Marvel Omnibus/Oversized Hardcover Discussion Part IV

[ShiftyScarecrow]

I have an opportunity to get Ultimate Spider-Man OHCs 1-11 for $300. Should I take it or wait and hope Marvel gets the omnis out in a reasonable time frame?

Ive seen them go for as low as$120shipped so I would buy them just not for $300

[AaronStC]

Ive seen them go for as low as$120shipped so I would buy them just not for $300

Recently? I guess I'll wait. Assuming they release the omnis the way I think they are I'd be able to get all 5 (4 + Death) for under $300. Once I commit to the omnis it's omnis all the way. The exception is that if I did buy the 12 OHCs I'd buy the Death omni.

[Captain Planet]

Long time not reading this thread, lot of catching up to do. Thought I'd share a couple pics with you guys as I've really enjoyed seeing your collections. Mine's small compared to the ones shown here, but I'm not a completionist or a very active collector. Also, I've sort of agreed with my wife to use only one shelf in one room of our house, the rest is in air tight boxes in the garage.

Attachment 92766

And here's the current to-read pile, just received the Punisher, Rise & Fall and Avengers today.

Attachment 92767

First time posting pictures, hope this works...

Edit: the pics turned out a bit small.

Some pretty good stuff there.

What is that Star Wars book? Looks giant. Where did you get the Wolverine Enemy of the State OHC?

[anthony!]

This is something that baffles me with all Marvel events, I never have the faintest clue how to read them. I just got three of the Civil War OHC and flipping through one FF issue there was a little caption saying what they mentioned happened in Civil War issue 07. So even though there's only a few books I still don't know what order to read them as there's no read order so I could see if this ff issue happens before this xmen issue in the other book. I can use sites to find out which books and issues comprise the event but that doesn't tell me what order to read them in.

Worst thing about huge events like this, do Marvel have a simple issue by issue read order for their events buried on their website somewhere?.

This.

To me the solution was always obvious: when a few years have passed, release "omniboo" arranged in publication/story chronology order. So maybe an event like "Marvel Civil War" comprises 2-3 hardcovers. I think the events would be much more enjoyable this way, and eliminate the unsatisfied feeling I always have when reading the 'main series'.

My guess is that events like House of M or AvX would be more enjoyable.

[krisis]

This is something that baffles me with all Marvel events, I never have the faintest clue how to read them. I just got three of the Civil War OHC and flipping through one FF issue there was a little caption saying what they mentioned happened in Civil War issue 07. So even though there's only a few books I still don't know what order to read them as there's no read order so I could see if this ff issue happens before this xmen issue in the other book. I can use sites to find out which books and issues comprise the event but that doesn't tell me what order to read them in.

Worst thing about huge events like this, do Marvel have a simple issue by issue read order for their events buried on their website somewhere?.

I boggles my mind that Marvel no longer even attempts to suggest a reading order, instead just going with standard checklists. I get that not every story can be read sequentially (as that's part of the charm of the medium), but if you look at old house art for crossovers like Mutant Massacre and Inferno Marvel would provide multi-branching charts to show how stories aligned.

[Captain Planet]

This.

To me the solution was always obvious: when a few years have passed, release "omniboo" arranged in publication/story chronology order. So maybe an event like "Marvel Civil War" comprises 2-3 hardcovers. I think the events would be much more enjoyable this way, and eliminate the unsatisfied feeling I always have when reading the 'main series'.

My guess is that events like House of M or AvX would be more enjoyable.

The only problem with that is company wide events hit every book and some people who just want to collect, say Spider-Man don't want to have to read through his issues in the middle of an event omnibus. Conversly someone may just want the main event. Look at Civil War. If you just wanted the main event because that was what you liked then you'd have to collect 2 or 3 omnis to get all 7 issues since they would be spread out through all 2 or 3 chronologically.

I wish books like War of Kings and Siege would be worked out chronologically between the main books but I can understand why some of the massive crossovers are not.

[Captain Planet]

I boggles my mind that Marvel no longer even attempts to suggest a reading order, instead just going with standard checklists. I get that not every story can be read sequentially (as that's part of the charm of the medium), but if you look at old house art for crossovers like Mutant Massacre and Inferno Marvel would provide multi-branching charts to show how stories aligned.

I'm guessing its because events like Fear Itself include probably 7 times as many titles in the crossover. But I've long since given up trying to fit Marvel to my logic.

[anthony!]

I boggles my mind that Marvel no longer even attempts to suggest a reading order, instead just going with standard checklists. I get that not every story can be read sequentially (as that's part of the charm of the medium), but if you look at old house art for crossovers like Mutant Massacre and Inferno Marvel would provide multi-branching charts to show how stories aligned.

Maybe another way around the problem would be to break up "chapters" according to publication date. So a "chapter" could be "June, 1987" and contain all the books released that month. You could adjust for books that may have been greatly delated (as in Civil War's case).

I just like the idea of having a reading experience that doesn't involve stoping in the middle of one book, jumping to another, and retracing my steps in order to get the whole story.

Admittedly, I think this strategy would only work with smaller, better contained events— or events where the narrative tends to have a clear order.

[CSPDX]

I boggles my mind that Marvel no longer even attempts to suggest a reading order, instead just going with standard checklists. I get that not every story can be read sequentially (as that's part of the charm of the medium), but if you look at old house art for crossovers like Mutant Massacre and Inferno Marvel would provide multi-branching charts to show how stories aligned.

It isn't just Marvel. Just try to figure out the logistics of reading Darkest Night in collected form. Thanks to the fact that the Darkest Night series proper and Green Lantern were essentially the same story, you have to flip from book to book after every issue just to get the story in any kind of comprehensible manner.

I think the main problem is, especially something as sprawling as Civil War, putting everything in publication order would make each collection fail to be an entity unto itself. I'm pretty sure both Marvel and DC would like people to feel comfortable buying a single volume and getting as complete a story as possible. It makes it a pain for those of us who want to get the 'whole story', but for a casual Blackest Night or Civil War fan, I'm sure they're thankful they can get the main storyline in one book and not have to shell out for seven.

[sephiroth61787]

Anybody else notice today that the Art of Marvel slipcase edition is now 46% off on Amazon? The Hatchette Guide describes it as a TPB edition slipcase. With a retail price of $100 wouldn't you expect that to be a hardover set?

It's probably a mistake on Amazon's part. The Hardcover set has a retail price of $150.

Speaking of, I put in a pre-order for the TPB edition slipcase. Anyone have the hardcovers of those books (Art of Iron Man/Iron Man 2/Captain America/Thor)? Are they worth the $40 more over the softcovers?

[slaine]

Some pretty good stuff there.

What is that Star Wars book? Looks giant. Where did you get the Wolverine Enemy of the State OHC?

Star Wars is called Luke Skywalker, Last Hope of the Galaxy. Found it on Amazon long time ago, think it's still in stock. Nice collection of various Luke stories, huge indeed. Wolverine I actually found at a local book store (in Finland), new and in shrink wrap, about 3 months ago.

[Captain Craig]

Anyone not yet have Jim Lee's X-Men Omnibus volume 1? An Ebay seller has it out there for $49.95 + $5 to ship with 2 left.

I just got one.

[LordJulius]

Has anyone mentioned the ToW 60% off Avengers sale?

Nothing spectacular in there, just Premier-sized HCs and TPBs, but perhaps somenone is looking to complete their collection.

Oh, and CGN has a "Deal of the week" "coming soon"

[Omnibus]

Oh, and CGN has a "Deal of the week" "coming soon"

If by coming soon you mean the speed of the next ice age then that is about right.....I think only once did an actual deal of the week appear on GCN.

[Omnibus]

Ok, so Avengers The Crossing Omnibus is still 48% off on Amazon and B&N.

Who besides me has a preorder in for this fine classic tale from the 90's?