Flex Mentallo

So, a few things less familiar, perhaps, let's see..

Perhaps the scarcest collected edition I own is the Flesk Hardcover edition of Xenozoic Tales. [I kept the tpb as a reader] They recently produced a more recent edition though I believe in a slightly smaller format. Of course, if Mark Schultz ever does complete the remainder of the stories, this volume, valuable though it is right now, will become instantly redundant! Them's the breaks!

See the set of slim black volumes to the left? That's the complete edition of Don Lawrence's Storm in English -not sure if the original editions were in French or Dutch.

Not getting my copies out, but here are some illos of the covers from the site where I purchased them.

On 8/3/2022 at 8:06 PM, bronze_rules said:

Very nice collection. One thing I'm surprised you don't have is the BOOM Planet of the Apes archives. I remember the day they were supposed to come out they were already sold out! After that they were expensive as heck.

The good news is I noticed POTA is getting a marvel omnibus soon!

Thanks for the kind words. I never collected POTA, and there really are too many collected editions these days! 

I don't have the Vampirella Archives either - but that's more because of frustration with Gonzalez artwork -great splashes that sharply contrasted with the mannerisms of the more prosaic style he used in the panels.

I'm about at the limits in terms of shelf space now - but I think I've just about reached a point of equilibrium. The only material I see myself collecting long term would be new DC Gold and Silver omnibi.

Once Marvel publish the Miracleman omnibus, I should be done with them.

(Famous last words!)

But there will always be the odd thing -like the forthcoming Aztec Ace Collected Edition that is due after years of waiting.

Some of my better books here - I'll delve into these a bit tomorrow!

Some EC Archives, Girasol pulp facsimiles, and various books on related topics.

This is what's on the shelves surrounding the Absolutes, starting with the Dark Horse...I suppose the most notable volumes are the Colossal Conans, the biggest of which is an absolute brick. Down below are my sets of Creepy Archives and Eerie Archives [not visible in this shot].

A better look at my Absolutes et al.

On 8/2/2022 at 3:51 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Contents aside, is the quality worth it? Based on the images I'm seeing they don't appear as nice as, let's say, the Spawn Origins Deluxe series.

Well, there is a new omnibus edition, split into three volumes rather than six, so they'd probably be a better bet. [Although the 'Absolutes' may come down in price now because of the new printing.]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:19 PM, F For Fake said:

Dark Horse usually does a really good job of keeping popular stuff in print, so I keep holding out hope that we'll eventually get a re-release of the early BPRD volumes

There was a time when only DC seemed to reprint regularly - these days everyone seems to be doing it!

On 8/2/2022 at 3:25 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Are The Boys: Definitive Edition prices due to the show's popularity, or have they always been this ridiculously expensive?

The last two volumes were astronomically expensive long before the tv series. I had to hold out a long time to land affordable copies.

On 8/1/2022 at 9:16 PM, MisterX said:

One of my biggest selling regrets was unloading my Dark Horse archives of Magnus Robot Fighter and Mighty Sampson. 

Magnus prices seem to have gotten a bit silly. Samson maybe less so.

But there is always a possibility that someone will offload a set on eBay for a bargain price. It does happen.

On a similar note, the next Taschen volume is supposedly due in September, according to Blackwells and Speedyhen here in the UK. It's FF #1-#20.

And good news for Spidey fans, ASM volume 2 is coming next year!

On 8/1/2022 at 4:21 PM, F For Fake said:

Indeed! That bad boy has been on my radar. I'm curious to see what kind of discounts are available closer to release date. IST vs Amazon, etc. May be one that I have to wait for Santa to bring, but I I can get it closer to $200, I'll probably buy it right away. Should be nice, Fanta does a great job on their archival books.

Yeah, Fanta are truly great. I have the original mags, and the Palomar and Luba hardcovers, but I still have this on order! I was lucky to put my order in early and got a good deal with Forbidden Planet here in the UK. But I think it should be fine to wait until the price comes down, as it probably will, and supply chain issues are hopefully behind us!

I noticed some love here for Love and Rockets, so I just thought I'd give a heads up on what's coming in October.

Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez Love and Rockets: The First Fifty: The Classic 40th Anniversary Collection

Mostly Humanoid Press and other European material

Various small publishers

The Flash Gordon volume has great art by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall! I don't really collect softcovers unless hardcovers don't exist - but I'm fond of Gulacy, who is rather poorly represented in collected editions IMHO. He is in the Star Wars volume though! and The Rook.