The NEW DC CATALOGUE!
The new DC Comics catalogue is starting to appear, and I’m refreshing r/omnibuscollectors on Reddit like an addict.
Yes, redditors. I’m there, and I kick myself every time I see a post asking about Walt’s Comic Shop. I just want to say hi, but I don’t want to be this guy:
(Hey Walt, should we do that at the warehouse events?)
So. DC. Power Girl? Unwritten Compendium Vol. 2?? RED ROBIN COMPENDIUM??
Guys, yeah, I’m doing the spinning sign for DC at the next warehouse event.
While those are not on FOC, let’s see what is.
Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo Omnibus Vol. 2
It’s hard to point to a single run at DC and say it’s the most significant of the decade, simply because most of what they are publishing is very relevant.
I would argue that the good momentum started with this Nightwing run.
Outside of making Redondo a star, it got Dick Grayson back into the conversation after all that Rick Grayson disaster (don’t ask).
Following Alfred’s death in Tom King’s run, Dick returns to Blüdhaven with a sizable inheritance to his name.
He goes into a Tick, Tick... Boom! spiral (where are all my comic/musicals fans at the intersection?).
He gets a dog. He reconnects with Barbara. All while trying to prove, by doing it himself, that things can be handled in a different way than in Gotham.
His journey is accompanied by some of the best and most dynamic artwork in recent memory. And the best covers in the game.
The second part of the run has a lot of pirates. Yes, pirate-shirt Dick Grayson. And an emotional, full-circle ending.
DC just knows the Nightwing audience.
X-Men: Age Of Krakoa - Reign Of X Omnibus Vol. 1
Glad that Marvel is continuing to publish the Krakoa Omnibus (thank you for buying it like crazy).
The great part is that the omnibus mixes a comprehensive story-arc reading order with trying to recreate the experience of reading the comics while they were being published.
Krakoa was a huge interconnected storyline, and titles influenced each other left and right. I was there. It was great. I don’t think we can ever go back to something quite like it.
Reign of X is the second phase of the whole ordeal, after Dawn of X. It follows the incredible event X of Swords.
All titles are getting away from the release hype and gaining momentum on their own. This is where so many seeds are planted (HA!).
You can choose between the classic design or a beautiful Storm cover.
Let’s keep going!!
Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Boy Of Steel TP
Nothing matches Mark Waid more than nostalgic throwbacks. (Or maybe me and Pokémon fans on Tinder.)
Taking a similar approach to his acclaimed World’s Finest run, he brings things back while also informing what’s happening on the mainline in the present.
It’s a classic Smallville book, with Superboy discovering his powers and limitations. The Kents. Lana Lang. Farms and blue skies. All the good stuff.
He is simply a good writer, and he makes things work by basically showing love and unmatched spirit on every page. I wish his Shazam! had lasted longer; the vibes here are very similar.
It also helps that Skylar Patridge’s artwork is stunning, evocative, and feel-good. Glad Waid finally let Dan Mora out of his basement. (This joke will never get old.)
The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man TP
My holy grail of modern omnibuses. The one I always recommend to people with an air of “too bad you can’t get it.”
Hey, this is the best modern Spidey book, and I don’t even know if we can call it a Spidey book. Focusing on some run-of-the-mill villains, like fan-favorite Boomerang.
(Whom you’ll be able to see in this year’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Isn’t that wild?)
At the same time, while it’s not really a Spidey book, it gives you everything you could possibly want out of one. Funny. Action-forward. Surprising and endearing.
Glad that it’s back in an affordable format. (Still want that omnibus reprint, OK, Marvel?)
Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky Omnibus
What is definitely a Spider-Man book is this Chip Zdarsky banger of a collection, now back in print.
My fellow Beyond the Panels member Petar once called this his favorite Spider-Man omnibus. He’s not wrong.
What this gives you is a nice sample of multiple things.
You have the mainline Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man series, with classic funny Spider-Man comics. And I might even say it: this is the funniest Peter Parker has been in a very long time.
Also here is the modern classic Spider-Man: Life Story, reimagining Spider-Man’s publication history as if time had passed for Peter the same way it did in our real world. Meaning Peter starts his adventures in the 60s and experiences things like the Clone Saga in the 90s as though he had actually aged all those years. It’s brilliant, and it’s worth every compliment and award.
You also get Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow, a future-set miniseries imagining a dark and twisted world where Peter Parker never gets rid of the Venom symbiote.
Dark and twisted, but still quintessentially Spider-Man. For fans of things like Spider-Man: Blue.
That’s a lot of Spider-Man. You can check out everything in FOC here:
Wednesdays are the cutoff for the prices, but we don’t actually change them until Friday. (This is what I call Walt’s Comic Shop: Life Story timekeeping.)
See you,
Math.