Collecting the Mighty Omnibus
11.07.07By Collin DavidIn the spirit of Derek’s recent exploration of collecting albums based on multi-LP themed sets (and man, do I have some killer hi-fi zither compilations for you), I humbly present to you the idea of the comic omnibus. Omnibus, one might note, is latin for ‘crazy-huge everything-book that weighs more than your grandma’.
I’ve mentioned the benefits of collecting trade paperback comics, and even a little about hardcover collections, as an alternative to collecting the individual issues of a comic, which have a tendency to be fragile, and if published after 1975, probably worthless anyhow. Trades are a good way to cheaply assemble an entire story arc of a comic and read it all at once, without the dramatic month-to-month cliffhangers and copious shelf space.
The Omnibus is undoubtedly the Cadillac of comic compendiums, in both quality and (unfortunately) price. While your average ‘trade’ collection will collect from six to twelve issues of your favorite comic into book form, the Omnibus almost guarantees thirty or more issues, amounting to (in some instances) almost one thousand pages of comic glory, and if you’re lucky, it’ll be rife with behind-the-scenes art and ideas and insights. Sure, you’ll never get the original context (complete with ads and rusty tetanus-filled staples) again, but at least you’ll have a volume heavy enough to kill someone with. But only if you really, really need to. Like if they try to steal your Fruity Pebbles.
Having a 30-pound comic book tome is, of course, almost as impractical as toting around a stack of disintegrating comics, but for many older comic issues from the dawn of the art 
form, it’s the only way to read these stories in full. The market for classic comic tales doesn’t seem to be as strong as the market for these newfangled tales, so the reprints and collections are printed in limited quantities, which makes them more expensive volumes.
I mention this now because Marvel is finally reprinting the first volume of their Fantastic Four Omnibus edition, which reprints the first 30 issues of the comic, as well as the first ‘annual’, running a total of 848 pages and one hundred bucks, with an expected release date of November. In the meantime, you can still find the second volume, collecting the next 30 issues, three annuals and running another hundred dollars. In addition to this, they’re also reprinting the 1000+ page Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men Omnibuses, though the latter begins in 1975 with X-Men #94 when Chris Claremont began writing the series, ignoring the classic original stories. Anyone seeking the original x-Men stories can find them in the fifty dollar Marvel Masterworks collections.
While not nearly as deadly in size, DC’s Fourth World Omnibus editions collect a slew of comics based on the writings and art of Jack Kirby during a certain time period. Also of note is DC Comics’ Deadman Collection, which doesn’t collect just one series but features about 20 of eclectic hero Deadman’s appearances throughout other series in a 356-page, slipcased volume.
Madman Gargantua, while also not featuring ‘omnibus’ in the title, is a collection of about 30 early issues of Mike Allred’s Madman over 852 pages, and since only 2500 were printed, it runs a hefty 125 bucks. Of course, I always argue that purchasing large volumes of comics is an investment towards the study of graphic literature, which I both create and teach to high school kids. I wonder if that’ll fly on my taxes.
Jeff Smith’s Bone series features the most accessible omnibus of all, since the One Volume Edition tops 1300 pages and can be bought for only 40 bucks - less, if you shop around. Within one volume, you’ll get the entire epic adventure from page one to the thrilling conclusion. It’s also one of the rare HUGE editions that’s released in paperback - presumably to make it more available to children, since it’s a title that had a strong appeal to the tween crowd. Paperbacks, however, do not as readily withstand the trials of time.
Of course, the word ‘omnibus’ is sometimes used loosely, just like the words ‘collectible’ and ‘love’. If a comic had a short run, and it’s all collected in one place, it’s an omnibus, and even though the word ‘omni’ implies ONE thing, they can come in multiple volumes. Somehow, ‘multibus’ just doesn’t have the same ring, and ‘pluribus’ has been usurped by the rear-sides of pocket change.
They’re not for the faint of heart or wallet, but when it comes to comic collecting for the sake of reading them, partake of the filet mignon that is the omnibus.
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