Jim Lee

The complete X-Tinction Agenda crossover in one oversized hardcover. Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson reunite X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants against Cameron Hodge and the mutant-enslaving state of Genosha, with early Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld art. The turning point that closes the 80s era and sets up the 90s relaunch.

DC New 52 Villains Omnibus gathers one of DC's most unusual publishing events: Villains Month 2013, when every ongoing series was replaced by a one-shot starring a villain. Orbiting the Forever Evil storyline — in which the Crime Syndicate conquers the DC Universe — each issue delivers a secret, origin or fate for a major antagonist, from the Joker and Darkseid down through the whole line. An anthology by Geoff Johns, Gail Simone, Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire and many more, with art including Jim Lee. A complete, one-book record of the event.

X-Men: Blue & Gold – Mutant Genesis Omnibus captures the explosive early-90s relaunch energy of the X-Men, with Chris Claremont and Jim Lee reshaping the team’s visual identity for a new era. It is bright, crowded, dramatic and built around the moment when mutant comics became the centre of Marvel’s pop force. Collectors come to this for the Jim Lee moment, but the volume also matters because it captures the X-Men becoming a pop-cultural machine: team design, roster energy and soap-opera tension all sharpened for maximum impact.

Closing of the historic Claremont-Lee collaboration. After editorial differences over creative direction, Claremont left the X-Men after 16 years of uninterrupted writing — the longest continuous run on a superhero title in history. Jim Lee briefly took over the script before leaving to found Image Comics alongside Todd McFarlane and others. A moment of historic transition for Marvel and for American comics that changed the industry forever.

First volume of the 1991 relaunch with Claremont and Jim Lee. Issue #1 of the new series sold 8.1 million copies: the best-selling comic in history. Jim Lee on X-Men is absolute visual reference material: the characters as they were drawn for the next decade, the look that inspired the '90s animated series and subsequent films.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 1 launches DC's 2011 League from first contact and public suspicion. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee rebuild Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg into a team under world-ending pressure.

Batman: The Hush Saga Omnibus collects the original Hush storyline and the wider stories that grew from it. Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's central mystery sends Batman through Gotham's rogues while the larger omnibus follows Hush's revenge against Bruce Wayne across later connected material.