Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: , , , ,


Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated? Justice League Omnibus Vol. 1 (A Review Of Sorts)

By Aaron B. Hale

I am not a DC hater. When they produce a quality product, I gladly give them my money. For years at conventions I have chatted with Bob Wayne (DC Senior Vice President of Sales) about releasing omnibus collections with as many issues as Marvel had in their editions.  Wayne was always gracious yet not very informative.  I was often given the runaround by DC that they could not afford the royalties for collections of that size. Eventually some policy must have changed because DC started to release large omnibus editions averaging about thirty issues each. I was ecstatic until that first package arrived.

9781401248420_500X500

As they say, be careful what you wish for.  While Marvel is very close to perfecting their collected editions with top of the line mapping and restoration, DC still cannot get its foot in the door. This past week's release of the Silver Age Justice League Omnibus is the newest in a long line of collected follies. In the past we have dealt with Flash Omnibus Vol. 3 having pages printed out of order. New Teen Titans Vol. 3 had partial stories, offering an incomplete reading experience. The upcoming JSA Omnibus Vol. 1 had to have its contents changed a number of times due to inaccurate mapping.  And now the current Justice League Omnibus does not appear to have been restored at all (issue #2 suffers the same color problems as the 17 year old archive edition).

Also, the product purchased is once again not what was solicited on every conceivable web site, including DC's very own. Where is Mystery in Space #75? As an avid collector of this format of books, it's becoming tiresome that DC cannot do what Image, IDW, and Marvel accomplish on numerous books every month. Restoration, I understand, is very expensive, however one only needs to head to Google to properly map a book.  DC has, in the past, halfheartedly tried to make some corrections in the Omnibus line. After the mishap of New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1 they switched to a different binding in order to prevent gutter loss. Unfortunately even with sewn binding, the Justice League Omnibus still does not open flat in most parts of the book.

Is it too much to ask to purchase the actual product as solicited? DC seems to think so. It would be one thing if this was a onetime occurrence, but it is becoming the standard. These books are not inexpensive and DC is at the point where they are starting to release close to one a month. I know they have editorial problems; I did not know these extended to collected editions. Many of these books appear to go to market without even being looked at.  Is it too much to ask that DC attempt to bring to their own material the utmost justice in preparing and presenting it to the fans?  Though I've always preferred the stories of DC when it comes to collected editions, in the future I will make mine Marvel.

Aaron B. Hale is @BandB54 on Twitter


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Hannah Means ShannonAbout Hannah Means Shannon

Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. Independent comics scholar and former English Professor. Writing books on magic in the works of Alan Moore and the early works of Neil Gaiman.
twitterfacebook
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.