TPBs, HCs, Absolutes, Omnibuses… discuss them all here!
The Trades Thread: Collected Editions
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It’s a really misleading cover though. I can understand why they thought to use it, but it doesn’t represent the series at all.
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Wonder Woman Volume 3 Fury
Writers engaging in deconstruction, tearing status quos apart, engaging in character dismemberment are very old tricks. Reconstruction though? Rarer and harder. King tends to be a writer I place in the former, but with this volume he shows he can do the latter.
In a final bid to break Diana, the Sovereign has Steve Trevor ordered to him for slaughter. We’re talking superhero comics here, deaths are rarely final, yet King gives this one both weight and finality.
Then he spins an immensely entertaining tale of vengeance that even Khan would respect. First, the Sovereign’s finances are obliterated on multiple fronts. Then he is exposed by Detective Chimp and Jimmy Olsen. Following up on their finance blitzkrieg, the Wonder Girls take out the Sovereign’s remaining property and bodyguards.
Finally, Diana walks through the defences surrounding the White House, including demonstrating again to the perpetually vile Sergeant Steel how outclassed he is, to defeat the Sovereign. This includes having him self inscribe liar across his chest in blood.It all makes for an immensely satisfying volume. Plus it has superb art from Sampere, page after page of briliant imagery. Of course, this is far from the end. King uses the final issue to set up various ominous omens for the future. Maybe this time he will pull off a long form story.
Absolute Wonder Woman Volume 1 The Last Amazon
Temporally fractured narratives are not new and can be confusing. If read month by month, with gaps between, I doubt this would work. A few too many strands to keep track of and remember. But read as a trade of seven issues? Yeah, it works.The story is pretty good, with a different spin on the character. Though, like in the new 52 version Azzarello did, Apollo remains a bastard in any continuity.
The art is what really makes the book sing. Sherman and De Julis both provide great art, with distinct styles, which Bellaire then boosts with superb colours.
Huh, the Absolute line, something I was not at all sold by its marketing, is now two for two.2 users thanked author for this post.
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update on the SpeedyHen weirdness: I ended up ringing them this morning, because I didn’t get any explanation about the technical issues and my open pre-order is out on Tuesday and there’s a bank holiday weekend between today and then. Turns out the issue is something to do with case sensitivity. It wasn’t letting me log in without capitalising the first letter of my email address. Which is bizarre because email addresses aren’t case sensitive. I guess that’s maybe something to do with why it then let me open another account with the same email address (because I wasn’t capitalising it, so it thought it was entirely different) and possibly why password resets weren’t going through, because it would presumably reference the given email address with its own list to send the email and it’s thinking C and c aren’t the same letter.
All of which is a very weird error to spontaneously develop. I’m fairly sure I haven’t started changing how I type in my email address (I never capitalise it) so…
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But they only want to be helpful to you Martin.
Absolute Superman Volume 1 Last Dust of Krypton
Wow, with this DC have landed a stunning starting trio. Along with demonstrating that concept is nothing without skilled execution. And I didn’t care about the concepts, but the execution of them won me over.
Paralleling Earth and Krypton is a very clever story device, especially the generative AI, where it’s not about understanding and thinking, only obediance. The other strands Aaron throws out are social hierarchy and climate change for both worlds.
Both the Klerics on Krypton and Lazarus Corp in Earth embody a lack of compassion and empathy, with a focus only on themselves and controlling everyone else. That in turn leads to a violently enforced hierarchy, one scornful of anyone outside of it, or worse, refuses and rejects it.
Which brings us to a Superman who will keep doing exactly that. One who has memories of his home and parents, of what happened to it and can see far too clearly that Earth is on the same road.
On the other side, Sam Lane has what he considers to be the perfect daughter. A conditioned, compliant, obediant Lois Lane who can’t see how caged she is. Who initially sneers at Superman’s lack of a body count, but can’t quite maintain it.
In the story’s sharper, satirical edges there’s a sense of humour that would not be out of place in 2000 AD. Like a Lazarus tank-copter firing missiles with ‘peace at all costs’ painted on. And what would a company with weather control drones do with them? Use them in hostile takeovers of course.
The art team of Sandoval and Di Giandomenico are backed up Arreola’s colours. Like the other two, this book has a distinct colour palette that it uses well.
It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised.
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The Night Eaters Volume 3 Their Kingdom Come
There are some creative pairings that work brilliantly, like Brubaker and Phillips, Liu and Takeda. Each are very good on their own, but together they create excellent stories. The Night Eaters is a smaller story than Monstress but no lesser for it.
This final volume wraps up a story of both immigration and generational debts. It’s also a tale of the need for succession planning, that power has to be handed over rather than taken and prised out of unwilling hands.
The finale might be read as unsatisfying in how matters resolve. But their parents had already walked the expected road and look how that turned out.
There’s a sharp sense of humour running through the volume. How would our world handle an apocalypse? Short answer – not well. Also people fail to heed a warning, so they and their dog get eaten by coyotes in a park.
I was, when buying this volume, annoyed by the £5 price increase, but it does justify it. And not only by its 300 pages, but by the careful use of them.
It’s also a conclusion for an independent, creator-owned book and those don’t always get go happen. As numerous Image Volume 1 trades attest.
Very smart, very fun, very good.
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There’s not many new releases that I’d make a special lunchtime trip to my LCS for, but this is one of them.
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Booksellers list it as 9 Sept, comic shops get it now.
Best price online so far is SpeedyHen at £18.08.
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Booksellers list it as 9 Sept, comic shops get it now.
Best price online so far is SpeedyHen at £18.08.
I didn’t even know they were making it, let alone when it was due out. Although I dimly recall something announcing this alongside the TV commission. is that still happening?
It was filmed in summer 2024, no updates on when it will be released.
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Not only have things gone a bit quiet on the Criminal TV series front, but this latest OGN is about the comic creator from the earlier volumes, Jacob Kurtz, going to Hollywood and being dismayed at how a TV adaptation of his work is so terrible and bland and knocks the edges off a distinctive comic strip to turn it into a generic crime drama. Hmmmm.
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There’s not many new releases that I’d make a special lunchtime trip to my LCS for, but this is one of them.
I really tried with this one. I tried to space it out, not read it all in one go, to pause and think and come back to it. And somehow I still got through the whole thing in under 24 hours.
It’s excellent even by Criminal standards, which are crazily high these days – I’d maybe even put it on a par with Cruel Summer which has been my favourite ever since it came out.
I won’t discuss details until more of us have read it, but I came away very happy with this one.
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I just got my copy of The Nam Omnibus in. I very much like that it doesn’t have a “volume 1” on the spine (because this has all the good issues, so I would not be buying a volume 2). I’ve not actually taken the shrink wrap off yet but I just noticed it says “printed in Turkey” on the back. That’s new, right? I guess a way to dodge the Trump tariffs.
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Pearl Volumes 1-3
This collaboration by the Alias team of Bendis and Gaydos is an interesting one. The first trade is quite confusing in places, with somr poor colour choices that get in the way – yellow and white for text to read is never working, but it sets enough in play for the second volume.
That is easier to follow and far more assured. The third volume is another step up. Across the set you can almost see them working out the characters and world. If there is a Pearl IV I’d read it.
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My copy of the very-long-awaited Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 2 showed up!
One annoying thing is that this is the second item I’ve pre-ordered from the new Amazon.ie, and both times they haven’t applied the pre-order price guarantee. I had to get onto customer services to get refunded the difference, rather than being charged the lower price at dispatch.
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Superman Adventures Compendium Two – June 2nd 2026
Paperback – 984 pgs.
… collects issues #29–66
New X-Men Modern Era Epic Collection: Planet X – June 2nd 2026
Paperback – 336 pgs.
Concluding acclaimed writer Grant Morrison’s revolutionary NEW X-MEN run!
COLLECTING: New X-Men (2001) #142-154Thor Epic Collection: The Surtur War – March 3rd 2026
Writer/artist Walter Simonson’s groundbreaking Thor run starts here!
COLLECTING: Thor (1966) #337-3561 user thanked author for this post.
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I just read the latest Saga trade, and that book can still make me cry a little.
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Where are we up to?
I have the first Compendium.
I (weirdly) buy my best friend the HC’s for X-mas and birthdays, etc.
He needs a fix.Or I could just go a find that Saga Book 4 (issues #55 – 72) comes April 28th.
And then admit I pre-ordered on July 30th.
Yeah, the trade I read contains 67-72, so that’s the story up to there. #72 was also the last issue to come out, in March this year, so they’re apparently taking a longer break before the next storyline. If those books weren’t so brilliant and beautiful, this would be annoying, but whatever time they need to keep up this quality is fine for me.
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