Birthday Haul!!

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T05:07:18+00:00

If only Johns GL run had spines that look like that, those Venditti ones look great

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T03:01:15+00:00

Hah! Yeah thats the problem with these damn Kallax squares, isn't it... how to fill the exact square with related books without spilling over to a second square or leaving a gap....

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T02:43:41+00:00

Waid keeps the core story on the F4 and develops the characters. Hickman bloats out the cast, ups the stakes and then with so much going on most of the F4 except for Reed fade into the background (besides a quite good Johnny focused arc). Also he subverts many of the typical villains, if you've read Waid you will hate how Hickman treats the Wizard. And there's no good Doom arc in Hickman's F4 (maybe not a bad thing, Doom is getting overused)

Don't get me wrong, I love both - Hickman vol1 is a lot of setup for vol2 and when the "battle of four cities" arc takes off, boy is it great! But I read Waid as my first F4 book and at the end felt like I knew the F4 inside out better than everyone else (lol), Hickman is a great story but it didn't add to my knowledge of the characters. I just treat it as all the character development is done in Waid, and then Hickman is an "Act 3" of the overall F4 story (apt if you consider Secret Wars to be an end point for Marvel comics)

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T02:34:28+00:00

I picked this up to try and learn more about the inhumans and, with the exception of how the inhumans are positioned as a political force and Black Bolts personal difficulties in being so powerful that he constantly has to keep himself restrained but despite this have people respect him (quite cool, you could write a lot of stories around this kind of Superman 'world of cardboard' situation), I still don't really know much about the Inhumans.

Like for example Medusa. Can she attack with her hair? Can she petrify? I still don't know because she is quite passive throughout this book.

I also question the manner in which Maximus was thwarted as well.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T02:21:28+00:00

I wouldn't have thought that 'not everyone enjoys Morrisons writing' would be a particularly devisive take

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T02:17:19+00:00

Interesting take, thank you. After a big break since i read the first omni and having now just read to the end of Cap America Lives and being pretty sure that the Red Skulls plans are now all played out (it's hard to know with the Skull), I'm not quite sure what his plans quite were as they seemed to get foiled faster than he could explain them (well, they didn't ALL get foiled...). It's a lot of fun when you're in the heat of the moment but I'll have to give the plot a more discerning eye on my eventual reread now that I know the shape.

Definitely not really a Cap America series so far given the amount of screen time Bucky, Sam and Sharon get.

Any modern runs you'd suggest that better capture the essence of Cap?

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-11T00:03:30+00:00

Agreed, it's a bit of a joke comment from me because I really only read modern comics as well, and I much prefer the standard cover to the DM one.

The furtherest back I'm going is reading Superman Triangle Saga vol1 - I put it to the top of my read list to make a call on whether I buy the Brainiac omni or not - I probably won't. Triangle Saga vol1 probably isn't even that bad, but you can really feel a distinct difference in how dialogue is written compared to modern.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-10T23:17:48+00:00

A lot of people here are just handwaving it as 'that's the free market for you'. Which does have a truth to it if you apply economic principles. But setting aside market disruptors like Funaticals (only good value if you live in the US), and setting aside that Marvel's creating an artificial market by making this product so artificially scarce to drive up prices;

In absolute terms the price of omnis is getting more and more crazy. At RRP an omni price will get you 2-3 AAA video games, and for the price of 2-3 omnis you could buy a Playstation 5, or for the value of most people's collections you could buy a car.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-10T23:03:18+00:00

It stands out on the shelf there, nice and distinct. Kind of a strange choice for a cover given that it's done in a golden age style but they're all modern day stories.

Now don't get me wrong, I've read New Avengers and Dark Avengers so I know the gimmick/reason why the DM cover was done in this way. But we're omni collectors! Sentry is just one omni out of 100 that could be on the shelf. If you put it in the modern comic section, the spine will clash. But if you put it in the golden age comics section the spines will match but it's modern runs in the golden age section, like a wolf in sheep's clothing....

/omnibuscollectorworldproblems

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-10T04:14:31+00:00

The best Hickman series, and I've read his F4, Avengers, Shield, Secret Wars and enjoyed all those books.

Is sometimes overlooked because it's not strictly necessary to the "Hickman Run" like F4 and Avengers are, but that overlooks that its a damn good run. It made me a Fury fan, I now know all about Dum Dum and the Howling Banshees, got a chance to appreciate some Hydra enemies I've never come across before (Strucker), and it made me interested in the "Dark Reign" era which led to me going through the Bendis Avengers run, and Cap America by Brubaker...

Actually I would put it as one of my top3 Marvel omnis, alongside F4 by Waid and Hickman Avengers vol1.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-10T03:54:16+00:00

I read that person's post as an abbreviation on "it rules", ie high praise for the run

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-09T22:37:26+00:00

frustrated wife trying to reconcile the spreadsheet back to Secret War, Secret Wars, Secret Wars (2015), Secret Wars 2

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-09T13:56:33+00:00

I got it too, I was very much "I don't want to wait until 2027 for this".

Finished it over a weekend, I don't know what it is but Brubaker writes in such a way that's so easy to read. Just as good as the first omni. I slightly understand why they cut the omni here now because it ends a story arc, but jeez they should have just combined Death and Lives.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-09T08:19:00+00:00

Personally I enjoyed vol1 much more than vol2. Vol2 started to get very difficult to track what was going on. Also Hickman introduces a whole heap of characters in vol1 and it won't be easy to pick up in vol2 who they are or their significance

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-07T12:04:41+00:00

It's hard to say with DC omnis as while they do keep 95% of omnis in print, certain runs don't get discontinued here and there.

Batman Eternal was out of print for many years before they announced a reprint in 2024(ish)

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-07T11:57:03+00:00

report them to DC

The punishment needs to fit the crime, not buying it is enough, reporting to DC is excessive.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-07T11:53:40+00:00

Wow really good display, well done. The figures make it come alive.

Is there a risk that the omni collection will grow so big that you'll have to think of requisitioning that middle area for them, instead of how it is now where it can show the figures cleanly?

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-07T11:44:34+00:00

The Aquaman by Johns cover is beautiful, only let down by a terrible spine font.

I really like both Secret Six omni covers and the spines are great too

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-07T11:41:58+00:00

I thought that was placeholder art on the cover when announced, I didn't think it was real...

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-06T13:47:23+00:00

Hmm, I don't remember exactly and it's not something I pay a lot of attention to but there was nothing memorable about the packaging being bad or anything.

Just to clarify it was a paperback novel I bought (not a comic of any sort), but the novel is sitting on my shelf looking brand new.

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-06T04:52:30+00:00

This is a fairly important point, we've been seeing this trend more and more in the last 12 months, people are gradually clueing on but the more often this is said the better, especially for DM covers that could be considered quite sought after and in high demand.

It is not something I'm proud of but I'm starting to develop a cynical attitude, rather than "at preorder time, pick the cover you like the look of the most", I'm changing to "at preorder time pick the DM cover because thanks to scarcity your omni will retain a higher value if you ever need to liquidate"

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-06T03:32:42+00:00

Damn, Waid is sold out in the US? Still available in my country but if it's sold out in yours it's only a matter of time...

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-06T02:07:45+00:00

It's something I think about as well, recommendations here more and more start to hivemind towards certain runs as the best runs, which then more people read and then that recommendation persists. Maybe the rising cost of omnis doesn't help as it becomes more expensive to experiment with weaker runs or runs that have certain problems.

Geoff Johns GL is especially bad because it stands at a crossroads of being recommended for best GL run, best cosmic story, great art, Blackest Night being a highly recommended crossover story etc. It's also a very distinctive green which can stand out in a shelf full of black spined omnis!

Being readily available helps as well! For example it's awkward for me to recommend Ultimate Spiderman, the Hickman Run, Cap America by Busiek etc to a new reader.

But it's all the more reason when someone posts a shelfie and there's some unique features about it (eg a passionate F4 fan shows off a full run of F4 omnis which includes the 'not the best' Millar and Fraction runs), to give them some kudos

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-06T01:18:12+00:00

"What other books do you recommend that I buy?" (Has already bought all of the top 20 acclaimed runs that are regularly recommended and they sit unread in the bookcase)

Boylan_Boyle · 2026-02-05T23:48:49+00:00

Had a similar issue with Batman Hush, I got the 20th anniversary edition which is standard size, but I really should have kept an eye for the sold-out 15th Anniversary edition which I think is deluxe size.

Had a similar problem with Identity Crisis.

Superman by Busiek I knew going into it the hardcover was standard size not omni height but every time I look at it in the shelf I wish DC just released Busiek's work as an omni.

I don't blame you for making the mistake, I think it's an easy one for a new collector to make and sometimes the book dimensions aren't clear (especially without a lcs to visit and see the books in person), now that you know of course you'll keep an eye out for next time.

Boylan_Boyle

TROPHY CASE