Marvel Solo Heroes Omnibus Mapping (A-M) for the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 12th Annual Secret Ballot

Until April 5, I’ll be loosely mapping missing and most-wanted Marvel omnibus volumes every day! Today you’re in for a LOT of mapping, because this post covers every non-mutant, non-Spider solo hero I have yet to cover! That’s more than 100 maps of potential omnibuses for dozens of amazing Marvel characters starts here (and continues in the next post)!

This post explains titles and potential Omnibus Mapping for entries on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 12th Annual Secret Ballot. You can vote right now (until 5 April 2024 @ midnight US ET) or watch our mega-length announcement stream reviewing every single voting option.

Below I cover America Chavez, Ant-Man (Pym, Lang, & O’Grady), Black Cat, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell & Danvers), Conan, Crystar, Darkhawk, Deadpool, Deathlok, Echo, Falcon, Frankenstein, Galactus, Hawkeye, Hellcat – Patsy Walker, Hellstrom, Hercules, Iron Fist, Jack of Hearts, Jessica Jones, Ka-Zar, Kang, Killraven, Kingpin, and Luke Cage.

It’s so much mapping that I had to break it into two parts so I wouldn’t break your browser! See the next post for the remainder of the alphabet and the rest of the maps.

We don’t have many options left to explore, but one of them is THE BIGGEST category of books on the pool: mutants! Stay tuned this week for a massive amount of X-Men mapping!

If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for my explanations. Or, if you’ve already voted, learn why the team behind the poll decided on these books and titles – including some of my mistakes and regrets as one of the editors of the options on the final poll.

Or… just find some great comics to read!

Remember: These mappings are just my suggestion of how Marvel could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes and build your personal reading list, but your vote on the poll is NOT an endorsement of my specific map. It’s a vote in favor of Marvel creating a book with that title or covering that period.

Over-the-top comics posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics.

America Chavez Omnibus Mapping

America Chavez, Vol. 1 (2011 – Present)
American Chavez has spent a lot of time in team books that have already been collected, but there’s still some material that would be a lock for this omnibus if it has your vote.

This would at minimum collect her debut in Vengeance (2011) #1-6, her ongoing series, America (2017) #1-12, the re-examination of her origin in America Chavez: Made in the USA (2021) #1-5, and her anthology appearances in Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2021), Communidades (2021), and Community (2022), and her issues of Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic (2022).

It could also include key issues from her appearances in team books like Mighty Avengers, Ultimates, and West Coast Avengers.

Ant-Man Omnibus Mapping

Ant-Man / Giant-Man Classic Omnibus (1962 – 1979)
See Guide to Ant-Man. This Hank Pym collection would collect all but two issues from the three Ant-Man / Giant-Man Masterworks – since those issues were Scott Lang!

A vote for this book is a vote for a minimum of Hank Pym’s stories from Tales to Astonish (1959) #27-69, Marvel Feature (1971) #4-10, and Iron Man (1968) #44 (backup story), plus likely also Bill Foster in Power Man (1974) #24-25, Black Goliath (1976) #1-5, & Champions (1975) #11-13.

To that, it could add some key early Pym stories from Avengers (1963)

Ant-Man: Scott Lang, The Early Years (1979 – 1998)
See Guide to Ant-Man. This book would collect a core of early Scott Lang issues from a 228 page paperback released alongside his first movie, and then would push beyond that for some other key early appearances.

A vote for this volume would be a vote for a minimum of Marvel Premiere (1972) #47-48, Iron Man (1968) #125 (excerpts), 131-133, & 151, Avengers (1963) #181 (excerpts), 195-196, & 223, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #103, and Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #87.

To that it would add other appearances including Avengers (1963) #275-277, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #11 (3rd story), Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Annual 24 (1st and 4th stories), Iron Man (1968) Annual 12 (5th story), Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #81 (3rd story), 132 (2nd story), and 137 (2nd story), subplot pages from his time as a supporting character in Iron man, and selections from his time in Fantastic Four and Heroes for Hire.

That still makes for a slim volume, and if you’d rather just vote for the 2015 omnibus with the hopes this could be included as well I wouldn’t blame you. But, a vote for this is a signal you want all of this material in one place for the first time!

Ant-Man: Eric O’Grady, The Irredeemable Ant-Man (AKA by Kirkman)
See Guide to Ant-Man. A vote for this is a vote to collect Irredeemable Ant-Man (2006) #1-12 by Robert Kirkman in full, plus some other supporting material like Civil War: Choosing Sides (2006) (2nd story), key moments from The Initiative and Secret Avengers, and Ant-Man & Wasp (2011) #1-3.

Ant-Man: Scott Lang by Nick Spencer (2015 – 2022)
See Guide to Ant-Man. This would collect all of Nick Spencer’s Ant-Man material, which is nearly 500 pages!

That includes Ant-Man (2015) #1-5 & Annual 1; Ant-Man: Last Days (2015) #1; and The Astonishing Ant-Man #1-13.

However, that leaves room for other material! So, while you could be voting for this with only the Spencer material in mind, it could actually cover several more years of Lang’s solo material. Specifically, it could add the entirety of another paperback, Ant-Man: The Saga of Scott Lang, which includes another 300+ pages of his subsequent adventures in Guardians Team-Up (2015) #7, Ant-Man & the Wasp: Living Legends (2018) #1, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) #1-5, War of the Realms: Giant-Man (2019) #1-3, and Ant-Man (2020) #1-5.

Plus, we could go wild and add in A Year of Marvels: March Infinite Comic (2016) #1!

Black Cat Omnibus Mapping

Black Cat – The Early Years
See Guide to Black Cat. Black Cat was never a constant co-star in Spider-Man, so there’s a real opportunity to gather all of her early material into one place without it being overwhelming or double-dipping any one other omnibus too much.

I have some strong opinions on what should make the cut in this book having read through it all recently to create my guide, but you don’t have agree with my – you just have to agree it’s time for us to have this omnibus!

Personally, I’d have it include Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #194-195, 204-205, & 226-227, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #75 & 85-92, Annual 4 (2nd story), 98-100, 117 & 119, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #341-343, Web of Spider-Man (1985) #80, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #370, Web of Spider-Man (1985) Annual 8 (3rd story), sub-plot pages from Maximum Carnage, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #205-206, Web of Spider-Man (1985) Annual 10 (3rd story), Felicia Hardy: The Black Cat (1994) #1-4, Marvel Knights Spider-Man (2004) #4, Spider-Man Unlimited (2004) #14 (1st story), Claws (2006) #1-3, Sensational Spider-Man (2006) #30 & 34, Marvel Divas (2009) #1-4, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #606-607, Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat (2010) #1-4, Web of Spider-Man (2009) #11-12, and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #648-651.

That’s 55 issues, but a few of them are back-up stories, so it comes out right around 50. I’m here to tell you it would be a terrific read and you would understand exactly how Jed MacKay was inspired to write such a terrific series for Felicia Hardy (found in his Black Cat omnibus).

Black Knight Omnibus Mapping

Black Knight: Dane Whitman
This was a late add to the poll and I don’t know Dane Whitman like I know Felicia Hardy, so I don’t have a perfect map for you! But, this would be a very similar book to the recent Wonder Man: The Early Years book.

Black Knight makes nearly 200 comic appearances just on the way to the Leather Jacket era of Avengers! However, I think there’s some obvious picks in that material, including his earliest Avengers stories, his run in the UK Hulk Comic (which is already in the Captain Britain omnibus, but is Black Knight’s story), portions of Stern Avengers, Black Knight (1990) #1-4, and stories from Marvel Fanfare, Avengers Spotlight, and Marvel Comics Presents. I think it likely ends with Black Knight: Exodus (1996) #1.

(Sadly, I’m not sure if we can include any of his exploits in Malibu’s Ultraverse, which remain a black hole for Marvel reprints.)

Black Panther Omnibus Mapping

Black Panther: The Early Marvel Years Vol. 2
See Guide to Black Panther. The first Black Panther: The Early Marvel Years omnibus only collected to the end of his first Marvel Masterworks and Epic Collection volumes! That’s because it included a lot of critical early material from Fantastic Four and Avengers, which are not in his Masterworks line.

I think this next omnibus would obvious collect his Epic Collection Volumes 2-3 mapping verbatim, because it’s a great map, maybe even pushing slightly beyond it to marry perfectly with the first Christopher Priest omnibus on the other side.

Those Epics collected Black Panther (1977) #1-15, Marvel Premiere (1972) #51-53, material from Marvel Team-Up (1972) #100, Black Panther (1988) #1-4, Black Panther: Panther’s Prey (1991) #1-4, the complete serialized “Panther’s Quest” story from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #13-37, and material from Solo Avengers (1987) #19; Marvel Super Heroes (1990) #1; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #60; Fantastic Four Unlimited (1993) #1, and Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #148.

I think there are a few other mid-80s guest appearances we could add to the middle of that material to flesh it out beyond the Epic volumes, as well as some mid-90s material like Vibranium Vendetta (Amazing Spider-Man Annual 25, Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 11, and Web of Spider-Man Annual 7) and his guest arc in Excalibur (1988) #59-60.

Black Panther by Hudlin (& Aaron) (2004 – 2008)
See Guide to Black Panther. A vote for this book is a vote for a straight-forward collection of Black Panther (2005) #1-41 & Annual 1 and a crossover with X-Men (1991) #175-176, mostly written by Reginald Hudlin. This run builds on the concepts of Christopher Priest’s run, but is much more… normal.

I think it would also add Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers (2010) #1-4, and Black Panther Saga (2008) #1, and possibly X-Men: Worlds Apart (2009) #1-4 – as much a Panther story as a Storm story.

Hudlin wrote some further Panther material, but I think that’s better suited to the next book.

Black Panther by Maberry (& Hudlin & Liss) (2009 – 2012)
See Guide to Black Panther. This volume would follow that solid Hudlin book by piecing together the remainder of Black Panther’s material prior to Marvel Now.

You don’t have to agree with this exact mapping, but this would include some or all of Black Panther (2009) #1-12 (starring Shuri), Doomwar (2010) #1-6, The Man Without Fear (2010) #513-523 & The Most Dangerous Man Alive (2010) #523.1 & 524-529, Klaws of the Panther (2010) #1-4, and material from Age of Heroes (2010) #4.

That’s another 40 issues that bring us exactly up to Avengers vs. X-Men and the start of Marvel Now!

Black Panther by John Ridley & Eve Ewing (2021-2024)
See Guide to Black Panther. With an omnibus of Ta-Nehisi Coates and a Wakanda omnibus, we’re ready for a clean start in 2021 with John Ridley taking over T’Challa’s ongoing title. A vote for this omnibus is a vote to start collecting from there, and potentially continue to Dr. Eve Ewing’s subsequent run – which is a direct sequel.

That means this could collect Black Panther (2021) #1-15, Wakanda (2022) #1-5, Marvel’s Voices: Wakanda Forever (2023) #1, and Black Panther (2023) #1-10.

Black Widow Omnibus Mapping

Black Widow Modern Omnibus, Vol. 1 (1999 & on)
See Guide to Black Widow. You would not believe how long Omar and I spent arguing over this one title 😂

Here’s where we came down on this: people have so many ideas of what this book should be. It could be a Rucka & Grayson Marvel Knights book. A mid-00s Marjorie Liu book. Edmonson’s entirely Marvel Now run. The incredibly Samnee/Waid run. The full Kelly Thompson & Elena Casagrande Eisner-winning run!

There’s two problems with that. One, all of those are pretty short books. Two, they would splinter Black Widow’s vote into as many as a half a dozen smaller shards. Thus, our compromise here is just vote for “Modern, Vol. 1.” It can contain whatever you want it to contain and skip whatever you want it to skip. Then, if it’s in the Top 60, you can enjoy Omar and I arguing about it live on the air.

For the record, there’s too much material to get this done in one, or maybe even in two volumes. Not counting any significant guest turns or Marvel Knights material, it would include Black Widow (1999) #1-3, Black Widow (2001) #1-3, optionally Yelena Belova in Black Widow (2002) #1-3 [AKA “Pale Little Spider”], Black Widow (2004) #1-6, Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) #1-6, Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) #1-4, Black Widow (2010) #1-8, Widowmaker (2010) #1-4, Captain America & Black Widow (2012) #636-640, Black Widow (2014) #1-20, Black Widow (2016) #1-12, Tales of Suspense (2017) #100-104, Black Widow (2019) #1-6, The Web of Black Widow (2019) #1-5, and Black Widow (2020) #1-15 by Kelly Thompson & Elena Casagrande.

That’s 105 issues of Black Widow from 1999 to present day, a lot of it excellent. I can see some natural breaks in that material to give us three solid omnibuses, but if you want to see any of it in oversize format you have to vote for this book!

(Later, you’ll see how I took Hawkeye in the opposite direction, possibly to the detriment of his votes).

Captain Marvel Omnibus Mapping

Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) Omnibus Vol. 2 (1974 – 1982)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. I almost goofed and left this off the poll entirely because I was sure it was already solicited!

This would collect Captain Marvel Masterworks Volumes 4-6, which contained Captain Marvel (1968) #34-62, Avengers (1963) Annual 7 and Marvel Two-in-One (1974) Annual 2, the series’ continuation into Marvel Spotlight (1979) #1-4 & 8; the classic Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #1 – The Death of Captain Marvel; and material from Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) #3.

Since Captain Marvel dies at the end (SPOILERS!), there’s nothing else to add to this.

Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers – The Ms. Marvel Years (2005 – 2010)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. This would collect all of Carol’s solo title from the mid-00s, before she became Captain Marvel. It was last collected into a trio of large paperbacks in 2018, so we’re perfectly due for another printing.

Each one of them were more than 400 pages, so should would be a very big omnibus – but, within the bounds of possibility at around 1400 pages. We just saw Marvel split Kelly Thompson’s similarly-sized run on Captain Marvel into two books. Do they think the market has an appetite for two more volumes of her in her old bathing suit costume?

You don’t have to decide how you feel about that question to vote for this book, which might turn out to be two books. In total, it needs to cover Ms. Marvel (2006) #1-50 & Annual 1, Giant-Size Ms. Marvel #1, Ms. Marvel Special #1, Ms. Marvel Special: Storyteller, and Siege: Spider-Man

Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers (2016 – 2018)
See Guide to Captain Marvel – Carol Danvers. There were a number of Carol Danvers series at the start of Marvel Now leading up to Kelly Thompson’s run. None of them are quite substantial enough in length or fan support to merit an omnibus, but they’d make a fine read as a single compilation.

Your vote is for any compilation of that material you’d prefer. That could include some or all of Captain Marvel (2016) #1-10, A-Force (2016) #1-10, plot pages from Civil War II (2016) to start. Then, it would very likely include all of Margaret Stohl’s material from Mighty Captain Marvel (2016) #1-9 & (2017) 125-129, Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell (2017) #1 [AKA The Bravest], Infinity Countdown: Captain Marvel (2018) #1 (by Jim McCann), The Life of Captain Marvel (2018) #1-5, and Captain Marvel: Braver & Mightier (2019) #1 (by Jody Houser).

Krisis Regrets: We should have added “includes Margaret Stohl” in the title of this book, since her run is the longest one (and the one people would most likely be voting for.

Conan Omnibus Mapping

Conan: Savage Avengers Companion
(includes Avengers: No Road Home, Serpent War, Serpent Crown, & Savage Avengers (2022))
See Guide to Conan.

What? Conan? On this Marvel poll? Why? How?!

Marvel seems to have retained some kind of working relationship with the Howard estate, because they were allowed to published a Savage Avengers by Duggan omnibus. However, we need one more omnibus to wrap up all of Conan’s adventures in the present day of the Marvel Universe.

Per the title, this would include Avengers: No Road Home (2019) #1-10 (which brought Conan to the present day), Conan: Serpent War (2020) #1-4 and Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown (2020) #1-5 (which occur in the middle of Savage Avengers), and Savage Avengers (2022) #1-10.

That’s 29 more issues of modern Conan, completely collecting his Marvel-616 adventures into a pair of omnibuses.

We Skipped It (on purpose): Conan: The Modern Marvel Years
We heard chatter that people wanted a collection of Conan’s Hyborian Age adventures at Marvel from 2019-2023. However, it’s likely the reprint rights for that material lies with Titan Books now, not with Marvel. It’s effectively just licensed work for which Marvel doesn’t presently own the license.

While we allowed other classic licensed material onto the poll, like Marvel Transformers, this example is just too fresh and obvious to put up for a vote: Marvel can’t print this.

Crystar, Crystal Warrior Omnibus Mapping

Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior
Because past polls demanded it, this would be a straight-forward and slim omnibus of Crystar (1983) #1-11!

Krisis Regrets: I don’t know why we titled this “Saga of,” which messed up its alphabetization on the poll. I think past votes named it that way.

Darkhawk Omnibus Mapping

Darkhawk
See Guide to Darkhawk. A vote for this is a vote for a whopping 50+ issue omnibus containing all of Darkhawk’s 90s material!

It would collect a minimum of Darkhawk (1991) #1-50 & Annual 1-3 and Sleepwalker (1991) #17, which is already a huge book!

However, it could add any of New Warriors (1990) #14; material from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #353-354 & 357-358; material from Assault on Armor City (continuing from his Annual 1 to Avengers West Coast (1989) Annual 7 and Iron Man (1968) Annual 13); Secret Defenders (1993) #1-3, and Amazing Spider-Man: Friends & Enemies (1995) #1-4. He also stars significantly in New Warriors, but we’ll need to leave that to the existing New Warriors omnibuses.

There’s no way we can sustain two Darkhawk books when he can barely sell a one-shot comic these days, so when it comes to extra material I think we have to pick our battles carefully. However, you don’t have to fight that battle to vote for this awesome 90s book!

Deadpool Omnibus Mapping

Deadpool By Gerry Duggan (2015 – 2018)
See Guide to Deadpool. It’s honestly shocking that Marvel hasn’t prioritized the release of the back half of Gerry Duggan’s run to coincide with this year’s Deadpool film! Maybe they think that Deadpool feuding with his succubus wife would be too out-there for moviegoers. But… we’re talking about Deadpool. Nothing is too out there!

This would collect Deadpool (2015) #1-36, 3.1, Annual 1, Deadpool: Last Days of Magic, the “Til Death Do Us” crossover (Spider-Man/Deadpool #15-16 & Deadpool & The Mercs For Money #9-10), Despicable Deadpool (2017) #287-300, and the two assembled comics created from secret comic variant covers of this run.

That’s nearly a 60 issue omnibus, and some of these issues are super-sized! There’s a chance this would need to be broken into two, but Marvel went pretty huge on the first Duggan omnibus, so who knows!

Deadpool Minibus Vol. 4
See Guide to Deadpool. The “Minibus” is a collection of all in-continuity mini-series. The last volume stopped at Deadpool: Too Soon (2016).

That means this volume would pick up Deadpool: Back in Black (2016) #1-5, Deadpool & The Mercs for Money (2016A) #1-5, Deadpool & The Mercs for Money (2016B) #1-8, Deadpool vs. The Punisher (2017) #1-5, and maybe even Rob Liefeld’s Deadpool: Bad Blood (2013) OGN.

These Minibusses tend to end around the 20 issue mark, so that would really be it! I think the real question is if instead of this Marvel might actually do a “Mercs for the Money” minibus that collects those 13 Mercs issues plus Foolkiller #1-5, Slapstick #1-5, and Solo #1-5.

Either way, your vote here is for “MORE MINIBUS!”

Deadpool: Fresh Start, Vol. 1 (2018 – Present)
See Guide to Deadpool. Much like Captain Marvel’s run of comics in All-New All-Different Marvel, Deadpool’s main runs in Fresh Start are each a bit short for an omnibus.

There’s Deadpool (2018) #1-15 by Skottie Young & Nic Klein; Deadpool (2020) #1-10 by Kelly Thompson, Chris Bachalo, & Gerardo Sandoval; and Deadpool (2022) #1-10 by Alyssa Wong (and a variety of artists).

If you feel like Young & Klein are big enough names to sell a 15-issue omnibus, vote for this. If you want to see a Young/Thompson omnibus, vote for this. Basically, this can be any initial iteration of post-2018 Deadpool ongoings your little heart desires.

Spider-Man / Deadpool
See Guide to Deadpool. This straight-forward book would collect Spider-Man/Deadpool (2016) #1-50, possibly simply omitting the “Til Death Do Us” crossover issues in #15-16 since they would be in the main omnibus (although this Epic line does include the full crossover).

Deathlok Omnibus Mapping

Deathlok Classic Omnibus (1974 – 1985)
See Guide to Deathlok. This is a slim omnibus would include all the pre-Michael Collins Deathlok stories.

That would include everything from his Masterwork volume – Deathlok stories from Astonishing Tales #25-28 & 30-36, Marvel Team-Up #46, Marvel Spotlight #33, Marvel Two-In-One #27 & 54, and Captain America #286-288. To that we’d add Marvel Fanfare (1982) #4 (2nd story) and a pin-up from Marvel Fanfare (1982) #23.

Deathlok: Michael Collins (1990 – 1994) (AKA by Dwayne McDuffie)
See Guide to Deathlok. This would collect all of the Michael Collins Deathlok stories from the first half of the 90s, largely written by Dwayne McDuffie.

It would include Deathlok (1990) #1-4, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #62, Deathlok (1991) #1-34 & Annual 1-2, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1989) #30-31, Daredevil (1964) Annual 8, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack (1992) #6-7, and Iron Man (1968) #301.

That’s a large omnibus that tells a complete arc of story for a character – the best kind!

Marvel M-Tech: X-51, Deathlok, & Warlock
See Guide to Deathlok. This is a peculiar book, but a lot of people want it – I have it all prepped for binding down in my garage!

This begins with an X-Men crossover called “The Dawn of M-Tech in Cable (1993) #59-62 (& material from 58), Uncanny X-Men (1963) #371, X-Men (1991) #91 & Annual ’99. That then continued to a trio of new M-Tech titles – Deathlok (1999) #1-11, Warlock (1999) #1-9, and X-51 (1999) #1-12.

We’ve had a paperback collect the crossover and Deathlok, but not the 21 issues of the other two series. Neither of them are really X-books (despite Warlock ostensibly being an X-character) – they’re their own little technology-focused, self-contained mini-line.

We Missed It: Deathlok, The Modern Years
There’s an obvious modern Deathlok book that includes his arc through Aaron’s Wolverine into Remender’s X-Force, and then his mid-Marvel Now ongoing and his appearances in SHIELD. We should add this one for next year!

Echo Omnibus Mapping

Echo
See Guide to Echo. Everyone knows about Echo’s two big storyarcs in Daredevil and how Bendis used her in his New Avengers. But, what else is there of this intriguing character who recently merited her own MCU D+ series?

Even if you’re intrigued by the possibility of voting for this book, I bet you aren’t 100% what it ought to contain.

Allow me to assist! I very recently read every issue Echo has ever appeared in to create her guide, and I think if you’re voting for this book you should expect to see Daredevil (1998) #9-15, Daredevil (1998) #51-55, New Avengers (2005) #11-13, 27, 31, & 39, material from Moon Knight (2011) #2-10, Daredevil (2016) Annual 1, Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices (2020) #1 (1st story), Avengers (2018) #40-45, Phoenix Song: Echo (2021) #1-5, and Daredevil & Echo (2023) #1-4.

(I enjoy Echo in Captain Marvel (2019) #1-5, but I don’t know if she plays a big enough role to merit including it here.)

Yes, Echo appears in more of Aaron’s Avengers than just that one arc, but she doesn’t often get much to do – and, when she does, it’s hugely tied up in the endgame of Aaron’s arc on the long-running title. This is 40+ issues where Echo is the real focus of the story.

Falcon Omnibus Mapping

Falcon: Sam Wilson, The Early Years (1969 – 1996)
See Guide to Sam Wilson – Falcon & Captain America. This would collect all of Sam Wilson’s significant early stories. He co-starred in Captain America for the better part of a decade, so we can’t include everything! However, we would definitely include any of his plot-significant issues and solo material.

For me, I think a good map would be Captain America (1968) #117-120, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #30, Captain America (1968) #191, Captain America (1968) #220 (back-up), Marvel Team-Up (1972) #71, Marvel Premiere (1972) #49, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #114, Captain America (1968) #272 & 275, Captain America (1968) 276-278 (2nd stories), subplot pages from Captain America (1968) #284, Falcon (1983) #1-4, Power-Man & Iron Fist (1978) #113 & 123 (and material from #112 & 121), Solo Avengers (1987) #6 (2nd story), subplot pages from Captain America (1968) #342-343 & 345, Captain America (1968) #355, Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #23 (3rd story), Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) #2 (7th story), Avengers (1963) #341-342, Captain America (1968) #400 (2nd story) & Annual 11 (3rd story), Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) #12 (2nd story), Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #147 (3rd story), & Marvel Fanfare (1996) #1.

Whoa, I had no idea I had that in me! Now that I look at that list, I’m reminded of how many good early stories Sam Wilson had. None of these are cameo appearances or background player issues – these are all plot significant to Sam in some way. And, it’s under 40 issues, so there’s a strong chance it could happen (and we could even squeak in a few more Cap issues).

Falcon: Sam Wilson, The Modern Years (1998 – 2015) (includes by Priest)
See Guide to Sam Wilson – Falcon & Captain America. This modern collection would mostly center on collecting Captain America & The Falcon (2004) #1-14 by Christopher Priest

However, just prior to that we’d grab Captain America (1998) #49 & 50 (6th story), Black Panther (1998) #59, and Avengers (1998) #64 & 68-70.

Then, after the Priest series, we might pick up a few issues of Captain America (2005), but we’d then leap to Captain America (1968) #602-605, Captain America and Falcon (2011) #1, and Captain America (1968) #612-615.

That’s an omni that’s all meat and no filler focused on a handful of significant Falcon adventures.

Captain America, Sam Wilson (2015 – 2018)
See Guide to Sam Wilson – Falcon & Captain America. We already have a pretty good idea of what this could collect based on a Complete Collection with this title. The issue is that… we kinda are already getting this in the form of the Captain America by Nick Spencer omnibuses. Right?

Not entirely. The first Complete Collection includes Captain America (2012) #25, All-New Captain America: Fear Him #1-4, All-New Captain America #1-6, and Inhuman Error (from Amazing Spider-Man Special #1, Inhuman Special #1, and All-New Captain America Special #1).

That’s 14 issues of Sam as Cap we don’t yet have in omnibus. That’s enough on its own as a slim “Nick Spencer Companion,” but you could also choose to add a few key issues of Avengers from 2015-2017, as well as Falcon (2017) #1-8, which comes after the end of Spencer’s run.

Frankenstein Omnibus Mapping

Marvel’s Frankenstein
This would entirely duplicate a 2015 paperback with 500+ pages that collected Frankenstein (1973) #1-18; Giant-Size Werewolf By Night #2; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #36-37; and material from Monsters Unleashed #2 & 4-10 and Legion of Monsters (1975) #1.

Galactus Omnibus Mapping

Galactus Vol. 1
Y’all… where do I even begin! Galactus has so much amazing material!!! His debut! His pre-history! His epic fight against the Phoenix in Excalibur! A vote for this book is a vote for “Galactus’s Greatest Hits.”

The tricky thing is that Galactus isn’t often a main character. His best issues aren’t necessarily measured by him being on panel the most. Instead, it’s about his presence, his Heralds, and what he inspires heroes to do.

I think at absolute minimum this has to begin with Fantastic Four (1961) #48-50 & 74-77, Thor (1966) #160-162 & 167-169, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Comic Magazine (2001) #10-12, Fantastic Four (1961) #121-123, Thor (1966) #225-228. Those are all significant early Galactus stories.

Also, I think Excalibur (1988) #61 is one of the most beautiful issues of all time and it is an epic issue of Galactus, so if we can make it all the way to the 90s I hope we include that!

Commenter KingBurger adds: the following:

For Galactus, on top of the ones you suggested, it would be awesome to include: Fantastic four (1961) #172-175, #208-214, #242-244, #257-262, Super Villains Classic One-shot (1983), silver surfer (1968) #1, #4, Silver surfer (1987) #1-10, #17-18, Dazzler #10-11, Ultimate Cosmic Experience.

Could we make it all the way to Galactus: The Devourer (1999) #1-6 in a first volume? I think we’d have to be pretty choosey about what counts as a great Galactus story. However, just looking through some of the options makes me very eager to create a Galactus guide of my own!

Hawkeye Omnibus Mapping

Hawkeye: Clint Barton, The Early Years
See Guide to Hawkeye. A vote for this is a vote for the first 20 years of Hawkeye’s Greatest Hits. We already have a blueprint for this book thanks to Hawkeye’s first Epic Collection.

It could collect Hawkeye (1983) #1-4 and key Clint issues of Avengers (1963) #16, 63-65, 189, 223; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #22, 92 & 95; Captain America (1968) #317; and material from Tales of Suspense (1959) #57, 60, & 64 (Iron Man stories); Marvel Tales (1964) #100; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #3 & 39; and Marvel Super Action (1976) #1.

That’s already 432 pages, which is a legitimate omnibus – but, I don’t think many people get excited about a 1:1 :: Epic:Omni relationship. We could add in considerably more Avengers greatest hits, up to and including West Coast Avengers (1984) #1-4 and some or all of West Coast Avengers (1985) #1-7.

Hawkeye: Clint Barton, Earth’s Mightiest Marksman (1987 – 2003) (includes Solo Avengers / Avengers Spotlight)
See Guide to Hawkeye. I was tempted to just leave the poll options at “The Early Years, Vol. 1” but this second book has some very obvious mapping!

It would include Hawkeye stories from Solo Avengers (1987) #1-20 and Avengers Spotlight (1989) #21-36, which was entirely Hawkeye’s title for at least half of every issue! Even if we didn’t excerpt a single issue of team material from Avengers West Coast, Force Works, or Thunderbolts, we’d still add Hawkeye (1994) #1-4, Hawkeye – Earth’s Mightiest Marksman (1998) #1, and Hawkeye (2003) #1-8… and, maybe his untimely fate in Avengers Disassembled.

That’s an incredibly solid book that would be a fun read. Unfortunately, if we wait for the Epic Collections to cover this first we could be waiting a long time! If you want to see this in omnibus, it needs your vote!

Hawkeye: Clint Barton, The Return (2006 – 2011)
See Guide to Hawkeye. Again, I was tempted to leave well enough alone on the poll, but this “Pre-Fraction” run of Hawkeye has a very obvious map that has been collected several times over! If you’re voting for this, you know exactly what you want!

That would include the obvious material we’ve seen collected before from New Avengers: The Reunion (2009) #1-4, Hawkeye & Mockingbird (2010) #1-6, Widowmaker (2010) #1-4, Hawkeye: Blindspot (2011) #1-4, Hawkeye & Mockingbird Sketchbook (2010) #1, and material from Dark Reign: New Nation (2008) #1, Enter the Heroic Age (2010) #1.

That’s already close to 500 pages. To that, we’d add his actual return from New Avengers (2004) and some of his key New Avengers issues (especially him getting angry at seeing the Dark Avengers debut on TV!), Young Avengers Presents (2008) #6 (which is a bonus in the Fraction omnibus, but actually occurs here), his appearance in Avengers: Solo (2011) #1-5 (A-Stories), Captain America And Hawkeye (2012) #629-632.

Again, that’s an omnibus of sizable heft and enjoyable content! It’s also very obvious and too big to mash into the prior book, and it butts right up against Fraction’s Hawkeye.

Hawkeye: Client Barton (2015 – 2020) (Lemire, Duggan, Walker, & Rosenberg)
See Guide to Hawkeye. A vote for this book is a vote to pick up directly from Fraction’s Hawkeye to continue Clint’s story throughout the latter half of the 2010s.

Based on that definition, this could include Hawkeye vs. Deadpool (2014) #0-4, All-New Hawkeye (2015A) #1-5, All-New Hawkeye (2015B) #1-6, Occupy Avengers (2016) #1-8 (a full-on Hawkeye solo book!), Hawkeye (2016) #13-16 (which is Kate’s title, but Clint co-stars in this arc), Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye (2017) #, Tales of Suspense (2017) #100-104 (a Client + Bucky team-up), and Hawkeye: Freefall (2020) #1-5.

Again, that’s a pretty solid book with some satisfying stories along the way.

Hawkeye: Kate Bishop (2005 – 2018) (includes all of Lemire & Thompson, plus West Coast)
See Guide to Hawkeye. What are you voting for with this book? Anything you think it should contain!

Clearly we have three big chunks of Kate Bishop already covered in omnibus – her time in the original Young Avengers, her appearances in Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye, and her appearances in Gillens’ Young Avengers redux.

That means realistically there might not be much point in including any pre-2016 material here. Honestly, this could just be the Kelly Thompson run on the character and be a totally kick-ass omnibus. However, I’d argue that if this is really meant to be a one-and-done Kate Bishop omnibus for MCU fans, we could stand to duplicate some of her key stories from those books.

Similarly, we could start this with three brief series that starred both Hawkeyes (Hawkeye vs. Deadpool (2014) #0-4, All-New Hawkeye (2015A) #1-5, & All-New Hawkeye (2015B) #1-6), but they could all also wind up in a Clint Barton book. Do we need to double-dip them all here? Before you answer, know that Kate was 50% the star of each of them!

However, the main attraction here is Kelly Thompson’s writing on Kate’s solo series Hawkeye (2016) #1-16, Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye (2017) #1, and Kate’s team book West Coast Avengers (2018) #1-10. I think a vote for this book is primarily a vote for that, and then also whatever other material you think would be fitting.

Hellcat Omnibus Mapping

Patsy Walker, Hellcat
See Guide to Hellcat, Patsy Walker. Hellcat has a surprising amount of strong material – more than enough for an omnibus! Would this be her early years, or the complete Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! (2016) #1-17 (+ She-Hulk (2017) #163)? It’s up to you!

My personal suggestion would be for this to be a comprehensive “Early Years” book. That would collect Avengers (1963) #144 & 147-149, Defenders (1972) #44-45, 61, 65, 85-87, 94-101, 111, 116, 122, 125, & 148 (and material from #89-91 & 107-109), West Coast Avengers (1985) #14-16, Solo Avengers (1987) #9 (2nd story), Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) #1 (3rd story), Marvel Fanfare (1982) #59 (2nd story), Hellstorm: Prince of Lies (1993) #3, Thunderbolts (1997) Annual 2000 (1st story) & Avengers (1998) Annual 2000 (1st story), Hellcat (2000) #1-3, Marvel Comics Presents (2007) #1-4, Patsy Walker: Hellcat (2008) #1-5, Models Inc. (2009) #1-4, Marvel Divas (2009) #1-4, Marvel Holiday Special (1991) 2010, Heralds (2010) #1-5

That’s 55 full length issues as well as excerpts and anthology stories from another 10, which is probably too long for one omnibus. However, I’m not sure what we could cut – all of those Defenders issues are truly critical. Perhaps we could omit the frivolous Models Inc, but everything else here is pretty crucial to her story – and some of it wouldn’t be likely to be collected elsewhere.

Or… just vote in favor of that 2016 series being collected. Or, heck, vote as if this is a Volume 1, which could cut off somewhere in the 2000s and then continue into a second book – solving both of our problems!

Hellstrom Omnibus Mapping

Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan (1973 – 1994)
Even though I don’t have a Hellstrom guide quite yet, I can tell you exactly what this should include!

You are voting for a book of all of Daimon’s classic material, which has already been collected in a nearly 500-page trade. That includes Ghost Rider (1973) #1-2, Marvel Spotlight (1971) #12-24, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #32, Son of Satan (1975) #1-8, Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #14.

Because this is an omnibus and we can make it work, I think you could also imagine this would improve on that existing classic trade with include 5-10 issues of his key material from his run on Defenders (1972), where he had a lot of growth and where he fell in love with Patsy Walker. At minimum, that would be Defenders (1972) #92 & 120-121 from his “Evil Origins” trade.

That likely puts us in the 700-page range and that’s what you’re most-obviously voting for. However, we could also add another 264 pages and grab all of Hellstorm: Prince of Lies (1993) #1-11, which was abandoned by the anemic Hellstrom by Warren Ellis omnibus, so this would line up perfectly with that on the shelf.

Hercules Omnibus Mapping

Hercules: The Early Years (Silver & Bronze Age appearances)
See Guide to Hercules. A vote in favor of this tome would be a vote for all of Hercules’ best stories from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s in a similar style to the Wonder Man omnibus. This is a fun exercise for Hercules, because it not only includes key Avengers issues, but also his dalliances with other gods in Thor.

To me, that’s the best kind of these “greatest hits” omnibuses – one that tracks a character through multiple titles instead of just excerpting their material from one.

Of course, this would start with Journey Into Mystery (1952) Annual 1 & #124-125 and Thor (1966) #126 & 128-130! It would also likely collect most of his period of moving in with and initially joining the Avengers in Avengers (1963) #38-44, Annual 1 & 45-50, an Olympus-focused story in Avengers (1963) #99-100, and some of the highlights of his time as Thor’s partner (and roommate) in Thor (1966) #221-239.

From there Hercules in in The Champions, who should merit their own omnibus at some point. That would make this one of the slimmer “Early Years” omnibuses, but a satisfying one. However, it could also optionally press forward to the 90s in present day material from the Layton period, since Layton exclusively focused on a future continuity for Hercules.

Hercules by Bob Layton
See Guide to Hercules. Bob Layton wrote some of Hercules most-notable comics prior to the 00s, which a single slim omnibus could collect entirely from three short trades. This was not an in-continuity Hercules, but “Hercules of the 24th Century.”

This could include Hercules: Prince of Power (1982) #1-4, Hercules: Prince of Power (1984) #1-4, material from Marvel Tales (1966_ #197, Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #37 – Hercules, Prince of Power: Full Circle, stories from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #39-41, and material from Marvel Age #4 and 65. Plus, a much-later sequel, Hercules: Twilight of a God (2010)#1-4

Hercules by Greg Pak (includes Incredible Hercules)
See Guide to Hercules. Greg Pak wrote a compelling Hercules saga through a number of different titles that have only been collected in a mix of oversize hardcovers and paperbacks (including an incomplete Complete Collection line). It’s a perfect run for an omnibus if you want to read a modern story about this character, because it has a true arc of progress for him.

A vote for this book is a vote to collect Incredible Hulk (2000) #106-112, Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide (2008) #1, Incredible Hercules (2008) #113-141, Assault on New Olympus Prologue (2009) #1 (before #138), Hercules: Fall of an Avenger (2010) #1-2, Heroic Age: The New Prince of Power (2010) #1-4, his appearances in Chaos War (Chaos War (2010) #1-5, Chaos War: Chaos King (2011) #1, Chaos War: God Squad (2011) #1, Chaos War: Ares (2011) #1), and Herc (2011) #1-10 & 6.1 and material from Giant-Size Hulk (2006) #1, Amazing Fantasy (2004) #15, and Incredible Hulk (2000) #100 & 620-622

That’s a huge book, so your vote doesn’t have to stand for the whole thing. It could be in your opinion that the entire second half ought to be a Chaos War volume, which is a separate option on the poll. Also, if this was broken into two volumes it could pick up the preceding Hercules (2005) #1-5 (which is NOT by Pak) and/or push forward through Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants (2011) #1-4 all the way to his All-New All Different Marvel material.

But, your vote doesn’t have to have all of that in mind. Your vote is “please give us a book with Incredible Hercules in it, at minimum.

Iron Fist Omnibus Mapping

Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 1 (1977 – 1983)
Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 2 (1983 – 1986)
I already covered this in the Marvel Teams mapping post! It would collect Power Man (1974) #48-49, Power Man and Iron Fist (1978) #50-125 (but not issue #73, because of ROM), and Daredevil (1964) #178.

Iron Fist: The Return of K’un Lun (1991 – 2005)
This is a very obvious volume that Marvel has already thoroughly mapped in paperback. On Twitter, I Am Iron Fist pointed out it could more simply be called “The Return of Danny Rand” to avoid confusion that it only collects the series in the title – which happens towards the end of this period.

A vote for this is basically a vote for “all the good stuff from Iron Fist’s return in 1991 to meet up with his Immortal Iron Fist series in 2006.”

First, this would pick up the Danny’s return in the pages of Namor, The Sub-Mariner (1990) #16 & 22-24 (and maybe also a stop to see his old friend Luke in Cage (1992) #9-12). Then, it would include the contents of Iron Fist’s early return material from Iron Fist: The Book of Changes – Marvel Comics Presents (1988) 111, 113-118, & 125-132, Namor Annual 3, Marvel Comics Presents #133-137, Spider-Man (1990) #41-43, and Marvel Comics Presents #140-141. Finally, it would collect the contents of Iron Fist: The Return of K’un Lun, which included Iron Fist (1996) #1-2, Iron Fist (1998) #1-3, Iron Fist / Wolverine (2000) #1-4, and Iron Fist (2004) #1-6 – plus Iron Fist’s modern origin retelling from Uncanny Origins (1996) #14, and material from Marvel Knights Double Shot (2002) #4.

That’s a hefty book that tracks Danny Rand from his reappearance right through the start of his Eisner-winner Fraction/Brubaker run, itself a massive omnibus (and one of my all-time favorite reads!), with the exception of his time in Heroes for Hire (1997).

Heroes for Hire (1997 – 1999)
I already covered this in the Marvel Teams mapping post! It would collect Heroes for Hire (1996) #1-19, Luke’s preceding appearances in Spider-Man Unlimited #13 and Marvel Fanfare (1996) #6, and Siege of Wundagore crossover issues Quicksilver (1997) #11-12 and Heroes For Hire/Quicksilver Annual 1998.

Iron Fist, The Modern Years (2011 – 2021) (includes by Kaare Andrews)
A vote for this book is a vote to cover the most recent decade of disparate Iron Fist material.

We could map this a few different ways, but it would primarily collect a spine of Power Man and Iron Fist (2011) #1-5, and then Kaare Andrews’ Iron Fist, The Living Weapon (2014) #1-12 and Immortal Iron Fists (2017) #1-6.

If you push past that to Marvel Legacy in 2017, it would continue to Iron Fist (2017) #1-7 & 73-80, Iron Fist (2018) Marvel Digital Original #1-6, Immortal Iron Fists (2018) #1-6 (also by Kaare Andrews), and Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon (2021) #1-6

That’s a big book, probably too big to include Power Man & Iron Fist (2016) #1-15. However, I would argue that this should only include that initial spine and the 2018 Andrews series, but the rest of the material from Legacy onward should be in the next book.

You don’t have to agree with me! A vote for this is a vote for mapping the 2011-2021 period in whatever way pleases you.

We Missed It: All-New, All-Different Power Man & Iron Fist
As I discussed in the the Marvel Teams mapping post! This could collect Power Man & Iron Fist (2016) #1-15 and both character’s subsequent All-New All-Different and Legacy-Era solo series. The argument in favor of this is that Luke and Danny almost always appear in each other’s titles at least a little bit in this period, so it makes sense to collect them together.

That means it would collect Power Man & Iron Fist (2016) #1-15, Iron Fist (2017) #1-7 & 73-80, Iron Fist (2018) Marvel Digital Original #1-6, possibly skipping Immortal Iron Fists (2018) #1-6 (also by Kaare Andrews, although it sets up the next series), and Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon (2021) #1-6, plus Cage series from this period.

We could also throw in Contagion (2019) #1-5, which starred both characters.

Jack of Hearts Omnibus Mapping

Jack of Hearts
I have vowed to complete a Jack of Hearts guide this year! Jack has about 120 appearances prior to his charming current run in She-Hulk, but a lot of those are team appearances in Avengers.

I’m not an expert on him yet, but I think at minimum this would probably include most of his material in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974) #23-24, 26, 29-32, and then Incredible Hulk (1968) #213-214, some of his run in Iron Man (1968) #102-113, Marvel Premiere (1972) #44, Defenders (1972) #62-64, Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #48, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #134, and Jack of Hearts (1984) #1-4.

Then, we could add some or all of his appearances in Quasar (1989) #15, 19-20, & 27-29 and Silver Surfer (1987) #76-78, 82, & Annual 6 (3rd story) if they are relevant, and finally material from Cosmic Powers (1994) #2-6 and Cosmic Powers Unlimited (1995) #3.

The tricky part of this collection is that it only includes a few unique issues and stories – primarily Marvel Premiere and the Jack of Hearts mini. However, we’re seeing plenty of other “Early Years” double-dips on other omnibus, and Jack never repeats a significant visit to a single hero, so it’s not like this would double-dipping one book in specific.

Jessica Jones Omnibus Mapping

Jessica Jones by Brian Bendis (2004 – 2018)
We have an existing mature readers Alias omnibus collecting Bendis’s original MAX series Alias (2001) #1-28, but Bendis kept on writing the character directly following that book – and he revisited her in 2018!

This could collect the contents of Jessica Jones – The Pulse: Complete Collection, which were Pulse #1-9 & 11-14 (#10 was part of House of M) and New Avengers (2005) Annual 1. I’d argue for this to add a few other significant issues of JJ in New Avengers, including a minimum of New Avengers (2005) #22, 38, 47-49, 58-60, & Annual 3 plus Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular (2009) #2 (2nd story).

Your vote could just stand for that material, but you could also be voting to add in Jessica Jones (2016) #1-18 and Defenders (2017) #1-10, which are Bendis’s parting shot on the character.

Ka-Zar Omnibus Mapping

Ka-Zar, The Silver Age Omnibus
We have three Ka-Zar Masterworks, which is the perfect amount of material for a Silver Age omnibus!

That could include Marvel Super Heroes (1967) #19, Astonishing Tales (1970) #1-20, material from Savage Tales (1971) #1, Ka-Zar (1974) #1-9, Shanna the She-Devil (1972) #1-5, Daredevil (1964) #110-112 (and material from #109), Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #3, and material from Savage Tales (1971) #5-11.

Plus, it could finally put right the omission of X-Men (1963) #10 and Daredevil (1964) #12, 14, 16, & 24, and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #57 from his Masterworks line, since earlier Masterworks volumes never double-dipped other lines the way they do now.

We could likely add in a few more guest appearances to meet up with the beginning of the existing omnibus of Ka-Zar’s 1981 series, but this is already a very complete book.

Ka-Zar (1997 – 1999)
This would primarily collect Ka-Zar (1997) #1-14, -1, and Annual 1997.

That’s a slim omnibus, so it could actually begin directly with his significant appearances from after his solo series concluded in 1984 to give us complete coverage of the character from the 60s to the 90s.

Kang Omnibus Mapping

Kang Vol. 1
See Guide to Kang the Conqueror. Kang has so many good, key appearances that I’m not sure we could get all the way to the modern day in a single book. However, this could definitely include his vintage throwdowns with the Avengers and Fantastic Four, plus his late-80s crisis with multiple Kangs!

At minimum, I think this collects Fantastic Four (1961) #19 & Annual 2, Avengers (1963) #8, 23-24, 69-71, 129, Giant-Size Avengers (1974) #2, Avengers (1963) #131-132, Giant-Size Avengers (1974) #3-4, Avengers (1963) #143 & 267-269, the Citizen Kang annuals crossover (Captain America (1968) Annual 11, Thor (1966) Annual 17, Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 25, Avengers (1963) Annual 21), and Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective (1993) #1-4.

However, before Citizen Kang I think it would also need to include at least sub-plot pages from Avengers (1963) #291-297 & 300 and Fantastic Four (1961) #323-325 & 337-341. Kang doesn’t appear in all of those issues, but they include plots that culminate in Citizen Kang and Terminatrix Objective.

Kang next pops up in Avengers Forever (1998) #1-12 and during his signature arc later in Avengers (1998), so I think this is a good stopping point for this book – although, given Kang’s time-traveling, you could argue to include later material that happens earlier for Kang!

Killraven Omnibus Mapping

Killraven
We’ve already had this material in Essentials, Masterworks, and Epic Collection – so, why not an omnibus!

This would collect Amazing Adventures (1970) #18-39, Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #7 – Killraven: Warrior of Worlds, and Marvel Team-Up (1972) 45.

However, I think an omnibus could improve on all of those prior collections by also including Killraven (2002) #1-6 in full (even if it doesn’t entirely match the continuity that comes before it, which I dimly recall may be the case).

Kingpin Omnibus Mapping

The Kingpin: Wilson Fisk (1967 and on)
I won’t even attempt to give you a map for this villainous omnibus focusing on the imposing Kingpin, who began as a Spider-Man villain before becoming a fixture of Daredevil.

For these villain omnibuses, you truly have to read every issue of material to sift out the golden, defining character moments. But, there’s definitely plenty of those for Kingpin. Just getting from his debut in Amazing Spider-Man (1963) to the end of Miller’s return to Daredevil in Daredevil (1964) #233 there are over 110 appearances! Of course, not all of them are significant, but I’d say that’s probably the period of time where we’d pull 50 issues from for this early years omnibus.

Luke Cage Omnibus Mapping

Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 1 (1977 – 1983)
Power Man & Iron Fist Vol. 2 (1983 – 1986)
See above in Iron Fist or the Marvel Teams mapping post!

Luke Cage: Second Chances (1992 – 1993)
We already have a perfect map of this from a pair of trades of Cage’s 1992 ongoing series, so it’s obvious what you’d be voting for.

It would collect Cage (1992) #1-20, a story from prior to this run in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #82, and a crossover through Terror Inc. (1992) #11-12 and Silver Sable & The Wild Pack #13-14 (A-Stories only).

However, I think it should add a three-issue featured appearance in Punisher (1987) #60-62 and a single-issue cover-billing in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (1989) #36. Those four issues should have never been omitted from the trades.

That’s absolutely everything of Luke’s in this period outside of brief appearances in the Infinity events before he forms Heroes for Hire.

Heroes for Hire (1997 – 1999)
See above in Iron Fist or the Marvel Teams mapping post!

Luke Cage, Modern Era (2000 – 2012)
It’s hard to say exactly what this book should include, only because so much of Luke’s significant material is in other titles during Marvel Knights and written by Brian Bendis – namely, Marvel Knights (2000), Alias (2001), The Pulse (2004), and New Avengers (2005).

However, if you vote for it, you’re saying – give this to me all in one place!

Apart from key appearances in those titles, the only material there is to collect in this book is Cage MAX (2002) #1-5 and New Avengers: Luke Cage (2010) #1-3.

We Missed It: All-New, All-Different Power Man & Iron Fist
We discussed this above in Iron Fist and in the the Marvel Teams mapping post, but here is the FULL MAP for this book that I’ve teased several times now!

This would collect Power Man & Iron Fist (2016) #1-15, Iron Fist (2017) #1-7 & 73-80, Luke Cage (2017) #1-5 & 166-170, Iron Fist (2018) Marvel Digital Original #1-6, Luke Cage – Marvel Digital Original (2018) #1-6, possibly skipping Immortal Iron Fists (2018) #1-6 (which could be in another Iron Fist book), but adding Contagion (2019) #1-5 and Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon (2021) #1-6.

Bendis’s Defenders (2017) happens in here, too, and you could make an argument for it to be included, but we’ve seen several other places in this poll where it fits better – namely, a Marvel Knights Defenders book or with Jessica Jones, above.

The argument against this book is that the 2016 Power Man & Iron Fist series has a very silly tone that different than those solo series… but, the 2017 solo series is by the same author, David Walker!

Machine Man Omnibus Mapping

Machine Man
An existing “Complete” trade of this character clock in at more than 400 pages and collected Machine Man (1978) #1-19 and Incredible Hulk (1968) #235-237.

A vote for this omnibus would be a vote to duplicate that material, at minimum. It could then also continue to collect other significant 1980s Machine Man material (there’s not a lot of it) even continuing as far as his X-51 (1999) #1-12, which takes us right up to his appearances in Nextwave!

Man-Thing Omnibus Mapping

Man-Thing Vol. 2
The original Man-Thing omnibus leaves us plenty of room to collect more appearances in a second volume! That’s partly due to the fact that this is one of those instances where a subsequent Complete Collection mapping pushed farther than an omnibus. A vote for this book is a vote to collect all of Man-Thing’s major appearances in the 80s, 90s, and maybe even beyond.

First this optionally could rectify the missing classic material that was in the Steve Gerber Complete Collections that overlaps the period of the original omnibus – Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #1, Daredevil (1964) #113-114, Iron Man Annual (1970) #3, Howard the Duck (1976) #22-23.

However, I think where this really begins is with some appearances to the side of that original omnibus, including material from Howard The Duck Magazine (1976) #6-7, followed by a terrific issue of Uncanny X-Men (1963) #144, and Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #77, Defenders (1972) #98 (and material from #97), Marvel Team-Up (1972) #122, and Marvel Fanfare (1982) #9 & 36 (2nd story)

Then, we’d continue into the Steve Gerber material with Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #1-12 (2nd stories) and Web of Spider-Man Annual (1985) #4.

Finally, we could keep pressing on! There’s a lot of other material we could include, like Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #29 (4th story), Midnight Suns Unlimited (1993) #8, Incredible Hulk (1968) #427-428, Generation X (1994) #25 & Daydreamers (1997) #1-3, Marvel Team-Up (1997) #4, Man-Thing Vol. 3 (1997) #1-8, Shadows & Light (1998) #2 (2nd story), and Strange Tales Vol. 4 (1998) #1-2.

That’s not so long that we couldn’t keep going into the 2000s, although I’m not sure if we can make it all the way to Infernal Man-Thing (2012) #1-3, which is the final material in the Gerber Complete Collections.

Misty Knight & Colleen Wing Omnibus Mapping

We Missed It: Daughters of the Dragon
Even though we thought to include an omnibus of Misty & Colleen in their mid-00s Heroes for Hire team, we missed the chance to include an “Early Years” omnibus of all of their first 30 years of appearances. We’ll add it next year!

Mockingbird Omnibus Mapping

Mockingbird
See Guide to Mockingbird. We’ve had a chunky Mockingbird Classic: Bobbi Morse, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. trade that collects almost all of Mockingbird’s early, pre-Avengers appearances in 400+ pages. If you vote for this omnibus, you’re voting to collect all of that, plus many more of her significant appearances through her seeming demise at the close of Avengers West Coast.

That trade included Astonishing Tales (1970) #6-7 (excerpts), 10, 12-13, 15-20; Ka-Zar (1974) #3-5; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #95; Hawkeye (1983) #1-4; and material from Astonishing Tales (1970) #8; Savage Tales (1971) #8; Marvel Super Action (1976) #1.

After that we’d add significant issues from Avengers and West Coast Avengers, as well as solo and duo stories from Solo Avengers (1987) and Avengers Spotlight (1989).

If the version of this in your head presses on to collect her post-return material in the 2000s and even her 2016 ongoing series, go for it! Mockingbird has little enough significant material that this book really could hit almost everything in her history. It’s just up to you if you picture it sticking with classic pre-2000 material or also including modern work.

Monica Rambeau Omnibus Mapping

Monica Rambeau – The Early Years
See Guide to Monica Rambeau – Captain Marvel, Photon, & Spectrum. A vote for this omnibus is a vote to collect all of Monica’s early significant character appearances – possibly right up to her joining Nextwave in 2006 or beyond.

A “Saga of” trade already gave us a core of material, but it was less than 300 issues. That included Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Annual 16; Avengers (1963) #227; Marvel Team-up (1972) #142-143; Avengers (1963) #279; material from Solo Avengers (1987) #2; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #42 (2nd story); Captain Marvel (1989) #1; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #57 (2nd story); Captain Marvel (1994) #1; and material from Avengers Unplugged (1995) #5.

That’s truly all there is to collect of Monica until Nextwave, aside from six subsequent issues of Avengers Infinity (2000) #1-4 (which isn’t primarily her series, though she is significant in it) and Black Panther (2005) #12-13.

That leaves us two options. We could collect more of the best of her material from Roger Stern’s run on Avengers – which I think you could trim down to about a dozen more significant issues.

Alternately, you could actually include Nextwave: Agents of Hate (2006) #1-12 here – Monica was the leader of the team and she’s in every issue!

And, you could easily fit her onlysignificant appearances after that Marvel Divas (2009) #1-4, Marvel Holiday Special (1991) 2010, World War Hulks: Captain America vs. Wolverine (2010) #1 (2nd story), and Heralds (2010) #1-5 – maybe even concluding with an outstanding appearance in Captain Marvel (2012) #7-8 where Monica and Carol discuss the “Captain Marvel” title.

Honestly, there’s probably a way to do ALL of that in this one omnibus, so if you love Monica Rambeau make sure to place your vote!

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur Omnibus Mapping

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur
See Guide to Devil Dinosaur & Moon Girl. I think a vote for this is a vote to primarily collect all of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2016) #1-47 in one big book.

The only other material I’d consider adding to that is the contents of her “Marvel Universe” trade, which were Extraordinary X-Men Annual 1 (2nd story); Venom (2017) #153, Monsters Unleashed (2017) #12; and the three-page Moon Girl Marvel Legacy Primer. None of those issues really stray too far from the vibe of her all-ages series.

Moon Knight Omnibus Mapping

Moon Knight (2011 – 2018) (AKA, Bendis, Ellis, Wood, Bunn, Lemire, & Bemis)
See Guide to Moon Knight. Alright, ya’ll. I know this is controversial, but hear me out – because I think this has the potential to be one of the Top 10 on this poll!

Each one of these creator-centric runs on the path from the prior Moon Knight omnibus to Jed MacKay’s Moon Knight omnibus is a little too small for an omnibus. Both Bendis and Lemire each got a hardcover, but neither was an omnibus.

If we want to see all of this material in oversize format it needs to be in a single omnibus line.

Luckily, there’s a character who set the standard for this kind of multi-run, multi-author collection – and it was Moon Knight! His 2000s-era omnibus crossed multiple series from multiple authors to grab all of his material from the era, which Marvel hadn’t previously done too often in the post-2000 era of runs that are often driven by single-creator runs.

The Moon Knight by Huston, Benson & Hurwitz Omnibus ends with Shadowland in 2010. After that, Moon Knight’s material includes Moon Knight (2011) #1-12 by Bendis & Maleev; Moon Knight (2014) #1-6 by Ellis, #7-12 by Wood & Shalvey, and #13-17 by Bunn; Moon Knight (2016) #1-14 by Lemire & Smallwood, Moon Knight (2016) #188-200 by Bemis, an all-time great story in Annual 1/2019, and a story in Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #4.

Plus, we could resolve fan grumbling by adding the “Age of Khonshu” story from Avengers (2018) #33-38, which folks wanted to see in the MacKay omnibus!

Y’all, that is a 58 issue omnibus even before the Avengers issues. That’s big, but the Huston et al omni was also big at 45 issues, and it was only 1184 pages.

If you really think this is too big for one book you should still vote. Your vote would be for a “Vol 1” that would focus on the 2011 and 2014 series, maybe adding in a few key adventures from his time in Secret Avengers. Then, the second book would have plenty of room for the Avengers arc.

But… I think we could get it done in one!

Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan Omnibus Mapping

Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan Vol. 2 (by G. Willow Wilson)
See Guide to Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan. This omnibus would finally complete the orphaned Vol. 1 omnibus by collecting Ms. Marvel (2015) #1-38 and Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel (2017) #1.

Though Kamala appeared in the All New All Different Avengers (2015) and Champions (2016) at this point, her G. Willow Wilson run was always 100% self-contained. The first omnibus only included three very prominent guest-appearances. There is no reason that would change for this volume.

Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan Vol. 3 (AKA Magnificent Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed)
See Guide to Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan. We’ve already seen Salandin Ahmed’s run on Miles Morales headed to omnibus, so a vote for this would also collect his simultaneous run on Kamala!

However, that’s just 19 issues of Magnificent Ms. Marvel (2019) #1-18 & Annual 1, plus Ms. Marvel Infinity Comic: Bottled Up (2022) #1.

To that, I think it’s incredibly obvious to add the preceding Marvel Team-Up (2019) #1-6 by Eve Ewing, which was a Kamala-focused team-up book! I also think you have to include Eve Ewing’s Outlawed (2020) #1 for context on some of what is happening at the end of this Ahmed run.

I think we ought to also push onward for 8 more issues to Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit (2021) #1-5 and then Ms. Marvel and… Wolverine (2022) #1, & Moon Knight (2022), & Venom (2022). They all happen before Kamala becomes entangled with the world of the X-Men after the lead-up in her appearances in Amazing Spider-Man (2022). Eventually Kamala will get another long ongoing run that will be definitively a part of her mutant era, and we wouldn’t want to start an omnibus of that with a bunch of brief, disconnected material from before that big revelation.

Comments

KingBurger says

April 2, 2024 at 9:48 pm

For Galactus, on top of the ones you suggested, it would be awesome to include:
Fantastic four (1961) #172-175, #208-214, #242-244, #257-262, Super Villains Classic One-shot (1983), silver surfer (1968) #1, #4, Silver surfer (1987) #1-10, #17-18, Dazzler #10-11, Ultimate Cosmic Experience.

- krisis says
  
  April 3, 2024 at 2:41 pm
  
  Great picks! I added this to the post.
  
  - KingBurger says
    
    April 3, 2024 at 5:41 pm
    
    Thanks Peter. Thanks again for the maps. Really helps me!
    
Luka Nieto Garay says

April 3, 2024 at 5:51 pm

I’d definitely add Marvel Team-Up (2019) 4-6 to the Captain Marvel 2016-2019 omnibus. It’s a Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel team-up. The main villain reappears in Thompson’s run, in the Empyre arc. It’d be a shame to lose that.

- krisis says
  
  April 3, 2024 at 9:55 pm
  
  Great call! I hadn’t thought about how it was abandoned since it’s not in the KThompson omni.
  
Luka Nieto Garay says

April 3, 2024 at 5:54 pm

(I’d definitely also add Secret Avengers #26-28 to the Carol Ms. Marvel Omni, a direct setup to her becoming Captain Marvel. It’d definitely be 2 volumes then, tho.).

- krisis says
  
  April 3, 2024 at 9:56 pm
  
  Oof, yeah, that omni is hard because I’d really love to see it as a one-and-done, but there’s definitely some other material from the era we could include. Ultimately, Marvel will be the arbiters of that based on what they think they can sell.
  
  - Luka Nieto Garay says
    
    April 4, 2024 at 5:06 am
    
    My personal preference would be two volumes, if only because then it’d be easier to wield (those 1300+ volumes can be a pain sometimes) and they’d be able to include other key stories from the era. My personal mapping (I know that’s not up to you, I’m just sharing, hehe) would be a Volume 1 with Giant-Size Ms. Marvel (1st story); Ms. Marvel (2006) #1-24, Special #1, Annual #1; and, perhaps controversially, Mighty Avengers (2007) #1-11. It’s her only time leading the Avengers until 2023, and it interacts with Reed’s run early on, so I think it’d be worth it. It’d be about 900+ pages, as would the second volume, with Captain Marvel (2008) #1-5; Ms. Marvel (2006) #25-50, Special: Storyteller; Dark Avengers (2009) #1 (1st story), New Avengers Annual #3, Siege: Spider-Man, Secret Avengers (2010) #26-28, and She-Hulk: Sensational (2nd story). Those additions would cover the gap between the end of her run in 2010 and her revamp in 2012.
    
    - krisis says
      
      April 4, 2024 at 6:35 am
      
      I think that’s a great use of the real estate of two books to feel really complete and not miss anything significant.
      
Red1116 says

April 7, 2024 at 12:04 am

This is probably my craziest omnibus mapping thought ever. I generally don’t go for the villain-centric omnis, but I would be totally down for a Kang omnibus (maybe more than one volume even) IF it was mapped in chronological order from Kang’s perspective.

There are so many downsides to it, I know that. It wouldn’t be friendly to new readers. (Not sure that’s much of a concern now that Kang may no longer have much of a future in the MCU.) I can’t say for sure where one would map stories like Celestial Madonna and Avengers Forever where one than one version of Kang shows up. You’d be jumping from current to Silver Age to Bronze Age to the 90s to the 80s and back. And if a younger Kang showed up in the contemporary Marvel Universe, and then the omnibus were reprinted later on, would it have to be remapped?

But it would make for such a unique omnibus, and it would be awesome!

- krisis says
  
  April 7, 2024 at 7:38 pm
  
  I tried to order the Kang guide that way. You can fit some stories in that way, but others it’s just unclear where in Kang’s future continuity his present appearances fit.