Omnishelves Now! (January 15, 2022 update)
It's been a while since I last updated this, in large part because the flow of new volumes ground to a halt through a mix of the pandemic, general supply chain issues, and changes in ordering procedures, especially for Marvel. Recently the blockage started to thaw, and a few volumes are finally on their way to me as of late this week --- hopefully to soon be followed by quite a few others.
Last night I spread the volumes I have out onto more shelves in that book case, in anticipation of the 2022 arrivals.
The top shelf remains (mostly) DC collections - I haven't done much (anything?) with that since last time. I still expect I'll add some other deluxe collected volumes that I already have over there, and if I haven't gotten a shipping update on it I'll be contacting the seller about the third volume of the Absolute Swamp Thing by Alan Moore collection, which is the final one in that series. I really should have gotten that by early November, but I understand the problems everyone's been having, and it's not as if I had a desperate need to have them now. But, I did pay for it back in early October.
The next shelf starts the Marvel Omnibus collection, and I made a small effort to spread them out in anticipation of the volumes I'm either waiting on or will be looking to get once they're resolicited. A first volume for The Amazing Spider-man, collecting the Lee/Ditko issues, is on order, but that isn't yet out. When that arrives I'll move the Masterworks edition out of that space, covering the first 10 issues, which I bought when they first started those volumes back around 1987. I may look to sell those (I have that one, and the pairs collecting the first 20 issues each of Fantastic Four and X-Men, where I either have or will have the material covered in Omnibus editions) on Ebay. I dropped an omnibus of the Kurt Busiek-written Untold Tales of Spider-man in there, which I don't know off the top of my head are currently considered to be canon. Kurt's an old school continuity fan, though, and he tried to spin tales that fit in the spaces between Spidey's early issues, so I wanted to drop them in there. I've left a space for volume 4, and am looking forward to seeing that resolicited; that's the one that includes the deaths of Gwen Stacy and (for a while) that of Norman Osborne/the Green Goblin, along with the first couple appearances of The Punisher, which makes it one of the volumes that rapidly goes up on the secondary market once the print run sells through.
After that we get to The Avengers, where I'm watching for a resolicitation of volume 2, and would be very interested in a volume 5 should they ever put one together.
Next is Captain America, where I'm waiting for a resolicitation of volume 2, with that largely wandering stretch between Steranko's departure and the arrival of Steve Englehart, which is over in volume 3, which I already have. There's some nice, even arguably key, material in there, including the debut of Sam Wilson, the Falcon, and some interesting turns of artwork, including some stretches by Gene Colan. However, in terms of narrative... it was, as I said above, wandering. Waiting, even if they didn't know it, for Englehart to come along, pull it together and elevate it.
Then there's Daredevil vol 1 - and I'd be open to volume 2 if they ever offered one. It's largely wacky, improbable, often oddly soap operatic material, but I have an old fan's affection for it, especially the long run of Gene Colan issues. Next is The Defenders' first volume, where, again, I'm watching for them to finally get around to offering a second volume, which would be where another dazzling Steve of the '70s stepped in, in this case being Steve Gerber. I want that in some ways more than I did the first volume. So far, though, they haven't offered one. That shelf finishes out with that rather thin first volume for Doctor Strange, collecting the often oddly trippy Lee/Ditko material. I have volume 2 ordered, and that's set to be released sometime in the next couple months, IIRC. I'd also be very interested in a volume 3 if they ever get that together.
The next shelf starts with the Fantastic Four volumes - I'd be interested in a volume 5 if they ever put one out. I dropped the non-canonical Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comic Magazine trade in after volume 4, because that was published as a 12-issue hommage to the Lee/Kirby FF, playing with the idea that we got one more year of that collaboration. It's flawed from the concept out - mostly inasmuch that the Lee/Kirby team had largely gone sour well before 1970. I wouldn't really want more of that, what I'd want is more Lee/Kirby FF representing what they were putting out around 1967! Still, on all fronts that would have been difficult to impossible, between trying to figure out where to shoehorn the tales in, and trying to find the authentic talent capable of punching that high and hard. Anyway, the FF material currently stops with that coverless first volume of the John Byrne FF material. I passed earlier on getting the second volume of that, and I remain on the fence about that decision.
Next is the first collection of Guardians of the Galaxy material -- the original team launched in '68 - which includes a fair chunk of what I'd hypothetically have in that second volume of Defenders, but I wouldn't mind. The idea in each case is to be able to read straight through a series and a story arc, and with crossovers this sort of thing happens. The Guardians by Bendis volume that's next in line was bought in a moment of weakness, because it popped up at my local Ollie's. I still haven't gotten around to reading that. Really, if I wanted to read 21st century Guardians material I'd start with the Abnett & Lanning volume -- they were the ones who really opened that space-faring toybox at Marvel in the 21st century, and were free to do terrific things with it because then-Marvel top guy was Joe Quesada, and he was utterly uninterested in cosmic heroes. It was only after A&L recombined characters and created a lot of fan excitement that Joe and other "top" people started to pay attention, leading to things like Bendis getting a crack at them.
Anyway, after that I've left space for the volume 1 of the original Incredible Hulk material, which is already ordered - and I would pretty happily order volumes 2 and 3 if they get around to those. Then I've left space for the first of the Incredible Hulk by Peter David volumes, which should be coming my way within the next couple months. There is a fourth volume of that, but it spirals down into the Onslaught/Heroes Reborn era, which even decades later gets so tragic (in terms of plummeting quality) that I couldn't bring myself to order it. I can hit what I want from that in electronic format if it comes to it. Space after that is left for the one-and-done volume of The Invaders - another one that's set to arrive in the next couple months. Then there's that first volume of Moon Knight, with the second volume also already ordered and paid for. Between the two of those I'll have, collected, the singular, truly wonderful style development arc that the superb Bill Sienkiewicz underwent on that character, working with writer Doug Moench. Then, by a wonderful fluke of alphabetization and history, we have that wonderfully thick first volume of The New Mutants, which includes Sienkiewicz' next big Marvel assignment, where his style continued to evolve to the delight of some and the chagrin of others. I enjoyed it, but I've known more than a few fans who didn't appreciate the increasingly abstract style on established characters. As I've been on that side of the fence in other instances, I can't un-hypocritically condemn them for it. In the case of the cast of the New Mutants, though, I was very open to it. I have no interest in the second (post-Sienkiewicz) volume of New Mutants, though; should I ever want to revisit any of that, again, it would be very comfortably in digital.
The third and (currently) last shelf of Marvel volumes starts with the first three volumes of Shang-Chi Master of Kung-Fu, which was built on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories and characters, and has nothing really to do with the 21st century and movie character running around with that name. There is a fourth volume, which wraps the series, and I missed ordering that. The existing volumes have been inflated on the secondary market - nothing I could justify reaching for - and as those required a special licensing renewal with the Rohmer estate, and Marvel has less reason to keep that older, culturally - problematic version of the character in print - I'm not sure if they'll ever reissue it. No tragedy -- again, I can always resort to digital when I get to that point in the rereading. I momentarily left a little space for it, just in case, but it'll likely be taken up by other material being added to that shelf.
Next is the lone volume of Silver Surfer material - the 18-issue run begun in 1968. Then we hit The Mighty Thor, where I have the first volume on order, and am waiting for volume two to resolicit. I don't know that I'd be looking to get a volume 4 if they offered one; that would be more of a whim purchase. The Mighty Thor by Simonson volume was a much-clearer must-have, as the title was on the brink of cancellation until they let Walt go to town on it, reinvigorating it with a vast, epic visual sweep and a fresh writing style. Even just visually it was a huge splash, and with so few people buying the title immediately pre-Walt it was all about catching new eyes, which it did.
Next up is the first volume of the original run of What If?, which was one of those casual, special deal purchases. So far I haven't made a move for volume 2. Then there's the two volumes of Wolverine, where I partially surprised myself by buying them, but the price was right, and that's how my mood swung at the moment. If nothing else, there's some nice artwork in there, and the bulk of it is material that'll largely be fresh to me.
That's followed by a couple fill-in X-Men Masterworks volumes from '87 which'll soon be displaced by the X-Men Omnibus volume 1, arrival imminent, and will be followed by vol 2, which will finish the stories for the original team. For the "All-New", international team I already have vols, 1, 2, and 4, with 3 also an imminent arrival. Honestly, 4 was a mistake purchase - I really didn't need it in this format - but I have it and will aim to give it my best shot to appreciate it when I eventually get around to revisiting it. There at the end is the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse volume that good buddy Eric Grier gifted me a few years back, as it's one of his big favorites as someone who came into the X-Men during that era.
That story arc, and the characters featured in it, loom large for Eric -- and a substantial subset of X-Men fans -- and I appreciate having it in that concentrated form, even if much of the artwork and storytelling from that era can be a little bit of a chore for me to move through. We're each fans who had their general tastes calibrated with respect to specific characters, largely by their points of introduction to them, or whenever it was that they first caught their attention.
Also, how fresh a story idea seems is going to be strongly based on what one has and hasn't read. By the '90s the X-titles were not merely going back to the same wells they started drawing on in the early '80s, but they were doing it with huge pump trucks. The theme of a dystopic timeline was now being done as Extreme. Elements that had been intriguing to me a decade earlier were now being doubled and trebled down on, in an increasingly hyperbolic style. I think it was akin to having some once somewhat novel, interesting acoustic music now being covered by a metal band whose amps started at 11, and who really loved hitting those power chords. For me, it was too much of the same, delivered too intensely and aggressively. From another perspective, I had become the Old Guy, and this party was too loud for me. That's fine. The wheel turns, and keeps on turning.
Most likely after the move later this year (destination still unknown) I'll go through the many books I have packed away, and other, non-Omnibus collected editions will find their appropriate places in the mix. I know I have Avengers Forever in a single volume, and I believe I have the first two hardcover collections of the Heroes Return, Busiek/Perez run of Avengers, which will also be nice to revisit.
Anyway, I still have to do a complete review of my outstanding orders - I think I covered them all above, but I may have forgotten something.
I know I'm puzzled by the lack of old school Iron Man in the Omnibus series -- it's been years since they issued any, and I'm not sure if they ever went beyond one volume for the original run of material, not even making it out of the '60s in a string. I want a re-issue of that volume, and then a few more volumes to get us through the last of the Tales of Suspense material, into the 1968 series, and up through #114. It seems as if they just skipped from the first two thirds of the ToS run, to the Michelinie/Layton material from 115-157 -- which we also need a reissue of.
Puzzling publishing, putzes!
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