Aquaman & Flash Omnibus Mapping for the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Poll

The mapping continues, my friends! From now until May 19, I’ll be loosely mapping missing and most-wanted DC omnibus volumes every day! Then, on the 19th, I’ll be joining with Near Mint Condition to launch the first annual Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Annual Poll! This first post covers every missing Aquaman & Flash omnibus, from the Golden Age to the present day.

This post explains potential Aquaman and Flash Omnibus Mapping for votes on the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Secret Ballot. I’m posting all of these maps before the poll begins to give people the time to consider their favorites, correct our mapping mistakes, and catch books I might have missed.

Why pair these characters? Because they are both Justice League members known by the wider audience thanks to their movies. Plus, even with a whole Flash family there’s a relatively limited amount of them compared to the Lanterns, who will need their own post!

If you don’t know DC well enough to know what to vote for, stick around for my explanations! Learn why the team behind the poll decided on these books and titles. You should leave a comment giving us feedback if we missed the mark or left out a book you’d want to vote for or read.

If voting is now open, you can use this as your crib sheet! Or… just find some great comics to read!

Remember: These mappings are just my suggestion of how DC could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes and build your personal reading list, but your vote on the poll is NOT an endorsement of my specific map. It’s a vote in favor of DC creating a book with that title or covering that period.

High-effort, heavily-researched, over-the-top comics posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics.

Aquaman Omnibus Mapping – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age

Aquaman has a big fat nothing to show for himself when it comes to Pre-Crisis omnibus options. He briefly had a Silver Age omnibus solicited and then canceled. Let’s see what we can do about that! To see all of these issues and how they are currently collected, visit the Guide to Aquaman.

Aquaman, The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (of 2) (1941 – 1949)
Aquaman, The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 2 (of 2) (1950 – 1959)

Aquaman debuted in 1941 in the pages of More Fun Comics (1935) #73. Aquaman remained an anthology character throughout the Golden Age, which was the case for most of DC’s heroes outside of the Trinity and Flash. However, Aquaman was continuously published from his debut throughout the entirety of the Golden Age into the Silver Age, which isn’t true of many other heroes. His home was More Fun Comics (1935) from 1941 to 1946, and then Adventure Comics through the end of the Golden Age.

One curious thing I’ve noticed about Aquaman’s publishing history is that DC starts his Silver Age later than other characters. Technically, Adventure Comics (1938) #229-259 (Oct 1956 – Dec 1960) all occur well into DC’s Silver Age, and issue #229 even includes Silver Age elements of his character! However, both DC’s Showcase Presents volumes and a previously solicited Aquaman Silver Age omnibus treat Adventure Comics (1938) #260 as his first Silver Age issue, since it is the first official appearance of Arthur Curry as Aquaman.

This pair of omnibuses would collect the material from More Fun Comics (1935) #73-107 (Nov 1941 – Jan/Feb 1946), Adventure Comics (1938) #103-228 (skipping 10 issues – #118, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, 163, 165-166, & 207) (April 1946 – Sept 1956), and Adventure Comics (1938) #229-259 (Oct 1956 – Feb 1959).

A typical Aquaman feature in More Fun Comics was 10-12 pages, plus a cover (though he never appeared on the cover!). His Adventure Comics stories were even shorter – often just six pages!

That means if DC sticks to their 650-850 page range for Golden Age omnibuses with about 20 pages of front/back matter, we should be able to fit all of More Fun Comics into ~420 pages and about a third of the Adventure Comics issues into volume one, with the remaining two thirds for a second omnibus.

Aquaman, The Silver Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1959 & on)

This was previously solicited and cancelled, so we know exactly what is should begin to collect!

This was expected to begin to collect Silver material starting from Adventure Comics (1938) #260-280, 282, & 284 (May 1959 – May 1961), Showcase (1956) #30-33 (Jan/Feb 1961 – Jul/Aug 1961), Aquaman (1962) #1-18, Brave and the Bold (1955) #51, and the Aquaman stories from Detective Comics (1937) #293-300, World’s Finest Comics (1941) #125-133, 135, 137, & 139, Superman (1939) #138 & 148, Action Comics (1938) #272, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (1954) #55, and Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane (1958) #12 & 29-31.

Aquaman’s Silver Age run continued to Aquaman (1962) #56 in 1971, so we’d need at least one more volume to complete this era – and possibly two! That’s why we have not included them on the poll – the poll options only include subsequent volumes if they have obvious mappings with a clearly-defined break-point.

Aquaman, The Bronze Age Omnibus (1977 – 1983)

Aquaman’s 1962 title continued with issue #57 in 1977 after a six year gap. From there, he makes a relatively limited number of Bronze Age featured appearances, which would easily fit into a single omnibus.

This would collect Aquaman (1962) #57-63 (Aug/Sep 1977 – Aug/Sep 1978), World’s Finest Comics (1941) #262-264 (Apr/May 1980 – Aug/Sep 1980), Adventure Comics (1938) #435-437, 441-453, 459-466, & 475-478 (Sept/Oct 1974 – Dec 1980), Action Comics (1938) #517-521, 527-530, & 536-540 (March 1981 – Feb 1983).

Flash Omnibus Mapping – Golden, Silver, & Bronze Age

Flash has a solid start on his Pre-Crisis omnibuses since his Silver Age has been completely collected(!!!), which means we can fill in gaps to move him closer to completion. To see all of these issues and how they are barely collected, visit the Guide to Flash.

Flash: Jay Garrick, Golden Age Vol. 1 (1940 & on)

The Golden Age material of Jay Garrick as The Flash is severely undercollected. He has only ever had a pair of DC’s full-color archive volumes, which barley scratched the surface of collecting his two titles.

This would begin to collect Flash Comics (1940) #1-104 (January 1940 – February 1949) and All-Flash (1941) #1-32 (Summer 1941 – Dec/Jan 1947/48).

Jay Garrick was usually the lead story in Flash Comics (1940), which was actually an anthology comic much like Action Comics (1937). Garrick’s lead story was usually 10-14 pages plus the cover. However, All-Flash (1941) was a Flash solo series could include 40-50 pages of Flash content in each issue!

That means that this content roughly accounts for 1350 pages of Flash Comics (1940) and 1440 pages of All-Flash (1941), meaning this omnibus line would need to be a minimum of four volumes.

Flash: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 1 (1970 & on)

This volume picks up directly from the completed Silver Age line with The Flash (1959) #200.

This line would have a lot of material to cover – The Flash (1959) #200-350, plus other material including World’s Finest #198–199 (November–December 1970), DC Special Series #11: Flash Spectacular 1978, DC Comics Presents #1–2 (August–October 1978), and Adventure Comics #459–466 (1978–1979).

Aquaman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to Flashpoint

Later this year Aquaman finally scores his first ever pre-Flashpoint omnibus, and it’s a book that I would have expected to be in the Top 10 of this poll if it wasn’t about to exist – Aquaman by Peter David!

The massive popularity of Peter David’s mid-90s Aquaman run often means that people forget that Aquaman had a solid five years of Post-Crisis material prior to David taking over – including several mini-series and an ongoing title. It’s enough for its own omnibus, and there’s also plenty of material after David. To see all of these issues and how they are currently collected, visit the Guide to Aquaman.

Aquaman: Post-Crisis Omnibus (1986 – 1992)

This would collect all of Aquaman’s Post-Crisis material prior to the Peter David omnibus. Curiously, this actually would begin with Peter David material! David penned The Atlantis Chronicles (1990) #1-7, a definitive Post-Crisis history of Atlantis. Though it was one of the last titles released in this sequence of material, it should come first in the reading order.

This would collect The Atlantis Chronicles (1990) #1-7 (March 1990 – Sept 1990), Aquaman (1986) #1-4 (Feb – May 1986), Aquaman Special (March 1988), Aquaman (1989) Special & #1-4 (April & June-Oct 1989), and Aquaman (1991) #1-13 (Dec 1991 – Dec 1992).

Aquaman by Larsen & Jurgens (1998 – 2000)

This tome would follow the Peter David omnibus to collect the subsequent run, mostly by Erik Larsen and Dan Jurgens.

This would collect Aquaman (1994) #50-60, Annual 5, 61-75, #1,000,000, and Aquaman Secret Files (1998) #1.

Aquaman: The New Wave by Veitch, Arcudi, et al (2003 – 2006)

Three years after the conclusion of his 1990s series, Aquaman was resurrected in a new title by Rick Veitch. The title changed authorship several times on the page to Infinity Crisis, which would fundamentally alter Aquaman’s place in the DC Universe for a fear years – as well as the trajectory of the title.

This would collect Aquaman (2003) #1-39 (Feb 2003 – April 2006), Aquaman Secret Files 2003 (2003) #1, and some material from Infinite Crisis.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis (2006 – 2009)

After Infinite Crisis, Aquaman’s title relaunched as “Sword of Atlantis” for a 17-issue run starring a different character – Aquaman’s son!

This would be a brief omnibus, because after the conclusion of this series there’s not much other material for this Aquaman. On the plus side, this would contain his complete story!

Collects all of the Arthur Curry material from Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis (2006) #40-57 (May 2006 – Dec 2007), Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Metamorpho/Aquaman (2007) #1 (Oct 2007), Superman/Batman (2003) #45, Shadowpact (2006) #24, DCU Holiday Special (2009) One-Shot, and material from Final Crisis (2008) #3 & 7 and Titans (2008) #15.

Flash Omnibus Mapping – Post-Crisis to Flashpoint 

The Flash is one of DC’s best-collected characters when it comes to modern omnibuses! In fact, there’s very little content of Barry Allen or Wally West left to collect in omnibus prior to Flashpoint. To see all of these issues and how they are currently collected (including all of the existing omnibuses – but, not Impulse), visit the Guide to Flash.

Flash by William Messner-Loebs Vol. 2 (1989 – 1992)

This sequel to the 2024 volume one would completely fill the gap prior to Mark Waid’s first Flash omnibus, which begins with Flash (1987) #62.

This would collect Flash (1987) #29-61 and Flash Special (1990) #1.

Impulse, Vol. 1 by Waid & Messner-Loebs) (1995 1998)

Barry Allen & Wally West weren’t the only two speedsters in Post-Crisis DC comics! Bart Allen, a Flash of the future, had his own long-running series as Impulse. While the series itself ran for 89 issues, there’s also crossover material and later Impulse comics to take into account, so it’s hard to say if this would be two volumes or more.

This would begin to collect Impulse (1995) #1-89, Annual 1-2, and One Million, plus one-shots and crossovers. William Messner-Loebs writes through issue #49, but that might be too much for a first volume – especially if this extends to more than two volumes.

Flash by Mark Waid Vol. 3 (1996 – 1999)

The contents of the second Mark Waid Flash omnibus out this October are still TBA, but this should be the perfect size to collect to the end of his comprehensive trade paperback line, which ends with Flash (1987) #163.

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive [AKA “by Geoff Johns Companion” or “In Times of Crisis”] (2005 – 2008)

This was a tricky book to map, and it’s a tricky book to explain!

Much of Flash’s late-00s content is written by Geoff Johns and collected in a trio of existing omnibuses. However, the main Flash title continued running even after Johns departed – continuing his narrative in events and mini-series. Not only that, but in that post-Johns run Wally West heads off to Infinite Crisis, Bart Allen AKA Impulse graduates to being Flash in his own series, and then the Flash ongoing returned with Wally West back as the lead!

Continues beyond/around Flash by Johns Vol. 2-3 to collect Flash (1987) #226-230 (Wally West, which continues to Infinite Crisis), Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2006) #1-13 (Bart Allen), All-Flash (2008) #1, and Flash (1987) #231-247 (the return of Wally West). May also need material from Countdown #43 (2007) and Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1-5.

This book would mean that Flash’s pre-Flashpoint material would be entirely collected.

Aquaman Omnibus Mapping – Post-Flashpoint:
New 52, Rebirth, & Infinite Frontier

Aquaman has a single post-Flashpoint omnibus collecting his awesome run by Geoff Johns from the start of New 52. However, that book cuts off exactly halfway through the New 52 period – plus, Aquaman had a second book during New 52. Plus, all of his Rebirth material has been outstanding, including runs by Dan Abnett and Kelly Sue DeConnick – two of my favorite runs out of the hundred books on this poll!

To see all of these issues and how they are currently collected, visit the Guide to Aquaman.

Aquaman: The New 52 Omnibus by Parker, Bunn, & Jurgens (2013 – 2016)

This would directly follow the Aquaman by Geoff Johns omnibus, collecting the remainder of his solo series as well as all of Aquaman and The Others (2014) by Cullen Bunn.

This would collect Aquaman (2011) #26-31 & Annual 2 (also, Annual 1 as part of a crossover with the second series in this book), Swamp Thing (2011) #32 (a crossover to Aquaman #31), Aquaman (2011) #32-40, Secret Origins (2014) #2 & 5, Aquaman (2011) #41-52, Aquaman and The Others (2014) #1-11 (June 2014 – May 2015), Aquaman: Futures End (2014) #1, Aquaman and the Others: Futures End (2014) #1, and material from DC Sneak Peek: Aquaman (2015).

Aquaman Aquaman: The Rebirth Omnibus Vol. 1 by Dan Abnett (2016 – 2018)

Dan Abnett wrote an epic run of Aquaman, both as a ruler of Atlantis and as an insurgent banished to its murky depths! We’ve had an oversize hardcover of a portion of this run, but never the entire thing.

This could potentially begin with Aquaman (2011) #49-52, which were written by Abnett. Then, it would collect Aquaman: Rebirth (2016), Aquaman (2016) #1-42 & Annual 1-2, Mera: Queen of Atlantis (2018) #1-6: Suicide Squad (2016) #45-46 (the “Sink Atlantis” crossover); and all of the “Drowned Earth” crossover (in Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth (2018) #1, Justice League (2018) #10-12, Titans (2016) #28, & Aquaman/Justice League: Drowned Earth (2018) #1).

That’s a massive 62 issues, though we could leave out the first three issues from New 52. Would DC really cram all of that into one book!? They’ve showed an appetite for massive modern omnibuses with the Justice League Dark books, but there’s a chance that this one is just two big and could get split into two. However, we’re not splitting it into two for the purposes of the poll, since there’s some flexibility in things that could be excluded.

Aquaman: The Rebirth Omnibus Vol. 2 by DeConnick (2018 – 2020)

Following Abnett’s outstanding run, Kelly Sue DeConnick took Aquaman in a completely different direction.

DeConnick leaned heavily into the mythology of sea gods, penning a run that was both massive and surprisingly personal. I think some fans disliked it at the time for splintering Arthur from Mera, but if you can put your shipping aside for a moment it was a fantastic comic (with excellent colors from Sunny Gho).

This would collect Aquaman (2016) #42-66 & Annual 3.

Aquaman by Brandon Thomas & Chuck Brown (AKA “Aquamen”)

Starting in Infinite Frontier in 2021, DC Comics focused on developing the families around each character – including younger legacy characters who could support and extend each franchise. That lead writers Brandon Thomas and Chuck Brown to focus on Aquaman’s supporting cast – including Black Manta and Jackson Hyde as he graduated from “Aqualad” to “Aquaman.”

Thomas & Brown essentially coordinated a run entirely in intertwined mini-series that ran for a total of 28 issues! To that, we could add a 80th Anniversary special and one final mini (Voidsong) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly.

I think that makes for a solid and really enjoyable omnibus of series that many people missed due to the tricky way they were released and marketed.

This would collect Future State: Aquaman (2021) #1-2, Black Manta (2021) #1-6, Aquaman: The Becoming (2021) #1-6, Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular (2021), Aquaman / Green Arrow: Deep Target (2021) #1-7, Aquamen (2022) #1-6, and Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong (2022) #1-3.

Flash Omnibus Mapping – Post-Flashpoint:
New 52, Rebirth, & Infinite Frontier

Flash is one of the handful of solo characters to merit more than one Post-Flashpoint omnibus (don’t quote me, but I think Superman, Batman, Nightwing, and Harley Quinn are the others in this elite club). However, those two Flash omnibuses only partially tackle two different runs, so they both need sequels – and there’s even more to collect.

To see all of these issues and how they are currently collected (including the two existing omnibuses), visit the Guide to Flash.

Flash by Robert Vendetti, The New 52 Omnibus (2013 – 2016)

This directly follows the Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato Omnibus to collect the remainder of New 52 Flash.

This would collect New 52 Flash (2011) #26-52 & Annual 2-4, The Flash: Futures End (2014) #1, and Secret Origins (2014) #7.

Flash by Joshua Williamson (Rebirth) Vol 2 (of 3) (2018 – 2020)

The first Joshua Williamson Flash omnibus collected 42 issues and covered Flash’s Rebirth run through Flash (2016) #35.

That leaves us with Flash (2016) #36-88, 750-762, & Annual 1-3 – nearly 70 more issues! I think that means we’re due for two more volumes of Williamson Flash.

There’s just no way to get that all into one book, and a handful of guest appearances would mean the two volumes would be just as long as the first one.

Flash: The Rebirth of Wally West (2016 – 2023)

What’s this? I can’t take credit – it came from DBZALLSTAR on the Near Mint Condition Discord!

This would be a Wally-centric collection of his return in the DC Rebirth Special, his reunion with the Titans, his downfall in Heroes in Crisis, his cosmic rebirth in Flash Forward, and his eventual return in Flash.

This would collect DC Rebirth (2016) #1, material from Titans (2016), Heroes In Crisis (2018) #1-9, Flash Forward (2019) # 1-6, material from Dark Nights: Death Metal (2020) #1-7, and material from The Flash (2016) #763-800.

Flash, The Infinite Frontier Omnibus by Jeremy Adams (2021 – 2023)

Jeremy Adams wrote the reunited Flash clan in the first genuine “Flash Family” run we’ve had since Flashpoint, which highlighted all of the many Flashes of the DC Universe!

This would collect Flash (2016) #763-800, Annual 2021, The Flash: One-Minute War Special (2023) #1, and the “War for Earth-3” crossover (The War for Earth-3 (2022) #1, Suicide Squad (2021) #13, The Flash (2016) #780, Teen Titans Academy (2021) #13, and The War for Earth-3 (2021) #2). It could also add Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong (2022) #1-3.