Omnibus/OHC Graphic Novel Collectors discussion
Comic Reading Discussion
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What have you added to your collection recently?
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Donovan
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Apr 04, 2017 08:03AM
That's an omnibus I would love to own. Brubaker has easily become one of my favorite comic writers. And I really need to step up the Bat books I own!
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Shit. My IST order should've been here already, so I emailed and my order was being held because Invisibles Deluxe V4 was out of stock at Diamond. IST says Diamond has it on order, so they better get it! The first three do me no good.
Big Week!Finally picked up Bloodshot Deluxe 2 and Underwater Welder (both which look like they may be going out of print?) and then 3 new Marvel Omnis: Daredevil (Brubaker) vol 1, Road to War of Kings, and X-Men: Legion (more because I have an x-men collection problem than because I am dying to read it and at least its on the cheaper end of omnis).
Nickviola wrote: "Big Week!Finally picked up Bloodshot Deluxe 2 and Underwater Welder (both which look like they may be going out of print?) and then 3 new Marvel Omnis: Daredevil (Brubaker) vol 1, Road to War of K..."
Doubtful on Underwater Welder as it was just optioned for a movie. Ryan Gosling and all. Cant see them letting that go out of print with that kind of pub.
Relstuart wrote: "Fairly big release date tomorrow for omnibus volumes. We have X-Men Legion omnibus, Daredevil by Brubaker omnibus vol 2 *reprint), War of Kings Prelude Omnibus, and the Batman Knightfall omnibus vo..."Looks like Knightfall isn't listed for sale this week. Maybe next week?
That's fine by me, there were enough big releases today.
Jesse wrote: "Doubtful on Underwater Welder as it was just optioned for a movie. Ryan Gosling and all. Cant see them letting that go out of print with that kind of pub."Didn't realize that! Probably just stock running low then will fill back up. Super excited though, I love Lemire and have been waiting to read this forever and just always seem to have too many things to buy.
East of West Vol 2 and Velvet showed up today!Been doing the ebay thing a lot, managed to pick up:
John Byrne's Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol 1 and 2
Mark Waid's Fantastic Four run on OHC, three volumes
Fantastic Four omnibus Vol 3 - I saw this was starting to get more expensive, so I snagged it before things get out of hand (I'm looking at you FF omni Vol1)
Absolute Kingdom Come - I'm pretty ignorant to really anything DC, but again, Over-sized Alex Ross seems like a no-brainer.
I also managed to get the Wolverine and the X-men omnibus for surprisingly less than what I was expecting/willing to pay, but that's a gift for my friend; that's one of his favorite runs of all-time, so it made sense to grab it.
Also just ordered Brubaker's Daredevil omni and the Prelude to WoK Omni.
Praise the tax return!
guanaeps wrote: "East of West Vol 2 and Velvet showed up today!Been doing the ebay thing a lot, managed to pick up:
John Byrne's Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol 1 and 2
Mark Waid's Fantastic Four run on OHC, three vo..."
I'm also waiting on a tax return, but i've run out of room on my shelves! :(
I'm gonna have to sell something again. Getting my Velvet deluxe in was squeeze.
More shelves? : ) I've also got Velvet coming in the mail.
Donovan wrote: "More shelves? : ) I've also got Velvet coming in the mail."No way! It was difficult enough moving it last time i moved and i have to move again soon. When i'm settled then yeah maybe.
For sure. I hear ya. My next move will be right down my private road when I build a house, so I'm done moving thankfully.
Blindzider wrote: "GC is still wrapped on my shelf. I'm getting so far behind on my reading..."I'm the same way. I look at it as well-stocked freezer & pantry, overloaded with gourmet items that are completely imperishable forms of intellectual sustenance and entertainment. That's why I disagree with the idea that 'Tsundoku' is a negative thing, related to gluttony or hedonism. Owning a wine-cellar is considered stylish and bad-ass, and yet the most you'll get from it is a chance to lie like a douchebag about the hints of 'oaky' and 'citrus' tastes registering on your 'refined palate', before getting wino-blitzed and waking up with a hangover. Even mediocre books will make you smarter and treat you better than wine. A weed-cellar, on the other hand... :)
[The introduction to the term 'Tsundoku' came from 'Comic Book Daily' was interesting, and I'm interested to hear any thoughts on it, since I thought it was inexplicably judgmental about the buying habits of collectors... I like having a bookcase full of books waiting to be read, but that's just, like, my opinion, man...
I'll reprint the article by Scott Van der Ploeg, with a link to the source here:]
http://www.comicbookdaily.com/columns...
" Tsundoku, Collecting, Reading
December 30, 2016 / Scott VanderPloeg"
"Two disparate articles from OZY and The Simple Dollar have recently put me to task on my hobby of choice, reading. First, here’s a definition of tsundoku.
“Tsundoku” (n.) is the condition of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them. “Tsundoku” originated as Japanese slang (積ん読) “tsun-doku“. 「積ん読」 came from 「積んでおく」 “tsunde-oku” (to pile things up ready for later and leave) and 「読書」 “dokusho” (reading books).
And following that is this snippet about hobbies under the sub header Intentionally Move Your Hobby Time Away from Accumulating and Towards Doing Instead.
When you’re passionate about a particular hobby, it’s easy to fall into the trap of accumulating stuff related to that hobby rather than actually doing things within that hobby.
For example, if you’re an avid book lover, you can often find yourself building up a huge book collection rather than actually, say, reading books.
This is a reflexive trap that many people fall into as their lives become busy. They begin to get a sense that they don’t have time for hobbies that they once loved, so to fight off that perception, they buy items instead as a substitute for that hobby time.
Here’s a much better approach: schedule blocks of time to actually practice your hobbies. Put them in your calendar first, before other appointments, and actually keep that time sacred.
That way, when you’re tempted to make a purchase, instead you can look at that block of time and think about the activities you’re actually going to do instead of the things you’re just accumulating.
You’ll find that when you do this, your desire to accumulate stuff actually melts away. For example, that time you might have spent thinking about all of the books you wish you had time to read instead becomes time you spend thinking about that book you’re going to read this weekend.
The image above is my Boxing Day haul from 2011, which I featured in the post Reading To Enjoy, Not Complete. Taking a look at that pile of eighteen books from five years ago I recall reading nine of them, or 50%. So I bought them, housed them and in five years have read half. And that’s one shopping trip: I’ve made a lot more of those every year, with about the same outcome.
I like bargains, and as we live in a consumerist society where we define happiness by the amount of possessions we have so I’m doing just fine. At what point did shopping become a hobby?
Of course I’ve run out of space a few times in my home library and have had to sell off to make room, and in doing so cause myself stress at having to house this collection and lose money on the sell off books. Well, I haven’t been selling them: I trade them in at my local comic shop for credit so I can buy more books.
And that’s really the crux of the matter and the point of tsundoku; I’m just buying books as a hobby, not necessarily reading. I do read a lot: about one novel a week and two to three comic collections, usually over lunch. I’m scratching at the pile but not making headway.
But then the new Diamond Previews comes along and I preorder those “must have” books in advance with the faint hope of actually reading them all before the next ones show up, and the cycle continues. I’ve stopped myself from preordering a lot of books the past few years, but then I pick them up in clearance sales. Sure, I’m getting them at a significant discount, but it’s only making the waiting to read pile that much larger.
It will be a slow process of change, but isn’t that the best way to effect change. One book at a time, left on the retailer’s shelf, and one book taken down from my own library and read for the enjoyment of it."
Interesting stuff. I do "tsunduku" for novels but not comic books, as they're quick reads and I do have the time. Maybe when I have more money to devote to buying them that may happen, with good deals when I'm already overwhelmed. But I also did that when I did bicycle mechanics. I rode all the time, but ended up buying more parts than I needed "just in case" or because they looked nice.
Donovan wrote: "http://screenrant.com/batman-dark-kni...Damn. Snyder and Capullo are back this summer!"
I'm in! 100%!
Haha. Right, Jesse? They're calling it a mini pseudo event, whatever that means.
I'm kind of at the tsunduku side of the things lol There are like 40 trades of comics or something waiting to be read on my shelfs... But mostly because i just can't bring myself to open the shrink wraps of the aspecially omnibuses... If they come without shrink wraps, i read them though... I just have very hard time opening the shrink wraps cause i pay so much for those trades and i want to keep them near mint because of that... It's a collector thing, you want to keep them in a condition as good as possible and shrink wrap is the best condition lol so it's so hard to open the shrink wrap and reduce the condition... but i really want to read them too, but i just can't bring myself to open those damn shrink wraps of omnibuses... but we will see, i hope someday i will open those shrink wraps and read them. lol
Mod
I tend to look down on buying just to buy. I try to buy stuff I read and liked or want to read. Buying something just to have it feels like a "problem" to me. There's a fine line of course and I've certainly crossed it a few times. I debate many times whether I should but an omnibus when I already own the singles or even a standard sized copy. To me collecting is part enjoying whatever it is and part possessing. When possessing becomes the major component I try to reassess myself.
Fascinating article. Thanks for sharing.
Donovan wrote: "Haha. Right, Jesse? They're calling it a mini pseudo event, whatever that means."These 2 could get together for a comic book adaptation of a C-Span afternoon and I'd still check it out,
I think Einsin's comparison to a wine cellar is appropriate. I have quite a few books I haven't read yet, but that doesn't mean I'm buying just to have them. It's certainly possible/likely that I won't get around to reading them all but I like having options available to me. The vast majority of books I own have been read but I do have a "to read" pile that seems to be growing. I also agree with Blindzider, the is an element of self control. If my read pile gets too large I slow down on my buying. I don't want it to be a compulsive thing.
Reece wrote: "I think Einsin's comparison to a wine cellar is appropriate. I have quite a few books I haven't read yet, but that doesn't mean I'm buying just to have them. It's certainly possible/likely that I w..."Unless you get nervous about books becoming OOO and you just buy them when they come out. ;)
Mod
There is a joy one can have in collecting and having something. Baseball/Football/YaySports memorabilia, art, cars, statues and other similar things can bring someone joy through possession. You don't really live another life like you can reading a book with these items, but they still have the power to remind us things we love and bring us joy. The key is you possessing your collection and not being possessed by your collecting habit.
Mod
Yeah I only buy things I want to read. I mean that's logical right? I like to look at them on the shelf, but that sense of pride and nostalgia comes from the love for the story. I appreciate books that look nice but I don't want to own them if I'm not into the story. As far as stockpiling goes, right now my supply is so short I read what I buy immediately!
@Jesse for sure. I would read Snyder/Capullo C-SPAN : )
(view spoiler)A lot of great points, and though I think I rambled on enough about my feelings on the subject in the first post, there were some thoughtful and articulate responses on the topic that got me considering further...
I think it's pretty clear that there's a huge difference between collecting things like books because you're passionate about literature, art, comics - and even the books themselves - and buying shit for some desperate materialist thrill, a temporary plug to keep every last bit of joy from being sucked down the drain.
On the dark-side, it's the kind of obsessive, hyper-consumer up-scale hoarding - treasure hoarding instead of trash hoarding - that gives collecting a bad name. It's often rooted in profound loneliness, attempting to fill a psychological void with random shit. It's an ancient evolutionary impulse, one that can be found in animals and birds like the Jackdaw: it fills it's nest with shiny treasures, hoping he'll find a mate who appreciates the feng shui decor of tin foil, shards of broken beer bottle, coins and costume jewelry.
In the end, if you're buying books you like, by writers and artists you admire, you're buying for all the right reasons. It doesn't hurt to buy books you think may go OOP, or go up in value, but it should be a book you want to read. The speculative market almost killed segments of the industry, and spec collecting isn't a good idea in general. Buy what you love, 1st and foremost; if it goes up in value, great. If it doesn't, still great.
As far as how many books you have waiting on shelves or in precarious chair-side death-stacks, I'm always excited to have the books I buy show up, and I always look forward to reading them. None of them are books that stay inside plastic, or end up in a closet. But wanting to protect items you like is natural; the collector impulse is probably an evolutionary relic, where those who collected bone and flint and skins and smoked meat didn't survive the winter.
And sometimes 'buying just to buy' doesn't have anything to do with unhappiness; it's simply a habit or routine we've gotten used to, even though life changes make it less practical, and we're late to catch on. Then it's simply a sign you need to examine your habits, and perhaps cut book spending until you have the time and money to enjoy your book purchases.
Books are - or should be - the most logical and rewarding of collections. I also collect print portfolios, and was just getting into original comic art collecting when I discovered Artist's Editions, and got into them as a midway point between comic art and Art books; they're also a cheaper and far more satisfying alternative to original comic art.
I have a secondary and third collection as well; one of which is custom-forged Fighter and Bowie Knives by American Bladesmith Society Mastersmiths & Journeyman Smiths, but I keep this collection small - just 7 knives at the moment, and everything about it is different from my book collection. Each one of these blades is a work of art based on a tradition of knife-making that goes back to 1827 and the Sandbar Fight. I find the Bowie collection rewarding: functional tools & weapons with a historical and nostalgic totem value completely dependent on the owner...though I usually sell one when my turn finally comes up after a year or 2 on the knifemaker's waiting list. As Rel put it: "You don't really live another life like you can reading a book with these items, but they still have the power to remind us things we love and bring us joy. The key is you possessing your collection and not being possessed by your collecting habit."
Great discussion, Einstein (actually I enjoy all your posts!!). It's the first I'm learning about Tsundoku; I'm guilty of this myself from time to time. My rationalization is that I'm buying the books I want to read (perhaps for initial discount when first on sale, or to simply get them before they are out of print). It boils down to time for me...with two kids and two jobs, free time is a rare commodity. I know my situation will change so I tell myself, now is the time to get books I want so that I can have the library I'd like and ready through the story lines I'm so eager about...and possibly avoid paying an arm & leg for something down the line if it goes out of print. I'm also hoping to have a wicked library by the time my kids are older in case my son or daughter love comics as much as I do! In any case, more Tsundoku =):- Sixth Gun Deluxe Vol. 2 - Everyone who recommended this series is spot on. Sixth Gun has now become one of my top 5 favourite comicbook series. Everthing about it just seems right; the art, lettering, coloring, character dialogue...it's just so great. When a comicbook can make me forget about life and consume me in the story, it's just amazing. A few Batman stories and Jim Starlin's cosmic Marvel storylines are the only other ones to engulf me the same way. I'd highly recommend this series.
- We Stand on Guard Deluxe
- Marvel 1602 OHC
- Batman Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader OHC
- Hellboy Library Edition Vol 1,2,3
- Batman Ego/Other Tails Dlx
- Green Arrow by Lemiere Dlx
- Superman Secret Identity Dlx
- Superman for All Seasons Dlx
- X-Men Age of Apocalypse Omnibus
- Daredevil by Waid Omnibus Vol.1
- Velvet Dlx
- Fury Max - My War Gone By Dlx
- Killing Joke Dlx (read it but I've not owned it before)
Other non-OHC items:
- Omega Men
- Providence Act 1 HC
- Green Arrow Year One
- Batman Black Mirror (read it before but I've not owned it until now)
- Angela: Asgard's Assassin
Really hoping to have a proper bookcase soon! We're re-doing our living space and hopefully working in some shelving with it! Pics to follow I hope, although it won't be nearly as impressive as some of the collections I've seen posted here!
@Eisnein Excellent points. Comic buying is definitely on the bright side for me, and one of the only hobbies that keeps me in touch with that inexplicable childhood joy. There definitely isn't enough money to buy everything I desire for my shelf, so I try to buy comic books I can afford, will enjoy, and mostly haven't read. Otherwise they do sit in plastic and on my shelf until it's time for a reread. I am terrible at buying comics I've read digitally or borrowed because I know they'll just sit for a while. Maybe that's my innate resistance to tsundoku. @Paul Good points as well. If and when I have less free time I will probably "buy for tomorrow" like you, out of that sense of fear that those books will go OOP, as well as simply wanting them for my collection. I also have absurdly limited space at the moment but am hoping to build a new house in the very near future, in which I'll have my own office/small library with floor to ceiling bookcases to use at my own discretion : )
Got my copy of velvet and providence act 1 deluxe (Moore) it looks pretty nice not oversized and tightly bound also wife ordered from Amazon and didn't realize the 1 click buy and ordered me the absolute preacher I had in cart. Happy bday to me
Mod
Haha. Awesome. If only it were that easy every time.
I'd love to "accidentally" order Absolute Preacher. How's Velvet? My copy should be here any day now.
Physically it is excellent the binding is sewn perfect tension covers are quality pages are a good thickness. The art is scaled up and stretches right to the non existent gutter on some pages. The art looks to be good but I have not read it yet.
That's all I wanted to know, thanks! I've only read volume 1 but I dig Brubaker so I jumped on the deluxe.
Mod
I started reading my copy and one of this nice things I noticed is that the art is often scaled up to take advantage of the larger format. This is something not all the Brubaker DLX Image HCs have done (sadly). Hopefully this will be the new normal. :)
The Batman Knighfall vol 1 omnibus should come out today on IST. Also: Batman the Golden Age omnibus vol 3, Spider-man Clone Conspiracy OHC, Captain America Masterworks vol 9, Enchanted Tiki Room OHC, Fables DLX vol 14, and I think the second thick TPB Kurt Busiek Conan comes out today.
Oh nice. I was looking for Batman Knightfall but it wasn't showing up on IST yet.
Mod
Oh darn! I'd like to own the Knightfall omnibus as well. Legendary story.
Got my partial IST order today. Velvet is really great quality! Nice to see the artwork oversized and a bolder black spine with white lettering. Also got Invisibles Deluxe 3, sadly 4 is out of stock, and an unexpectedly damaged copy of Snyder's Swamp Thing Deluxe : (Gotta say the artwork in Swamp Thing looks incredible. Glued binding and thin paper are not as awesome.
I went on a mini Image shopping spree and picked up a few of their hardcovers.-Deadly Class Vol1 (DCBS Variant)
-East of West Year 1 (DCBS Variant)
-East of West Year 2 (DCBS Variant)
-Lararus Vol1
-Lararus Vol2
I'm still debating on whether to pick up Velvet and Black Science.
Nice pickups!! I love the EoW2 variant. (Oh, and, GET BLACK SCIENCE!!!!)
Nice. Image and Dark Horse do the best OHCs. I'm a big fan of Deadly Class (all caught up on the series finally) and I just got Velvet. If you like Brubaker this seems like one of the best OHCs of his work so far.
Want to chime in that I love Remender but have tried three times to get into Black Science and couldn't do it. But the artwork is pretty great.
That's too bad! For me it's like Fear Agent only a little more nuanced character. It reminds me of Reed Richards if he didn't have a moral compass but wasn't "evil", just more flawed and in the real world. Except the weird dimension hopping. But, yes, the art is bananas. And I'm in science so there is probably an inherent bias.
I want black science but the print quality reviews make me step back
I just can't get into the story. Fear Agent has legitimately developed characters and plot complexity, whereas Black Science has archetypes throw into very random scenarios. I can't connect to or care for anyone in those stories. And it's mostly humorless. I respect what it tries to do, but like Low it's a story lacking development held up by its art, at least for me.
I'd take sewn binding over glued any day. And nice!
Mod
Remender's Seven to Eternity started really well. :)
As far as Remender's Marvel work I thought his Uncanny X-Force run was fantastic. His Punisher is decent. His run on Venom was fine. His Uncanny Avengers continued threads from his X-Force run and was perhaps my second favorite. I didn't care for his Cap run. Remender for me is the opposite of Hickman and Brubaker in that I like his creator owned work better than his Marvel work (though again, his X-Force run was fantastic). If Remender came back to Marvel, I think X-Force and/or Deadpool would be a decent fit for him.
I really did enjoy Lazarus.
That's true, I've finished reading Fear Agent at 900 odd pages and have only read the first three trades of Black Science and Low. That being said, I think the former accomplishes far more and sooner than the latter. But I agree, FA is his best work. It's hard to judge against that. I haven't read any of Remender's Marvel but I really would like to!
Omnibus/OHC Graphic Novel Collectors
Books mentioned in this topic
Superman: The Coming of the Supermen (other topics)Batman: The War Years 1939-1945: Presenting over 20 classic full length Batman tales from the DC comics vault! (Volume 1) (other topics)
Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder (other topics)
Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (other topics)
Nightwing: Mobbed Up (other topics)
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