General omnibus & hardcover discussion vol. II

[ER Prest]

What are some good Detective/Mystery comics? I love a good mystery but I only like reading the best since solving mysteries is one of my few talents. What are some good detective/mystery books that are solvable without reading the conclusion but are still very hard to solve? Thanks in advance!

Just about anything by Bru/Phillips comes to mind.

[MartinNL]

What are some good Detective/Mystery comics? I love a good mystery but I only like reading the best since solving mysteries is one of my few talents. What are some good detective/mystery books that are solvable without reading the conclusion but are still very hard to solve? Thanks in advance!

Yep, like ER said anything Brubaker/Phillips. But I also recommend Stumptown, Gotham Central, Mind MGMT, Green River Killer, Morning Glories, District 14, From Hell, Blast (in Dutch), Arq and Capricornus (both Dutch), Ken Games (Dutch), Pachyderme, Sandcastle, Three Shadows, Genetiks, Femme Fatale (in Dutch), Station 16, Blacksad.

[ER Prest]

Yep, like ER said anything Brubaker/Phillips. But I also recommend Stumptown, Gotham Central, Mind MGMT, Green River Killer, Morning Glories, District 14, From Hell, Blast (in Dutch), Arq and Capricornus (both Dutch), Ken Games (Dutch), Pachyderme, Sandcastle, Three Shadows, Genetiks, Femme Fatale (in Dutch), Station 16, Blacksad.

Hmmm I still need to pick up Stumptown and Blacksad.

Now that I think of it, Lazarus kind of fits the bill too.

[slop101]

Just in case someone hasn't already mentioned it, I wanted to point out that the new X-O Manowar "classic" Omnibus is some bullsh*t!

It's over-sized like most omnibuses, but the actual content, the art pages, are the same exact size as they were when they were originally published in their monthly issues way back when. The omnibus just adds huge borders around the art on each page (garish black borders on the very outside), to make the book look oversized, when the actual content is not.

I feel like I was misled, lied to and kinda' want my money back.

[Captain Craig]

^^^^
I have the X-O Omnibus as well. I agree that making it oversized implies the expectation of oversized art as is standard for the format. That said, playing Devils Advocate I was also made aware that VEI(VALIANT) didn't have the original artwork from which to work. Presumably this accounts for what they did but I have to ask myself, does Marvel/DC have all the original art work for the Golden/Silver Age works they've successfully translated to Omini's with oversized art? Could VEI not have made digital scans and increased the art as necessary while accounting for the color saturation where needed? I suspect something like this is what Marvel & DC have done.

While I'm not as upset I'm glad to have the book if for no other reason it allows me to have the issues where Solar Man of the Atom and Turok guest star in the OG VALIANT. Cause we aren't going to see the VALIANT Universe versions of the GK3 in collected volumes anytime soon.

[slop101]

Thing is though, they could've just sold it as a regular sized collection without the black borders, which would've been fine and not decptive. But then they couldn't charge $99 for it - which just reveals their outright greed.

[canadianaidan64]

Thing is though, they could've just sold it as a regular sized collection without the black borders, which would've been fine and not decptive. But then they couldn't charge $99 for it - which just reveals their outright greed.

Maybe future volumes in Valiant's omnibus line will have oversized art, and they wanted to have the whole line be one uniform trim size rather than have one book be smaller than all the rest.


Also, who says they couldn't charge $100 for a standard trim hardcover? Ever heard of marvel masterworks and DC archives? It's their product, they can charge whatever they want.

[victorxd1999]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have some of it already or on my wish list but some I haven't heard of, I will check them out. Though wouldn't describe all Bru/Phillips collaborations as mystery books (only Fatale, Fade Out and parts of Criminal )

[slop101]

Also, who says they couldn't charge $100 for a standard trim hardcover? Ever heard of marvel masterworks and DC archives? It's their product, they can charge whatever they want.

Yes, and I, as a customer, would have chosen not to buy it had they been upfront about their product and not hidden regular-sized material in an over-sized book. But as I said, they were deceptive about it. Heck, just not having that border be black would be an improvement.

[RedNave]

Ha, guess what, Amazon are shipping my deluxe copy of the Final Incal 2 weeks in advance of the release date.

[ER Prest]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have some of it already or on my wish list but some I haven't heard of, I will check them out. Though wouldn't describe all Bru/Phillips collaborations as mystery books (only Fatale, Fade Out and parts of Criminal )

Scene of the Crime had me pretty well. Pretty short too, 4 issues. Kinda like a proto-criminal

[TheTemp]

Maybe future volumes in Valiant's omnibus line will have oversized art, and they wanted to have the whole line be one uniform trim size rather than have one book be smaller than all the rest.


Also, who says they couldn't charge $100 for a standard trim hardcover? Ever heard of marvel masterworks and DC archives? It's their product, they can charge whatever they want.

Quantum and Woody Omnibus has oversized art! So maybe it was just as thing where they couldn't get the original/didn't want to stretch out the art in fear of ruining it?

[Captain Craig]

Maybe future volumes in Valiant's omnibus line will have oversized art, and they wanted to have the whole line be one uniform trim size rather than have one book be smaller than all the rest.

I do feel there is evident truth in this assumption. Their first Omnibus, Quantum and Woody was oversized and they want their line to look uniform on the customers shelf.

Heck, just not having that border be black would be an improvement.

I do agree, the choice to go with black seems unusual. A more neutral color would've been better.

Quantum and Woody Omnibus has oversized art! So maybe it was just as thing where they couldn't get the original/didn't want to stretch out the art in fear of ruining it?

Which gets back to the rumor mill I'd heard where they had digital scans and/or the original artwork from which to work to produce the oversized art on the Q&W omnibus. They didn't for the X-O.

Like I said, I'm glad I have it and if it means some/all of the OG VALIANT era early 90's material has to be that way I accept it, just going forward be a bit more upfront about it to those who'll be sensitive to it(I'm not poking fun at slop101 to be clear).

[pud333]

Latest. Didn't realize March wasn't regular trade size. Not a big deal. I know the Earth One books aren't the best but that's a terrible cover.

[johnsme]

Does anyone have the original Stray Bullets hardcovers? I'm in love with the series and keep circling around to them when looking at how to collect them physically (I'd get the rest of the issues bound to match). Do they contain extras? Do the original issues contain letters pages? Does the Uber Alles contain the Amy Racecar specials?

And for the crime/mystery suggestions: Murder Me Dead by Lapham is an excellent book that might be exactly what you want.