DC Hardcover Collected Editions Part 3

[JAG2045]

On the fence about this one. I love it (who doesn't?!) but have the singles plus a trade somewhere. Anyone know if it was ever released as a Deluxe Edition?



I was going to skip this, but with a reasonable price point plus online discounts, may go for it after all...




As much as I love Zero Hour, I don't think this is necessary. At all. If they were giving us a pair of small omni's that collected more material - either the preludes or the 0 issues themselves - I'd consider it.

Not sure if you are aware but if you like Zero Hour DC recently announced a "Superman: Zero Hour" collection to go with the recent Batman: Zero Hour TPB https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14...tededitions-20

[bob.schoonover]

I think I'm liking BATMAN BY GRANT MORRISON OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC. The Ra's resurrection recap by Burnham may prove to be a good idea.

Burnham's recap might mean DC will listen to Burnham about Vol 2's order, which I know DC is aware of Burnham's order.

I wonder if Final Crisis will be addressed in Vol 2.

We talked about this before (in regards to the placement of RIP: Missing Chapters), but I could see them either just putting the Missing Chapters first (explains where Bruce is and why Dick is Batman, prologues RoBW) (second parenthetical to say they could break up pages from the Missing Chapters and scatter them through the first two thirds of the second Omnibus to keep from spoiling events in B&R, RoBW - e.g. the first issue could come before or after B&R 1-3 to explain what happened post Hurt, the second somewhere after B&R 9) OR using the structure of the Missing Chapters to create a 3 page prelude to B&R 1.

[SJNeal]

Not sure if you are aware but if you like Zero Hour DC recently announced a "Superman: Zero Hour" collection to go with the recent Batman: Zero Hour TPB https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14...tededitions-20

I've seen both of these collections, and... I just don't get the reason for their existence! Haha.

On their own, neither tell a complete story. I feel like you really need the 5 issue mini to make sense of a lot of what was going on then (not just these 2 books, but the wider DCU of late '94). I agree with the previous poster that said we need an omnibus; preferably with everything in the correct reading order!

[JBatmanFan05]

We talked about this before (in regards to the placement of RIP: Missing Chapters), but I could see them either just putting the Missing Chapters first (explains where Bruce is and why Dick is Batman, prologues RoBW) (second parenthetical to say they could break up pages from the Missing Chapters and scatter them through the first two thirds of the second Omnibus to keep from spoiling events in B&R, RoBW - e.g. the first issue could come before or after B&R 1-3 to explain what happened post Hurt, the second somewhere after B&R 9) OR using the structure of the Missing Chapters to create a 3 page prelude to B&R 1.

Yea, I definitely still don't favor moving 701-702 (Missing Chapters) (or doing the page scattering), so I hope they do another recap or include some Final Crisis. Vol 2 will make or break this collection of Morrison's run. I might wait until Vol 2 is out to get Vol 1. I've custom bound everything up to Inc, so Vol 3 (Inc) is the only Omnibus I know I'm getting (so I can ditch my Absolute Inc maybe).

[JAG2045]

I've seen both of these collections, and... I just don't get the reason for their existence! Haha.

On their own, neither tell a complete story. I feel like you really need the 5 issue mini to make sense of a lot of what was going on then (not just these 2 books, but the wider DCU of late '94). I agree with the previous poster that said we need an omnibus; preferably with everything in the correct reading order!

While they just end before Zero Hour (much like the latest Kyle Rayner GL & Wally West Flash collections) the Batman collection was at least useful as it collected the small set of issues between the end of the Knightfall/Prodigal/Troika saga and the start of the Chuck Dixon run in "Detective Comics" and the Moench/Jones run in "Batman" which would otherwise be most likely missed out

[bob.schoonover]

Yea, I definitely still don't favor moving 701-702 (Missing Chapters) (or doing the page scattering), so I hope they do another recap or include some Final Crisis. Vol 2 will make or break this collection of Morrison's run. I might wait until Vol 2 is out to get Vol 1. I've custom bound everything up to Inc, so Vol 3 (Inc) is the only Omnibus I know I'm getting (so I can ditch my Absolute Inc maybe).

I would imagine someone of Burnham's talent could actually make a pretty interesting recap in 2-3 pages that sort of heightens the reading of V2 if it's your first time through. Strictly speaking, no one else in the DCU knows what exactly happened to Batman after Hurt's copter exploded (only Darkseid and maybe Metron and Nix who are not really known for being forthcoming), just that Superman found his corpse. As far as anyone else knows, Batman appeared at Orion's body after the JLA call, disappeared while investigating the corpse, and then was found burnt out in Darkseid's lair. Dick re-capping that while putting on the cape (and essentially ignoring all of the Battle for the Cowl stuff) and deciding to train Damian would be a lovely way to start the omnibus out for both new and returning readers.

[TomSlick]

depends on what you are looking for. I think his more easy to digest stuff are We3 or Happy! if you don't mind violence) or Joe the Barbarian. They are very creative, short and have good emotional beats but don't go overboard with the disjointed storytelling that's the biggest issues for most people (usually).
I really enjoy his weirder, harder to decipher books like the Filth or especially The Invisibles. They can be challenging and hard to understand at first but, at least for me, they've really paid off at the end. Also they can be super gross, especially The Filth.
Not sure if you would count it as superheroes since it's Vertigo but Doom Patrol is highly recommended and I would say check out Klaus, it's a fun ride and the art is beautiful but it's quite Christmas themed story so you might want to wait until the season hits.
Also there is Flex Mentallo which is not an easy read and it's very meta and sort of superhero related ( I mean it's about superheroes but not about the DC universe).
There are still some I haven't read (Sebastian O, Vinanarama, etc) and some not very well known superhero series he wrote like Marvel Boy which I really enjoyed. Depends really what you are looking for, people like to put him in a box but he has a couple of different styles.

I'm surprised you didn't mention Animal Man or Zenith.

We talked about this before (in regards to the placement of RIP: Missing Chapters), but I could see them either just putting the Missing Chapters first (explains where Bruce is and why Dick is Batman, prologues RoBW) (second parenthetical to say they could break up pages from the Missing Chapters and scatter them through the first two thirds of the second Omnibus to keep from spoiling events in B&R, RoBW - e.g. the first issue could come before or after B&R 1-3 to explain what happened post Hurt, the second somewhere after B&R 9) OR using the structure of the Missing Chapters to create a 3 page prelude to B&R 1.

Ha ha, that's asking a lot out of DC

[Balakin]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Animal Man or Zenith.



Ha ha, that's asking a lot out of DC

I figured Animal Man belongs to his superhero catalogue but I would certainly recommend reading it. I think Zenith is okay but nothing spectacular but that might just be because I've read it after his more well known works and since it's from the very beginning of his professional carrier it pales in comparison. But it might be a good start to get to know his stuff.

[TomSlick]

I figured Animal Man belongs to his superhero catalogue but I would certainly recommend reading it. I think Zenith is okay but nothing spectacular but that might just be because I've read it after his more well known works and since it's from the very beginning of his professional carrier it pales in comparison. But it might be a good start to get to know his stuff.

Gotcha. Didn’t realize you were focusing on the super hero genre.

I agree about Zenith. It’s an early work so it’s a little amateurish but you can certainly see the seeds of meta and weirdness planted early on.

[ER Prest]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Animal Man or Zenith.



Ha ha, that's asking a lot out of DC

I figured Animal Man belongs to his superhero catalogue but I would certainly recommend reading it. I think Zenith is okay but nothing spectacular but that might just be because I've read it after his more well known works and since it's from the very beginning of his professional carrier it pales in comparison. But it might be a good start to get to know his stuff.

I thought Zenith was very accessible, as was his New X-Men.

Actually, his NXM was some of the earliest X-Men I ever read to be honest.

[Abe]

I remember really enjoying the art, and the story too but I think it may of got a bit confusing at the end or it may just be my age and I lost track and forgotten how it ended

I love this series but I love Morrison in general. It's a weird series tho, it's not one long story but rather seven 4 issue mini series about each character with two bookend issues drawn by J. H. Williams (who is probably the best artist in the industry right now)
The first issue sets up the overall story then all the minis are about the individual characters but each has a tie to the bigger story that's going on in the background. In the last issue you get a resolution but don't expect a big team up in the conventional way, the premise of the series is basically " a superhero team that never was".
But I think that's why it's so good and unlike anything else out there. The two bookend issues are might be a bit confusing at first but everything is there on the page you just have to pay attention (Morrison wrote much more confusing books).
The art is different in every mini but all of them are great on their own right (I'm not the biggest fan of Frazer Irving but he is still a great artist)...except for Mister Miracle. Pasqual Ferry left after the first issue and the guy after him was reeeeallly bad IMO. That mini is probably the weakest point of the series and it's more a prelude to Final Crisis than part of 7SoV.

But overall I think it's a very rich experience, might not be for everyone especially because the pay off is not as straight forward as I think most people would like it but if you are open to Morrison's storytelling it's well worth a shot.

Thanks for the answers. You sold it to me very well : I'm pretty sure that I will love It: it fits my tastes and my interests.

Do you think that it could be released as a tpb later? I'm not sure that it's automatic. I could wait a bit to save a few euros..

[Balakin]

Gotcha. Didn’t realize you were focusing on the super hero genre.

I agree about Zenith. It’s an early work so it’s a little amateurish but you can certainly see the seeds of meta and weirdness planted early on.

I thought Zenith was very accessible, as was his New X-Men.

Actually, his NXM was some of the earliest X-Men I ever read to be honest.

I didn't mention NXM, Animal Man, ASS or JLA because JPAR asked:

Which Morrison titles (exept the superhero stories like Batman or Final crisis) would you recommend? And why?

But I think those are probably the best entries to get to know Morrison. Also maybe listening to some interviews with him or watching his documentary Talking with gods. That helped me a lot.

[Balakin]

Thanks for the answers. You sold it to me very well : I'm pretty sure that I will love It: it fits my tastes and my interests.

Do you think that it could be released as a tpb later? I'm not sure that it's automatic. I could wait a bit to save a few euros..

7SoV was already released in 2 hcs and 4 trades and I think the 4 trades might still be cheap, not sure. I think there is a chance for this to be put out as 2 chunky trades but that's probably 2-3 years from now. And IMO the omnibus will be worth it for the oversized art: J. H. Williams, Yanick PAquet, Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart, Frazer Irving, Doug Mahnke. That's one killer lineup.

[Garuda]

7SoV was already released in 2 hcs and 4 trades and I think the 4 trades might still be cheap, not sure. I think there is a chance for this to be put out as 2 chunky trades but that's probably 2-3 years from now. And IMO the omnibus will be worth it for the oversized art: J. H. Williams, Yanick PAquet, Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart, Frazer Irving, Doug Mahnke. That's one killer lineup.

Actually Seven Soldiers has already been released as two chunky trades (basically PBs of the 2 HCs):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Soldi...dp/1401229514/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Soldi...dp/1401229646/

But yeah I'm sure they'll reissue these a year or two after the omni comes out.

[JPAR]

I didn't mention NXM, Animal Man, ASS or JLA because JPAR asked:


But I think those are probably the best entries to get to know Morrison. Also maybe listening to some interviews with him or watching his documentary Talking with gods. That helped me a lot.

I asked because I don't wanna dive into the DC or Marvel universe. But I'm also interested in reading Morrison, so thanks Balakin. And what about Nameless?