King Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 1 (Direct Market Edition Cover by Marc Silvestri)

Marvel published Conan for two decades and Titan is putting the whole thing back in print, in order, for the first time since the licence moved. Collects the fifth run of Conan the Barbarian, written by J.M. DeMatteis and others with art by John Buscema and Gil Kane.

Marvel published Conan for two decades and Titan is putting the whole thing back in print, in order, for the first time since the licence moved. Collects the fifth run of Conan the Barbarian, written by J.M. DeMatteis and others with art by John Buscema and Gil Kane.

By the sixth volume Conan has outlived his own boom: the sword and sorcery fad is over and the book keeps running on the strength of its craft alone. Collects the sixth run of Conan the Barbarian, written by Michael Fleisher and Larry Yakata with art by John Buscema.

By the sixth volume Conan has outlived his own boom: the sword and sorcery fad is over and the book keeps running on the strength of its craft alone. Collects the sixth run of Conan the Barbarian, written by Michael Fleisher and Larry Yakata with art by John Buscema.

The seventh volume brings in Christopher Priest, who writes Conan as a man increasingly aware that the world he moves through is bigger than the sword in his hand. Collects the seventh run of Conan the Barbarian, written by Christopher J. Priest and Don Kraar with art by John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala and Ernie Chan.

The seventh volume brings in Christopher Priest, who writes Conan as a man increasingly aware that the world he moves through is bigger than the sword in his hand. Collects the seventh run of Conan the Barbarian, written by Christopher J. Priest and Don Kraar with art by John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala and Ernie Chan.

King Conan takes the character forty years forward: Conan on the throne of Aquilonia, older, heavier and with a son to worry about, which is a different story from the one he made his name in. Collects the first run of King Conan, written by Roy Thomas, Doug Moench and Alan Zelenetz with art by John Buscema and Marc Silvestri.

The third King Conan omnibus follows the king through the last years of the Marvel run, when the writers were free to take the character wherever they wanted because nobody was watching. Collects the third run of King Conan, written by Don Kraar and Christopher J. Priest with art by John Buscema, Mike Docherty and Geoff Isherwood.

Justice League of America: The Bronze Age, collected as a pack of 4 oversized omnibus volumes and cheaper than buying them one by one. Justice League of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 opens a more textured era for the League, still heroic and direct but increasingly shaped by shifting casts, social unease and a DC universe learning to carry more continuity. Gardner Fox, Dennis O'Neil, Len Wein, Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin bridge classic team adventure with a richer 1970s mood. The second Bronze Age Justice League omnibus covers the early 1970s, when the team left their secret New England cave for a satellite in orbit and the stories went cosmic. This is where the JLA/JSA team-ups settle into their yearly rhythm and the multiverse becomes a working part of DC's storytelling rather than an occasional gimmick. It is also the era that established the League as DC's legends rather than just its biggest team. The third Bronze Age omnibus covers the late seventies, when Gerry Conway took over the Justice League and gave it the longest continuous run of its classic era. Conway wrote the League for years and used the length: long-running subplots, a rotating roster and the arrival of Zatanna as a permanent member. The JLA/JSA crossovers in this stretch are also the most ambitious of the run, bringing in the Legion of Super-Heroes and the New Gods across multiple Earths. The fourth Bronze Age omnibus takes the Justice League into the early eighties, the last years before Crisis on Infinite Earths changed everything. The Leaf Candy mini comic is a genuine curiosity, a promotional giveaway that has never been collected anywhere else. The main run includes the New Gods crossover in #183-185, which is Gerry Conway writing Darkseid at full scale, and the Firestorm and Titans tie-ins that show DC's line starting to interconnect.

The third Amazing Spider-Man omnibus covers the transition from Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. to Gerry Conway, and the two issues that ended the Silver Age of the character. Issues #121-122 are here: the Green Goblin, Gwen Stacy and the George Washington Bridge. Nothing in superhero comics had done that before, and the industry treats it as the moment the genre stopped guaranteeing happy endings. The volume also contains the six-armed Spider-Man arc and the first appearances of Morbius and the Punisher.

Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 5 continues Peter Parker's Bronze Age stretch after the first Clone Saga, with Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas and Ross Andru shaping a Spider-Man who feels older, more socially rooted and increasingly defined by relationships. Mary Jane, Aunt May, the Daily Bugle and a changing Marvel New York give the run its texture.

The Hidden Years was John Byrne's attempt to fill the gap in X-Men history: the years between issue #66 in 1970 and Giant-Size X-Men in 1975, when the original title ran reprints and the team officially did nothing. Byrne writes and draws it in deliberate period style, using the original five X-Men and continuity he had to reverse-engineer from scattered guest appearances. It is a genuine curiosity: a modern comic pretending to be a lost one, made by someone who knew the era well enough to make the seams invisible.

The second Doctor Strange omnibus covers the character's first solo title, launched in 1968 after Strange Tales split into two books. This is where Strange gets an origin issue — #169 is still the definitive telling — and where Marvel tried to make him a costumed superhero, which failed commercially and was reversed. Marvel Feature #1 is also here: the first Defenders story, which gave the character somewhere to belong for the next decade.

The second Daredevil omnibus covers the late sixties and early seventies, when Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway took over and the book moved Matt Murdock to San Francisco. This is the run where the Black Widow becomes a co-lead — the book was retitled Daredevil and the Black Widow for part of it — and where the character stops being a Spider-Man variant. The Iron Man crossover is also the first appearance of the Zodiac cartel, which Marvel used for decades afterwards.

The second Incredible Hulk omnibus covers Peter David's most celebrated stretch, when the Hulk's personalities merged and the book became a study of an integrated mind under pressure. The Pantheon arrives, Doc Samson integrates grey, green and Banner into one person, and issue #400 pays off the Leader's long campaign. David spends the rest of the volume testing whether the merger holds against the Abomination, the U-Foes and Freedom Force. It is the run's centre of gravity.

The fourth Bronze Age omnibus takes the Justice League into the early eighties, the last years before Crisis on Infinite Earths changed everything. The Leaf Candy mini comic is a genuine curiosity, a promotional giveaway that has never been collected anywhere else. The main run includes the New Gods crossover in #183-185, which is Gerry Conway writing Darkseid at full scale, and the Firestorm and Titans tie-ins that show DC's line starting to interconnect.