DC "Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection"

[Chris Chopping]

If DC were to do a similar collection to the Marvel one, instead of putting their efforts into novelty chess pieces, what do you think would/should be included?

I'm thinking:

Watchmen
All Star Superman
Superman Red Son
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Killing Joke
Arkham Asylum

for beginners, what else?

[JamesC]

I'd like to see some of the classic 70's stuff.
Neal Adam's Batman (definitely 'The Demon Awakes' and maybe a Man Bat collection too), Superman Vs Muhammed Ali, maybe some of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow stuff.
I'd be tempted to add in stuff like Swamp Thing and Sandman but unless they're going to do whole extended runs it seems like a waste of time.
The Grant/Breyfogle Batman stories of the early 90's are crying out for a reprint.

[Professor Bear]

It would likely be a list of top-sellers rather than something objectively good: Hush, Under The Red Hood, Superman Earth One, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Countdown to Final Crisis and so on.  Basically lots and lots of gimmicky stuff, probably written by Jeph Loeb and/or Geoff Johns.

[radiator]

Kingdom Come, Grant Morrison JLA and Alan Moore Swamp Thing.

[Colin YNWA]

Aside from the more obvious stuff like New Frontier and many of those already mentioned there's a load of the Wally West Flash series that's never been reprinted and really deserves it. Also Tom Peyer's Hourman, Walt Simonson's Orion and countless others.

[llama1996]

I think it would be best if they just did as Marvel did and included all of the most "important" story-arc's, the comics that had the largest effects on major characters etc.

Things like Crisis, Hush and Batman: The Killing Joke (Marvel had Secret Wars, Civil War etc.) as well as all of the good stand-alone ones like Kingdom Come and Superman Red Son (Marvel had Marvel:Zombies, House of M etc.)

[The Monarch]

lets see

52

A death in the family

a lonely place of dying

man of steel

the judas contract

the great darkness

aquaman: time and tide

legends

suicide squad (unlikely but I can hope)

animal man (again unlikely)

[Professor Bear]

I think it would be best if they just did as Marvel did and included all of the most "important" story-arc's, the comics that had the largest effects on major characters etc.

Things like Crisis, Hush and Batman: The Killing Joke (Marvel had Secret Wars, Civil War etc.) as well as all of the good stand-alone ones like Kingdom Come and Superman Red Son (Marvel had Marvel:Zombies, House of M etc.)

The problem with defining "important" arcs is that DC have revised their continuity so much that all their significant or "event" storylines are now Elseworlds or Earth 1s or whatever - something like Killing Joke isn't actually canon even though Batgirl comics published this very year refer to events within it.  As a consequence, older books don't feel like they've got any dramatic importance to a post-reboot DC in the same way as the Marvel books you mention - all of which (even the alternate reality tales, oddly) are relevant to current Marvel continuity and can be sold as such.

[Adam-adamant]

I know this is a bit of a dead rubber but I was thinking about this.

Mostly it should like the Marvel one tie to film and tv releases with some other to make it all make sense and the major continuity hot spots of recent Years so I'm Thinking Crisis - Flashpoint as a span
So my suggestions

New Teen Titans 1-6
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Legends
Invasion -?
Underworld Unleashed -? I'm not sure this or invasion where important enough to include
Identity Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Final Crisis
Flashpoint

Countdown to infinite crisis
OMAC Project

Man of Steel (Byrne)
Death or Superman
Return of Superman
All Star Superman (Morrison)


Batman Year 1
Dark Knight Returns
Hush
Son of Batman

Emerald Dawn
Emerald Twilight

Watchmen
New Frontier

Giffen-DeMathias JLA 1-12 (for the whole who is Maxwell Lord thing)
Morrison JLA 1-6
JLA Year 1 (Waid)

Wonder Woman Gods and Mortals
Wonder Woman The contest (Artemis)
Wonder Woman The Odyssey

The Flash Dead Heat
The Flash Rebirth

Longbow Hunters
Quiver

Swamp Thing American Gothic (Crisis Tie In)

WildC.A.T.S. (Alan Moore)

Authority (1st Series)

Planetary 0-12

Static

Icon

Aquaman Time and Tide

[starscape]

Got to be the Legion of Super-Heroes Great Darkness Saga in there.  I'd also go for Return of the New Gods - a decent follow-up to the more celebrated Kirby material.  Not enough for a TPB but All-Star Comics 69-70 (JSA v JSA / Green Lantern goes wild) was a couple of terrific issues.  The Neal Adams GL/Green Arrow street comics is a bit dated but worth a highlight.

Trouble is DC are obsessed with their IMO sub-standard 50s/60s material.  No surprise to me that Marvel became the hottest kid on the block there.

[strontium_dog_90]

Reading this thread, it baffles me that The Killing Joke can ever be made non-canon - I'm not an Alan Moore super-fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this is an amazing work, and I struggle to see why anyone would want to retcon one of the greatest comic works ever written.

[sheldipez]

The Killing Joke IS canon in the NEW 52 - in the Batgirl series Barbara Gordon was rebilitated back to walking and she fullly acknowledges what the Joker did to her (via internal dialogue) when he turned up in the book.

On a side note Scott Snyder (current Batman writer) has said that he consides everything that has happened in the past to be canon, in Batman at least,  and works in many references regardless of what DC editorial view as canon. He's one of the few (maybe the only one) who get away with it though as he's DC's darling boy.

[Colin YNWA]

Reading this thread, it baffles me that The Killing Joke can ever be made non-canon - I'm not an Alan Moore super-fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this is an amazing work, and I struggle to see why anyone would want to retcon one of the greatest comic works ever written.

I struggle with this, aside from the fact I don't think Killing Joke has ever not been canon, would it matter either way really. Its a good comic so who cares. Dark Knight Returns isn't canon, but is still a good comic. I don't know if Year One is still canon (I suspect not) and that's still a great comic. The Grant Breyfogle run... well I doubt DC even want us to know that exists anymore (still no trades?!?) but its still my favourite Batman run, its also not affected by whether any of the above are canon or not, not on any real level anyway.

I love the soap opera of a well run superhero universe, but still don't get hung up on whats canon or not as few good stories require much else to be canon and so you can edit your own history together from what you know and love...

...or just read Grant Morrison's Batman run which skillfully and wonderfully tells us not to worry it all happened and will happen again...

[strontium_dog_90]

I probably overthink these things 

Glad to hear "The Killing Joke" hasn't faced the dreaded retcon, though!