Others = 53 I picked up 39 books of The Demon that you can see in my blog HERE And here is this week's count
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home (2010)
Batman and Robin
Red Robin
Outsiders
Batgirl
Catwoman
Commissioner Gordon
Oracle
Ra's Al Ghul
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home is a series of one-shots released in 2010 chronicling the return of Batman and his interaction with his fellow members of the Batman Family. Characters with ongoing monthly series had the month of October, 2010's issue replaced with an issue from this series. I suppose Ra's counts as Bat-family seeing as he is Bruce's son's maternal Grandfather!
Battle for the Cowl
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight (2009)
1 - 3
With the Batman cowl up for grabs could Azrael be the one to wear it? An Azrael stepped up to the plate before after Knightfall and that didn't turn out too well at all. This is a different Azrael though, I don't remember whatever happened to Jean Paul Valley, in fact I don't remember much about this book at all really. Azrael is now a guy named Michael Lane. The synopsis online mentions as Order of Purity? Whatever happened to the order of St Dumas?
Batman and Robin (2009 - 2011)
1 - 26
After the Battle for the Cowl, Dick Grayson obviously assumed the mantle of the Batman and come on was there ever really any doubt who it should be? No one other than the original Robin was really in the running in my mind. He also took over him for a time just after Knightfall and taking down Jean Paul Valley, Azrael. So Bat-Dick teams up with Damien Wayne son of Bruce and Talia Al Ghul, who is a rather abrasive and arrogant little so-and-so which makes for interesting interaction and stories.
Five of a Kind (2007)
Wonder Woman and Grace #1
Nightwing and Captain Boomerang Jr. #1
Katana and Shazam #1
Thunder and Martian Manhunter #1
Metamorpho and Aquaman #1
This is a cool little set of books. The story is Batman (Bruce Wayne) is putting together a new team of The Outsiders and each of these issues see him trying out and assessing a duo of heroes. Who will he end up recruiting to the team?
Gotham City Sirens (2009 - 2011)
1 - 6, 8 - 26
Launched in the wake of Batman: Reborn, Gotham City Sirens follows the titular team of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn as they are forced to band together to protect themselves in Gotham City. The trio end up at war with each other attempting to kill each other before deciding to just go their seperate ways. After the New 52 the group is no longer mentioned, I am not sure if it ever existed in that continuity.
Azrael (2009 - 2011)
1 - 18
Michael Lane and the Order of Purity are back with an on-going book. Apparently, and I'd forgotten this, Jean-Paul Valley was shot and fell into a river at the end of his old book that ran for 100 issues from '95-'03. It was only confirmed that he was actually dead when he returned as a Black Lantern during Blackest Night. Lane's version of Azrael only lasts the 18 issues before getting cancelled.
Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009 - 2011)
1 - 21
There's a cool angle with this book where Batman stories are told from the view point of people at street level, so it will be like Commissioner Gordon, a villain or some other supporting character telling the story with Bats (Dick Grayson in this run), popping in and out of the story at key points. The back-up stories spin off of each other with Manhunter replaced by Two-Face and then Ragman.
Batman Confidential (2007- 2011)
1 - 54
I think I remembered this in the video that this book was like Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, as it featured stories by rotating creative teams that were set in the early years of modern Batman’s career, post-Batman: Year One, and illustrated formative moments in the character’s past, such as first encounters with allies and foes. Most of these were put into collection books.
Nightwing 80-Page Giant (2000)
Kate Riordan was an honest cop in Bludhaven, the latest in a long line of Riordans on the force. The corrupt mayor wasn't happy with that fact so arranged a media event to honour all 20 of the family on the force and arranged it for a bomb to blow them all away. Only a scarred and mentally damaged Kate survived, becoming Hella in order to exact her revenge. She has a very cool look but has only had a handful of appearances so I guess she wasn't too popular a character to get featured more.
Nightwing (1995)
1 - 4
Nightwing is a superhero legacy name associated with the planet Krypton and the Batman Family, usually working alongside a sidekick and partner named Flamebird. Originally it was an alias used by a mysterious Kryptonian figure, and later adopted by Superman and Van-Zee in the bottle city of Kandor. Later the name was adopted by the human vigilante Dick Grayson, taking it after he had graduated from the position of Batman's sidekick Robin.
Nightwing was created by Edmond Hamilton and Curt Swan, first appearing in Superman #158. (1963) The Dick Grayson version of the character was reinvented by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, first appearing in Tales of the Teen Titans #44. (1984)
Apparently there was a 1-shot of Nightwing before this called Alfred's Return which I guess I don't have as it not in this pile of books. This was a follow up to it and a tester for the characters popularity. It must have proved to be pretty good as he got his own book, which I go into below.
In this story Dick is about to retire from the hero game until an old letter is given to him by Alfred detailing a death threat to Dick's parents dated days before they died. This sends him to the small country of Kravia where the circus had visited shortly before they were killed to investigate
Nightwing/Huntress (1998)
1 - 4
When an undercover cop is killed whilst trying to get the goods on mobster Frankie Black, Nightwing and Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), team-up to take him down.
Nightwing (1996 - 2009)
1 - 96, 98 - 153, One Million
Dick Grayson was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, first appearing in Detective Comics #38. (1940) It took him 56 years to get his 1st on-going book!! I think DC missed a bit of a trick there somehow!! Damn I am getting peeved finding all these long runs of books with just one or two books missing from it, I need to make a list and start filling in these annoying gaps!!
Nightwing Annual
1 - (1997)
2 - (2007)
Nightwing Our Worlds at War
#1 (2001)
At a time when the world is at war and Gotham is reduced to looting and rioting, Oracle is in danger from a virus from the future and she and Nightwing have to use Project Tomorrow at S.T.A.R. Labs to travel through time to prevent her death. So I make that 364 DC books, bringing the new totals to -
DC = 3803
Marvel = 59
Others = 53 Come back Friday to check out a more in-depth look at some of my 'Birthday Books' and join me again next Wednesday for another count of some of my comics.
I bought myself some birthday books too, which I did a blog about HERE, go check it out, some nice books.
So that's another 5 to add to my count
And now onto today's count
Trinity
1 - 52
Trinity was a weekly year-long event, similar to 52 (Volume 1) and Countdown (Volume 1), which ran from June 2008 - July 2009. Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art by Mark Bagley, Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, and Mike Norton. Like 52, but unlike Countdown, it is an entirely self-contained story. Unlike either of its predecessors, which focused on the lesser developed characters of the DC universe this revolves around the relationship between the DCU Trinity, the Big Three, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Its publication also coincides with that of Final Crisis.
Each issue of Trinity has two stories; the main one, focusing on the Trinity themselves, and the backup, focusing on other characters involved in the overall storyline. The main story is written by Busiek, with art by Bagley, (this was his 1st book with DC after a long Marvel run), while the backup has Busiek and Nicieza co-plotting, Nicieza scripting, and a number of art teams.
In 2016, as part of the DC Rebirth, DC Comics launched a second Trinity comic book series featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knights
0 - 144, 146 - 214
Annuals
1,2, 4 - 7
As mentioned in the video this is an anthology book with different creative teams working on stories, varying in length from 1 to 5 parts. The series takes inspiration from Batman: Year One and the stories are generally set in the early years of the character's career. It also does not follow any sort of chronological order as the stories could be set at any point in Batman's past. Generally, the stories are not specific about the time period they take place in and do not reference anything in the larger DC Universe history. It also, for the most part, eschewed appearances by other DC universe characters save for Batman, Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner Gordon, and Batman's rogues gallery. Ostensibly, the stories are part of Batman's Post-Crisis continuity but are written in a way that avoids pigeonholing them into anything specific. Hardly any of the stories are referenced in other comics with perhaps the only exception is Venom which formed as the basis for the creation of the villain, Bane.
(I pretty much just copied and pasted that straight from dc.wikia.com, cos I was feeling lazy) Anyway after today's count I have -
DC = 2249
Marvel = 53
Others = 27 I also need to report that I found another stack of long boxes that I'd forgotten about!! I can't recall if it was 5 or 6 boxes but it rather pleased me anyway!
So if you watched the video you'll know that for my birthday I hit upon the notion of starting to collect comic books that came out in September 1969 the month that I was born!! The idea being that these books were first clutched in their original owners grubby mitts at the same time that my mum and dad were picking me up for the 1st time and thinking, "Oh damn, what have we done??!" So here's the books that I picked up as a birthday present to myself
Flash #191
Story - John Broome
Art - Ross Andru & Mike Esposit
Cover - Joe Kubert
Graded FN+ 6.5
I ordered this off Ebay from SilverAcre Comics and it arrived on time and in good condition as far as I can see. Hal Jordan is visiting Barry & Iris for dinner and they've invited Olivia Reynolds along who Hal already knows as a rival toys salesperson. She debuted in this month's Green Lantern book #71 (See below) She later has a relationship with Hal, becomes a supervillain for a short time and goes on to have a romance with Icemaiden.
Batman #215
Story - Frank Robbins
Art - Irv Novick & Dick Giordano
Graded GD+ 2.5 (not anymore!)
The next lot of books in my blog all came from Mycomicshop.com
Oh my god, I am a clumsy idiot, I just damaged the book's cover putting it away after reading it. The very sticky sellotape stuck to the poor old cover and scuffed it in two places. These old covers are not as robust as the more modern comics it seems. I must be more careful in future, curse my stupidity!!
😭
In this story Bruce Wayne has been nobbled along with the other members of the Civic Conscience Council with some manner of mind control!! Can Batman identify the villain and can Robin & Alfred stop him from destroying his ancestral home? This was a cool enough story but he practically gives away his secret identity but nothing is made of it??
Atom and Hawkman #44
Cover - Joe Kubert
Graded VG- 3.5
Hawkman
Story - Robert Kanigher
Art - Murphy Anderson
Well, that surprised me I thought the guys were teaming up in the book as partners but this is 2 separate self-contained stories instead. I am not sure if they ever did buddy up as partners in this book's run or if every issue went like this. In Hawkman's half of the book he and his wife Hawkgirl, (she doesn't deserve a title credit?), tangle with the Gentleman Ghost in a cool story. They spend most of the story bickering like old married couples sometimes do, which is pretty funny and is definitely a tale you wouldn't see in the comics today 😂
Atom
Story - Denny O'Neil
Art - Dick Dillin & Sid Greene
Ray Palmer stops a German college professor from being harassed as a Nazi by students. Atom helps the man to clear his name after he destroys his lab because he'd seen a monster. Ray travels into microscopic realms to battle the creature which has plans to invade our world using Ray's own size-changing energies.
Green Lantern - #71
Cover - Gil Kane
Graded - VG/FN 5.0
The City That Died
Story - John Broome
Art - Gil Kane & Joe Giella
Hal meets Olivia Reynolds a rival toy salesperson who uses her feminine assets to beat him to a sale. It's funny and so un-PC, this kind of antiquated story/idea is what makes old comics so much fun, to see how things have changed over the decades, it's cool. Some radiation from deep underground is sapping energy from the city, 1st from cars and machines and then from people themselves. Hal has to use all his willpower to identify and eliminate the problem.
A Green Lantern Brothers Story
Story - John Broome
Art - Dick Dillin & Murphy Anderson
This was quite a fun story, the Jordan family are having a party when the troublesome hippy black sheep of the family "Hip" turns up intent on stealing whatever he can get. Hal's sister in law Sue is convinced that her husband (Hal's Brother) James is Green Lantern and orders him to don the costume and confront Hip. Hal has to end up saving him and does so managing to maintain his secret identity whilst Sue is left even more convinced that her husband is Green Lantern.
Detective Comics # 391
Graded - GD/VG 3.0
Batman "The Gal Most Likely to be..Batman's Widow"
Story - Frank Robbins
Art - Bob Brown & Joe Giella
This book stars Batman & Robin but not in a story together. This must be from the time period that Robin (Dick Grayson) leaves to go to college. In the lead story Ginny Jenkins has unwittingly become the front for a mob extortion scam on restaurants. Her ex-beau Tim Clark works at a gym and learns of the mob's scheme he tries to warn her but she doesn't believe him so he dresses as Batman to try and rescue her. Luckily the real Batman is on hand to save both of them.
Robin "Strike!"
Story - Mike Friedrich
Art - Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson
A teacher's strike threatens Gotham High and gangsters nobble the negotiator. Robin tracks them to their hideout and dishes out some fisticuff justice.
******************************
So that's my 1st purchase of some birthday books, comics that were born at the same time that I was. I might start a podcast about these too actually, might be a bit of fun, watch this space and I'll see what happens. I definitely intend to carry on buying these 'birthday books' for myself. I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford them all but right now I suppose the main goal, what I think is called a grail book, is to get Captain America #117 to own the 1st appearance of the Falcon a superhero who kind of shares his birthday with me. Has anyone got one they want to sell?
Samuel Thomas Wilson, known as the Falcon, was the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books, and also the first black superhero not to have the word "black" as part of his superhero name. He has a pet Falcon Redwing that he has a natural affinity with and was created by Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan.
Stop the presses!!!
I was just researching some more 'birthday books' and found another comic book character born in the same month/year as me! Vampirella over at Warren comics!
For those not aware Vampirella is a comic book vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 (September 1969). She started off as kind of a Tales of the Crypt "Cryptkeeper" type of character introducing horror stories before writer-editor Archie Goodwin developed the character into a horror-drama leading character.
Her 1st appearance is even more expensive than Falcon's!! Looks like I have some saving to do! I actually own some Vampirella proper books, not comics, that I bought ages ago, it was the 1st time I knew of the character, I might have to give them another read soon.
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.
At a time when the world is at war and Gotham is reduced to looting and rioting, Oracle is in danger from a virus from the future and she and Nightwing have to use Project Tomorrow at S.T.A.R. Labs to travel through time to prevent her death.
