DC solicitations for June 2010 are up. The only collection that interest me is the hardcover collecting Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's "Superman: Secret Origin". This look to be the definitive origin of the Man of Steel for years to come so it's a milestone in DC history. My daughter would definitely be interested in Bryan Q. Miller's "Batgirl Rising" TPB (collecting the first 7 issues of the ongoing). As for the single issues, it looks like anniversary month over at DC. Grant Morrison returns to "Batman" with issue #700, while JMS takes over both "Superman" (with issue #700) and "Wonder Woman" (with issue #600). Do they plan these things, or are the numberings merely a happy coincidence? All three issues are 56-pages thick - a far cry from Marvel's recent gigantic-sized anniversary issues for Hulk, Cap, DD, Thor and Spidey. Finally, the "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" piece of crap with great art by Neal Adams is now given both the fascimile edition and hardcover treatment. I'm a huge fan of Neal Adams but even I'm not going to pick this up. It was silly when it first came out and it's still silly today. Times have certainly changed. When the Superman movie was released in the late 1970s, can you believe that this piece of crap was the only comic that was promoted as a tie-in merchandise?
The latest Marvel solicitations (June 2010) are up and there are so many great stuff to choose from that I don't even know where to begin. First up are all the new "Heroic Age" titles such as the ongoing "Hawkeye & Mockingbird" series and other Avenger-y stuff. Even Bob Layton is back to give us another dose of his "Hercules: Prince of Power" stuff in a miniseries entitled "Hercules: Twilight of a God". Also, Roy Thomas' and Dick Giordano's "Dracula" is finally being released in a coloured edition and the old "Tomb of Dracula" is getting the TPB treatment (for folks who passed up on the B&W Essentials reprints or the pricey Omnibus editions). On the cosmic side, Thanos is finally back in the miniseries entitled "The Thanos Imperative" by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. My wife and kids will also be delighted to know that Tom DeFalco is back to help celebrate "Spider-Ham's 25th Anniversary" - and a special digest sized collection of old "Spider-Ham" stuff will be released as well!
What really caught my eye, on the other hand, is the humongous "Ghost Rider Omnibus" collecting the entire Jason Aaron run (including the miniseries "Heaven's On Fire"). I've heard great things about Aaron's run but have yet to pick up any of the issues of TPBs. Being a sucker for huge hardcovers - I'll most likely grab this one to read (after my Law Exams in May). The other Jason Aaron work reprinted in hardcover is the first arc from "PunisherMax" featuring a never-before-seen origin of the Kingpin.
Other interesting collections include "X-Necrosha", one of the better X-stories in recent years. Also, Kurt Busiek's sequel to "Marvels" with Jay Anacleto ("Eye of the Camera") is finally in a hardcover. I'm surprised by how little people are talking about this series. Busiek's original miniseries with a young Alex Ross set the industry on fire in the 1990s. Also, Jay Anacleto was probably the most exciting artist in the late 1990s when he worked on "Aria" over at Image. Other reprints of recent stuff include the 4th volume of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the final volume of Duane Swierczynski's "Cable" (leading into "Second Coming").
Another golden collection is the better-late-than-never hardcover "Avengers: Under Siege" from Roger Stern and the late "Big" John Buscema. I got the original issues and the TPB. This, to me, was the quintessential Avengers run - ranking all the way up there with Roy Thomas' and Steve Englehart's stories. In fact, if Marvel had some sense, they should start reprinting the entire Roger Stern run on the Avengers in "Visionaries" TPBs like they did with John Byrne's "Fantastic Four" or Peter David's "Hulk". Speaking of Steve Englehart, I'm glad to see that his original "Vision and the Scarlet Witch" maxiseries is finally reprinted in a TPB as well. That was the quirky classic love story between a hot-but-insane witch and a household appliance - resulting in two "imaginary" kids who have since grown up to be Young Avengers! :)
