New Releases

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 22 2024

May 19, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 21st new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics May 22 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday May 21 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 15 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: Waid’s World’s Finest, oversize Fables, House of Brainiac continues, JL vs Godzilla vs Kong concludes, Taylor’s final Nightwing arc begins, Joker’s best friend, Constantine’s road trip continues, many WebToons in physical format, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

DC Comics May 22 2024 Collected Editions

Barkham Asylum
(2024 digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1779505002 / digital)
This is a non-continuity OGN aimed at 8-12 year-old readers about Joker’s dog Jester being locked up in the pet equivalent of Arkham Asylum. Can this bad dog find a good streak, or is he doomed to heed the call of his villainous master? It sounds silly but super-cute! I might try to get it from the library for Kid Krisis.

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 4
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779526915)
Speaking of non-continuity Batman adventures, this volume continues to collect the hit non-continuity WebToon about the extended BatFamily. Y’all know it is an enduring mystery to me why anyone reads non-continuity stories, but I hear from many friends that this is a fun book!

Perhaps the popularity of this run is a part of why every single one of DC’s major heroes are currently leading their own families of characters of every age, gender, and sexual orientation (which is a big part of what I love about DC right now).

DC Pride: Love and Justice
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525918 / digital)
This anthology of anthologies claims to collect all of DC Pride (2021) #1, plus selected (or all?) stories (presumably all from LGBTQA* characters) from Mysteries of Love in Space (2019) #1, New Year’s Evil (2019) #1, and Young Monsters in Love (2018) #1.

The real mystery in space is trying to figure how how and where DC collects all of these stories from single issue anthologies into collections, often years after the fact!

Batman: Black Mirror The Deluxe Edition
(2024 deluxe hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525895 / digital)
A brand new deluxe hardcover of Scott Snyder’s first major foray into Batman from just prior to Pre-Flashpoint with artists Jock and Francesco Francavilla, which is certainly a factor in what landed him his iconic New 52 Batman run! [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 22 2024

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 22 2024

May 18, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 21st new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics May 22 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 15 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: Gang War collected, Spencer Cap in omnibus, Blood Hunt continues, Fall of the House of X concludes, She-Hulk’s space vacay takes a turn. Immortal Thor fights a PR war, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Marvel Comics May 22 2024 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 9: Gang War
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302954604 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (2018 – Present). This collects all of the core of the Gang War story from Amazing Spider-Man (2022). While there were a lot of tie-ins to this story, the plots in books like Spider-Woman and Luke Cage didn’t really drive the plot.

The Avengers Epic Collection: The Evil Reborn
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302955236 / digital)
See Guide to Avengers (1963 – 1996). This Epic collects several different authors writing a year on either side of Avengers (1963) #200, including George Pérez! The initial burst of this has been collected in the past as “Heart of Stone,” but otherwise this material has only ever been in Marvel Masterworks!

Also, it includes the intensely problematic issue #200, which Chris Claremont immediately rebuked with his all-time classic introduction of Rogue in Annual 10 – also in this book!

Captain America by Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 2
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1302953706 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This collects the conclusion of Nick Spencer’s two-year, multi-title run on Captain American across Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers, and the Secret Empire event.

However, this isn’t a “Secret Empire Omnibus” – it only includes the core 12 issues of the event. I’ll be very curious to hear about the reading order of this turns out, since it’s all by Spencer and he certainly wrote it in a specific reading order. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 22 2024

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 15 2024

May 10, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 20th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics May 15 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday May 14 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 8 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: all-new iconic Superman villains, an all-in Justice League omnibus, best-ever Poison Ivy, Blue Beetle swings big, Outsiders after the reveal, the House of Brainiac continues, Batman & Dylan Dog concludes, Hal reunites with the Corps, and more!

DC Comics May 15 2024 Collected Editions

Adventures of Superman: George Pérez
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525871/ digital)
See Guide to Action Comics (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present) or Guide to Superman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present). This collects George Pérez’s work on Superman from two different transitional periods – from Action Comics in 1989 just after the year of “Action Comics Weekly” (and just before the Triangle Era), and his launch of Superman (2011) for DC New 52.

The late-80s material is much more compelling, but it’s just starting to be covered in omnibus right now – so the only reason to pick this up is if you’re a major George Pérez fan rather than a huge Super-fan.

Batman: Fortress
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525086 / digital)
DC’s solicit text calls this Gary Whitta & Darick Robertson mini-series an “Elsewords-style” story about Batman breaking into the Fortress of Solitude, which means it’s not in current DC continuity.

As a result, I haven’t caught up on this one – but I’ve seen it savaged by fans online. While we should all make up our own minds (when do I ever agree with fans online?), there’s also a surplus of fantastic Batman material right now – both in and out of continuity. For an easy-to-pick up Batman series, check out my rapturous reaction to Batman / Dylan Dog (2023), below.

Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525642)
See Guide to Justice League. This isn’t just an International omnibus, it’s a dream League omnibus. That’s because as this omnibus line has pressed on past the initial run of Justice League International it has collected everything Justice League in the Post-Crisis era. It collects Justice League America (1989), Justice League Europe (1989), and Justice League Quarterly (1990).

This volume adds some 00s era material by Keith Giffen, John Dematteis, & Kevin Maguire, which makes me slightly nervous this is a final volume. Fingers crossed that DC keeps up this all-in omnibus line – you can see the mapping in my Justice League Omnibus Mapping post from earlier this week!

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: Marvel Comics – May 15 2024

May 9, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 20th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics May 15 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 8 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: a Hickman/Greene Doom one-shot, Gillen says farewell to hope, original Marvel Apes, an adamantium-free Wolverine omnibus, an “Oops All Wolverines” conclusion, and more!

Here’s a wild statistic that speaks to the mess that is Marvel’s publishing strategy at the moment – out of 14 comics out this week, only three are issues from ongoing series.

Marvel Comics May 15 2024 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Assassin Nation
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957902 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (1963 – 2018). This is a reprint of the Epic collecting a very fun 1989 run of Spider-Man just after his initial confrontations with Venom and just before the true excesses of the 90s kick in on his title.

Astonishing Iceman: Out Cold
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952495 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa (2019 – 2024). Iceman seemingly died in the Hellfire Gala, but this Steve Orlando series brings him back!

I never enjoyed enjoyed Iceman’s previous 2017 and 2018 solo turns by Sina Grace, which made him out to be the most generic 20-something American gay guy you could imagine without any connection to who he was as a character. This Steve Orlando take is a little more interesting – focusing on how Bobby’s death may have actually taught him something about his capabilities, both as a mutant and as a person. Plus, interiors artist Vincenzo Carratú is well on his way to becoming one of the next big things at Marvel!

This is a book you can enjoy as an Iceman fan without having to be fully engaged in the Fall of X, and it’s one of the better uses of him as a character throughout all of the Krakoa era.

Captain America Epic Collection: Bucky Reborn
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957858 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This volume follows Cap out of the 60s and into the 70s as his title becomes a bit more socially conscious of current events of the day – plus, it begins to regularly star The Falcon as his regular sidekick! This is a good place to dip your toes into classic Cap if early Silver Age stories feel a bit too generic for you.

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 8 2024

May 4, 2024 by krisis

It’s the 18th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics May 8 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday May 7 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 1 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: spotlight on Steel, the mystery of Birds of Prey, the end of Poison Ivy begins, Zod lost in space, Shazam gets silly again, a massive Dick (Grayson) Compendium, and more!

DC Comics May 8 2024 Collected Editions

52 Volume One
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525857 / digital)
See Guide to DC Universe Events – Trinity, 52, and One Year Later. This is a straight reprint of a 2016 recollection of this 52-issue weekly anthology series that collected exactly half of its run.

The 52 (2006) series was a delightful sampler platter of slightly more obscure DC heroes, who would largely disappear from view from 2011-2020. If you enjoy the idea of a grab-bag of smaller DC characters operating in a vacuum where Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman won’t be saving the day, this is for you.

Nightwing: A Knight in Blüdhaven Compendium Book One
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525864)
See Guide to Nightwing. Ah, the DC collected editions “strategy” strikes again. DC is rolling out these 1,000-page hulks of paperback collections with 40-ish issues each. Great way to collect huge swaths of DC’s endless catalog in a uniform format, right? These massive doorstops could cruise across all of DC’s major superhero title lines, and even the hugest ones like Action/Superman and Detective/Batman could be knocked out over time if DC kept at it. And, single title heroes like Nightwing could be totally collected in just 4-5 volumes.

Well, at the same time DC are also rolling out their new “DC Finest” line which are effectively DC’s version of Epic Collections. These books are 16-25 issue paperbacks that… do the exact same thing as the Compendiums in a seemingly identical format, just at half the length.

Now we’re all left with a decision. Do we want to buy this Nightwing Compendium, which collects the first third of Pre-Flashpoint solo Nightwing all in one book? Ah, but before you answer, note that Catwoman – a character also in the Batman line with similar scope and length of solo series that crosses over with Batman just as much as Nightwing does – is getting a “DC Finest” trade and not a compendium.

Basically: DC’s strategy doesn’t make a lick of sense.

What would make more sense is using compendiums to knock through runs that could never be collected completely in 20-issue chunks – namely, Pre-Crisis Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age. Then, use the “DC Finest” line for everything Post-Crisis – a much smaller scope than Marvel’s Epic Collection is covering.

Alas, we already have DC Finest collections announced for Golden and Silver material, and Compendiums announced for the 90s and 00s. It looks like these two formats will be competing with each other, sometimes within the same line or even across the same titles. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 8 2024