I gave up on DC hardcovers when they split “Justice” into three volumes at $19.99 a pop retail. Marvel put 13 issues of The Ultimates 1 and 2 in one book each for $29.99, and the paper quality is so much better to boot.

That was the old days of Marvel hardcovers, they do the same thing these days.

Yeah, I don’t get referencing Marvel here – their hardcover policy is pretty “bad,” too.

Do they have a policy?

I think they, DC to but especially Marvel, really need to figure out some consistent guidelines for what gets a hardcover and what doesn’t.
Take Captain America, I was waitingg for a twelve issue hardback of the Brubaker run, instead they did ‘Premiere Editions’, trades and then a giant sized omnibus.
As opposed to all their other books which go Premiere Edition, softcover, hardback, omnibus.

And personally, could both companies get rid of the slim hardbacks?
It makes sense on ‘special’ projects like All Star Superman, but with something like Incredible Hercules, just give me the trade already!

I agree about the Absolute editions prices, Absolutely too expensives for my wallet.

And why are the DC Archives so much more expensive than the similar Marvel Masterworks editions????

And the Absolute line has always been horribly overpriced. I bought the Watchmen volume (hey, it’s Watchmen!) and the relatively few extras don’t justify the 75 dollar price tag.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

They brought out a similarly over-sized, overpriced hardcover of Jeff Smith’s Shazam stuff.

It’s actually fairly comparable to this. The oversized H/c is $29 for 240 pages, while the trade is $19 for 208 pages. Don’t ask me what the extra pages are in the h/c but they’re not story content.

Those prices are absurd but that’s coming from someone who was suckered into buying the Deadman collection for $75

Fuck me and my sarcastic childrens literature references…

I often get the hardcover, if it comes in that format, on projects I think will be worth keeping in a nice solid format.

I also think you’re ignoring the fact that Marvel regularly does Premiere Edition Hardcovers before trade releases.

A collection of 50s Batman stuff would be great, too, as long as it’s not the same stories that have been included in various other Batman collections over the years. Those two I’d be willing to pay $40 for. The rest, no way.

It is a bit pricey, but with the economy the way it is right now, I can understand where DC is coming from.

Yeah, because in times of economic hardship, putting prices up is always the way to success.

On these ‘Whatever Happened To…’ deluxe HCs, yes, they’re expensive, but, you know, it’s Moore and Gaiman. You get what you pay for. You can always wait for the SCs, anyway. Ok,I’ll shut up now.

The Kryptonite Nevermore story, a classic 70s Superman epic. Great choice to reprint!
The Monster Society of Evil, a classic 40s Captain Marvel epic. Glorious!
The George Perez JLA volume 1, classic 80s work by an artistic master! Great!
Batman Annuals, volume 1. Reprinting the best of the 50s Batman, which isn’t likely to get a full reprinting any time soon. Okay.
The Best of Ferro Lad, a handful of 60s Legion stories that feature a single Legionnaire. What?
Flash of Two Earths, a bunch of crossovers, many of which have been reprinted several times. Really?

And all of these (well, Monster Society of Evil isn’t fully solicited yet) are going for the same price.

The big issue is that DC has picked some really dreadful volumes, the target audience for whom already owns them in hardcover already, which are also readily available in Showcase Presents volumes.

Now, the Whatever Happened To… volumes have the saving grace that along with reprinting two oversized issues featuring the characters in question, they also reprint every bit of work that the creator has done with that character. The Caped Crusader volume reprints Neil Gaiman’s Poison Ivy Origin, presumably his Ridder origin and other material from the Secret Origins Annual (which also had a John Constantine cameo!). It is a bit pricey, but with the economy the way it is right now, I can understand where DC is coming from.