Wednesday Comics

This oversized hardcover edition collects the entire critically acclaimed anthology series that reinvented the classic weekly newspaper comics section. It features 16-different stories starring the World's Greatest Super Heroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash, as well as lesser known characters including Metamorpho and Metal Men written and Illustrated by the comic industry's top talents including including Neil Gaiman (THE SANDMAN), Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN) Eduardo Risso (100 BULLETS), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK) and Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR ONE HUNDRED). The 11" x 17" trim size best approximates the oversized reading experience from the weekly periodical which was spearheaded by DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello, whose past editing credits include BATMAN BLACK and WHITE, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER. The full list of featured stories and creators is as follows:

BATMAN, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso

ADAM STRANGE, by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100) METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with Art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman)

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with Art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze

DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, Art by Dave Bullock

KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with Art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL)

SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with Art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER)

WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives)

GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with Art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!)

TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with Art by Sean Galloway

SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with Art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL)

HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces)

SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert

THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl

METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with Art by Ian Churchill (SUPERGIRL)

Starred Review. The spirit of wide-eyed adventure that has been largely missing from today's comics world comes back with a vengeance in this compilation of DC's 2009 retro-themed series. Originally printed on newspaper broadsheets, appropriate to its prewar pulp roots, each of the series' dozen issues featured one-page installments from 15 different original tales with heroes culled from the DC back catalogue. Though selections range from the preadolescent goofy (Dan Didio's Metal Men, Jimmy Palmiotti's Supergirl) to the surreal (Neil Gaiman's tongue-in-cheek Metamorpho, Paul Pope's Adam Strange), the operative word is action. With few exceptions, the Wednesday Comics feature enough two-fisted, exclamation-heavy action to satisfy any easily bored kid or adult—Dave Gibbons's take on Jack Kirby's Kamandi (The Last Boy on Earth!) is particularly rousing, heroic stuff, a postapocalyptic Prince Valiant. Some of the comics do less well; Joe and Adam Kubert's Sgt. Rock is particularly rote, as is Brian Azzarello's thin Batman story, which is at least energetically drawn by Eduardo Risso. But on the whole, this is a thrilling piece of work, re-energizing past classics without losing the spark that made them special in the first place. (May)
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