DC Comics; $59.99

This book is a treasure trove that no fan of 1990s comics or lost comic book universes should be without. The early results of Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle’s grand experiment, Milestone Media, are here to behold in this mammoth, 1,320-page collection.

Milestone Compendium One collects Blood Syndicate #1-12, Hardware #1-12, Icon #1-10, Static #1-8, Xombi #0-11, and Shadow Cabinet #0, it features the work of additional creators including Robert Washington III, John Paul Leon, John Rozum, M.D. Bright, Ivan Velez, Jr., Noelle Giddings, and Jimmy Palmiotti, among others.

What the Milestone founders and their compatriots did over the span of just a few years was prove that there were still new characters to be created, that they could represent a wide swatch of ethnic and racial backgrounds, and that they would be accessible to mainstream audiences. They built up something new without tearing down anything but preconceived, artificial barriers.

If there’s a fault with this wonderful volume, it’s that there’s not enough Static in it, but that would probably always be my criticism since it was the Milestone series that blew me away from day one. That said, the line as a whole gets a tremendous representation from this collection and makes me look forward to the next collection.

– J.C. Vaughn

Editor's note: The original Milestone universe (a.k.a. "The Dakotaverse") is just one of the ones featured in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide To Lost Universes, now on sale. Every comic listed in the book is also pictured in it. The new second LOST UNIVERSES volume is due in late May.