Well, look what arrived for me, yesterday:

The recently released Zero Hour: Crisis in Time hardback collection (without the Lego figures – I had those already)

It’s a really nice looking book – underneath the dust cover, the book is a brilliant white with, on the front, the Zero Hour logo in silver; there’s a new introduction by Dan Jurgens before you get to the story itself which, if it hasn’t been recoloured, looks to have had some work done as the colours are really bright and clean. I’ve always been a fan of Jurgens’ art and here it looks as good as it ever has.

According to the solicitation, it has an “updated timeline to the DC Universe” but that’s actually just the same timeline that appeared in #0 of the original mini-series. However, it does have a ton of gorgeous promo art by Jurgens and Jerry Ordway, as well as a transcript of the two page proposal by Jurgens where he first outlines the series – I had no idea the working name of the villain Extant was Dynasty. I’d scan one or two pages of that art . . . but that would mean breaking the spine of my brand new hardback, so that’s not going to happen.

All told, it’s a lovely looking book and anyone who’s a fan of Zero Hour and/or Jurgens’ art shouldn’t be disappointed in it.

And, for the nerdy DC continuity fan, Jurgens’ introduction drops a bomb that, to me at least, came as a complete surprise. If you’re curious, I’ve thrown together a quick page on the collections here.