My DCBS Order for January 2006

(Almost forgot to post this...)

An very heavy month for me, in a literal sense. Here's what I ordered:

Alias Omnibus HC ($34.95 on DCBS)

Another set of trades that I had been considering getting was the Alias trades that Marvel produced. They are the predule (of sorts) to The Pulse (which I ordered the first 2 trades of last month), and also tangentially relate to the New Avengers. This follows Jessica Jones, a former super-hero, and her fall into a not so very nice life. It is very highly rated, and this month brings a hardcover Omnibus, which reprints every page of every issue of the Alias run. All 28 issues, including letters page. It is 700+ pages in total, and will give the DHL driver a hernia when he carries it to my front door.. Especially when it's in the same box as everything else I ordered.

Invincible Ultimate Collection: Volume 2 HC ($20.99 on DCBS)

I've already got and read Volume 1, and my hope is that when Volume 2 arrives, I'm only a couple of issues behind the monthly, because I really want to buy this monthly. Kirkman has created a great character and world around him. He gets into some parody of the typical superhero comic, while still keeping the book a superhero comic. (Kinda like the Scream franchise did with horror.) It is a very fun read and I would highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys the superhero comic books.

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition Volume 1 ($10.19 on DCBS)

After the disappointment that was the "All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" (in short - if you want stuff about important characters in the Marvel universe, but the team oriented books that came out in 2004/2005), I need a good fix of obscure history that I don't have to stay online to read and this should give it. It's a reprint of the Handbooks that came out in 1988/89.

Drax the Destroyer: Earthfall TPB ($6.59 on DCBS)

Initially, I included this because it was the most expensive trade that I was interested in that would also keep me under the magic $50 USD mark in spending for the month. That got blown away by the inclusion of Invincible and the Essential OHOTMU, but I did want to read this. It's apparently a really good book.

Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk Prelude TPD ($8.39 on DCBS)

I might grow to hate this purchase, but I want to see if I have any interest in reading the Planet Hulk storyline or not.


Looking at Previews for next month, things will probably be Marvel centric again. DC does a horrible job of trading their ongoing series and to be honest, it bothers me a lot. At the very least, they could follow Marvel's new cash grab plan - release a hardcover very soon after an arc is finished in a series, and then release an identical TPB a couple of months later. (For example, Spider-Man: The Other is solicited next month, and will hit hardcover in April.) If people want to stay current, they will have to make a series a monthly purchase, but if they don't you can get them with a slightly more expensive trade in HC, or they have to wait longer to get it in the cheaper TPB.