DC Comics announced its summer event, Absolute Power, at the 2024 ComicsPro conference, as well as a new line of reprint collections, the schedule for the return of Elseworlds, and Direct Market exclusive covers for the upcoming DC/Marvel.
Coming this summer, Absolute Power will be a four-issue miniseries written by Mark Waid, with art by Dan Mora, and featuring Amanda Waller, whose threat to remove all metahuman abilities worldwide compels Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the other DC superheroes to join forces to stop her. The first issue will be released on July 2, 2024. Leading up to that, the one-shot Absolute Power: Ground Zero, by Waid and Mora, will connect the final episode of the Superman story “House of Braniac” to the Absolute Power miniseries.
DC is building interest in this event with the 2024 Absolute Power Free Comic Book Day Special Edition, which contains an original 12-page story by Mark Waid with art by Mikel Janín, a recap of the events leading up to Absolute Power, and a sneak preview of Absolute Power #1.
A new line of reprint collections, DC Finest, will launch in November 2024 and will target casual fans with reprint stories chosen to highlight characters and genres, rather than creators and continuity; some of the material will be reprinted for the first time. Prices for the large-format paperbacks will start at $34.99.
The first set of volumes are as follows:
DC Finest – Batman: Year One & Two: Reprints Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli and Batman: Year Two by Mike W. Barr and Todd McFarlane, along with other mid-80s Batman stories from creators including Barr, Max Allan Collins, and Norm Breyfogle.
DC Finest – Catwoman: Life Lines: Reprints Catwoman’s 1989 solo debut by Mindy Newell and J.J. Birch, Catwoman Defiant (1992) by Peter Milligan and Tom Grindberg, and the first year of the Catwoman ongoing series by writer Jo Duffy and artist Jim Balent.
DC Finest – The Flash: The Human Thunderbolt: Collecting tales of the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. Stories include Showcase #4 as well as the first appearances of Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Gorilla Grodd.
DC Finest – Superman: The Coming of Superman: Collects the earliest Superman stories, beginning with Action Comics #1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, as well as Action Comics #2-25, Superman #1-5, and New York World’s Fair Comics #1.
DC Finest – Wonder Woman: Origins & Omens: Collects stories from Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman run, beginning with “The Circle” with art by Terry Dodson, as well as “Ends of the Earth,” “Rise of the Olympian,” and “Warkiller,” with art by Aaron Lopresti.
Following up their announcement of the return of Elseworlds at New York Comic Con (see “DC’s Elseworlds to Return in 2024“), DC announced the release schedule for the various titles, starting in June 2024:
- June – Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age #1 by Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez
- July – Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #1 by Jay Kristoff and Tirso Cons
- August – DC vs. Vampires: World War V #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt
- September – Batman the Barbarian #1 by Greg Smallwood
- October – Green Lantern Dark #1 by Tate Brombal and Werther Dell’Edera
- November – Batman: Nightfire #1 by Clay Mann
DC also released the Direct Market-exclusive by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair for the DC Versus Marvel Omnibus and the DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus (see “DC/Marvel Crossovers Collected“).
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Source: ICv2
