DC Hardcover Collected Editions Part 3

[OldManBrian]

Anyone have recommendations for DC Absolutes? I've been looking to try this format but can't decide on which title to get.

Some I'm considering:

All-Star Superman (upgrade over TPB)
Batman Hush (only own digitally)
Absolute Authority v1 (haven't read this yet but it's been on my list)
Justice League: The World's Greatest Superheroes (no idea what this is but it's cheap and oversized Alex Ross art is appealing)
Absolute Sandman v1 (upgrade over TPB)

...but I'm not aware of all Absolutes, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, are there any titles I should stay away from? I've read that not all art benefits from this format.

I'm not an expert on Absolutes because I'm generally cheap, but since you mentioned Alex Ross there is a Kingdom Come reprint coming soon.

[sakasko]

Anyone have recommendations for DC Absolutes? I've been looking to try this format but can't decide on which title to get.

Some I'm considering:

All-Star Superman (upgrade over TPB)
Batman Hush (only own digitally)
Absolute Authority v1 (haven't read this yet but it's been on my list)
Justice League: The World's Greatest Superheroes (no idea what this is but it's cheap and oversized Alex Ross art is appealing)
Absolute Sandman v1 (upgrade over TPB)

...but I'm not aware of all Absolutes, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, are there any titles I should stay away from? I've read that not all art benefits from this format.

I have all the absolutes except a few stories I really don't care for, and I'd say The Long Halloween is my #1 recommendation. It's well-produced and the heavy paper really improves the experience.

World's Greatest Superheroes is definitely a great first foray as well. You might keep it as a fun book to flip through even if you don't like the unwieldy format.

The Sandmans are great, but I'd say try reading a one-off absolute before buying a Volume 1.

The only ones I had problems with were early poorly-bound printings of titles like Hush and V For Vendetta. Unless you try to get old used copies, you shouldn't have a problem since there are newer printings.

Some of my other favorite absolutes include Planetary, Top Ten, Identity Crisis, and Wonder Woman.

[Orion]

Anyone have recommendations for DC Absolutes? I've been looking to try this format but can't decide on which title to get.

Some I'm considering:

All-Star Superman (upgrade over TPB)
Batman Hush (only own digitally)
Absolute Authority v1 (haven't read this yet but it's been on my list)
Justice League: The World's Greatest Superheroes (no idea what this is but it's cheap and oversized Alex Ross art is appealing)
Absolute Sandman v1 (upgrade over TPB)

...but I'm not aware of all Absolutes, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, are there any titles I should stay away from? I've read that not all art benefits from this format.

Crisis on Infinite Earths and Final Crisis are both great in absolute format.

[copywrite]

Anyone have recommendations for DC Absolutes? I've been looking to try this format but can't decide on which title to get.

Some I'm considering:

All-Star Superman (upgrade over TPB)
Batman Hush (only own digitally)
Absolute Authority v1 (haven't read this yet but it's been on my list)
Justice League: The World's Greatest Superheroes (no idea what this is but it's cheap and oversized Alex Ross art is appealing)
Absolute Sandman v1 (upgrade over TPB)

...but I'm not aware of all Absolutes, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, are there any titles I should stay away from? I've read that not all art benefits from this format.

All-Star Superman
Wonder Woman
Preacher
Sandman
Any of the Alex Ross ones

[borntohula]

Anyone have recommendations for DC Absolutes? I've been looking to try this format but can't decide on which title to get.

Some I'm considering:

All-Star Superman (upgrade over TPB)
Batman Hush (only own digitally)
Absolute Authority v1 (haven't read this yet but it's been on my list)
Justice League: The World's Greatest Superheroes (no idea what this is but it's cheap and oversized Alex Ross art is appealing)
Absolute Sandman v1 (upgrade over TPB)

...but I'm not aware of all Absolutes, so any suggestions would be welcome! Also, are there any titles I should stay away from? I've read that not all art benefits from this format.

Allstar Superman! I also recommend Azzarello and Chiang's Wonder Woman. Incredible books perfect for the format.

[Dick Grayson]

Crisis on Infinite Earths and Final Crisis are both great in absolute format.

Other than the glue in Final Crisis being so poor that it falls apart after one read...

[soundsci]

Thanks for all the Absolute recs! Bummed to hear about Hush having poor binding but hopefully the newer printings are better. I may just start with World’s Greatet Superheroes to see how I like the format (I do worry it could be unwieldy) since it’s the cheapest I can find online and anything with Alex Ross on art makes a good art book alone.

If I like it, it sounds like Wonder Woman may be worth the upgrade from my TPBs, and I’d love to get the Long Halloween based on the glowing recommendation but I’ll be picking up the Loeb/Sale Batman omnibus so idk if I want to double dip. All-star Superman is an all-time fav of mine so I’d love to upgrade that as well. As for upcoming Absolutes, Kingdom Come and Flashpoint both interest me. I just wish KC were cheaper given the length of the story.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Thanks for all the Absolute recs! Bummed to hear about Hush having poor binding but hopefully the newer printings are better. I may just start with World’s Greatet Superheroes to see how I like the format (I do worry it could be unwieldy) since it’s the cheapest I can find online and anything with Alex Ross on art makes a good art book alone.

If I like it, it sounds like Wonder Woman may be worth the upgrade from my TPBs, and I’d love to get the Long Halloween based on the glowing recommendation but I’ll be picking up the Loeb/Sale Batman omnibus so idk if I want to double dip. All-star Superman is an all-time fav of mine so I’d love to upgrade that as well. As for upcoming Absolutes, Kingdom Come and Flashpoint both interest me. I just wish KC were cheaper given the length of the story.

Absolute DC New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke. One of my absolute favourites. Beautiful art, great story.

I also recommend Long Halloween and All Star Superman.

[borntohula]

If I like it, it sounds like Wonder Woman may be worth the upgrade from my TPBs

Aye, it is.

DC has also fixed a little continuity error (years since Cass last met Lennox) in the absolute editions. Worth the price alone

[Orion]

Other than the glue in Final Crisis being so poor that it falls apart after one read...

Mine has no glue problems. Perhaps that only afflicted the original run of books.

[Dick Grayson]

Mine has no glue problems. Perhaps that only afflicted the original run of books.

Has there been more than one printing? I've read so many reports (some on this thread, around page 390) and had it happen firsthand (and I'm not rough on my books, it's literally the only book I've ever owned to do this) that I assumed it affected most, if not every copy. Given that it is OOP and expensive, it's not a gamble I'd be willing to take!

[soundsci]

Thanks for all the Absolute recs! Bummed to hear about Hush having poor binding but hopefully the newer printings are better. I may just start with World’s Greatet Superheroes to see how I like the format (I do worry it could be unwieldy) since it’s the cheapest I can find online and anything with Alex Ross on art makes a good art book alone.

If I like it, it sounds like Wonder Woman may be worth the upgrade from my TPBs, and I’d love to get the Long Halloween based on the glowing recommendation but I’ll be picking up the Loeb/Sale Batman omnibus so idk if I want to double dip. All-star Superman is an all-time fav of mine so I’d love to upgrade that as well. As for upcoming Absolutes, Kingdom Come and Flashpoint both interest me. I just wish KC were cheaper given the length of the story.

Got World's Greatest Superheroes in the mail today and haven't read it yet, but my is the presentation beautiful! I love the extended Justice League family wraparound on the slipcase. My first reaction was "Wow, there's a comic in there?!?" when I saw the size, but I didn't find it too unwieldy or difficult to handle while reading at all, which was my main concern. I think I'm officially onboard the Absolute train

[TomSlick]

Got World's Greatest Superheroes in the mail today and haven't read it yet, but my is the presentation beautiful! I love the extended Justice League family wraparound on the slipcase. My first reaction was "Wow, there's a comic in there?!?" when I saw the size, but I didn't find it too unwieldy or difficult to handle while reading at all, which was my main concern. I think I'm officially onboard the Absolute train

This is an absolutely gorgeous book and I'm a fan of Ross's art but, quite frankly, the writing is average to below average. Check out Kingdom Come for some great Ross art and an amazing story!

[OldManBrian]

Got World's Greatest Superheroes in the mail today and haven't read it yet, but my is the presentation beautiful! I love the extended Justice League family wraparound on the slipcase. My first reaction was "Wow, there's a comic in there?!?" when I saw the size, but I didn't find it too unwieldy or difficult to handle while reading at all, which was my main concern. I think I'm officially onboard the Absolute train

Oh you've jumped into that Absolute rabbit hole now!

[comicfiend]

Not OP, but I have most of the Rebirth deluxes (minus HQ and JLA) and would rank them as follows:

Tier 1 (Highly recommend)
Wonder Woman
Action Comics

Tier 2 (Good, not great)
Batman
Superman
Detective Comics

Tier 3 (Some highs, some lows, mostly meh)
Nightwing
Flash

Tier 4 (stay far away)
Suicide Squad
Justice League

Of what I’ve read, I’d rate as:

Tier 1: Batman, Superman, Super Sons
Tier 2: Flash, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman (Rucka)
Tier 3: Wonder Woman (post Rucka), Trinity
Tier 4: Suicide Squad