What are your Top 5 (or 10) DC Trades?

[caj]

Hardbound, soft-cover, Absolute versions, or omnibus versions - what are you Top 5 (or 10 or 20) DC Trade collections?

[etrumble]

OK, I'll play(and will only include DC, not Vertigo, ABC, etc). By decade:


1968. Creeper by Steve Ditko - Ditko madness unleashed!

1972. Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus - obvious Planet of the Apes parallels that may have surpassed the original!

1989. Gotham by Gaslight - love the early elseworlds theme. Dark Knight Returns would be my runner up both for Batman elseworlds and the 1980s

1996. Kingdom Come - definitive future of the JLA(new Frontier from 2004 would be my JLA runner up)

2009. Wednesday Comics - the variety is hard to beat and the oversize HC is perfect for the art

2013. Batman '66 - nostalgia without sappiness

[jb681131]

Hardbound, soft-cover, Absolute versions, or omnibus versions - what are you Top 5 (or 10 or 20) DC Trade collections?

There are many stories I love in the DC Univers. Here would be a list:

1. 1938 - Action Comics #1 - 1st appearance of Superman
2. 1939 - Detective Comics #27 - 1st appearance of Batman
3. 1940-52 - The Spirit Archives by Will Eisner - Yes from the one of the awards - 26 vol.
4. 1959-85 - Flash: The Silver Age - The Flash by Carmine Infantino - 4 vol. followed by 2 omni. (ongoing)
5. 1963-82 - Crisis On Multiple Earths - The JSA and JLA through the ages - 6 vol. + 2 team-ups vol.
6. 1966-82 - The Steve Ditko omni. - Charleston Comics by Steve Ditko: Shade, Hawk & Dove, Legion of Superheroes, Starman, The Outsiders, Specter, Desaad, ... - 2 omni.
7. 1970-73 - The Fourth World by Jack Kirby - Massive Saga with The New Gods, Mister Miracle, The Forever People and Jimmy Olsen - Introduces Darkseid, Big Barda and Orion as well - 4 omni.
8. 1970-72 - Green Lantern/Green Arrow - A great team-up - 1 omni.
9. 1972-76 - Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age omni. - The original Swamp Thing saga by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson (and then others) - 1 omni.
10. 1974-75 - O.M.A.C. - The One Man Army Corps by Jack Kirby - 1 vol.
11. 1982 - The Great Darkness Saga - The return of the great Darkseid - 1 omni.
12. 1980-96 - The New Teen Titans - The Saga by Marv Wolfman & George Perez - 11 vol. (ongoing) or 3 omni.
13. 1983-88 - Sword of the Atom - Aventures in the microscopic land of the Amazon rainforest - 1 vol.
14. 1984-86 - Saga of the Swamp Thing - When Alan Moore takes over Swamp Thing (1st American Comics for Moore) - 6 vol. or 1 omni.
15. 1986 - The Watchmen by Alan Moore - The Launching story of the Modern Age - 1 omni.
16. 1985-86 - Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld - Orphaned princess of the magical land of Gemworld - 1 Showcase presents
17. 1985-86 - Crisis On Infinit Earths (aka COIE) - 1st massive event - 1 omni.
18. 1987 - DC: Legends - Follow-up to COIE, story in which the modern age Justice League and Suicide Squad are put in place - 1 vol.
19. 1987-89 - Justice League International - Direct follow-up to DC: Legends - 5 vol. or 1 omni.
20. 1987-89 - Suicide Squad by John Ostrander - Direct follow-up to DC: Legends - 8 vol.
21. 1987-92 - Wonder Woman by George Perez - 4 vol. (ongoing) or 3 omni.
22. 1986 - Batman: Year One - Origin Story by Frank Miller - 1 vol.
23. 1986-88 - Superman: Man of Steel - Superman by John Byrne - 9 vol.
24. 1987 - Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunter - Start of a modern age darker Green Arrow - 1 vol.
25. 1987-90 - The Question by Denis O'Neil - The Charlton Comics detective - 6 vol.
26. 1988 - The Killing Joke - The popular Joker story by Alan Moore - 1 vol.
27. 1988-13 - Hellblazer - The story of John Constantine - 21 vol.
28. 1988-89 - Animal Man by Alan Grant - A now classic work - 1 omni.
29. 1989 - Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth - A strange and twisted take on Arkham and the Joker by Grant Morrison - 1 vol.
30. 1989-93 - Doom Patrol by Grant Morrsion - Doom Patrol are a group of super-powered misfits - 6 vol. or 3 books or 1 omni.
31. 1990-92 - Lobo by Keith Giffen & Alan Grant - The most out of the norme character you can find - 1 omni.
32. 1994-2001 - Starman by James Robinson - A superhero sherif - 10 vol. or 6 omni.
33. 1995-99 - The Power of Shazam! - follows the SHAZAM familly by Jerry Ordway - in various other collections
34. 1987-97 - The Flash by Mark Waid - The Epic 1987 reboot - 6 vol.
35. 1986-00 - Batman: The Long Halloween + Batman: Dark Victory + Catwoman: When in Rome - Great saga of the early days of Batman by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale - 2 omni. + 1 vol.
36. 2000-06 - The Flash by Geoff Johns - End of the Epic saga started by Mark Waid - 5 vol. or 3 omni.
37. 1994 - Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight/New Dawn - The downfall of Hal Jordan, the rising of Kyle Reyner - 1 vol.
38. 1994 - Gen13 - Story about "gene active" teens recruted by the gov. by Jim Lee - 1 vol.
39. 1993-94 - The Death and Return of Superman - The Death of Superman + The Return of Superman - 2 vol. or 1 omni.
40. 1993-95 - Batman: Knightfall - The great Bane/Azrael saga - 9 vol. or 3 new omni.
41. 1994 - Batman: Mad Love - Introduction of Harley Quinn in the comics by the genius Paul Dini - 1 vol.
42. 1996-02 - Stormwatch + The Authority - The Warren Ellis era on this UN's crisis intervention team - 3 vol. or 1 omni. + 5 vol. or 1 omni.
43. 1998-09 - Planetary by Warren Ellis - follows agents responsible for discovering the secret history of the world - 4 vol. or 1 omni.
44. 1999 - Batman: No Man's Land - When Gotham becomes a war zone - 4 new omni.
45. 1996-06 - JLA - The great saga started by Grant Morrison - 9 vol. or 4 omni.
46. 2000 - Batman/Huntress: Cry for blood - A new take on Huntress by Greg Rucka - 1 vol.
47. 2003-04 - Superman: Birthright - Retelling of Superman's origins by Mark Waid - 1 omni.
48. 2003-06 - Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka - The main modern age saga - 3 omni.
49. 2003-06 - Batman: New Gotham + Gotham Central - Crime and Gangster Stories by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka - 2 omni. + 4 vol. or 1 omni.
50. 2004 - Aquaman: Sub Diego - a devastating tsunami hits San Diego - 1 omni.
51. 2006-12 - Green Lantern by Geoff Johns - The Saga of GL including: Rebirth, Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, Brightest Day, War of the Green Lanterns, GL New52 - 20 vol. or 3 massive omni.
52. 2004-05 - Superman: For Tomorrow - Aclaimed story by Brian Azzarello - 2 vol. or 1 omni.
53. 2004 - Identity Crisis - Follows the COIE storyline - 1 vol.
54. 2005 - Infinite Crisis - Follows the COIE storyline - 7 vol. or 1 omni.
55. 2006-07 - 52 - tells what happens in the missing year after Infinit Crisis - 4 vol. or 2 omni.
56. 2006-08 - Seven Solders of Victory + Final Crisis - Concludes the COIE storyline - 2 vol. or 1 omni. + 1 vol.
57. 2007-09 - Will Eisner's Spirit - The return of the Spirit - 5 vol.
58. 2008 - Superman: Brainiac - The Major story by Geoff Johns - 1 vol.
59. 2006-11 - Batman by Grant Morrison + Batman Incorporated - The saga by Morrsion - 2 omni. + 4 vol. or 1 omni.
60. 2011 - Flashpoint - The reboot event by Geoff Johns - 1 vol.
61. 2011-16 - Batman & Robin New52 - Story by Peter J. Tomasi (Should have read Batman by Grant Morrison vol.1 + Batman Inc.) - 7 vol. or 1 omni.
62. 2011 - Batman: Court of Owls + Night of Owls - The Owls Saga by Scott Snyder - 2 vol. or 1 omni.
63. 2011-14 - Wonder Woman New52 - Saga by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang - 6 first vol. or 2 omni.
64. 2011-14 - Aquaman New52 - Story by Geoff Johns - 4 first vol. or 1 omni.
65. 2012-13 - Shazam! New52 - New origins by Geoff Johns - 1 vol.
66. 2011-14 - Flash New52 - Flash by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato - 4 first vol. or 1 omni.
67. 2011-14 - Green Arrow New52 - Great reboot by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino - first 6 vol. or 1 omni.
68. 2012-16 - Justice League: Trinity War + Forever Evil + Forever Heroes + The Darkseid War Saga - The Main New52 JL stories - 1 omni. + 1 vol. + 1 vol. + 2 vol. or 1 omni.
69. 2014-15 - Multiversity by Grant Morrison - Retraces the DC Multivers - 2 vol. or 1 omni.
70. 2016 - Titan Hunt + DC Univers Rebirth + The Return of Wally West - Main story for the Rebirth event (must know Flashpoint and Watchmen) - 3 vol.
71. 2016-* - Aquaman by Dan Abnet - New52 + Rebirth - 1 vol. + 9 vol. (ongoing)
72. 2016-19 - Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps - By Robert Venditti - 7 vol.
73. 2017-19 - Mr. Miracle by Tom King - The Eisner Award story - 1 omni.
74. 2018-19 - Doomsday Clock - Concludes the Flash/Rebirth storyline - 1 omni.
75. 2019 - Dark Knight: Metal + Justice League: No Justice - The Discovery of a Dark Multivers by Scott Snyder - 2 vol.
76. 2019 - Heroes in Crisis - Yet another Crisis - 1 vol.

[jb681131]

Elseworld wise:

• 1986 - The Dark Knight Returns - The Famous story by Frank Miller - 1 omni.
• 1986 - Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - Superman by Alan Moore - 1 vol.
• 1996 - Kingdom Come - The aclaimed story by Mark Waid and Alex Ross - 1 vol.
• 2003 - Superman: Red Son - by Mark Millar, what if Kal-El landed in Russia ? - 1 vol.
• 2004 - DC: New Frontier - Big award wining saga by Darwyn Cooke - 1 omni.
• 2004 - Superman: Secret Identity - Unusual take on Superman - 1 vol.
• 2005-07 - Justice - The Legion of Doom vs the Justice League by Alex Ross - 3 vol. or 1 omni.
• 2006-08 - All-star Superman - The aclaimed serie by Grant Morrison - 2 vol. or 1 omni.

Others:

• 1982-85 - Camelot 3000 - King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have been reincarnated in the year 3000 - 1 omni.
• 1982-89 - V for Vendetta - the inspiering serie that follows an anarchist by Alan Moore - 3 omni.
• 1989-96 - Sandman - The great Dark Fantasy saga by Neil Gaiman - 10 vol. or 5 omni. or 2 massive omni.
• 1995-00 - Preacher - Story of a posessed preacher by Garth Ennis - 9 vol. or 6 six books or 3 omni.
• 1987-88 - Sonic Disruptor - The United States Army vs. The United States of Rock - no collected
• 1997-02 - Transmetropolitan - The cyberpunk transhumanist comic book by Warren Ellis - 11 vol. or 5 books or 3 omni.
• 1999-08 - Lucifer - Spin-off Sandman - 5 vol. or 1 omni.
• 1995-18 - Astro City - A City full of Superheros by Kurt Busiek - 17 vol.
• 1999-09 - 100 Bullets - The crime serie by Brian Azzarello - 13 vol. or 5 omni
• 2002-08 - Y: The Last Man - The post-apocalyptic science fiction by Brian K. Vaughan - 10 vol. or 5 books or 3 omni.
• 2002-15 - Fables - The multy award wining fantasy serie by Bill Willingham - 22 vol. or 15 omni.
• 2005-12 - DMZ - The war anticipation serie by Brian Wood - 12 vol. or 5 omni.
• 2009-13 - Sweet Tooth - Mad Max meets Bambi by Jeff Lemir - 6 vol. or 3 omni.
• 2009-15 - The Unwritten - The acclaimed story by Mike Carey - 11 vol. or 2 omni.
• 2010 - Daytripper - One of best graphic novel ever - 2 vol.
• 2015-17 - The Sheriff of Babylon - The aclaimed inverstigation serie by Tom King - 2 vol.

[jb681131]

And here are a few lesser known stories that I like as well (mostly from the Batman Univers)

• Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
• Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin
• Batman by Doug Moench and Kelley 1-3
• Joker by Brian Azzarello
• Batman by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
• Dark Knight, Dark City
• Batman for Kids
• • Batman adventures
  • Batman & Robin adventures
  • Gotham adventures
  • Gotham girls
  • Batman adventures vol.2
  • Batman/TMNT adventures
• Swamp Thing by Charles Soule
• Justice League Dark Rebirth
• Super Sons
• The Terrifics
• Wonder Twins
• Red Hood and the Outlaw Rebirth + Red Hood: Outlaw
• Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam
• Gothal Academy
• Li'l Gotham

[MRP]

Here's my top 10...
these are my personal favorites for various reasons, not necessarily the objective best)

1. Absolute DC New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
2. Golden Age Batman Omnibus Vol. 1
3. Golden Age Superman Omnibus Vol. 1
4. Roots of the Swamp Thing (collecting House of Secrets 92 and the Wein/Wrightson Swamp Thing run)
5. Spirit Archives Vol. 1 (Eisner, 'nuff said)
6. Showcase Presents Hawkman Vol. 1 (the glorious Kubert stuff)
7. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (original Warner Books release tpb)
8. America at War: The Best of DC Comics (a DC collection form Fireside books, the folks who did Origins of Marvel Comics, Son of Origins etc. in the 70s)



9. Graphic Ink: The Art of Darwyn Cooke
10. Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus

-M

[Mike]

01. The Great Darkness Saga
02. Crisis On Infinite Earths
03. The Silver Age Doom Patrol Vol. 1
04. The New Teen Titans: The Terror of Trigon
05. Green Lantern/Green Arrow

[WallyWestFlash]

1. Death and Return of Superman
2. Trial of Superman
3. Superman Eradicator.
4. Superman Time after time
5. Superman Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite
6. Flash Terminal Velocity
7. Flash Dead Heat
8. Flash Race against time.
9. Green Lantern Silver age
10. Green Lantern Sector 2814
11. Green Lantern Rebirth
12. Green Lantern Sinestro corps war.
13. Green Lantern Secret Origin.
14. Green Lantern Blackest night.
15. Green Lantern War of the Green Lanterns

[caj]

Mine would include:

Crisis On Multiple Earths - all the great JLA/JSA crossovers
Legion of Super Heroes - The Great Darkness Saga
New Teen Titans - The Judas Contract
Justice League - New Beginning/Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord
Sandman - The Doll's House
Superman - Death and Return
Kingdom Come
Batman - The Long Halloween
JSA - Darkness Falls/The Hunt For Extant
Justice

[SiegePerilous02]

1. All Star Superman
2. Watchmen
3. Batman: Strange Apparitions
4. V for Vendetta
5. The DC Comics stories of Alan Moore
6. Wonder Woman: Year One
7. Wonder Woman: Godwatch
8. Justice
9. The Sandman: the Kindly Ones
10. Batwoman by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III

[Jim Kelly]

I have a lot of DC books, but I've rarely read the bulk of them more than once. And the production on a lot of reprint volumes isn't true to the original source material that I'd much rather have. However there are some books that are old friends and valued resources. If I don't pull some of these off the bookshelf as much as I used to, it's because they are starting to show their age and need to be handled with care--


BATMAN FROM THE 30'S TO THE 70'S (Bonanza Books, 1971)
SUPERMAN FROM THE 30'S TO THE 70'S (Bonanza Books, 1971)

--These are the first two big hardcover books of comics that I ever got (for $7.95 each at Cole's) and they are beauties. One of the things I loved about these books was the cover gallery for each decade, that showed thumbnails of comics from the period--I'd stare at those covers and dream of what it must have been like to see them on the comic racks brand new.

WONDER WOMAN (A Ms. Book/Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1972)

--Another book I got at Cole's (also $7.95), but with a softcover, published by Gloria Steinem, with a good selection of Wonder Woman stories from the 1940s.

SECRET ORIGINS OF SUPER D C HEROES (Warner Books, 1976), this softcover book was under the Christmas tree for me in 1976. A wonderful selection of old and new super-hero origin stories.

SUPERMAN: THE DAILIES 1939 - 1942 (Sterling, 2006)
BATMAN: THE SUNDAY CLASSICS 1943 - 1946 (Sterling, 2007)

--Originally, I got these in softcover books from Kitchen Sink in a co-publishing effort with DC, between 1991 and 1999, but Sterling repackaged these (and others) in very affordable hardcover volumes.

THE GREATEST 1950S STORIES EVER TOLD (DC Comics, 1990), while the original run of Greatest Stories volumes are all great, this TPB is the greatest of the greatest and the one I've used the most, since it reprints a lot of 1950s material that hasn't been reprinted elsewhere--it introduced me to the wide expanse of DC material in the 1950s, with so many genres and artistic styles.

PULP FICTION LIBRARY: MYSTERY IN SPACE (DC Comics, 1999), a TPB reprint of science fiction pulled from DC anthologies between 1946 and 1981.

BIZARRO COMICS (DC Comics, 2001) is an original hardcover anthology that features an eclectic gathering of indie artists doing their own turns on DC properties. The story that really won me over is "Who Erased the Eraser?" by Eddie Campbell and Hunt Emerson which is a loving sequel to "The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman" in BATMAN 188 (December 1966), the first Batman comic I bought at the drugstore with my own money.

BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN (Pantheon Books, 2008), "Limited Edition Signed Hardcover" from Chip Kidd, reprinting the Japanese 1960s version of Batman, based on stories by Robert Kanigher, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Giella and others.


The Most Valuable Book I Own?
THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES Vol. 14 (DC Comics, 2004)

--Back in the 1970s, I had a subscription to THE SPIRIT magazine, originally published by Warren and subsequently published by Kitchen Sink. The magazine reprinted, in mostly black and white, the Spirit Sections from the post-war period, after Eisner had returned to the feature and brought in new innovative ideas--what's consider the best quality period of the Spirit. When DC came out with the Archives, in colour, I was reluctant at first, but I bought all the volumes as they came out until volume 11, when I had no money and could not justify spending so much on comic books. But some years later, when my pockets were almost full again, I set about buying all the volumes up to and including 26--however the volume that eluded me was 14--which collects the stories from the first half of 1947. I couldn't find editions available for any less than a thousand dollars--too rich for my blood. Nevertheless, I kept searching until eventually prices came down and I was able to score a new copy of volume 14 (still in the shrink wrap) for less than a hundred dollars.

Honourable Mention:
THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES by Jules Feiffer (Bonanza Books, 1965). Another hardcover book that I got at Cole's in the early 1970s ($6.49). This book has a mix of publishers' characters from the 1930s and 1940s, so it doesn't qualify as a strictly DC book--but it was where I got to read many of these vintage stories for the first time (including Superman, Batman, the Spirit, Plastic Man, Hawkman, Green Lantern, the Flash, the Spectre and Wonder Woman). There was a new printing of the Feiffer text (Fantagraphics Books, 2003), but unfortunately without any of the comics content.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My top 5 (in alphabetical order):

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Green Lantern: Rebirth
JLA, volume 1
Kingdom Come

[superduperman]

Superman in the Sixties

Superman in the Seventies

The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore

Supergirl: Many Happy Returns

Batman: Year One

Pretty much anything GA Superman between 1938-1942

Rucka Wonder Woman

Superman Secret Identity

The Smallville comics

Superman/Batman Generations

[Dr. Ellingham]

I thought about this a bit, and came up with 8 great stories. Despite them being mostly modern, I believe they both honor and exemplify DCs long history. Obviously I stayed away from single-issue stories:

All-Star Superman
Batman Year One
Kingdom Come
DC The New Frontier
Batman Darknight Detective (Englehart/Rogers)
Saga of the Swamp Thing
JLA Rock of Ages
Batman The Long Halloween

Beyond those 8, it's hard not to list even more Batman stories, because they're both important and high-quality - Dark Knight Returns, Tales of the Demon, etc.

The things missing: A really great JSA story, but Golden Age is the only one that stands out as a near-classic. Teen heroes? I've never bothered with them. And as for the non-cape genres like sci-fi and war comics, I'm really not aware of any modern classics...