Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Chris Claremont

Crushing Comics S01E16 – Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1 (plus, Marvel Omnibus history & the “Glued vs. Sewn” debate)

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I begin this episode reminiscing about the history of the Marvel Omnibus program, not realizing I would be pulling out one their earliest and most often-reprinted omnibuses – and one of my all-time favorites – Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1. I get so distracted talking about it’s place in Marvel’s history (both of comics and omnibuses) that I almost forget to talk about its contents!

Want to start from the beginning of this series of episodes? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 16 features Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Amazon / eBay) as covered by my Guide to Claremont-era X-Men.

Crushing Comics S01E15 – Captain Britain Vol. 1: Birth of a Legend & Vol. 2: Siege of Camelot

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In this episode I get to show off my (mostly-correct) knowledge about a slightly obscure corner of X-Men lore – Captain Britain’s early, UK-only history. Did you know that it was largely written by Chris Claremont?!

Want to start from the beginning of this season of videos? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 15 features Captain Britain – Volume 1: Birth of a Legend (Amazon / eBay) and Captain Britain – Volume 2: Siege of Camelot (Amazon / eBay), both of which are covered in the Guide to Captain Britain & Excalibur.

 

Crushing Comics, S01E08 – Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 2

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On this episode I unwrap what may be my favorite classic of all time in Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2, leading me to reminisce about buying my first (of several) copies of the Dark Phoenix Saga when I was 11.

Want to start from the beginning? Here’s the complete Season 1 playlist of Crushing Comics.

Episode 8 features Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 2 (Amazon / eBay) as covered by my Guide to Claremont-era X-Men.

Crushing Comics, S01E04 – Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 3

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On today’s episode of Crushing Comics, I had the randomly luck into unwrapping one of my favorite runs of all time. Hear about why I love it so much as I retell the uncanny origin of my Crushing Comics collecting guides.

Episode 4 features Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 3 (Amazon / eBay) as covered by my Guide to Claremont-era X-Men.

Oversize X-Men: A map of every existing omnibus, plus what’s missing (Part 1: 1963 to 1991)

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The Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot allows collected editions fans to play “Fantasy Collections Department” by picking the runs they’d most like to see in an oversized format.

Now that I’ve recapped the history of past years of the Ballot, we’re up to two weeks of the really fun stuff – thinking up dozens upon dozens of suggestions for Marvel omnibuses we’d love to see on our shelves!

I highlighted 50 runs that deserved an omnibus at the close of the survey last year, but this time I’m going to be a lot more comprehensive.

I’ll begin on my home turf: The X-Men. It’s how Crushing Comics guides began, and I own every issue of X-Men in either single issue or collected format, so I’m accutely aware of the gaps in oversized content.

Today I’ll cover both existing and potential Omnibuses for X-Men from their debut in 1963 through the launch of X-Men, Vol. 2 in 1991. Then, tomorrow we’ll look at the tumultuous and under-collected 90s, before finishing up on Wednesday with the pair of most recent X-Men eras – from Grant Morrison’s New X-Men in 2001 through present day.

After that, we’ll rinse and repeat this exercise in reverse for the entire Marvel Universe, working backwards from the current All-New All-Different Marvel to look at the top possible omnibuses across the entire line from every period until we’re back to the few books still left uncollected from the 1960s.

So, if you haven’t yet voted in the poll or just need a few more books to fill out your personal Top 20, get ready – the next two weeks of CK will have over 100 omnibus suggestions for you to choose from!

Now, let’s get to some X-Tensive X-Men omnibus mapping, staring with the Classic X-Men era from 1963-1974, before moving on to Chris Claremont’s tenure on X-Men from 1975-1991 (plus, all of the tie-in series from that era.

There are 19 potential omnibus volumes in this material! Collected Edition mapping can be exact and contentious work, so if you have a correction or disagreement don’t hold back – sound off in the comments below!

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