DC Solicitation Sneaks: July 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium 2
The first one came out back in May 2023, so this has been a while coming. Fortunately everyone’s patience is going to be rewarded as this means the entire series will finally be available in collected editions decades after it was originally published. Also, over a decade since the previous attempt to collect it in paperback editions fizzled out.
This is a good thing, however you want to look at it. “Sandman Mystery Theatre” was a modern take on the adventures of Wesley Dodds, a Depression-era crimefighter who donned a gas mask and used sleeping gas to fight crime. It came to us initially from writer Matt Wagner and artist Guy Davis, and the former was joined by Steven T. Seagle shortly after its start, and other artists rotated in frequently to lend their talents to the series. Wesley’s adventures, with frequent paramour Dian Belmont, usually involved approaching old pulp characters and noir storylines with updated sensibilities, and the kind of mature subject matter allowed by the Vertigo imprint. Even though I’ll be re-buying some of the stories I’ve already read through that first attempt to collect this in paperback, getting this is a no-brainer because it could be the only time that these stories are collected in print again.
Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #’s 1-5 (of 5): Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn are taking the month off from their self-titled series. In their place is this five-issue miniseries that sees them checking out the newest nightclub in Gotham. By “checking out” I mean “case the joint” ahead of their plans to take it for all it’s worth. Which may be harder than initially planned when it’s revealed that the club’s owner, Despero, has a villainous scheme that needs foiling. This comes to us from writer Leah Williams and artist Haining and while the latter has done good work on “Poison Ivy,” we’ll see if the former’s oddball sensibilities can elevate what seems like month-long filler.
Superman Treasury 2025 #1: One of the architects of the Man of Steel’s death, Dan Jurgens, returns to write this oversized, 80-page, $15 story for the Summer of Superman. It’s about Superman facing off against an attack on Earth from alien extremists, but the real threat may be coming from within. While I can get behind DC trying to serve up all kinds of “Superman” stories in a variety of formats to synergize with the movie, this sounds a bit too formulaic, even coming from an established vet like Jurgens. However, it’s illustrated by Bruno Redondo, who did consistently great work on “Nightwing,” and there’s always the hope that he’ll get to experiment with the comics form here as he did on that series.
DC’s Kal-El-fornia Love #1: It’s an anthology of stories about the Super-family and their adventures in California. Even if you’re not interested in shelling out $10 for an 80-page issue, you have to admit that its existence is justified through that title pun which is just *chef’s kiss*.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – A League for Justice #1 (of 6): If I recall, this Andy Diggle-written, Leandro Fernandez-illustrated expansion of the original classic Batman Elseworlds story was supposed to be twelve issues. The first six were published and collected as “The Kryptonian Age” and now it looks like we’re finally getting the back half of the saga, which concerns itself with, well… you can probably guess. I remember being interested in this when it came out, because of the solid creative team attached to it. Now that we’re getting this continuation, maybe I’ll finally get around to picking up the first half to see how it turns out.
Black Canary: The Best of the Best HC: Tom “Mr. Maxiseries” King throws another curveball at his readership with this new miniseries. That’s right, this story of Black Canary taking on Lady Shiva in a fight for all the marbles is only six issues. Will that make a difference in its quality? Probably not, especially with Ryan Sook handling all of the art here.
Batman: The Demon Trilogy HC: This collection of three influential tales about Ra’s Al Ghul was originally published back in 2020 in an oversized format for $75. I wrote back then that I was interested, but not $75 interested. Now they’re being reprinted in a less oversized hardcover for a fraction of the price at $25 for 304 pages. That’s a price point and page count I can get behind.
Batman: Arkham Asylum – DC Compact Comics Edition: Look, I’m glad that this classic story from Grant Morrison and Dave McKean is getting republished in a new format for a new audience. That said, I’m not sure how well McKean’s art is going to look when it’s squished down into a smaller form. He’s someone who works in the same expressionistic school as Bill Sienkiewicz, and that kind of work is best appreciated on a larger scale. Also, the original story was around 120 pages and we’re getting 248 here. That’s a lot of extra padding in the form of sketches, pinups, and “more.” Still, the original went for $13 in softcover back in the day, which means the $10 cover price for this edition is an improvement at least.