What have you added to your collection recently? Showing 3,651-3,700 of 8,181

[Jesse]

Love Mind MGMT! Don't wait. Buy all 6. Completely worth it.

[Blindzider, Moderator]

Oh I already have it and read it. Just wanted to know if you did.

[Jesse]

My comment was more for Paul. Don't wait on buying the rest of the series. Just get all 6 and immerse yourself in the world.

[Paul]

Jesse wrote: "My comment was more for Paul. Don't wait on buying the rest of the series. Just get all 6 and immerse yourself in the world." I was planning to Jesse, but my wallet told me to back off. ;) I'm sure I'll be after them soon enough!

[Erik, Moderator]

Anyone else annoyed that Valiant released a DLX HC of Divinity (issues 1-4 and a couple others) 6 months ago and now there is simply the DLX Divinity complete trilogy?

[Relstuart, Mod+]

Erik wrote: "Anyone else annoyed that Valiant released a DLX HC of Divinity (issues 1-4 and a couple others) 6 months ago and now there is simply the DLX Divinity complete trilogy?"

Yes. I bought the first one not realizing it was going to be incomplete. The art is good but unsure I want to spend more money on the story now.

[Nickviola]

Yeah I think divinity got surprisingly popular as some mag or site called him the best new superhero in a while and so they added a second and third series after the first one was already being planned for deluxe so they ended up with a doubled up situation.

[Relstuart, Mod+]

Today on IST we should see:

Absolute Wonder Woman by Chiang vol 2
Challengers of the Unknown DLX by Loeb and Sale
House of Secrets The Bronze Age Omnibus
Daredevil Shadowlands Omnibus
Deadpool by Daniel Way Omnibus vol 1
Invincible Iron Man by Bendis
Moebius Library Inside Moebius HC vol 1
Pre-Code Classics Ghostly Weird Stories HC
Robotic Existentialism Art of Eric Joiner
Secret Weapons DLX (Valiant)


Also there is a thick Elseworlds Superman TPB vol 1 that looks interesting. Scales and Scoundrels TPB vol 1 from Image is a new fantasy story I haven't been tracking on at all.

[Nickviola]

I would love to check out Challengers, I havent read any Loeb/Sale but know they write a lot of beloved DC stuff and I like when old Kirby concepts are revisited. I also would love to get more Moebius after reading Edena, but... this month's birthday money is spoken for:

-Saga Book 2 (long overdue obviously)
-Absolute Sandman 2 (long overdue as well)
-Secret Weapons DLX (I love Livewire as a character and Valiant event titles always seem to sell out fast)
-Absolute Wonder Woman 2 (I loved volume 1, I was a mythology buff as a kid and Chiang's art is glorious).

Tempting add on: Chris Claremont's Marvel Universe is down to 37 dollars... I love Claremont, is there anyone who thinks for that low a price it may be worth it?

[Erik, Moderator]

Yep, big day. I've been waiting awhile for it. Refreshing every so often.

[Relstuart, Mod+]

I thought the Vision OHC by King lived up to its hype of being an unusually good story. Probably the best thing I've read so far this year.

Kirkman's Invincible has been really good. I'm going to check out his new series that starts next month, Oblivion Song. The premise is that a section of the city of Philadelphia has an alien landscape transferred to it and thousands of people disappear at the same time. the main character has been going to the other dimension rescuing people for years but has been able to find fewer and fewer people and government funding has been canceled for his efforts. People in American are mostly just going on with their lives....

[Donovan]

I can never get into any Kirkman story for too long because I don’t have the stamina for thirty volumes.

[Josh]

Erik wrote: "Yep, big day. I've been waiting awhile for it. Refreshing every so often."

Hi Erik. FYI: the IST site updates at 3pm EST. I didn't realize this for awhile, so I too would spend my Tuesdays refreshing. :-)

[Erik, Moderator]

Typically it does, but there has been one or two occasions when it is earlier or later. A couple months back they even threw it up Tuesday evening. Can’t be too careful. So what did y’all get this week?

[Relstuart, Mod+]

Donovan wrote: "I can never get into any Kirkman story for too long because I don’t have the stamina for thirty volumes."

Kirkman's Invincible will be complete at 12 oversize hardcovers with the final volume scheduled in May. I think there are a couple Absolute size volumes with the contents of a couple OHC volumes but I don't think they are continuing that format. It is probably worth reading a little into the series to decide if it interests you. I was intrigued by the end of the first OHC

There is a Complete Wolfman HC. Tons of Walking Dead (which I have not read). I read the first TPB of his heist book, Prince of Thieves. I really liked it but another author took over the writing at some point.

I ordered the second Absolute Wonder Woman, Invincible OHC vol 8, and some Hellboy. I'm slowly picking up all the Library Editions. They are sold out of vol 3 and 5 but those are supposed to get reprints this year (word on the street). I have BPRD Plague of Frogs vol 1 HC and I may end up picking up the thick TPB of the other three since they have gotten a bit on the expensive side on the aftermarket.

[Jesse]

Donovan wrote: "I can never get into any Kirkman story for too long because I don’t have the stamina for thirty volumes."

I know I harp on this around here but seriously, try Invincible. Its really great stuff. Yes it has 144 issues but its worth it. Plus I thing the oversized HC break the story up perfectly, and can be had for 20-25 bucks apiece.

[Donovan]

I’ve read the first two OHCs of Invincible, Walking Dead, and the first three volumes of Outcast. Invincible was okay but not exactly mind blowing...I dunno, I must be the only one who doesn’t love it. Walking Dead I just didn’t like, pure melodrama and no Tony Moore. And Outcast is great but I can’t see the story depth having longevity.

My disinclination to Kirkman stems from his lack of brevity. I don’t like the idea of having to be committed to that many issues for resolution, or for the story to get to the “really good part,” it takes the fun out of it. I like being able to read a series and then be done with it. I think he’s a talented writer with a knack for hooks, drama, and characterization, not to mention what he’s done for Image Comics, but none of those series have really done it for me, as of yet.

[Josh]

Hi there! I’ve been a lurker for months, but have never actually posted before. Thought I’d pop in and say “hi”. :-)

I’m tempted to pick up Divinity as well, but I’m afraid to go down the Valiant “rabbit hole” since so many of their HC’s are OOP and super expensive.

Does Divinity require much Valiant knowledge, or is it self contained? I’m seriously tempted because it’s Kindt & Lemire, two of my favorite writers. Can anyone talk me into this? LOL

As far as new additions to my library, I hauled pretty hard this week due to my tax return. I decided to splurge on some wish list items, some of which are books I have been wanting for years:

Avengers by Busiek/Perez Omni 1&2
Death/Return of Superman Omni
Secret Warriors Omni
Starman Omni’s 1-6

And that will be the most I spend on comics for probably the rest of 2018, LOL.

It felt really good to cross those Starman Omni’s off my wishlist. And I needed the Secret Warriors Omni to start my Hickman read-through, so excited about that. :-)

[Nickviola]

Hi Josh, welcome! First of all, great haul. I love Secret Warriors and personally my Hickman reading is held up beacuse i started collecting just after FF Vol. 1 came out, so Im f-ed.

As for Valiant, tough question! I think there are about 25 hardcovers, most are well made, some have some tight binding but newer ones are better. Cover stock, paper stock, and sleeves are generally better quality than other hardcovers in my opinion. I think they look nice on a shelf. Big questions: (1) story quality and (2) investment in valiant. Starting with #2, some books like Rai, Bloodshot 1, Quantum and Woody are hard to find but its possible to find them for <75 though they do regularly sell for +100 on eBay and Amazon which I would NOT recommend paying unless you are obsessed with Valiant. Some of the books just arent that thick. That said, Rai and Quantum and Woody are self-contained stories. The big stories with lots of Valiant universe impact tend to be Harbinger, X-O Manowar, and those arent too hard to find and are really good stories so you could start collecting those. The events they seem to publish less books because they sell out faster.

As for Divinity, its a great story and super interesting new characters. They do interact with the other Valiant characters who are sometimes on a team called Unity but they are probably written in a way that new readers understand personalities and power sets. My guess is even if you got Divinity and didnt read more Valiant you'd be happy with the product and story, especialyl because they do pack a lot of issues in that one. If you do like it, then going back to harbinger or X-O is doable.

Finally, I think Valiant is considering some reprints or paperbacks - that seems to be the rumor.

[Josh]

Nick,

Thanks so much for the very kind welcome, and all the great info!

I feel your pain with FF v1. I was very fortunate to recently pick up a copy, although I had long since given up on being able to get one to complete my set. Fortunately, I apparently have a secret super power: finding the slipcase edition of Essex County, LOL. I run across that book, which is a huge whale for many folks, fairly regularly while visiting LCS's when I travel. The last time I found it I bought a spare copy for trade bait, and was lucky enough to trade it for a volume FF v1. So with the Secret Warriors Omni and Hickvengers v1, I (believe) I now have the bulk of Hickman's Marvel runs, and am ready to dig in.

Thanks to your Valiant info, I think I will pick up Divinity to dip a toe in the Valiant universe. It's hard for me to pass up a book with Kindt/Lemire. However, if I end up chasing after expensive Valiant books a year from now due to this, I'm holding you personally responsible. ;-)

I was also tempted by the recent release of the Ninjak Omni. Is this something you would recommend as well?

Thanks again!

Josh

[Nickviola]

Ha, I am willing to be responsible I guess! And youre welcome.

Well if you superpower also turns into finding other copies of FF v.1 that cost less than a kidney, please let me know.

The Omnis are collections of the original Valiant universe which is not my favorite era of American comics and the reviews seems pretty middle of the road so despite having the full Valiant HC collection, I havent gotten any of the Omnis. My advice is if you are just starting out there is much better stuff out there or flip through it or wait for a youtube review first that does flip through.

Also, FYI, some of their events can be picked up IN PLACE OF volumes of individual titles, most notably the best way to collect the X-O hardcovers is Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Armor Hunters, Vol. 4, Vol.5 (im pretty sure thats right but its from memory).

[Blindzider, Moderator]

Hello and welcome Josh! I've got a soft spot for the Starman books. Hope you enjoy those if you haven't read them yet.

[Josh]

Ah, good info. I'll start slow with just Divinity and see how it goes. I know that the older Valiant titles are from the 90's, so considering my aversion to 90's comics, steering away from early Valiant may be a good idea. And yes, I'll keep an eye out for FF v1 one for you!

[Josh]

Hi Blindzider!

Thank you! I haven't read Starman yet, but it is so universally loved that I felt it was a safe investment, even with the high price tag. I'll be digging in soon, so I'll know shortly! Of course, on the off chance that I don't enjoy it, I'm confident I'd have no problem reselling the set.

Of course, the good news for everyone is now that I've dropped the $ for the set there will be a reprint announced shortly, LOL

[Ooh_jim]

Man, I hope so! I'm still tracking down a copy of the 3rd Starman omni for <£100...

[Blindzider, Moderator]

I finally found a copy of Astro City Local Heroes HC, still shrink wrapped for a really good deal. This pretty much completes my quest for the original AC hardcovers. If I find a first printing of V2 I may pick it up but otherwise I'll stick with my second printing.

[Erik, Moderator]

Josh, as for Valiant, just go ahead and grab the new Valiant universe HC XO Manowar. I pretty much have all the new Valiant HCs (haven’t read them all yet) but can safely say the XO is a great place to start. As said earlier above, the quality of the printing, binding, paper etc, is some of the best.

[Erik, Moderator]

Starman has me interested. Having read Robinson’s JSA omnibus Vol 1 (Johns gets the credit but most of vol. 1 is Robinson) the modern starman is my least fav character from that omnibus, but the one shot it has of the original starman as an FBI agent was my favorite part of that omnibus. Anyone care to steer me right?

[Blindzider, Moderator]

I knew nothing about Starman before reading it. It does seem to wander some in the middle, meaning you aren't sure where it is headed, but the ending tied up almost everything that came before.

Also for me, the story was more about the relationship between him and his dad, which struck a cord.

I've read other stories by Robinson and most were mediocre but this one had the two things I mentioned which raised the bar. I think it's definitely worth a read, having to pay some of the prices out there, maybe not quite that good. My two cents...

[Paul]

Looks like I'm beefing up my Absolute collection this week; grabbed the two Wonder Woman absolutes and found a like new copy of Absolute Justice for £45 shipped; I'm now up to just over 10 absolutes and I actually want to keep this collection as small as possible, only getting my favourite stories in this format rather than everything printed in Absolute. Still on the fence about getting Sandman and Preacher in Absolutes or in other forms...they would take up a ton of space!

Grabbed a few OHCs: Vision, Ghostbusters Book Three, and looking to get Robin Year One & Invincible Iron Man later this month.

Also grabbed a bunch of TPBs:
Wonder Woman by Rucka (pre new-52) vol. 1 & 2
Batman Red Hood Lost Days
Black Canary by Fletcher Vol. 1& 2
Huntress Year One
Indestructible Hulk Complete Collection by Waid
Batgirl Stephanie Brown Vol.1

Next month is expensive for me with the Infinity Gauntlet Box Set and Daredevil by Waid Vol.2, among others. Anyone else excited for the box set?! I'm effectively double dipping as I've got a lot of the material already in TPB and Omnibus, but anything Starlin and I'm in!

[Josh]

Paul wrote: " Still on the fence about getting Sandman and Preacher in Absolutes or in other forms...they would take up a ton of space..."

Paul, I can wholeheartedly recommend "budgeting" enough space for those runs. The Absolute Sandman/Death run (with the forthcoming Absolute Sandman Overture), and the Absolute Preachers are my favorite books I own. They are gorgeous. Space may be tight, but if you can manage it, I guarantee you won't regret it.

They are the only books I own that I have to occasionally pull off the shelf just to admire them. Probably some of the prettiest books ever printed in any medium.

Happy Hunting,

Josh

[Erik, Moderator]

Absolutes don't take up as much space as many omnibus. I have them all and are the pride of my collection. But I have so many books now that they take up home and office, so I'm a bad judge on space consciousness.

[Erik, Moderator]

Anyone have some suggestions for good pickups still on IST that are more than 6 months old? Want to keep that 3% going by the time infinity gauntlet box set hits.

[Paul]

Erik wrote: "Absolutes don't take up as much space as many omnibus. I have them all and are the pride of my collection. But I have so many books now that they take up home and office, so I'm a bad judge on spac..."

Totally get your point and yes absolutes are beautiful on the shelf. I guess I was thinking of instances like Sandman; those two omnibuses take up less space than the 5 absolutes.

[Paul]

Josh wrote: "Paul wrote: " Still on the fence about getting Sandman and Preacher in Absolutes or in other forms...they would take up a ton of space..."

Paul, I can wholeheartedly recommend "budgeting" enough s..."

Thanks for the input Josh. They are beautiful books indeed. Will take your advice into consideration!

[Josh]

Paul wrote: "I guess I was thinking of instances like Sandman; those two omnibuses take up less space than the 5 absolutes. ..."

My pleasure!

I did want to add some info relating to your comment I quoted above: one thing to think about with the two Sandman Omni's versus the Absolutes is that the Omni's will only give you the main story arc. The Absolutes collect additional material that you'll want to read if you enjoyed Sandman. Especially the matching Absolute Death and forthcoming Absolute Overture. And while none of the extra's (and Death) are required reading to understand the full story, they sure add a lot. However, I would argue that Overture is actually required reading. If you haven't read that one yet, you'll want to read it after reading the main series. It's a prequel that gives good insight into Dream's state of mind at the beginning of the series, and sets the stage for the main story. All good stuff that you'll be missing if you only buy the Omni's. Food for thought! :-)

Happy Hunting,

Josh

[Relstuart, Mod+]

Erik wrote: "Anyone have some suggestions for good pickups still on IST that are more than 6 months old? Want to keep that 3% going by the time infinity gauntlet box set hits."

Descender HC (may not be older than six months)
Blacksad HC
Vevet HC (Brubaker with Epting art)
Lazarus HC 1 and 2
Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful art and very disturbing story)
Darth Vader Omnibus
Superior Foes of Spider-Man omnibus
Superman Secret Identity DLX
X-Men Legion Omnibus
The Book of Chaos (Humanoids book. Great art and interesting story. Just about Absolute size)
Locke and Key Master Editions
Richard Stark's Parker HCs (Brilliant noir writing with Darwyn Cooke art)


If you are open to sampling the first TPB to decide if a series is interesting I've enjoyed the following :
Birthright
Rumble
Eclipse vol 1
Autumnlands (two TBPS out - get both or neither since the story really takes off in book 2).

[Donovan]

@Erik A few notable items I’ve picked up in the last six months: Paper Girls OHC, Descender OHC, Trillium OHC, Luthor Strode OHC, Swamp Thing Bronze Age Omni, Batman and Robin Tomasi Omni, Batman The Dark Knight Master Race HC.

[Erik, Moderator]

Thanks guys, I have most of those, but definitely a few I’ll look into!! Anything of note that has been release in 2017 and after, I probably have it. Anyone else have suggestions? Really looking forward to researching a few of these suggestions.

[Jesse]

I always recommend Jodorowsky's stuff and I know IST has a few like The Incal series, Technopriests, Screaming Planet, and a few others. All weird as hell but great fun. Also World of Edema by Moebius. Same kind of weird. Wonderful art in all.

[Erik, Moderator]

If you like Jodorowsky, watch the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune. It’s awesome

[Jesse]

Erik wrote: "If you like Jodorowsky, watch the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune. It’s awesome"

I agree. Its a great doc. A lot of his books come from those abandoned ideas.

[Ozan]

Nice pick ups Zane. Congratulations. :D I just got Vader as Omni among what you got.

[Blindzider, Moderator]

Nice! At some point I'd like to re-read those Martha Washington books again. Think I'm only missing the last one.

[Nickviola]

I don’t know if people already saw, but DC is replacing all of the 1st print Fourth World Omnibus because of that duplicated page and 1 page missing. IST sent an email that exchange procedure will be decided soon by Seema unbelievable they will replace a 1500 page book for 1 wrong page.

Also, which copy would you rather have?

[Josh]

It’s great that DC is doing that. I don’t really prefer one printing to the other, since I am a bit odd in my thinking: I kind of think misprints add “character”. I have a Hawkman by Johns Omni that is printed upside down. I actually kind of dig it. But that’s just me.

I haven’t bought the 4th World Omni yet, but will be doing so when my tax return comes in some time in the next few days. If I end up with the first printing with the error it won’t bother me at all, although I understand if that would bother other folks. After all, I’m one of those people that folks make fun of, as I send books with slight damage back to IST for an exchange. I can’t handle dust jacket damage, but misprints don’t bother me. Go figure!

Josh Angel

[Erik, Moderator]

I’ve been thinking about it; whether to keep the misprint or replace it. A page doesn’t bother me, but I also want DC to know they need to stop with these misprints. Thoughts?

[Relstuart, Mod+]

Those are nice pick ups. I think the Vader Star Wars books are the best Star Wars comics put out by Marvel so far. Blacksad is excellent as well.

[Nickviola]

Secret Weapons (Valiant) is so good. The writer of Arrival, Eric Heisserer, wrote it and Raul Allen of Eternal Warrior drew it which automatically is awesome. More importantly, Valiant just continues to use Psiots to tell much better stories than Marvel uses X-Men.

Also, finished Absolute WW Vol. 2 and it was fantastic, but the book barely fits in the slipcase. It takes significant effort to get it out, so I dont know if thats systemic or just me. I wouldn't care so much now that I finished, but its tight enough that it kind of warps the cardboard slip and I dont know if over time it will sit better or worse.

[Donovan]

When does IST’s new stock usually drop on Tuesday?