The news of DC’s new line of chunky paperback collected editions – DC Finest – has certainly got me excited. There has definitely been a bit of a dry spell for classic material from DC, particularly in paperback format. So the new line is really welcome news.
However, I’m sure I’m not the only one who is comparing the released details of the new books against what I’ve already got on my shelves.
I’m going to take a look at Batman and Superman below as there have been recent volumes from DC covering similar time periods.
Post-Crisis Batman
This is the thorniest one, even when restricting myself to recently published books. So far DC has announced the following in the DC Finest line:
Batman – Year One & Two
Batman #401 – 412, Batman Annual #11 and Detective Comics #568 – 579. November 5, 2024.
Batman – The Killing Joke and Other Stories
Batman #413-422, Batman: The Killing Joke, Detective Comics #580-589 and Batman: Son of the Demon. May 20, 2025.
Note that the contents to Year One & Two have been updated and corrected since my previous post. The contents of the first volume now line up with the second.
The recent Caped Crusader and Dark Knight Detective volumes look like this (deep breath!):
Caped Crusader
| Book Title | Batman Issues | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Batman: Second Chances | #402-403 | First post-Crisis appearance of Jason Todd. This book is now quite hard to find. |
| Batman: Year One | #404-407 | Frank Miller’s and David Mazzucchelli’s revamp of Batman’s origin and a perennial seller for DC so it is pretty much kept in print as a separate volume. |
| Batman: Second Chances | #408-416 | Picks up after the Year One issues and continues with the development of the post-Crisis Jason Todd. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 | #417-425 | The start of the new Caped Crusader line of books. Includes the Ten Nights of the Beast story. |
| Batman: A Death in the Family | #426-429 | Another perennial seller for DC so it is still collected separately. Almost always in print in some form. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 | #430-431 | This volume finishes up with a couple of issues not collected in A Death in the Family |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2 | #432-439 | #440-442 are collected in A Death in the Family. Features the first appearances of Tim Drake and the Batman: Year 3 story line. |
| Batman: A Death in the Family | #440-442 | These issues cover part of the A Lonely Place of Dying story. Previously collected separately, they’re now collected in A Death in the Family. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2 | #443-444 & Annual #13 | |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 3 | #445-454, Annual #14 & Detective Comics #615 | Includes the Penguin Affair and Dark Knight, Dark City story lines. The Penguin Affair crossed over with Detective Comics #615 so that is collected here as well. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 4 | #455-465 & Annual #15 | Identity Crisis & Sisters in Arms stories and the official debut of Tim Drake as Robin. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 5 | #466-473 & Detective Comics #639-640 | Stories covered here include Shadow Box and The Idiot Root which crosses over with Detective Comics so those issues are collected here. |
| Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 6 | #475-483 & Detective Comics #642 | #474 might seem to have been orphaned, but is slated to be included in Dark Knight Detective Vol. 7. |
Dark Knight Detective
| Book Title | Detective Comics Issues | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 | Detective Comics #568–574 | As with the Caped Crusader line of books, DC has opted to not collect the issues from perennial best sellers. #568 is a Legends cross over. |
| Batman: Year Two – Fear the Reaper | Detective Comics #575-578 | The issues featuring the Year Two story are collected in a separate volume which in it’s updated edition also includes its sequel, Full Circle. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 | Detective Comics #579–582 | Volume one finishes up with a few post-Year Two issues. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 2 | Detective Comics #583-591 and Annual #1 | #583 features the debut of Arnold Wesker – the Ventriloquist and #585 the debut of the Ratcatcher! |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 3 | Detective Comics #592-600 | The Fear story, an Invasion! tie-in but the main draw is the Blind Justice story. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 4 | Detective Comics #601-611 and Annual #2 | Includes the stories Tulpa and Mud Pack plus Anarchy in Gotham City. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 5 | Detective Comics #612-614, 616-621 and Annual #3 | #615 is in Caped Crusader Vol. 3 as it’s part of the Penguin Affair story. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 6 | Detective Comics #622-633 | #629-633 were previously collected in Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 7 | Detective Comics #634-638, 641, 643 and Annual #4 plus Batman #474 and Legends of the Dark Knight #27 | #639 and 640 are in Caped Crusader Vol. 5 while #642 is in Vol. 6. This volume also picks up Batman #474 whose story continues into #27 of Legends of the Dark Knight, also collected here. |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 8 | Detective Comics #644-653 and Annual #4-5 | Annual #4 is re-printed here as there was a printing error in Vol. 7! |
The above two tables come from my earlier post about these two lines. I’ve finally added Vol. 8 to the Dark Knight Detective line!
As I’ve noted before, the Caped Crusader and Dark Knight Detective lines although comprehensive, skip about a bit. It looks like the editorial decision at the time was to work around best sellers like Year One which tend to be kept in print. That doesn’t look like this is going to be the case with DC Finest.
With that last bit in mind, this is where the DC Finest line gets sexy for me! If DC really are going to line up each issue in order then I’m certainly going to be diving in. It is a shame the two previous lines didn’t do this. If so, I’d have probably stuck with them rather than switch to the new DC Finest line. The icing on the cake is that from these two listings, limited series are going to be collected in DC Finest too.
When I look at my shelves and the hodgepodge of different book formats I can’t help but feel it all looks untidy! The idea of a line of DC Finest lined up on the shelf – like Marvel Epic Collections – is too tempting to turn down! The collectors’ malady!
Superman
You’ll be pleased to know that the situation with Superman is a lot simpler. This is mostly because a lot less of the Big Blue has been collected and because of the two opening volumes of Finest that DC have opted to go with.
Reprinted? Again!?
I understand why DC had to kick off with a volume one for Superman with Action Comics #1 – it’s incredibly historically important after all. However, it must be one of the most reprinted Superman stories ever! Whatever the case, the first two volumes in this line look like this:
Superman – The First Superhero
Action Comics #1-25, Superman #1-5 and New World’s Fair #1. November 5, 2024.
Superman – Kryptonite Nevermore
Action Comics #393-406; Superman #233-238, #240-246. June 3, 2025.
If like me you’ve collected the volumes of the Golden Age Omnibuses then this is a no brainer. Stick with that! It covers a lot more. The first volume has even been recently reprinted by DC so should be readily available. However, if you haven’t then this volume of DC Finest is a fantastic entry point.
By the way, when publishing the Age Omnibuses DC broke them down into a sister line of thinner but still quite chunky line of paperbacks. The Doom Patrol volume I over viewed a while back is a good example.
Now that line didn’t get too far before petering out. The volumes were also somewhat smaller than what the Finest line is shaping up to be. Nonetheless, if you committed to that line and got them all I’d stick to them until the Finest line gets past them. Unless you’re a twit like me and can’t bear the thought of different book formats on your shelf!
Kryptonite Nevermore
The period covered by Kryptonite Nevermore overlaps with the 2021 Deluxe Edition also called Kryptonite Nevermore! Well, that’s no surprise really as they both collect the classic story by Denny O’Neil and Curt Swan.
This deluxe volume collects Superman #233-238 and #240-242 so the Finest volume is a clear winner. It’s also just occurred to me that the deluxe book only collects the lead stories starring Superman. The Finest volume might collect the back up stories too. I’ll be getting this volume next year so I guess I’ll find out then.
If you’ve spotted that #239 isn’t collected in either, that’s because it’s a reprint issue.
Summing Up
This post was really me thinking out loud on whether to jump in with the new line from DC. Hopefully some of the thinking proved useful!
If it wasn’t for the fact the previous Caped Crusader and Dark Knight Detective lines skipped about, I would have stuck with them. As it looks at the moment, I’ll be “side grading” to the new DC Finest books for early modern Batman.
Superman is more clear cut. I feel if you have already got the Golden Age Omnibus books or the paperback sister line, stick with them! Kryptonite Nevermore, is a slightly more grey area. I’m going to wait until more details of the contents are out and confirm whether back up stories are included or not. Other eras for Superman will have to wait until more DC Finest volumes are announced.
If you want to do your own research, I’ve once again leaned very heavily on the Wikipedia article on DC Finest.
