I’ve been wondering whether DC planned on continuing the Flash Chronicles line of reprints. With the return of the Archives this year, I should have guessed we’d see a new Chronicles volume soon, and in fact, volume three is listed in DC’s July+ solicitations.
THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 3 TP
Written by JOHN BROOME and GARDNER FOX
Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA and MURPHY ANDERSON
Cover by CARMINE INFANTINO and MURPHY ANDERSON
On sale AUGUST 8 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
- In this third collection of 1960s adventures in chronological order, the Fastest Man Alive battles Rogues including The Trickster, Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and more.
- Collecting THE FLASH #113-118.
Update: It’s available for pre-order.
DC has three series of reprints designed to start at the beginning (or at least the beginning of the Silver Age) and collect everything in chronological order:
- Archives: High-quality, hardcover, color reprints, typically about 200 pages, relatively expensive. For people who want a book that will last. Five volumes so far, with a sixth on its way.
- Showcase Presents: Cheap, black and white paperbacks on newsprint, around 500-600 pages, for people who just want to read the stories. Currently on three volumes in the early 1960s, plus one featuring the Trial of the Flash in the 1980s.
- Chronicles: Cheaper, color paperbacks, more like a typical collected edition of more recent comics.
I keep meaning to work out the math of just how many volumes each of these lines would need to reprint the entire 1956-1986 Barry Allen Flash series (including the four Showcase issues early on) — and how long it would take to complete them at DC’s current rate of publication.
I really wish that DC would get more aggressive with the Archive releases for the Flash.
Archives are great editions, but the price though. At 50 bucks each, I feel guilty for spending that much on one book.
That “how many volumes for the run?” question used to be a popular pastime on the Archive section of the DC boards. In a way, it’s a complete fantasy world… it’s hard to imagine shelling out for three Archives volumes just to get the entire Trial of the Flash. But it’s still nice to speculate when they’d potentially arrive.
I still want to see more Golden Age archives, but I’ve come to realize that even if DC does pick them up again, the only way I’ll ever complete the set is if someone invents an immortality serum.
I think digital reprints are the only way DC will ever complete their back catalog this century.
Bout time.
I have volumes 1 and 2 and like that I can read these first Flash issues without having to sell a kidney on eBay.
I know they are expensive, but I love the Archives.
How are those bound? I’ve been reading some pretty hairy comparisons between Marvel and DC on hardbacks…wasn’t until I purchased Avengers Siege that I saw what they meant. It *is* easier to read a large book that lays flat.
DC Archives have sewn binding with high quality paper They are the best of the best when it comes to quality hardcovers. The recent uproar has NOTHING to do with the DC Archives series. I would not hesitate to recommend these books to any collector. My only wish is that DC would more quickly reprint the Golden Age Flash archives. I am in complete agreement with Kelson that it is taking entirely too long to get this series in print…
I prefer the Chronicles even though they take longer to come out and have fewer issues in the volume. Archives are too expensive for me and I don’t like the black and white “newspaper print” in the Showcase books because it gives me a headache when I try to read them for some reason.