DC August 2011 solicitations (collected editions)

Just as DC announces none of this matters and everything will start all over again in September, here are DC’s books for August 2011:

Will buy:

Nothing again. Sorry, DC!

Might buy eventually:

Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle (hardcover): I keep forgetting that I’m caught up with the Gail Simone Birds of Prey issues, and I could probably read this if I wanted to without being confused. But I haven’t read v. 1, and I’m going to wait for the trade for v. 2, and everything gets reset in September, and … you know, I think DC is trying to discourage me from reading Gail Simone. Weird. ($24.99)
• Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland (hardcover): I’ve picked up the first … 15? volumes in trade paperback. I can wait for the trade again. I’m a patient person. ($22.99)

Might buy if the price is right:

Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers (hardcover): Marshall Rogers is a great Batman artist — one of the best ever. This collection includes 24 issues ranging from his ‘70s work on Detective Comics, a ‘90s run on Legends of the Dark Knight, and the 21st century mini Batman: Dark Detective. I don’t want it badly enough to spend $50 for it, but if you’re a big Bat-fan, then maybe you should. ($49.99)

Already have or read:

100 Bullets, Book One (hardcover): An excellent start to a series that lost some of its momentum over time. Reading 100 Bullets in huge chunks, however, can only help the story. ($49.99)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus (hardcover): $50 for the first to League minis? No, thank you. Unless you have a hardcover fetish, you’d be much better off with the two trades, especially since the trade doesn’t mention any special features. A couple of Jess Nevins essays might help make this more worthwhile. ($49.99)

The Rest:

Batman: Arkham City (hardcover): It’s a video game tie-in, which is bad. It’s written by Paul Dini, which is good. It bridges the time between the two Batman: Arkham video games, which is … soul sapping, is the phrase I’m looking for. Yes, that’s it. ($22.99)
• Batman: Eye of the Beholder (hardcover; $22.99)
• Batman: The Widening Gyre: Diehard Kevin Smith fans only. Sorry. ($17.99)
• Cuba: My Revolution: That’s a weird way to look at a Communist revolution. I mean, surely one’s personal development, like the tractor and the land, belongs to everyone in a Communist society? ($17.99)
• A God Somewhere: This doesn’t appear to be a Vertigo title, despite a premise (man who gets powers in a normal, non-powered world) that would seem to fit under that imprint. ($17.99) Greek Street, v. 3: Medea’s Luck: If it weren’t for Medea’s luck, I’d have no luck at all: gloom, despair, and agony on me. ($14.99)
• Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War ($29.99)
• How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less ($19.99)
• iZombie, v. 2: uVampire: OK, enough with this Apple knockoff naming. It has ceased to be funny. ($14.99)
• JLA, v. 1: What do you mean Grant Morrison’s JLA isn’t already out in trade paperback? I thought everything the man had done at DC had been reprinted. That being said, I’m not quite a big enough fan of JLA or Morrison to pick this one up. ($19.99)
• Justice League of America: Team History: This reprints issues from Blackest Night? How long ago was that? More than a year, almost a year and a half. Anyone who waits that long for a James Robinson JLA story either has some weird priorities or really likes Mark Bagley art. ($17.99)
• Justice League: Generation Lost, v. 2 (hardcover; $39.99)
• Justice Society of America: Super Town ($14.99)
• The New York Five: “Collecting the four-issue miniseries the [sic] exposes the underbelly of college life in the Big Apple!” Nice advertising — if you wanted it to sound like a pulp sex novel from the ‘50s and ‘60s. ($14.99)
• Night Force (hardcover): An intriguing idea — a collection of an obscure early 1980s horror comic by the creators behind Tomb of Dracula — but it’s so obscure I can’t imagine wanting it, and the price is certainly more than enough to put me off. (Even for 14 issues in hardcover.) I’ll probably give it another thought when the trade comes around, if it comes around. ($39.99) Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 6 (hardcover; $24.99)
• Showcase Presents: All-Star Comics, v. 1: This is the JSA, for those of you who can’t immediately twig to the significance of “All-Star Comics.” (That category includes me.) Always nice to see DC reprint different stuff, but the JSA has never been that interesting to me. ($19.99)
• Superman / Batman: Sorcerer Kings (hardcover): Because, sooner or later, there has to be a story about Batman using magic in Superman / Batman. ($22.99)
• The Flash: The Road To Flashpoint (hardcover): “This hardcover collection of THE FLASH #8-12 leads up to FLASHPOINT, the biggest comic-book event for summer 2011!” In other words: By the time this comes out, Flashpoint will be over. ($22.99)
• Titans: Family Reunion ($14.99)
• Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales, v. 2: Of all the ABC titles, I think Tom Strong was the one I had the least interest in. ($17.99)