TPBs, HCs, Absolutes, Omnibuses… discuss them all here!
The Trades Thread: Collected Editions
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More like Marvel don’t care, they’re charging $150 for the Krakoa one.
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I question the logic of these two being released on the same day. Could just be a mix-up from Marvel (or Amazon)
Maybe it’s a flipbook.
A 2,824 page flipbook.
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Jupiter’s Legacy Library Edition Volume 2 – Nov. 11th
HC – 464 pgs
Collects Jupiter’s Legacy 1 and 2.Hmm, the first one (out in April) has Jupiter’s Legacy Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Going to have to figure out what has what.
Is the first one Jupiter’s Circle? (No Frank Quitely art)
Edit: a quick check and thats exactly it. -
Saw this. I know nothing, but I’m intrigued enough to pre-order.
Seven Secrets Deluxe Edition – Nov. 25th
HC – 464 pgs – Boom! Studios
Collects Seven Secrets #1-18.SEVEN SECRETS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.
For centuries, the Order has trusted in Keepers and Holders to guard the Secrets in seven briefcases against all harm but when their stronghold is attacked and the secrets put in peril, the entire Order must face their greatest fear―an enemy who knows too much and is willing to kill to get what he wants. Now, the Order’s newest member, Caspar, must discover the truth of the Secrets before the enemy does, or risk losing everything.New York Times bestselling author Tom Taylor (DCeased) and fan favorite artist Daniele Di Nicuolo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) present a sweeping saga about seven powerful secrets―words, wonders, weapons, and worse―with the power to change the world.
The entire journey is available now as a deluxe hardcover edition, bringing every issue of the critically acclaimed, action-packed series together for the very first time.
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I liked Seven Secrets, a good story that knew when to end with good art.
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DC Finest trades for the rest of the year have shown up on Penguin-Random House’s site. Includes:
Superman – seemingly the second Golden Age volume
Hawkman – first Silver Age volume
Spectre – Silver Age
Static – first volume
Superfriends(!)
Wonder Woman – first Golden Age volume
Batman – last pre-Crisis volume
War – Kubert stuff
Horror – a mix of House of Mystery, House of Secrets etc
Green Lantern – debut of Guy Gardner
Supergirl – first volume of PaD’s 90s version
Blue Beetle – Dan Garret version, so 60s?
and some others I’ve forgottenI worry they’re going slightly too far for breadth rather than depth. The Epic Collections started with only seven series in the first year (Thor, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Avengers, then FF, Captain America and Daredevil) then slowly expanded. DC Finest, in its first year, will have about 30 different series covered. But I’m also quite interested in a wide spread of them, so I guess I can’t complain.
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Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium Two – Aug. 26th
888 pgs.
Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre #37-70, and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1-2.Hitman by Garth Ennis & John McCrea Omnibus vol. 2 – Dec. 2nd
1096 pgs.
This volume collects Hitman #34-60, Hitman/Lobo: That Stupid Bastich #1, Superman 80-Page Giant #1, Justice League/Hitman #1-2, Convergence: Harley Quinn #2, All-Star Section Eight #1-6, Sixpack and Dogwelder: Hard Travelin’ Heroz #1-6 and DC: The Doomed and the Damned #1.Warlord by Mike Grell Omnibus vol. 1 – Nov. 25th
1040 pgs.
This volume collects 1st Issue Special #8, Warlord #1-50, and Amazing World of DC Comics #12.1 user thanked author for this post.
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Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium Two – Aug. 26th
888 pgs.
Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre #37-70, and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1-2.:O FINALLY! Thank you!
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Yes, that is correct. It ran for 70 issues.
The second half of Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, and Guy Davis’ acclaimed DC/Vertigo series is collected in a massive Compendium collection!
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Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium Two – Aug. 26th
888 pgs.
Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre #37-70, and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1-2.:O FINALLY! Thank you!
Right, I will now buy the first half. I was holding off due to the curse
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The Invisibles Compendium – Jan. 20th 2026
This volume collects The Invisibles #1-25; The Invisibles Vol. 2 #1-22, and The Invisibles Vol. 3 #1-12.
1536 (!) pages
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A few DSTLRY items I’m having a hard time getting from Amazon.ca (all pre-ordered)
The Devil’s Cut
They’ve notified me of a delay, will ship when they can.
Came out Feb. 11th 2025 (did it?)Time Waits
Again, notified of a delay, will ship when they can.
Came out Apr. 1st 2025 (did it?)The City Beneath Her Feet
This one they cancelled on me.
Don’t think it’s come out (has it?).
Maybe just pushed way back? -
The shipping of the DSTLRY books is atrocious. They are months late across the board. The third issue of one of their launch books still isn’t out yet (White Boat). You’ll get them when you get them. Just don’t hold your breath.
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They have major delays Sean.
Be very sceptical of any release date until it’s really locked in.
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They just canceled White Boat, and One For Sorrow.
Edit: and now they’ve canceled The Blood Brothers Mother, and Warm Fusion.
2nd edit: and looks like they’ve canceled (but not yet notified me of) The Big Burn and The Missionary
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You know that way than an r and an n together can look like an m? Hopefully that won’t harm The Big Burn’s prospects.
(Who knows, it may even boost them.)
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You know that way than an r and an n together can look like an m? Hopefully that won’t harm The Big Burn’s prospects.
(Who knows, it may even boost them.)
Unless they assume that The Big Bum is a graphic novel about Trump.
Oh, wait, this isn’t the News and Politics thread. Sorry…
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So looking around and see:
DC: Superman: The Official Cookbook: Recipes from Smallville to the Hall of Justice and Beyond
Hardcover – 169 pgs. – July 1st
Kinda curious. First thought was WTF? But there might be enough people with too much money on their hands.
Marvel: Cooking with Wolverine: Recipes, Tales, and Tips for Culinary Survival
Hardcover – 176 pgs. – August 26th
Didn’t know these were a thing.
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There was a spate of SF tie-in cookbooks in the 90s, I distinctly remember Babylon 5 and Star Trek ones, the latter was co-written by Ethan Phillips in-character as Neelix IIRC. Another Trek one came out only a couple of years ago, and the tabletop game publisher I do some work for published one last year for one game and has a cocktail book for another one coming soon
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There was a spate of SF tie-in cookbooks in the 90s, I distinctly remember Babylon 5 and Star Trek ones, the latter was co-written by Ethan Phillips in-character as Neelix IIRC. Another Trek one came out only a couple of years ago, and the tabletop game publisher I do some work for published one last year for one game and has a cocktail book for another one coming soon
As a kid, I used to have “The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Cookbook (1977)”.
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Is Superman’s favorite food still Beef Bourguignon, or has that been retconned?
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Is Superman’s favorite food still Beef Bourguignon, or has that been retconned?
I think so, like it’s referenced, just not as much as in the ’70’s and early ’80’s
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See, I would have thought his favorite food would be a corndog, or meatloaf with mashed potatoes. You just never know with those Kryptonians….
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So I bought my brother the Simonson Thor Omni for his birthday.
Bought it for myself too.
It was a great price (shot up by $22 the next day)So anyway, cool knowledgeable guy that I am, and barely started drinking, sends out a text to everyone about Simonson (Thor #337 was 1983) and 1984 in general (cause, a lot of cool shit).
My brother: “stoked! ’cause I never read that shit!”
Best friend: “never read that, never read Thor”
So I say “well, The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill TP (#337-340) is yours.
Next two, well, same lameness (and these two honestly should have).
Another as well, but I expectedThe Fuck!
Well, I haven’t had enough beer to start buying omni’s, but what’s the harm in looking up the 4 issue TP?
That shitty paper, shitty coloring, out of print 4 issue trade can be had for $182, plus $5 shipping.
Fuck sakes.Seriously Marvel.
The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill should be evergreen
Give me a good price, and you would have had 4 sales.It really is good.
Like, how do you write Thor?
If you get Kirby (Simonson does), then it’s the New Gods.3 users thanked author for this post.
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Seriously Marvel. The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill should be evergreen Give me a good price, and you would have had 4 sales.
They (sort of) treat the Epic Collections like evergreens but they’ve been working around Simonson’s Thor in that format without touching it. Same with Miller’s Daredevil. Not entirely sure why. Also wouldn’t be as cheap to give to new readers as a smaller collection
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They just started the Simonson Thor run in Marvel Masterworks – the first volume came out last year and the second is due out at the end of this year.
It looks so good in Masterworks – restored linework, and flat colours reflecting the original colouring (rather than the modern recolour used for the omni).
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They masterworked (?!) Dazzer’s full run before they printed Simonson’s Thor
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The Shaolin Cowboy: Beginning of the End Results–21 Years of Blood, Sweat, and Chainsaws
Hardcover – 296 pgs. – Dec. 9th
Happy Anniversary to the SCU!
Celebrating twenty-one years of the Eisner and Inkpot Award–winning highly-praised Shaolin Cowboy comics series comes this brand-new collection, featuring essential stories for all fans of the legendary and renowned artist Geof Darrow’s brilliantly detailed artwork and Dave Stewart’s beautiful colors.
Collected in this special anniversary deluxe hardcover edition are The Shaolin Cowboy: Start Trek and the long out-of-print fan favorite Bourbon Thret comics from Comics and Stories, originally published in France by Moebius’ publishing house Ædena. What lies ahead are over two hundred pages where every single panel is a work of art. You can look at these pages for years and always see something new in the details.
Showcasing the essence of the Shaolin Cowboy over the last two decades, this commemorative and epic publication is a truly stunning must-have collection of art for Geof Darrow fans everywhere.
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I saw a Near Mint Condition stream the other day looking at the first compendium of Marvel US Transformers and it is indeed just the IDW “restoration”. Same muted colours, same half-assed attempts to “correct” early colours schemes (blue Soundwave and white Starscream) and same bad OCR on all the text.
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There are some ridiculously cheap deals for thick trades and Omnibuses on Amazon Germany at the moment. DC Finest Plastic Man for about €10, Daredevil: Out for €12, Iron Man: Age Of Innocence for €11, Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus v6 for €30, Rom Epic Collection v1 for €15 (a little galling that’s so cheap so quickly as I made a rare pre-order for that). Reasonable postage to the UK as well. Not sure if this is Prime Day related or just a random 70% off sale, but worth a look.
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After enjoying the first DC Finest JSA volume more than I expected, I decided to try some other Golden Age material and went for the first DC Finest Superman trade. I’ve never read any Golden Age Superman before and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it.
Initially, it is a mess. The art is crude and can never remember to include his chest emblem. The plotting is so erratic it reads like the work of an insane man (one issue opens with Superman chasing a hit and run driver, whose car then stalls on a railway. He leaps clear with the guy, who dies of a heart attack. This is the completely forgotten as Superman gets caught up in a story about some kind of football game match fixing that requires him to drug one of the players and pose as him). But it’s exciting and engaging and I can see why it made a big splash. Very early on, he feels more like a prototype for the Spectre than anything. He’s committed to meting out ironic punishments to people (a corrupt mine owner is sort of tricked into going into his own mine with his rich mates, where Superman then causes a cave in) like a trickster god almost.
Things tighten up after those first six months, I think as much because Joe Shushter starts using ghost artists, or at least inkers, who put him onto a regular 8 panel grid which seems to help the pacing somewhat. What I like about this version of Superman is that he’s not neutered by both the Comics Code and a surplus of powers. His power set initially is just human base level amped up, like Jessica Jones or Luke Cage really, and other stuff like x-ray and telescopic vision and super-hearing come in pretty quickly, but they’re really just plot crutches. This is a Superman that really is the “champion of the oppressed” as the intro boxes describe him, rather than a force for the status quo. He demolishes an entire slum area so that the city will be forced to rebuild it. He has no time for cops. He’s constantly just smashing through walls to get places when there are perfectly good doors and windows available to him. I feel like this Superman would take one look at the Superman of even ten years later, standing around in front of an American flag, a bald eagle on his arm touting “truth, justice and the American way”, call him a narc and try to kick his ass.
Some of those interesting rough edges already feel like they’re being smoothed off by the end of this collection though, which goes to mid-1940 or so. The influence of the radio show has already seen the Daily Star become the Daily Planet. He’s not flying yet but at times he might as well be. What is surprising is that Krypton is a complete irrelevance to the character. It’s mentioned passingly in the first issue, again in the first quarterly Superman, which expands on that first story, but beyond that, it’s never mentioned. It’s just a passing excuse as to why he has his powers. He might as well be a mutant, for all the impact it has, which is really interesting.
As with the JSA volume, this DC Finest trade is decently put together, but not a huge amount of work has gone into it. There is a huge variability in art restoration here. There’s differences in tones and hues between pages of the same story; some issues have really poorly scanned linework that is jagged and low res; and then the colouring is infrequently (seemingly more so on the issues of Superman than Action Comics) just bad. Off register, outside the lines, just a mess, like no-one’s done anything to the original printer files. I strongly suspect that they’ve just reused the same files they had done in the 90s (which is practically the stone age in terms of digital comics restoration) for the Archives, because so much of this would be easy enough to fix up on a PC now. So that’s a bit disappointing, but overall it was a surprisingly compelling read.
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I feel like this Superman would take one look at the Superman of even ten years later, standing around in front of an American flag, a bald eagle on his arm touting “truth, justice and the American way”, call him a narc and try to kick his ass.
Didn’t Joe Casey do this during his run on Superman?
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I feel like this Superman would take one look at the Superman of even ten years later, standing around in front of an American flag, a bald eagle on his arm touting “truth, justice and the American way”, call him a narc and try to kick his ass.
Didn’t Joe Casey do this during his run on Superman?
Yes, he did. I didn’t read it, but I do recall seeing it.
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There are some ridiculously cheap deals for thick trades and Omnibuses on Amazon Germany at the moment. DC Finest Plastic Man for about €10, Daredevil: Out for €12, Iron Man: Age Of Innocence for €11, Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus v6 for €30, Rom Epic Collection v1 for €15 (a little galling that’s so cheap so quickly as I made a rare pre-order for that). Reasonable postage to the UK as well. Not sure if this is Prime Day related or just a random 70% off sale, but worth a look.
Thanks for this!
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Gosh, you got those quick! Mine haven’t been sent yet. I suppose it’s an EU thing?
Yeah, surprising efficiency. I ordered them Friday afternoon, and got a text message from An Post with the tracking details exactly four hours later.
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Superman Treasury 2025: Hero For All
This was superb.
Sometimes the ongoing nature of superhero comics can be draining. Stories never really conclude, an event story disperses pieces too widely, the hamster wheel keeps spinning. But when a superhero story doesn’t do that? That’s where magic can happen.
Great art can’t save a bad story but it does boost a good one. Jurgens’ story isn’t revolutionary and it doesn’t need to be. It is also ambitious being a tale of both a global invasion and examination of Superman. It does this entire epic all in this one book.
There’s a neat quip in the portrait of Superman that can be read as a counter to Kill Bill’s notion that Clark Kent represents Superman’s despisal of humans. Nothing could be more inaccurate. Superman is Clark and Clark is Superman, but it’s Clark that Lois falls for.
Redondo is among DC’s best artists and this book is a perfect demonstration of why. He’s also boosted by the format. Sure, the splash pages would work fine in a normal comic page but the extra size gives them far more punch.
Of course, they wouldn’t have that if the flow of the panels wasn’t right. Both Jurgens and Redondo know the impact of a page turnover. Thus the panels leading up to a splash page hit are carefully arrayed. The staple binding also helps to show off the art.
Finally, you came here for carnage and recriminations? That Superman slaughters his adversaries and sticks the boss villain head on a pike? While also being slagged for not being perfect? Not that kind of story. Superman’s resilient here, but so too is it’s portrait of humanity.
The enemies? Disabled or knocked out. The world? Recovering and rebuilding. Leading all of that? Come on, who do you think?
Yeah, this was a great read. Not cheap but worth it.
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So in contrast to Paul, my Amazon De experience: One book was sent two or three days ago and is currently in France. The due date magically slipped from 12th July to 17th for that. The other two still said 12th as of last night but weren’t dispatched until 1am this morning. Surprisingly, they arrived about twenty minutes ago. Clearly, they’ve been sent from the UK and a quick look at the Amazon De stock pages show they’ve sold out of all those books they discounted. I suspect they oversold and had to source some from other Amazons, possibly other suppliers, because my copy of Plastic Man has a stock sticker on the back of it that Amazon doesn’t usually use.
EDIT: and the second book is damaged. Went to arrange a return for a replacement, but it wouldn’t let me. Had to talk to live chat to get and they’ve arranged a free replacement, but then I got an email with instructions to post the original back to Germany at my cost otherwise I’d be charged for the replacement. Had to go back to chat to be told I can disregard this. Replacement isn’t coming til August. ::sigh::
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What If?: Into The Multiverse Omnibus Vol. 3
April 7th 2026
1112 pgs.
COLLECTING: What If? (1989) #76-83, 85-114, -1
So I guess the Gerard Jones (scumbag!) issue #84 will never see the light of day.
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X-Men: Age Of Krakoa – Dawn Of X Omnibus Vol. 2
March 17th 2026
1320 pgs.
COLLECTING: New Mutants (2019) #8-12; Marauders (2019) #9-12; X-Men/Fantastic Four (2020) #1-4; Cable (2020) #1-4; X-Men (2019) #8-11; X-Force (2019) #9-12; Excalibur (2019) #9-12; Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler (2020) #1; Hellions (2020) #1-4; Wolverine (2020) #1 (B story), 4-5; X-Factor (2020) #1-3; Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto (2020) #1; Empyre: X-Men (2020) #1-4; Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex (2020) #1; Giant-Size X-Men: Storm (2020) #1
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Captain America and Black Widow by Waid and Samnee Omnibus
Tempted by this.
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So I guess the Gerard Jones (scumbag!) issue #84 will never see the light of day.
Didn’t know what you meant by that, so I did a Google search on Jones. Oh, man, that’s….unfortunate.
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So I guess the Gerard Jones (scumbag!) issue #84 will never see the light of day.
I feel like its omission will lead more people to ask why and find out that a guy who wrote for Marvel turned out to be a paedophile than if they’d just left it in there and not mentioned it. The Streisand Effect, really.
And if it’s on a broad principle of not reprinting the git’s work, well, they included issues of his Wonder Man series in the Operation Galactic Storm epic collection that came out after he was arrested and that’s been reprinted since.
I suppose, as ever with collaborative work, there’s no good answer to this kind of situation.
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So I guess the Gerard Jones (scumbag!) issue #84 will never see the light of day.
I feel like its omission will lead more people to ask why and find out that a guy who wrote for Marvel turned out to be a paedophile than if they’d just left it in there and not mentioned it. The Streisand Effect, really.
And if it’s on a broad principle of not reprinting the git’s work, well, they included issues of his Wonder Man series in the Operation Galactic Storm epic collection that came out after he was arrested and that’s been reprinted since.
I suppose, as ever with collaborative work, there’s no good answer to this kind of situation.
They cut his issues out of the recent Amalgam omnibus too; it was originally solicited with them in, and they quickly updated it to remove them: https://bleedingcool.com/comics/gerard-jones-amalgam-stories-removed-from-dc-marvel-crossover-omnibus/
I just read the Justice League International omnibuses last week, and didn’t realise Jones scripted half of Vol. 2 and a third of Vol. 3; he took over Justice League Europe after DeMatteis left 12 issues in.
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Avengers Omnibus vol. 6
1176 pages
March 24th 2026
COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) #150-188; Avengers Annual (1967) #6-9; Super-Villain Team-Up (1975) #9; Marvel Two-in-One Annual (1976) #2; Marvel Premiere (1972) #35-37, 49; What If? (1977) #3, 9; material from Marvel Tales (1966) #100, Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) #13
Featuring iconic art from George Pérez and John Byrne!
Collecting a three-year run of The Avengers at its very best, with dynamite work from an awesome assemblage of legendary Avengers creators! First, Gerry Conway joins George Pérez for a new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. When Wonder Man returns, the team’s internal drama reaches a crescendo all while the Avengers wage war against Doctor Doom. Jim Shooter takes over as writer with John Byrne taking turns with Pérez on art. They begin a series of classic encounters staged on a massive scale, taking on Ultron, the Lethal Legion and the epic threat of Korvac! Then, David Michelinie changeth the order again with a trip to Wundagore Mountain. Plus: Jim Starlin’s cosmos-altering Thanos War, a solo flight for the Falcon and the tragic tale of Arsenal!
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Black Widow & Captain America By Waid & Samnee Omnibus
536 pages
March 24th 2026
COLLECTING: Black Widow (2016) #1-12, Captain America (2017) #695-704
The award-winning creative team who breathed fresh life into DAREDEVIL work their magic on two iconic Avengers!
Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, stars in a knockdown, drag-out tale of action and espionage! The world’s greatest superspy has a lifetime of secrets — and when some of the darkest ones are made public, nobody is safe. As S.H.I.E.L.D. turns on its once greatest asset, the Widow seeks out her own answers. But will Natasha’s hunt for the Weeping Lion send her back to the one place she never wanted to go? Then Steve Rogers is back in shield-slinging action as Captain America, on a journey across the nation he loves to restore his tarnished reputation. But the dangers he encounters require more courage than ever! When he faces the all-new Swordsman, strap yourselves in for a sword-vs.-shield duel unlike anything you’ve ever seen! And in the far future, Cap faces his worst nightmare as a man out of time once again!
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I’ve read a couple of Dr Strange epic collections this week and there’s a weird rhythm to them. Volume 3 (which I read a few months ago) is mostly rubbish. It’s got the tail end of the original series, by Thomas and Colan, which is ok but Roy Thomas has some stupid ideas about Strange needing a more traditional secret identity and superhero costume etc. Then it’s a load of absolute dreck when the character is revived before the back end of the volume is Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner’s run, which is amazing. It promised great things for the next volume.
Volume 4 picks up with Englehart’s run, but Gene Colan takes over on art and it’s generally good, but there are peaks and troughs. Until that is Englehart leaves mid-story (with Colan). He’s replaced by Marv Wolfman (who, until a couple of months earlier, had been Englehart’s editor) who trashes completely everything Englehart was doing and starts telling a rambling, uninteresting not entirely coherent story, until he too leaves mid-story . He’s replaced briefly by Jim Starlin, who stays long enough only to pivot the story towards the Inbetweener, who he had used in Warlock. The volume ends with Roger Stern and Tom Sutton taking over, who do a couple of awesome issues, managing to tie together the mess of Wolfman and Starlin’s story while throwing some kindness to Englehart by walking back some of Wolfman’s vindictive changes (Wolfman had Strange give up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme and become “merely” Master of the Mystic Arts, for reasons passing understanding. Stern just sort of brushes that aside by saying “Sorcerer Supreme” is really a reputation than a job title and who is Strange to say whether he is or not?). So an uneven volume but promising great things for the next volume!
Volume 5 is still technically Stern initially, but he’s just providing plots and Ralph Macchio is scripting them. And they’re fine, there’s an ongoing arc about the Dweller In The Depths throwing people at Strange, but you can feel Stern ebbing away and ultimately the Dweller story just arbitrarily ends. Tom Sutton’s still on art initially, but with different inkers who don’t work as well for him. Then he’s gone and Gene Colan’s back again but inked badly (or rather, inappropriately – I just don’t think Dan Green suits Colan’s style, but given Colans pencils, that’s understandable) and his poor pacing really becomes an issue. Chris Claremont takes over writing and it’s all kinda fine, I guess, but not great. Then, for the last few issues, Roger Stern is back, actually writing completely, with Marshall Rogers on art and Terry Austen inking. And it’s amazing again! It really promises great th–
You’ve fooled me twice, Dr Strange, but not again. I’m keeping my expectations for volume 6 (when it comes out) firmly moderated.
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3 Star Wars Omni’s announced.
The Newspaper Strips vol. 1 – July 2026
Legends of the New Republic vol. 3 – June 2026
SW: Legends: Legacy vol. 1 – May 2026
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Big DC drop. Info is wrong on some things, info isn’t there on some things (I think wait for SDCC to settle down), but a bunch.
DC Compact, Finest, Omnibus (however you pluralize), Compendiums, Deluxes, Bronze Age and more – NMC
What did I just watch? Ummm…
Trial of Oliver Queen – DC Finest
Shade omni vol. 2
Tom Strong Compendium 2
Jenkins & Philips Hellblazer omni
DKR in Finest
Animal Man Veitch & Dillon Compendium
A bunch more
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Yeah, those have trickled out over a few days, although annoyingly inconsistent on including the contents.
Interesting to see there’s the first two (chronological) Wonder Womna DC Finests out within a couple of months of each other. The Western trade might be the one that convinces me to dip into the “genre” Finests.
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Dark Empire is in New Republic Omnibus 2, which is a RRP $150 one.
Mostly they’re RRP $125.
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So randomly searching for “Universal War Two” (the sequel to Universal War One by Denis Bajram) I found pre-orders (without dates) at Amazon.ca for:
UNIVERSAL WAR TWO T04 (DELUXE) LA CHUTE DU TEMPLE
French editionand UNIVERSAL WAR TWO T4 NL
French editionI think it’s supposed to be 6 issues (or tomes) long.
So basically it’s going to be a while until we get an english version HC over here (but pre-order I shall when available) -
Byrne has written and penciled every page and inked multiple chapters
I’d more interested (and to be clear, I’m not that interested) if he’d been inked by someone else for all of it. Terry Austen ideally (don’t know if he’s still working). Byrne’s art really got worse in the 80s when he started inking himself.
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I remember liking some of Byrne’s stuff that I saw back then, like early issues of Next Men, but did you see, say the alt covers he did for the Transformers Revolution crossover in the style of the 80s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe covers? They were godawful, can’t imagine he’s improved any in the ten-odd years since then.
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April 2026, Saga OHC4!
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I just read the first The Power Fantasy trade. It’s a very Gillen kind of book – reads a bit like a mixture of WickDiv and Über. But it’s also very, very good. I couldn’t tell you when the last time that I enjoyed a superhero book this much was.
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Oh, finally!
It suffers from a brutally abbrievated ending, that fairly reeked of DC wanting to be done with it, but I liked a lot of what they did with New Krypton.
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DC info for next year:
Omnibuses:
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-omnibuswatch-for-2026-batman-shade-zatanna-legion-and-more/
Absolutes – Full list and issues collected:
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-absolute-editions-man-of-steel-batman-rip-wonder-woman-historia/
Interesting that DC are completing Morrison’s Bat-run with Absolutes for both RIP and Batman & Robin, which includes Return of Bruce Wayne.
Might be worth getting that Absolute Batman and Son now.
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That Batman Elseworlds Omnibus is tempting. There are lots of fantastic stories in there that I fondly remember from yesteryear. However, it’s $175 RRP, and I’m not doing that. It also, bizarrely, doesn’t have Crimson Mist to finish off the vampire trilogy – I’d need to buy a volume 2 of much more variable stuff to get that.
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DC Finest Plastic Man: The Origin Of Plastic Man
I only bought this because I saw it on that random Amazon DE sale and at about £10 it seemed worth a punt. I didn’t really know what to expect of it. I’ve read literally no Plastic Man comics before, I just know the character from that cartoon he had back in the day (which was in the churn of early Cartoon Network) and some of his Justice League appearances.
Turns out it’s really good. Jack Cole is incredible. In terms of artistry and sophistication he’s about twenty years ahead of pretty much every other Golden Age artist I’ve read. He’s got a nice, clean style that gets progressively more cartoony as he gradually loosens up and leans into a sillier style than the… well, not exactly hard-boiled but proper crime busting tone the comic initially attempts. But he’s also really solid on panel layouts and readability and lettering, which is far from a given with Golden Age comics (especially lettering – in the Superman Finest I read recently it would bounce between clear, professional looking lettering and utter chicken scratch, seemingly at random).
He’s inventive too. Every story opens with a splash page, something that seemed fresh when Marvel started doing it in the mid-60s. He uses these to experiment with logo designs and graphic techniques. The whole thing reads like a very talented artist being given the space to just do what they want and grow.
The most surprising thing is that that Plastic Man (who really isn’t the comedic character I expected. He’s not exactly a straight man, but he’s hardly cracking jokes himself) is given a sidekick – a middle aged man sidekick – and it works. I was dreading that, thinking it was going to be like Doiby Dickles, the dreadful New Yahk cabbie GA Green Lantern got lumbered with. But Woozy Winks actually improves the comic, by giving Plas someone to talk to. His own “powers” (he’s protected by Mother Nature) are unobtrusive, which is helped along by the fact that Cole clearly keeps forgetting about them, and makes a joke of that, and he’s a good comic relief sidekick. I didn’t think it was possible.
This is really good stuff and I’m keen to get more.
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Bought some trades that I needed to catch up with – first one of Nice House by the Sea, the latest Saga, one Something’s Killing the Children… oh and I got the first Copra trade, as I’d read the first issue for free on Kindle and it was fucking awesome.
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Superman: Action Comics Superstars Volume 1
This is a good collection of three stories.
Aaron spins a Bizarro story that actually worked for me, as normally they don’t. Which he then combines with Bizarro Joker. I didn’t know Timm before reading this but will keep an eye out, as his art was great.
Simone’s tale of nefarious would-be conquerors being foiled by Superman in a winner-takes-all contest also sees Barrows paying homage to Neal Adams. And it is an accurate riff and a fun story.
Rowell’s back up to that is OK, with a really good resolution that boosts the weaker earlier parts. The other problem is I don’t entirely buy Lois’ loss of confidence.
Superman: Phantoms
This is a surprise. A 12 issue, single book, no crossovers or tie-ins, just a big, ambitious tale.
What starts as an investigation into why the Phantom Zone is changing expands into its true origins, with a link to Kandor, Supernan’s childhood friend Mon-El, culminating in a break-out. Waid also uses it as a way of questioning the justice of eternal imprisonment in the zone.
Henry is the main artist for the story, though not the only one. His absence on an issue or two is noticed.
Between them, Waid and Henry spin a fun Supernan epic.
Geiger Volume 3
Very much an interim, preparing the way volume, but with excellent execution.
Another kill squad goes after Geiger while he finds a spared town, with a book-burning habit.
It also collects a two-part origin series. Along with having both Junkyard Joe and Redcoat hovering in the background.
Free Agents Volume 1 After the War
A new independent superhero series from Busiek and Nicieza? With both Busiek’s character Superstar and Radiant Black guess starring for parts of it? Yeah, all right, also a chunky seven issue trade.
Mooney is an artist whose work I last saw in The Red Zone with Higgins. His art here is good. The story, built around what happens when a war is over for those fighting it, isn’t revolutionary but it is well-executed.
This is volume 1, will there be a second? Well, it says there’ll be more. Hope so, as it’d be good to follow up that cliffhanger.
Team-Ups of the Brave and the Bold
Having been reminded that this book exists, nabbed a cheap, second-hand copy of stories from…2009. Dammit, ahem…
Out-of-continuity mini-series or, like here, a set of one-shots, is easily your best bet for getting JMS on a Big Two project. And so this collection proves it.
Add in an excellent art roster to depict an array of smart team-ups, culminating in a Zatanna-Wonder Woman-Batgirl story that is superb, and it’s a great read.
Absolute Batman Volume 1 The Zoo
If you’re going to re-invent a character like Batman, it really is go big or go home. And Snyder and Dragotta go big.
They also make it work. In some ways it’s a more extreme Batman Earth One, with a top creative pairing. But it has its own identity beyond that, especially in how it rejigs characters and even brings in names you wouldn’t expect to see, like Bibbo from Superman.
How do you do a more extreme Batman while upholding the do not kill rule? Well, with some creativity, Snyder shows exactly how. He can’t do it without Dragotta though, whose visuals really make it work.
Stabbings, broken bones, booting off ledges, defenestration with variation, impalement, the odd limb amputation or blinding, but hey they’re all technically still alive. And I’m certain Sean Murphy is jealous of Dragotta’s batmobile design.
This was a gamble buy, but after the fun I had with this, I’m a lot more interested in the Absolute books.
Penguin: Volume 2: All Bad Things
This was more of a completionist buy, as I’ve found the first volume to be pretty good, but wasn’t expecting much from it. Instead it was a surprisingly far better book.
This is, more or less, King getting rid of Penguin’s psycho progeny. But, as they are a pair of total psychos, you will be backing the Penguin.
The weakest part of the book is Agent Tourette, whose frequent Asterix-swearing gets boring fast.
It’s amazing how much better a Batman writer King is on short form stories. The five issues collected play with chronology and character perspectives really well. And De La Torre’s art brings it all to life, from Gotham in the day, to the night.
A very fun surprise and a great read.
Phenomena: Book Two: Matilde’s Quest
Turns out Matilde wanted to sort out her family, who are stuck in a tribal conflict iin a city called Verona. Heh, Bendis is having some fun with that, along with the resolution by way of a Beatles lyric, in what was Liverpool.
Of course, none of it works without Araujo’s superb art, which keeps it all flowing along.
Fiends of the Eastern Omnibus 1
It’s questionable as to if the omnibus tag is really warranted, as it’s not really what I think of. This is more an oversized paperback.
Still, the production values are quality and, more importantly, are the stories good? Yes, they are. From an opener by Finlay-Day, with Ezquerra art, to a Bishop-MacNeil tale set in Stalingrad, with superb grayscale black and white ary. To smaller stories set in Napoleon’s doomed invasion of Russia and Vietnam.
Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor
It’s a pity DC seem to have lost interest in squarebound, oversized Black Label mini-series, as this is a great example of what the format can be. That the story is built around Luthor being met with an ultimate, unexpected and worse, unplanned end also demonstrates the worth of the imprint.
While Waid’s Superman may be too good to be true, which is kind of the point, his Luthor is weaker for me. It could be argued Lex always bringing everything back to him is what he is all about. But it also makes for a pathetic and irritating villain who can only see the world as a hierarchy.
Still, none of this matters unless the art is good and Hitch’s is excellent. It handles everything Waid’s demanding script throws at it and uses the square pages to maximum effect.
The Sarge Volume 2
This finishes the run by Finlay-Day and Western, with a short, newer story by Ennis and Holden.
The stories here are the slow, steady attrition of the war in southern Italy, across 1943 and 1944. Nor is it only the Germans the Sarge has to worry about, as he encounters unreliable or psychotic soldiers and less than great superior officers. Everyone is on the same side? If only.
Western’s art is superb at bringing these well paced, compact stories to life. It’s always clear and full of movement.
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(This is only tangentially related to tpbs but it seems the best place for it).
Soooo it looks like my SpeedyHen account was deleted? At some point in the past month and a half, since I pre-ordered the Nam Omnibus when that went live in late June. I went to order something else yesterday and it wouldn’t let me log in. Used the password reset thing and I just didn’t get the email. Figured it was a slow email system, ended up buying the book elsewhere.
Then today I tried to log into an entirely different webstore (of a high street chain) that I could have sworn I had an account for – I certainly had a password saved! – and I couldn’t log in and again couldn’t get a password reset email. I thought something was wrong with Gmail but I managed to get password reset emails in from other places. Decided to make a new account on the second place and it let me. I’d use the Paypal check out in the interim for that, so I think it populated my new account with the info from that order, but it had the rewards card I’ve had for ages set up with it. So no idea what’s going on there.
Figured I’d try the same thing with SpeedyHen – I would at least get an “an account already exists with that email address” error if it’s a password issue and… nope, it let me create a new account. None of my existing info is tied to it. Tried the password reset thing with the “new” account and it worked (so it’s not an error on Gmail’s end). The password reset thing doesn’t actually check validity of email address when you use it, it just says “an email has been sent to the address given” even if you use a dummy one, which isn’t helpful. So I guess my account was just gone? Or someone else has broken into it and hijacked it, but I surely would have got an email if they’d tried to change the account’s email address to their own*. And I’ve not had any orders charged to me, so I’m not sure what they’d be getting out of that.
Weird and disconcerting. Anyone else experienced this?
*EDIT: Nope, just checked this and you can change the account’s registered email address with just the password, no confirmation via email. That doesn’t seem great.
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I did notice the new password had stronger requirements than my existing password (special characters, numbers etc), so possibly they brought that in and it’s screwed up every existing account with a password that didn’t meet the requirements?
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Hmm. To their credit, I got an email response today, but they’re not going to be able to look into the account stuff until in the week.
On a more pertinent note, I started reading Wolverine epic collection: Tooth and Claw today. It’s about 9 issues of Wolverine solo series plus a bit of X-Men and some mini-series (including one with Venom) from around 1996. I don’t have very high expectations for it but it was only £11. One issue in and honestly, mid-late 90s Marvel typography is absolutely my jam. The standard dialogue font (I think Meanwhile from Comic Craft) is just the default comic font in my head. The needlessly spangly speech bubbles for different characters, some with their own fonts, are great. The WordArt on the covers. Man, it just speaks to me.
I mean look at that! Pure comics.
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