DC trades worth checking out!

[Will.S]

Lately I've been meaning to build a nice library of top notch DC trades/hardcover editions and looking through the trade sections at my LCS I had found a few gems that are definitely worth a look. Just so you know (for those scared of DC continuity) these are really accessible books that have self contained stories or stories that will carry onto other trades such as with the Question. So you can just dip right in and start reading them with no problem.

Anyway moving onwards:

1. Sword of the Atom by Jan Strnad and Gil Kane

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/145/soaresml0.jpg

So far I'm up to the second chapter of this story but man is this amazingly well done! It's an adventure story of the Atom falling into a small jungle world minus the advantage of his growing/shrinking powers (which come back eventually) and trying to help out a stranded alien tribe against their ruler. Highly compelling and Gil Kane's art is simply incredible; it's clean, detailed and full of motion. It's actually not too far off from Neal Adams style of art.

Now I was already familiar with Ray Palmer prior to Identity Crisis but IC basically put him on the map more than ever before. Lately I've been enjoying his portrayal throughout Countdown. I also believe there was a follow-up to this in Gail Simone's new Atom but I'm not sure if it was actually good or not so if it's any good please let me know.

2. Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7026/challsreni3uk1.jpg

I'm sure you've seen these guys in at least one of your DC books whether it be the newer Chaykin take, New Frontier, or in the current Brave and the Bold book. Take it from me, before Darwyne Cookie's take on them in New Frontier I was not a big fan of these characters at all. But somehow this book as able to bring me into their world and experience these characters in a very unique situation.

From the start of the book I honestly couldn't tell Rocky apart from Red or the Professor but by the end of the book their personalities are laid out clearly and from unique points of view. I particularly enjoyed Ace Morgan's whole personal journey the most, there are also a ton of gags that are obviously referencing Marvel characters or places that some people might find to be a bit much but are fun nonetheless. Another big draw of the book was Tim Sale's art and it looked fantastic even back then.

The colors are more flatter than they look in the Marvel color books and his style looks a bit like Joe Kubert meets Will Eisner at times (which is the best complement I can give an artist) but he still has his great trademark art style. This trade might possibly be out of print since I hadn't seen many more on the shelf and I probably grabbed the last one but if you can find it don't pass it up.

3. The Question: Zen and Violence by Dennis O'Neil and Denys Cowan

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1804/questionrevv1.jpg

Having loved what Greg Rucka did with the Question and Renee Montoya in 52, I was curious as hell about the material that had influenced Greg and so many other writers.

Having read this book, I saw all the great traits that made the Question into who he was during 52 as Vic grows into a wiser and tougher character here. Vic has a small but good supporting cast and his enemies are ruthless SOB's with shady/disturbing backgrounds. There's a small guest appearance by a familiar character we all know as well as another female character who kicks Vic's ass pretty badly.

Denys Cowan's art is very fitting of the grittier/noir look of the book and looks great. I would very much recommend this book to fans of the current Crime Bible books, the 52 series parts of Vic and Renee, or fans of noir/street level stuff that isn't always Batman or Robin or Nightwing.

Any opinions or further comments of the trades listed above or on my "Next books on my list" would be greatly appreciated.

Next books on my list:

Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich by Keith Giffen and Simon Bisely
Batgirl: Year One by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, and Marcos Martin
Green Lantern Green/Arrow by Dennis O'Neal and Neal Adams

[mgs]

nice selection. :)

I don't believe I've even seen those before, nevermind knew they existed! Oh, and for your next list. I HIGHLY recommend that Batgirl trade. That team was fabulous! :)

[Libaax]

Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale ?

How old is this book ? How could i miss this, i thought i had seen everything they had done together.

Im a big fan of Sale's art and like what he and Loeb has done together in the future.

[rZi]

Secret Identity!

[Will.S]

nice selection. :)

I don't believe I've even seen those before, nevermind knew they existed! Oh, and for your next list. I HIGHLY recommend that Batgirl trade. That team was fabulous! :)
Yeah it took an active search on my part for the Challengers & Question trades having heard of them in various podcasts. Bendis recomended and even wrote the introduction to the Challengers one and I think I heard on the Greg Rucka debrief with John Siuntres about the Dennis O'Neil Question trade being released.

Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale ?

How old is this book ? How could i miss this, i thought i had seen everything they had done together.

Im a big fan of Sale's art and like what he and Loeb has done together in the future.
This particular trade came out in 2004, this may very well be out of print but it shouldn't be THAT hard to find either. And yeah this is the FIRST Loeb/Sale collaboration, it's astonishing how well they hit it off on their first try together.

Secret Identity!
That'll be next on my list as well.

[Rob H]

Subscribed. I've been looking to get back into the trades. Thanks.

[Will.S]

Subscribed. I've been looking to get back into the trades. Thanks.
Cool, tell me what you think when you nab them!

[DonEMC]

Check out the two Plastic Man trade paperbacks by Kyle Baker, who is the best Plastic Man writer and artist, in my opinion.
Any of the Jonah Hex trade paperbacks are great. Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo is great, if you can find it.
Hawkworld in trade paperback was a great read.
As was Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.
Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord was a great trade paperback, but it's no longer in print.
The Deathstroke the Terminator: Full Cycle trade paperback was great and I think is some of Marv Wolfman's best writing. Out of print, though.
But, then again, that doesn't even compare to Marv's New Teen Titans trade paperbacks that reprint several of the major story arcs from his and George Perez's run on that fantastic series.
If you can find Mike Grell's Warlord trade paperback, pick it up.
The Art of Walter Simonson from DC was a good trade paperback that reprinted some of Simonson's best early DC work.
Doom Patrol: Crawling From the Wreckage is brilliant by Grant Morrison and Richard Case. Musclebound is a great trade paperback, too, and it reprints the first appearances of Flex Mentallo.
The Alan Moore Swamp Thing trades are the best, but read the first three if you don't read anything else.
The three Animal Man trade paperbacks written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog are amazing and are true classics.
The Joe Kubert Hawkman trade paperback is the best Hawkman next to Geoff Johns' three Hawkman trade paperbacks. Pick all four up (but the Joe Kubert Hawkman is out of print, so it might be hard to find).
Manhunter by Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson is hard to beat.
Wrath of the Spectre is the best Spectre stories ever by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo.
Batman: Tales of the Demon chronicles Batman's first few clashes with Ra's Al Ghul.
There are countless more I could list, but you should probably start with these.
DonEMC

[DonEMC]

Flash: The Return of Barry Allen is pretty good.

[DonEMC]

Any of the Robin trades are good reads, especially the ones written by Chuck Dixon.

[DonEMC]

And I completely forgot Len Wein and Berni Wrightson's Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis, which reprints Swamp Thing's first appearance in House of Secrets 92 and the Wein/Wrightson issues of the first Swamp Thing series.
The Legion of Super-Heroes trade paperbacks by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen are top notch (Great Darkness Saga and the recent trade paperback that reprinted the first few issues of the Baxter series from the mid-1980s).
And there's a Shadow trade paperback that reprints the 1970s Michael Kaluta Shadow series that I've yet to buy, but it looks great, too...
DonEMC

[kello]

I have to second the love for the Plastic Man trades. They are laugh out loud hilarious!

I would also suggest Batman: Year 100, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, and Batman: Hush volumes I and II.

The older Birds of Prey trades by Chuck Dixon are solid reads too, buy em cheap if you can.

[Will.S]

The three Animal Man trade paperbacks written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog are amazing and are true classics.
I was SO close to getting these:

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4714/animalmantpdo6.jpg

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6043/animalmandemachtpbyj1.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7374/animalmanoftstpbym4.jpg

I loved what Grant did with him in 52 and I like his continuing stories in Countdown to Adventure so these are also on my list.

Your recommendations are actually pretty good DonEMC but I think it'll be a bit better to ease people into a select few trades before tossing out a huge number of trades. If it's cool with you can you give a top 3 out of the ones you listed, a cover image (for identifiability), and why it's worth buying?

Thanks for the input!

[JamesJesse]

This thread has motivated me to get my butt of this couch and go to the bookstore for some of these.

Seriously. Here I go.

[Will.S]

This thread has motivated me to get my butt of this couch and go to the bookstore for some of these.

Seriously. Here I go.
Happy hunting ;)

[Will.S]

Double post.

[DonEMC]

I'm trying to stay away from the obvious DC greats like Watchmen, Dark Knight, Batman: Year One, Golden Age, Crisis on Infinite Earths and all the others that come to mind when we mention DC classics ...
Wrath of the Spectre. It's got unnerving stories by Michael Fleisher and beautiful art by Jim Aparo. These are some really gory stories that show the criminals getting exactly what they deserve.
Showcase Presents Jonah Hex. These are some of Michael Fleisher's best stories. John Albano and Tony DeZuniga created Jonah Hex, but Fleisher made Jonah who he is. These stories are brilliant and changed the way western comics were written and drawn.
Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol. 1 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch. The best Swamp Thing stories ever told. Alan Moore changed comics with The Anatomy Lesson and continued to break new ground on this title.
All of these are still available from DC.
(Not sure how to insert photos of these trade paperbacks, so, sorry)
DonEMC

[Will.S]

(Not sure how to insert photos of these trade paperbacks, so, sorry)
DonEMC
No worries, I'll reformat if for you.

DonEMC recommends:

1. Wrath of the Spectre by Michael Fleisher & Jim Aparo

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2417/wrathspectretpbhh5.jpg

Why: It's got unnerving stories by Michael Fleisher and beautiful art by Jim Aparo. These are some really gory stories that show the criminals getting exactly what they deserve.2. Showcase Presents Jonah Hex

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3559/scasejonahhextpb1df7.jpg

Why: These are some of Michael Fleisher's best stories. John Albano and Tony DeZuniga created Jonah Hex, but Fleisher made Jonah who he is. These stories are brilliant and changed the way western comics were written and drawn.
3. Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol. 1 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5049/sagaswampthingst8.jpg

Why: The best Swamp Thing stories ever told. Alan Moore changed comics with The Anatomy Lesson and continued to break new ground on this title.
All of these are still available from DC.

[Kage Kisaragi]

I just recently started collecting trades (not so much as collecting them for prosperity as for having something to read.)

Teen Titans vol 1 - 7 (I mean the newer one starting with a Kid's Game, I think it was called. The Beast Boy stories were neat in the "not to over the top." type of way.)

Outsiders 1-6 (the Nightwing lead team was more interesting to me, I believe that ended after vol 3. Vol 4 was alright but with Nightwing not leading, and Indy going rogue and having to be killed, the book lost a lot of appeal to me. Also the replacement characters kind of sucked in comparison to the original cast, all these over the top heavy hitters made the book seem to much like the Justice League but more retarded. "Jade, Freddy, and Starfire added nothing dynamic to the team other than the fact they were actually super powerful yet still getting man handled by the teams occasional threats." Jade getting roughed up by Mammoth and Shimmer seemed like a cry ignorance considering she has the powers of a full blown lantern innately. It's like saying Hal Jordan should get punked by Shimmer.

Anyway I'm enjoying the trades non the less. I liked Grace since the minute I saw her, way back before I even bought the trades, and even loved her after that crappy appearances in Amazon's Attack and the first 3 volumes did not disappoint when it came to her.

I need to slow down with the purchasings though, I mean I've must have spent over 200 bucks within the last month on trades.

[PastePotPete]

- The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore is a must-have collection that contains a bunch of stories from the master himself. I'm of the opinion that many of these stories form the foundation of the current DCU. And every story has fantastic artwork! I even liked the Vigilante story.

-For Superman fans, Superman: Birthright is the definitive origin and a fantastic story to boot. See Leinil Yu's beautiful pencils before they got all mussed and rushed in New Avengers. And this one is available in a beautiful glossy hardcover.

I should have majored in marketing. Look how good I am at shilling for DC.

[Nick Tapalansky]

Have to toss the James Robinson Starman collections in here. Beautiful art (oh, those covers...) and being re-released in hardcover. If you haven't read these before, they're must owns. Rivetting story that plants seeds as far back as issue 1 that don't come to fruition until the end of the series, believable and likeable characters (something that can be a rare commodity these days), and a truly moving story througout.

[Will.S]

Have to toss the James Robinson Starman collections in here. Beautiful art (oh, those covers...) and being re-released in hardcover. If you haven't read these before, they're must owns. Rivetting story that plants seeds as far back as issue 1 that don't come to fruition until the end of the series, believable and likeable characters (something that can be a rare commodity these days), and a truly moving story througout.
I keep hearing about Starman and how good it is. When are the hardcovers being re-released?

[Pixie_Solanas]

I am waiting with bated breath for the Starman reissues. And the volumes are huge, from what i've heard. No idea when they're coming out, but they were featured in the Previews a couple of months ago.

[ultimatespyder20]

Green Lantern: Rebirth
Such a great read, and a great way to jump onto the character if you're new to him. Johns does great when it comes to explaining all of the past continuity, and he tells a great story with it. Ethan Van Sciever's art does not hurt either. :D

Green Lantern: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
After you read Rebirth, and you want more GL, pick this book up for a great collection of stories throughout the different decades.

As you can tell, I'm a GL fan.

Alec

[Nick Tapalansky]

I am waiting with bated breath for the Starman reissues. And the volumes are huge, from what i've heard. No idea when they're coming out, but they were featured in the Previews a couple of months ago.

From the DC Press Release back in November:

"DC COMICS TO COLLECT THE COMPLETE STARMAN IN NEW HARDCOVERS

Press Release

STARMAN, the acclaimed DC Universe series created by writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris, will be collected for the first time in hardcover, on high-quality paper, in THE STARMAN OMNIBUS, a series of six volumes beginning in May.

This series will feature new covers by Harris, and will measure 6.75” x 10.25”. Collecting the entire STARMAN series, plus the STARMAN ANNUALS, SECRET FILES, 80-PAGE GIANT, THE SHADE miniseries and much more, these volumes include stories illustrated by Harris, Peter Snejbjerg, Chris Sprouse, J.H. Williams III, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, Guy Davis, Teddy Kristiansen, Lee Weeks and many others, as well as several stories co-written by David Goyer.

Scheduled to reach stores in May, THE STARMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC is a 448 page title collecting STARMAN #0 and 1-16, with a cover price of $49.99 U.S. "

May can't come soon enough...

[dancj]

You don't want those crummy hardcovers. You want the first two trades and the issues making up most of the rest of the series that I've got going up on eBay in a couple of weeks!

[Pixie_Solanas]

From the DC Press Release back in November:

"DC COMICS TO COLLECT THE COMPLETE STARMAN IN NEW HARDCOVERS

Press Release

STARMAN, the acclaimed DC Universe series created by writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris, will be collected for the first time in hardcover, on high-quality paper, in THE STARMAN OMNIBUS, a series of six volumes beginning in May.

This series will feature new covers by Harris, and will measure 6.75” x 10.25”. Collecting the entire STARMAN series, plus the STARMAN ANNUALS, SECRET FILES, 80-PAGE GIANT, THE SHADE miniseries and much more, these volumes include stories illustrated by Harris, Peter Snejbjerg, Chris Sprouse, J.H. Williams III, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, Guy Davis, Teddy Kristiansen, Lee Weeks and many others, as well as several stories co-written by David Goyer.

Scheduled to reach stores in May, THE STARMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC is a 448 page title collecting STARMAN #0 and 1-16, with a cover price of $49.99 U.S. "

May can't come soon enough...

Holy crap, I just creamed my shorts with that news.

[4thHorseman]

Picked up the TPB of 52 vol 1 yesterday (going to try and get the tpbs even if I have all the issues), and also Batman vs Predator. Looked through it, seemed ok, and it was cheap.

[Nick Tapalansky]

Holy crap, I just creamed my shorts with that news.

That was pretty much your only recourse. Nobody judges you.

You don't want those crummy hardcovers. You want the first two trades and the issues making up most of the rest of the series that I've got going up on eBay in a couple of weeks!

Ha! Nice try - I've already got all the trades I need to unload on some rube...er...sap...uh....yeah.

[Will.S]

Ok so can someone give me the top 3 reasons why I should pick up Starman?

I've never read about the character outside of the one appearing in JSA (which isn't the same one from what I see).

[Matt K]

Ok so can someone give me the top 3 reasons why I should pick up Starman?

I've never read about the character outside of the one appearing in JSA (which isn't the same one from what I see).

#1) Extremely well written characters (All of them are fully fleshed out to the point where you actually care about them)

#2) It tells a wonderful full story (Each story is extremely well written and most tie back into the grand finale of the book)

#3)Character growth (Each character actually grows as the book progresses which in and of itself is a rarity these days)

#4) It is one of the best books/story I ever read (including prose).

[Nick Tapalansky]

#1) Extremely well written characters (All of them are fully fleshed out to the point where you actually care about them)

#2) It tells a wonderful full story (Each story is extremely well written and most tie back into the grand finale of the book)

#3)Character growth (Each character actually grows as the book progresses which in and of itself is a rarity these days)

#4) It is one of the best books/story I ever read (including prose).

I wish I could add to this (and way to go for 4 - I dunno if I could've kept myself to a top 3 either) but you've covered everything.

Of course, there is the almost always successful artwork that truly brings the world to live. And oh, those covers...

[Will.S]

Of course, there is the almost always successful artwork that truly brings the world to live. And oh, those covers...
I was going through the book at the trade area of my comics shop and some of the art looked like a mixed bag. Some of it looked great while the other half wasn't as good looking, especially with garish 90's era colors. I hope they re-master them or improve them when it comes to the newer trades but otherwise I'm definitely going to check them out.

Right now I'm really getting into Swamp thing and thanks to DonEMC's recommendation I've gotten the first trade of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5049/sagaswampthingst8.jpg

Man this is such a beautiful cover and the art inside is eerily gorgeous. Steven Bissette and John Totleben have a really detailed style that's line heavy in all the right ways. I LOOOOVE their version of Swamp Thing, he looks much more terrifying and very much like an organic plant.

Anyway I'm up to the Jason Blood story and Saga of the Swamp so far is VERY good. Alan takes a different approach to Swamp Thing's origins which is very interesting although I will say that I liked the Len Wein/Wrightson version a bit more because his humanity was more at the forefront. The use of Jason Woodrue and the JLA was amazingly well done. Jason works great as a narrative character that we get to know more about as the story moves along even if someone didn't have previous knowledge of him (which I didn't have prior to this). The JLA are also used in a neat and unobtrusive manner but their presence is definitely felt. I liked how they had to deal with a threat this large but it was up to Swamp Thing to deal with it and he didn't even need to beat him with his hands.

The only unfortunate thing is that DC/Vertigo for some reason keeps printing this stuff on cheapo paper, I really just don't understand this. I'd rather they put it on mid to high glossy paper (similar to the Marvel trades or Premier Hardcovers) and dish out the extra cash. Nonetheless this is highly enjoyable stuff, the books are very hard to put down!

BTW even though the Alan Moore book stands on it's own rather well, I'd still recommend getting this book:

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3412/350pxswampthingdarkgenero5.jpg

It's basically Swamp Thing's origin and the cast that you see in Moore's run is first seen and introduced here such as with Matt Cable and Abigail Arcane so it provides a great base. You also see some of the early villain characters in Moore's "Saga of the Swamp" when Swamp Thing gave up his humanity and goes into the zany dream scape where he merges with the swamp. They're those ethereal ghosts around Alec.

It also has a guest appearance by Batman in his older era where he wasn't quite as serious as he is now which was very interesting and fun at the same time.

[HaroldAllnut]

Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale ?

How old is this book ? How could i miss this, i thought i had seen everything they had done together.

Im a big fan of Sale's art and like what he and Loeb has done together in the future.

I concur. When did this come out?

[HaroldAllnut]

Ok so can someone give me the top 3 reasons why I should pick up Starman?

#1) Extremely well written characters (All of them are fully fleshed out to the point where you actually care about them)

#2) It tells a wonderful full story (Each story is extremely well written and most tie back into the grand finale of the book)

#3)Character growth (Each character actually grows as the book progresses which in and of itself is a rarity these days)

#4) It is one of the best books/story I ever read (including prose).

I wish I could add to this (and way to go for 4 - I dunno if I could've kept myself to a top 3 either) but you've covered everything.

Of course, there is the almost always successful artwork that truly brings the world to live. And oh, those covers...

This may sound strange or vague, but I must say... The sense of aesthetics in this book is top notch. The Art Deco buildings are well-designed (the product of deep research on behalf of the art team) and the vague mentions made by the characters prove the sheer breadth of James Robinson's pop cultural saavy.

[Will.S]

I concur. When did this come out?The trade was first released in 2004, I'm unsure if it's still in print but where I got it from (Midtown Comics) had restocked it with 3 more copies. You should be able to order it from their site if you want to or from any other online book store that carries it.

[Mwahaha]

Can anyone recommend some Flash Trades?

I've never picked up his book but I've always enjoyed the character overall, especially in the JLA (Grant Morrisons run)

[thehod]

Can anyone recommend some Flash Trades?

I've never picked up his book but I've always enjoyed the character overall, especially in the JLA (Grant Morrisons run)

The Return of Barry Allen is probably the definative Flash story of the last 25 years.

[Mwahaha]

The Return of Barry Allen is probably the definative Flash story of the last 25 years.

Thanks. Are there any more to get? I'm hoping to buy a few of them.

[Will.S]

Thanks. Are there any more to get? I'm hoping to buy a few of them.
I hear that all the Geoff Johns written ones were the best as well as the Waid ones. Here are pics of the trades recommended here:

The Flash: Born to Run by Mark Waid Greg Larocque, Jim Aparo, Pop Mhan, and others

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/1/4/1448_400x600.jpg

Flash: The Return of Barry Allen Written by Mark Waid; Art by Greg LaRocque and Roy Richardson

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/3/7/3753_400x600.jpg

The Flash: Wonderland by Geoff Johns; Art by Angel Unzueta and Doug Hazlewood

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/7/9/7999_400x600.jpg

Geoff Johns had a really sizable run on the book which is why his run has so many trades. I've always wanted to buy the Geoff Johns trades but it's kind of a lot to try to get into. But as long as they stay in print and I'm able finish off my other trades, I'll eventually get to them.

[Mwahaha]

Thanks Will. S and theHod.

I'm going to go hunting for some other trades along the way, especially after reading the other recommended ones in this thread.

Starting right now.

*Takes off*