As I've noted before on this 'ere blog, for the past few years I've been the editor of, and lead writer for (I write the introductions and a fair number of the bonus features), the DC Heroes & Villains Collection, a fortnightly DC Comics graphic novel partwork. Launched at the beginning of 2021 and building into 100 hardback volumes, the collection brings together the best of the modern DC Universe, from 1980, when Marv Woman and George Pérez's New Teen Titans revolutionised DC, to the Rebirth relaunch of 2016, incorporating everything from big blockbuster events like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis to more obscure delights like Batman: Nocturna and the Night-Thief and DC Comics Presents: Cosmic Encounters, with plenty of previously uncollected comics and bespoke volumes unique to the collection.
For a DC devotee like myself, one who's read and collected DC comics since childhood, getting to select and curate 100 volumes of comics, some of which I first read as a 12-year-old, write about them, and see them published in splendid hardback editions has been an absolute joy – something of a dream project in fact. Which is why it's an immense thrill to report that, with the publication of the collection's 100th issue imminent, the DC Heroes & Villains Collection has been extended for another 20 volumes!
Over the past few weeks I've been teasing the long-suffering members of the DC Heroes & Villains Collection Facebook group with info about the initial volumes to be released in the extension, and an announcement has just gone out to subscribers, as follows:
With the first 100 volumes of the DC Heroes & Villains Collection, the aim was to give readers a grounding in the modern DC Universe, from the advent of New Teen Titans in 1980 to the Rebirth relaunch of 2016.
Now, with this 20-volume extension, we get to go even broader and deeper, adding some of the best stories of the Bronze Age, Modern Age and recent years. First out of the blocks will be Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington's mind-bending thriller Batman: Universe, followed by Joshua Williamson, Jason Fabok and co.'s blockbuster throwdown Justice League vs. Suicide Squad.
After that, Joker: The Series collects the entirety of Denny O'Neil and co.'s '70s Joker run, including the 'lost' 10th issue and O'Neil and Adams' classic Joker-starring Batman #251. Plus, Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast brings together the first half of Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo's acclaimed '80s Batman run for the first time.
Looking further ahead, fans can expect stories starring Batman, the Joker, the Justice Society and the Justice League by James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Bernie Wrightson, James Robinson, Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Tom Taylor, Scott Snyder, Steve Englehart and many more!
If that wasn't enough, you'll receive a bumper-sized issue 111 with Batman: Under the Red Hood, at a staggering 400 pages long!
That last announcement will be news even to the Facebook group members, but given that I revealed to them that not just the first half but all of Starlin and Aparo's Batman run will be collected as part of the extension, including the notorious storyline that dominates the second half, the penny might drop as to the relationship between those volumes and this huge Batman: Under the Red Hood one. But as enticing a prospect as all that may be – at least, I hope so – to my mind the other volumes in the extension are just as exciting. And I'll be revealing a little more about some of them in my next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment