Between Marvel Omnibus, DC Omnibus, the Epic Collection, DC Finest, Compact editions, and everything else publishers put out, there’s always way there’s always more to discover! Launched this past March, What to Read This Month highlights each month’s notable releases. Here’s our selection for May, featuring some great stories from… And if you missed last month’s picks, you can find them here.
June’s Comic Picks
All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from the copy provided by the publisher.
Superman Adventures Compendium One
By Scott McCloud, Mark Millar, Terry Austin, Marie Severin, Rick Burchett, Mark Evanier, Paul Dini
With the release of the new Superman movie approaching, it’s a good time to be a Superman fan! DC Comics is putting out many classic and new stories in various formats, including the first Compendium volume of Superman Adventures, the beloved comic inspired by Superman: The Animated Series. My biggest wish is that DC wouldn’t take so long to release the next volume (as it usually does for Compendium).
Superman: The Animated Series defined the Man of Steel for a whole new generation of young viewers. Now go beyond the adventures from the screen in the acclaimed comic book series set in the continuity of the show with stories written by the original series writers and in the style of the animated series, witness Superman battle Doctor Fate and Lobo wreak havoc upon Metropolis. Relive the show that brought the Man of Steel to life.
Letter 44 Compendium
By Charles Soule and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque
After the East of West Compendium published last March, Image Comics has now compiled the six volumes of Letter 44 into one big paperback at a good price. Here, you can discover Charles Soule’s political sci-fi series in one book of 744 pages for around $50.
When newly-elected president Stephen Blades is sworn into office, the last thing he expected to find on his desk was a letter written by the outgoing president, alerting him to a harrowing secret kept hidden from the world: seven years ago, NASA discovered alien presence in the asteroid belt and sent a stealth mission crewed by nine astronauts to make contact. President Blades has just become the most powerful man on the planet. But only this planet.
Fantastic Four / Doom 2099 Omnibus
By John Francis Moore, Pat Broderick, Warren Ellis, and More
Created by John Francis Moore and Pat Broderick, (re)discover Doom’s story in a new era, on Earth-928, also known as Miguel O’Hara’s original home, now collecting in one place. This is the complete saga of Doctor Doom in the year 2099 — and his accursed enemies, the Fantastic Four!
Marvel’s greatest villain resurfaces to rule a new era! Victor von Doom has mysteriously survived from the Heroic Age to rise anew in this technologically advanced future — and in upgraded armor, his first task is to reclaim the throne of Latveria! Then he can turn his gaze to America, once the home of his greatest foes. He sees unrest. He sees disharmony. He knows the struggling nation needs an iron fist to bring it back under control. And he knows just the man for the job. All hail President Doom! But how — and why — are Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing alive in 2099?! The answers will take them from the Negative Zone to the Savage Land — and reunite them with their greatest rival!
Superman: Birthright – DC Compact Comics Edition
By Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan
As said earlier, DC Comics is publishing many Superman comics as we approach the release of James Gunn’s movie. The publisher is delivering a new edition of Birthright in his new-reader-friendly collection, DC Compact, a story that is a great entry point in the world of the Man of Steel, a modern retelling of his origin story.
The whole world knows that Superman fights for truth and justice…but why does he? What drives a farm boy from Kansas to divide his life between posing as a mild-mannered reporter and embarking on a career as a superhero? Within these pages is the exciting tale of the Man of Steel’s early days, incorporating his vast and colorful legend into a brand-new, epic story…a battle to save both the legacy of Krypton and the future of Metropolis!
The Idris File
By Dix
Seven years after Dull Margaret, co-created with Jim Broadbent, artist Dix bring a new world to life with this historical graphic novel thriller that is described by publisher Fantagraphics as “The Banshees of Inisherin meets Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
In Wales 1974, a fisherman inadvertently reels in a Nazi flag. Meanwhile, young Idris and his mother ride a train in the countryside. Idris’s mother has a new housekeeping job awaiting her in the small town of Bothelli, by the sea. Her new employer, a wealthy man named Mr. Miller, is confined to a wheelchair and beginning immediately upon their arrival, Mr. Miller’s unceasing demands as an employer leave the socially awkward Idris adrift in his new town, friendless. That is, until he meets the mysterious and profane Gwen in the local cemetery. When Idris shows Gwen a map that he found at Mr. Miller’s, it sucks them into a web of mystery and unimagined horrors.
Grommets
By Brian Posehn, Rick Remender, Brett Parson, Moreno DiNisio
Coming from Rick Remender’s label Giant Generator at Image Comics, Grommets is presented as “perfect for fans of John Hughes’ Brat Pack teen movies, Freaks & Geeks, and Dazed & Confused.” While this story will no doubt personally speak to those who grew up with their feet on a board — or simply lived through that time — there’s no reason it can’t connect with everyone else.
Two best-friends outcasts navigate the Sacramento suburbs of 1984, where they find a home in skating and punk music. On one side of the coin, GROMMETS is an authentic look at ’80s skater culture, a snapshot of the generation that turned skating into a worldwide phenomenon. On the other hand, it’s a heartfelt coming-of-age story that follows two friends from troubled homes as they navigate their damage in an era when no one cared.
The New Printing of The Month
Every month is also filled with new printing, offering the possibility to complete our collection, buy the book we missed because we were broke (and still are, to be honest) or simply because we weren’t familiar with the story or the edition at the time. Each month, we highlight one book that finds its way back to the shelves!
The Spectre: The Wrath of the Spectre Omnibus
By Gardner Fox, Murphy Anderson, Jim Aparo and More
The Spectre was revived and reimagined in the sixties as a near-omnipotent spirit of vengeance, with those stories collected in an Omnibus five years ago. If you missed it at the time, you will soon have the opportunity to rediscover this story as DC Comics is reprinting this Volume. And for those who are not fond of the Omni format, this period will be available in a few months in the DC Finest Collection. For more details, check out our Spectre Reading Order!
Originally introduced in More Fun Comics #42 in 1940 and co-created by Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, the Spectre is a green-caped, white-skinned figure who metes out justice in the name of heaven. DC’s grim arbiter of justice, the Spectre, resurfaced in the 1960s for all-new–and sometimes controversial–stories demonstrating the true power of his vengeance. Witness former cop Jim Corrigan dish out ghoulish punishments across the DC Universe!
The Classic Manga of The Month
Neo Faust
Osamu Tezuka
Originally published over the course of 1988, Neo Faust is the final of three adaptations of the classical Faust legend by “The Godfather of Manga,” Osamu Tezuka and is now released by Ablaze in English for the first time.
After years of failure to discover the meaning of the universe, Professor Ichinoseki decides to end his own life, but he is interrupted by the sorceress Mephist. They strike a bargain: in exchange for Ichinoseki’s soul, Mephist will grant his wish for a fulfilled life…
Also Released in June
Wait… There’s more! From the start of the GI. Joe to Metamorpho’s earliest days in DC Finest, a new volume of Geiger, the second cycle of Nice House, here’s a non-exhaustive list of other June releases that caught our attention: