Captain America Omnibus
Last week I mentioned that I received an extra comic or two in my bag after a weekly run to my local comic shop. One of those extra comics was Captain America #42 and I commented on how much the series had changed for the better under Ed Brubakers writing hand. In the comment section below the post, our good friend Tyler Durden mentioned that I should really read the earlier stories and that an Omnibus had been put out that cataloged the first 25 issues of the Brubaker Captain America run. While I’m a big comic book fan, the idea of an omnibus seemed like a pricey endeavor and a difficult one to justify. Perusal of Amazon.com confirmed my suspicions with a rather hefty $75.00 price tag.
This last weekend John, Moe and I attended FallCon 2008, a local comic book convention held here in St. Paul, MN. While checking out the various booths, my good friends happened to find the Captain America Omnibus hanging out under a 30% off sign. And you just can’t pass up a deal like that, can you? What I found was one of the greatest collections of comics I’ve read in a long, long time. In one night, I had consumed the entire book and I am simply floored by what Brubaker has done with one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.
For starters, this 5lb hardcover book has a whopping 744 pages of full color comic glory. The paper is 11.1 x 7.5 inches and of the glossy, heavyweight variety. The art looks fantastic on this paper and the whole book simply oozes quality. While I don’t advocate spending $75.00 on a comic collection, if you did decide to do it, you’ll at least feel as if you got your money’s worth in terms of book quality.
Inside are 25 of the best comic books the Captain America universe has ever seen and one of the best comic books in the Marvel Comics stable, created by an Eisner Award winning creative team. Full of intrigue, surprises, memorable characters and great art paired with some of the best writing in the business. In addition to the monumental 25 issues the book includes a couple of one-shots that help flesh out the main story as well as a couple of interviews with Ed Brubaker and one with Steve Epting. Overall, I feel you really get your money’s worth in terms of comic reading.
I’ve already said why I think Brubaker’s run on Captain America is fantastic based on my reading of issue #42. I won’t repeat all of that again but suffice it to say that all of those things are present in this initial run and more. It’s a storyline that is not to be missed.
You can find the book on Amazon.com and it comes in at around $50.00, so it’s a decent deal on it. If you’re a fan of Captain America but fell off the fan bus a while ago, now is the time to jump in. If you’ve never read a Captain America book, than this may be one of the best places to start. Highly recommended.
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Tags: captain america, ed brubaker, marvel, michael lark, steve epting
October 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Its a true testament of writing ability when someone can write for the Captain America series, kill off Captain America, and continue to make the series great, and in certain ways, make people almost forget that ol’ Cap has not even be in his own series for over a year.
In my book, Brubaker can do no wrong: Daredevil, Criminal, Iron Fist, X-Men and, obviously, Captain America.
Hilden, if you havent been reading Criminal, definitely check it out. Great film noir, crime drama stuff. No superheroes, just pure, gritty bad guys.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I’ve grabbed a couple of Criminal books and loved them.
I’ve been tempted to check out Iron Fist as well but have held off for whatever reason. I’m sure I’ll be jumping on board here in the near future.
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:03 am
[...] By the way, Hilden did a great review of the Captain America Omnibus a few months ago. So if you didn’t read about it, here is the link to Hilden’s review. [...]