Solo: The Deluxe Edition Hardcover – June 11, 2013

To start with, DC Comics short-lived series Solo is a must-read and highly recommended to any serious comic book readers. I mean serious too because not only is the writing is more than an average comic book, but the art is very involved too. Unlike most comic book series, this took me a few days to finish. I loved almost all of the art and enjoyed a fair amount of the writing.Tim Sale's part I think was the strongest with the writing. The story with Supergirl was a real sweet, but very sad at the same time. I enjoyed the story "Low Card in the Hole" too. It had that classic film noir feel to it. The artwork is great as all of what Sale does too.Richard Corben's part was the only one I really disliked both the stories and the art. I was not a fan of how he drew the anatomy. It seemed like he was trying to make it look realistic, but it seemed off in some areas. The stories in this issue were a little confusing to me too. Not sure what I was reading.Paul Pope's part is one I thought I would not like at first. Once I read it, I really liked this one. I found his artwork unique. Kind of reminded me of Watchmen where is looks old, but in a gritty modern approach. I liked his stories he told too. The Minotaur story was my favorite.Howard Chaykin's art again I did not care fore. I do not really like how he draws his faces. Unlike Corben's issue, I actually like Chaykin's story telling. He writes like is about to write a movie or a television show. Which I think works for a comic book.Darwyn Cooke's part I think I liked the best. He used many of his styles he used in Catwoman and DC: The New Frontier. Unlike the other issues, this one is set up almost as frame story, with Slam Bradley telling stories at a bar waiting for Selina to arrive.Jordi Bernet's issue was another good one too. The art is simpler than the others are, but love the comic strip feel to it. He reminded me of the art in the Blondie comics. I like the story with Poison Ivy and Batman quite a bit.Michael Allred's bit was my favorite and the most fun to read. It had a lot of character in the comic that would make any DC fan enjoy the issue. Allred's art is always just fun to look at because he draws in a way that makes it like candy.Teddy Kristiansen's issue was more of a painting then the others. He draws more as impressionist then a comic book artist. It is interesting to see his style in a comic book and yet it works for stories told in the Victorian era.Scott Hampton's piece was good I think. I was not familiar to him at all and ended up liking how he draws. I liked how he drew his monsters/aliens. Not only his art, but also I was surprised with his writing too. He kept you at the edge of your seat.Damion Scott's graffiti art was just simply cool. Loved seeing the graffiti style work in a comic book format. It fills up the page full of color and makes it look cool too. I also liked the fact that his issue was one of the simplest to read.Sergio Aragones' issue made me really appreciate this artist/writer. His artwork is very cartoony, but it fits well for his personality. Aragones obviously has a big hart too and a huge dedication with what he does. It shows with the stories he tells too.I think I took a drip to DC's Wonderland with Brendan McCarthy. His artwork is very trippy and psychedelic. Make you feel like you are taking something even though you are sober. His artwork is very complex and was glad to see the stories present more as poems in this issue.As I said in the beginning, Solo is a must-read for serious comic book readers. Even though there were a few issues that were ok, I really enjoyed this book. Something I can go back to again and again just to look at the art. It is sad it only lasted 12 issues. I would have loved to see other artist do there take on a single issue. Maybe DC Comics can make a new mini-series spin-off with new artist. If not, I really enjoyed this and glad it finally came out on trade.

Solo was an interesting concept that I missed the first time around: let an artist (not writers) do whatever they want for an entire issue: they write their own stuff or work with a writer of their choosing on whatever they want -- established characters or original work). This hardcover collects the entire run and in looks great. As you'd imagine with an anthology series, some stuff will be better than others, but it is all of very high quality (Darwyn Cooke's issue is especially good).This was an amazing experiment in mainstream comics, and it's probably one of the more innovative things DC has done in a while. I'd love to see a Solo 2.

Coming to the party (very) late has its advantages--like being able to acquire all of Solo in one deluxe hardcover volume. Solo is an eclectic showcase of talented, select DC authors and their work, as described. Some of the work hits the spot and some of it doesn't, as should be expected, but all of it is of high quality. This is a solid "secondary" library purchase, good for a rainy day or a sunny afternoon, and as it's priced, worth the money as this volume has strong future re-read potential.

This is a fantastic book to have in your collection. Even if some of the artist are'n t to your personal liking, there are several who are, Chaykin, Corben, Damion Scott, T. Sale, M. Allred and others are all masters of sequential art. And this deluxe volume showcases their work handsomely. I wish Solo would continue like I wish Wednesday Comics would continue. A very special book any collector should have. I cant recommend it enough.

i really love dc, and i especially love allred, i did not read this when it was a monthly or really know about it until this HC came out, i thought "oh cool a lot of short superhero stories with some alternate themes" well i was mistaken this had only a sixth super hero stories and the rest seem like somewhat rushed stories that don't seem to have a clean end, and on the back of the book is i line i laugh about "a dozen top tier artists..." one section is something you would find in the funnies in a newspaper which i don't mind reading a couple panels if they are funny but 50 pages of it isn't really what i would prefer.i personally only like about 40% of the stories, but i myself do prefer superhero thing

taking a break from reading an incredibly well crafted piece of entertainment to place this rating...unless it spontaneously combusts at the end nothing can make it less then 5 stars. well done!

I really liked the various artist used in this edition and the stories they chose to tell-great variety covering all kind of graphic genres-well worth checking out if you are a fan of the DC Comics character roster

Truly well worth the price. It warrants multiple readings. I liken it to a literary acid trip through the DC universe. And that's Avery good thing.

Made me remember why I love comics so much. There's more invention and fun in each separate issue collected here than in most entire series runs. It's a beautiful object to own and something you can dip back into many times.This is how comics should be - bonkers, pulpy, innovative and with consistently brilliant artwork.

great artwork and a good introduction to some artists i was not familiar with as well as some old favouritesgreat value too!

A beautiful looking book, great stories, great art a great read! A lengthy book as well, which is always welcome. Totally awesome!

Solo was a great series when it was published, and this long-overdue HC collection is a great way of reading them if you missed the single issues. It's all about the artists, of course, so it's worth checking that you like the creative lineup before buying, but if you like the people involved this is a fantastic read.

Je me considère - probablement à tort - comme un "Marvelite". J'ai grandi avec la ferme conviction que Marvel Comics est, selon le le mot de Stan LEE, "La Maison des Idées", la "Distinguée Concurrence" (toujours un mot de Stan LEE) restant condamnée à patauger dans le médiocre ou au mieux, le peut mieux faire.Avec cette réédition "DeLuxe", j'apprends qu'au mitan des Noughties, ces "moins que rien" de chez DC ont décidé d'accorder à 12 dessinateurs une quasi "carte blanche" pour proposer ce qu'ils voulaient. En 48 pages. Sans publicité. Le tout étant mis en vente sur un rythme mensuel, avec toute la puissance de distribution de la "distinguée" filiale des Frères Warner ! (1)Un examen de la liste de dessinateurs (et de scénaristes) dont il s'agit, pour chaque comic book original (cette compilation conserve cet ordre), vous donne une idée du caractère "cool" de la démarche (merci wikipedia, pour le copié/collé de la liste) :#1 Tim Sale (avec Jeph Loeb, Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke et Diana Schutz)#2 Richard Corben (avec John Arcudi)#3 Paul Pope#4 Howard Chaykin#5 Darwyn Cooke#6 Jordi Bernet (avec John Arcudi, Joe Kelly, Andrew Helfer, Chuck Dixon et Brian Azzarello)#7 Mike Allred (avec Laura Allred et Lee Allred)#8 Teddy Kristiansen (avec Neil Gaiman et Steven Seagle)#9 Scott Hampton (avec John Hitchcock)#10 Damion Scott (avec Rob Markmam et Jennifer Carcano)#11 Sergio Aragonés (avec Mark Evanier)#12 Brendan McCarthy (avec Howard Hallis, Steve Cook, Sir Trevor Goring, Robbie Morrison, Tom O'Connor et Jono Howard)Comme toujours, dans les miscellanées, il y en a pour les goûts et les détestations de tous. Mais cet ensemble de 600 pages reste au minimum intéressant de bout en bout pour qui aime la BD.La série a obtenu trois Eisner Awards, la plus haute distinction outre-atlantique en ce qui concerne la BD. L'éditeur du projet, Mark Chiarello, a obtenu à très juste titre celui de la "meilleure anthologie". Darwyn Cooke, venu du design et de l'animation, a obtenu celui du meilleur comic book et Paul Pope a récupéré celui de la meilleure histoire courte pour "Teenage Sidekick".Etant un fan éperdu du Canadien Darwyn Cooke, je dois signaler que son "Solo" est en réalité une sorte de "book" de tout ce qu'il pouvait faire à l'époque, et qu'il a ensuite développé dans ses différents projets, d'autant mieux acceptés qu'il avait frappé un si grand coup avec ce #5 !Les Allreds font ce qu'ils faisaient à l'époque, c'est-à-dire des parodies et décalages des comic books de super-héros du Silver Age. Fond et forme vont de pair pour qualifier 48 des meilleures pages jamais signées des Allreds.On retrouve avec grand plaisir et en grande forme le vétéran Corben, croisé chez les Humanoïdes Associés dans les 1970s. Certes, l'aérographe est moins présent, mais le gaillard montre la même virtuosité !Autre vétéran, mais moins attendu peut-être dans cet aéropage, Aragonés livre un numéro très personnel (dans le sens de "biographique") et excellent. Jordi Bernet et Howard Chaykin "délivrent" aussi un résultat à la hauteur de leurs talents respectifs.J'ai découvert et beaucoup aimé le jamaïcain Damion Scott, avec son style hip-hop à peine policé pour cadrer avec le format comic book. J'ai adoré le "Date Knight" dessiné par Tim Sale (que je n'aime pas beaucoup habituellement), peut-être grâce au scénario de Darwyn Cooke et aux couleurs de Dave Stewart.Le britannique Brendan McCarthy est sans conteste le plus "à l'Ouest" des artistes invités. 48 pages de vertige graphique sous LSD, comme parfois on en trouvait dans les "spéciaux" de Métal Hurlant.La copie rendue par Scott Hampton est également à saluer, notamment cette flippante histoire de bagnole.En revanche, à la vérité, je suis un peu passé à côté du chapitre de la collection consacré au danois Teddy Kristiansen.Globalement, les auteurs ici réunis se sont assez peu intéressés aux "capés" de l'univers DC Comics, et quand ils l'ont fait, c'est à l'univers de Batman qu'ils se sont le plus attachés.Les dernières pages proposent en bonus une biographie actualisée de chaque dessinateur, quelques sketches et un photographie N&B.Une belle leçon de créativité, d'inventivité, d'esprit libre -- voire effronté -- dans un monde par ailleurs si policé et mainstream !**** et 1/2(1) Il faut aussi citer au crédit de DC Comics le moins "arty" mais tout aussi créatif, remarquable et recommandé ' Wednesday Comics HC ' de 2010. Wednesday Comics HC