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Tag Archives: Wildstorm Comics

Big Box of Comics Part 4: Planetary Omnibus

23 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

big box of comics, book review, comic books, John Cassaday, Laura Martin, Planetary, planetary omnibus, Warren Ellis, Wildstorm Comics

This post is part of a series about what was inside this month’s big box of free comics.

What can I say about Planetary that hasn’t already been said in the 20 years since its first issue? From the series’ chronic delays of up to years between issues, to the Eisner-award-winning artwork, Planetary has been documented about as thoroughly as the weird events in Elijah Snow’s annual “Planetary Guides”.

The 864-page hardcover Omnibus edition looks like one of those Guides when you remove the slipcover, and that’s just one example of the high-quality design that was a hallmark of the series. People might have waited months or years for the original issues, but when each one finally came out, it looked damn good. So does the Omnibus.

Reading the Omnibus cover-to-cover puts Planetary in a fresh light. I gained a greater sense of the series’ continuity and complexity since I could read each chapter with the previous one still fresh in my mind. I got an even stronger impression of the amazing work by colorist Laura Martin (with assistance from Wildstorm FX). Although writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday usually get the credit for the series, Martin’s contribution is integral to its visual splendor and the emotional effect of every page and panel. Maybe Planetary could have been good without Martin, but I doubt it would have been legendary.

The Omnibus also dissipates the major annoyance I had when I was originally piecing the series together from single issues; namely, a feeling that every installment consisted only of the three main characters visiting a random location where they met a random person who delivered lengthy exposition about a scenario based on pulp fiction or vintage superheroes, and that this exposition filled most of the pages before reaching a vague and hasty conclusion tacked on as an afterthought to the “cool concept” of the issue.

While several chapters do this, they are not as numerous as I remember, and they mostly take place in the beginning of the series. Reading the Omnibus makes it clear how the individual chapters fit into the big picture; it was just difficult to sort all that out with a series that took ten years to publish 27 issues, and because it was challenging to find affordable copies in complete chronological order if you came to the series late like I did.

Though I’ve thought highly of Planetary since the day I discovered a beat-up copy of #5 at a used bookstore, the Omnibus made me enjoy and appreciate it even more.

Buyer’s Guide: The Planetary Omnibus is sometimes out of stock at MyComicShop.com, but usually available on Amazon.

…And I Don’t Have My Cyber-Tran Suit On!

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Tags

Battalion, Stormwatch, Tom Raney, Warren Ellis, Wildstorm Comics

Stormwatch’s telekinetic leader Battalion gets a chance to fly solo in this tale by Warren Ellis. Battalion goes on vacation and tries to have a nice day, but some hate militia wannabes go and make it about race! Bad move on their part…

Collector’s Guide:
– from Stormwatch #45.
– reprinted in Stormwatch: Lightning Strikes TPB; DC/Wildstorm, 2000.
Illustrated by Tom Raney from a Warren Ellis script.



They’re Alive – We Think!

24 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Galactus, John Cassaday, Mystery in Space, Planetary, planetary omnibus, Warren Ellis, Wildstorm Comics

John Cassaday, working from a Warren Ellis script, re-imagines the spaceship of Galactus in issue 19 of Planetary. Here, the great cosmic being has died and life has evolved in his vessel for millions of years! Even his gigantic corpse has become a biosphere supporting life. AMAZING!

Collector’s Guide: You can get Planetary in single issues or TPBs. As of 2014, the whole series is collected in a single Planetary Omnibus!

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