DC Trade Solicitations for March 2020 - Batman Vol. 12: City of Bane Part One, Last Knight on Earth by Snyder and Capullo, Superman: Up in the Sky by King and Kubert, New Gods by Conway, Batman/TMNT III, Joker: 80 Years

Continuing our theme of late, the DC Comics March 2020 trade paperback and hardcover solicitations have a bunch of books I'll be reading, though not really anything too long-awaited or surprising. That itself is not particularly surprising, as these solicitations follow the catalogs, so we know more or less what we're going to get (but not always what we're not going to get) through this coming summer.

Mostly my buy list is the "regular series" trades — Tom King's next Batman and Peter Tomasi's next Detective Comics, the new Batman/Superman, the next Catwoman and Wonder Woman and Teen Titans. Aside from those, I'm interested of course in the next collaboration between Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Batman: Last Knight on Earth, the collection of post-Jack Kirby New Gods material by Gerry Conway, and the formerly-Walmart-exclusive Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert, which seems a pretty big deal just overshadowed by how it was released.

Anything on the list that I didn't mention that you're really looking forward to? Here it all is ...

• Batman Vol. 12: City of Bane Part One HC

The penultimate collection of Tom King's Batman, collecting issues #75-79.

• Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 3: Greetings From Gotham HC

Issues #1006-1011 by Peter Tomasi with Doug Mahnke and others, guest-starring the Spectre.

• Batman: Kings of Fear TP

Paperback of the six-issue miniseries by Scott Peterson and Kelley Jones, previously in hardcover.

• Batman: Last Knight on Earth HC

Three-issue Black Label miniseries by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, due in hardcover in April.

• Batman/Superman Vol. 1: Who Are the Secret Six? HC

In hardcover, the first collection of Josuha Williamson's new series, spinning off of the Batman Who Laughs miniseries.

• Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III HC

Issues #1-6 by James Tynion and Freddie Williams.

• Catwoman Vol. 3: Friend or Foe? TP

Issues #14-19 by Joelle Jones, tying in to "Year of the Villain."

• DC First Issue Special HC

Issues #1-13 of DC's 1970s anthology series 1st Issue Special. Stories by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Walt Simonson, and Mike Grell, with characters like Atlas, Manhunter, Dingbats of Danger Steet, Warlord, Metamorpho, the Creeper, the New Gods, the Green Team, and Lady Cop.

• DC Poster Portfolio: Stanley "Artgerm" Lau Vol. 2 TP

Apparently the first one sold so well they're doing it again.

• Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds TP

Collects the entirety of Gerard Way's latest Doom Patrol series, with issues #1-7.

• Freedom Fighters: Rise of a Nation TP

Twelve-issue miniseries by Robert Venditti and Eddy Barrows (pretty glad they didn't split this up into two volumes).

• Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Book Three TP

Collects Green Lantern #18-25, Green Lantern Corps #14-18, Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1, Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime #1 and Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1, so pretty much all of the "Sinestro Corps War" story, give or take an issue or so (not Green Lantern Corps #19, for instance, but that might be outside this series' purview).

• The Joker: 80 Years of the Clown Prince of Crime HC

Said to collect stories from the original Batman #1 to issues by Scott Snyder, Tony Daniel, and Paul Dini (who wrote an especially good one in Detective Comics #826 and I hope that's in here). In hardcover.

• The New Gods by Gerry Conway HC

Collects the late 1970s post-Kirby relaunch of New Gods, including 1st Issue Special #13, New Gods #12-19 by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, Adventure Comics #459-460 (the end of the previous series), Super-Team Family #15 (team-up with Flash), and Justice League of America #183-185 (New Gods, Justice League, and Justice Society).

• Shazam!: The World's Mightiest Mortal Vol. 2 HC

Collects Shazam! #19, #20, #25-35, and All-New Collectors' Edition #C-58 (Captain Marvel vs. Superman) from the 1970s, running parallel to the TV series; these are the final issues of that Shazam! comic. The issues skipped seem to have been reprints of stories from the 1940s-1950s. Creative teams include Elliot S! Maggin and E. Nelson Bridwell.

• Superman Smashes the Klan TP

Paperback of the three-issue miniseries for young readers by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru.

• Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 5 TP

World's Finest Comics #6-8, Superman #16-19, Action Comics #48-57.

• Superman: Up in the Sky HC

The Walmart-exclusive stories by Tom King and Andy Kubert. That's a strong team; though I might not ordinarily be so quick to nab a one-off out-of-continuity volume, I'm curious to read King's take on Superman outside of the Batman title.

• Tales of the Batman: Steve Englehart HC

What was previously solicited, I believe, as Legends of the Dark Knight: Steve Englehart is now "Tales of the Batman," collecting Detective Comics #439 and #469-476, Batman #311, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #109-111, Legends of the DC Universe #26-27 (Joker and Aquaman in a "Joker Fish" sequel), Batman: Dark Detective #1-6, and a story from Batman Chronicles #19.

• Teen Titans Vol. 3: Seek and Destroy TP

Issues #31-36 in the wake of the Terminus Agenda crossover with Deathstroke, now tying in to "Year of the Villain."

• Transmetropolitan Book Three TP

Issues #25-36 and a story from Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3, the fifth and sixth original trade paperbacks.

• Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Love Is a Battlefield HC

Wonder Woman #66-73 by G. Willow Wilson, in hardcover. Wilson's run goes to issue #81, so likely one more collection.

• Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories TP

Collects Wonder Woman #329 (final pre-Crisis issue; Diana marries Steve Trevor), Wonder Woman #9 (1987) (first post-Crisis Cheetah), Justice League #13-14 (2012) (New 52, Cheetah vs. Wonder Woman and Superman), Wonder Woman #10 (2017) (Rebirth "Year One" issue), Wonder Woman #24 (2017) (poignant issue with Veronica Cale and Steve Trevor), and Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor #1 (2017) (recent special). Clear to see how this would fit in bookstore table displays to tie in to the new movie.

• Young Justice Vol. 1: Gemworld TP

Paperback collecting issues #1-6, following the hardcover.

---

This post was syndicated from Collected Editions, the chronicles of a "wait-for-trade-er" -- the new breed of comic book fans who forgo monthly "floppies" for trade paperbacks and collected editions -- reviews, commentaries, low price alerts, news, and the occasional scoop. Visit collectededitions.blogspot.com.

Posted in: Collected Editions