Damn your black heart, DC Comics

As unpleasant as I find DC's editorial direction, I have to admit that their collected editions folks keep putting out some occational gems that, in a perfect world, I'd buy the second they came out. Here's what I like from their latest announcement of reprint books:

BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN TP
Writer/Artist: Matt Wagner
Collects BATMAN AND THE MONSTER MEN #1-6
$19.99, 144 pages

I keep hearing good things about this, so it goes on the wish list.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BATMAN VOL. 1 TP
Writers: John Broome, Ed "France" Herron and Bill Finger
Artists: Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene
Collects stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #327-342 and BATMAN #164-174
$16.99, 552 pages

If this continues to the O'Neil/Adams stuff, I'll be picking it up then.

SUPERMAN: UP, UP AND AWAY TP
Writers: Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek
Artists: Pete Woods and Renato Guedes; original cover artists: Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson
Collects SUPERMAN #650-653 and ACTION COMICS #837-840
$14.99, 192 pages

I will probably read this at Barnes & Noble. I am a bad person.

ABSOLUTE DC: THE NEW FRONTIER HC
Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Collects DC: THE NEW FRONTIER #1-6, plus a pinup gallery, deleted story pages and more
$75.00, 464 pages

Darwyn Cooke's terrific spin on the DC Universe is one of the most fun comics I've ever read. I really wish this had become the new template for DC's line, as opposed to its recent run of slaughter comics.

ALL STAR SUPERMAN VOL. 1 HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely; original cover artists: Frank Quitely and Neal Adams
Collects ALL STAR SUPERMAN #1-6
$19.99, 160 pages

It's great to see DC collecting this, but I'm holding out for the inevitable Absolute Edition.

GREEN LANTERN: REVENGE OF THE GREEN LANTERNS TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Carlos Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Marc Campos Jesus Merino and Prentis Rollins; original cover artists: Carlos Pacheco, Ethan Van Sciver, Simone Bianchi and Neal Adams
Collects GREEN LANTERN #7-13
$12.99, 168 pages

This is another one to read at the store. For some reason, I enjoy Geoff Johns' work on Green Lantern even though most of his stuff leaves me cold.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE PHANTOM STRANGER VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Mike Friedrich, John Broome, Ed "France" Herron, Robert Kanigher, Jack Oleck, Len Wein and Gerry Conway
Artists: Neal Adams, Jerry Grandenetti, Leonard Starr, Bill Draut, Carmine Infantino, Frank Giacoia, Murphy Anderson, Wayne, Howard, Vince Colletta, Jim Aparo, Tony DeZuñiga and Jack Sparling
Collects SHOWCASE #80 and THE PHANTOM STRANGER #1-21
$16.99, 544 pages

This intrigues me. I love the obscure stuff we're seeing released under the Showcase line, and I'd love to have more Jim Aparo stuff on my bookshelves.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS - ONCE AND FUTURE TP
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Jackson Guice; original cover artists: Jackson Guice, Ian Churchill, Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino
Collects AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #40-45
$12.99, 144 pages

Store. Just to see what everyone's talking about.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 5 TP
Writers: John Byrne and Marv Wolfman
Artists: John Byrne and Jerry Ordway
Collects ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #432-435, ACTION COMICS #592-593 and SUPERMAN #9-11
$19.99, 208 pages

I don't actually plan on buying this, but at the rate this series is going they could collect the entire Byrne run on Superman in four or five more volumes. I wonder if they'll keep it going after that?

THE HUNTRESS: THE DARKNIGHT DAUGHTER TP
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Joe Staton, Steve Mitchell, Bob Layton, Bob Smith, Bruce Patterson, Jerry Ordway and Mike DeCarlo
Collects DC SUPER STARS #17 and stories from BATMAN FAMILY #18-20, WONDER WOMAN #271-287, 289-290 and 294-295
$19.99, 224 pages

That was the sound of me blinking. I've read about these stories for years and I loved Levitz' run on Legion of Super-Heroes, so I'll probably pick this up eventually.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Joe Kubert, Bob Haney, Robert Kanigher, Frank Robbins, Archie Goodwin and David Michelinie
Artists: Joe Kubert, Irv Novick, Doug Wildey, Dan Spiegle and Jack Sparling
Collects stories from STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #151-204
$16.99, 560 pages

See my Phantom Stranger comments. Repeat.

And if you'd like to contribute to the "Help Matter-Eater Lad buy Absolute New Frontier Fund," please click on the Amazon links on this site next time you need to buy something...