The Omnibuild Continues
While I continue to watch for more solicitations, I recently reviewed my standing orders to pin down (roughly) when I can expect to see the seven volumes which I paid for in 2021, which should finally be coming my way this year.
These are all the current release dates, so if I receive the books within three weeks of each of these dates I'll consider it a solid victory.
Lifting text from other spots has once again left me with odd font and formatting problems, and the extremely limited editor here on Blogger isn't giving me an easy route to correcting them. Given that maybe one or two other people are likely to ever see any of this - it's mainly for my own organizing - I'm not going to waste additional effort on aesthetics.
Set to release March 1st is Incredible Hulk Omnibus Vol 1. Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #1-6,
the Hulk stories from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #59-101, and INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #102, the first issue of the renamed series. It's an interesting mix of stories, as they tried to figure out their footings with the character. The first six issues of his ultimately failed debut series, in particular, were often a case of wildly throwing things at the wall to see what would stick.
A mild slip, I accidentally ordered the version with the Kirby cover. A minor thing, and too late to do anything about, my usual approach would have been to order the Alex Ross version, so I would have that new element, as the Kirby cover is essentially the cover of Incredible Hulk #1, which I'll also have inside the volume.
I continue to hope that Marvel will eventually solicit omnibus volumes 2, 3, and 4., as I would be happy to have the issues up 'til roughly issue #200 in this format. Not a must-have, but a want. As these volumes - aside from the letters pages - tend to be material already prepped for the Masterworks editions (which tend to just present 10 issues per volume, accompanied by foreword text), it mostly seems to be just a matter of the will to do it.
Shipped that week, received the next.
March 8th, two of my pre-orders are set to release.
Collecting MOON KNIGHT (1980) #21-38, IRON MAN (1968) #161, POWER MAN AND IRON FIST (1978) #87, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #144, MOON KNIGHT (1985) #1-6 and MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #30 - plus material from SOLO AVENGERS #3, MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #38-39 and MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #1.
This includes the wrap of the Doug Moench/Bill Sienkiewicz collaboration on the character, which was a transformative stretch for both the character and Sienkiewicz's style.
It then goes a bit beyond that, into a brief-running second solo series, along with a mix of guest-appearances.
Particularly with respect to the 1980 series run by Moench and Sienkiewicz - as with the first 20 issues back in Vol. 1, I'm looking forward to spending leisurely sessions soaking them in both as revisited material and, as best I can muster, with my decades more experienced, if less sharp, eyes. When I begin the process with volume 1 it's going to be a case of my OCD-ish approach to taking it all in chronologically that's going to try to force me through the (Mostly? All?) Don Perlin work on the character before he got his own series.
Here I went with the Alex Ross cover, again for variety's sake.
This week's titles ended up split up and reassigned to other dates. This one has been pushed back to May 10th.
Also out that week is the reissue of the X-Men Omnibus vol 2.
Collecting X-MEN (1963) #32-66, AVENGERS (1963) #53, KA-ZAR (1970) #2-3, MARVEL TALES (1964) #30 and material from NOT BRAND ECHH #4 and #8. In general it's a pretty straight shot, though I forget where the Ka-Zar and Marvel Tales elements plug in. The Not Brand Echh material's, of course, all just parody work from that period. Still, fun to have, as it deconstructs some of the formula. The work in the main series, though, hits some interesting periods in this second volume, including the likes of a touch of Steranko, some early Barry Windsor Smith, and of course the wonder Neal Adams run -- which all these years later still throws me that it didn't manage to bring in a horde of new readers.
This wraps the original team's material up 'til the series becoming a reprint-only affair for several years, before the launch of the "All-New" international team, which is covered over in the Uncanny X-Men omnibus volumes, the first four of which I have. With this wrap of the original team's material, that should mark the end of X-Men comics I'd bother to have in this format. Pretty much most of what lies outside of that range is material I'm fine with accessing via e-readers.
In another of those wha' hoppen? moves I ended up ordering the Tuska cover version... though as I look at the John Cassaday version, which is mostly an attempt to recreate the Tuska original, I'm not feeling as if I'm missing much of anything.
Anyway, I'm currently expecting those two to be sent together.
Plan on or otherwise anticipate something aloud, and the universe will laugh. This pair has been split in time and rescheduled. This X-Men volume is set to be received by the seller on or around March 29th instead.
...and update as of late night on the 29th, it was beginning the shipping process.
One week later, on March 15th, there's a non-Marvel item that's in roughly the same category as these omnibus editions.
It collects Swamp Thing #51–64 and DC Comics Presents #85.
Swamp Thing returns from Hell only to learn that Abby has fled to Gotham City, he follows and runs afoul of Batman, Lex Luthor (arguably the final appearance of the pre-Crisis Lex, before John Byrne's businessman model became canon), and the Gotham City Police Department. Then, Swamp Thing travels across the galaxy after his consciousness has been hurled from Earth. Trying to find his way back, he stops over on Thanagar, home of Hawkman; Rann, home of Adam Strange; and encounters the Green Lantern of a world of sentient plants.
So, so much in those three volumes I'm looking forward to revisiting after all this time, especially in that large format.
Shipped essentially on schedule, and is beside its brothers on the shelf, that project complete.
Off on March 22nd, a new release of Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus vol. 1 is scheduled.
I already have vols 2 and 3, and initially passed on vol.4 on the basis that that also includes the slide into the Onslaught and Heroes Reborn debacle, but I'm wobbling on the basis of a sense of completeness. We'll see.
Collecting INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #328 and #331-368, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #44, FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #320 and material from MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (1988) #26 and #45, shuffled into story order.
This represents the early edge of Peter David's moves to re-establish the character, being given freedoms much as Walt Simonson had with Thor, and Frank Miller with Daredevil, as The Incredible Hulk had also become enough of an iffy seller as to potentially be on the chopping block. Peter and various artists, leading with Todd McFarlane, managed to revivify and redefine the character - including establishing the Hulk (and variants) as protective, alternate personalities. The work slowly rejuvenated the title's sales as word of mouth spread.
Shipped on the appropriate week, set to arrive by March 31st, so will likely arrive two or three days earlier.
Off on May 3rd, Invaders Omnibus is to be released.
This done-in-one volume collects GIANT-SIZE INVADERS #1-2, INVADERS (1975) #1-41 and ANNUAL #1, MARVEL PREMIERE #29-30, AVENGERS (1963) #71, INVADERS (1993) #1-4, WHAT IF? (1977) #4, FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #11, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #1, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #20 and material from CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #22, once more laid out in reading/story order.
This was one of Roy Thomas' pet projects during his years at Marvel, as he gradually, retroactively formed a World War II team of Marvel heroes that really should have existed in the Golden Age. It took years to get to a stage where it really came together, formally as a team, and requires some selective editing, still leaving some head-scratching as to failed character memories along the way, but it's worth the fan effort.
Much of the titular series itself was graphically interpreted by Frank Robbins' pencils, which have a quality that fits the retro feel of a Golden Age series.
While it's the intent with all of these omnibus collections, and my plans to revisit them in these concentrated forms, I'm looking forward to trying to see these with fresh eyes.
I opted to go with the Frank Robbins cover because both that and the Kirby cover were mostly reprints of issue covers from the series. The Robbins one, which was used on the first issue, features the full, core team, with the for-our-times edit of the obliteration of a swastika from the original artwork on the stylized map of Europe. Presumably this was done largely to avoid problems with international sales, as in Germany, at least, the swastika is not permitted to be displayed.
As of March 26th this is still the set release date.
This is a compilation of the Lee/Ditko era Spidey stories, and one of those instances where I'd already done something of a turnaround on many, many years ago. See, by the time I was first starting to get into comics the visual template for Spider-man, Peter Parker, etc., was the version that had been established primarily by John Romita. That was essentially the house style Spidey. When I was first introduced to Steve Ditko's versions - the original versions of those characters - it was all as back-issues, and I remember treating them like aberrations, or missteps they'd grown past.
In later years I came to see that there was much that was superior in those first few years of the series.
I'm interested in going back in for a fresh reread.
Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #1-38, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #1-2, STRANGE TALES ANNUAL #2 and material from AMAZING FANTASY (1962) #15 and FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #1.
Once more, I'm not sure what happened - it may have been the wonky way the vendor was displaying things - but it appears I ordered the Kirby cover version (the Amazing Fantasy #15 original cover version) instead of the Alex Ross hommage version.. A minor regret.
Currently still set for that date, though there's plenty of time for that to go awry.
So, all of that is essentially on autopilot, and all of it paid forward by 2021 Mike -- wotta guy!
Next, but not right this moment, to see what else the 2022 might spend some money on...
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