If the stuff needed recolouring or printing up to modern standards I could see that, but it sounds a stretch that it would cost an extra $15 to print it in the same old crappy colour.

Then again, $30 for this much material in color probably IS a bit cheap, so I may be wrong.

Up until about 6-9 months ago, I was doing really well at staying on top of them as they came out, and had almost of all them. Then I fell behind, and became sad.

I just can't get enough of 'em. There's just something so satisfying about coming home with a big honkin' slab of comics for under $20.

I love the idea of the “phonebooks” but I haven’t bought them because:
A- I’m really, really old.
B- I already read them.
C- I have a pornographic memory so I remember them all in detail."

----------------

A PORNOGRAPHIC memory?

Y'know... I think I have one of those too.

~P~
P-TOR

You're right that certain stuff looks great in B&W - Byrne's X-Men is gorgeous - I first read some ofthese in B&W in the UK and they look great there too.

And where's my later volumes of Essential Avengers ? V5 was 18 months ago now and no sign of V6 !

I have looked at them and I find it very interesting to see which ones look better in B&W than they do in Color.

Superheroes look better in color.
War Comics look better in Black & White.

Fun things about them: The Wolverine volumes are not only cheaper than the back issues, they are actually cheaper than cover price for the series as it was sold at the time.

The reason there's no 'Essential Nick Fury' is supposedly that Steranko's art doesn't look good in black-and-white. Ditto with 'Essential New Mutants' and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Gene Colan, on the other hand, was absolutely made for B&W; go pick up every single volume of 'Essential Tomb of Dracula', it is worth it just for the art, it's absolutely gorgeous in black and white and it looks like it was made for it.

Every year in November and January on my blog I'm doing a '15 Series I Most Want As Essentials/Showcases' (Essentials in November, Showcases in January). ROM was on the list. I'm thinking of starting a petition. (Come on, you can get 'Essential Godzilla' out there, but not 'Essential ROM'?)

The post-1976 Showcases that were cancelled were supposedly just delayed; DC has said they'll come out in the latter half of 2008. So if 'Suicide Squad Volume One' doesn't come out then, you know who to get angry at...

Have I mentioned that I freaking LOVE these things?

The Fantagraphics 'Love and Rockets' phone books collect the two main strands of those series in hefty volumes, while 2000AD are publishing full runs of some of their bigger properties, right from the start. They're obviously doing 'Judge Dredd', but best so far are the 'Nemesis the Warlock' compilations - amazing stuff from Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill and Bryan Talbot, among others.

Daredevil: Vol. 1 & 2
Dr. Strange: Vol. 1 & 2
Fantastic Four: Vol. 1 & 2
Ghost Rider: Vol. 1
Marvel Team-Up: Vol. 1
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man: Vol. 1 & 2
Spider-Man: Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Werewolf By Night: Vol. 1
Wolverine Vol. 1, 2, 3 & 4
X-Men: Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
Classic X-Men: Vol. 1

I also have the first Green Lantern Jonah Hex Showcase books.

Love 'em!

And it was supposed to be black and white [I think those new color Bones just don't work that well, although there are specific panels which are nice].

I have most of the superhero-related Showcase volumes up to a certain point, that being the point that I realized I was overwhelmed with reading material and had about 2500 pages waiting for me. (I have less interest in DC's war, horror and western volumes, though I'm glad they exist.) My Essential collection is much more spotty, though I jumped at the chance to replace my Englehart Silver Surfers.

I find that the art is sometimes improved by being in black and white; Gil Kane, in particular, had gorgeous linework that really jumps out when it's not competing with the coloring.

Out of curiosity, do people prefer the Marvel system of (generally) reprinting a given run of a title, or the DC system of tracking characters through crossovers and guest appearances (except for major characters like Batman and Superman)? Each one makes sense for the given publisher. Marvel characters were often dropping into each others' books early on, and the characters who you'd publish these volumes for had their own titles (or half of a title, anyway). DC characters were much more likely to jump around titles or first appear as someone else's guest (the early Legion appearances are in half a dozen different books), and once they had a feature their appearance in someone else's was likely to be a noteworthy crossover. (The JLA and Superboy stories in the Green Arrow volume are particular standouts.) They also had a lot more B- and C-listers who maintained a secondary feature or short-lived book.

Personally, I like the DC system as long as it's saved for significant appearances rather than cameos. Including the Teen Titans crossover issue in the Batman and the Outsiders volume is much more reader-friendly than leaving the story unfinished and forcing the reader to find the ending somewhere else. (Beyond a certain point it can become harder to do this, of course.)

I'd like to see a "Showcase Presents Short-Lived Series of the Seventies" volume, with things like Prez, Anthro, and Brother Power the Geek, but I expect it might be difficult to market effectively.

I'm all for good stuff being reprinted, of course, but I'd much rather see older, costier, material in the showcase format than 80s and 90s comics that can usually be snarfed for a buck a pop.

Probably would've bought Suicide Squad, though.

And Jonah Hex volume 2.

They are a lot of fun