All New Marvel Collected Editions

[mike1981]

I asked about ultimate X men i believe, although you could be correct. sorry if I asked twice

No worries. I just remember most of the conversation was about the Ultimate books in general, not specific to X-Men

[Mix_Masta_Micah]

I disagree.

I've said this before; Hickman's Marvel work reads like my old undergrad engineering texts (and is about as compelling). He populates his stories with all these ideas, but very rarely develops them into interesting stories. He writes a string of admittedly interesting sounding sound bites, but I have not once felt pulled into any sort of narrative.

In general, he also fails to inject any characterization into his stories. Avengers / New Avengers / Infinity could honestly be told with any super hero archetypes without having to change anything. E.g., his Avengers isn't really an Avengers story; it's a Hickman story. His only Marvel work that felt like it needed to be told in it's particular book was Fantastic Four; it was actually a Fantastic Four story before anything.

It's great that you seem to like his stuff. Maybe it's because of my background and work history, but I don't find anything interesting in the Marvel books of his that I've read.

Well it seems we'll just have to agree to disagree and that's fine with me, I'll just offer my thoughts one last time.

If you've read an engineering manual with the type of stuff Hickman comes up with then it's time for me to make that last second major change (currently trying to get my doctorate in physical therapy)! The narrative and/or story does develop:

*SPOILERS*

Starting with Secret Warriors you have a Nick Fury caterpillar group (cool idea) and follow the characters as they battle against both Hydra and Leviathan. The series was full of intrigue, surprising crosses, and character deaths that affect members as they grew closer together. Plus you got into the psyche of Nick Fury and how he operates; he'll never stop doing what he does best and what he does is be the world's best spy. Very interesting story with tons of research and world-building.

Fantastic Four had perfect characterizations for the entire team. Reed Richards may be one of his better characters that he's written full of nuance and a super genius that is an adventurer first. You get a butt load of new ideas (Inhuman brides, Future Foundation, Council of Reeds, King of the Dead) with a clear, developing story that culminates into Johnny dying and being reborn and/or Spider-Man, characterized as the world's greatest superhero as he should be, joining the team, Doctor Doom taking Valeria under his wing, the suggestiveness that Franklin will be the greatest superhero known to man, the Bentley clone's battle with nature vs. nurture, Black Panther realizing how he fits in Wakanda, and the FF expanding their family aspect to a greater team of scientists and adventurers. Moreso, you get the first taste of Hickman's Doctor Doom which is another character Hickman writes superbly well. I think each character I mentioned here is distinctly thought out and couldn't be replaced.

New Avengers/Avengers/Infinity/Secret Wars: Hickman delivered a magnum opus of the MARVEL UNIVERSE. Yes he did write titles called "Avengers" but this is a Marvel Universe tale. You have characterization from both Steve and Tony throughout as a yin and yang - one being life, the other death. Every character in the New Avengers book stands out on his/her own; Black Panther revenge drunk whilst battling with his own demons in what he has done to prevent the universe's destruction (he also forges his own path by blatantly ignoring the wishes of previous Panthers) or Namor acting as Namor only should by destroying a planet, switching sides, and then realizing he is wrong. Avengers has a much larger ensemble cast with, yes, lesser characterization but I know that Hyperion is a confused dimension displaced super human, Thor is a god that won't bow to the universe's "builders" and even comes full circle when battling the Beyonders, Sunspot comes into his own while also still being a lovable character, more Dr. Doom awesomeness, Dr. Strange battling his own deals with devils, Thanos and his underlings embody death like they should, and overall you even have a comparison between the Marvel characters and DC characters! The Marvel heroes are fallible and do give in to the easier path in order to prevent destruction. I'm jumping around different beats in the stories and haven't read this in quite some time so I'm surely forgetting certain parts. It is a Fantastic Four story...but that's because it's a Marvel universe story first and they are the first family. Here's also an example of how the Secret Wars story can be interpreted on different levels:

I don't know if you'd class this as a theory or an interpretation of Secret Wars, but here it goes. I think the Beyonders are supposed to represent the creators of these comics. In NA and SW the Beyonders speak to Doom through some sort of rift in space. They tell Doom they are "Dreamers. Destroyers. All of reality our whim." That description pretty well fits the writers, artists, editors, etc. that are forever shaping the Marvel Universe. In SW 4 Dr. Strange describes the Beyonders as "some alien, ethereal other thing that perfectly constructed not just the material nature of everything, but the rules that governed it as well." Again, this description perfectly fits the creators of the MU. Also, Hickman is the type of writer who likes to work a lot of symbolism into his stories. Now, if we assume that this is true then many other parts of this story, and the press surrounding it, begin to take on some additional meaning.

When we first heard about Secret Wars, a lot of people thought Marvel was preparing to do a big reboot. (We now know this is not the case) In NA 33 the Molecule Man explains how the Beyonders were "conducting their grandest of grand experiments. The simultaneous death of everything in the multiverse." From the perspective of these characters, a complete reboot would serve as such an apocalyptic event. If you want to take this meta reading of the text even further just look at what Owen Reece says next. He asks Doom if he remembers his first encounter with the "child beyonder" which "destroyed a universe in order to construct a play world out of the ashes." This makes sense if you consider that the first secret wars was all about throwing these characters together in order to sell toys. Owen goes on to say that these Beyonders "are its betters, with far more ambitious goals." These ambitious goals would be the reboot.

This is where it gets fun. Of all the characters in the marvel universe it is Doom who will stand against these beyonders/creators who would destroy their universe. Doom defiantly tells the beyonders, "You dared to test us. You dared to toy with us. I dare to throw back in your face." What we have here is a fictional character refusing to be abused and played with by his creators. And who in the MU besides Doom would really have the ego to do something like that? Also, Doom tells us that the Beyonders' only weakness is that they are linear meaning they are unable to travel through time. This is a weird weakness for the supposedly all powerful Beyonders to have. Well, from the perspective of a character existing in this universe, the creators would be all powerful, and, obviously, the creators at Marvel are unable to travel through time.

If you choose to interpret Secret Wars in this way then the series ironically becomes the opposite of what so many people thought Marvel was doing. Not only is Secret Wars not a reboot, it is actually a refutation of that idea. The creators may be trying to reboot the universe but the characters refuse to go along. Consider what Cyclops says in SW 1: "You can't kill an idea. It always comes back. Resurrected. Or reborn...into a different form." That pretty much sums up what is happening to the MU right now.

But hey, this is all opinion, I'm a massive fan and think he is one of the most thought provoking and interesting creators out there now.

[Mix_Masta_Micah]

And sorry for the wall of text. Read those Hickman collected editions people! Plenty to dissect!

[Mr`Orange]

I've skimmed most of the Season One books. Only one I read through(and plan on buying) is the Dr. Strange one, by Pak and Rios. I really liked that one, contrary to the totally apathy towards the others.

I'll second this, the art was amazing and the story was pretty decent. By all accounts the Ant Man book was the best of the bunch.

[Canucked]

Well it seems we'll just have to agree to disagree and that's fine with me, I'll just offer my thoughts one last time.

If you've read an engineering manual with the type of stuff Hickman comes up with then it's time for me to make that last second major change (currently trying to get my doctorate in physical therapy)! The narrative and/or story does develop:

*SPOILERS*

.

Great post!

I really love Hickman's stuff. And I don't get the comments about lack of characterization. He's the first writer to make me care about Franklin and Valeria Richards (making Valeria an engaging read) and Franklin and Johnny....I wont even spoil that.

Also his writing for Thor and Hyperion in Avengers made that feel like a unique friendship.

[mtop2036]

I stared the ironman omnibus by busiek and am enjoying it quite a bit, also probably the best price ive ever got for any omnibus(47$ on a 125$ retail!). And just finshed the kree crossover story which the last issue is an issue from the busiek and perez avenger omnibus. I allready know I like busieks writing from iron but this was my first time with perezs art. And damn theres so much going on, such much detail. Quite amazing, he must of spent a long time on each page or he draws extremely fast for how much detail is in his work. I ordered the avengers vol 1 omnibus blind from the praise you guys give it and now I know for a fact ill love it. Should be here saturday or monday! I know I ask alot of questions about whats good and what not, but without your guys recomendations I would of missed out on so many great books. Truly glad I came across cbr and you guys giving so much input. Thanks!

[Chrisko]

Like many on here, I usually order my books from IST or CBR. I've tried both and used to love CBR because you could order months ahead and get most books for 50% off. I've now switched to IST because they usually have that weeks best selling books for 50% off and their shipping and customer service is better than CBR in my opinion.
However, I recently found DCBS.com. I believe it's owned by the same company as IST. They advertise on each other's sites. You can order a full month of everything you want Marvel, DC, Image, etc. The reason I mention this is that they currently have the March preorders for sale. This includes a ton of stuff from Marvel like the Deadpool minibus. The Dr Strange omni. The 2 Star Wars OHCs. It seems like a good deal bra use you can choose which cover you want (regular or DM) and you get 50% off all the books with a small shipping fee. $6 I think. The downside is you pay for all the books now and they don't come out until summer. Has anyone ever used this site before? I would love some feedback before I give them a couple hundred bucks.

[kodave]

That was the quote. Sounds like it can be read either placement. I hope they at least do a ohc of entity and vs hulk. It would not be cool to have Ohc, ohc, tpb, ohc, tpb, ohc for this run. I would much rather have to switch to different book twice in a reading order and have uniformity.

Well, I decided to just read the Thanos Vs. The Hulk trade I had lying around and on the very first page it there's an explicit note from the editor that this takes place before the events of Revelation. So I think that settles it, since all of the evidence points to that as the reading order versus one Starlin quote where he might have just misspoke.

[Brewman]

Well, I decided to just read the Thanos Vs. The Hulk trade I had lying around and on the very first page it there's an explicit note from the editor that this takes place before the events of Revelation. So I think that settles it, since all of the evidence points to that as the reading order versus one Starlin quote where he might have just misspoke.

Let me know how it is; it didn't seem to get great reviews and I usually don't do tpbs that much any more. I am still going to hope for an ohc of the vs and entity, but I love Thanos/Warlock and if this arc is going to be Starlin's swan song on the characters then I will most likely wind up getting it.

[krisis]

But hey, this is all opinion, I'm a massive fan and think he is one of the most thought provoking and interesting creators out there now.

HOLY GLAMOROUS PHOENIX, that was one of the best posts in this thread of all time. Is this a prevailing fan theory in some corner of the internet, or is this purely your own interpretation?

[adameastment]

If you choose to interpret Secret Wars in this way then the series ironically becomes the opposite of what so many people thought Marvel was doing. Not only is Secret Wars not a reboot, it is actually a refutation of that idea. The creators may be trying to reboot the universe but the characters refuse to go along. Consider what Cyclops says in SW 1: "You can't kill an idea. It always comes back. Resurrected. Or reborn...into a different form." That pretty much sums up what is happening to the MU right now.

But hey, this is all opinion, I'm a massive fan and think he is one of the most thought provoking and interesting creators out there now.

Just to add to this, I've quoted a section that I really like. Cyclops saying "you can't kill an idea" is really great because he is sort of saying that a Reboot would still ultimately have the same characters but reborn but still around. Yet, he's the one who is killed - so it's almost like he's the personification of the reboot within the book.

[MatchstickJohnny]

I picked up that Asagardian Wars hardcover from that comic shop I rarely get to if anyone recalls me asking about the book.
I hemmed and hawed on getting it thinking that since it's Claremont the material might show up in an UXM vol.4 or would a vol.5 be more likely IF, yes IF it got that far.
At any rate I got it and look forward to reading it later.

Please take a picture. This is the Arthur Adams New Mutants Special and UXM Annual right? I never knew it was in HC.

[Brewman]

Please take a picture. This is the Arthur Adams New Mutants Special and UXM Annual right? I never knew it was in HC.

2nd post opening page of this thread has a link that lists all Marvel OHC's sans omni's listed by character/title.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I Just got the Elektra Omnibus and its slim, really does make the Deluxe Edition format look like a steal. I'm excited about the story and the art.

I also have been reading Black Panther and I wish the narrator was T'Challa. The wise guy who does the talking is like Steve Buscemi narrating the Black Panther solo film. I'm enjoying it but it has a 90s almost Tarantino feel to it. It's a good read but not what I expected.

[mtop2036]

I Just got the Elektra Omnibus and its slim, really does make the Deluxe Edition format look like a steal. I'm excited about the story and the art.

I also have been reading Black Panther and I wish the narrator was T'Challa. The wise guy who does the talking is like Steve Buscemi narrating the Black Panther solo film. I'm enjoying it but it has a 90s almost Tarantino feel to it. It's a good read but not what I expected.

Which black panther run? The Priest one?