Heroes of the Beach: Six Summer Anthology Standouts
For ten years now, one of the great traditions at DC has been its quarterly anthologies celebrating the changing of the seasons. These collections, boasting the work of DC creators both established and new, offer up shorter stories often starring characters who aren’t usually given the spotlight. This week, the tradition continues withDC’s Hawk-Girl Summer,the latest showcase of our favorite heroes getting some sun. But what’s a beach party without a few prizes? Let’s take a look at DC’s summer-themed anthologies over the past decade and showcase a personal favorite from each one. Here are six true heroes…of the beach!
DC’s Beach Blanket Bad Guys Summer Special
Year:2018
Hero of the Beach:“Independence” by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Just for a little bit of flair, DC’s seasonal anthologies will often include a secondary theme. In the case of 2018’sDC’s Beach Blanket Bad Guys Summer Special,every story focuses on a DC supervillain’s summer plans. But among the likes of Deathstroke, Cheetah and even a Joker/Bizarro two-hander by Lee Bermejo and Francesco Mattina, the most memorable of all the stories here—at least in my humble opinion—is a sardonic send-up to the 4th of July, as celebrated in the cruel alternate universe of Earth-3.
With the Justice League nowhere in sight, this story provides a rare look at their villainous Crime Syndicate counterparts when they have no heroes to antagonize. What do they do in their spare time? Mainly torture and manipulate each other. As the Syndicate members all trade surface niceties while surreptitiously vying for the seat of power among their own, Owlman, Ultraman, Superwoman and the rest remind us that it may be true in our world that a house divided against itself cannot stand, but in a world of crime, every rule exists to be broken.
Year:2019
Hero of the Beach:“The Crucible” by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Cully Hamner
2019 was the summer to get your pets out to the beach. The stories in that year’s anthology,Dog Days of Summer,feature less of a cohesive summer theme, but it’s nonetheless a great opportunity to showcase DC’s many great animal characters, including Captain Carrot, Killer Croc, Beast Boy and Bat-Cow. Yet the heart stealer this round is “The Crucible.” It’s not only a standout story in this anthology, but is maybe among the best short Superman comics of all time.
When a terrifyingly powerful alien race arrives to judge whether humanity has the right to continue its existence, Superman and Krypto stand up as the world’s champions, and it is ultimately the purity of the bond between a man and his dog that proves there is a love in this world worth preserving. If you read one story from any of these anthologies, make it this one. You can use the beach towel for your tears, but be careful not to get sand in your eyes.
Year:2020
Hero of the Beach:“Catfish Crisis” by Stuart Moore and Cully Hamner
In 2020, DC rust-proofed its more mechanical characters for a day out at the beach in an anthology titledDC Cybernetic Summer.There are some really fun pieces in this collection starring all kinds of electronic oddballs, including Red Tornado, the Metal Men and Sy Borgman, but best of all is a dream match-up we never thought we’d see: Cyborg and Superman finally teaming up against their natural collaborative nemesis, Cyborg Superman…only to be interrupted by the arrival of a new player, Super Cyborg Cyborg Superman.
The headgames only get dizzier from there, culminating in some real multiverse shenanigans that I personally hope nobody ever seriously asks me to explain in ASK THE QUESTION. (This is not a dare.)
Year:2023
Hero of the Beach:The Pin-Ups
Following 2020, the summer-themed anthologies would take a few years off. The one outlier in this dry spell is arguably this ’90s throwback swimsuit special, featuring a couple of anthology stories and a cute “interview” with the DC Universe’s most hapless Green Lantern. However, 2023’sG’nort’s Swimsuit Editionis mostly comprised of a gallery of covers and pinups of DC characters in their best swimwear.
Look, it made more sense before the name had to be slightly changed for legal reasons, but who doesn’t love looking at superheroes showing off their beach bods?
Year:2025
Hero of the Beach:“The Gorilla Ex-Wife of Jimmy Olsen” by Christof Bogacs and Jacoby Salcedo
DC’s summer anthologies returned in 2025—aka the “Summer of Superman”—which explains the theming of the year’s collection.DC’s Kal-El-Fornia Loveis about the Superman family taking an LA vacation in a metafictional celebration of theSupermanmovie premiere. There’s plenty of fun to be had, but the most unique story is this unexpected call back to one of the most iconic issues of the Silver Age, 1966’s Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #98—“The Bride of Jungle Jimmy.”
In this sixty-year-old story, events in Africa conspire that force Jimmy Olsen to take a gorilla as his bride, with Superman officiating the marriage. (It’s frankly too weird to explain.) Christof Bogacs and Jacoby Salcedo’s follow-up sees Clark and Jimmy run into his “ex-wife” Bruna, now in a new romance with villainy’s most notorious ape, Gorilla Grodd, who’s acting as her talent manager for her booming acting career. Brushed off by Grodd as they attemptto get an interview for the Planet, Jimmy challenges the simian despot to a series of “Gorilla Games” in exchange for an exclusive.
You have to cherish it, because surely it’s the last we’ll ever see of Jimmy Olsen making an enemy of Gorilla Grodd…
Year:2026
Hero of the Beach:“All the Good Ones are Taken” by Josh Trujillo and Andrew Drilon
This year’s anthology offers a return of the seasonally themed variety act. 2026 is also the year that DC Pride took an even more ambitious turn, morphing from an early summer anthology to a weekly miniseries event which ran through the entire month of June. Though arguably a huge step forward for the annual LGBTQIA+ celebration, it means we got fewer short stories focusing on DC’s many queer characters.
Fortunately,DC’s Hawk-Girl Summerclears some space on the beach for plenty of them, including Bunker, a rarely spotlighted former Teen Titan searching for someone to be with at a party. But through an encounter with Psycho-Pirate and some quality time with his friends, Bunker learns that Pride isn’t about romance, but community. The one thing that unites every person under the LGBTQIA+ banner is the unity itself—that we all stand for each other, and no one has to feel alone.
“All the Good Ones are Taken” carries with it a moving message about how even more important than who we love, is who we are. It’s also the funniest story of the book. Psycho-Pirate’s takedown of Bunker is vicious.
Those are my summer standouts…what are yours? There’s never been a better time to find out. All of DC’s past summer anthologies are currently free to readon DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.So come on in, the water’s great, and you don’t even need to pack sunscreen.
DC’s Hawk-Girl Summer #1is now available in print and as a digital comic book. It can also be read in fullon DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly “Ask the Question” column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
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