Script Brian Azzarello and Frank Miller, art by Andy Kubert (with inks by Klaus Janson), Frank Miller, Eduardo Risso, John Romita Jr.. All material is ©DC Comics.
For a complete list of all books reviewed in this blog, please visit the
index page.
This article deals with the box set collector's edition of
Dark Knight III: The Master Race. This collected edition is edited by Mark Doyle. Louis Prandi & Amie Brockway-Metcalf are credited for publication design.
Notice that the overall size and design of this collector's slipcase box set is very similar to the the
Batman Return of The Dark Knight collector's box sett and the
Watchmen 2016 collector's box set: covers of the slipcase form a single illustration, and the spines are numbered at the bottom. The publisher refers to this collected line with slipcase as
DC’s Deluxe Edition trim size.
This collector's edition of
DK III The Master Race was originally published book by book, more or less on a monthly basis starting from November 2015, up to June 2017. The box set itself was made available to purchase with the last issue (#9, same price as the single books). All hardcover books, which are a slightly larger than the regular comics (7.5 x 11 inches or 18.5 x 28 cm, cover price $12.99), were printed on thick glossy paper (in Canada), with a glued binding. Front and back end-papers are plain black. A picture below is for size comparison between book one and issue #2 of
DK II The Dark Knight Strikes Again original edition, but interior art is probably the same size for both version.
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| the glued binding |
At the end of the article there are some insights regarding the initial project (8 books instead of 9, mock-up box-set ..).
Book One, has been published in December 2015 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
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| notice the numbered spine |
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (28 pages).
In this collector's edition set, the "mini-comic"
Atom #1 (12 pages) is printed in the same way as the main story, right after it.
In the regular "floppy", the 12 pages mini-comic (5.5 x 8.5 inches or 14 x 21.5 cm) was glued in the middle of the main comic, on a piece (one page and a quarter) of thick bristol insert (thanks to Genug from the
BDGest community for the pictures):
The collector's hardcover edition also features a virgin cover gallery (which is not the case for the regular edition), including:
- Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson regular cover (see above),
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Klaus Janson & Brad Anderson variant cover
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| Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair |
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| Klaus Janson & Brad Anderson |
At least 71 covers have been produced for this first issue. I really don't intend to own them all (they are listed
here), but as I also owned the digital "regular" comics, notice that the latter contains also a cover gallery with three more variant covers (but not the pencil cover of the hardcover edition), and the illustration for Atom #1 in its full virgin form:
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| illustration for Atom #1 by Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair |
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| Jill Thompson |
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| Dave Gibbons |
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| Jim Lee final cover |
Book Two, has been published in January 2015 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (28 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Wonder Woman #1:
Again, this collector's hardcover edition also features a virgin cover gallery (which is not the case for the regular edition), including:
- Andy Kubert (and only Andy Kubert, thanks Kilesio for pointing that out) regular cover,
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Klaus Janson & Brad Anderson variant cover
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| Andy Kubert's regular cover |
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| Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair |
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| Klaus Janson & Brad Robertson |
In the digital "regular" comics, the cover gallery contains three more variant covers, thus it contains all of
the variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition, and special variant covers produced for comic shops):
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| Cliff Chiang |
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| Eduardo Risso |
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| Jim Lee final cover |
Book Three, has been published in March 2016 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (28 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic, Green Lantern #1:
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| John Romita Jr. cover |
This is the virgin cover gallery of this third collector's hardcover (not included in the regular edition):
- Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson regular cover,
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Klaus Janson & Dean White variant cover
- John Romita Jr. & Dean White variant cover
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| Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson |
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| left Hand side Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair, right hand side Klaus Janson & Dean White |
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| John Romita Jr. & Dean White |
In the digital "regular" comics, the cover gallery contains two more variant covers, thus it contains all of the
variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops):
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| Scott McDaniel |
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| Jim Lee final cover |
Book Four, has been published in May 2016 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (23 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Batgirl #1, and also notice that the regular cover by Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson is this time printed between the main story and the mini-comics.
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| left hand side, Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson regular cover |
And that's it! There is absolutely no cover gallery in this fourth issue, only the regular cover cited above. And yet, as always the digital version features all five variant covers produced for this issue (except the penciled cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops), and four pages of pencil art!
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| Klaus Janson |
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| Jim Lee final cover |
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| Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair |
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| Paul Pope |
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| Rafael Albuquerque |
Book Five, has been published in July 2016 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
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| notice the SEP 2016 indication |
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (23 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Lara #1, and notice that the regular cover is not reprinted here, and instead we have another Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson cover printed between the main story and the mini-comics.
And again that's it! In addition to have 5 page less for the main story (it was the same thing for issue #4), there is absolutely no cover gallery in this fifth issue, only the cover cited above. And yet, as always the digital version features all five variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops), and four extra pages of inked art.
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| Karl Kerschl |
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| Klaus Janson |
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| Paul Pope |
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| Frank Miller |
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| Jim Lee final colored cover |
Book Six, has been published in November 2016 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
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| notice the DEC 2016 indicaton |
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (only 20 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
World's Finest #1.
In this sixth issue, the cover gallery reappeared, probably to compensate the page shortage of the main story.
- Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson regular cover,
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Klaus Janson & Romulo Fajardo variant cover
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| to the right, Klaus Janson & Brad Anerson regular cover |
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| Frank Miller & Ian Sinclair |
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| Klaus Janson & Remulo Fajardo |
And what about the digital edition? It features all five variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops).
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| Giuseppe Camuncoli |
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| Greg Tocchini |
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| Jim Lee final colored cover |
Book Seven, has been published in January 2017 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (22 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Strange Adventures #1.
In this seventh issue, a short cover gallery is also presents.
- Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson regular cover (see above)
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
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| Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair |
The digital edition features all five variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops). And it also features 5 extra pages of inked art between the main story and the mini comic.
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| Chris Burnham |
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| Howard Chaykin |
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| Jim Lee colored cover |
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| Klaus Janson |
Book Eight, has been published in May 2017 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee:
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (22 pages).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Detective Comics #1.
In this eigth issue, a short cover gallery is also presents.
- Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson regular cover
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover (see above)
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| Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson |
Notice that again, the digital edition is better loaded with extras. It features all five variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops). And it also features the equivalent of 7 extra pages of inked art between the main story and the mini comic.
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| Bill Sienkiewicz |
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| Jim Lee colored cover |
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| Klaus Janson |
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| Riley Rossmo |
Book Nine, has been published in June 2017 in its hardcover form, with an exclusive penciled cover by Jim Lee.
The book was sold with the intended box set, and the lot could stand as a standalone purchase. Indeed, an extra "drawer" displays the rest of the spines illustration.
This is the credit pages and excerpts from the main story (27 pages for this final issue).
An this is the 12 pages mini-comic,
Detective Comics #1, preceded by a pin-up by Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair
In this ninth issue, a more comprehensive cover gallery is presents.
- Andy Kubert & Brad Anderson regular cover (see above)
- Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Klaus Janson & Alex Sinclair variant cover
- Mikel Janin variant cover
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| to the left Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair, to the right Klaus Janson & Alex Sinclair |
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| Mikel Janin |
So, with this last issue, the extra contents and quantity of main material have been finally enhanced. But still, the digital edition has more as it features the pin-up, all six variant covers produced for this issue (except the pencil cover of the hardcover edition and special variant covers produced for comic shops), and 8 extra pages of inked art between the main story and the mini comic.
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| Chip Kidd |
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| Frank Quitely |
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| Jim Lee & Scott Williams colored cover |
Now to finish this article (almost two years in the making!), here's some additional pictures of the original project. Initially, this series was intended to have 8 issues, but another issue was eventually produced. The numbered spines were designed to form an illustration with the lateral parts of the slipcase. Pictures below are from the mock-up presentation displayed at the Diamond Retailer Summit in Baltimore in 2015 (at that time, only 8 issues were planned).
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image from DC solicitation
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Comme je le disais, une fort belle idée de blog.
ReplyDeleteMerci. [-_ô]
merci camarade!
DeleteLove how detailed your pictures are, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind word, I will! (but will wait for issue #4 to update my article)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get WHOLE story in HC or ABSOLUTE with ALL variants (bolland, kelley jones, sienkiewicz, capullo, timm, cooke etc...). Hope DC won't screw it up and won't put all variant covers!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind having the Sienkiewicz variant indeed.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBy the way I can't believe DC didn't include full cover of Atom. They included full wraparound variant cover of #1 by Miller but in Atom case only half of the cover and Superman is cut in half!!!!! Damn You.
DeleteOh and #4 without variants????
Whoever edits these HCs must be totaly idiot :(
I wonder what DC will do with "Last Crusade" one shot. Will they print it in DK3 HC edition or not?
and you won't be more happy to learn that the digital edition also includes four Kubert pencils pages not featured in the HC edition, that I forgot to list in my article. I have uploaded these pages above.
DeleteBut You can't put digital edition on your shelf :] If I want to read anything "digital" I download scans in .cbr format. Then after reading and liking downloaded comic I buy traditional paper book where I hope to get ALL art from single issue :)
DeleteBut yeah. I know what You mean. DC editors SUCK.
DeleteI still have hope that the absence of extra in issue #4 was a genuine mistake. We will know for sure very soon.
DeleteWhen will You get #5 HC? :)
ReplyDeleteI, here I tend to buy these books two by two (they already cost a lot for what they are), so I will get #5 at the moment #6 will be out (in the meantime I read the story in digital form).
DeleteIt's me again :D
ReplyDelete#2 regular cover is ONLY by Andy Kubert. I don't understand why editors put Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson description on the cover.
Yes looking at it again you are clearly right. Thanks!
DeleteWhat do you guys think they're going to do about the fact the series is now going to be 9 issues (I've heard possibly even longer?) If the slipcase hasn't been printed yet, I assume they could adjust its width and move some of the slipcase part of the image from the front of the slipcase onto the spine of #9, but I have a bad feeling DC will mess it up. I'm hoping someone tweets Jim Lee and point out to him how supporters of these editions have been screwed and they choose to make it up really nicely, maybe even throw in an extra unannounced book (even a floppy) collecting all the covers produced for this series (which are very oddly almost all tribute art to the first series, not related to DKIII, which I am enjoying quite a bit, though wish it had more innovative coloring by someone like Bellaire or Fco Placenta.
ReplyDeleteI have tweeted the specific editor of this series, about the lack of bonus material in the latest issues, and post a comment on DC website, but never had a comment in return. I like your suggestions. And really enjoying too this DKIII series.
DeleteMan I really hope DC won't screw it up but honestly I don't count on it.
DeleteEditors in DC are idiots. They print "director's cut" specials no one ever cares but they won't print special issue with only cover gallery. I'm 100% sure everyone would pay $6 in prestige format (like: last crusade) for 64 pages of DK3 variant covers only.
Do you know if the DK2 will be released in collector edition, the same size as the dark knight returns and the Dark Knight Master race
ReplyDeleteNot to my knowledge, but it could be a good idea indeed. Although I am not convinced of the building quality of the slipcases here.
DeleteGreat recap here, my friend.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm waiting for a deluxe edition once the mini is complete, or even a Dark Knight Omnibus collecting DKR, DK2, DKIII and the Last Crusade.
We can dream, can't we?
Hi JJ87. Yes, it can be an nice idea, although if the authors minds is still set to go beyond DKIII it could be a long wait! With DKIII and the last crusade they could published a nice Absolute edition to go with the DK/DKII one.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Good to see the article completed.
DeleteAs a humble suggestion, it would be cool if you add a complementary picture showing how this set looks side-by-side with the similar trim size slipcase edition that was released for DKR.
Cheers!
Done! (near the beginning of this article)
DeleteGreat, just checked it out! I think the first one looks neat and DKIII looks kind of chunky...but that's where the difference between 4 issues and 9 issues is noticeable.
DeleteI don't think DK2 will be issued in this format, so I'll probably just wait for either an Absolute Dark Knight vol. 2 including this, Last Crusade and the covers, or an Omnibus including Miller's complete saga...
Excellent work as always, mon ami.
These are pretty AF
ReplyDeleteAF?
DeleteI was really relieved when I finally got #9 with the slipcase and it was a pretty sturdy box and fit well despite the extra issue being added mid-series. Sat and read the series and was happy with it, too, though it is a much simpler and more drawn-out plot than the first and second Dark Knight stories. I *really* wish these collector editions had featured Miller's variant covers instead of Jim Lee pencils, which just seems like a bizarre choice. I think he's not bad most of the time, and I liked his work on All Star Batman, but he has nothing to do with DK3 really, and even the covers were mostly related to DK1, not the current series.
ReplyDeleteWhat did everyone do with the extra "drawer"/filler from the slipcase? I'm using it as a tray/box for my floppy read pile.
No idea what I will do with it!
DeleteJust a couple of things:
ReplyDelete1) The B & W 'Sketch' covers on the books are the Jim Lee 1:500 variants.
2) DC put out a collection (same size) of MOST of the individual issue variants (the only ones missing are the 2nd/3rd/etc. prints of the main covers)-seen here:
https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Knight-Master-Covers-2015-2017-ebook/dp/B0756N7NDQ