It looks like DC Comics are using the Omnibus format as their current way to collect classic material in chronological order. In the past, there have been the Archives series (hardcover, full color), the Showcase Presents series (softcover, black and white, usually twice the page count of an Archive), and the Chronicles series (softcover, full color, smaller page count than an Archive). In the past few years, all of these lines have been quietly shuttered, and now DC is releasing Omnibus collections in both hardcover and softcover formats.
As you would expect, the Omnibus hardcovers are huge. Two Silver Age volumes collected the first 76 issues of JLA (along with Brave and Bold 28-30 and Mystery in Space 75), for example. Earlier this year, DC released JLA: The Bronze Age Omnibus Volume 1, collecting JLA # 77-113. That's almost half of the original series collected in this way, which for a fan like me is great news. The JLA Archives had 10 volumes, collected the first 93 issues, and the first volume and last volume were released twenty-two years apart. The first JLA Omnibus came out in 2014.
DC is also releasing these collections in trade paperbacks with a smaller page count than the hardcovers. The great thing is that these TPBs collect more issues than the Archives did! The material collected in the first JLA Silver Age Omnibus has all been released in 3 TPBs.
I have the first JLA Silver Age TPB, and I loved it! I also have the first JLA Showcase Presents, but I find that without color, I just don't enjoy the stories as much as I could. Actually, I find I enjoy most Silver Age comics more in color versus reading them in Showcase Presents and Essential Marvel.
I wonder how many of the rest of you are buying and reading these Omnibus collections, and what you think of the format.
Replies
I used to have completist disease, and it still flares up sometimes, but with super-powered vitamins I've been fighting it off.
The Conan omnibuses from Marvel were coming out so fast and furious that I'd half-decided to drop them. (I did, in fact, drop the Savage Sword series.) They were gobbling up money I wanted to spend on other things, especially since I already knew that O.G. Conan the Barbarian was doomed to become so repetitive that I'd never re-read the whole series, even in my dotage.
But suddenly they seem to have stopped.
Do you think Marvel losing the license has anything to do with that? Can only Titan reprint Marvel's Conan stories now, do ya think?
BATMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS v10: Today is something of a red-letter day for me. B:GA omni v10 (which shipped today) slips in right between B:GA omni v9 and B:SA omni v1. This means I now own every appearance of Batman from Detective Comics #27- 257 and every issue of Batman from #1-116 in handsome, hardcover format.
WONDER WOMAN: THE SILVER AGE OMNIBUS v2 (reprinting Wonder Woman #124-149) shipped today.
THE FLASH by WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS AND GREG LaROQUE OMNIBUS v1: This includes the Mike Baron/Butch Guice material as well. Collects The Flash #1-28, etc. Solicited for June 18 release.
GODZILLA: THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS OMNIBUS:
Solicited for October 2024 release. (Two alternate covers.)
SUPERMAN: THE TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS VOL. 1:
Collects Superman #49-63, Adventures of Superman #472-486, Action Comics #659-673, Superman: The Man of Steel #1-8 as well as Starman #28.
This volume follows Superman: The Exile & Other Stories omnibus, but not directly.
[Yet to be collected are Superman #38-48, Adventures of Superman #461-471 and Action Comics #640-658.]
SEP 2024
Also, BOLO for Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 5, collecting #126-163, GS Superstars #1, GS FF #2-4 and Avengers #127.
[That'll be four volumes of MMW FF I'll be able to clear off my shelf.]
NOV 2024
Previews says this is coming out in October, but Marvel and Amazon say it shipped May 7. If it's HC I'll get it; otherwise I'll wait. And now it seems I can't find any Marvelman omnibuses in the Cave, and -- all together now -- if you can't find it, you don't own it. So I should get the Alan Moore one at least (and wait to see if the Gaiman material is eventually collected in omnibus). Here's the press release:
GLIMPSE THE NEXT CHAPTER OF NEIL GAIMAN AND MARK BUCKINGHAM'S GROUNDBREAKING MIRACLEMAN SAGA IN THE MIRACLEMAN: THE SILVER AGE TRAILER!
Collecting MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE #1-7, the MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE TPB is available now!
New York, NY— May 9, 2024 — The wait is over! Earlier this year, Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and Mark Buckingham (Fables) continued their groundbreaking Miracleman saga in MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE #1-7. Now available as a complete collection wherever books are sold, experience the latest chapter in the story that’s credited with redefining the super hero genre! Catch a glimpse at the action, drama, and revelations in the new MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE trailer, featuring breathtaking artwork from all seven issues.
In THE SILVER AGE, Miracleman has created a utopia on Earth where gods walk among men and men have become gods. But when his long-dead friend Young Miracleman is resurrected, Miracleman finds that not everyone is ready for his brave new world! The story that ensues fractures the Miracleman Family and sends Young Miracleman on a stirring quest to understand this world — and himself. It’s a touching exploration of the hero’s journey that ranges from the top of the Himalayas to the realm of the towering Black Warpsmiths — and into the secret past of the Miracleman Family!
Check out the trailer for what ComicBook.com called “A masterful work of metafiction” and pick up MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE TPB today! For more information, visit Marvel.com.
MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN & BUCKINGHAM: THE SILVER AGE TPB
Written by NEIL GAIMAN & MARK BUCKINGHAM with MICK ANGLO
Art by MARK BUCKINGHAM with GEORGE PARLETT
Cover by MARK BUCKINGHAM
On Sale Now
I saw it in paperback in my local store this Wednesday, Cap.
Thanks, Rob. That's exactly the information I wanted to know, in one sentence!
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