Omnibus

An omnibus is ‘a volume containing several books previously published separately’. Technically, most comics sold as books fall into this category, with trade paperbacks (TPBs) being omnibuses collecting floppies, larger TPBs being omnibuses of smaller TPBs, and the traditional comics omnibuses collecting these into an even larger volume, in both length and page size. In the world of comics, omnibus largely refers to these editions, oversized hardcovers with massive page counts – many over a thousand, although many smaller ones have been printed. Comic omnibuses are pretty damn cool, and it borders on tragedy that they’re largely the domain of capeshit. Luckily, both Marvel and DC have published a range of omnibuses collecting stories outside their main universes, including both popular IP like Star Wars or Conan, and stories that began in the medium like Sandman, Lucifer, and Preacher. By cool, I mean cool. On some level, the only thing that differentiates an omnibus from a typical oversized hardcover (OHC) is page length. Publishing a series in premium format as OHCs might make for quicker releases and more comfortable reading, and omnibuses have generally been plagued by binding issues and other build quality concerns in a way their slimmer counterparts have not. Yet there remains nobility to the giant omnibus, a statement of existence if not intent. To have enough material to publish one means either a significant run on a superhero franchise or, even more impressive, to have told an original story with enough longevity and significance to stand alongside the comic medium’s bigger fish.  And alongside these titanic books stand the omnibuses of the smaller, scrappier Dark Horse.

 

Oh, wait, no they don’t.

 

A Dark Horse “omnibus” doesn’t stand next to the traditional format at all. Rather, these “smallnibuses” are essentially the traditional thicker TPBs commonly seen in collections of older material, and that’s exactly what they are – standard size, shorter books. The most common are those from Mike Mignola's most famous franchise, the ‘world of Hellboy’, which generally collect around 15 issues each, less than half of most traditional omnibuses. These books are nice enough editions, don’t get me wrong, but they hardly conform to the premium expectations that come with the word omnibus. The latest edition of the B.P.R.D. series has opted to remove the Plague of Frogs subtitle, instead proudly displaying an ugly, lying, “OMNIBUS” moniker on the spine. What’s worse is that this terminology has leaked over to other publishers, with a few thicker TPBs from Marvel listed as “omnibuses”, even in cases where the same material has already been announced or sold in a traditional omnibus. Ultimately, customers are unlikely to accidentally buy a smallnibus believing it the be a real deal omnibus. It’s a minor quibble, but widening the use of the term beyond the traditional format undermines the branding of premium editions, and its hard not to see it as a weak, self-defeating move by publishers.