DC June 2011 solicitations (collected editions)

Will be picking up: Nothing. Sorry, DC!

Might pick up eventually:

• Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash: I won’t say that DC is more adventuresome with their choices of Showcases than Marvel is with Essentials — really, how do you choose between Bat Lash / The War that Time Forgot and Killraven / Godzilla? — but I can’t see Marvel doing anything like this: jumping ahead in a character’s history to present an extended storyline. I understand it ties in with the May crossover storyline in the DC books, which involves Zoom changing the DC universe, but I have a fondness and curiosity for this story … the first Flash I ever read (and one of the first comics I ever read) was Flash #274, which teased the death of Iris Allen, and I’m curious to see what happens when Flash gets his chance at revenge. ($19.99)

Might pick up if the price is right:

• The Steve Ditko Omnibus, v. 1 Starring Shade the Changing Man (hardcover): I’m a big Ditko fan, but I’m not sure I’m that big of a Ditko fan, if you catch my drift. ($59.99)
• Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave: Well, I was slightly amused by the first Welcome to Tranquility volume; I might try the second. ($17.99)

Already got one (earlier collection or original comics):

• Fables Deluxe Edition, v. 3 (hardcover) ($29.99)
• Gotham Central, v. 2: Jokers and Madmen: Hey! This time they’re reprinting all the stories! Find out what happened in #16-8 that DC didn’t want us to know about when they released Gotham Central, v. 3: Unresolved Targets in 2006. Also, it’s a twelve-issue trade for an affordable price; the creative team is top-notch, and there’s no reason not to buy this series. ($19.99)

Blackest Night:

• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, v. 1 ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, v. 2 ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Seven Blackest Night books in one month! That’s $140 retail; supposing a 40 percent discount, that’s still a bill of $86. If you’re planning to buy all of these books in May, you fill me with both wonder and dismay. ($19.99)

The Rest:

• The Absolute Sandman, Book Five (hardcover): Bits and bobs of Sandman after the series’s end. ($99.99)
• DC Universe: Legacies ($34.99)
• Firestorm: The Nuclear Man: I’ll admit to some curiosity about this, but the chances of me buying a TPB that features Bronze Age backups from Flash is slim. Also: too much of a possibility this will be like Essential Nova. ($17.99)
• Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit (hardcover) ($22.99)
• Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, v. 1 (hardcover) ($22.99)
• Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations ($19.99)
• Jack of Fables, v. 9: The End ($17.99)
• Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse (hardcover) ($49.99)
• The New Teen Titans Omnibus, v. 1 (hardcover): DC catches omnibus fever, and I have to say this is a more worthy choice than Atlantis Attacks, Acts of Vengeance, or Evolutionary War. On the other hand, seventeen issues for $75 is insane. Sometimes, I’d like to have it explained to me how DC prices its collections; although I like to think a dartboard and a blindfold are involved, I have a feeling payments to creators has a great deal to do with it the vast differences. Still, there are five more issues in this omnibus than in this month’s Gotham Central, v. 2 and the omnibus goes for $55 more. Yes, New Teen Titans is a more revered title, but that, a hard cover, and five more issues are not worth $55. ($75)
• Northlanders, v. 5: Metal ($17.99)
• Outsiders: The Great Divide ($14.99)
• Return to Perdition (hardcover): Max Allan Collins returns to Perdition, updating the setting to the ‘70s and a new generation. DC helpfully reprints two volumes of the previous stories. ($19.99)
• Revolver ($19.99)
• Road to Perdition ($14.99)
• Road to Perdition 2: On the Road ($14.99)
• The Secret Society of Super-Villains (hardcover): And this has more issues than the New Teen Titans Omnibus and a hard cover and goes for $35 less. Of course, I have no idea what the story is with this collection; the solicitation just mentions that there are supervillains (including Sinestro, Grodd, and Captain Cold) starring in this story. Hardly a compelling reason to buy it. ($39.99)
• Superman: Grounded, v. 1 (hardcover): The train wreck begins (and ends) here! ($22.99)
• X-Files / 30 Days of Night: Wait, did this slip through a wormhole from 2002? ($17.99)