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.
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The Art of Spider-Man was one of my favorite books of 2024.
Seriously, if you've never seen an IDW "Artist's Edition" (or found them too pricey), Dark Horse's "Bullpen Books" series is like those, slightly smaller, but at a mere fraction of the price.
I just read in "Comics for June 2026" not only that there will soon be an Art of Thor volume, but that it will be the third. Sure enough, a quick look on Amazon.com reveals that The Art of Fantastic Four has already been released!
This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen in the absence of Diamond Distributors (specifically, their Previews catalog). I didn't see the FF volume on the shelf, nor did I have the opportunity to pre-order it. I can see I'll be (involuntarily) missing a lot of items such as these I would normally buy. Even if I do see them on the shelf I might not buy them in I have to forfeit my pre-order discount.
This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen in the absence of Diamond Distributors (specifically, their Previews catalog).
That's the main reason I've started posting PR instead of holding it. Maybe a little advance warning will be helpful.
Also, the Marvel and DC solicitations for each month include collections for coming months, because of FOCs, I imagine. And I'll start including them. The March DC solicitation thread, for example, includes three DC Finest books in the months following March. I don't know if we've talked about them yet in the DC Finest thread. Marvel lists a bunch of trade paperbacks in April, May and maybe June, and then a few omnibuses.
I'm not too worried about missing Marvel or DC or IDW solicits because those publishers release their own monthly catalogs; it's the more esotheric stuff (such as "Bullpen Books") from publishers such as Dark Horse or Hermes Press or Fantagraphics I'm worried about missing. I pore through those PRs intently in hope of fining things I'm interested in before the FOC.
Did some follow-up today...
"ART OF..." BOOKS:
Fantastic Four - Already published, still available. I'll have mine whenever PRH gets around to shipping it (in a week or two, I imagine).
Thor - No FOC (which means it hasn't yet been solicited). I let my LCS know I'm interested (better early than late).
While I was at it, I looked into AEs as well, if anyone's interested. These are no longer being published by IDW, but by Image (Skybound/Act 4 Publishing), which explains how I missed the solicitations.
ARTIST'S EDITIONS:
Jim Aparo DC - Already published, still available.
Steve Ditko Spider-Man - FOC passed (mid-December), but the print run has not yet been set, so this one might still be available for pre-order.
Paul Smith Doctor Strange - In the system but no FOC.
George Perez New Teen Titans - In the system but no FOC.
I just ordered Golden Age Black Cat Vols. 1-3 from Bud's Art Books. I didn't see them for sale at either InStockTrades or Westfield, so I'm wondering if those outlets don't carry PS Artbooks any more. The timing with tariffs can't be ignored. Since those places were my go-tos for PS Artbooks, I'm going to have to find another way to know when books are actually shipping (instead of being listed for pre-order).
I was thinking about PS Artbooks just yesterday. Strange v1, Black Terror v2 and Fight/Tiger Girl v2 are three volumes are three volumes I know to have shipped that my LCS never received. I've been looking for an excuse to pare PS Artbooks off my list. (I find that when I don't know about something, I don't miss it.) Between tariffs and the collapse of Diamond, I'm likely so save a lot of money in 2026, so... "yay"?
On the Comics for Jan. 28, 2026 thread, it came up in conversation that there’s only one Golden Age Wonder Woman omnibus left in the series (should DC choose to print it). Since Golden Age Batman is already finished, I thought I’d try to figure out how many more Golden Age Superman volumes would be necessary to finish the series. Here's my methodology:
My starting point is Golden Age Superman Omnibus Vol. 7, which includes Action Comics #125-147, Superman #55-65, and World’s Finest Comics #37-47 (May 1948-August 1950, 824 pages).
My end point is Silver Age Superman Omnibus Vol. 1, which begins with Action Comics #241 (June 1958) and Superman #122 (July 1958). There's no World’s Finest Comics in that volume, as it drops out of the picture with issue #71, when the Batman and Superman strips are combined. (They are reprinted in the World’s Finest Comics omnibus series.)
We’re lucky, for our purposes, that the Superman strips in Action and World’s Finest hold at a steady 12 pages from 1950 to 1958. That’s easy to count.
Superman is a bit trickier. The title drops from 52 pages to 36 from 1950 to 1958, and the amount of Superman material gradually drops from 32 pages to 24. I had to count those pages issue by issue. Also, Superman increases in frequency from bi-monthly to 8 issues a year in January 1954.
And I remembered to count covers. Here’s what I came up with:
GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN ARCHIVES VOL. 8
September 1950 through May 1952 (825 pages)
Action #148-168, Superman #66-76 and World’s Finest Comics #48-58
GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 9
June 1952 through April 1954 (815 pages)
Action #169-191, World’s Finest Comics #59-69, Superman #77-88
GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 10
May 1954 through May 1956 (836 pages)
Action #192-216, World’s Finest Comics #70, Superman #89-105
GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN OMNIBUS VOL. 11
May 1956 through May 1958 (approx. 712 pages)
Action Comics #217-240, Superman #106-121
No, I’m not going to show my work. There’s a lot of it, and it’s boring.
I will note that I didn’t actually do a page count on all the issues in Vol. 11, but instead figured on 13 pages per issue of Action Comics (12 story pages plus cover) and 25 pages per issue of Superman (three stories at 8 pages each, plus cover). There might be some slight deviation, but the page count on Superman stories in Superman was pretty steady in those two years. I think 712 pages is pretty good estimate.
I broke up the volumes as close to 824 pages as I could, as that was the length of Volume 7. But I recognize that a DC reprint editor might have other ideas, like stretching Volume 9 to include the final solo Superman adventure in World’s Finest Comics. Or pushing Superman #76 (first Batman-Superman team-up) from the end of Vol. 8 to the beginning of Vol. 9, to give it a banger of an opening. Or shorting Vols. 8-10 to pad Vol. 11 a little more. Plus. printing costs aren’t static, especially given the tariff regime, so DC might have to make some economic adjustments on page count.
But by and large, I’d say it would take four more omnibuses to polish off Golden Age Superman. Whether they will happen is anybody’s guess. (And my guess is “no.” But there’s always the hope DC Finest will pick up the slack.)
No, I’m not going to show my work. There’s a lot of it, and it’s boring.
That's a pretty decent estimate. Seems to me I thought about it once before and estimated three, but I didn't "do the math" (like, at all). It blows my mind that there's not more "Superman" (Superman!) omnibuses from the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages. Unfortunately, I also agree with you that we'll probably never see them. :(
When did Batman start outselling Superman? 1980s? Dark Knight Returns, maybe? (Outside of Batmania, which was a blip.) Superman was DC's flagship character when I was growing up, and had been since 1938. He was the central character in DC Comics, with Action, Adventure, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, World's Finest and Justice League all related in one way or another. Batman wasn't even on my radar in the Silver Age. I didn't have much interest in the character until Neal Adams started drawing him (1970).
When did Batman start outselling Superman?
According to Wikipedia: "Batman started outselling Superman around the 1980s, particularly after the release of Tim Burton's Batman movie in 1989, which significantly boosted Batman's popularity and led to a surge in related media and merchandise. This period marked a shift in public perception with Batman becoming a more prominent firgure in the super-hero genre compered to Superman."
As I understand it, a treatment for a Batman movie floated around Hollywood for years until Dark Knight Returns re-ignited interest, so I'd say Dark Knight Returns begat Tim Burton's Batman which begat Batman's popularity. (I still stubbornly refuse to concede anyone other than Superman as DC's "flagship character," though.)
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