Marvel Omnibus/Oversized Hardcover Discussion Part IV

[CrazyOldHermit]

Couple of questions for you all. For those of you who have read Thor by simonson. I'm not too familiar with the 80s era of comics. Are there lots of sexual themes and cleavage in the thor omnibus? I'm trying to avoid that type of thing.

Also, how well does the spiderman vol 2 era of spiderman age? Is it pretty corny or does it hold up well? I've read the first issues of the avengers and it's fun but that era throws me off a little bit.

There really isn't any sexuality at all.

And ASM Vol 2 is a really great read but you have to put yourself in the proper mindset for it. Only when you accept the cheesiness and start reading like a child would can you love them.

[Gittles]

I'm thinking about just getting this instead of all the individual issues:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0785163174/...830_pe_epc_dt7

It has all 12 issues and the VS. Anybody else doing this?

Yes. Between the previews, X-Sanction, issue 0 and issue 1, I feel like i read the same seven panels multiple times over. No way am I buying more issues at $4 a pop when I know the Omnibus (if you will) as already been solicited.

I like to support my local comic shop and I think AvsX is interesting, but the price for material just isn't worth it.

[CrazyOldHermit]

Speaking of crappy pricing, the third Brubaker DD ultimate collection costs 35 dollars for 15 pages. The first two volumes are 30 dollars for 122 issues. The first two books were expensive enough, the new one is even worse, right? Wrong. Volume 3 is 2.33 per issue (and one of those issues is oversized), while the previous two were 2.50 an issue. Despite being five bucks more expensive Volume 3 is the best deal. Weird stuff. Something else thats interesting the first two volumes were made up of two trades each, and the combined cover price for those two trades matched the price of one UC while the combined coverprice for the three trades that make up Vol 3 is 51 dollars, 16 dollars more expensive.

None of these books come anywhere near the Bendis books' great pricing (less than two bucks an issue) but the paper in the Bendis books is noticeably inferior.

[DrGregatron]

There really isn't any sexuality at all.

And ASM Vol 2 is a really great read but you have to put yourself in the proper mindset for it. Only when you accept the cheesiness and start reading like a child would can you love them.

I'm about 3/4th of the way through and think it's great. Stan's writing seems much better than in ASM v1 or FF v1 or even Thor v1. It's as if he knew the character better since he had been writing him for several years prior. I noticed Stan's writing got a lot better in the Thor series too as time went by. I think ASM 2 is a must have! I only regret that we'll probably have to wait years before we get a vol 3 or 4.

[regomar]

Couple of questions for you all. For those of you who have read Thor by simonson. I'm not too familiar with the 80s era of comics. Are there lots of sexual themes and cleavage in the thor omnibus? I'm trying to avoid that type of thing.

Also, how well does the spiderman vol 2 era of spiderman age? Is it pretty corny or does it hold up well? I've read the first issues of the avengers and it's fun but that era throws me off a little bit.

There are SOME sexual themes, but it is indeed super tame by today's standards. Not sure why that would bother anyone that's a comics fan though. I'll never understand people ok with visceral violence, robbery, etc... but if they happen to see a sexual innuendo it's just too far. Pretty sad state of affairs as far as I'm concerned.

[merrick97]

That's true, but that book coincided with the Thor movie release, so Marvel was expecting a HUGE print run and sales.

Almost every omnibus has coincided with a movie release and none of them got the recolor treatment. Both Claremont/Lee omnibus I think would have been the biggest beneficiaries of a recolor. I would like to see some of Todd McFarlane's work get recolored.

[Squallid Snake]

I enjoyed the material in ASM 1 much more then in 2.

[DonEMC]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that Marvel has started offering several omnibuses to retailers at deep discounts, including Kirby Cap, Balder cover Simonson Thor and Bob Hall cover Squadron Supreme. One of my local retailers, who has been dead against selling omnibuses, had a whole bunch this week and I asked him about them and he said Marvel was offering them at a good discount, so he bought them. They had to be DEEPLY discounted for him to do that. I figured eventually that Marvel would try to get rid of its backstock on a lot of these.

[CrazyOldHermit]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that Marvel has started offering several omnibuses to retailers at deep discounts, including Kirby Cap, Balder cover Simonson Thor and Bob Hall cover Squadron Supreme. One of my local retailers, who has been dead against selling omnibuses, had a whole bunch this week and I asked him about them and he said Marvel was offering them at a good discount, so he bought them. They had to be DEEPLY discounted for him to do that. I figured eventually that Marvel would try to get rid of its backstock on a lot of these.

Good to see you back Don.

[anthony!]

There are SOME sexual themes, but it is indeed super tame by today's standards. Not sure why that would bother anyone that's a comics fan though. I'll never understand people ok with visceral violence, robbery, etc... but if they happen to see a sexual innuendo it's just too far. Pretty sad state of affairs as far as I'm concerned.

Eh, depends. I haven't read my Simonson omnibus yet (it's on the way!), but I might make a distinction between "action" or even "cartoon action" vs. "violence". Thor slaying Frost Giants isn't the same as the Punisher torturing a criminal. I got the first few issues of Punisher MAX out of curiosity, and I just couldn't take the graphic depiction of violence, despite the engaging story. It just ruined the whole thing for me.

On the 'sexual themes' issue, it's different there as well. That topic just hits too close to home for some people, and they'd rather not read about behavior they find distasteful or immoral. We read comics first and foremost for fun, not to be reminded (or worse, lectured) about sexuality and all that surrounds it.

I've been leaning more and more towards trades and reprints of old material, because frankly, I'm finding that I just don't have much in common with modern thinking on sex, politics, etc. blahblahblah. Yet writers and editors seem intent on making that a part of story lines, for the sake of a 'mature' audience. Why would I want to see all that play out in my comics?

[DonEMC]

Good to see you back Don.

Thanks, it's greatly appreciated.
Some things I've noticed as of late: Marvel has been offering DEEP discounts on OHCs, HCs and TPBs that Diamond has remaining in stock. There are a lot of OHCs in comic shops that are odd-numbered, such as Waid FF Vol. 3, Annihilation Conquest 2 and others. These are the leftovers from old stock that have sat for a long time in Diamond's warehouses. Many BAMs are getting these books, too, but they are getting different OHCs, HCs and TPBs than comic shops, which, I've learned from talking to various retailers, is angering many shop owners, who wish they, too, could get the BAM cutout books.
Now that Marvel has offered retailers omnibuses for deep discounts, I wonder how long it will take before we see these in BAMs' cutout sections. BAM has already had the KISS Omnibus for $25, which is about 75 percent off its cover price. Maybe we'll start seeing more $25 Marvel Omnibuses in the cutouts. If so, I'm guessing the bottom will drop out of the omnibus secondary market very quickly.

[Bruce_M]

Almost every omnibus has coincided with a movie release and none of them got the recolor treatment. Both Claremont/Lee omnibus I think would have been the biggest beneficiaries of a recolor. I would like to see some of Todd McFarlane's work get recolored.

Lately not so many omnibuses coincide with movies, F4 by Byrne, X-Men by Claremont/Lee, Spider-Man by Michelinie/McFarlane doesn't coincide at all. X-Statix or Man-Thing doesn¿t even have movies. In any case, what I question is what's Marvel's logic in the pricing of Omnis and other material?

[Pandastrike]

On the 'sexual themes' issue, it's different there as well. That topic just hits too close to home for some people, and they'd rather not read about behavior they find distasteful or immoral. We read comics first and foremost for fun, not to be reminded (or worse, lectured) about sexuality and all that surrounds it.

I've been leaning more and more towards trades and reprints of old material, because frankly, I'm finding that I just don't have much in common with modern thinking on sex, politics, etc. blahblahblah. Yet writers and editors seem intent on making that a part of story lines, for the sake of a 'mature' audience. Why would I want to see all that play out in my comics?

I agree! And some of it is just so over the top. You don't need all the garbage to make a comic interesting or popular. Take Manhattan projects for example. Extremely popular and not a hint of any type of sexuality.

Thanks for all the helpful responses! Now I'm having an even harder time trying to decide. I'll probably just choose one for this month then get the next when I can save back up for the other.

[DonEMC]

SPOILER ALERT (a key part of the Avengers movie is discussed here).








With Thanos' appearance at the end of the Avengers movie and the way Thanos items are currently selling, can an omnibus be far behind? Or, maybe Marvel will wait until Avengers 2. I've been seeing Thanos TPBs selling for very high prices lately, with $60 being the average for each TPB, INCLUDING Infinity Gauntlet first prints that were selling for $20 a couple of weeks ago. Surely, someone at Marvel has to be seeing the heat this has brought to Thanos and will move on it.

[Captain Planet]

Speaking of crappy pricing, the third Brubaker DD ultimate collection costs 35 dollars for 15 pages. The first two volumes are 30 dollars for 122 issues. The first two books were expensive enough, the new one is even worse, right? Wrong. Volume 3 is 2.33 per issue (and one of those issues is oversized), while the previous two were 2.50 an issue. Despite being five bucks more expensive Volume 3 is the best deal. Weird stuff. Something else thats interesting the first two volumes were made up of two trades each, and the combined cover price for those two trades matched the price of one UC while the combined coverprice for the three trades that make up Vol 3 is 51 dollars, 16 dollars more expensive.

None of these books come anywhere near the Bendis books' great pricing (less than two bucks an issue) but the paper in the Bendis books is noticeably inferior.

I think you are mixing up the word issues with pages. At least I hope you are.

35 dollars for 15 pages is insane, however, 30 dollars for 122 issues would be amazing.