TPBs, HCs, Absolutes, Omnibuses… discuss them all here!
The Trades Thread: Collected Editions
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Justice League Unlimited / World’s Finest: We Are Yesterday
Huh, interesting, this trade has a Road to DC KO tag added. As to the book itself, it is Waid having fun with an old comics technique – wrap up a story, start the next story running. And so it proves, as the League battles the revealed “Inferno”.
As this is a time travel story, it falls squarely in the category of don’t think about it too much. Waid does find a good few new riffs on temporal matters which keeps it interesting. Art is shared across Mora, Moore and Henry, who have complimentary styles.
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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow OHC
I’m generally hot and cold on King because, well, his work is exactly that. There’s no middle ground, either it works very, very well or it falls flat completely. His long Batman run embodies both. This one? This has acquired quite the reputation, one that it lived up to. This is King on form.
Evely I’ve seen less work by but her Dreaming run was good. But this? Several levels up from that. After reading this, I’m far more interested in that deluxe edition of Helen of Wyndhorn due early 2026.
Then there’s the story that they spin. Of Supergirl and Ruthye crossing paths, their pursuit of Krem, and its examination of Supergirl, along with exploring how evil, justice and vengeance can link up. By placing the story through Ruthye’s eyes, we get an intriguing portrait of Supergirl, and her history. The final resolution with Krem is particularly good.
But, you don’t need to read this, right? After all, there’s going to be a film based on it. Might as well skip to that, right? Wrong, if you have any interest in comics. The film will not be this, it may tell a similar tale but it will not, nor could, be the same. This is a dazzling display of what comics can be, and you can’t get that from a film.
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Catwoman Volume 1
I picked this up having enjoyed Gronbekk’s Nina Petrova story in Battle Action Volume 3. Along with both artists, Mascolo and Ignazzi, this gives the book a majority women creative team. I don’t know for certain but suspect this is rare. It is also a team that has a European view of an American character.
Of course, none of that matters if it isn’t good and it is very good. The story veers away from the vigilante aspect and runs with the theft and espionage elements. Of identities, shifting agendas and past secrets. It is also a story entirely independent of Batman.
It helps too that Mascoli and Ignazxi have similar, complimentary styles that give the six issues a very consistent look. At the same time, they bring Gronbekk’s dense, twisting tale to vivid life.
There’s only one flaw here and that is the cliffhanger ending, but I read this at the right time, as the next collection is out end of the month.
Batman and Robin: Jason Todd
This sees Lemire and Ngyuen doing a sequel to their Batman and Robin book, but with a different Robin. One that might be beyond the efforts of Batman, Nightwing and Alfred to aid, while they each question if they truly gave Jason a fair chance.
Into this volatile mix steps Wraith, a villain who preys on Jason’s trauma and insecurities, while offering him what Batman won’t. It might be said what follows is conventional and predictable, but it is also very well-executed. Of course, how good that is depends on how much you like the creative duo of Lemire and Ngyuen. I like their work a lot.
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The second DC Finest Peter David Supergirl book is confirmed.
DC Finest: Supergirl: Die and Let Live
576 pgs. – May 26th ’26
Supergirl faces her most dangerous mission yet in Die and Let Live, a thrilling chapter of DC’s Finest collection. Packed with high-stakes action, emotional depth, and bold storytelling, this volume showcases Kara Zor-El’s resilience as she battles powerful enemies and uncovers shocking truths about her destiny.
In DC Finest: Supergirl: Die and Let Live, Kara Zor-El takes center stage in a gripping saga of survival and identity. From cosmic clashes to personal reckonings, Supergirl must confront deadly threats and make choices that will define her legacy. A must-have for fans of DC’s most fearless heroine.
Collects Adventure Comics 80-Page Giant #1, Resurrection Man #16–17, Supergirl #19–35, Supergirl #1 ML, Supergirl/Prysm Double-Shot #1, Team Superman #1, and Team Superman Secret Files #1.
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Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium Two
It still feels like a minor miracle that this books even exists after so many false starts on collecting the series. It’s almost surreal to get to read the comic’s conclusion. A little bittersweet. Somewhat naively, given how long the series ran and with such a stable creative team, I had assumed that it ended on its own terms. But nope, sudden cancellation that forced a two-part finale. Despite that, Seagle mostly sticks the landing. I think his end-note after explaining what happened and his reasoning for how the story went makes me appreciate what it does more, admittedly.
End aside, there are lots of good stories in here, though a couple that are less compelling. Slightly over complicated in places. Dian seems to ricochet between charity work, working for her dad at the DA’s office then not and doing charity work again on the whims of what would be more convenient for each story. And it’s weirdly heavy on JSA elements at the start of the this volume (and tail end of the previous), which has diminishing returns. Jim Corrigan being introduced and then doing nothing, as far as I could tell (maybe I missed some subtle Spectre related shenanigans?) was a pretty pointless. But I guess that was to try and drive sales.
But when the book is left to be itself, it’s great. What other superhero comic from a mainstream publisher would have an extended, sensitively handled plot thread about one of the main characters getting an abortion? Even before that, it’s nice that Dian and Wes, well, fuck, frankly. Superhero relationships are usually so chaste or juvenile, but by the time they’re properly together here it’s clear they really enjoy each other’s company and get to express that as real humans do (and then have consequences for it).
Unfortunately, it seems that there’s a side one-shot (Sandman Midnight Theatre) that sits between Compendium 1 and this volume that’s been omitted, because DC are always going to DC.
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Wow, that second volume actually came out.
I’m bemused that somrthing with Sandman in the title, Vertigo on the spine (and not by Neil Gamian in 2025) couldn’t get a hardcover.
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Unfortunately, it seems that there’s a side one-shot (Sandman Midnight Theatre) that sits between Compendium 1 and this volume that’s been omitted, because DC are always going to DC.
It’s included in Absolute Sandman Vol. 5, along with Endless Nights and The Dream Hunters. IIRC, it’s more of a Sandman story than a SMT story (Gaiman wrote the script), so might have been a bit confusing to include, or they didn’t want to give Gaiman more money.
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DC Compact Comics has lots of nice priced gifts/stocking stuffers.
Lots to choose from and more coming:Batman: Under the Red Hood: DC Compact Comics Edition
384 pgs. – June 16th
collects the full original Red Hood saga from Batman #635–641, #645–650, and Batman Annual #25.
Batman: White Knight: DC Compact Comics Edition
216 pgs. – Feb. 16th
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: DC Compact Comics
504 pgs. Jan. 6th
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Stargirl: The Lost Children
This is such a weird comic.
I’m not the greatest fan of Geoff Johns generally, but I do love Todd Nauck’s art and seeing that Secret from Young Justice was in this was enough to get me to bite.
And in one regard it’s great. Nauck’s art is possibly the best it’s ever been. He absolutely kills it here, with loads of crowd scenes that would break a lesser artist. Plus, there’s loads of new character designs in here, most of which are great (I especially like The Boom, although I’m not sold on her name).
Unfortunately, the reason behind all those new characters is less compelling. Part of the problem I’ve always had with Johns is that he’s a very regressive writer. His work is always about looking back to some halcyon past and rewinding comics to it, from bringing back Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, to reviving the JSA and ditching all the cool 90s reinventions like the android Hourman with facsimiles of the Golden Age originals.
His big idea for this mini-series is similar but of a slightly different approach. He seems to have decided that every Golden Age superhero should have had a kid sidekick (you know, that trope that went out in the 60s) and so retcons loads more into existence, even for heroes that no-one particularly cares about. Did anyone really think Dr Fate was missing a sidekick? Or the Dan Garrett version of Blue Beetle? Or the Red Bee?!
Quite what the point of all this is, I don’t really know. Apparently this is part of a wider thematic event – The New Golden Age – though there’s no mention of this anywhere on this collection (which is maybe for the best, as it probably would have deterred me from it). Is anyone going to make any further use of Cherry Bomb or Sparky outside of a crowd scene? It seems unlikely and most of these characters don’t get to do much here (Secret seems present entirely as fan service for Nauck and/or his existing fans, but at least it’s the same version of her from Young Justice, for whatever continuity matters these days). The entire premise of this series seems utterly self-indulgent and pointless.
It’s not a terribly satisfying story really. Although Stargirl gets to keep centre stage, Red Arrow gets increasingly marginalised through out, drowning in a sea of sidekicks. The plot doesn’t really make much of any sense (not helped by taking half an issue to have someone wang on about Flashpoint) there’s an island, whose beach is made of ground up Miraclo, on which loads of forgotten sidekicks have somehow ended up. Stargirl and Red Arrow, after being involved in a time-bending event, think Wing is still alive and follow in the footsteps of Dan The Dyna-Mite to said island, where a Baba Yaga called the Childminder is holding some of the kids and trying to capture the others, to deliver them to her buyer, who is the android Hourman from the 90s, except he’s working for Corky the Junior Time Master (who turns up to help the kids)’s evil adult self, who needs Wing to still die in the temporal event that killed him original, but not let any of the other kids back into continuity, for reasons. But he has his own time machines, cos he’s a Time Master, so I don’t get why he’s using Hourman nor Childminder, why they need Jay Garrick’s retcon daughter The Boom running on a treadmill to power something or other, nor why/how most of the kids ended up there beyond just “Flashpoint did it”.. And while I can buy Stargirl caring about the fate of Wing (the Crimson Avenger’s sidekick apparently), I’m not totally sure why most readers would. The attempts to build a theme around being forgotten and unloved doesn’t really work because, despite throwing in something about her biological dad, it’s not really relevant to Stargirl. It is to Red Arrow, but as I said, she gets increasingly displaced from focus.
Still, looks gorgeous.
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So, this is bonkers, Omar of Neat Mint Condition announced a new X-Men omnibus for August 2026…
X-Men: Blue and Gold: Bloodties Omnibus….
…except it turns out I already own the various, out-of-print OHC pieces of it! Surreal.1 user thanked author for this post.
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Superman: Love and Mercy
This volume effectively wraps up the Supercorp, Lex and Superweapon plots. And it does so in rather interesting ways.
Lex is back but not entirely reset either. It’s notable that his view of Lois losing her powers is way off too. It adds up to an intriguing status for the character, possibly more anti-hero than out-right villain.
One oddity is the next trade is not yet listed, but that’s OK as DC trades can take a while to turn up. I’m sceptical that they would cease collecting it.
Absolute Green Lantern Volume 1
An intriguing and very clever opening collection.
What’s particularly smart about it is it all works regardless of how much the reader knows. Know Green Lantern? Clever re-invention. Don’t know? Smart introduction. Know the Absolute line? It fits in well and adds to the others? Don’t know it? There’s refs to a larger world but the story works with them and they’re not the centre of it.
Will be back for the next trade in June 2026
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Absolute Flash Volume 1
It’s a fair criticism that these six issues are far from conclusive, that they are an opening shot, setting up the characters and plot, which will continue into the next volume. Thing is, they’re a really good opening shot.
It’s also a book that continues the Absolute’s line inspired re-invention of DC’s characters, combined with a careful sense of balance. It helps that the art has a kinetic style and sense of speed suited to the book too.
Batman and Robin: Year One
This book has a stellar reputation, did it live up to it? Oh yes. It doesn’t hurt that Waid and Samnee have worked before either. On their own, each is good, together they are excellent. Though, for all that it is page after page of superb art, I don’t think Samnee managed to top that chapter one opening double page splash of Gotham City.
Delving more into how Dick Grayson was adopted, and how he, Bruce and Alfred come to understand each, while tangling with a new enemy plotting a takeover, it is a well-paced tale. Waid never zooms it forward, neither does it drag, 12 issues feels the right span for it.
It’s always fun reading acclaimed comics, as there tends to be good reasons for them being so. At the same time, it is such comics that demonstrate the magic of the medium.
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The Human Target OHC
In some respects this is a very King book. A coolly collected, even cynical view of superheroes, but one for which the Black Label imprint is ideally suited for. It also demonstrates why King is more hit and miss on mainstream books.
That said, this is an interesting examination of both superheroes and perhaps the US in turn. It certainly became the book’s strongest card due to the void left by its central character.
I can’t say I ever cared a whit about Chance. King backing out of Guy being killed by him didn’t help either. Guy as an abusive ex, who’d likely do the now well known road of kill Ice then himself, fitted the world King conjured. One where there’s superpowers but little heroism. It’s a toxic world where everyone is running games, analysing everyone around them.
It does have an icy intrigue to it. This is due to Smallwood’s superb art which is an interesting mix of realism and the way Darwyn Cooke used single colours in his Parker adaptations
Overall, I’m not sure what I make of it. It’s a very good, but cold work. It’s very King. Art is excellent. Maybe the best way to look at it is as a Black Label book that proves the worth of the concept as this story is never being told any other way.
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Yeah, I liked King’s Human Target, but it didn’t really stay with me. It’s a bit of a clinical work.
I got myself the Image in the 2010s Humble Bundle, which had a lot of stuff that I haven’t read yet, or not in its entirety. Currently reading Kill 6 Billion Demons, which is an awesome journey through sci-fi/Hindu mythology where we follow a clueless heroine through a thoroughly fucked-up universe. Great art, and both writing and art kind of remind me of Brandon Graham. Which reminds me, the Prophet trades are also in this bundle and I’m very much looking forward to them.
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Friday OHC
Sometimes collaborations work, sometimes not. Matin’s The Private Eye with Vaughan didn’t work for me, but this one, with Brubaker, did.
Aside from being a damn good read, it’s also an excellent deminstration of how comics can be when freed from weekly or monthly serialising.
Told across nine chapters, previously collected as three trades, it’s very clear that it was designed to be read as a single piece. Nor are those chapters regimented in size, instead they vary as the story needs. Brubaker notes in the afterword that it was planned as a much shorter story, then it grew.
As this is a creepy mystery story, it’s best not to say too much about it. In its characters, plot, location and numerous twists and turns, all brought to life by the art, it flows brilliantly. You never find yourself questioning the narrative because you’re too invested and immersed in it. And that spell remains in place all the way to the end.
…well, for now. Brubaker says as much. If he and Matin were to return to Friday and Jones I think they’d have as much fun crafting it, as we’d do reading it.
Highly recommended.
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The Casebook of Hawksmoor Stamford
Kicking 2026 off with a banger, this is part Grandville prequel, part freestanding story, part Talbot’s homage to Conan Doyle and Sherlock, while also being 180 pages of graphic brilliance.
As should be obvious, I had a great time reading this. It’s both a very clever and very entertaining book, spinning out an intricate murder mystery, set against the backdrop of looming indepedence from France.
In contrast to Grandville, where we see LeBrock doing things, this story is told by Stamford. The perspective shift gives it a distinctly different feel and style. Talbot’s use of a copperscale effect across the pages, perhaps to better indicate it being a prequel, also creates that clear, separate identity.
Might there be more stories from Stamford? Maybe, after all Grandville started as one volume. But, if that is to happen, this one first needs to be a success, so how about you contribute to that by getting a copy? You’re unlikely to regret it.
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Nightwing – Taylor and Redondo
Had the first four trades plus Fear State and their final arc on the shelf for a while, finally got around to reading them. Taylor I’m more familar with, Redondo, bar his Superman Treasury work, which was superb, I know more by reputation. Which, from his work here, he more than lives up to.
The first arc is an excellent start. From the great, and very funny, flashback opening to Nightwing being back in the eternally corrupt Bludhaven. Then his inheritance from Alfred allows him to really start to push back on it all.
There’s also a family revelation around Tony Zucco’s daughter that, in the hands of a lesser writer, would likely be used for cheap drama. Taylor instead takes it in far better, more positive and interesting direction.
The Fear State interlude issues are OK, but very much stripped out from a larger story. Turns out DC’s numbering of the trades makes sense as they’re numbering the Taylor-Redondo ones and Fear State isn’t that.
The actual second volume starts off with the absurdly good and creative genius of Nightwing 87. A 22 page story told by a single panel running from double page to double page all the way to the end. It sounds both ludicrous and impossible, yet they pull it off brilliantly.
The rest of the trade sees the assassination attempts escalate, with Nightwing calling in help to deal with, while his phantom, new adversary Heartless remains in the shadows.
The third trade sees the plots with Blockbuster, the mob and the corrupt cops come to a very satisfying resolution. But, in turn, that opens up an opportunity for Heartless, which volume four deals with, including the 100th issue.
Along with adding a very cute puppy to the cast, Taylor develops the relationship between Dick and Babs. Again, it’d be easy to do cheap drams but he doesn’t. And these sequences are wonderfully illustrated by Redondo, and they are arguably harder to depict than the action scenes.
The final arc has Heartless frame Nightwing. Heigh ho, so far, standard villain stuff but it’s in the second half Taylor does some new moves. Like Bludhaven’s populace not buying what Heartless is selling. His identity is also revealed as a riff on what might have been if Alfred was a psychopath and Bruce wanted to be. Even better is the final, and I do mean final, resolution between them.
Another excellent pair of strands running through these collections is Alfred and Batman. Both of who Alfred was, how he chose to live and his legacy. But Taylor also gives us a Bruce Wayne and Batman who is as far as possible from the dysfunctional Bat-crap too many writers go for. It’s hugely refreshing.
I had a great time reading these. It’s currently hard to acquire in the UK, but after the fun I had, if I see a copy of the first Omnibus, going for a good price, I’d probably bag it.
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I quite liked The Last Days Of American Crime, but not sure it warrants the deluxe treatment.
I dunno…it might look nice on my shelf next to the hardcover of Remender’s A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance
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Catwoman Volume 2
This is a good conclusion to the arc. Art is good but not the equal of the last volume. The four issues collected wrap up the story of the Belov crime family and Selina’s involvement with them. Along the way there are some well-executed twists, as the Belovs, past and present, get what was always coming to them.
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The World of Black Hammer Library Edition Volume 6
HC – 264 pgs. – Sept. 29th
Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Eisner Award–winning Black Hammer superhero universe is given a closer look, with two complete series illustrated by some of the leading creators in comics in a deluxe oversized hardcover format.
Explore the farthest reaches of Spiral City and the strange mind of Colonel Randall Weird in this essential oversized hardcover collecting some of the most acclaimed and imaginative tales from the ever-expanding world of Black Hammer.
The Last Days of Black Hammer details the heroics of Joe Weber—the original hero known as Black Hammer—at the height of his power, along with the rest of the main Black Hammer heroes like Golden Gail, Abraham Slam, and Barbalien in the final days leading up their cataclysmic battle with the cosmic villain Anti-God and their imprisonment on the limbo farm!
In Colonel Weird and Little Andromeda, space-faring adventurer Colonel Weird sets forth on a journey to save his superhero colleagues from their rural purgatory by entering the Para-zone only to find himself paired with the much much younger Doctor Andromeda on a series of fantastical adventures through assorted worlds and dimensions.
Collects The Last Days of Black Hammer and Colonel Weird and Little Andromeda in a deluxe, oversized hardcover format with a new cover, sketchbook extras, and more!
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Oh, get lost with this crap of repackaging OHC-issued storirs but with another one bolted on. It’s one of the industry’s worst habits.
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All they had to do was Last Days of Black Hammer OHC, easy.
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Available for pre-order now:
Batman by Neal Adams: Absolute Edition 1967-1970
376 pgs. – Aug. 4th
Neal Adams’ legendary reimagining of Batman begins here—dark, grounded, and visually explosive. Across Gotham’s alleys, moody mansions, and supernatural corners, Adams’ dynamic realism reshapes the Caped Crusader for a new era, from the first appearance of Man-Bat to iconic team-ups in The Brave and the Bold, Detective Comics, and World’s Finest.
Teaming with writers including Denny O’Neil, Frank Robbins, and Bob Haney, Adams transforms Batman into a lean, haunted figure of noir intensity—an evolution that would define every modern version of the character. These stories introduce master criminals, occult threats, political conspiracies, and psychological mysteries, all rendered with the bold innovation that made Adams one of the most influential artists in comics history.
Eperience the complete works of Neal Adams on Batman from 1968 to 1970 in the oversize, beautiful, Absolute format! Return to the original art and colors in this celebratory volume (one of two).
Collects Batman #219; Detective Comics #395, #397, #400, #402; World’s Finest Comics #175–176; The Brave and the Bold #79–86.
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The Demon by Jack Kirby: Absolute Edition
600 pgs. – Sept. 1st
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The Demon by Jack Kirby: Absolute Edition
600 pgs. – Sept. 1st
No other infoI really enjoyed reading this when the newsprint HC came out (must be more than a decade ago now). Some of Kirby’s best art I think and some wild stories.
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Kirby’s run lasted 16 issues, at a time when individual issues had 17-20 pages of comics material. Simple math suggests that collecting all those issues (interiors plus covers) would result in a book of fewer than 350 pages. I’m curious how this will be padded out to 600 pages.
Here’s the solicit:
JACK KIRBY’S INFERNAL MASTERPIECE–THE DEMON, COMPLETE AND UNLEASHED! Part man, part elemental fury, Etrigan the Demon was bound to Jason Blood by Merlin to defend Camelot!
Now a demonologist in the streets of 1970s Gotham, he must face a barrage of gothic terror–Morgaine le Fey, Klarion the Witch Boy, and more! Collecting THE DEMON #1-16, featuring nearly 200 pages of original pencils and inks, as presented by the Kirby Museum with brand-new essays by the creators that carried forward the legacy of Etrigan, a brand-new foreword by horror legend Stephen Bissette, and more!
Nearly 200 pages of Kirby original art? That’s the kind of padding I can get behind.
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Los Monstruos Volume 1
And I really hope it gets a Volume 2 and more.
Taking all the monsters of 1950s movies, slinging them into a west coast US city and then using that for detective noir story is a superb set-up. It’s one that Robinson and Merino have a lot of fun with.
The story twists and turns across four issues, both introducing the world and characters, before concluding well, while leaving the door open for further tales. It’s a straight-forward and very fun book.
Johnny Red: Volume 2: A Couple of Heroes
Ennis and Burns on a WW2 story is one of the safest bets going, you know it’ll be good. Oh, they’re doing a final story set in 1945 for Johnny Redburn? Well, that heightens the stakes, but, to no one’s surprise, they pull it off.
Across 10 episodes and an epilogue, Ennis spins a twin track story in 1945, while weaving in both nods to and stories of times past. Along the way the cynicism of politics, secret police cruelty, the insanity of war, the British class system and probably a few other, very deserving targets get skewered.
What really boosts an already great tale is Ennis understands that an ending story does not have to mean killing everyone off. He also has trust in his readers being able to follow where allusions lead to, like the way nuclear weaponry is woven into a story of stopping a chemical weapon attack.
And then there’s Burns superb art which brings it all to life.
All right, what else do I have to say? Go out and buy it and read it.
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X-Men by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams Treasury Edition
Collecting issues 56-63 plus 65, which is more or less the end of the line for this incarnation. After this, from 67 onwards until the Claremont run started, it was reprints.
Strange as it sounds, sometimes a book being on the edge can give rise to excellent stories. Might as well go for broke in the face of cancellation and they go for it all right. Sentinels, Sauron, Magneto, Z’nox – they go through a good array of adversaries across the nine issues. And yes, Xavier is quite the arse in X-Men 65.
The Treasury format really enables Adams’ art to be shown off to the full. Kinetic, detailed, fluid, plus some very neat panel layouts, it’s spectacular stuff.
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