Legion of Super-Heroes: Before the Darkness Vol. 2 by Gerry Conway, Steve Ditko, Paul Levitz, Carmine Infantino, 25 January 2022, 352 pagesExperience the Legionnaires' far-flung adventures leading up to the great darkness saga! The second volume of the Legionnaire's incredible run is here! Discover the answers to these intriguing mysteries in Legion of Super-Heroes: Before the Darkness, an astonishing collection of action-packed episodes from acclaimed talents Gerry Conway, Paul Kupperberg, E. Nelson Bridwell, J.M. DeMatteis, Jim Janes, Steve Ditko, Jim Sherman, Frank Chiaramonte, Dave Hunt, and more! This second and final volume collects The Legion of Super-Heroes #272-283, The Best of DC: Blue Ribbon Digest #24.
Speaking of reprints, I tried to use historical data to predict how many new reprint volumes will come out in 2022, and which ones. In 2021, we have “Before the Darkness vol 1” which already came out, Bendis vol 2 in April, and the tabloid reprint in December, so I don’t expect anything else in 2021 as they’re already coming out with 2022 books.
Let's dive into things and see what we can come up with . DC has put out the following Legion reprint collections over the last few years:
Given that, I'd expect maybe 2-3 more books to come out in 2022. Thoughts:
SILVER AGE- The "LSH: The Silver Age Omnibus" line is complete in three volumes, covering Adventure 247 to Action 392. But they also had one volume just called “LSH: The Silver Age vol 1” in 2018, even though the same year they put out “The Silver Age Omnibus vol 3”, so who knows. The Omnibus vol 1 reprinted up to ADV 329, while the non-Omnibus reprinted up to ADV 310. Since the 3 Silver Age Omnibus books came out 2017-2020, I’m not inclined to think that we’ll see another Silver Age non-Omnibus.
- I'd expect the Bronze Age Omnibus series to start. The Silver Age books were an average of 630 pages each, meaning that this hypothetical volume 1 would cover Superboy 172-224, which are what's covered in Archives 10-12 (reprinted in 2000, 2002, and 2003)
- "The Great Darkness Saga Deluxe Edition" (392 pages) and "The Curse Deluxe Edition" (522 pages) both came out in 2011 and are due for re-release, especially since those are the next ones chronologically following "Before the Darkness".
- After "The Curse" came "An Eye for an Eye" (2007, LSH v3 1-6) and "The More Things Change" (2009, LSH v3 7-13), but neither contained the "Tales of the LSH" stories that were published concurrently with the first year of v3. I would recommend either a volume that has issues from both, since each makes reference to stuff going on in the other title, or put the v3 issues together in one volume and the 12 issues of "Tales" in a second volume. But those likely wouldn't come out until after "The Curse" gets reissued.
- The 5YL Omnibus vol 2 should come out, with LSH v4 #40 to the end, plus the Legionnaires series and half of the Valor run. Depending on what they put in there (like the Secret Origins issues or the Legion entries in Who's Who), it could run anywhere from 1300-1800 pages.
- The Reboot had volume 2 last published in 2018, so it's due for the next volume. I estimate there are up to 11 volumes (depending on size) before we hit the Abnett/Lanning run which has already started to get reprinted.
- The Abnett/Lanning vol 2 reprinted “Legion Lost” in 2018, but there are still 6 issues of Legion Worlds, 38 issues of The Legion, some Secret Files, and some Titans/Legion stories left, which I estimate would take up another 4 volumes. Legion Worlds should be next, as a 6-issue series (and was originally solicited but cancelled in 2013).
- Threeboot (LSH v5) was complete in 2007-2009, with volumes published concurrently with the title. I don't see a clamor for re-releases.
RETROBOOT
- The Retroboot was reprinted concurrently with the v6 series in 2008-2011, but only about half of the Adventure series has been reprinted (the Legion Academy stuff has not) and a handful of random stories from various books (about 200 pages worth). Not expecting this anytime soon.
- New 52 was all reprinted concurrently with the v7 series and Legion Lost in 2012-2015. Not expecting a re-release any time soon.
REBIRTH
- Volume 2 already coming out in April 2021, while the Future State books will be reprinted elsewhere.
So here are the 5 candidates for reprinting in 2022. With one book already on the schedule, I'd bet on any 2 or 3 of these coming out (listed in chronological order of original printing):
- Bronze Age Omnibus vol 1: reprinting Superboy 172-224, last reprinted 2000-2003 in Archives 10-12; the last Silver Age Omnibus volume came out in 2020
- The Great Darkness Saga re-release: reprinting LSH v2 284-296, last reprinted 2011, though if this came out I expect it would be at the end of the year since "Before the Darkness vol 2" will come out in Jan 2022
- 5YL Omnibus vol 2: reprinting LSH v4 #40-63, plus the Legionnaires series and half of the Valor run, all of which has never been reprinted; vol 1 came out in 2021
- Reboot vol 3: reprinting LSH v4 #74-80 and LGS #31-37 plus the Superboy crossover, and continuing the naming for this reprint series as "Legionnaires", all of which has never been reprinted; volume 2 came out in 2018
- Legion Worlds: issues 1-6 never reprinted, although solicited but cancelled in 2013; last Abnett/Lanning volume 2 came out in 2018
What about a Karate Kid Omnibus (unlikely I know). It could contain the series, The Kamandi issue, the one from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade and wassn't there a Brave and the Bold more tied to Diamondeth and the 20th century than legion proper?
ReplyDeleteIDLE
The hypothetical Karate Kid volume would contain issues 1-15, plus Kamandi 58 and Brave and Bold 198 (which has Val going back to the 20th century to invite Iris to his wedding). That's 17 issues, which is enough for a collection. S/LSH 246 might be a good candidate since it wraps up Iris's story, but she and Val only appear on the first few pages while she gets cured and then they leave, turning into a Legion story.
ReplyDeleteThe Kamandi story from Cancelled Comic Cavalcade only has a 2-page spread in which Kamandi finds out that there are infinite Earths, and Karate Kid came from a different one than his. Besides a cameo of the Legion Clubhouse, there's no other Legion-related material in there, so not worth putting into a Karate Kid Omnibus. The CCC stories (which would have been issues 60-61) were later reprinted in the Kamandi Challenge Special #1 in 2017.