Hello there and welcome to another instalment of the newsletter about the elusive creature called the omnibus. The omnibus is one of the largest species found in the comic book kingdom. It is neither mammal, fish, reptile, amphibian, nor bird, but it is unquestionably a vertebrate, as it couldn't carry its massive page counts without a mighty spine.
Omnibuses thrive on their symbiotic bond with suitable humans, reproducing rapidly and as far as shelf space allows. Contrary to most non-human beings, their population has exponentially grown over the past five years, most noticeably after the foundation of protected comic book preserve Walt’s Comic Sho--
What a month! It started super, and it’s about to become fantastic! To a capes-loving kid in his 40s this July is the opposite of kryptonite. DC and Marvel Studios, both under pressure to do better, are offering an embarrassment of riches to lure me out of my reading chair and back into the cinema. Well alright then, if they insist, I'll let them pamper me, but I'll ALSO keep reading comics. In fact, I picked up Superman: Birthright on the way home from the film...
Wait a minute… Was this their scheme all along?!
FANTASTIC BOOKS 4 YOU
We already organized a little giveaway to celebrate James Gunn’s incredible accomplishment of a Superman movie, but the Fantastic Four surely deserve no lesser treatment. Now, please ignore any intrusive thoughts telling you to scroll (SCROLL!) down quickly, and stay (FREE STUFF!) with me to the end of this newsletter to find (FREE STUUUFF!) out how and what to win. (IT’S FREE STUFF!)
First, please follow me around the store. I'd like to show you some new exciting arrivals.
YOU'VE CHANGED, MAN
Take this surrealistic reinvention of a lesser known Steve Ditko character, for example, which just so happens to have been Walt’s very own most-wished-upon-a-star omni release ever since the format broke through. And that dream came true last week!
Shade, The Changing Man by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Omnibus Vol. 1 starts to collect the groundbreaking 70-issue series that was one of the first ever comics to be moved over onto DC’s Vertigo imprint in the early ‘90s. So you know this isn’t some average run-of-the-mill superhero story. Instead, it’s a 3-person love triangle road trip exploring the meaning of identity through a mindbending meld of Peter Milligan’s word wizardry and Chris Bachalo’s transformational, page-transcending art. And yet, somehow, it’s about superheroes, too.
Treat your shelf and pick up Volume 1 today!
X OUT OF X VOLUMES
The late, great, greatest of all time Peter David wrote several magnum opuses, and his second X-Factor run is my personal favourite among them. Throwing a bundle of miscellaneous Marvel mutant misfits into a film noir-esque detective setting proved to be a lightning in a bottle combination, and being able to finally complete the full story’s omnibus collection is a wonderful, wonderful feeling.
Make like Madrox and copy yourself, then send them to go pick up Volume 4, which is out NOW!
AND SUPERGIRLS JUST FLY
Now that Superman is finally flying across cinemas again, the next chapter to look forward to in the DCU will be his cousin Kara’s time to shine, and by all accounts it’s going to take a lot of people by surprise. While they share a powerset and the same (it’s not an) S-branded outfit, her path to superheroism couldn’t have been more different from Superman’s. The New 52 omnibus collects her revitalized origin story, offering a great starting point to getting to know what Supergirl is all about.
Look out for Volume 1, now!
THEIR ACTUAL FIRST STEPS
Just a few days from now Marvel’s First Family will stretch across the silver screen. They of course had movies made about them before, but none that lived up to the heated expectations. Compared to the great successes of the MCU, the Fantastic Four remained by and large invisible. But you know, I think having this new one start in the ‘60s is a really good thing. After all, it worked for the comics, too! And like clockwork, those true first steps have recently been reprinted.
What? You’re wondering if we have more? You BET we have more! Newest Big Books Of course, there are even more incredible BIG books on the way that you can already pre-order while their prices are still as-low-as-they-can-get. For example...
HIT MAN, MAN SHOOT
For all you stealthy gamers out there, this book is not about Agent 47, but rather about the Gotham City-bred hired gun with telepathic powers and X-Ray vision created by Garth Ennis and John McCrea in the early ‘90s. If you've read anything else by Ennis (The Boys, Punisher, Preacher; he's done a few things here and there...) you know he maintains a sardonic house style, and this series is no exception. The blood, guts and cynicism ooze from the page, but Ennis knows like no other how to accentuate the comedy in it all. Hitman is a blast!
Volume 1 is still available:
and Volume 2 can be pre-ordered now!
THE AVANT-GARDERS
Sure, the avengers rule, we knew that. They’re Earth’s mightiest heroes. But does that make them great rulers of the world? Geoff Johns and Olivier Coipel took that idea and turned it up to eleven, with a book that’s chock-full of iconic Avengers group shots. Johns mostly wrote DC books, so it’s fun to see his take on "the other team", and if you’ve ever seen Coipel’s work on for example House of M, you know that the Avengers will be in the best of hands with him holding the pencils.
NOT ON DISNEY+
Despite Tony Stark’s immense popularity, there haven’t been too many omnibuses released that focus on the iron giant’s escapades. Armor Wars, one of his most iconic tales, is now finally coming our way in one oversized collection. It’s a quintessential slice of Iron Man, containing all the ingredients Iron Fans have come to love about the character, such as his everlasting struggles with guilt (good times) , some stretchable definitions of morality (the best of times) and perhaps a few more iron suits than would strictly be necessary to keep around (please, can I have even just one).
Quick, pre-order it here before they make it into a movie!
THE BOOK OF BOB
Thunderbolts* is one of the greatest superhero movies that almost nobody watched, which is a fate somehow quite befitting The Sentry, a hero that did so much that nobody seems to remember. His omnibus, which can be pre-ordered now, will attempt to rectify this injustice, collecting the eponymous' hero's full and actually quite unforgettable story by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee.
Find out if his S is actually an S and pre-order his book.
And for a list of ALL the BIG books you can pre-order right now, look no further than... here! Big Books Preos
IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!
We're over the moon that someone who actually read the comic books finally got to make a movie about the Fantastic Four, so we are giving away no fewer than TWO FANTASTIC BOOKS!
All you have to do is answer one simple question:
What time is it?
To have a chance at winning, mail your answer to jelle@waltscomicshop.com and be sure to mention three things in your email:
- The order # of any of the orders you've placed at the store.
- Which of the two books you'd like to participate on (sorry, you'll have to choose, otherwise we'll choose for you).
- What time it is.
The winner will be announced in a future newsletter!
THAT'S IT FOR JULY
Thanks for reading all of it and not just skipping to the giveaway (right? ❤️) and remember, Missing Out is more afraid of you than you are of it. I'll leave you, as always, with the words that we tell ourselves before we go to sleep...
OMNI'S ARE FOREV--...
What?
Big Books Newsletter is evolving!