DC Hardcover Collected Editions Part 3

[Vilynne]

Tom King, IMO, is the most overrated writer in comics currently. All his writing is one-note and tries to forcefully talk about some social issue, but it's done without any grace. His Vision run was so flat because the concept of what is human/robot/when do robots have rights schtick has been done a million times by other things. Even Westworld came out around the same time as that doing the exact same thing.

I couldn't even make it through Omega Men it was so boring. his Batman run has had some OK arcs- I Am Bane, War of Jokes and Riddles, but a lot of it has been a miss and his iteration of Batman himself isn't Batman. I have absolutely no interest in his take on mental health issues and gonna avoid Heroes in Crisis.

Exactly. Hes not a terrible writer, but I fail to see past this facade that he's this big shot all star writer. Maybe I'm becoming more jaded in my age of modern comics, but there's extremely little in comics that's for me these days.

[VanWinkle]

Omega Men is a top 10 mini/maxi-series for me. Vision is up there, too, though not quite as high. I've heard nothing but great things about Mister Miracle, and the first deluxe of Batman was fantastic.

HUGE Tom King fan here. Don't think he's a perfect writer, but MAN is he good.

[Judge Dredd]

Tom King, IMO, is the most overrated writer in comics currently. All his writing is one-note and tries to forcefully talk about some social issue, but it's done without any grace. His Vision run was so flat because the concept of what is human/robot/when do robots have rights schtick has been done a million times by other things. Even Westworld came out around the same time as that doing the exact same thing.

I couldn't even make it through Omega Men it was so boring. his Batman run has had some OK arcs- I Am Bane, War of Jokes and Riddles, but a lot of it has been a miss and his iteration of Batman himself isn't Batman. I have absolutely no interest in his take on mental health issues and gonna avoid Heroes in Crisis.

I agree he is the most overrated at the minute, couple good stories, but the rest just seems meh. The whole Bat and Cat thing is just brutal.

[RamblingMan]

I enjoy Tom King. I think he is a decent writer but I wouldn't even say his is the best Batman related series I have read recently. I find Detective Comics to be a bit better. They are both good to me though.
I thought his Vision was really excellent. Omega Men though was a bit boring. I may give it another try. I am looking forward to checking out Mister Miracle at some point.

[ArthurCurry]

I enjoy Tom King. I think he is a decent writer but I wouldn't even say his is the best Batman related series I have read recently. I find Detective Comics to be a bit better. They are both good to me though.
I thought his Vision was really excellent. Omega Men though was a bit boring. I may give it another try. I am looking forward to checking out Mister Miracle at some point.

Mister Miracle might be his best thing, but the more recent issues were a little too cutesy.

Tynion's Detective comics was a much better overall run than King's Batman. Detective, for me, petered out a little when Tim Drake wasn't in it, but got better when he was in it. It's a good example of something that makes sense to read in one go like a collection trades or omnibus, much like Hickman's work does. It had a beginning, middle, and end, and Tynion had a story he wanted to tell and executed it.

[TomSlick]

I agree he is the most overrated at the minute, couple good stories, but the rest just seems meh. The whole Bat and Cat thing is just brutal.

Exactly! (10 char)

[mzqamarul]

I'm gonna put it on the maybe list.

I'm thinking about getting the next omnibii: The flash by Manapul, Grayson, Batman and Robin, Batman by Morrison and Teen Titans by Johns (if I can find one for a normal price). On the maybe list: Infinite crisis, Gotham Sirens, Harley Quinn by Palmiotti, Green Lantern by Johns.

Is this a good list? Some I should ad or delete? Please let me know. I'm a total newbie with DC.

Batman & Robin by Tomasi & Gleason have many tie-ins to the main Batman series at that time by Morrison and Snyder. Tomasi handled it as best as he can and the story and art is great, but a newbie without knowledge of the main series may be lost. The book also does not have any recap page to put the stories in perspective for readers. An issue just drops in the middle of Robin handling a threat from Court of Owls and assumes you know what is happening. There are a lot of instances such as this. I would recommend buying it, but only read it after you have got around to the main Batman series first.

[Dr Hank]

Well I've gotten almost all of Byrne's Man of Steel tpb volumes, except #4 of course, so I expect them to announce an omnibus soon. Looking forward to reading these though, even if they're trades, cause I love Byrne and never read this run.

I read Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow - which was fantastic- before I started on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Plan on working through Byrne's run then reading the Exile omnibus. This should keep me busy for awhile.

Anyone else doing this or have already? Any other cheap/easy options for reading the material from Man of Steel vol.4? I'm not paying $50+ for one tpb. I don't mind skipping it really, I imagine there's synopsis of the issues online somewhere at worst.

[Dick Grayson]

Well I've gotten almost all of Byrne's Man of Steel tpb volumes, except #4 of course, so I expect them to announce an omnibus soon. Looking forward to reading these though, even if they're trades, cause I love Byrne and never read this run.

I read Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow - which was fantastic- before I started on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Plan on working through Byrne's run then reading the Exile omnibus. This should keep me busy for awhile.

Anyone else doing this or have already? Any other cheap/easy options for reading the material from Man of Steel vol.4? I'm not paying $50+ for one tpb. I don't mind skipping it really, I imagine there's synopsis of the issues online somewhere at worst.

I recently finished an on-again-off-again read-through from Man of Steel up through current (mostly using custom binds, some pics sprinkled throughout here: http://comicbindingpro.tumblr.com/search/Superman.) Took about 18 months! If you can’t find volume 4, I’d just buy the floppies, or buy them digitally, as I expect a Byrne Omni or some sort of reprint is not too far off.

[ArthurCurry]

Well I've gotten almost all of Byrne's Man of Steel tpb volumes, except #4 of course, so I expect them to announce an omnibus soon. Looking forward to reading these though, even if they're trades, cause I love Byrne and never read this run.

I read Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow - which was fantastic- before I started on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Plan on working through Byrne's run then reading the Exile omnibus. This should keep me busy for awhile.

Anyone else doing this or have already? Any other cheap/easy options for reading the material from Man of Steel vol.4? I'm not paying $50+ for one tpb. I don't mind skipping it really, I imagine there's synopsis of the issues online somewhere at worst.

I'm reading through these now digitally and man...are they confusing. Stories jump from series to series with no continuity and the covers of the issues are placed in the back of the book rather than before an issue begins. I'm on number 5 and it's just been a mess of a reading. I'll get into an issue Byrne did in Superman and then the next thing is Adventures of Superman completely unrelated.

Maybe my digital files are messed up?

[Vilynne]

Just a reminder I'm going out of town next weekend - last chance to let me know for any OoP trades you need me to keep an eye out for.

[Dr Hank]

I recently finished an on-again-off-again read-through from Man of Steel up through current (mostly using custom binds, some pics sprinkled throughout here: http://comicbindingpro.tumblr.com/search/Superman.) Took about 18 months! If you can’t find volume 4, I’d just buy the floppies, or buy them digitally, as I expect a Byrne Omni or some sort of reprint is not too far off.

Wow impressive collection - Those look great! I dont think I'm quite up to the custom binding stage yet with my modest collection. I think I'll just take your advice and try to read it hat volume digitally, though I've never read anything that way. But I'd rather save the money for when an omni eventually comes out.

I'm reading through these now digitally and man...are they confusing. Stories jump from series to series with no continuity and the covers of the issues are placed in the back of the book rather than before an issue begins. I'm on number 5 and it's just been a mess of a reading. I'll get into an issue Byrne did in Superman and then the next thing is Adventures of Superman completely unrelated.

Maybe my digital files are messed up?

Yes I'm on the first trade now and I see that they don't have the covers before each issue. In this book, they're just little pictures towards the front of the book - starting in vol.2 it looks like they're just in the back. Can't imagine what rationale there is in not including the covers where they're supposed to be!

Sorry to hear it's a slog for you though...I'll probably take a break for something else if I start to get discouraged also. After reading "Crisis" I kind of want to get the Wonder Woman by Perez omnis now too. Somebody stop me!

[pch3727]

Everyone's opinion is valid about King as a writer, but this forum is the only place that I hear almost unanimous dislike for his work. All I hear is praise from everywhere else (local shop, podcasts, other sites). I have noticed that a lot of posters on here like to play contrarian to the popular opinion for current series. I just hope someone does not get turned off from trying some of his work outside of Batman, as he is penning some fantastic stories.

[TomSlick]

Everyone's opinion is valid about King as a writer, but this forum is the only place that I hear almost unanimous dislike for his work. All I hear is praise from everywhere else (local shop, podcasts, other sites). I have noticed that a lot of posters on here like to play contrarian to the popular opinion for current series. I just hope someone does not get turned off from trying some of his work outside of Batman, as he is penning some fantastic stories.

I think the reason for that is this forum is full of sophisticated readers who know what they like and because they shell out big money they don’t want to suffer the foolishness of King. Haha.

On a side/serious note, I don’t think you’ll be hearing much praise about King anywhere after the latest DC marketing debacle and his continuous inability to write a decent Batman story. He’s getting shredded over on the Batman forum - the one place they blindly praise him.

(I did like Sheriff of Babylon for what it’s worth.)

[SJNeal]

Everyone's opinion is valid about King as a writer, but this forum is the only place that I hear almost unanimous dislike for his work. All I hear is praise from everywhere else (local shop, podcasts, other sites). I have noticed that a lot of posters on here like to play contrarian to the popular opinion for current series. I just hope someone does not get turned off from trying some of his work outside of Batman, as he is penning some fantastic stories.

The Vision... Sheriff of Babylon... Grayson... Omega Men... all in the "good" to "great" range. It's really only his Batman that's failed to impress me. And the difference in quality (imho) is jarring.

But you are correct; his praises is nearly unanimous everywhere else. I dared criticize "The War of Jokes & Riddles" at my LCS a few months ago - the pitchforks and torches came out almost immediately! Lol!