I'm excited DC is finally do Epic-like collections, but at the same time I'm underwhelmed at the choices. Batman year One and the start of all the big heroes have been collected to death.

Stuff like the Gail Simone Wonder Woman and early 90s Catwoman are more like what I'm hoping for (though maybe not exactly those)

Within the first year to year and a half of releases we have

1930s-Supeman

1940s-JSA/All Star

1950s'Flash, Legion? (or 60s not familiar enough w/Legion to accurately place those stories off the top of my head)

1960s-Supergirl, Aquaman, JLA/JSA Team Ups, Green Lantern

1970s?

1980s Green Arrow, Batman

1990s Catwoman, Zero Hour

2000's Wonder Woman

That's a pretty good range and variety for the first 12 offerings, and a good mix of evergreen material and stuff that is no longer in print in collected form.

But it's a bit unfair to expect DC to have the breadth of variety Marvel's Epic line has 10+ years in. If you compare the Epic line in year 1 and 2 with what DC is doing in year 1 of the line, it actually compares favorably to what Marvel did. We'll have to see if the line takes off and survives to be able to compare DC 10 years into its line with where Marvel is at now though.

-M

You're right. I was working in the shop around the time of the launch, and those Volume 1s were the first one the owner brought in, they were the first ones he had any orders for, so could have missed the earlier volumes because I never saw them in the actual shop. Obviously my memory was fuzzy, so I looked up their initial press releases and news stories around the initial releases after seeing your post. The stated goal of the Epic line according to their initial announcement and early pre-release marketing articles was to fill the gaps in titles that weren't available in other formats-that lasted all of 2 releases before Marvel dipped into the old standbys of the 1981-1963 launches. And those sold well enough to keep the line going and those are primarily the ones that go back to press from time to time. The initial releases didn't fare that well according to news articles at the time, and there were rumors (cue Bleeding Cool) that Marvel was going to abandon the line before they got through the initial planned releases and rushed to get the '61-'63 material to press to coincide with their 75th Anniversary celebrations in 2014, and those sold well enough to save the line. There was a lot of initial resistance by consumers to buying volumes out of order and not being sure if the missing volumes would ever see print. And Marvel then made sure to focus on filling the "gaps" in the earlier material as a priority. They did later volumes still, but made sure books like Avengers had the first 4-5 volumes available within a couple of years with only a smattering of later volumes as scattershot releases. After 10 years, they've hit most of it now and expanded the line a lot, but it was a rough launch and touch and go at first according to the reporting in those articles.

The biggest issue with the line is they've let most of the volumes go out of print, except for those collections of the earliest Silver Age stuff, which they reprint every so often and in multiple formats (omnibus, Mighty Marvel Masterworks, Epics, licensed volumes through Penguin Random House and Taschen, etc.) so if you don't get the variety volumes when they are released you are likely going to have to either miss out completely or pay very premium prices in the secondary market.

We'll see how DC does as keeping things in print. The Epic line's first release was late 2013, so the line has had 10 years to develop, and in that time, the vast majority of the releases have had 1 printing and then gone out of print. As I said, a handful handful have seen multiple printings, but those are usually stuff available in several other formats as well, because that's the stuff that sells well regularly. So it's not surprising those are the volumes that have anchored the line throughout it's run, and not surprising DC is leaning on some of that stuff to help establish their Finest line. I hope it does well enough to continue to get to some of that other stuff. I'd kill to have early Bronze Batman and the Moench run from the 80s collected reliable somewhere for instance.

In addition to the DC Finest line, the Compendiums have been bringing a lot of variety to the table. They are color like the Epics/Finest, but slightly larger volumes, containing almost an omnibus worth of material at about the $50-60 price point. I got the Batman Beyond and Nightiwng volumes, and have the Robin volume on order. Yes the stuff was mostly collected before, but only once, and not kept in print.

Here's a look at the Beyond and Nightwing volumes:





They're doing a WildC.A.T.S. compendium next, but I passed on that one. Like the format, no interest in that content. But this is a format I wouldn't mind seeing Marvel experiment with as well. Also glad to see it's not just Bat releases in the format.

But again, back to the point, I don't think there's any less breadth of material in the early DC releases than there were in the Marvel ones-both are mixing in evergreen material to anchor the line's launch and keep it sustainable and including other material as well.

-M

So I think I'm done with Birds of Prey.... adult Maps is really not important, and I really don't need a pin up book.

In other DC books I read... apparently we now see the point of the Nightwing story.... I won't spoil the last page. I won't say its worth I dumb story undoing a great run, but IF you have to do the 'put everything back in the box' thing when your run is over, that last page is one for the ages.

Titans almost felt like a fill in issue.. they deal a bit with the bit reveal last issue, but mostly it's a side one off adventure with Gar and Cyborg... very odd.

They're about half of what a omnibus with the same amount of content by issue runs for at msrp. And I find the paperback easier to hold and read, so I prefer the format to the omnibus for both reasons.

-M