DC Hardcover Discussion Thread (Absolutes, Omnibuses, Deluxes, etc)

[chicainery]

Seriously though, people, people, ASBAR is what you want Absolute'd? That's the next Absolute you want?

I'd like to see it completed, that's for sure. All-Star Batman and Robin was so freaking crazy that, if nothing else, it's really interesting to read. I'd love to buy it in an oversized hardcover format someday, but I'd pass on an Absolute.

[chicainery]

I couldn't resist the CGN sale and ended up picking up a few absolutes: Dark Knight, Hush and Final Crisis. I've only been collecting comics since August, and those will bring my absolute/omnibus count up to 12...

Wow, that's great! I'd really like Final Crisis in Absolute someday.

Welcome to CBR!

[ER Prest]

I couldn't resist the CGN sale and ended up picking up a few absolutes: Dark Knight, Hush and Final Crisis. I've only been collecting comics since August, and those will bring my absolute/omnibus count up to 12...

nice. I bought some too. my count as of now is 31 absolutes, 36 omnibuses....

[momaw]

I'm glad you found enjoyment in it. That doesn't mean that DC ought to make an Absolute of it.

I didn't say they should, just that I would buy it.

[geoff2005]

I couldn't resist the CGN sale and ended up picking up a few absolutes: Dark Knight, Hush and Final Crisis. I've only been collecting comics since August, and those will bring my absolute/omnibus count up to 12...

I wish it wasnt in cali so next best thing for me was IST. I picked up hush and tomorrow plus the 52.

waiting for barnes and noble to ship my final, SCW, and B&R.

for those that had bad shipping experiences from barnes and noble were you guys only outside of USA or USA included?

[cjopant]

I wish it wasnt in cali so next best thing for me was IST. I picked up hush and tomorrow plus the 52.

waiting for barnes and noble to ship my final, SCW, and B&R.

for those that had bad shipping experiences from barnes and noble were you guys only outside of USA or USA included?

I haven't had any bad experiences with Barnes & Noble yet, but I've had what I'd call lucky ones. Both times I've ordered from them, I received under-packed items in miraculously good condition. They shipped The Invisibles omnibus loose inside a box with no padding. Somehow, it arrived in perfect condition. Same with my Absolute Long Halloween, except that had minor dings on the slip case.

Those are the only items I've had shipped to Canada directly. Everything else I've shipped to a receiving company in Washington and drove down to pick them up.

[mard80]

Welcome to the dark side Nice selection of books to pick up to start with.

thanks NZ_Inferno and Martin.

I have read Identity Crisis (Absolute) really liked it. Will aim to pick up Crisis on Infinite Earths - thought id make a start on reading the huge books i have at the moment! Already in bed with Vertigo series - have Ex Machina, Y-Last Man and Preacher - all deluxe. I might re-read 100 bullets and give it another go, if not will probably sell them off. I am looking forward to House of Secrets Omnibus as i still have some of the floppies of when it was released and recall loving it - didnt continue as went off to uni where my money was spent on more important things like alcohol and parties!

Now my next question is JLA related - only read a few Batman stories - Long Haloween, Dark Victory, Hush (absolute - can you see a trend! ), halfway through All Star Superman, so kind of familiar, and probably will have a better grasp of things after Infinite Crisis and 52, however what decent JLA books out there in deluxe/ hardcover format that are worth reading - age does not bother me....

[NaturalLight]

Seriously though, people, people, ASBAR is what you want Absolute'd? That's the next Absolute you want?

Guess this book isn't as "universally loathed" as you thought it was.

Personally, I thought it was a fun ride once I realized it was just Miller having fun.

Now, Holy Terror on the other hand was a piece of Sh** and I can see why DC wanted nothing to do with it.

[MartinNL]

thanks NZ_Inferno and Martin.

I have read Identity Crisis (Absolute) really liked it. Will aim to pick up Crisis on Infinite Earths - thought id make a start on reading the huge books i have at the moment! Already in bed with Vertigo series - have Ex Machina, Y-Last Man and Preacher - all deluxe. I might re-read 100 bullets and give it another go, if not will probably sell them off. I am looking forward to House of Secrets Omnibus as i still have some of the floppies of when it was released and recall loving it - didnt continue as went off to uni where my money was spent on more important things like alcohol and parties!

Now my next question is JLA related - only read a few Batman stories - Long Haloween, Dark Victory, Hush (absolute - can you see a trend! ), halfway through All Star Superman, so kind of familiar, and probably will have a better grasp of things after Infinite Crisis and 52, however what decent JLA books out there in deluxe/ hardcover format that are worth reading - age does not bother me....

Seems like you've been spending quite some dosh on books Excellent choices, though tbh you can't really go wrong with any of the absolutes...

Regarding JLA, a great title is Absolute DC: The New Frontier, it's more DCU than strictly JLA, but it's such a great book... It's written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke and set in the 40's and 50's. It's not in continuity (if you care about those things) and has won several awards like Eisner and Harvey.

The four JLA Deluxe hardcovers are also pretty good. Written by Grant Morrison with art by Howard Porter. The stories are a lot of fun, though I'm not too fond of the art. The 4th hardcover also contains JLA: Earth 2 with art by Frank Quitely. Fantastic stuff that one!!! The first 2 books are pretty hard to come by though, but volume 3 and 4 are not OOP yet and should be easy to get.

[NaturalLight]

thanks NZ_Inferno and Martin.

I have read Identity Crisis (Absolute) really liked it. Will aim to pick up Crisis on Infinite Earths - thought id make a start on reading the huge books i have at the moment! Already in bed with Vertigo series - have Ex Machina, Y-Last Man and Preacher - all deluxe. I might re-read 100 bullets and give it another go, if not will probably sell them off. I am looking forward to House of Secrets Omnibus as i still have some of the floppies of when it was released and recall loving it - didnt continue as went off to uni where my money was spent on more important things like alcohol and parties!

Now my next question is JLA related - only read a few Batman stories - Long Haloween, Dark Victory, Hush (absolute - can you see a trend! ), halfway through All Star Superman, so kind of familiar, and probably will have a better grasp of things after Infinite Crisis and 52, however what decent JLA books out there in deluxe/ hardcover format that are worth reading - age does not bother me....

Other than the Grant Morrison JLA volumes I don't think there's a lot. Although this thread is geared toward omnis, deluxes, etc, I personally think you're going to limit yourself if on JLA material if you don't look at tpbs. Mark Waid's Year One was great as was his run after Morrison. Additionally, I liked Joe Kelly's run (not sure if it's collected, but no one since has written a better Plastic Man). The Meltzer storylines are collected in hardcover, but I don't think they're in a deluxe set. If you liked Identity Crisis, you'll probably like them.
Also, I'm assuming you've read Kingdom Come (that is obviously in Absolute form)? That's a great JLA tale, too, if you haven't.

[RedNave]

The Meltzer storylines are collected in hardcover, but I don't think they're in a deluxe set. If you liked Identity Crisis, you'll probably like them.

Alas they ain't. I hope we'll get a Absolute of it someday.

[Batman9]

Guess this book isn't as "universally loathed" as you thought it was.

Personally, I thought it was a fun ride once I realized it was just Miller having fun.

Now, Holy Terror on the other hand was a piece of Sh** and I can see why DC wanted nothing to do with it.

Not sure why you are quoting "universally loathed" as if I said it.

It currently has a 3 star out of 5 on amazon. The only Absolute with comparable review scores is Final Crisis (something I love). It would be a very, very odd choice for an Absolute, can you agree with me on that?

I'm going to have to disagree with the notion that the Absolute format is given to books solely because of the art. I'd challenge you to pick out an Absolute with bad writing. You would likely say Hush or For Tomorrow, and I'll have to agree with the idea of Lee having a lot of pull. He does have a lot of Absolutes. Although, Hush was critically acclaimed, and I think the hate might largely come from it's popularity and accessibility to newcomers. For Tomorrow is an odd choice, I have never seen it on "best Superman stories" lists. But the fact of the matter is, nobody wants a crappy story with good art for 100 bucks. That's why I'm saying that the story has to be well written and interesting. It doesn't have to be Watchmen, but at least good.
I, personally, would be very, very disappointed if the next solicited Absolute is ASBAR. Like I said, there are multitudes of books more deserving.

[Deviates]

Not sure why you are quoting "universally loathed" as if I said it.

It currently has a 3 star out of 5 on amazon. The only Absolute with comparable review scores is Final Crisis (something I love). It would be a very, very odd choice for an Absolute, can you agree with me on that?

I'm going to have to disagree with the notion that the Absolute format is given to books solely because of the art. I'd challenge you to pick out an Absolute with bad writing. You would likely say Hush or For Tomorrow, and I'll have to agree with the idea of Lee having a lot of pull. He does have a lot of Absolutes. Although, Hush was critically acclaimed, and I think the hate might largely come from it's popularity and accessibility to newcomers. For Tomorrow is an odd choice, I have never seen it on "best Superman stories" lists. But the fact of the matter is, nobody wants a crappy story with good art for 100 bucks. That's why I'm saying that the story has to be well written and interesting. It doesn't have to be Watchmen, but at least good.
I, personally, would be very, very disappointed if the next solicited Absolute is ASBAR. Like I said, there are multitudes of books more deserving.

I own both Hush and Superman for Tomorrow for the artwork because I'm a big Jim Lee fan, but they are clearly the weakest Absolutes as far as storyline goes. Hush is dumb but fun, Superman for Tomorrow is just dumb. Some of the dialogue is painful. When I read it again recently I literally laughed out loud at one point. In all honesty I think ASBR is comparable to Hush in that it's a fun story if not taken seriously. The problem is it seems to be taken far TOO seriously and suffers from the 'that's not my Batman' situation. Treat it as an elseworld story about a more chaotic and unhinged Batman and it's actually a decent read. Dumb in place, sure, but fun too. I'm not saying it deserves Absolute treatment and I'm not saying I'd buy it either, but it does come in for some undeserved criticism.

[cgh]

I loved it and would buy an absolute in a heartbeat. Just a shame it will never be finished.

Same for me, I totally dug those mentally unbalanced costume-wearing weirdos. If it ever does get finished, I really hope DC gives it "the treatment".

[NaturalLight]

Not sure why you are quoting "universally loathed" as if I said it.

It currently has a 3 star out of 5 on amazon. The only Absolute with comparable review scores is Final Crisis (something I love). It would be a very, very odd choice for an Absolute, can you agree with me on that?

I'm going to have to disagree with the notion that the Absolute format is given to books solely because of the art. I'd challenge you to pick out an Absolute with bad writing. You would likely say Hush or For Tomorrow, and I'll have to agree with the idea of Lee having a lot of pull. He does have a lot of Absolutes. Although, Hush was critically acclaimed, and I think the hate might largely come from it's popularity and accessibility to newcomers. For Tomorrow is an odd choice, I have never seen it on "best Superman stories" lists. But the fact of the matter is, nobody wants a crappy story with good art for 100 bucks. That's why I'm saying that the story has to be well written and interesting. It doesn't have to be Watchmen, but at least good.
I, personally, would be very, very disappointed if the next solicited Absolute is ASBAR. Like I said, there are multitudes of books more deserving.

You're right about one thing. You didn't say "universally loathed." You said "reviled" which is basically a connotation of universally not liking something. But still, I was going by memory. Guess you didn't say it.

With that said . . .

No, I don't think it would be an odd choice once it's complete. It's Jim Lee art. You must not know about the politics involved in the comic world if you don't think for one freaking minute Jim Lee can't snap his fingers and get that series put into Absolute form if he wants.

Star ratings mean jack. Who cares. And why bring it up and then cite Final Crisis. You defeat your own argument by the fact that a 3 out of 5 star book (Final Crisis) is in absolute form.

Also, I never said that the Absolute format is given to books solely because of the art. Never. I said Jim Lee could get it done based on his art.

In regards to Absolute books with bad writing? OK, how about Hush, For Tomorrow, Justice, Black Dossier (This is a disgrace of an Absolute in fact because it has nothing new to offer), and World's Greatest Super Heroes. (On a side note, the only absolute I have never read is Danger Girl. Maybe this has poor writing, too, but I can't say.) Heck, to turn it around, V for Vendetta made Absolute and it's got crappy art and a great story. (That, though, was DC milking Moore's name just like they will Lee's name.)

You said "the fact of the matter is, nobody wants a crappy story with good art for $100." You are either naive, kidding or far worse. I will go with kidding and give you the benefit of the doubt.

Further, no one ever said ASBAR would be the next Absolute nor has anyone ever said that they want it to be. I don't know where you're getting this. The next Absolute will be Batman and Robin (Morrison also has some major stroke with upper management) and then Top Ten. Hell, I'm willing to bet that Tom Strong will be solicited by the end of next year if only to complete the Alan Moore ABC run.