DC Hardcover Collected Editions Part 3

[TomSlick]

This Absolute talk got me thinking about the various titles spread across what's become a pretty diverse line. I thought it'd be interesting to separate and aggregate the line by creator to see which creators have the most Absolutes which may be instructive in speculating about future releases. I'll only list the creators with more than one Absolute to their name. Additionally, I'm not going to include the artist unless he is the primary artist on the book (books with multiple artists such as Sandman, B&R, etc. would overly complicate things).

9 - Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen, LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier, Promethea 1-3, Top Ten)
6 - Neil Gaiman (Sandman 1-5, Death)
6 - Jeph Loeb (Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, Hush, Superman/Batman 1-2)
4 - Grant Morrison (Batman & Robin, Batman Inc., Final Crisis, All-Star Superman)
3 - Warren Ellis (Authority 1, Planetary 1 & 2)
3 - Geoff Johns (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, Blackest Night)
3 - Jim Lee (Hush, For Tomorrow, All-Star Batman)
3 - Frank Miller (DKR, Ronin, All-Star Batman)
3 - Kevin O'Neil (LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier)
3 - Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Justice, World's Greatest Superheroes)
3 - Tim Sale (Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight)
3 - JH Williams III (Promethea 1-3)
2 - Brian Azzarello (For Tomorrow, Luthor/Joker)
2 - John Cassaday (Planetary 1-2)
2 - George Perez (Crisis on Infinite Earths, JLA / Avengers)
2 - Frank Quitely (Authority 2, All-Star Superman)

So, though Absolutes are often categorized as "art books," or books aimed primarily at the display of great art, this list seems to indicate that it's the writer, not necessarily the artist, who has the greatest impact on Absolute selection. Granted, this isn't a perfect analysis as each of these writers tend to work with extraordinary artists. Interesting to note that while Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison seem to be kings of the DC omnibus, Alan Moore is the undisputed king of the Absolute. Could this mean Absolute Swamp Thing and Absolute Tom Strong are in our future?

I think it's also interesting to break the books up by primary characters. Again, only characters with more than one Absolute to their name are listed. Here's how that looks:

11 - Batman (DKR, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, Hush, Batman & Robin, Batman, Inc., Superman / Batman 1-2, Luthor / Joker, All-Star Batman)
8 - JLA (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Final Crisis, Justice, JLA / Avengers, Kingdom Come, World's Best Superheroes, New Frontier)
7 - America's Best Comics (LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier, Promethea 1-3, Top Ten)
6 - Sandman (Sandman 1-5, Death)
5 - Superman (For Tomorrow, All-Star Superman, Luthor / Joker, Superman / Batman 1-2)
4 - Wildstorm (Authority 1-2, Planetary 1-2)
4 - Green Lantern (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, Blackest Night, Green Lantern / Green Arrow Collection ["proto-Absolute"])

No Flash, no Wonder Woman. Only Vertigo books are the Sandman related ones (I'm not really counting V for Vendetta or the re-branding of ABC books as Vertigo post-dissolution of Wildstorm).

This is awesome. I've put something similar together, but it's always been in my head. I never committed it to paper.
Three observations: If it's Jim Lee, I think it's going to Absolute. (Note the upcoming Batman/Robin.) Also, I've long said that they'll collect all Alan Moore. After Prometheus, I expected Top 10 and was right. Now, I'm predicting we'll get Tom Strong Vol. 1 at least by the middle of next year (or an announcement of it). Third, I think the whole reason we haven't gotten a Batman omnibus is because DC can milk more money through Absolutes.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Wednesday Comics pics - Part 3

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[The_Dark_Knight]

I want that Wednesday Comics book and the price is incredibly reasonable, but what's held me back is not knowing where I'd store the thing. It's hard enough spacing out the shelves to include Absolutes, Library Editions, and Image "absolutes." This thing looks like it'd have to be added to the top of the book case itself where the only height restriction is the ceiling.

[dern]

I want that Wednesday Comics book and the price is incredibly reasonable, but what's held me back is not knowing where I'd store the thing. It's hard enough spacing out the shelves to include Absolutes, Library Editions, and Image "absolutes." This thing looks like it'd have to be added to the top of the book case itself where the only height restriction is the ceiling.

Top of the bookcase using a display stand or on the coffee table so your friends can admire it.

[GenericUserName12]

Top of the bookcase using a display stand or on the coffee table so your friends can admire it.

It's amazing how placing a comic on a coffee table will get people to flip through it. I have put a couple hardcovers under my coffee table and every person who comes over inevitably grabs a book and absently flips through it as they sit on the couch. A few will even ask about details on the book or comics in general. This is a sure fire way to have a conversation about comics.

98% of my friends do not read comics at all.

[The_Dark_Knight]

It's amazing how placing a comic on a coffee table will get people to flip through it. I have put a couple hardcovers under my coffee table and every person who comes over inevitably grabs a book and absently flips through it as they sit on the couch. A few will even ask about details on the book or comics in general. This is a sure fire way to have a conversation about comics.

98% of my friends do not read comics at all.

Ah, but then I risk incurring the wrath of the wife who, having already generously donated a room dedicated to my expensive and space-consuming hobby, would likely vehemently object to the encroachment of comicy goodness into our living room / entertaining area.

[slop101]

Wednesday Comics pics - Part 2

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The thing I do not like about the Wednesday Comics trade is how the art goes all the way to the sides of the pages, with only about a quarter of an inch of white border on the margins if there's no bleed (which is fine). BUT, the top of the pages have an inch and a half of blank space, and the bottom of the pages have two inches of blank space. That's 3 and a half inches of wasted space that they could've trimmed off the tallness of the book. OR, they could've have made it a little wider and had the art even bigger, going all the way to the top and bottom of the page like it does on the sides. As it is, it looks cheap and half-assed.

[Cloysterpete]

The thing I do not like about the Wednesday Comics trade is how the art goes all the way to the sides of the pages, with only about a quarter of an inch of white border on the margins if there's no bleed (which is fine). BUT, the top of the pages have an inch and a half of blank space, and the bottom of the pages have two inches of blank space. That's 3 and a half inches of wasted space that they could've trimmed off the tallness of the book. OR, they could've have made it a little wider and had the art even bigger, going all the way to the top and bottom of the page like it does on the sides. As it is, it looks cheap and half-assed.

That's called extreme nitpicking, it's exactly the same in a lot of super oversized books such as the Marvel Adamantium edition. I don't see how it makes it look cheap and half-assed.

[drd]

And that proves my point, Dc doesn't care about Wonder woman. She is supposed to be one of the 3 most important characters but she hasn't even got an absolute or an omnibus yet. And it's not because she doesn't have proper material to be used, they just seem to not care about it. Same for Aquaman btw

I'm going to be pretty forward about knowing very little about Wonder Womans publishing history but what exactly would get the Absolute treatment from Wonder Woman?

I know Azzarello's new 52 stuff is very well received (but still has a lot of haters) and I fully expect that to get omnibus'd in time but what is Wonder womans equivalent of something like DKR or Long Halloween that would be perfect for the Absolute treatment? I never hear from anyone about "Must read" Wonder woman stories. All of the major writers I can think of that have had a stint on Wonder Woman (Perez, Rucka, Simone) tend divide opinion pretty heavily from what I've seen.

[victorxd1999]

I'm going to be pretty forward about knowing very little about Wonder Womans publishing history but what exactly would get the Absolute treatment from Wonder Woman?

I know Azzarello's new 52 stuff is very well received (but still has a lot of haters) and I fully expect that to get omnibus'd in time but what is Wonder womans equivalent of something like DKR or Long Halloween that would be perfect for the Absolute treatment? I never hear from anyone about "Must read" Wonder woman stories. All of the major writers I can think of that have had a stint on Wonder Woman (Perez, Rucka, Simone) tend divide opinion pretty heavily from what I've seen.

I'm mostly talking Omnibus, you can do Golden age, Perez, Simone, Rucka, Jimenez etc. So much possibilities. The Rucka and Perez and Simone's run are mostly critical acclaimed so I think they could sell. Azzarello's run would also be awesome

[Mixmaster]

I'm mostly talking Omnibus, you can do Golden age, Perez, Simone, Rucka, Jimenez etc. So much possibilities. The Rucka and Perez and Simone's run are mostly critical acclaimed so I think they could sell. Azzarello's run would also be awesome

Yeah, those are all great runs, BUT, there are no Dark Knight-equivalent stories in any run of Wonder Woman. I am a WW reader and fan. I loved the Byrne run better than any other Waw saga, but I still don't think it is Absolute- or omnibus-worthy. And, obviously, neither does DC.
That would be like saying "Why hasn't the Atom gotten an Absolute or an omnibus yet? DC just doesn't care about him, either."
I don't think there's a character in their universe that they don't care about, or who they wouldn't love to put into the omnibus or Absolute format, but the high-quality, stand-alone stories just haven't happened yet for WW -- and a lot of other DC characters.
A better question would be: Why hasn't Alan Moore's Swamp Thing been collected in those formats?

[victorxd1999]

Yeah, those are all great runs, BUT, there are no Dark Knight-equivalent stories in any run of Wonder Woman. I am a WW reader and fan. I loved the Byrne run better than any other Waw saga, but I still don't think it is Absolute- or omnibus-worthy. And, obviously, neither does DC.
That would be like saying "Why hasn't the Atom gotten an Absolute or an omnibus yet? DC just doesn't care about him, either."
I don't think there's a character in their universe that they don't care about, or who they wouldn't love to put into the omnibus or Absolute format, but the high-quality, stand-alone stories just haven't happened yet for WW -- and a lot of other DC characters.
A better question would be: Why hasn't Alan Moore's Swamp Thing been collected in those formats?

I honestly would easily put any of afore mentioned runs for Johns' Hawkman or Johns' Flash (as much as I love that). I would okay with it if Dc wasn't always saying how important she is with their Trinity crap. If you do at atleast show that she is so important. Green lantern seems to be far more popular and if it weren't for the fact that Wonder woman is a pop culture icon it would be Batman/Superman/Green lantern.

[slop101]

That's called extreme nitpicking, it's exactly the same in a lot of super oversized books such as the Marvel Adamantium edition. I don't see how it makes it look cheap and half-assed.

Never seen the adamantium books, so that's good to know. But it's not nearly as bad in Absolutes and omnibus books.

I know exactly why they did it too, and it is cheap. They didn't think of the dimensions before they went to printing. The original weekly run of Wednesday comics were even bigger, printed on folded up newspaper. In the hardcover, they actually made the pages smaller, but they were stuck with those page dimensions for the book, which are the wrong proportions to the art because that's just one of the standard sizes they had to choose from for the book. Going to a custom size as the book required would've cost them too much, hence, they were quite literally being cheap. Those big margins at the top and bottom just make it look like someone just randomly xeroxed the art onto the only paper they had on hand. It doesn't look deliberate. And if it were either shorter, or wider to properly accommodate the the art's dimensions, it would be a less awkward book as well. As it is, it's just too tall, and not wide enough.

[The_Dark_Knight]

Going to double down on this, Absolute Planetary is streets ahead of the Omnibus. The Planetary Batman issue is one of my favourite issues and it really blows that its not in the Absolute Editions but they are still better than the Omnibus in every way. And it's not like the Omnibus is bad, because its not.

Well, you guys renewed my interest in hunting down those OOP Absolute Planetary books. A pox on you! But, I did end up finding a dude selling both books in Like New condition - $50 for vol 1 and $30 for vol 2. Couldn't pass that up considering Like New copies of vol 1 alone are going for $90 on Amazon. We'll see if his description is accurate when the books arrive. Now I've got a Planetary omni to sell ....

[momaw]

Well, you guys renewed my interest in hunting down those OOP Absolute Planetary books. A pox on you! But, I did end up finding a dude selling both books in Like New condition - $50 for vol 1 and $30 for vol 2. Couldn't pass that up considering Like New copies of vol 1 alone are going for $90 on Amazon. We'll see if his description is accurate when the books arrive. Now I've got a Planetary omni to sell ....

I'm waiting on selling my omni. If it goes oop the return will be much better. If not, then I've only lost some time.