All New Marvel Collected Editions

[TomSlick]

Wasn't that X-men omni one of the big clearance items a few years ago? I was seeing it new for $25. That hurts reprintability.

It was volume 2 actually. At least that's the one I got on clearance as well as AOA now that I think about it.

[legion_quest]

Wow as we are now up to 7 omnibus reprints for 2016 and still could get more when the September through December solicits get announced next year.

Still no love for.....Alpha Flight or New Mutants

Hoping for X-Men 1, Thor 1 and Iron Man 1 reprints to help a lot of recent omnibus collectors out. Good chance for Thor Volume 1 when new movie comes out.

The main reason I have, aside from the damage in collectability to the books, for disliking reprints, is this right here.

There is so much stuff still to be collected that will take even longer to be collected the more Marvel gets lazy and just issues reprints. And what is worse is that many of the reprints in the second half of next year aren't even at whale level. They are still around for cover (though granted some people seem to feel anything other that launch week IST US prices is ridiculous to pay and wont even pay cover, let alone whale prices) or can be had for less with a bit of patience and ebaying.

[TomSlick]

Bingo I was just coming on here to post that. They should have labeled / listed as volume 1 as it then matches the solicits.

Yes it would be odd to reprint just volume 1 and not reprint volume 2 as that really does not help volume 3 sales. I am thinking it will be solicited in next month or two but we all will have to wait and see.

Yeah, but by that logic we would have gotten a Brubaker Cap. volume 1 and "Death of" by now.

[Omnibus]

Yeah, but by that logic we would have gotten a Brubaker Cap. volume 1 and "Death of" by now.

Good point and LOL....there is no logic in comics

The main reason I have, aside from the damage in collectability to the books, for disliking reprints, is this right here.

There is so much stuff still to be collected that will take even longer to be collected the more Marvel gets lazy and just issues reprints. And what is worse is that many of the reprints in the second half of next year aren't even at whale level. They are still around for cover (though granted some people seem to feel anything other that launch week IST US prices is ridiculous to pay and wont even pay cover, let alone whale prices) or can be had for less with a bit of patience and ebaying.

I think reprints helps revitalize / rejuvenate the omnibus line as some people get put off collecting them if there is no chance of getting certain titles they missed out on. Most of the reprints have been valid popular titles that will sell although still scratching my head on the Howard the Duck one Still even that was nice for some niche fans.

I am more put off by some the choices they have made for omnibuses that are basically straight to the clearance bin after a month. Titles like Marvel Now, 75th Anniversary, Women of Marvel, 1990's Firsts to me were wasted slots for other runs.

[Brewman]

These are just theories that I have no hard data researched to back up, but:

1) It seems like Marvel definitely distanced itself from PHCs toward the end of Marvel Now. I could be wrong but I believe all of the Secret Wars mini series all were TPB only.

2) Premiere HCs may not have sold all that well during Marvel Now. Pretty much all of the no-dust jacket premiere HCs from that era hit the remainder pile. All of the Season Ones, nearly all of the volumes of Savage Wolverine, Gillen's Iron Man, Waid's Indestructible Hulk and Remender's Captain America have hit the clearance racks. I also believe the All-New/Uncanny Bendis X-Men and Hickman Avengers PHC books were remaindered, or at least the earlier volumes were. Nova only survived one hardcover before it was clearanced and the rest of the series went TPB only. I would assume Aaron's Thor sold well enough since they OHC'd it and it seems to be the only series continuing in PHC for ANAD, but it's possible those Marvel Now PHCs were put on clearance.

3) I think Marvel is finding that instead of hoping people double or triple dip with PHC/TPB/OHC, they can make as much or more money when they start in TPB then hit collectors with Oversized or Omnibus editions for things that sell real well, like we saw with Hawkeye, Deadpool, Ms. Marvel, the new volume of Daredevil etc. Plus with no premiere hardcovers, that means Marvel can start jacking up the price of the basic TPBs, which are now all in the $16-$20 range for 6 or less issues. And then they can eventually charge more for collectors who really want that hardcover edition because there's no step down between OHC and pure TPB. It seems like the going rate for the OHCs is $35 but I'm sure that will change soon too.

3) TPBs weigh less than HCs. The difference might not seem like much, but it definitely adds up when you're talking about shipping hundreds if not thousands of copies from the printer in China. Especially considering Marvel is still clearancing out those Marvel Now PHCs (and I would assume take a loss on them financially) after they seemingly adjusted their printing practices to try and reduce over-printing (at least as far as Omnis and OHCs go). So the shipping savings might be pretty worthwhile to basically abandon the PHC format.

4) Digital sales are supposedly increasing. I think most of the Marvel Now Era PHCs came with a digital code for the trade. Perhaps Marvel has realized the most profitable path is to give physical readers the simple TPB, have digital TPBs available for the digital crowd, and anyone who wants to double dip can buy both rather than get the windfall of the digital bonus copy found inside the PHCs. And of course if it's something to pander to the collector crowd, give them an OHC eventually.


Secret Wars and the abandonment of the PHC format for ANAD makes a great jumping off point for me as a trade collector. I'm really not interested in acquiring a bunch of cheaply made but still expensive TPBs, and I'd rather just go digital than buy these TPBs. If something good comes out in OHC, then I'll definitely be interested. Maybe way down the road I would be interested in Large TPB/Complete Collection books if they're never going to do OHCs, but even that's iffy for me personally. DC is doing me the same favor with how Convergence/DC You mirrors Secret Wars/ANAD Marvel, both in terms of continuity resets/refreshes and in terms of trade collection. Though DC is keeping most Batman books as HCs, so they still get me there.

Did anyone notice the CAPTAIN MARVEL: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HERO VOL. 1 TPB? It's kind of interesting they're putting out a TPB collection of this series (combining the first two TPBs into one) instead of OHCs or an Omnibus. My guess would be a three volume TPB re-collection: 1 - In Pursuit of Flight/Down; 2 - Avengers: The Enemy Within (maybe w/ the Infinity issues)/Higher, Further, Faster, More; 3 - Stay Fly/Alis Volat Propriis/Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps.

It probably makes more sense to combine the series together under one banner since it has the two volume split with the Avengers tangent and Secret Wars Carol Coprs tangent in there. That way new readers can just pick up the "Earth's Mightiest Hero" volumes and not have to know to go seek out an Avengers TPB or get confused with the needless renumbering that carried over into the trades. I'm sure bookstores would also be more inclined to order these types of TPBs than order reprints of those 7 volumes, which is probably a harder sell. I wonder if strong sales on the TPB reprint collections might lead to an OHC or Omnibus maybe in late 2017 or 2018 prior to the March 2019 film.

Damn that's some pretty solid plausible reasoning.

[krisis]

These are just theories that I have no hard data researched to back up, but.

That was an awesome post! Thank you for sharing so much thought and detail. I largely agree with you. I think the reason for the PHCs to exist is evaporating - for a while I would have said it was for books that are more likely to hit physical non-LCS shops, but most of Marvel's bestsellers from the now era were TPB-first.

[legion_quest]

Good point and LOL....there is no logic in comics



I think reprints helps revitalize / rejuvenate the omnibus line as some people get put off collecting them if there is no chance of getting certain titles they missed out on. Most of the reprints have been valid popular titles that will sell although still scratching my head on the Howard the Duck one Still even that was nice for some niche fans.

I am more put off by some the choices they have made for omnibuses that are basically straight to the clearance bin after a month. Titles like Marvel Now, 75th Anniversary, Women of Marvel, 1990's Firsts to me were wasted slots for other runs.

Eh, I think people might be put off certain lines, but not everyone and certainly not omnis as a whole.

While some titles deserve to be ever green, I just wish Marvel did a bigger thing around different prints. Changed the covers or colours or something. I collect to collect as much as to read, but when you are never sure what's collectable/rare/worth whaling for it hurts the pleasure, for me, of collecting.

[Captain Craig]

I am more put off by some the choices they have made for omnibuses that are basically straight to the clearance bin after a month. Titles like Marvel Now, 75th Anniversary, Women of Marvel, 1990's Firsts to me were wasted slots for other runs.

Same here. I support reprints of editions that have gone OOP, are popular and can support additional printings.
The ones you listed are real head scratchers, whose making these calls and why?

[Squall Leonhart]

Yeah, UXF, X Men 1, Annihilation and Amazing Spidey 2 should have been reprints. Not ASM 1, UXM 1, etc.

Also, I just bought all those New Mutant TPBs so no New Mutants Omnibus any time soon is good news!

[Legion564]

Another reason for regular HC to not exist is their size. I realized recently they're just a paperback glued to some thicker cardboard.

[Captain Craig]

Yeah, UXF, X Men 1, Annihilation and Amazing Spidey 2 should have been reprints. Not ASM 1, UXM 1, etc.

Also, I just bought all those New Mutant TPBs so no New Mutants Omnibus any time soon is good news!

I figure since I just paid $200 for a sealed UXF that it'll probably show up as a reprint in the latter half of '16.

[ricardoramos]

Wow as we are now up to 7 omnibus reprints for 2016 and still could get more when the September through December solicits get announced next year.

Still no love for.....Alpha Flight or New Mutants

Hoping for X-Men 1, Thor 1 and Iron Man 1 reprints to help a lot of recent omnibus collectors out. Good chance for Thor Volume 1 when new movie comes out.

I think UXM and X-related titles are some of the bestselling Oversized editions. Most of them sold out or have 2nd and 3rd printing.
I was surprised that no X-Men Omnibus by Alan Davis was announced to accompany the movie (using “Apocalypse: The Twelve” as excuse) instead of an Age of Apocalypse reprint.

So once UXM Omnibus vol 4 will probably fill the gap between vol 3 and "Mutant Massacre" I think they’ll start with New Mutants, and maybe X-Men: Legacy (Vol. 1 starting with #208) with luck Alpha Flight, David’s X-factor, Excalibur or new mutants by Zeb Wells will follow!

[awayne83]

Anything from the last few years doesnt warrant a reprint imo. There still plenty of popular runs in need of one: Brubaker Cap and Daredevil, bendis daredevil, ultimates, astonishing. Still angry these haven't come around while I understand the need, all we seem to keep getting is this silver age crap

[legion_quest]

Anything from the last few years doesnt warrant a reprint imo. There still plenty of popular runs in need of one: Brubaker Cap and Daredevil, bendis daredevil, ultimates, astonishing. Still angry these haven't come around while I understand the need, all we seem to keep getting is this silver age crap

There might be money involved. Modern contracts tend to give creators more money when their stuff is reprinted. Silver Age stuff tends to be owned outright.

[Mister Jerusalem]

As a general question about OHC/Omnibus reprints, does anyone know why DC and Marvel have such different policies on this? Especially with the movies and TV being such a big thing now, it seems odd. DC has reprinted some of their HCs more than 5 times. On the Marvel side we have the next season of Daredevil on Netflix, and Punisher is showing up. Why not reprint the Omnibus? Or at least reprint the Max no. 4 HC that everyone and their mother has been wanting for years?