The Official Collected Editions Thread (New & Improved!)

Media Outlet Comic Book Forum
1061

Walt Simonson Thor Omnibus comes out next week. It is a huge (1100+ pages) tome. I’m a big fan of his art but am leaning towards not getting this. I’ve never been much of a Thor fan and what I have read of his run I just couldn’t get into.

On the other hand I definitely will be picking up the new Thor: Blood and Thunder tpb. Ron Marz and Ron Lim baby!!!

I’ve been really, really neglectful of posting my comments/reviews about what I’ve been reading. I basically read through all the X-factor trades a little while ago, then all of the main New Krypton storyline, with some other books in between.

1062

some interesting new marvel solits:

VENGEANCE #1 (of 6)
Written by JOE CASEY
Penciled by NICK DRAGOTTA
Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
Villain Variant Cover by TBA
A MOST EPIC EVIL EXPLORATION OF THE MARVEL U!
When MAGNETO of the X-Men tries to rescue a young Mutant on the run, he accidently kicks off a series of events that will shake the very Marvel Universe to it?s core! Who are the new TEEN BRIGADE?! Who are the Brotherhood and what do they want with the YOUNG MASTERS OF EVIL?! And how is the RED SKULL pulling the strings from beyond the grave? Joe Casey (AVENGERS: EARTH?S MIGHTIEST) joins Nick Dragotta (FANTASTIC FOUR) for some major acts of VENGEANCE!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

WOLVERINE BY JASON AARON OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by HOWARD CHAYKIN, RON GARNEY, STEPHEN SEGOVIA, PACO DIAZ LUQUE, YANICK PAQUETTE, C.P. SMITH, DAVIDE
GIANFELICE, ESAD RIBIC, ADAM KUBERT, UDON STUDIOS & JOCK
Cover by DAVID FINCH
He?s the best there is at what he does ? and Wolverine?s not so bad, either. Now, writer Jason Aaron?s (PUNISHERMAX, Scalped) entire character-defining run leading to ?Wolverine Goes to Hell? is collected in one massive, bone-shattering volume. Joined by some of comics? top artists, Aaron pits Wolverine against a platoon of Adamantium-enhanced mercenaries, super-powered kung-fu gangsters, time-traveling reanimated killers and ? in a brutal, no-holds-barred battle that may destroy them both ? Mystique. Collecting WOLVERINE (2003) #56 and #62-65; WOLVERINE: MANIFEST DESTINY #1-4; WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #1-16; DARK REIGN: THE LIST ? WOLVERINE; and material from WOLVERINE (2003) #73-74, DARK X-MEN: THE BEGINNING #3 and WOLVERINE (1988) #175.
688 PGS./Parental Advisory…$99.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5639-0
Trim size: oversized

X-MEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM LEE OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT, TERRY AUSTIN, SALLY PASHKOW, PETER SANDERSON & ANN NOCENTI
Penciled by JIM LEE, MARC SILVESTRI, ROB LIEFELD, MIKE VOSBURG, JIM FERN, MARK BAGLEY, RICK LEONARDI, KIERON DWYER, BILL JAASKA, MIKE COLLINS & WHILCE PORTACIO
Covers by JIM LEE
What happens when you combine an industry veteran at the top of his game with a hot, up-and-coming young artist, and let them loose on Marvel?s mightiest mutants? You get a fan-favorite, multi-year X-Men run unequaled in style, pizzazz and wall-to-wall action! It?s Chris Claremont?s most ambitious story arc ever, featuring Jim Lee?s dynamic debut issues and major changes to the X-Men?s status quo! Jubilee debuts just as the X-Men disband, granted new lives by the Siege Perilous! The Reavers enact gruesome revenge on Wolverine and decimate Muir Island, while Psylocke is transformed into a ninja! The Shadow King makes his play for Storm, culminating in the action-packed introduction of Gambit! Wolverine?s hidden past with Captain America and the Black Widow is revealed! And this is just the first volume! Collecting UNCANNY X-MEN #244-269, X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) #13 and CLASSIC X-MEN #39.
704 PGS./Rated A…$125.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5822-6
Trim size: oversized

FANTASTIC FOUR: 1234 PREMIERE HC
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Penciled by JAE LEE & MANUEL GUTIERREZ
Covers by JAE LEE
Reed Richards. Sue Richards. Benjamin Grimm. Johnny Storm. They rocketed into outer space aboard an experimental starship, the first humans to attempt interstellar travel. But a freak encounter with cosmic radiation altered their lives forever, granting each amazing abilities! Now, Marvel?s First Family finds its members divided ? their unique powers stretched to the absolute limit, their time-tested resolve pushed to the point of breaking. Each chapter of this quintessential collection focuses on one member of the cosmic quartet as the team?s greatest foes band together in an all-out assault on the FF! Plus: In Grant Morrison?s only other Marvel Knights story, superspy Nick Fury is targeted for death! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR: 1234 #1-4 and material from MARVEL KNIGHTS DOUBLE-SHOT #2.
120 PGS./Rated A …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5896-7
Trim size: standard

1063

Yup, Vengeance looks like it’s gonna kick some serious booty. Casey’s Dark Reign: Zodiac was definitely one of the best Marvels produced in the last couple years and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him write more supervillainy in the Marvel Universe.

I didn’t preorder Butcher Baker and the stores I went to were all sold out, so I’m gonna have to wait on the TRADE, BABY for that piece of Casey goodness.

The Wolverine by Aaron omnibus looks really tempting, too. Guess I might sell my Wolverine: Weapon X v.1 PHC so I can make some space for this…

Fantastic Four: 1234 is definitely one of my favorite FF comics. Morrison AND Jae Lee? I’m kind of surprised this story has been under-the-radar for so long. Seems like Morrison’s Marvel work (other than New X-Men) doesn’t get the respect and attention it deserves. Marvel Boy is definitely a highlight of the Marvel canon. (Is that in hardcover?) I also want to see the Jenkins/Lee Inhumans get the HC treatment, as well as Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules. Those are probably two of my top ten Marvels of all time.

And that CLAREMONT/Jim Lee omnibus… Anytime you can spend 125 bucks on a hardcover, colorized collection of comics you could buy for cheap in Essentials format off eBay, you have to do it.

1064

FYI: TFAW.com is having a 60% off sale.

1065

X-Statix Omnibus showed up in amazon fish

1066

Ho, snap. I have to own that.

1067

S.H.I.E.L.D oversize HC is nice

1068

I recently read Ennis’ Punisher MAX in trade form. After reading Preacher and his initial run on the Punisher under the Marvel Knights imprint, I didn’t know what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised. Personally, it seems like a difficult title to write since Frank Castle is such an unyielding, static character sometimes to the point where he’s depicted as a force of nature. Thus, it becomes integral that the supporting cast is not only well developed, but also able to carry the story. And that is where Ennis shines. At the closing of each arc you get a sense that the Punisher’s actions have a weight to the them, and lives are effected, whether it be for better or worse. My only complaint is that Goran Parlov wasn’t more involved. I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of this guy until now, he’s incredibly underrated.

1069

Bought the following TPBs-
Batman: Dark Detective (S. Englehart’s run)
Flash Emergency Stop and Human Race by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar.

1070

Ordered The Spectre TP with my Milligan stuff. It was the only one of the three that wasn’t black goatee Spectre and had the older approach so eh, why not.

See if there is a DC classics line with the OG Spectre stuff somewhere later.

1071

I really liked John Ostrander’s run on The Spectre from the the early '90s. Tom Mandrake did most of the art, I think, but I only have maybe the first couple dozen or thirty issues of it. If I can ever find the rest of it for cheap, I’d be all over that. Ostrander’s Spectre was kind of a semi-Vertigo superhero, but ensconced firmly in the mainstream DCU. It’s nice to read a superhero comic from the '90s that’s actually about stuff other than punching people in the face. Unfortunately, I think there’s only a TRADE, BABY collecting the first four issues of it. Talk about meager.

1072

Yeah that is pretty weak, all things considering. I have no idea which I got as it was rather vague on description, but I enjoy the Spectre stuff (Just not recent stuff).

1073

I need to post up a bunch of thoughts on the stuff I’ve been reading, but in the meantime I just finished The Thanos Imperative tonight. I thought it was pretty terrible. Everyone talks about “DnA’s cosmic books” this and that, but looking back at my trades, it was Keith Giffen who wrote all the great Annihilation/cosmic stuff of recent years, not DnA. It’s really been a case of diminishing returns, from the great Drax mini and Annihilation, to the okay Conquest and forgettable War of Kings, now to this mess. This wasn’t the Thanos I know and love, this wasn’t the Silver Surfer I know and love, and this wasn’t the Drax I know and love. I felt a lot of the characters in this story were treated crassly and with such disrespect. The cancerverse was really dumb and out of nowhere and the whole thing just seemed really lame, especially the ending. I’m definitely done with Marvel cosmic if it’s from these guys.

1074

I completely agree with you there. The cosmic stuff has not been the same since Annihilation. Loved Annihilation. What followed after it, not so much.

Say did you ever read about why Starlin left Marvel? Pretty messed up on Marvel’s part. He did say he liked Annihilation though. In case anyone is still on the fence about reading that well that’s pretty much the only endorsement you need.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=369875&highlight=giffen

1075

I’m not a fan of Abnett and Lanning’s comics. To me, they totally exemplify the mediocrity of typical Marvel/DC superheroes. At their best, their comics are just kinda middle-of-the-road.

1076

I haven’t been a fan of Dan Abnett since he worked for Games Workshop and thought himself a writer and designer, when he is very poor at both. Guardians series was ok but that’s about it regarding post Annihilation, people just like to ride hype.

To stay on topic, as mentioned in the Transformers thread I got an IDW omnibus of robot killing action, fun series.

1077

It’s so uncanny that you guys should mention the Spectre, because I recently dug out all my old issues after seeing that DC Showcase animated short. It’s absolutely ridiculous that the Ostrander/Mandrake run hasn’t been reprinted in it’s entirety. I don’t own much of it either, but despite that there is a special place for it in my heart. Ostrander did a remarkable job balancing the duality of the entity by contrasting Jim Corrigan’s morality with the Spectre’s lust for vengeance, and even forced Corrigan to grow by posing questions such as: “What is justice without mercy?” And Mandrake’s art was nothing short of stellar; his stark blacks and lithe hatching were essential to providing that ethereal atmosphere that makes it such a creepy read. Now that I think about it, I see quite a bit of a classical influence from the EC Comics boys, particularly the styles of Jack Davis and “Ghastly” Graham Ingels. I’d say even a mediocre issue from this volume is years beyond standard mainstream fare of it’s time. In fact, when Ostrander and Mandrake decided they wanted to bring the series to a close, not only did DC allow them to give Jim Corrigan a proper ending, but the title was canceled. That alone should serve as a testament to the quality of their run.

I would commit unspeakable acts for a new Spectre title under the Vertigo imprint.

1078

So I traded in a big pile of books i’ve been meaning to get rid of to Meltdown today and picked up some new ones with the credit. I finally picked up some Ellis Stormwatch trades and the first 3 Authority trades. I decided I didn’t want to hold out for the absolutes and tpb was fine. I got the middle 3 Stormwatch trades so I will probably try to pick up the first and fifth before diving in. How much more Authority do I need to read after the first 3 collections?

I picked up a bunch of old JLA trades - vol. 7-9, all by Mark Waid, and vol. 11-13 all by some other guy I can’t remember. I’d been meaning to go back and get all the post-Morrison JLA tpb’s (I only have the final two due to Infinite Crisis tie-ins) so this finally gets me started.

Speaking of Waid, I also picked up Irredeemable vol. 1 to try out, as I’ve heard good things. Are people reading this and Incorruptible? Is that one worth checking out? I think I’ve been sleeping on Waid too much. I’d like to go back and read as much of his stuff as possible.

I was also reading up on Waid, Millar, and Morrison’s Superman 2000 pitch and it sounded pretty fantastic. It’s a shame Mike Carlin vetoed it and it’s pretty cool how many of the ideas were incorporated elsewhere, or stolen by other writers not connected to it after it was published online.

1079

^Got a link to read about their 2000 pitch?
Also Irredeemable and Incorruptable are both very good IMO and I recommend you read both.

1080

Ellis’ run on The Authority is essential reading. I also really like Millar’s run, although the problem with his run is that DC heavily edited and censored parts of it. After the first arc, which Frank Quitely drew entirely, there were several artists who drew different parts of the other arcs. There was even a point where one of Millar’s arcs was interrupted with a fill-in arc (yes, a fill-in arc) due to editorial bullcrap. I still think it’s worth reading, though.

The stuff after? Robbie Morrison wrote The Authority volume 2, and I thought his writing and his stories were pretty good. The art was terrible, though, except for this one issue by Frazier Irving. The only reason I read and own it all is 'cause I found all the issues for a quarter a pop. If you can find the TPBs for like 3 bucks, go for it. Otherwise, ignorance is bliss.

Brubaker also did a 12-issue called The Authority: Revolution. That story takes place after WildStorm did a crossover called Coup D’etat, in which some crazy stuff happened that pushed the Authority into overthrowing the U.S. government and seizing control of the entire nation. I liked that story. I think it’s definitely worth tracking down, along with the Coup D’etat TRADE, BABY.

The JLA writer after Mark Waid was Joe Kelly. His run is just boss. I love, love, love it. I recently reread the whole thing, including the two JLA: Elite TPBs, three months ago, and it’s aged well. Doug Mahnke’s art is so nice, and Kelly wrote some epic stories with just enough of that Morrisonian zany science fiction to keep things fresh and fascinating. He did some nice character work, too, especially with Wonder Woman, Batman, and Plastic Man.