Marvel Omnibus/Oversized Hardcover Discussion Part IV

[CSPDX]

What should i call them then? We all know Ditko had a huge part on Amazing Spider-Man, but he only got credited as an artist.

"Ghostwriter" infers that Stan had zero input into the creation of the stories. By Jack and Steve's own admission, the plotting of these comics was a colaborative effort and Stan did the actual scripting of issues.

If we were to take a time machine back to institute proper credit, co-plotter would be a proper title.

[PandemicF]

I'm not sure which cover I like better. They are both pretty awesome. I'll wait for it to come down in price though. $68.00 is the best price out there but there have been multiple opportunities to purchase Simonson's Thor for around $50. Usually if you wait long enough (but not too long) and the price will usually come down.

I went ahead and grabbed the DM cover. Even for Thor, the DM sold out pretty quick. I was lucky and grabbed the regular cover for $28 shipped with one of those now-infamous b&n coupons. I really miss those.

[CrazyOldHermit]

What should i call them then? We all know Ditko had a huge part on Amazing Spider-Man, but he only got credited as an artist.

From issue 26 onwards he recieved credit as plotter.

Stan wrote the outline for the issue and Steve/Jack broke it down and paced it out. I don't call that ghost writing, I call that comic book drawing or cartooning, because I feel the most important part of the job is in translating a story into a workable comic book. That job entails writing, but its from a different standpoint. Its the same way that inking is taking rough pencils, interpreting them and turning them into finished artwork, even though the purpose of the job was just to make penciled works printable. Its just part of the job description, or at least it did until scripts got so tight that every panel had a detailed description and pencils got so tight that even the feathering is done in pencil first.

[CrazyOldHermit]

There are recent completed auctions on eBay for cover price and slightly under.

Cover price is still too expensive.

[krisis]

Man, I leave you guys alone for TWO DAYS to go play some music... but, it's nice to know you would alert the police if I ever disappear after being crushed by trying to slide my Expedit bookshelf two feet across my office without unloading it.

DonEMC, thanks so much for finally sharing photos! I love the glimpses of all your original artwork. One day, my friend, one day...

In that MMW board post from Jeph York about the AOA Omnibus, this was the key passage for me.

The Omnibus fixes all of these issues: we dug out the original film for Generation Next and the scanned issues, touched up all the word balloons, sorted out the covers, got rid of the scan doubling, and gave the book a vastly improved reading order to boot -- the continuity hiccups have been fixed, and the events flow much more naturally across all eight minis.

That pretty readily answers some of my quality questions, and means I will eventually have to pick the damned thing up.

I am actually curious if the Runaways is any good.

I see those OSHC on a lot of shelves and I wonder if anyone can elaborate on what it is about without spoiling too much.

Thanks.

Kinda meh for me. The first OHC is young characters with admittedly pretty creatively diverse powers discovering said powers and conspiring together to try to find an explanation. There is no villain, per se. I found it childish and a bit shallow, and would have just as well read it in digest, but I got a sweet deal on all three OHCs.

Looks like I have to omnis waiting for me when I get home. John Carter and Captain America vol 1. Very excited for both. If either one of them suck then I am quitting comics forever.

I require your John Carter report ASAP.

[DonEMC]

Came home today and sitting on my porch was a box with Bendis DD 1 and another copy of Byrne FF, a box with five copies of the Hulk Red & Green HC, a box containing the Resurrection Man tpb and a box containing the Uncanny X-Men Masterworks V.8 (Paul Smith X-Men). Not a bad day at all.

[DonEMC]

Krisis, the minute you get your first original cover, you'll be addicted. OA collecting is way worse than collecting omnibuses and much more expensive.

[Captain Planet]

Came home today and sitting on my porch was a box with Bendis DD 1 and another copy of Byrne FF, a box with five copies of the Hulk Red & Green HC, a box containing the Resurrection Man tpb and a box containing the Uncanny X-Men Masterworks V.8 (Paul Smith X-Men). Not a bad day at all.

5 copies of Hulk? I'm assuming it was a good deal? I'm looking for a cheap copy right now and the lowest I can find is $14.00. Which is cheap but I'm holding out for cheaper.

[CrazyOldHermit]

I actually finished reading Bendis' run yesterday. It was pretty good. I wasn't completely blown away by it as everyone else seems to be but it was still a really good story overall.

The Ultimate Collections are an alright format but DD was probably a better read in omnibus form, as the gutterloss on the trades lead to some big reading issues. Specifically, there are a lot of double wide pages but due to the gutterloss its not immediately apparent that I'm supposed to keep reading onto the second page instead of moving down the first page. In the original art the panel border is probably right close to the binding which provides the necessary visual cue but that is completely sucked up in the binding. A lot of faces are obscured as well.

Kind of a pain but at the same time I read the entire run for 65 bucks while if I had bought the omnibuses I would have paid 150. You just can't beat that.

[DonEMC]

5 copies of Hulk? I'm assuming it was a good deal? I'm looking for a cheap copy right now and the lowest I can find is $14.00. Which is cheap but I'm holding out for cheaper.

The entire lot was $15 shipped.

[Drz]

From issue 26 onwards he recieved credit as plotter.

Was #27 onwards the Green Goblin issue where the two parted ways then? Thanks for correcting me.

Stan wrote the outline for the issue and Steve/Jack broke it down and paced it out. I don't call that ghost writing, I call that comic book drawing or cartooning, because I feel the most important part of the job is in translating a story into a workable comic book. That job entails writing, but its from a different standpoint. Its the same way that inking is taking rough pencils, interpreting them and turning them into finished artwork, even though the purpose of the job was just to make penciled works printable. Its just part of the job description, or at least it did until scripts got so tight that every panel had a detailed description and pencils got so tight that even the feathering is done in pencil first.

I still feel with all the evidence, talks, gossip, rumors and arguments that Stan Lee took way more credit then reality gives. Hence why i'm not really interested in Avengers because of Stan Lee, but because i wondered if Kirby's writing had an impact on this book, because i love me some Jack Kirby.

[Awesome!]

Kind of a pain but at the same time I read the entire run for 65 bucks while if I had bought the omnibuses I would have paid 150. You just can't beat that.

I got the entire run in singles (from Smith through Bru) for like $120 shipped a year or two ago. Someday I will get them bound. That will be a happy day.

[CrazyOldHermit]

Was #27 onwards the Green Goblin issue where the two parted ways then? Thanks for correcting me.

Ditko's last issue was 38. From July 1965 to July 1966 Ditko was credited plotter.

I still feel with all the evidence, talks, gossip, rumors and arguments that Stan Lee took way more credit then reality gives. Hence why i'm not really interested in Avengers because of Stan Lee, but because i wondered if Kirby's writing had an impact on this book, because i love me some Jack Kirby.

As far as I know all Silver Age Marvel titles were done in the Marvel method. So yes, the Jack Kirby issues should have that Jack Kirby magic. But if thats all you're interested in, why not pick up the first Masterworks volume instead?

I got the entire run in singles (from Smith through Bru) for like $120 shipped a year or two ago. Someday I will get them bound. That will be a happy day.

Thats an awesome deal and will definitely make an awesome binding project.

[svp]

But look at the non comic view.
Stan Lee makes a hit with Kirby on Thor and FF and Hulk, and Avengers.
Stan Lee makes a hit with Ditko on Spidey and Doc Strange.

Stan Lee makes a hit with the X-men and Daredevil later on with Miller and Claremont- It doesn't stick. What works in that manner?

It looks like his touch is golden. but then he did make some other ones outside of Marvel and they were stinkers. I love the guy and the company product but I will favor the credited/uncredited artist for doing the work.

"Stan Lee presents..."

It is a circular discussion, I admit and bow out.

No discussion on binding omnibuses either!

[PandemicF]

The volume size observation might have largely to do with the type of paper used at a given time in the Masterworks program. The number of pages should be pretty similar, but some paper might be thinner/thicker than others.

It turned out there is a pretty large page count variation between some of the volumes (although there appears to page thickness variances as well). The first Uncanny masterwork is only 162 pages while volume 7 is 304. The later volumes are all about 280ish and the earlier ones are a bit leaner. The prices reflect this as well. I would imagine the second omnibus will be 5-7 and cut of the story at an odd place again.