Things heated up this week, as for the first time in a while, I have far, far more than ten things to choose from for this edition of Comics Disassembled, which is running on Saturday this week for good, supportive reasons (even though it was already finished on Thursday and only covers material that was out by then). But just because my number is arbitrary doesn’t mean I’m not going to stick to it, so let’s look at ten things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics led by one heck of a pairing.

Gale Galligan and Raina Telgemeier, Teaming Up

A piece I’ve long wanted to write is something about The Baby-Sitters Club as a showcase for the next big talents in comics, as this series of adaptations of Ann M. Martin’s beloved middle-grade novels have become beloved middle-grade graphic novels fueled by remarkable cartoonists. Luminaries like Raina Telgemeier, Gale Galligan, and Chan Chau cut their teeth (in a sense) on the franchise since it debuted at Scholastic Graphix in 2006, and they helped it become one of the top-selling series in all of comics. That interplay is interesting, but it helps that the Graphix team is really, really good at finding the right people for the job.

And now, a pair of them are returning, as arguably the two biggest names from the graphic novel side of The Baby-Sitters Club are crafting this year’s graphic novel of The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special. Telgemeier and Galligan are teaming up to adapt 1988’s first Super Special from the novel series, with K Czap coloring the book and Ray Baehr inking Telgemeier’s pages. Say no more. Telgemeier and Galligan are back and working together on this new graphic novel that will hit in September, and that, my friends, is all I need to know. That is a killer team. It’s very cool to see superstars like Galligan and Telgemeier pairing up for a project like this, and I’m sure bookstores are thirsting for it already, as this franchise has long performed well from a sales standpoint, as have those cartoonists. It’s a big deal announcement, and quite the surprise after both have found so much success doing their own thing over the years.

DC Compact Comics, Getting Boxed Up

Speaking of things that are sure to do well, it seems DC will be releasing a boxed set of six of its most notable titles in Compact Comics form just in time for the holidays. It’s a killer set, with All-Star Superman, DC: The New Frontier, Watchmen, Batman: The Long Halloween, Kingdom Come, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns all being collected together for just $49.99. That, my friends, is a dream starter kit for a new comic fan for less than $50, which is insane, especially because that means it’s almost $10 less than these volumes would cost if you bought them individually.

While this would be an impossible task to prove, if one could prove such a thing, I think a case could be made that those are the exact right picks as well. If you’re looking to give readers a gateway into the most emblematic DC titles, the evergreen releases that have best stood the test of time, it very well may be those exact six books, even if it does double up on Batman titles. If you have someone in your life who has always been interested in getting into comics or DC comics in specific, you could not ask for a much better starting point than this. This boxed set arrives in November 2026. I suggest loading up on this if you’re a comic shop or bookstore, because I suspect it will move quite well.