It’s time to map the DC Universe! In June, I’ll be joining with Near Mint Condition to launch the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll! This post explains every Batgirl, Black Canary, & Birds of Prey omnibus that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.
Through the end of May I’ll be covering DC entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your DC oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 2nd Annual Poll on Near Mint Condition the first week of June.
Finally, 2025 will bring us the first Birds of Prey omnibus! But, DC isn’t starting at the start – they’re jumping in at the middle with Gail Simone’s run. If you want to see the equally popular Chuck Dixon material that started the series… or anything from after Simone… you have to get to voting!
Meanwhile, Batgirl has a decent array of omnibuses on her own, but that’s just for Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. From the results of last year’s poll, I can tell you she’s not even the most popular of the three major Batgirls! And, Black Canary doesn’t have any solo omnibuses printed, but she could notch a few – as well as some duo books with Green Arrow.
If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to collected editions on the planet.
Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about DC history and find some great comics to read!
This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:
- Batgirl Omnibus Mapping
- Batgirl: Barbara Gordon, Oracle – The Omnibus (1988 & on) [Batgirl Year One, minis, key stories]
- Batgirl: Cassandra Cain, Vol. 1 (of 2) (2000 & on)
- Batgirl: Stephanie Brown (2009 – 2011)
- Batgirl: Barbara Gordon, The Rebirth Omnibus by Larson, Scott, & Castellucci (2016 – 2020)
- Batgirls by Cloonan & Conrad (2021 – 2023)
- Birds of Prey Omnibus Mapping
- Birds of Prey by Chuck Dixon Vol. 1 (1996 & on) [starts from pre-BoP material; Vol. 2 could include Moore & Hernandez]
- Birds of Prey by Simone, Bedard, & McKeever (2006 – 2011) [follows Simone, continues to 2010 series]
- Birds of Prey: The New 52 Omnibus by Swierczynski & Marx (2011 – 2015) [could include Katana (2013)]
- Birds of Prey: Black Canary & Batgirl (2015 – 2018) [Black Canary solo material & Rebirth Birds of Prey]
- Black Canary Omnibus Mapping
- Black Canary, The Early Years (1947 – 1972)
- Green Arrow & Black Canary, The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1973 & on) [follows Green Arrow/Green Lantern omni]
- Black Canary, The Post-Crisis Omnibus (1988 – 1996) [collects to the start of Birds of Prey]
- Green Arrow & Black Canary by Winick & Kreisberg (2007 – 2010)
- Black Canary, The Post-Crisis Omnibus (1988 – 1996) [Collects to the start of Birds of Prey]
- Birds of Prey: Black Canary & Batgirl (2015 – 2018) [Black Canary solo material & Rebirth Birds of Prey]
Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how DC could assemble these books. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of DC creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.
Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.
Intensely researched posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics.
Batgirl Omnibus Mapping
As far as supporting heroes without their own movies go, Barbara Gordon has done okay for herself in omnibus! She has four of her own volumes, plus the forthcoming Birds of Prey by Gail Simone. That covers most of her significant material prior to Rebirth. But, what about Rebirth and beyond – and, what about other Batgirls?
A pair of Barbara Gordon Batgirl Bronze Age omnis fit here.
Batgirl: Barbara Gordon, Oracle – The Omnibus (1988 & on) [Batgirl Year One, minis, key stories]
What is this omnibus? It’s a collection of key modern, Post-Crisis Barbara Gordon material. That includes both material with her as Batgirl and featured material of her as Oracle that exists outside of Birds of Prey (1999) Think of it as “Oracle’s Greatest Hits.”
This could collect Batgirl: Year One (2002) #1-9, Detective Comics (1937) #359, Batman (1940) #191, Batman Chronicles #9, Batman Confidential #17-21, Batgirl Special (1988) #1, Batman (1940) Annual 11, Brave and the Bold Vol. 3 #33, Batgirl: Girl Frenzy, Batman: The Killing Joke, Batman Chronicles #1 & 5, Suicide Squad #23-26, Manhunter Vol. 1 #17 -19, Firestorm Vol. 2 #98-100, Secret Origins #20, Hawk and Dove #22-24, Hacker Files #5-6, Black Canary #10, Showcase ’94 #12 , Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear #1, Catwoman #36, Gotham Knights #43-44, Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1 -4, Nightwing #45-46, Birds of Prey #20-25, 52 #34, Oracle: The Cure #1-3, Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle #1, DC First: Batgirl/Joker #1, Joker: Devil’s Advocate, Rush City (2006) #0-6 and Task Force Z #8.
Batgirl: Cassandra Cain, Vol. 1 (of 2) (2000 – & on)
As one of the main wranglers of the poll, I can let you know that during the voting last year this book was back and forth with Batman by Tom King Vol. 1 until the final days of the poll, when it landed firmly at #2.
That’s right, this book is in as high demand as Batman by Tom King.
I don’t think many modern fans realize just how long Cassandra Cain served as the main Batgirl before being rebranded as Orphan. It was an entire decade from her debut to the end of her second series! For many fans and readers, she is the definitive Batgirl they grew up with.
These volumes would begin to collect Batgirl (2000) #1-73 & Annual 1, Batgirl Secret Files and Origins (2002) #1, Batgirl (2008) #1-6, and maybe also her first appearance in Batman (1940) #567 and other lead-in material.
Batgirl: Stephanie Brown (2009 – 2011)
Now known as “Spoiler,” Stephanie Brown took over the title of Batgirl after the “Battle for the Cowl” crossover in the wake of Batman’s apparent death.
This would collect Batgirl (2009) #1-24 and material from Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes (2011) #1. It could also include some establishing material, like her first appearance in Detective Comics (1937) #647, her brief run as Robin in Robin (1993) #126-128, and appearances in Batgirl (2000) #53, Detective Comics (1937) #796, and Teen Titans (2003) #13.
Batgirl: Barbara Gordon, The Rebirth Omnibus by Larson, Scott, & Castellucci (2016 – 2020)
This would collect all of Barbara Gordon’s Rebirth-era solo series, a straight 5o-issue with no crossovers by three writers – Hope Larson, Mairghread Scott, and Cecil Castellucci. Her Birds of Prey series will be addressed separately in an upcoming DC Teams post!
This would collect Batgirl (2016) #1-50 & Annual 1-2.
Batgirls by Cloonan & Conrad (2021 – 2023)
This series was a lot of fun! It united all three Batgirls, with Orphan and Spoiler out in the field with Barbara Gordon as their roommate and coach as Oracle.
This would collect establishing back-ups from Batman (2015) #115-117 and Batgirls (2021) #1-19 & Annual 1/2022.
Birds of Prey Omnibus Mapping
Birds of Prey will finally notch their first omnibus this year with Birds of Prey by Gail Simone! That’s not a huge surprise given Gail Simone’s visibility right now as one of the main writers of the X-Men line and seeing the results of last year’s poll, where it was #10!
However, we only have half of Simone’s material collected, and even the Chuck Dixon material that precedes it remains a fan-favorite to this day. See Guide to Birds of Prey for all of the non-omnibus options for collecting this material.
Birds of Prey by Chuck Dixon Vol. 1 (1996 & on) [starts from pre-BoP material; Vol. 2 could include Moore & Hernandez]
Now that we see where the Gail Simone omnibus begins (with issue #56), it seems increasingly obvious this will need to be two books rather than just one. The core Birds of Prey issues alone is 46 issues of material, which says nothing of the Dixon comics that lead to the series.
That’s actually a good thing, since it means we won’t need to skimp on any establishing one-shots or sideline series, but also that we can likely include a brief interstitial period from issues #47-55 to collect that doesn’t really fit anywhere. It was written by a pair of indie all-stars, Terry Moore from #47-49 and Gilbert Hernandez from #50-55.
This would collect (in this order) Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey (1996) #1, material from Showcase ’96 (1996) #3, Birds of Prey: Manhunt (1996) #1-4, Birds of Prey: Revolution (1997) #1, Birds of Prey: Wolves (1997) #1, Birds of Prey: Batgirl (1998) #1, Birds of Prey: The Ravens (1998) #1, and Birds of Prey (1999) #1-46, plus a crossover with Nightwing (1996) #45-46.
Then, it would add another 12 issues from before Gail Simone took over: Birds of Prey (1999) #47-55, Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman (2003) #1, Birds of Prey: Catwoman/Oracle (2003) #1, and Birds of Prey Secret Files 2003 (2003) #1.
Birds of Prey by Gail Simone Vol. 1 fits here.
Birds of Prey by Simone, Bedard, & McKeever (2006 – 2011) [follows Simone, continues to 2010 series]
Last year on the poll we thought a Gail Simone omnibus could run until issue #108. Instead, it stopped at 90 – a lot earlier.
We still have a run that could fit into one omnibus. The problem comes with how squirrelly DC is about their creator-named omnibuses. If they really release a “by Gail Simone Vol. 2” then there’s a strong chance it will skip over the material that followed Simone’s run that was penned by Tony Bedard, but also with Sean McKeever (on #113-117). Instead, the book could jump right from issues #91-108 to Simone’s brief relaunch of the title in 2010.
Quite frankly, that would suck. Serious omnibus collectors do not like when DC gets petty about creator names in omnibus titles in a way that leads to abandoning issues. A lot of fans won’t touch those books, which makes it doubly painful when a Volume 1 is mapped perfectly and then a Volume 2 jumps around.
On this poll we never hope for DC to be terrible, even though that might be the case. So, this maps the book as it should be mapped. And, guess what – the omnibus could absolutely fit the remaining 37 issues of the original series with the scant 15 issues of Simone’s return. Just do it, DC.
This would collect Birds of Prey (1999) #91-127 and Birds of Prey (2010) #1-15.
Birds of Prey: The New 52 Omnibus by Swierczynski & Marx (2011 – 2015) [could include Katana (2013)]
This would include t the entirety of New 52 Birds of Prey, as well as perhaps the short-lived Katana series of the same period, since she is a co-star on the team.
This would collect Birds of Prey (2011) #1-34, 0, & Birds of Prey: Futures End (2014) #1, as well as all of Katanna (2013) #1-10.
Birds of Prey: Black Canary & Batgirl (2015 – 2018) [Black Canary solo material & Rebirth Birds of Prey]
After seeing the results of last year’s poll, we merged two brief proposed omnibuses into a single volume.
This starts with a slim collection of Black Canary material from the end of New 52. Then, it adds all of the Batgirl & The Birds of Prey Rebirth series, which is slight to collect on its own.
This would collect Black Canary (2015) #1-12, Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell (2015) OGN (~6 issues of material), and material from Black Canary: DC Sneak Peek (2015) #1, Convergence: Blue Beetle (2015) #2, and Gotham Academy (2015) #17.
Then, it would add the full run of Batgirl & the Birds of Prey (2016) Rebirth & #1-22
It’s too soon to speculate on collecting Kelly Thompson’s run on Birds of Prey (2023), which has just crossed the 20-issue mark.
Black Canary Omnibus Mapping
Black Canary has made her fair share of omnibus appearances, both alongside Green Arrow and now in Birds of Prey by Gail Simone. However, she has a significant amount of solo material that could also be collected in omnibus… if only the demand was there.
Black Canary, The Early Years (1947 – 1972)
Golden Age Black Canary made her first appearance in Flash Comics (1940) #86 in August 1947. That Black Canary is actually a different Black Canary than the one we know today – Dinah Drake-Lance, the Earth-Two version of the mother of the modern Dinah Laurel Lance!
This would start by collecting the same Golden Age material as the Black Canary DC Archives – Flash Comics (1940) #86-104, Comic Cavalcade (1942) #25, followed by Silver Age material from the Archives from The Brave and the Bold (1955) #61-62, DC Special (1968) #3, and Adventure Comics (1938) #399 & 418-419. To that, I’d also add panels from her first Silver Age appearance from The Flash (1959) #129.
From there, we could optionally leap to the introduction of her daughter – the Silver Age Black Canary! She makes her first appearance in Justice League of America (1960) #75 in 1969 and teams up with Batman in The Brave and the Bold (1955) #91 in 1970. However, after just a handful of guest appearances not with Green Arrow, she mostly appears in the same comics as him from 1973 to Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985).
Green Arrow & Black Canary, The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1973 & on) [follows Green Arrow/Green Lantern omni]
Starting in 1973, Black Canary appears alongside Green Arrow in almost every one of her appearances. However, Green Arrow is up to a lot in the three years prior to this book – including his iconic appearances in Green Lantern / Green Arrow, where Black Canary sometimes shows up! Because of that, I think it makes sense to start this cleanly in 1973, leaving any other early Silver Age Black Canary material in the prior volume.
After Green Arrow’s run in Green Lantern, he appears in back-up stories in 19 issues of Action Comics (1938) #421, 424, 426, 428, 431, 434, 436-437, 440-441, 443-446, 450-452, & 457-458 (Feb 1973 – Apr 1976), continued adventures in 10 issues of The Brave and the Bold (1955) #106, 114, 117, 129-130, 136, 144, 168, 174, & 185, in regular back-ups with Black Canary in 42 issues of World’s Finest Comics (1941) #244-284 & 286 (May 1977 – Dec 1982), and then immediately into back-up stories in 46 issues of Detective Comics (1937) #521-525 & 527-567, during which he is also in Green Arrow (1983) #1-4 by Mike Barr.
That’s 111 issues – three omnibuses, right? Not really, because almost all of these are back-up features, aside from full-issue team-ups with Batman in The Brave and the Bold and Arrow’s mini-series! Without digging through each of these comics individually, I suspect this would come out to two volumes.
Black Canary, The Post-Crisis Omnibus (1988 – 1996) [Collects to the start of Birds of Prey]
After Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), Black Canary has several featured runs prior to the start of Birds of Prey, Since this weighs in at close to 20 issues of material, I don’t know if it would make sense to append it to a Birds of Prey omnibus – I think it could stand on its own.
This would collectSecret Origins (1986) #14, featured stories in Action Comics [Weekly] (1938) #609-616 & 624-635 by Sharon Wright, then Black Canary (1991) #1-4 and Black Canary (1993) #1-12 (all by Sarah Byam), plus some material from Mike Grell’s Green Arrow and anthology stories (such as Justice League Quarterly and Showcase ’96 (1996) #2-3, which then transitions us into Birds of Prey).
Birds of Prey begins here and runs through the Gail Simone omnibus before Black Canary departs.
Green Arrow & Black Canary by Winick & Kreisberg (2007 – 2010)
From a Birds of Prey perspective, this spins out of issue #100 but doesn’t primarily occur until after issue #109.
This would collect wedding-related stories from Birds of Prey (1999) #109, Black Canary (2007) #1-4, Black Canary Wedding Planner (2007) #1, Green Arrow (2001) #75, and Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special #1 (AKA Justice League Wedding Special (2007) #1). Then, it would continue to collect Green Arrow / Black Canary (2007) #1-29 and Green Arrow (2010) #30-32, and the “Rise and Fall” story (Green Arrow [I] (2010) #31-32, Justice League of America (2006) #43, Titans (2008) #23, Justice League: The Rise & Fall Special (2010) #1, and Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal (2010) #1-4).
Coming in right around 40 issues, this could also have room for the much-reviled Justice League Cry for Justice (2009) #1-7 and Faces of Evil: Prometheus (2009) #1.
Black Canary, The New 52 Omnibus (2011 – 2016)
That doesn’t sound like much, but the graphic novel was the equivalent of six issues, which makes this just long enough to be an omnibus!
This would collect Black Canary (2015) #1-12, Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell (2015) OGN (~6 issues of material), and material from Black Canary: DC Sneak Peek (2015) #1, Convergence: Blue Beetle (2015) #2, and Gotham Academy (2015) #17.
I think you could make a valid argument that this ought to be merged with Birds of Prey & Batgirl: The Rebirth Omnibus (2016 – 2018) for the sake of having a better shot at selling a Black Canary themed omnibus, and you wouldn’t be wrong! However, since it’s a solo run followed by a team run each by different creators, we’ve mapped them separately.
Birds of Prey: Black Canary & Batgirl (2015 – 2018) [Black Canary solo material & Rebirth Birds of Prey]
This would collect Black Canary’s year-long New 52 series, plus a Paul Dini & Joe Quinones original graphic novel before continuing to Batgirl & The Birds of Prey (2016), which is slight to collect on its own.
This would collect Black Canary (2015) #1-12, Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell (2015) OGN (~6 issues of material), and material from Black Canary: DC Sneak Peek (2015) #1, Convergence: Blue Beetle (2015) #2, and Gotham Academy (2015) #17.
Then, it would add the full run of Batgirl & the Birds of Prey (2016) Rebirth & #1-22
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