The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 11 (Direct Market Edition Cover by Doug Beekman)

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.

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.

Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 1 begins the Bane saga by turning Gotham into a gauntlet. Arkham's inmates are loose, Batman is forced through fight after fight, and Bane waits for exhaustion to do what brute strength alone cannot: make the Dark Knight break.

No Man's Land is the year DC declared Gotham dead. After the earthquake of Cataclysm, the United States government evacuates the city, dynamites the bridges and leaves whoever stays behind to divide the ruins into territories. The premise strips Batman of everything except the city itself: no infrastructure, no law, and gang leaders marking blocks with spray paint. It is also where Cassandra Cain becomes Batgirl. Volume 1 is the opening third of the crossover, in reading order across every Bat-title, which is the only way it works.

Road to No Man's Land is the run-up to DC's biggest Batman event of the nineties. A cataclysmic earthquake levels Gotham, and these are the months in which the city falls apart before Washington writes it off entirely. This is the volume most readers skip and then need: No Man's Land makes far more sense when you have watched Bane escape, Azrael struggle for legitimacy and Gotham's infrastructure fail one system at a time. Chuck Dixon coordinates a dozen titles into a single collapse, and the omnibus finally puts the whole crossover in reading order instead of scattered across four series.

Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 2 collects Knightquest, the middle movement of the saga where Jean-Paul Valley takes over as Batman. Gotham gets a more violent Dark Knight, while Scarecrow, the Joker, Gunhawk and others test what happens when the symbol is worn without Bruce Wayne's restraint.

Batman and Spawn crossed over twice in 1994, once from each publisher, with Frank Miller and Doug Moench writing and Todd McFarlane and Klaus Janson drawing. The 1994 books are a document of the moment Image was outselling DC and the two companies had to negotiate as equals. The 2022 one-shot is the reason to buy it now: McFarlane and Capullo, the two definitive Spawn and Batman artists, on the same book for the first time.

Grant Morrison and Mark Millar wrote The Flash together in the late nineties, immediately after Mark Waid, with Wally West already established as the fastest man alive. The Human Race is the standout: an alien gambler challenges the Flash to a race across the universe with Earth as the stake, and Morrison writes it as pure high concept. The Black Flash, death itself, running to catch up, is the other lasting idea, and DC has used it ever since.

Batgirl: Year One Deluxe Edition collects Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon's retelling of how Barbara Gordon talked her way into the cape, drawn by Marcos Martin in one of the most admired art jobs of its decade. It is light, fast and genuinely joyful, which is rare for a Bat-family origin.

Batman: Knightfall, collected complete as a pack of 3 oversized omnibus volumes and cheaper than buying them one by one. Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 1 begins the Bane saga by turning Gotham into a gauntlet. Arkham's inmates are loose, Batman is forced through fight after fight, and Bane waits for exhaustion to do what brute strength alone cannot: make the Dark Knight break. Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 2 collects Knightquest, the middle movement of the saga where Jean-Paul Valley takes over as Batman. Gotham gets a more violent Dark Knight, while Scarecrow, the Joker, Gunhawk and others test what happens when the symbol is worn without Bruce Wayne's restraint. Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 3 closes the saga with KnightsEnd, as Bruce Wayne retrains with Lady Shiva and moves to reclaim the Batman mantle. Jean-Paul Valley's new Batman keeps escalating, while Robin and Nightwing help watch the damage caused by a symbol losing its moral centre.