ComicBinding.com » Rebirth

Batman by Tom King

bluedevil2002 — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 01:05:41 +0000

Let me preface this map by saying that it is a complete standalone project. I understand that DC believes Tom King’s run on the main Batman series is canon, but Batman/Catwoman is set in an “alternate” future. I am treating this entire run as a single story, unconnected with any other project or continuity. Now, there are certain story elements that occur in this run that had to have occurred in some capacity in the main DC timeline, but I am not trying to shove this very tightly knit story into that continuity.

All issues of Batman refer to volume 3, when the series was relaunched as part of the DC Rebirth initiative.

The overall title that I have chosen for this project is

Batman Forever

Volume 1: I Am Gotham
Batman Rebirth #1
Batman #1-6 (#766-771)
Batman #9-20 (#774-785)
Batman #23-24 (#788-789)

Issues #7-8 were part of the Night of the Monster Men crossover with Detective Comics and Nightwing. Issues #21-22 were part of the Button crossover with Flash, part of the DC Rebirth narrative. In both cases, King was just a co-writer on his own issues.

Volume 2: Rules of Engagement
Batman #25-47 (#790-812)
DC Nation #0 (first story)
Batman #48-50 (#813-815)

Volume 3: Knightmares
Batman #51-54 (#816-820)
Detective Comics #1000.10
Batman #55-63 (#821-828)
Batman #66-69 (#831-834)

Issues #64-65 were part of another crossover with Flash, which also tied into Heroes in Crisis. They do not take place in sequence even if you were to include them. I have them included with the DC Rebirth map. The Detective Comics story is placed based on events that occur in Batman #55.

Volume 4: City of Bane
Batman #70-85 (#835-850)

The last three pages of Batman #85 should be excluded from this project. They were written by James Tynion IV and go along with his subsequent run.

Volume 5: Legacy
Batman Annual #2 (#34)
Detective Comics #1027.09
Batman/Catwoman Special #1
Batman/Catwoman #1-12

Batman Annual #2 and the story from Detective Comics #1027 are flashforwards dealing with the end of Batman’s story as told by Tom King. Since Batman/Catwoman was not written in a linear matter, strict chronology is not a concern with this volume. My main concern with binding this volume was the cardstock covers and title pages from the main series, which would necessitate a lot of printing. That concern, along with price, led me to order the official hardcover from DC.

Batman/Catwoman
Batman/Catwoman #1-12
Batman Annual #2 (pages 1-30)
Detective Comics #1027.09
Catwoman 80th Anniversary Spectacular
Batman Annual #2 (pages 31-38)
Batman/Catwoman Special #1

While covers are included for each Batman/Catwoman issue, the title pages are not (which is stupid because they could have used the back covers as page fillers on the back of the front cover art).

Tom King also wrote the lead story of Batman Annual #1, three pages of Batman Secret Files #1, and all of Batman Annual #4, all of which I have opted to include in the main continuity books of the era.

DC Rebirth

bluedevil2002 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 22:37:29 +0000

This set was created to be the cornerstones or tentpoles of the Rebirth “reboot” that started in 2016. However, due to a lot of behind the scenes drama, the narrative was pulled in a lot of different directions and didn’t fully resolve until 2021. The goal of this set was to create volumes that could fit between volumes of my ongoing Superman and Batman sets of the same period. In some cases, the sets will share volumes.

Two runs that I purposely ignore are Tom King on Batman (those will exist in an alternate continuity for me) and Scott Snyder on Justice League and Year of the Villain. If you are trying to create maps that include or reference those runs, good luck, because there is a lot going on that can’t always be reconciled.

Volume 1 – DC Universe Rebirth #1

Fortunately DC put out a deluxe edition of this issue. It is also possible to add the Flash Rebirth special, Titans Rebirth special, and first six issues of Titans to continue the story of Wally West. But those could also go into a separate book. If you continue binding the Titans series, there needs to be a volume break between #6-7 to allow for the first Superman Rebirth volume to take place prior to Superman’s appearance in Titans #7.

Volume 2 – Superman Reborn
Action Comics #973-974
Superman #18 (784)
Action Comics #975
Superman #19 (785)
Action Comics #976
Trinity #8
Action Comics #977-978
Supergirl #8 (minus last three pages – “Days Later…”)

This volume also doubles as the third volume of the Superman Rebirth set.

Volume 3 – The Button
Batman #21 (786)
Flash #21 (682)
Batman #22 (787)
Flash #22 (683)

I went with the deluxe edition hardcover of this story, as 4 issues is a bit small on their own, and I couldn’t find any other material to go along with it.

Volume 4 – The Oz Effect
Action Comics #987-991
Detective Comics #965-968
Action Comics #992-998
Superman #37 (803)
Supersons #11
Teen Titans #15
Superman #38 (804)
Supersons #12

This volume also doubles as the fifth volume of the Superman Rebirth set.

Dark Nights: Metal occurs here.

Three Jokers occurs here.

Three Jokers was set up in Rebirth #1, but ultimately did not actually play a role in the overall narrative. It’s still a good story and would go nicely into any Batman collection.

Volume 5 – Heroes in Crisis
Heroes in Crisis #1-2
Flash Annual #2
Heroes in Crisis #3-4
Batman #64 (829)
Flash #64 (725)
Batman #65 (830)
Flash #65 (726)
Heroes in Crisis #5-9

Volume 6 – Doomsday Clock
Doomsday Clock #1-12

There is also a story in the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary Special drawn by Gary Frank that goes into Alan Scott’s origin through the lens of Doomsday Clock. I plan to include it somewhere in this set, but I’m not sure exactly where yet.

The entire Brian Michael Bendis run of Superman occurs between these two stories.

Volume 7 – Flash Forward
Flash Forward #1-6
epilogue from Flash #750
expanded epilogue in Flash Forward TPB

This story spins out of the end of Heroes in Crisis, but has to take place closer to the beginning of Death Metal. The epilogue to Flash Forward was published in Flash #750, with an expanded version originally scheduled for a 2020 Free Comic Book Day issue that set up the 5G project that Dan DiDio was spearheading. However, between his firing, the pandemic, and the pivot away from 5G, the epilogue was made a TPB exclusive.

Volume 8 – Dark Nights: Death Metal
Death Metal #1-3
Death Metal: Trinity Crisis #1
Death Metal: Speed Metal #1
Death Metal: Multiverse’s End #1
Death Metal #4
Death Metal: Rise of the New God #1
Death Metal #5-6
Death Metal: Secret Origin #1
Death Metal #7

Unlike Dark Nights: Metal, I did not opt to include every single tie-in. At the bare minimum, I would keep the Trinity Crisis, Speed Metal, and Secret Origin tie-ins. Those issues tie back into the main Rebirth storyline or other reboots. All of the other tie-ins are up to personal preference. I originally included the two anthology one-shots that occurred around Death Metal #5-6, but removed them when I realized that I didn’t like the pacing. Too many of the stories were just “there”, and every time I read those issues, I felt like I was just marking time waiting to get back to the main action.

Superman Rebirth

bluedevil2002 — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 21:22:26 +0000

Just when you thought that the post-Crisis Superman was done, DC brought him back, and then waved the continuity wand and made him front and center.

This map covers the Tomasi and Jurgens runs of Superman and Action Comics, and the volumes are specifically designed to work around (and sometime share) volumes in the larger DC Rebirth set that follows the larger meta-narrative of the reboot.

To clarify the volume numbers of the Superman series:
-Volume 1 was the original Superman series that began in 1939, was renamed to Adventures of Superman in the 80s, reverted to Superman in 2006, and was ended by the launch of the New 52 in 2011.
-Volume 2 was the post-Crisis series that ran for 226 issues between 1987 and 2006.
-Volume 3 was the New 52 series that began in 2011.
-Volume 4 was the Rebirth series that began in 2016.
-Volume 5 is the series relaunched by Bendis in 2018.

Unless otherwise noted, any Superman issues in this map are from volume 4. Issue numbers in parentheses are the legacy numbers, adding the various volumes of a series together.

Convergence
Convergence: Superman #1-2
Superman: Lois and Clark #1-8

The backup story from Convergence: Superman #2 can be cut out.

The Final Days of Superman (HC)
Superman #51 (765)
Batman/Superman #31
Action Comics #51 (955)
Superman/Wonder Woman #28
Batman/Superman #32
Action Comics #52 (956)
Superman/Wonder Woman #29
Superman #52 (766)

The issues in this book are from the New 52 volumes and feature the New 52 Superman in the lead, although the post-Crisis version makes an appearance.

DC Rebirth #1 occurs here.

Rebirth
Superman Rebirth #1
Justice League #52 (last issue of New 52 JL series)
Action Comics #957-962
Superman #1-6 (767-772)
Justice League Rebirth #1
Superman #7-9 (773-775)

The order of the opening arcs here is determined by Superman’s facial hair. He still has a beard in Superman Rebirth #1, shaves it in Action #957, and doesn’t have it in Superman #1. Justice League #52 is a story by Dan Jurgens focused on Lex Luthor, setting up his role in Action Comics, and could have just as easily been released as “Action Comics Rebirth” #1. Justice League Rebirth #1 is optional, but included as it shows Superman learning to integrate with the Justice League. It’s placed here based on an indirect reference to the League in Superman #7. Justice League vs. Suicide Squad likely fits in between these volumes.

Men of Steel
Action Comics #963-972
Superman #10-11 (776-777)
Superman Annual #1
Superman #12-17 (778-783)

There are probably a few different ways to organize the arcs between the two series up to this point, but the only significant chronology placement is that Superman #12 needs to take place at some point after Action #966.

Superman Reborn
Action Comics #973-974
Superman #18 (784)
Action Comics #975
Superman #19 (785)
Action Comics #976
Trinity #8
Action Comics #977-978
Supergirl #8 (minus last three pages – “Days Later…”)

This volume is also part of the DC Rebirth event map. The backup feature of Action #975 can remain in place.

“The Button” occurs here.

Black Dawn
Superman #20-26 (786-792)
Action Comics #979-984
Superman #27-28 (793-794)
Action Comics #985-986
Superman #33-36 (799-802)

Superman #29-32 are fill-in arcs that feel more like they should go with other series such as Green Lantern and Deathstroke, so I opted to skip them.

The Oz Effect
Action Comics #987-991
Detective Comics #965-968
Action Comics #992-998
Superman #37 (803)
Supersons #11
Teen Titans #15
Superman #38 (804)
Supersons #12

This volume is also part of the DC Rebirth event map. The Detective Comics arc is “A Lonely Place of Living”, and spins out of the ending of Action #987, although the arc doesn’t feature Superman. The Oz Effect Aftermath in Action #992 continues directly into the “Booster Shot” arc that runs in Action #993-998. The last five issues of this volume contain the Super Sons of Tomorrow crossover, which picks up on plot threads from the first two arcs in this book.

“Dark Nights: Metal” occurs here. Not specifically part of the Rebirth narrative, but back story for the ultimate conclusion in Death Metal.

These last few volumes went through a number of revisions as I kept figuring out how all of the various arcs fit together. Here’s all of the continuity notes:
-”Imperius Lex” in Superman #33-36 was referenced as already having happened in Action Comics #997 (part of “Booster Shot”).
-”A Lonely Place of Living” in Detective Comics #965-968 spins out of the conclusion of Action Comics #987 (part 1 of “The Oz Effect”). While that arc doesn’t feature Superman, it does set up the plotline for “Super Sons of Tomorrow” (beginning in Superman #38).
-”The Oz Effect Aftermath” in Action Comics #992 continues directly into “Booster Shot” in Action #993-998. Technically, there could be a break between Action Comics #991-992 to fit other Superman stories in, but it would be a big stretch based on how Superman’s acting in Action #992.
-Writer Scott Snyder is on record saying that “Dark Nights: Metal” takes place after “A Lonely Place of Living” and “The Oz Effect”.
-The only clue to place “Super Sons of Tomorrow” after “Metal” would be the publication order of the Teen Titans series (#12 is part of “Metal” and #15 is part of “SSoT”). But my logic is that if “Super Sons of Tomorrow” had been published as a standalone mini-series, I would have no problems placing it before “Metal”. Since Teen Titans #15 was not written by the regular writer and I don’t plan on collecting any further issues of the series, I don’t have a problem with those issues being out of publication order.

Family of Steel
Superman #39-44 (805-810)
Action Comics #999
Superman #45 (811)
Action Comics #1000.09 (Meltzer/Cassaday story)
Action Comics Special #1 (main story only)
Superman Special #1 (main story only)
Action Comics #1000.01 (Jurgens story)
Action Comics #1000.02 (Tomasi/Gleason story)
Action Comics #1000.08 (Mxyzptlk story)

The backup features from the specials should probably be left out of this volume. Action Comics #1000 started off with two stories by the outgoing creative teams that should be included in this set. The final story in the book was a prologue to the Bendis run and should be included in that set. The rest of the stories are anthology type stories. Some could fit in current continuity and I have added them. Others should be set aside for other specials. There’s a couple of stories that might be able to fit here but share pages with stories that aren’t in continuity, so I dropped them.

“Heroes in Crisis” and “Doomsday Clock” occur between this run and the Bendis run.