Wow - DC Omnibuses suck! (compared to Marvel)

[slop101]

Okay, I just got the Starman Omnibus, and content aside, I am way disappointed. I'm used to Marvel Omnibuses, and well, let me just compare them:

Starman Omnibus MSRP: $50
Captain America Omnibus MSRP: $75
so Marvel's Omnibuses are about 50% more expensive, but wait.

Starman: 448 pages
CAO: 744 pages
so in this case the CA one has over 65% more content - so Marvel already has the better deal - but that's not all.

The Starman book is printed on regular old comic book paper, the standard used today in most monthly floppies - thin and cheap. The Marvel omnibus is printed on much heavier, better quality paper stock - the difference is night and day.

The Marvel Omnibuses have remastered color (mostly so they'll look like they're supposed to on this new paper) and they end up looking far better than the books ever did. The Starman book looks exactly like the old issues - I checked (the only difference is the aging of paper).

The Marvel books are bigger: 11.1"x7.4" compared to Starman's 10.4"x7" - doesn't sound like much, but put them side by side and you'll sure as shit notice.

I wanna say that the spines on the Marvel books are better too, but it's hard to compare because the DC omnibus is so thin.

Yeah, I know, DC has their "Absolute" books (and they are nice, though I think the Marvel ones are nicer, with better extras) - but those retail for $100 and have 100 to 200 pages of less content than the Marvel Omnibuses that retail for $75. And the Absolutes that have the same prices as a Marvel have even less pages.

Anyways, DC should be ashamed of themselves for this shoddy ass shit.

[stingermck]

This may sound crazy, but I like the paper DC uses, cause it smells like old comics :) Reading the Kriby editions with old smelling paper ftw!

[slop101]

^ that's fine, and I understand it, but a) I can dig up my old issues for that, and b) they shouldn't be charging a premium for it.

[Patman]

I got lucky a few months ago and bought a huge stack of Starman comics @3/$1, thus I was able to pass on the omnibus and saved a bundle.

[Cathepsin]

You're not the first to complain about the DC Omnibus paper. It's not like DC's using onionskin paper like the Library of America, here. Then again, I prefer a book that I don't need a lectern to read. This goes for the Absolutes, too, mind.

The Marvel books are designed as color Essentials - they're compendiums of material that's already been collected in hardback, like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc. books. The DC Omnibus books are simply not designed as color Showcases. I doubt you're going to see a Jack Kirby's Fourth World Showcase anytime soon. At any rate, 400 pages for $50 is twice what you get for the same price as a 200 page DC Archive. Is there any wonder the DC Archives have been shut down?

The Absolutes are smaller because most of them have collected miniseries. The original material dictates the size of the collection. Sandman is the only not-limited series DC has collected in its entirety in this format.

Are you unhappy the Starman book was faithful with regard to the original art? Was the Captain America book faithful to Epting and Perkins' art?

[slop101]

Are you unhappy the Starman book was faithful with regard to the original art? Was the Captain America book faithful to Epting and Perkins' art?I feel that the book is faithful to Harris' art just fine, and have no problems with that - it'd have been nice if they had used heavier paper though. I already have creases in some pages and accidentally made a small hair-line tear in a page just by lightly rubbing my palm against the edge as I was going to turn the page. I wasn't mishandling it, the paper's just that fragile. That's the kind of thing I tolerate in a monthly floppy, not in a $50 hardcover.

And yes, the CA book was very faithful to the art - and it lookes even better than it did originally - the art is very dark, and you can see detail in the Omnibus printing that you couldn't before.

[ytrez]

You're comparing apples and oranges. I know they both use omnibus in the name but a better comparison would be DC's Absolute editions to Marvel's Omnibus editions.

Between you and me, I still like Marvel's better.

[ytrez]

This may sound crazy, but I like the paper DC uses, cause it smells like old comics :) Reading the Kriby editions with old smelling paper ftw!

I just read the Kirby Fourth World books and am reading OMAC now and they've rekindled my love of the King. I'm on Kirby overdrive scouring my collection to re-read his stuff. Oh, and a big plug for Two Morrows' Jack Kirby Collector Magazine. Excellent stuff there.

[slop101]

You're comparing apples and oranges. I know they both use omnibus in the name but a better comparison would be DC's Absolute editions to Marvel's Omnibus editions.My point isn't that - my point is (subjective content aside), objectively, you get way more content for your money along with better quality with the Marvel books - in both cases. For example, the upcoming Sandman Absolute collects 16 issues and retails for $100, while the upcoming Daredevil by Bendis Omnibus also retails for $100, but it collects something like 35 issues - that's more than double the content for the same price.

[Chew]

But the Sandman content is more than twice as good, so it's a wash. :p

[sinned]

I agree, while I love the material I'm not sure I'd be willing to spend another $50 (or $32 at Amazon) for another 16-17 issues of Starman. Considering that there will be 5 more books to complete the series, it might be too expensive for me. The worst still is the Death of Superman Omnibus Hardcover which was $75 and was printed in newsprint!

I'm wondering if I should go for the Y: The Last Man hardcovers ($30 each) considering that I already have the TPBs (but I hate that they were printed on newsprint).

I love the Marvel Omnibuses.... I have darn near all of 'em!

[bishop2knight]

I'm wondering if I should go for the Y: The Last Man hardcovers ($30 each) considering that I already have the TPBs (but I hate that they were printed on newsprint).


Are these Onmiboo? I thought they were just oversized hardcovers and sort of hoped they'd be in a different format than Starman.

[sinned]

No, they are not in the Omnibus format, however DC "oversized" is not quite oversized as the Marvel ones. Their solicitations do not even mention the quality of the paper. I am guessing they will use the same paper as Starman but I wish they would use the ultra-glossy paper that Marvel uses.

[slop101]

BTW, Marvel doesn't use the same kind of paper in all their Omnis. It's all thick, high-grade paper, but the paper texture varies from book to book, and is contingent on the art.

For example, the Capitan America Omnibus has glossy paper that's appropriate for how the art is supposed to be presented. But the Uncanny X-men Omni, while the paper is certainly thick, is not glossy at all, but a little dull and even a tad off-white, which helps present the art as it was intended. If they used the same textured paper for all their Omnis, half of them would look like shit. Using the correct sort of paper in tandem with appropriately remastering the colors is part of what makes Marvel Omnis a cut above the rest.

[davidh777]

OK, I couldn't stand not knowing what the deluxe Y was going to be so I looked it up. Does 256 pages mean the HB is the equivalent of two PB like the Ultimate Marvels?

http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=10034

Y: THE LAST MAN DELUXE EDITION BOOK 1

Written by Brian K. Vaughan; Art by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr.; Cover by Massimo Carnevale

The first ten issues of the award-winning series written by Brian K. Vaughan (EX MACHINA, Lost) are collected in an oversized hardcover with a new cover! Don't miss the amazing SF epic that Stephen King called "The best graphic novel I've ever read."

Vertigo | 256pg. | Color | Hardcover | $29.99 US | Mature Readers

On Sale October 15, 2008

[slop101]

$30 is actually a decent retail price for a hardcover 10-issue collection.