It's hardcover. It's reportedly 1,152 pages. It retails, before discounts, for $150. It's the long-awaited Infinite Crisis Omnibus.
* Infinite Crisis Omnibus
When DC announced the equally-massive, equally-expensive DC Comics: The New 52 collection of all 52 of their new first issues, I for one wondered if it would have any takers. Obviously it did well, though, because here comes another, almost of the same size and at the same price -- the Infinite Crisis Omnibus.
I applaud DC for this. As opposed to the DC: New 52 hardcover, which I thought would be a funny reading experience, this overstuffed omnibus is an opportunity to collect Infinite Crisis right. If you consider the book has space for almost 52 issues to work with, that would mean they could include Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the four lead-in miniseries (Omac Project, Day of Vengeance, Rann-Thanagar War, and Villains United), each miniseries' respective special, Superman: Sacrifice, JLA: Crisis of Conscience, and the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. That would be an epic, epic reading experience, and a great collection for anyone reading Infinite Crisis for the first time.
This also explains why DC might have collected Final Crisis in an Absolute edition, given that the most relevant parts only consist of five to ten issues or less, whereas Infinite Crisis is a much more sprawling story.
(Now, the fact that DC is collecting this story in this manner even though it's absolutely, entirely out-of-continuity ... well, we'll talk about that below.)
* Superman - Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel
* Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt
* Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection
* Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill
* Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls
* Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 1: Faces of Death
* Batman: The Dark Knight Vol. 1: Knight Terrors
* Batwing Vol. 1: The Lost Kingdom
* Batwoman Vol. 1: Hydrology
* Catwoman Vol. 1: The Game
* Deathstroke Vol. 1: Legacy
* Demon Knights Vol. 1: Seven Against the Dark
* Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Vol. 1: War of the Monsters
* Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Midas Touch
* Green Lantern Vol. 1: Sinestro
* Grifter Vol. 1: Most Wanted
* Hawk and Dove Vol. 1: First Strikes
* Justice League International Vol.1: The Signal Masters
* Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 1: Hostile World
* Men of War Vol. 1: Uneasy Company
* Mister Terrific Vol. 1: Mind Games
* O.M.A.C. Vol. 1: Omactivate!
* Red Lanterns Vol. 1: Blood and Rage
* Resurrection Man Vol. 1: Dead Again
* Stormwatch Vol. 1: The Dark Side
* Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth
* Superboy Vol. 1: Incubation
* Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones
* Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Blood
As you know, DC announced their collection plans for the New 52 books a few weeks ago, but now they're coming available for order. What caught my eye here is that the books, every one of them, appear to have subtitles attached, which they did not in DC's original notice.
Granted I have not read Judd Winick's Catwoman yet, and want to try to give it as fair a shot as possible, but the cynical among us will appreciate these two blurbs that DC included on the promotional cover for the new Catwoman collection:
"Judd Winick is bringing Catwoman back to basics starting in September." -- MTV Geek
"One of the men leading the charge for this new era of DC is writer Judd Winick." -- Complex Magazine
From the "you say it best when you say nothing at all" department.
* Challengers of the Unknown Omnibus by Jack Kirby
* Showcase Presents Rip Hunter, Time Master Vol. 1
* Showcase Presents Showcase Vol. 1
With Challengers making headlines again, under Dan DiDio's pen no less, a Challengers hardcover in the Jack Kirby Omnibus style seems a safe bet. I'm glad to see Rip Hunter getting a nod with a Showcase Presents collection, despite that the character doesn't seem to exist in the New 52 (or does he?). And it's probably too much for me to hope that Showcase Presents Showcase is a collection of the Showcase '93 through Showcase '96 series; instead it's probably the 1950s book.
* Batman: Knightfall Vol. 2: Knightquest
* Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 3
That this first collection is called "Knightquest" specifically means that it collects the previously uncollected second "act" of the "Knightfall" storyline, right? If so, that's another one that fans have awaited for a while, and I'm glad to see it. I skimmed the first new No Man's Land collection in a comics shop the other day, and it's just astounding to see Azrael issues in there; here's the third volume right on track.
* Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga Vol. 2
* Secret Society of Super-Villains Vol. 2
* Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors
The first Secret Society of Super-Villains collection was supposed to contain the team's entire publication history, including the Secret Society series, Justice League, and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade appearances, but only actually contained the first ten issue of the series and a couple of other appearances. Probably this second volume collects the rest and ends it there.
Quite glad to see Infinity, Inc. getting a second volume; this was one of my personal most-wished-for trades and I'm pleased to own it, but the titular "Generations Saga" actually goes to issue #10 (the first trade collected to issue #4); I'm glad DC won't leave this "incomplete."
Glad to see Wonder Woman getting some collection attention here. "Twelve Labors" is the 1970s storyline that followed Wonder Woman's mod Diana Prince look, returning her to her earlier appearance -- an interesting analogue to today, where Wonder Woman has recently been Diana Price again but no longer seems to be in the New 52.
* Hitman Vol. 7: Closing Time
* JLA Vol. 2
* T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Vol. 2
I was under the impression DC has stopped collecting Hitman, but browsing my local comics shop shelves, I believe its the case the one volume was cancelled and resolicited, and these collections continue as planned. Closing Time ought be the last volume.
There was some controversy over the last paperback deluxe JLA reprint, in that it contained additional issues not collected in the similar JLA hardcover. Remains to be seen if the same will be true here.
I remarked the other day how much DC seems to be behind THUNDER Agents, despite that the book seems to be struggling to find an audience. A recent reprint collection of old THUNDER Agents issues was cancelled; here, however, DC is advance soliciting a collection of the current THUNDER Agents miniseries.
* Batman: Prey
* Green Lantern/Green Arrow
* Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore
* World's Finest
A couple of reprints I can't figure out here -- Batman: Prey by Doug Moench; Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore both by Dennis O'Neil; and World's Finest by Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude. The last, especially, is one of my all-time favorites, but were any of these so topical or in-demand as to warrant reprints.
* Brightest Day Vol. 2
* Batman: Bruce Wayne - The Road Home
* Batman: The Streets of Gotham - The House of Hush
* Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Endrun
* First Wave
* Green Lantern: Brightest Day
* Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit
* Legion Lost
* Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Odyssey
And then these really had me scratching my head -- paperback collections of a number of series severely out of continuity at this point. The Batman and Green Lantern books I understand, and even Legion Lost is a "new classic," but will anyone be picking up a paperback Wonder Woman: Odyssey, an essentially-Elseworlds story from a bygone continuity? Will there be many takers for Birds of Prey or Gotham City Sirens? For First Wave, for gosh sakes, a noir line otherwise already cancelled?!
I've got all the Infinite Crisis issues already, but I'm already thinking whether that Infinite Crisis Omnibus will be at the top of next year's recommended gift list. So what's caught your attention? What'll you be signing up to pre-order?
(We're getting started with our Flashpoint review week tomorrow -- don't miss it!)
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