Absolutes, Omnibuses, Oversize, Special Editions discussion thread

[Balham's Finest]

I thought it might be fun to start a thread dedicated to oversize special edition collections like Absolutes, Omnibuses (yes, I know, Omnibii) etc.

 

Two reasons: first, they tend to be expensive and it would be nice to have a thread to give people some idea of what they'd be getting before they spend a big chunk of cash; and second because they are so darn nice to look at/show off – especially the rarer ones...

 

My “vision” for the thread (beyond getting just a couple of comments and staying on the front page for more than a few minutes…) is that people will use it to post up their own copies, discuss new collections that are coming out, and build up a good knowledge base of what’s out there in a more user-friendly (and in particular, more picture-heavy) way than Amazon and other available sources.

 

I wanted to kick off with a couple of examples from my collection – I’ll add more if people are interested. Looking forward to hearing from others and seeing more cool books!

 

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INDEX (click on a title to jump to the relevant post)

 

75 years of DC Comics

75 years of DC Comics - video review

Absolute Authority volumes 1 and 2

Absolute Batman: Hush

Absolute Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn

Absolute Dark Knight

Absolute Kingdom Come

Absolute Planetary volume 1

Absolute Sandman volume 1

Absolute Watchmen

Amazing Fantasy Omnibus

Batman: Black and White

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - 10th anniversary slipcase edition

Fantastic Firsts

Fear Agent Library volume 1

The Green Lantern/Green Arrow Collection

The Green Lantern Omnibus volumes 1 and 2

Hellboy Library Edition volume 1

The Hole of Tank Girl

IDW Artist's Edition - Wally Wood's EC Stories

The Invisibles Omnibus

JLA/Avengers - collectors' edition

Mister X: The Archives

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152

Spawn: Origins Collection deluxe edition volume 1

TMNT The Ultimate Collection volume 1 (blue lable edition)

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition

The Walking Dead: Compendium 1 hardback

[Balham's Finest]

Absolute Sandman volume 1

 

Published: November 2006

 

Pages: 612

 

Collects: Sandman issues 1 to 20

 

Extras: New foreword from Paul Levitz, Gaiman’s original proposal for the series, character sketches, reprint of “The story so far” from issue 8, complete -script, pencils and character designs from issue 19 (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), reprints of afterwords from the first 3 graphic novels, new afterword by Gaiman.

 

Front and spine of the slipcase:

 

 

 

The book separate from the slipcase, embossed and stamped:

 

 

Front page – the paper quality is amazing. Glossy, but not too reflective. Sandman was always more about the story than the art, but this really looks good:

 

 

The binding is glued, not sewn - bummer:

 

 

Not too many examples of double page spreads in the series, but this shows that there is very little gutter loss:

 

 

A couple of shots of the extras:

 

 

 

[Balham's Finest]

Absolute Watchmen

 

Published: November 2008

 

Pages: 464

 

Collects: Watchmen issues 1 to 12

 

Extras: Alan Moore’s foreword to the initial collected edition, Moore’s proposal and plot/character breakdown (anyone who has read his pitch for Twilight of the Superheroes - and if you haven’t, you should: follow THIS LINK - will know what to expect), pre-production art, -script extracts and layouts, promo artwork, unused covers, other unseen/rare art, reprint of an afterword by Dave Gibbons.

 

Front and spine of the slipcase:

 

 

 

Front and back of book beside the slipcase:

 

 

 

Book without its dustcover:

 

 

Example internal page – check out the awesome blood red ribbon! The paper is matte, totally different to the Sandman glossy paper. Really nice, heavy stock - the colours look great:

 

 

Sewn binding – much better than the Sandman one:

 

 

Finally, some examples of the extras:

 

 

 

[Balham's Finest]

Hopefully that'll give you all an idea of what I'm trying to do with the thread - I'll aim to add another couple tomorrow evening.

 

Comments welcome in the meantime!

 

Adam

[WEBHEAD]

(thumbs u

[mkkiller]

Scud The Whole Shebang Comes to mind as well as Walking dead

[Balham's Finest]

Hadn't heard of Scud before. Yes, it would be good to add an example Walking Dead Omnibus too. That's a good example of a title that's available in a large number of formats, so people might need some convincing that the Omnibus is good - I know I've never looked at one or considered buying it.

[mkkiller]

Whats that locke and keye one Where it was over sized, Also The umbrella academy

[warburger]

Great idea for a thread, I have that Sandman Volume 1 Omnibus. I can't force myself to buy the other four because I already have the first printing hardcovers. I just feel it's too much to own all HCs and Omnibuses.

 

With the first volume, I just imagine that it's Destiny's tome.

[dupont2005]

Great idea for a thread

Excellent posts as well

[Balham's Finest]

Great idea for a thread, I have that Sandman Volume 1 Omnibus. I can't force myself to buy the other four because I already have the first printing hardcovers. I just feel it's too much to own all HCs and Omnibuses.

 

With the first volume, I just imagine that it's Destiny's tome.

 

I know how you feel. I have the first four Sandman volumes but decided not to buy volume 5 (for now, anyway) since it just reprints other specials/graphic novels and not the main series. I'll probably crack eventually though.

[Silver Surfer]

The Watchmen binder looks pretty sweet, keep them coming.

[nickwire]

a saw on amazon they are preselling a sandman omnibus. this just seems like raping the fans as they already have all the reg hardcovers AND the absolute editions.

[Balham's Finest]

a saw on amazon they are preselling a sandman omnibus. this just seems like raping the fans as they already have all the reg hardcovers AND the absolute editions.

 

Maybe - but I don't think the omni is aimed at people who already have the Absolutes. I think it's just a new slipcased collection of the 10 separate books anyway, isn't it?

[ThoseBackPages]

Great Thread!

 

My question is, what incentive does Marvel have for not keeping the popular Omnis in print? These are essentially money grabs anyway (as they re-print issues they've issued long ago), why not keep them available at all times?

[Balham's Finest]

a saw on amazon they are preselling a sandman omnibus. this just seems like raping the fans as they already have all the reg hardcovers AND the absolute editions.

 

Maybe - but I don't think the omni is aimed at people who already have the Absolutes. I think it's just a new slipcased collection of the 10 separate books anyway, isn't it?

 

Scrap that, I just checked and you're quite right. Out later this year, volume 1 collects the first 37 issues. Still don't think many Absolute owners will be keen though...

 

There is also a new slipcased set of the 10 separate books. Building interest before the new series this year, no doubt...

[Ken Aldred]

My favourite Absolute Editions...

 

- Authority vol. 1

- Sandman vols 1 and 2

- The New Frontier

- Kingdom Come

- Planetary vols 1 and 2

- Watchmen

[Balham's Finest]

I would karate chop an old lady for an Absolute Planetary vol. 1

[Balham's Finest]

Great Thread!

 

My question is, what incentive does Marvel have for not keeping the popular Omnis in print? These are essentially money grabs anyway (as they re-print issues they've issued long ago), why not keep them available at all times?

 

It's an interesting question. I think there are a number of factors: these books cost a lot to print, and then there's tax and storage overhead for the publisher to consider too. For super-premium editions I understand they tend to rely heavily on pre-orders to set a print run number, rather than assuming greater demand.

 

It's also hard for them to assess demand/appetite for a new printing as time goes on - yes, you see the odd crazily high price being paid on eBay, but it doesn't necessarily follow that there are hundreds or thousands of possible purchasers out there (as opposed to a few fanatics).

 

I read somewhere that the majority of these kind of books tend to be sold within the first few months of release - so if a first printing hasn't sold out within that time period, it's an indicator that there probably isn't the demand for a second one.

 

Then there's the fact that the publisher can make a lot of money repackaging the product in smaller, more affordable volumes like premier HCs, TPBs etc - those are a lot cheaper to print and store etc.

 

Short answer: what we think of as popular doesn't always translate into worthwhile for the publishers.

[bane]

I have all the Batman related ones.

 

Do you need shots of those?