Come with me, super friends! Let me show you DC collections that will launch you to the Fourth World, expand your mind to the 31st Century and bring you back home to your loving brother. It’s time for me to reveal the three DC graphic novels that you should pick up in September!

JACK KIRBY’S MISTER MIRACLE

There is only one king in comics and his name is Kirby.

When legendary creator Jack Kirby came to DC Comics, he shook up the comics industry with the introduction of the Fourth World, a place where wonder and science collide. His best character—in my humble opinion—from this overly productive time was Mister Miracle. And even though this book is from the 1970s, it is ageless.

This edition collects all of Jack Kirby’s run on Mister Miracle. In it, you will marvel at Scott Free and how he escaped from the terrible villain known as Granny Goodness, and you’ll do it while Kirby’s super expressive art and panel design wows you on every page. This book has so many metaphors for the epic battle that is “good versus evil” that completely translate to today. But, the main reason you should buy this book? It contains one of the greatest romances in the entire DC Universe.

Scott Free, Mister Miracle, has a love of freedom which leads to him fleeing his prison on Apokolips. Barda is different, though. She was raised on Apokolips and believes the rhetoric of this barren planet until she meets Scott. He helps her break free from Darkseid’s oppressive system and together they escape the bonds of this cosmic hell to enter a true life of adventure together. Only side-by-side could they defeat a system that is eternal evil. They are a true team.

That’s the cosmic message behind Kirby’s work in this volume. Darkness is everywhere, but with the bonds of friendship and love, we can break it. It’s what will make this story resonate throughout the cosmos.

THE LEGION BY DAN ABNETT AND ANDY LANNING VOL. 1

The Legion of Super-Heroes is one of the cornerstones of the DC Universe. There are several great runs involving the Legion. This is one of them.

Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning jumped onto the Legion and immediately plunged the team into a dark adventure that changed everything. The 30th Century is a clean and happy place, but it’s about to be completely destroyed by the Blight. The Blight care not for utopia; they only want the life energies of worlds and are willing to obtain them by any means necessary.

If you have never read any of the Legion of Super-Heroes’ exploits, then this is a great jumping on point. The Blight storyline shakes the Legion’s characters in ways that surprised many longtime readers like myself during Abnett and Lanning’s run in nineties. It eventually leads into one of the most epic Legion storylines of all time, “Legion Lost,” which I hope is collected in the next volume. If you’ve ever thought about visiting the future, here’s your ticket.

NIGHTWING VOL. 3: NIGHTWING MUST DIE

Sometimes you don’t want a comic book to be all about super heroes and villains just punching each other in the face. Sometimes you want an emotional story. This is a story of two brothers.

During Grant Morrison’s seminal run on Batman, he had Dick Grayson take up the mantle of the Bat and create a new dynamic duo with Damian Wayne. This entire graphic novel is a love letter to those comics. Dick and Damian have always had a love/hate relationship on the surface, but I truly believe that deep down, where it really matters, they love each other. And you will too after reading this book.

Nightwing Must Die follows Nightwing and Robin as they confront some of the villains from the Morrison era, including Professor Pyg and Doctor Hurt. Plus, it throws in a nice Easter egg for Wingnut fans by including another iteration of the Deathwing character!

Dick and Damian’s bond increases over this volume as the two of them grow closer as brothers and crimefighters. Tim Seeley will pull any super hero fan in with this one. But if you are an old school Nightwing fan, this third collection of his Rebirth series will hit every right note and perhaps make you a little teary with a certain splash page.

So that’s it! Those are my DC graphic novel picks for September! Fire that grappling hook and head on down to your local comic book shop to pick up one (or all!) of my picks above. I guarantee you’ll enjoy them all.