcoming DC trade paperbacks in the fervent hope that a TANGA compilation would finally be among them but, once again, nothing," Maguire said on Facebook. "So frustrating. It was written to be read as a trade. I had a lot of people tell me they weren't going to buy the individual issues because they were waiting for the trade. Even a digital trade would be fine...sigh." Of course, that underscores the problem of trade-waiting in a soft comics market; many titles that don't sell well enough to continue also don't tend to sell well enough for the publisher to feel confident giving trade paperback collections a try. Even something like Booster Gold, which saw almost all of its issues collected, never got the planned second paperback collection of Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis's issues before the series finale by Dan Jurgens was included in one of the World of Flashpoint paperbacks.