Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1 (Direct Market Variant)

Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin bring Luke Skywalker’s first adventure to comics in Marvel’s original adaptation of A New Hope. Luke, Leia, Han Solo and their allies confront Darth Vader and the Death Star, with scenes that never reached the screen. This 50th anniversary Deluxe Edition collects the six-part adaptation in an oversize hardcover.

Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, and the search for him sends the rebels into fresh trouble after The Empire Strikes Back. Leia faces Darth Vader, Luke stands trial for treason, and Lando returns to a deserted Cloud City. Marvel’s original Star Wars series continues in this second oversize omnibus, collecting issues #45–78 and Annual #2. Standard cover by Gene Day.

Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, and the search for him sends the rebels into fresh trouble after The Empire Strikes Back. Leia faces Darth Vader, Luke stands trial for treason, and Lando returns to a deserted Cloud City. Marvel’s original Star Wars series continues in this second oversize omnibus, collecting issues #45–78 and Annual #2. Direct Market cover by Greg Hildebrandt.

Cade Skywalker is stranded on Tatooine with Black Sun assassins on his trail, while rival Sith struggle for control of the galaxy. Legacy then turns to Ania Solo, whose discovery of a damaged droid and a lightsaber draws her into a new conspiracy. This omnibus brings together the later chapters of Cade’s story, Legacy – War and the complete 2013 series. Standard cover by Jan Duursema.

Cade Skywalker is stranded on Tatooine with Black Sun assassins on his trail, while rival Sith struggle for control of the galaxy. Legacy then turns to Ania Solo, whose discovery of a damaged droid and a lightsaber draws her into a new conspiracy. This omnibus brings together the later chapters of Cade’s story, Legacy – War and the complete 2013 series. Direct Market cover by Dave Wilkins.

The first Star Wars comic begins with A New Hope, then has to invent what comes next before the saga has rules. Luke returns to Tatooine, Vader hunts for answers, and Han and Chewbacca cross paths with Crimson Jack, Beilert Valance and Jaxxon on the road to The Empire Strikes Back.

Head far into the future of a galaxy long ago! A new evil has arisen, shattering a resurgent Empire and seeking to put an end to the Jedi. The Sith Lord Darth Krayt sits on the throne. Only one hope remains: the last remaining heir to the Skywalker legacy. Cade Skywalker may be strong in the Force — but years after a tragedy, he is a bounty hunter working with Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue.

Head far into the future of a galaxy long ago! A new evil has arisen, shattering a resurgent Empire and seeking to put an end to the Jedi. The Sith Lord Darth Krayt sits on the throne. Only one hope remains: the last remaining heir to the Skywalker legacy. Cade Skywalker may be strong in the Force - but years after a tragedy, he is a bounty hunter working with Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue.

Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin bring Luke Skywalker’s first adventure to comics in Marvel’s original adaptation of A New Hope. Luke, Leia, Han Solo and their allies confront Darth Vader and the Death Star, with scenes that never reached the screen. This 50th anniversary Deluxe Edition collects the six-part adaptation in an oversize hardcover.

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.