Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

Marvel Comics

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!

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

The 2013 Inaugural Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot Results (and, what’s been printed?)

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Right now Marvel Omnibus fans across the web are voting open for the 5th Annual Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, but today we’re going to flash back to the first ballot back in 2013.

2013 was a simpler time with a simpler list of just 33 selections. Due to the smaller scale of participations, a few imaginative picks were able to slip through that we haven’t seen since. Also, there was slightly less of an obsession with simply extending every open line.

Last year I devoted just one summary post to what got printed and what disappeared, but to this point the only place to read the full results of prior ballots was to dig through dozens of message board posts.

How many of those books have we seen printed since then? In total, 21 of 33 (63.6%) of the 2013 votes have been recollected in some format. [Read more…] about The 2013 Inaugural Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot Results (and, what’s been printed?)

Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)

The guide to collecting Star Wars Expanded Universe comic books, the current in-canon comic books released by Marvel. Find omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback in reading order. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Guide to Collecting Star Wars Comics. Last updated August 2024 with titles scheduled for release through June 2025.

Marvel regained the license to print Star Wars comics in 2015 and launched the new Extended Universe with a big bang in the first weeks of 2015 – twin Star Wars and Darth Vader series set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Both series were critical and commercial hits.

Star_Wars_2015_0001

Marvel’s focus remained mostly on comics set just before and after A New Hope expanding on the adventures of the familiar cast of the original trilogies, to which they added Kanan – The Last Padawan, a prequels-era series that stretched in The Clone Wars. Then, in the weeks leading up to The Force Awakens, Marvel breached a new period of continuity with Shattered Empire – the first comic in the new canon set after the original trilogy!

After The Force Awakens, Marvel began to spread out into other periods, with Poe Dameron further extending the decades after Return of the Jedi and series set earlier in Darth Vader’s time as a Sith Lord – still, all set within the time bounds of the film series.
[Read more…] about Star Wars Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)

The 2015 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot Results (and, what’s been printed?)

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With voting open for the 5th Annual Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the 2016 secret ballot results, but that was the fourth year of the survey!

Last year I devoted just one summary post to what got printed and what disappeared, but to this point the only place to read the full results of prior ballots was to dig through dozens of message board posts.

Today and over the weekend, I’m going to work backwards through the results of the first three years of the ballot. There were 52 books on the 2015 ballot results due to a pair of ties. How many of those books have we seen printed since then?

Of 52 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibuses of 2015…

7 of 52 (13.5%) omnibuses were printed in 2016

Doctor Strange, Vol. 1, Master of Kung-Fu, Vol. 1, War of Kings, Avengers West Coast, Vol. 3 AKA by John Byrne, Spider-Man (1990) by Todd McFarlane, Captain America, Vol. 2, and Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Vol. 1

10 of 52 (19.2%) additional omnibuses have been solicited to date

The 7 above, plus in 2017 Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3, Alpha Flight by John Byrne, Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie, Thor, Vol. 3, Daredevil, Vol. 1, Avengers by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1, Daredevil by Mark Waid (Vol. 1), X-Force, Vol. 2 (as Deadpool & X-Force), 27. Realm of Kings, Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen

That means 17 (32.6%) of all 2015 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibuses have been printed as Omnibuses! But, what about the proposed material hitting other formats? [Read more…] about The 2015 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot Results (and, what’s been printed?)

The Orphan Report: Marvel’s abandoned omnibuses and open omnibus lines

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In yesterday’s post reviewing what’s been printed from the 2016 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot I joked that ballot voters want nothing more than to un-orphan a lonely volume one omnibus.

That got me thinking: How many Marvel Omnibus orphans are there? That is, “Volume 1” omnibuses without a sequel.

While we’re at at, what are all of the open omnibus lines – in effect, a line with more than one book in it with one or more books left to go before the run is entirely covered?

Since comic fans are nothing if not completionists, it seems like these books should all be heavily represented on this year’s Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot. Was that the cast last year? And, if it’s not, should these books be filling out everyone’s survey choices in 2017?

Let’s find out!

The Orphan Report

There are 24 Little Orphan Omnis out there right now, although only 2/3rds of them are true “Volume 1” orphans. The remaining third are unnumbered books that still imply a continuing volume (or, in one case, a preceding one).

Of the 22 Orphans:

  • 7 orphans saw their sequels appear on the 2016 survey results
  • 6 orphans missed having their sequels on the 2016 results (though 3 of these weren’t true “Volume 1” omnibuses)
  • 9 orphans were printed (or are due) in 2017, so their sequels haven’t had a chance to be voted on yet (including 4 books that were printed after appearing in the 2016 results)
  • 2 orphans did not have enough additional issues for a second volume as of last year’s vote

Let’s take a tour of the Omnibus Orphanage, shall we? [Read more…] about The Orphan Report: Marvel’s abandoned omnibuses and open omnibus lines