Counting Comics - Part 8

I started this week with

DC = 1616
Marvel = 53
Others = 27

Villains United (2005)
1 - 6

Villains United is one of four miniseries leading up to DC Comics' Infinite Crisis event. It follows the evolution of the latest incarnation of the Secret Six, and the group's ongoing plight against the various supervillains belonging to Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains. The initial 6 are Catman, Cheshire, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll and Parademon, they are aided by the mysterious Mockingbird. The united villains plan, led by Luthor, Talia al Ghul, Doctor Psycho, Deathstroke, Black Adam, and the Calculator, is to erase the memories of Earth's superheroes!

Secret Six (2006 - 07)

1 - 6

Secret Six (2008 - 11)

1 - 10, 12 - 28, 30 - 31
There have been 4 teams in the DC Universe using this name, 3 in the normal DC world and an alternate universe one, all of them have been led by a mysterious figure named Mockingbird. The 1st team of this name had a 7 issue run from (May 1968 – May 1969). Created by writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Frank Springer, the ongoing series ceased publication with the identity of Mockingbird unrevealed. The 2nd team's story by writer Martin Pasko and artist Dan Spiegle ran in Action Comics Weekly in 1988. This is the 3rd team formed during Villains United, Knockout has now joined the team, while the traitorous Cheshire is out and Parademon is dead after sacrificing himself. Mad Hatter joins the team for a time and gets replaced by Harley Quinn but she later quits.

The Ongoing series has the team of Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll and adds Bane and a new character named Jeannette to the team.

Doom Patrol (2011)

19

Arkham Reborn (2010)

1 - 3

This was published in three parts beginning as a Battle for the Cowl one-shot, followed by a three-issue Arkham Reborn mini-series and a two-part conclusion in Detective Comics. That's just a bit confusing to me, don't they know us collectors have a hard job enough already without this kind of jumbled tomfoolery!!?? Jumbled tomfoolery pretty much describes the plot synopsis of this story too!! It hurts my brain and makes me think I should be inside Arkham or a similar institution when I read it.

Batman Special Edition #6 (Autumn '94)
The Vengeance of Bane

I am pretty sure this is a UK newsagent's version of the Bane origin, I dare say it's a reprint of a story told previously in the normal Bat-books

Infinity Inc. (2007 - 08)
1 - 12
This features Steel (John Henry Irons) getting a team of ex-Everyman Project subjects together to become Infinity Inc. After Lex Luthor's exogene therapy ends some of the now non-super powered subjects, including Steel's niece Natasha Irons (formerly known as Starlight) are in psychotherapy. Their exogenes which are now repressed mutate to give the subjects a whole new set of powers! The newly repowered group become the new Infinity Inc. I must say I don't know anything about this Everyman Project, I would imagine it was a Superman comics plot and I wasn't collecting them at all at this time. I do think it was mentioned in the 52 series of comics too.

Rann-Thanagar War (2005)

1 - 6

Rann-Thanagar War, along with Villains United, The OMAC Project, and Day of Vengeance, is one of four miniseries which lead up to DC Comics' Infinite Crisis event. 

The planet Rann is teleported close to Thanagar by a group of rogue Thanagarians causing the latter to spin into the sun! With the people of both worlds now living on Rann and blaming each other for the crisis Adam Strange of Rann and Hawkman and Hawkgirl of Thanagar try to deal with war between the 2 races. They manage to discover that events that led up to the conflict were engineered by the intergalactic criminal Kanjar Ro.

Rann is a fictional planet in the Polaris star system (formerly in the Alpha Centauri System) of the DC Comics Universe whose capital city is Ranagar. Rann is most famous for being the adopted planet of the Earth explorer and hero Adam Strange and for their teleportation device called the Zeta Beam. The planet Rann, along with her famous non-native son, first appeared in Showcase #17 (November–December 1958).

Rann-Thanagar Holy War (2008 - 09)

1 - 8

This follow up to Rann-Thanagar War 8-parter ties into Final Crisis and spins off from events shown in "Countdown to Adventure" and "Mystery in Space (Volume 2)." Deacon Dark sparks a Holy War between Thanagarians and Rannians by ordering some of his Thangarian followers to pillage a sacred Rannian site.

Thanagar the planet was created by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert and debuted in Brave and the Bold #34 (March, 1961). Thanagar is the original home of the humanoid Thanagarian race, noted for the discovery of gravity-defying Nth metal. The planet was in orbit around the star Polaris before events of Rann-Thanagar Holy War saw it consumed by the sun.

Adam Strange Special (Nov 2008) # 1

Hawkman Special (Oct 2008) # 1

Day of Vengeance (2005)

1 - 6

Jean Loring, the ex-wife of Atom (Ray Palmer), after her killing of Sue Dibny, (the Elongated Man's wife), is transformed into a new Eclipso. She convinces the Spectre, the spirit of God's vengeance, (which no longer has a host body after Hal Jordan's resurrection), that magic is the cause of all evil and fools him into seeking out to destroying it. The Shadowpact forms to combat this powerful menace.

52 Aftermath (2007 - 08)

Crime Bible 5 Lessons of Blood

1 - 5
This is a possibly the 1st book with Renee Montoya as the new Question as she gets embroiled with the Crime Bible and it's followers.

The Four Horsemen

1 - 6

The big 3 of DC battle the Four Horsemen of Apokalips, they are out numbered but you know they ain't outgunned. 

Countdown Arena (2008)

1 - 4

This span off from the regular Countdown book features battles between multiversal counterparts of Batman, Superman, Captain Atom and other denizens of the recreated multiverse. Kind of like a smaller version of the Convergence event which finished the 52 concept sometime later, with cities fighting each other.

Countdown Presents

The Search for Ray Palmer (2007 - 08)

Wildstorm # 1

Crime Society # 1

Red Rain # 1

Gotham by Gaslight # 1

Red Son # 1

Superwoman/Batwoman # 1

Ray Palmer fled the regular DC world after his ex-wife became mad and ended up as Eclipso. Later it is foretold that only he can prevent an upcoming Multiverse disaster and a team comprised of his protegee Atom (Ryan Choi), Jason Todd, Donna Troy and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) led by a monitor named "Bob" seek out to traverse the multiverse to find him.

The Return of Donna Troy (2005)

1 - 4

Yes I was right she was killed by a Superman android! She then gets merged with all her other multiverse conterparts and lives on New Cronus along with all the other Titans of Greek mythology! They rescued her and wiped her mind so she stayed with them as they believed she was destined to save them from an impending threat!! It seems there is a lot of that going around, just ask Ray Palmer!!

Countdown to Infinite Crisis

The utter bastards!!! They killed off Ted Kord... the bastards!! Yeah, I cried, so what, screw you guys!! 😢

Infinite Crisis (2005 - 06)

1 - 7

Brave New World 1

After Crisis on Infinite Earths when all realities merged, some heroes were trapped in a crystal dimension, these being Superboy-Prime, Alexander Luthor and Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-Two. Frustrated and driven mad by the confinement and the believe that the new Universe is dark and not worthy of his sacrifice Superboy-Prime breaks them all out. Alexander Luthor steals control of Brother Eye from Batman, forms a new Secret Society of Super-Villains (known simply as "The Society") to strike out at Earth's heroes, and plans for the Spectre to wreak havoc on the people of magic. Superboy-Prime destroys the Justice League Watchtower and takes Martian Manhunter hostage, triggers a War between Rann and Thanagar, and recovers the corpse of the Anti-Monitor. And that's just for starters!!

Infnite Crisis
Secret Files & Origins (2006)

Infinite Crisis Special

Villains United 1

The Omac Project 1

Rann-Thanagar War 1

Day of Vengeance 1

These 4 Specials came after their respective mini-series as a sort of culmination/conclusion of events

Infinite Crisis Aftermath

The Battle of Blüdhaven 1 - 6 (2006)

The giant villainous Chemo has left the city chemically polluted and people have to be evacuated. Mysteriously there is also  radioactive pollution, something that Chemo could not have caused. The city is walled off and after One Year Later the place is in crisis with various groups & individuals getting involved including Monolith, Father Time, the Atomic Knights, the Nuclear Legion, the Titans, Freedom's Ring and loads more.

Seven Soldiers of Victory (2006)

0 - 1

Frankenstein 1 - 4

Bulleteer 1 - 4

The Manhatten Guardian 1 - 4

Mister Miracle 1 - 4

Shining Knight 1 -4

Zatanna 1 - 4

Klarion 1 - 4

The Seven Soldiers of Victory, also known as the Law's Legionnaries, are a super-hero team which fought during World War II as part of the All-Star Squadron. Their adventures originally took place during the Golden Age on Earth-Two. In Pre-Crisis, their founding members were the Vigilante, Crimson Avenger, Green Arrow, Speedy, Shining Knight, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. The Seven Soldiers of Victory was created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin, first appearing in Leading Comics #1. (1941)

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of the Seven Soldiers developed as part of the mainstream DC Universe. During the Silver Age event, Batgirl formed a team called the Seven Soldiers of Victory. It consisted of herself, Deadman, Metamorpho, Blackhawk, Mento, Adam Strange and the Shining Knight. It fought valiantly but disbanded soon afterwards.

This Seven Soldiers of Victory was written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by J.H. Williams III. It consists of two book-end titles, and seven four-issue limited sub-series, each revolving around one member of the team. The entire story consists of 30 issues, and each miniseries can either be read individually, or as part of the larger whole. This third incarnation of the Seven Soldiers of Victory includes no members from the original team, but an entirely new cast including: The Bulleteer, Frankenstein, Klarion, The Manhattan Guardian, Mister Miracle (Shilo Norman), Shining Knight and Zatanna.

52 (2006 - 07)

1 - 52

52 was a weekly comic book series published from May 2006 until May 2007. It takes place during the missing year between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later. The series involves rebuilding the DC Universe after the Crisis, in all of its corners, and mainly features protagonists who usually act as supporting characters, because Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were all out of commission for various reasons during this time. It examines a full year in the life of the characters before catching up to the regular publications in One Year Later. Quite a few stories crossed weaved through the book; the Everyman Project; Renee Montoya becoming the new Question; Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire lost in space; Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibney coping with the death of his wife Sue and investigating the Cult of Conner and Black Adam in his kingdom of Kahndaq.

World War III (2007)

1 - 4

This was another plot line from the 52 run that also got it's own little 4-part spin off. World War III was a worldwide metahuman conflict which lasted for only one week. Precipitated by the mass slaughter by Black Adam in Bialya, which resulted in millions of deaths, the conflict raged over the surface of the Earth. Eventually, the combined forces of the JSA, JLA, Captain Marvel, China's Great Ten, Phantom Stranger, Martian Manhunter, and other heroes stopped Black Adam's rampage.

Countdown to Final Crisis (2007 - 08)

51 - 1

DC Universe 0 (2008)

Countdown is a 52-issue weekly series which began publication in May 2007. It premieres with issue #51 and continues backwards, ending with #0. The series is written by Batman scribe, Paul Dini. Key characters include the Challengers from Beyond, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel, Darkseid, the Monitors, Holly Robinson, Harleen Quinzel, Ray Palmer, the Trickster, and the Pied Piper. The series tyed in with plots across many story arcs all over the DCU such as Arena, The Search for Ray Palmer and Salvation Run.

Action Comics

829, 831, 852

Superman

219, 221 - 223

Adventures of Superman

642, 643, 645

Wonder Woman

219, 221

Checkmate (2006 - 08)

1 - 31

Checkmate is a government organization dedicated to covert operations. Its precursor is the group Agency led by Valentina Vostok. Harry Stein founded the organization under direction of Amanda Waller and Task Force X. Their missions are accomplished by special agents, named after chess pieces, around the world. They later became sanctioned by the United Nations. Their leaders include the Black King and Black Queen in charge of operations and the White King and White Queen in charge of intelligence. Checkmate was created by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin, first appearing in Action Comics #598. (1988)

Volume 1 of Checkmate ran from 1988 - 91 for 33 issues whist this 2nd volume fell just short of that total with 31

Blue Beetle ( 2006 - 09)

1 - 36

Well as I said, the buggers killed the BEST Blue Beetle, Ted Kord so they gave us a new one!! Jaime Reyes is a cool kid with cool powers although I'm not so keen on the change of the Scarab's origin but hey ho, such is comics, all about change and all that, pip pip tally ho what what! He's the 3rd to wear the mantle of the Blue Beetle, the 1st was Dan Garret, (later revamped as Dan Garrett by Charlton Comics), he was created by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski, first appearing in Mystery Men Comics #1. (1939) Ted Kord was created by Steve Ditko, first appearing in Captain Atom (Charlton) #83. (1966) Jaime Reyes was created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers and Cully Hamner, first appearing in Infinite Crisis #3. (2006)

The Omac Project (2005)

1 - 6

Omac  (2006 - 07)

1 - 8

OMAC is an acronym used by several related concepts in the DC Universe. Originally it was the alias used by Buddy Blank, a corporate nobody working for the Global Peace Agency in the future. Their satellite Brother Eye gave him incredible powers and transformed him into the One-Man Army Corps. During The OMAC Project in the modern era, Checkmatecreates an OMAC virus under the leadership of Maxwell Lord; hijacking Batman's Brother Eye technology, they use infected human drones to neutralize superhero threats worldwide. Following the timeline reboot in Flashpoint, the Omactivate!storyline introduces an OMAC named Kevin Kho involved with Project Cadmus and Justice League International. OMAC was created by Jack Kirby, first appearing in OMAC #1 (1974).

So that's another 356 DC Comics, which is pretty damned impressive for a short box, no wonder it was so heavy.

This makes the new total

DC = 1972
Marvel = 53
Others = 27

I just thought this may be of interest to some. I do a Heavy Metal podcast and this week I did a superhero comic theme show, you can check it out HERE if you like.

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