The DC Comics Absolute Quandry – Top 5 Stories That Should Be Absolutes

I don’t really recall the exact moment, where I was or what I was doing, when I saw my first Absolute Edition. I don’t even know what title it was. It may have been the Watchmen, or maybe Kingdom Come, or  maybe Dark Knight. But no matter what it was, I still remember the bewildered awe I felt as I pulled the oversized hardcover out of its slip case and marveled at the concept. Big, hefty, beautiful hardcovers with the best stories and excellent production. I’ve never dropped $75 so quickly as when I purchased my first one. The format has given me a reason to care about DC Comics even more than the limited amount I do currently. 

Now that the format has been around for a few years, we’ve seen a trend emerge of fans waiting with bated breath for the announcement for the next Absolute Edition. Heck, it almost deserves a dedicated segment on Collected Comics Library (an excellent podcast by the way). With that said, I gave these Absolutes a thought and came up with some interesting observations as well as defined what I think should guide the Absolute Editions.

Before I ponder what stories should get the Absolute treatment, let me share with you what I think the criteria for an Absolute edition should be:

 

  • A Self Contained Story This is key. I know, they’re publishing the Absolute Sandman series in multiple volumes, but if you ask me, that’s an exception. Many will moan, saying Absolute Preacher should be released, but I don’t think so. Condensing that many trades into a series of Absolutes is ridiculous. I see the reasoning for the Sandman collections, but I think we overestimate Preacher‘s staying power. I don’t think they’d sell. This is what the Omnibus editions from DC is for, like the recent Starman Omnibus, and how they will handle Y: The Last Man. But the story has to be long enough to warrant a thick book. A 3 or 4 issue mini series falls just short of deserving the treatment in my mind. And the longest run collected should be 12 issues. Anything beyond that is just too darn heavy.
  • Amazing Creative Team – Absolute Editions live and die by their creative teams. I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’ve seen one yet with an inconsistent art team on it (Sandman, again, excepted). No fill ins or guest artists. Just one writer, one artist or one writer/artist.
  • Legendary Story — The collection needs to matter. Sure we could collect the Robin miniseries from the 1990s in an Absolute Edition, but does that story really matter? Not in the same way Watchmen or Kingdom Come does.


So with the rules set, I checked to see the rest of the Absolute Editions for this year:

Absolute The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier – August 12, 2008
Absolute Ronin (Frank Miller) – September 30, 2008
Absolute Sandman, Volume 4 – November 18, 2008

And I checked what was due for early 2009, and found Absolute Superman For Tomorrow scheduled for 2009, collecting Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee’s run on Superman from a few years ago, and that addressed one of my observations before I could make it. Aside from Kingdom Come (which is debatable), there are no Superman stories in Absolute format. Which begs the question, are there any Superman stories worth the Absolute treatment? Death of Superman? Too long. Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale? Too short. The Man of Steel by John Byrne? Maybe. I certainly wouldn’t have selected the Azzarello/Lee run, that made absolutely no sense whatsoever in issues, much less oversized. But it’s Jim Lee, so I suppose it will sell.

My Top 5 Stories That Should Get the Absolute Treatment:

1. Astro City Volume 1: Life in the Big City

Written by Kurt Busiek, Art by Brent Anderson, Covers by Alex Ross

Can you believe they haven’t done this yet? It’s a no brainer. Originally a 6 issue series, it’s the perfect length. The combination of Alex Ross’ covers and Brent Anderson’s interiors makes for some fine art and I’m sure there are tons of “Extras” to go along with it. And it may be Busiek’s masterpiece, his best work ever. But it’s attached to Wildstorm, and creator owned to boot, and not in the DC Universe of heroes, so that’s probably why it will never happen.

2. Identity Crisis

Written by Brad Meltzer, art by Rags Morales

They must be planning on Absoluting this series. Coming in at 7 issues, it’s also a perfect fit for size. A collection of the classic DC Heroes and Meltzer’s complicated, deeply personal murder mystery is perfect for this treatment, additionally because it’s probably the best work to come out of the DiDio years at DC.

3. Superman/Batman

Written by Jeph Loeb, art by Ed McGuiness

Taking the first volume of Loeb’s run on this title, “Public Enemies,” would not only check the “Give Superman an Absolute Edition” box but also would give us oversized Ed McGuiness art, which is good enough for me!

4. The Spirit

Written and Drawn by Darwyn Cooke

This one is a no-brainer, with 12 issues delivered by the great Darwyn Cooke, this would be a must have for any Spirit fan, as well as any Cooke fan. If they’re not planning on releasing this an Absolute, then they’re nuts.

5. JLA: Year One

Written by Mark Waid & Brian Augustyn and Art by Barry Kitson

I know that there seems to be a lot of team books and JLA based books in Absolute Editions, but it’s really only Kingdom Come. This 12 issue series would be ideal to tell the origin of the Justice League and Barry Kitson’s art oversized would be a sight. Plus this gives a classic, DC Heroes feel to the line of Absolutes.

I came up with this list of 5 stories that deserve the Absolute treatment after posing the question to myself and fellows at my local comic store, “Are there any stories left to get Absolute editions?” This sparked a huge debate with recommendations like Suicide Squad, WildC.A.T.S, DEMO, and even Gen13. I have to give DC credit, that by limiting the number of these produced, they make them special and worth speculating over. But I’m telling you, at some point they’re going to run out of stories that deserve the treatment, so four a year is probably a good idea. We wouldn’t want to ruin a good thing.

 

Comments

  1. The Spirit for sure. Great story, great art… what else can you ask for? Absolute!

  2. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    I’d grab Absolute Identity Crisis in a heartbeat.

  3. I may be in the minority but I didn’t like Sandman. All-Star Superman should be an absolute.

  4. I’m very dissapointed with the upcoming slate of Absolutes. Not enough DC!

  5. I’d say gimmie an Absolute of The Sinestro Corps War and All-Star Batman and Robin..c’mon..you know you’d love to read just what the hell they were thinking as much as I do.

  6. I wanted The Spirit Absolute yesterday.  I would squeal like a little girl if that happened.

    I have one more to add to the list:  Batman: Dark Victory.  It’s an excellent series with excellent Tim Sale art.  It’s 13 issues long.  It would look lovely next to my Absolute Long Halloween.

    To this day, the absolute best absolute has to be New Frontier.  I worship that book.

  7. I agree with All star supes,

    but jumping in my mind:

    -The first run of Superman Confidential: Darywn Cooke, Tim Sale, come on now

    -Flash: The Return of Barry Allen

    -and finally Superman vs. Preadtor…kidding, maybe Superman: red Son, but I can’t recally how thick that is truth be told 

     

  8. All Star Superman is an obvious choice for the Absolute edition treatment, I didn’t include it because I thought it was pretty obvious.  But that said, it probbaly won’t be until late 2009, but once that comes out, Superman will have his definitive Absolute. 

    Amazing how many Batman absolutes there are, isn’t it?  Does Batman simply have better stories?  

  9. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @Jurassicalien – I like that thought.  Flash.  And…maybe not an Absolute, but a Geoff Johns Flash omnibus perhaps?

  10. @ Ron

    I’m not sure if he has better stories, but he has more memorable "pull out of your head" stories. Like off the top of my head I can go "killing joke" "long halloween" "death in the family" "Year One" "dark Knight" and that’s not counting else worlds (except maybe dark knight) not to say you can Abs. those stories (like killing joke) but he has more memorable ones. With Superman, off the top, and none Else worlds (being Red Son, Secret Identiy) I think "For All seasons" "death of" and "For a man who has everything". I think for alot of people their favorite Superman moment happens in some JLA story (that’s not to generalize, but just stating) and these are of course just pulling out story lines as opposed to runs. Everyone knows Bryne did great on Superman, but that’s a huge run, not a known one story. 

  11. @ Paul Yeah I’d take an omnibus of Johns run, hands down (considering the trades of his run aren’t numberd! Gah!)

  12. @Jurassicalien- that first run of Supes Confidential with Cooke and Sale was awesome, I’d love to get that.  Kind of an underrrated run in my opinion.

  13. The only reason I don’t like Absolutes is the huge amount of real estate they take up–that and my wife will kill me if I start bringing those in the house. So really, I don’t actually dislike Absolutes, I’m just envious.

  14. What would folks think if the did Donner/Johns Action run in Abs? now I’m just talking Donner/Johns. Cause Johns alone I feel is sorta buliding his own thing. This is just brain storming, but if you combined the two stories which 7 issues, plus two annuals, that’d be a good size. I mean seeing Kubert 3d art and Powell art in Abs forum would be pretty cool. Did these two stories really impact Superman? Probably not, but big creative names, and art I wouldn’t mind see being blown up. What do other people think of this?

  15. what stories were in the Donner/Johns run?  Wasn’t it just Last Son?

  16. Anybody who loves JLA: Year One should check out the trade of Mark Waid’s first ‘Brave and the Bold’. It’s almost the JLA:YO team: Kitson on art, Waid and Tom Peyer writing. It’s six issues of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen 1-and-done stories, and it’s awesome. I’m surprised that this never gets mentioned when people ask about good Hal stories. Probably the best Barry I’ve ever read.

  17. @ Kimbo It was Last Son and Escape from Bizzaro World

  18. Identity Crisis and JLA: Y1 definitely.

    I also want Green Lanter: Rebirth and JSA.

  19. "Absolute Justice" anyone? The story was pretty cool and that Doug Braithwaite/Alex Ross art is amazing!

    Does anybody else think it’s funny that the Absolute line came from Wildstorm? DC just yanked it away for Crisis on Infinite Earth and Watchmen after Absolute Danger Girl, Absolute Authority 1+2, Absolute Planetary, and Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  

  20. Since I missed Sandman the first time around, I decided to purchase the Absolute Editions (yeah I am going over budget each time).

    Thanks to this article, I am going to order Kingdom Come too (are u happy Ron?)

  21. Green Latern Rebirth?

    Judas cintract?

    Superboy and the legion of superheroes: Earthwar storyline 

  22. Add my vote to an Absolute All Star Superman. A 12-issue Superman story for the ages by Grant Morrison with Frank Quitely’s art? They’d be nuts not to give this the Absolute treatment!

  23. "I have to give DC credit, that by limiting the number of these produced, they make them special and worth speculating over."

    Except with the notable exception of "Superman For Tomorrow", like you pointed, that story was horrible. Hopefully it won’t sell, and they’ll think harder before announcing the next batch.

  24. I want Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run to be collected like that. They’re coming out with hardcovers of the run starting next January, though, so I guess I’m just going to have to be contented with that.

     

  25. Absolute Green Lantern/Green Arrow, please!

    "My sidekick is a junkie!!!" totally deserves coffee table treatment.   

  26. Superman: Secret Identity!!

    It’s beautifully written and Immonen’s astonishing art would really benefit from the oversized format and grade-a quality paper.

    Not that I would be able to afford it but still.

     

     

  27. How about Brubaker and Phillips’ Sleeper from Wildstorm? That’d be great. I’m racking my brain for all the great stories from DC over the years. I know there are more. But so many great stories are buried in long runs that are better served with an Omnibus treatment. Like, as much as I’d like Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, I think a Starman-like Omnibus series would be better suited to encompass the run. 

  28. I can see the appeal of an Absolute oversized edition, but they just aren’t for me.  It seems they aren’t user friendly and readable.  They are pretty to look at, but that doesn’t sell the idea at least for me.  I will stick with Omnibus and Hardcovers.  They fit better on my shelf and are easy to throw in a bag and take with me.  If you put a gun to my head and I had to choose though it would be…any Mike Grell run on Green Arrow.

  29. Does Image do Absolute type books…cause I could see Fell being collected into this format type…I would fucking buy that in a second.

  30. Didn’t they only make a paperback of Paul Pope’s Batman: Year One Hundred? I don’t know if I would call the story legendary but Paul Pope art begs to receive absolute treatment.

  31. Speaking of Image, I have the "Absolute" Girls by the Luna Brothers and it is gorgeous. The art just pops on the page. Any of their stuff (e.g. Ultra) looks good in "Absolute" format…

    I concur regarding the All-Star Superman and Justice Absolutes. I slowly am coming to the point where i seem to be collecting more and more hardcovers and getting rid of the trades and "floppies" Now I only read Invincible and Walking Dead in their Ultimate Collection Formats…what gives?

    Adding, I would also like to see Morrison’s Doom Patrol and Animal Man and Sandman Mystery Theatre in Omnibus Format ala Starman..oh and Shade…and….Cerebus…heck , anything Jack Kirby deserves Absolute or Omnibi (?) treatment….

  32. Thanks for the kind words, Ron.

     

    I was really surprised when Swamp thing wouldn’t be collected into the Absolute format. We “collected edition purists” thought it would be a sure thing, but DC decided to bring upon the new Deluxe Edition format, thus ensuring that Starman would get to over sized as well.

     

    As for thing we can expect, Justice is very probable, as we have already seen anything that Alex Ross does, he gets the over sized treatment. Glad you mentioned Astro City that is something that really deserves it.

    Two other books that I know that will be coming out (they just may take a while) is Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome. The latter may include the three Halloween one-shots that Loeb and Sale did before embarking on Long Halloween.

     

    And finally did you see that the Absolute Black Dossier will not include that 45 rpm record (and possibly the Tijuana Bible)? I think people are better off just buying the $30 Hardcover.

     

    Chris Marshall

    /ccl podcast and blog

  33. Ron, you crazy if you think Preacher doesn’t have lasting sales power – that series ended eight years ago and the trades still sell like crazy. If DC doesn’t have an Absolute timed for the first episode when it hits HBO, they’d be crazy.

    Then again, they sort of forgot the 70th birthday of Superman, so maybe they are crazy.

    Identity Crisis is too short – I don’t think it meets the minimum page count requirement of an Absolute, so unless you’re looking at a ton of supplemental material like Kingdom Come or New Frontier, we probably won’t be seeing it anytime soon.

    I’d kill for Absolute Sleeper, but Lee said that as much as he’d love to publish it, the book’ll never happen. Not a big enough audience. Are the Sleeper trades still in print, even?

    As for Absolute Green Lantern…the question is "Will DC just collect Sinestro Corps, or will they wait for Blackest Night and throw in Rebirth to complete the trilogy?"

     

  34. Preacher is totally able to sustain as well as Sandman. 

  35. Red Son was 3 (or 4) 48-page Prestige Format books – not really enough for an Absolute, plus I think there were two different artists on it. While somewhat consistant, the larger size will probably show the different styles.

    I’d love some Rissio art in Absolute size – but I don’t think 100 Bullets would sustain the treatement for the whole run. Maybe his and Azzerello’s Batman story? If they’re doing Azzerello’s Superman, this would actually be a better story to collect.

    Johns’ Flash run from like 180-200 would make an awesome collection. Kollins’ art is just mind-blowing and would benefit greatly from the bigger size. 

  36. @dacampo & ChrisCCL: I’m so unclear about the differences between omnibuses and absolutes and stuff. I think I understand what you guys are saying and I agree that the Swamp Thing run is better suited for a series of omnibuses. I was just hoping that we’d see the run collected in some nice way, with a hardcover. But why did the Deluxe Edition "ensure" that Starman would be oversized? Will the Swamp Thing Vol 1 be a Deluxe Edition? I’m just so confused. All I know is that I’m getting whatever this Vol. 1 thing is that they’re releasing in January ’09. I just hope the paperstock doesn’t suck. You know, really, ideally, I’d just like the run to be collected in black and white–which it was in the Essential Vertigo reprints, and in some UK softcovers. I’d value nice glossy paper over color, because the mood of the series really lends itself to black and white (git all that green outta there :-)).

  37. Preacher is one of the books I use to introduce folks who don’t read comics into comics and 80% of the time they end up going off to buy some of the trades themselves.  Same with Sandman actually.

  38. I think Justice and All Star Superman are a given.

    I think Marvel would be wise to Omnibus the Loeb/Sale colour books into one volume.

  39. Yeah, I think Absolute All-Star Superman would be terrific.

    Others that’d be nice would be:

    The second half of Planetary

    The first three trades of Morrison’s JLA

    Infinite Crisis

    Birthright 

    Gotham Central (the first issue up to Half a Life)

  40. @flapjaxx – I think the big thing is that the Absolute format is hugely oversized and usually pretty costly. Four volumes of Sandman at $99 each seems acceptable (to me) because of the nature of the series. But I really like Starman having 6 volumes at $50 each (they’d have to have about 5 absolute volumes to collect everything). Much more manageable. I think a similar treatment would work well for Swamp Thing. ‘Course, I would probably buy an Absolute treatment of Swamp Thing if they made it.

  41. I would love, love, love omnibus editions of Hellblazer, Shade The Changing Man, Sandman Mystery Theatre, etc. Vertigo needs to get on the Omnibus bandwagon. I guess that’s what’s starting with Y and Swamp Thing…?

  42. @Tork: they are making one for Gotham Central, I think (not sure if it’s Absolute)

    @daccampo: good call on Sandman Mystery Theatre… i’ve only read the first 3 arcs, but i would love to get back on that when/if the absolutes come out.

    I would love to see All Star Superman, The Spirit, and Morisson’s JLA too.   I also know people are clamoring for HITMAN Absolute…

  43. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    In one of your Saturday video shows, Conor mentioned he thought an Absolute Top Ten book would be lovely. That series is too quirky to be denied.

    Maybe From Hell could be absoluticated, because Alan Moore’s work is just too mesmerizing for paltry paperbacks. Over the weekend I bought The New Adventures of The Spirit comic he did with David Gibbons in 1997. After reading Moore’s adaptations on the origins of The Spirit, I’m at last excited for the upcoming film.

    So, yeah, here’s hoping DC releases Absolute The Spirit by Darwyn Cooke!

  44. Gotham Central is going to be 4 hc volumes (10 issues per). Standard size I think.

  45. All star superman was just made for the absolute format, imagine seeing those oversized Quietly pages, makes ya happy don’t it? I like the idea of a Batman Year One/Batman Year One Hundred duel Absolute and Chip Kidd should design both books.

  46. @PymSlap: I’m pretty sure DC doesn’t have the copyrights to print a From Hell absolute edition. But if did want to ride roughshod like that, I think an absolute edition of Miracleman should be the first thing on the list.

  47. @daccampo: For what it’s worth, I don’t think that the Swamp Thing HC is going to be a "Deluxe Edition". At least, the product isn’t described that way on amazon.com. (The forthcoming Y and Death HCs, however, are described as "Deluxe Edition".) It better not be shitty paperstock, dammit!

  48. @PymSlap/flappjaxx – Yeah, I’m not sure how DC could print a book that is published by Top Shelf.

  49. Depending on how the series goes, I’d love to just see Final Crisis absoluted, just to have J.G Jones art in that beautiful format. Another pick, All-Star Batman and Robin, once again, strictly aimed for the art. If anybody has seen Jim Lee’s stuff in the Absolute Hush, they know it’s great. I wouldn’t have mind seeing an Identity Crisis in absolute, but only if Michael Turner would’ve done the slip cover art, cause that’s what screamed to me when I saw the issues, cause Rags Morales art was ok, better towards the end but it would’ve appealed better if it could have been Turner doing the slip cover.

  50. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    @flappjaxx&Conor . . . I’m a dummy. A dummy who has never read "From Hell." There are ads for it on the back cover of "The Spirit The New Adventures," and it looks fucking terrific.

    But as for Top Ten, how do you think it would read best in an Absolute? Would you include "The Forty-Niners" at the beginning or the end of the book?

  51. Heed my words!

    You just KNOW that Absolute All-Star Batman & Robin will be published and besmerch the name "Absolute".

    Heed!

     

     ps- Fanboy sap that I am. I will probably have it pre-ordered. 

  52. I’m an Absolute addict. I’ve had to shift my shelves around so I could store them properly. I just wish some of the slipcases weren’t so tight. I cringe every time I try to slide them back in the case.

    Books I’d like to see:

    Birthright

    James Robinson’s Golden Age

    Ed Brubaker’s Authority run 

    Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow

    Brad Meltzer’s Green Arrow with Identy Crisis. Two separate books in one slipcase. Like Crisis.

    Grant Morrison’s 7 Soldiers

  53. Sleeper: Season One. Yes, the trades are still in print. Brubaker has a significant fanbase and Season One would sell.His Authority run is probably worth it too.

    Planetary Part II. This will happen once Cassaday finishes #27. Look for 3Q 2009. 

    All-Star Superman. The only Superman I’ve ever liked. A Superman everybody else loves. Again, 3Q 2009.

    Top 10. The Absolute could have the 12 issue main run and the 49ers both, or two volumes putting main book in v I and 49ers and Smax in v II. Top 10 has SOOOOOOO much detail in every page that it screams, SCREAMS for oversize treatment. And think of the possible extras: annotation. An index listing who/shat is being "homaged" on each page (e.g. page 144: In traffic: Flying Baxter Building, Moon Knight, Flash Gordon…). One of Alan Moore’s ludicrously detailed scripts. I want to see how he described Galactipuss to Gene Ha.

    And here’s an idea: Absolute Wildstorm. The first Arc from WildC.A.T.S. The Gen13 mini, and early, representative stories from Deathblow, Wetworks, etc. Just avoid pre-Ellis Stormwatch. God that stuff was bad. Throw in one of those cheesecake specials like the bikini pin-up issue to makeup for it.

    Speaking of Ellis Stormwatch, volume 2. 11 issues + wht Wildcats/Alien crossover. Art: Jimenez, McGuire, and Hitch. Ellis writing. Introduction of the Authority members. That’s worthy of an Absolute.

    Finally: Second printings of L.E.G. v1 and Authority v 1 and 2!. Long out of print, these are impossible to find. And when you do, it’s for hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Give us another chance to grab these great books.

  54. @RobAbsten – SLEEPER’s not going to sell.  Brubaker’s fanbase only goes so far when you take away the traditional superheroes – otherwise CRIMINAL would be selling a lot more than it does.

  55. I second the call for Absolute Golden Age…..

     

    and Legion Lost.

  56. Absolute JLA: Year One, definitely!!!

    Absolute Batman: Year One should be done too. It could be a cheaper Absolute to get people started.

    Absolute Ronin would be my next one, but that’s already going through, and I’m definitely picking it up.

    Absolute WE3

    Absolute JLA: Earth Two (I might have the name wrong, but its the one Morrison did with Frank Quitely) 

  57. I’m all for the Spirit Absolute as long as we get a run of Eisner stories instead of Cookes.  Cooke is good, but he’s no Eisner, and to be fair to Darwyn… who is?

     I think most of my picks will skew much older than the ones Ron mentioned in his excellent post.

    1.  ‘Camelot 3000 Absolute’ A brilliant book that never gets the love it deserves.  Mike Barr and Brian Boland did one of the first stories I loved that was not a Superhero comic.  If you have never read this I can imagine you can get the back issues cheap.  It’s amazing stuff and Bollands art in an absolute format?  Forget about it.

    2.  Any of Kirbys 4th world stuff!  Although I am pretty happy with my omnibus versions… so mabye give us Kamandi instead!

    3.  ‘Kryptonite Nevermore Absolute’ Superman’s ‘reboot’ in the 1970’s containing Superman #232-252.

    4. ‘Neal Adams and Denny O’Neils Dark Knight Absolute’ Batman #227 to #242?!? (I’m just going off the top of my head for the issue numbers on this one)  O’Neil and Adams… nuff said.

    5.  Okay Nobody would buy this but me …..but I’d push down an old lady to see an "I….Vampire Absolute’  I love this character and the run he had in House of Mystery.  C’mon let’s do this one DC!

     

  58. Other (some of them non-DC) books that deserve an Absolute-style treatment:

    Chosen, Local, Bite Club, Top Ten, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Hard Boiled, Star Wars (the one where Luke goes Dark Side, I forget the title…), Ghost in the Shell, Infinity Gauntlet, Runaways, Nextwave, and the X-Men devotee inside of me would definitely buy Absolute (or even Marvel Omnibus) editions of Fatal Attractions, Phalanx Covenant, Age of Apocalypse, Onslaught, Dark Pheonix Saga, From the Ashes, basically, ANY X-Men event.  I’m so starved for that stuff I bought the Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire HC.  Give me more hardcover X-Men stuff!

    What classic Marvel stories would deserve their Premiere Classic treatment (which I love, I don’t care what anyone says).  So far its been pretty deserving stories, with the exception of Hulk The End (were they just padding Future Imperfect for a hardcover?) and Punisher Circle of Blood.  And Marvels may have been a little redundant.  The others, though, Weapon X, Death of the Stacys, Kraven’s Last Hunt, Doomquest, Demon In a Bottle, Defenders War, Wolvie Origin, God Loves Man Kills, and the Claremont/Miller Wolvie, were totally deserving. 

  59. @mistersizzle Image does do absoultes, but they’re called the Ultimate HC Collection…or something like that.  So far, to my knowledge, the only stories that have been collected that way are Girls, Invincible, and Walking Dead.  I have the Invincible one, and it’s A-MAZING!  I’ve wanted the Walking Dead one for awhile, but it’s out of print and online a-holes have made it billions of dollars on the Internet.

    @john42 Thanks for the heads up on the Mark Waid book.  I’ve definitely come across it in the store and wondered if it was good.  I’ll scope it out for sure.

  60. I think Ron is just wrong about Preacher.  There’s a market out there for an Absolute collection of the series and I agree with those that said it will be released to coincide with the HBO series.

    Anywho… I would love to see Alan Moore’s Top 10 get the absolute treatment.  I want to see Gene Ha’s art BIG.

     

     

  61. Come on people where is the love for Grell era Green Arrow?

  62. I agree with Robinson’s Golden Age…or at least an oversized Hardcover. Kamandi was released in the old Archive format…would love to see DC re-release it as an Omnibus like the Fourth World, OMAC, and upcoming The Demon Omnibus format (but with better paper) They all look so good on my shelf unread…*sigh*

  63. One of the best absolutes and one of the first I bought was The Absolute Authority.  It’s a beautiful book.  I see mentions of Camelot 3000 and Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters which I think would look great in this format.

  64. Good god, yes. Longbow Hunters with Grell’s art? That would be great. And also Robinson’s Golden Age. Another great one. Paul Smith art.

    It wouldn’t sell, but something like Gaiman and McKean’s Black Orchid could work. I’m trying to think of excellent ART books. Morrison and Fegredo’s Kid Eternity mini-series would also rock. But that’s too thin for an absolute. Still… some kind of nice over-sized hardcover treatment…?

    Also: Leave it to Chance — Robinson and Smith again.

     

  65. The length thing makes it tricky.

    Dark Victory: If they released Absolute Dark Victory, I would be forced to buy Absolute Long Halloween (which I probably should anyway…..). 

    Death: Since Death is arguable even more popular than the Sandman, what about Absolute Death, that has both The High Cost of Living and The Time of Your Life included? Maybe still not long enough, but maybe just loaded with bonus stuff, pin-ups, scripts?

    Top 10: this NEEDS to be oversized just to see all the hidden easter eggs in the art. Plus, it’s a damn good series. 

    I’m not sure how I feel about Preacher. Now, it’s one of my all-time favorite titles and I’ve read the entire run in trades about 6 times. but really, I’m totally satisfied with the trades. While I have all the Sandman trades, I’m re buying them in Absolute format (have the first 3 already!) I don’t think I would buy Preacher a second time. What i have is good enough for what it is.

    I don’t have anywhere near the DC comics knowledge that other people on this board have. Pretty much every one of my favorite DC comics that could be Absolute’s already are. But I would be all for the Top 10 one, for sure!

  66. Camelot 3000 is coming in the fall as a standard hardcover.  No Absolute there.

     "Leave It To Chance" had an oversized hardcover edition series once upon a time.  I think Image published those.  They were very affordable and came out looking beautiful.  I’m sure they’re long out of print.  Robinson and Smith were supposed to be doing new stories in support of the format, but that didn’t last very long. So sad.

     

  67. PROMETHEA and TOP TEN both are absolute Absolutes. Two of the greatest pieces of comic book artistry ever made, and they both are top reads as well. I can’t know why they never got them back when. Now I imagine old issues with Alam Noore may stop them from happening

  68. DC’s newest Absolute Edition.

    And it’s really, really crappy.

  69. On Word Balloon (another good podcast, but I might carry a Chicago bias) Jeph Loeb had mentioned some talk at DC about collecting Superman for All Seasons with Sam’s Story from Batman/Superman 26 and another "in the works" Tim Sale/Loeb Superman project he has an exception for in his marvel contract.  

    If it ever materializes, I’ll buy it.  As for Superman For Tomorrow, I’ve tried to read the trades three times.  The first one sets things up well, but the second completely loses me.  Because of that, I just can’t bring myself to read 100 Bullets.

  70. Absolute Top Ten and Planetary Part Two are a couple I’d love to own.

    Also Absolute Alan Moore Swamp Thing.

    Absolute Warren Ellis Stormwatch.

    Absolute Morrison JLA.

    I’d highly recommend people pick up the Absolute Ronin.  Visionary.  Experimental in both writing and art.  Way ahead of its time.

  71. so i know i am late coming to the game on this one but SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT.

    it’s an update of the orgin story with great art by lenile yu and story by Mark Waid. it gets the character right, has several moments when you want to pump your fist in the air, gets luthor right, and is 12 issues long. I like this as the orgin over Man of steel even. It feels like the culimation of all the other superman orgins that came before in the same way that all star feels like the culimation of all the regular issues. 

  72. ARKHAM ASYLUM

    ALAN MOORE´S SWAMP THING

    SANDMAN 5 (The Endless, Dream Hunters, Dustcovers)

    LUCIFER

    FABLES 

  73. "I’d say gimmie an Absolute of The Sinestro Corps War and All-Star Batman and Robin..c’mon..you know you’d love to read just what the hell they were thinking as much as I do".

     

    KIMBO, MY FRIEND, YOU SPEAK MY LANGUAGE!!!.  

    I WOULD  L-O-V-E TO HAVE ABSOLUTE SINESTRO CORPS WAR ON AN ABSOLUTE EDITION.  I WOULD PAY GLADLY WHAT THEY ASK FOR IT… EVEN MORE THAN (THE VERY THIN) REBIRTH.

    AS PER ABSOLUTE  ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN… WELL, WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THAT GIVEN THAT ARE 6 MORE ISSUES COMING ON 2011, BUT YEAH, I TOTALLY SUPPORT THE IDEA.  

    MAKE THE ABSOLUTE DARK KNIGHT: BOY WONDER CONTAIN ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN 1 TO 10, AND DARK KNIGHT: BOY WONDER 1 TO 6, AND IF THEY WANT TO PUT SOME DELUXE OVER THE TOP EDITION, THEY CAN INCLUDE ALSO BATMAN: YEAR ONE TOO.  THAT WILL MAKE A MASSIVE COLLECTING BOOK THAT’LL SELL BEYOND EXPECTATIONS. 

    SO WHAT DO YOU THINK, GUYS?: 

    ABSOLUTE SINESTRO CORPS WAR   &   ABSOLUTE DARK KNIGHT: BOY WONDER FOR 2011 AND 2012?

  74. Besides Sinestro corps War and Dark Knight: Boy Wonder I agree also in the next titlesto be converted in Absolute:

    Dark Victory

    Identity Crisis

    Infinite Crisis

    Superman/Batman

    Batman: No Man’s Land

    Superman: New Krypton

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