Why Don't The Big Two Release Books In Reading Order?

[charliehustle415]

Hi all,

Forgive me if this has been discussed, but I wanted to make a new thread because it applies to DC & Marvel and I wanted to get your thoughts about this issue I have.

Why in the name God-Doom does DC & Marvel not release "Complete Collections" in reading order with the authors various one-shots ant tie-ins?

Let's take Jason Aaron's Thor run; he wrote:

Thor: God of Thunder #1-25
Thor #1-8 & Annual #1
Thors #1-4
The Mighty Thor #1-23, 700-706, Generations Thor & Unworthy Thor & Mighty Thor at The Gates of Valhalla
Unworthy Thor #1-5
Thor #1-16
King Thor #1-4

But his run is contingent on (this is how Thor becomes Unworthy)

Original Sin #0-8
Original Sin Thor & Loki #5.1 -5.5

Then we have War of The Realms and other titles written by Aaron and we have Avengers written by Aaron all of which tie in to the Thor story.


So why doesn't Marvel just release books where all of the related titles and one shots that are written by the same author in one title?

Wouldn't it make more sense to release books that a new reader can just read and follow the plot without having to pick up separate books that might have different trade dress and in turn making one think it is not part of the same story?

I would love to have this run with trades that have the same trade dress in reading order and equally sized. Why doesn't Marvel want my money?


The same can be said for DC think about Morrison's Batman Omnibus where it doesn't even include Final Crisis which is extremely important to his Batman story and it doesn't even have the whole Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul story. It only has the chapters that are written by him, it makes no sense.

Sorry again if this has been covered but maybe the members on these boards can explain their rational.

[batnbreakfast]

Final Crisis is tonally different from Morrison's Batman and I'm glad its not included. You pick up the necessary information from the collected issues anyway. Resurrection is Pretty bad and the issues written by Grant are probably collected.

When it Comes to Aaron's Thor just wait for the Ultimate collection or an Omnibus. Pretty sure they'll collect the Original Sin issues.

[Hive]

Isn't this what Marvel is kind of doing now with Dawn of X?

[charliehustle415]

Final Crisis is tonally different from Morrison's Batman and I'm glad its not included. You pick up the necessary information from the collected issues anyway. Resurrection is Pretty bad and the issues written by Grant are probably collected.

When it Comes to Aaron's Thor just wait for the Ultimate collection or an Omnibus. Pretty sure they'll collect the Original Sin issues.

I understand the tonal shift and all that, but if it is a "complete collection" shouldn't it have the complete story?

Sure you can pick up tidbits, but we don't know the true magnitude of what Bruce is up against unless we read those; especially with those missing RIP issues

[charliehustle415]

Isn't this what Marvel is kind of doing now with Dawn of X?

Yes they are and it's amazing, but this is the first title I have ever seen it done to.

But the only negative is that they're trades and not oversized hardcovers

[Citizen Kane]

I understand the tonal shift and all that, but if it is a "complete collection" shouldn't it have the complete story?

Grant Morrison's Batman Omnibus collects just that: his Batman run. Final Crisis was a Justice League event, not a Batman event. Whether it's a useful tie-in is irrelevant to DC if they just want to collect a specific run of a specific book.

[Mister Mets]

One major reason is that different titles can intersect in ways that makes this impossible. Some of the stories are standalone and are going to be exposed to readers that way.

Original Sin was a major crossover, so there are some people picking up Jason Aaron's Thor who already own it, and wouldn't be happy if it's part of a new collection. It had spinoffs by other writers, so how would you factor that. Should Jason Aaron's Thor include Kieron Gillen's Iron Man because of the Original Sins: Iron Man VS Hulk mini-series?

[charliehustle415]

One major reason is that different titles can intersect in ways that makes this impossible. Some of the stories are standalone and are going to be exposed to readers that way.

Original Sin was a major crossover, so there are some people picking up Jason Aaron's Thor who already own it, and wouldn't be happy if it's part of a new collection. It had spinoffs by other writers, so how would you factor that. Should Jason Aaron's Thor include Kieron Gillen's Iron Man because of the Original Sins: Iron Man VS Hulk mini-series?

I think it would be opposite in the complete edition of Gillen's Iron Man they should include Original Sin