Archives

[StarBrand]

I have growing interest in hardback archives published by various publishers lately, and thought I'd start a thread to discuss different archives. Which ones do you guys have? Which ones are your favorites?
Companies seem to call these by names other than archives. For example, aren't Marvel Masterworks comparable to Dark Horse Archives?
I've never really paid attention to these much, as you can tell, but I'm interested in learning more about them and what's out there. Thanks for any discussion.

[Tim]

I've started collecting these and I love both the DC Archive Editions and The Marvel Masterworks series.

So far, the DC Archives I own are:

Golden Age Flash Archive Editions Volume One and Two
Golden Age Green Lantern Archive Editions Volume One and Two


The Marvel Masterworks I have are:

Golden Age Submariner Volumes One through Three
Golden Age Human Torch Volumes One and Two
Marvel Comics Volume One
The Amazing Spiderman Volume One
X-Men Volume One
Incredible Hulk Volumes One through Five
Warlock Volume One
Deathlok Volume One

I love these. They usually contain so much material, and stories that teh average comics collector could never afford to read otherwise. My only problem with the Masterworks is the inconsistency of the design of the dust jackets, but other than that they're fantastic.

[dhudson1]

I've started collecting these and I love both the DC Archive Editions and The Marvel Masterworks series.

So far, the DC Archives I own are:

Golden Age Flash Archive Editions Volume One and Two
Golden Age Green Lantern Archive Editions Volume One and Two


The Marvel Masterworks I have are:

Golden Age Submariner Volumes One through Three
Golden Age Human Torch Volumes One and Two
Marvel Comics Volume One
The Amazing Spiderman Volume One
X-Men Volume One
Incredible Hulk Volumes One through Five
Warlock Volume One
Deathlok Volume One

I love these. They usually contain so much material, and stories that teh average comics collector could never afford to read otherwise. My only problem with the Masterworks is the inconsistency of the design of the dust jackets, but other than that they're fantastic.

I have around 150 (maybe more, I haven't counted in awhile) DC Achives and Marvel Masterworks, along with a couple of Dark Horse.

[Tim]

That's awesome!

[iggy101us]

I have been actually thinking along the same lines. I would like to get HCs of my favorites. So far I have the Dark Horse Solar and Magnus. I also have the Invincible Ultimate HCs.

I have various X-Mens TPBs and HCs but don't have any early X-Mens. I am not familiar enough as to which X-Men ones to get - Marvel Masterworks or Omnibus?

[Lightning Strike]

I have growing interest in hardback archives published by various publishers lately, and thought I'd start a thread to discuss different archives. Which ones do you guys have? Which ones are your favorites?

I have all 12 Legion Archives (they're awesome and easily my favorites), Avengers Masterworks vol. 1 and Doctor Strange vol. 1, 2 & 3.

[Lightning Strike]

I have been actually thinking along the same lines. I would like to get HCs of my favorites. So far I have the Dark Horse Solar and Magnus. I also have the Invincible Ultimate HCs.

I wish I had these instead of the tpbs. Maybe I'll bind my tpb collection.

I have various X-Mens TPBs and HCs but don't have any early X-Mens. I am not familiar enough as to which X-Men ones to get - Marvel Masterworks or Omnibus?

The Omnibus books are expensive unless you get them through a discounted store (I get mine from DCBS for about $50), but they are well worth it. They're huge, thick and oversized, and usually contain 25-30 issues.

[iggy101us]

25-30 issues? That's a lot! I like reading comics during my commute. That's going to be heavy to carry around.

[dhudson1]

I have been actually thinking along the same lines. I would like to get HCs of my favorites. So far I have the Dark Horse Solar and Magnus. I also have the Invincible Ultimate HCs.

I have various X-Mens TPBs and HCs but don't have any early X-Mens. I am not familiar enough as to which X-Men ones to get - Marvel Masterworks or Omnibus?

I prefer the Masterworks, not as heavy

[dhudson1]

I have growing interest in hardback archives published by various publishers lately, and thought I'd start a thread to discuss different archives. Which ones do you guys have? Which ones are your favorites?

I have all 12 Legion Archives (they're awesome and easily my favorites), Avengers Masterworks vol. 1 and Doctor Strange vol. 1, 2 & 3.

THe Legion ARchives may just be my favorites as well. They were probably the best DC put out in the 1960's

[StarBrand]

I have growing interest in hardback archives published by various publishers lately, and thought I'd start a thread to discuss different archives. Which ones do you guys have? Which ones are your favorites?

I have all 12 Legion Archives (they're awesome and easily my favorites), Avengers Masterworks vol. 1 and Doctor Strange vol. 1, 2 & 3.

THe Legion ARchives may just be my favorites as well. They were probably the best DC put out in the 1960's

Which other archives do you favor?

[dhudson1]

I have growing interest in hardback archives published by various publishers lately, and thought I'd start a thread to discuss different archives. Which ones do you guys have? Which ones are your favorites?

I have all 12 Legion Archives (they're awesome and easily my favorites), Avengers Masterworks vol. 1 and Doctor Strange vol. 1, 2 & 3.

THe Legion ARchives may just be my favorites as well. They were probably the best DC put out in the 1960's

Which other archives do you favor?

The Spirit Archives are great, there are alot or them, don't have them all.
I have enjoyed the All-Star with The Justice Society.
I like most of the golden age stuff from Marvel and DC as it is stuff I have never read.

[JCVaughn]

Definitely can second the recommendation of DC's The Spirit Archives.

Also heartily suggest The THUNDER Agents Archives, also from DC.

And I think these are very enjoyable:
Mister X Archives (one volume)
American Flagg! (one thus far),
Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus
Criminal: The Deluxe Edition
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Daredevil by Frank Miller Companion
Jack Kirby's Fourth World (four volumes which go through the Fourth Word titles chronologically rather than by series, awesome way to read it)
Jack Kirby's OMAC

Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil - Volume 1, Avengers - volume 1
DC Archives: Kamandi (two volumes)
Dark Horse Archives: Russ Manning's Magnus Robot Fighter, Nexus (nine or 10 volumes out so far, #11 in current Previews)

Oh, and the 24 Omnibus by J.C. Vaughn & Mark Haynes. Everyone should have this one.

[myron]

Definitely can second the recommendation of DC's The Spirit Archives.

Also heartily suggest The THUNDER Agents Archives, also from DC.

And I think these are very enjoyable:
Mister X Archives (one volume)
American Flagg! (one thus far),
Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus
Criminal: The Deluxe Edition
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Daredevil by Frank Miller Companion
Jack Kirby's Fourth World (four volumes which go through the Fourth Word titles chronologically rather than by series, awesome way to read it)
Jack Kirby's OMAC

Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil - Volume 1, Avengers - volume 1
DC Archives: Kamandi (two volumes)
Dark Horse Archives: Russ Manning's Magnus Robot Fighter, Nexus (nine or 10 volumes out so far, #11 in current Previews)

Oh, and the 24 Omnibus by J.C. Vaughn & Mark Haynes. Everyone should have this one.

thanks for that list...me thinks those will be good things to put on bithday and Xmas lists...

[Cyberstrike]

Batman Archives vol. 1 (the one that starts with Detective Comics #27)
Justice League of America vols. 1-5
World's Finest vol. 1

Other Normal sized DC Slipcased Hardcovers of note:
Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes Slipcased Hardcover
Crisis on Infinte Earths Slipcased Hardcover
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 10th Anniverasy Slipcased Hardcover

Lethar bound books:
The Complete Frank Miller Batman HC (reprints The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, and a Christmas story)
Stacked Deck: The Best of the Joker HC (reprints various Joker stories through the years)




Marvel Masterworks:
The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 (I think it's vol. 1 it might be a later one the only reason I bought it was because some the pages were creased and was it was considered damaged so I got it cheap)

Other Marvel Hardcovers of note:
Marvel Comics #1 HC reprint
Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's The Astonshing X-Men Omnibus HC
New Universal HC
War of Kings HC
The Ultimates HC
The Ultimates 2 HC

Epic:
Electra Assassin signed and numbered
Electra Lives Again HC
Marshal Law signed and numbered HC

Also from Marvel:
The Complete Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's The Fighting American HC

[Cyberstrike]

Oddly enough, I buy just about ever collected HC solicited, minus archives of old school stuff. I'd like to say that I can stomach reading it, but the majority of pre-80's I tend to find rather unreadable, even if very pretty to look at (indeed, I'd say that art was probably superior on average).

Tell me about it.

I barely got through Justice League of America archives vol. 1 and glanced through the rest of them and the same with World's Finest vol. 1. The Batman Archives I bought because it was on sale and I wanted to read Detective Comics #27.

I barely got through the first issue of Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes before I found it is one the most over-rated story lines in the history of comics EVER.

The Stacked Deck: The Best of the Joker has some really great stories in it. I did like Joker's first appearance it does shows just how much Batman has changed over the years. I also enjoyed O'Neil and Adams arc that returned the Joker to his roots.

The Complete Frank Miller Batman while not complete anymore reprints two of the most important Batman stories ever.


The Marvel hardcover I've enjoyed the most was strangely The Fighting American who in some ways was 50-60 years ahead of his time (a superhero who is secretly a TV political news commentator come on that would sell if done right). The early issues are pretty good (although the Fighting American's rogue galley ranged from the downright weird to downright stupid) the later issues became more satire on superheroes in general.

The Astonishing X-Men Omnibus should be required reading to all new comic book writers on how to use history and continuity correctly. Whedon honors the history and continuity of the X-Men but he's never a slave to it.

[JCVaughn]

Batman Archives vol. 1 (the one that starts with Detective Comics #27)
Justice League of America vols. 1-5
World's Finest vol. 1

Other Normal sized DC Slipcased Hardcovers of note:
Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes Slipcased Hardcover
Crisis on Infinte Earths Slipcased Hardcover
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 10th Anniverasy Slipcased Hardcover

Lethar bound books:
The Complete Frank Miller Batman HC (reprints The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, and a Christmas story)
Stacked Deck: The Best of the Joker HC (reprints various Joker stories through the years)




Marvel Masterworks:
The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 (I think it's vol. 1 it might be a later one the only reason I bought it was because some the pages were creased and was it was considered damaged so I got it cheap)

Other Marvel Hardcovers of note:
Marvel Comics #1 HC reprint
Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's The Astonshing X-Men Omnibus HC
New Universal HC
War of Kings HC
The Ultimates HC
The Ultimates 2 HC

Epic:
Electra Assassin signed and numbered
Electra Lives Again HC
Marshal Law signed and numbered HC

Also from Marvel:
The Complete Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's The Fighting American HC

Have to agree on the Whedon/Cassaday Astonishing X-Men and Simon/Kirby Fighting American.

[comicguy]

Love the looks of the HC's but simply can not afford them. I have been substituting with the essentails and showcases.

I have gotten a few though:

Rocketeer HC
Doctor Solar vol. I
VEI Harbinger
VEI X-O
VEI Archer & Armstrong

[JCVaughn]

Comicguy is right, but if you're going to through down for Rocketeer go whole hog and get the deluxe edition. Much larger, more than 100 additional pages, a real joy.

Also, should have definitely said Absolute Ronin.

[Chiclo]

Dark Horse Archives: Russ Manning's Magnus Robot Fighter, Nexus (nine or 10 volumes out so far, #11 in current Previews)

These are both series that I enjoy thoroughly and are probably my favourite works of their respective eras, but the thing that makes me think twice about shelling out $50 for a new copy of these archives or even $25 for a used one is that you can probably get reader copies of the individual issues included in these archives for $25 or less.

The only bound book I have is Nexus. I did not bind it myself but won it in a silent auction at Star Fest in Denver last year. It was signed by Mike Baron and I asked him to personalize it to me. If I were really thinking, I would have asked for a sketch of Honest Crocus. Maybe I can get Steve Rude to do a sketch of Crocus at SDCC. I think there are Nexus books from four different publishers in that volume. It rocks. Anyway, I only paid $15 for it, much less than an archive book.

[vikingspawn]

One of my favorite "archives-ish" hardcovers is the Groo Chronicles Hardcover from Graphitti Designs. It's a real low print run from the early '90s and hard to find these days.



Inside it collects the old Groo runs from the "Pacific" and "Eclipse" comic days in one thick leather hardcover with a wraparound dust jacket and tons of extras. Signed and numbered too.

I wish Dark Horse would give the "Archive" treatment the old 120 issue Marvel Groo run....

[Ryan]

Hey guys -

I just accidentally found an unofficial sale on Amazon for archive editions. Select volumes are now going for $14.99!! Just do a search for what you're looking for, I found these so far (all originally $50):

Magnus vol 2 and 3
Solar vol 1-3
Turok vol 1-4, 6
Tarzan the Joe Kubert years vol 1-3
Tarzan Jesse Marsh years select volumes
Nexus most volumes
Creepy some volumes
Eerie some volumes
Terry and the Pirates most volumes
Rip Kirby vol 1
Green Lama vol 1-2

so it seems like most of the Dark Horse stuff, some IDW, etc. I don't know why they're on sale now or how long it's going to last, but I just dropped over $100 on Amazon so I'm a little but these are great deals. Enjoy!

edit - sale ended sometime last night (3-7-10)

[iggy101us]

That's a serious discount

You can also search by "Dark Horse Archives" to pull up even more.

[400yrs]

I have various X-Mens TPBs and HCs but don't have any early X-Mens. I am not familiar enough as to which X-Men ones to get - Marvel Masterworks or Omnibus?

I prefer the Masterworks, not as heavy

What exactly is the difference between the Marvel Omnis and the Marvel Masterworks?

My wife got me the Amazing Spider-man Omnibus for Christmas. I LOVE it, but it is huge.

Are the Marvel Masterworks light enough or comfortable enough to read on a couch or in bed or something? Is there any difference in the page size? Any differences that are known?

[400yrs]

The Astonishing X-Men Omnibus should be required reading to all new comic book writers on how to use history and continuity correctly. Whedon honors the history and continuity of the X-Men but he's never a slave to it.

Did this run stay good? I enjoyed it for a long while, but dropped it...... I can't remember why. I think I have the first 20 issues or so.

What issues does the Omni include? Eventually, I'll go back and re-read the singles and if I like them, I'll get the omni.