Larry Hamma Archives

It’s the 20th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers Marvel Comics May 15 2024 releases. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering Marvel Comics May 8 2024 new releases.

This week in Marvel Comics: a Hickman/Greene Doom one-shot, Gillen says farewell to hope, original Marvel Apes, an adamantium-free Wolverine omnibus, an “Oops All Wolverines” conclusion, and more!

Here’s a wild statistic that speaks to the mess that is Marvel’s publishing strategy at the moment – out of 14 comics out this week, only three are issues from ongoing series.

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from Marvel this week, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

Marvel Comics May 15 2024 Collected Editions

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Assassin Nation
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957902 / digital)
See Guide to Spider-Man – Peter Parker (1963 – 2018). This is a reprint of the Epic collecting a very fun 1989 run of Spider-Man just after his initial confrontations with Venom and just before the true excesses of the 90s kick in on his title.

Astonishing Iceman: Out Cold
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302952495 / digital)
See Guide to X-Men – The Age of Krakoa (2019 – 2024). Iceman seemingly died in the Hellfire Gala, but this Steve Orlando series brings him back!

I never enjoyed enjoyed Iceman’s previous 2017 and 2018 solo turns by Sina Grace, which made him out to be the most generic 20-something American gay guy you could imagine without any connection to who he was as a character. This Steve Orlando take is a little more interesting – focusing on how Bobby’s death may have actually taught him something about his capabilities, both as a mutant and as a person. Plus, interiors artist Vincenzo Carratú is well on his way to becoming one of the next big things at Marvel!

This is a book you can enjoy as an Iceman fan without having to be fully engaged in the Fall of X, and it’s one of the better uses of him as a character throughout all of the Krakoa era.

Captain America Epic Collection: Bucky Reborn
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957858 / digital)
See Guide to Captain America – Steve Rogers. This volume follows Cap out of the 60s and into the 70s as his title becomes a bit more socially conscious of current events of the day – plus, it begins to regularly star The Falcon as his regular sidekick! This is a good place to dip your toes into classic Cap if early Silver Age stories feel a bit too generic for you.

The Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot allows collected editions fans to play “Fantasy Collections Department” by picking the runs they’d most like to see in an oversized format.

Now that I’ve recapped the history of past years of the Ballot, we’re up to two weeks of the really fun stuff – thinking up dozens upon dozens of suggestions for Marvel omnibuses we’d love to see on our shelves!

I highlighted 50 runs that deserved an omnibus at the close of the survey last year, but this time I’m going to be a lot more comprehensive.

I’ll begin on my home turf: The X-Men. It’s how Crushing Comics guides began, and I own every issue of X-Men in either single issue or collected format, so I’m accutely aware of the gaps in oversized content.

Today I’ll cover both existing and potential Omnibuses for X-Men from their debut in 1963 through the launch of X-Men, Vol. 2 in 1991. Then, tomorrow we’ll look at the tumultuous and under-collected 90s, before finishing up on Wednesday with the pair of most recent X-Men eras – from Grant Morrison’s New X-Men in 2001 through present day.

After that, we’ll rinse and repeat this exercise in reverse for the entire Marvel Universe, working backwards from the current All-New All-Different Marvel to look at the top possible omnibuses across the entire line from every period until we’re back to the few books still left uncollected from the 1960s.

So, if you haven’t yet voted in the poll or just need a few more books to fill out your personal Top 20, get ready – the next two weeks of CK will have over 100 omnibus suggestions for you to choose from!

Now, let’s get to some X-Tensive X-Men omnibus mapping, staring with the Classic X-Men era from 1963-1974, before moving on to Chris Claremont’s tenure on X-Men from 1975-1991 (plus, all of the tie-in series from that era.

There are 19 potential omnibus volumes in this material! Collected Edition mapping can be exact and contentious work, so if you have a correction or disagreement don’t hold back – sound off in the comments below!