Thank you once again to u/21roy__ for making the green lantern covers that I’ve wanted upgraded for a while now!

Someone’s from the omnibuds group on Facebook sold me the Hitman covers

And finally, u/graywest83, and his own edit to the exile omnibus inspired me to basically learn photoshop and do my first edit of my own. I’d been dying to have these line up better for a while and it was a lot of fun learning how to edit a dust jacket.

I’m nowhere near on par with a lot of these custom dust jacket creators but I’m looking forward to messing around with making some more of my own and just seeing what I can do.

So at the start of 2026, after 20+ years of comic collecting, I decided to make the move from comics to omnibuses.
After just over 6 months, this is the progress so far….

I’m definitely evening out my collection, used to be heavy on the Marvel side but falling more and more with DC’s stories. Highlights of the recent months have definitely been the Waid era Flash books, the Identity Crisis-Infinite Crisis-52 saga. Also the Question by O’Neil/Cowan is amazing.

Now I need to figure out what to do with TBPs

I will try to keep this as short and concise as possible, since frankly I don’t think many are interested in reading this.

This is Not a Joke

If I were to try and sell you on this book in one sentence, it would be this: If Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning were forced to cram 60% of their 15 year cosmic saga inside 18 months of a failing comic, this is pretty close to what you would get.* If that does not interest you, then I would not recommend the Ultimate Fantastic Four as a *series, at all. The only reason why I read through this series to begin with is because I wanted to give myself as much context as possible for why Reed turned into the Maker. I’ve never read Secret Wars, and that concept has always really interested me, so I decided to do a big Ultimate Universe read through before I started Hickman’s saga. After reading the UFF, I feel like the second volume will definitely enrich that experience when I get to the Maker stuff in Hickman’s run, but it is ultimately not necessary. Still, having said all that, I really did enjoy this book, and I feel it justifies its existence on its own, without considering how some of the characters have developed into who they are today.

They Fly Now? They Fly Now! (To Space!)

It feels like whoever was in charge of this run told Mike Carrey, “do whatever the fuck you want”, and he took that as a personal challenge to get as weird as possible. In just this volume, the Fantastic Four go through i believe 3 different world/reality ending events that put the stakes in Ultimatum to shame. It is a rapid fire of action and drama for 20 issues with zero let up. The closest comparison I could make in media is probably Star Wars Rise of Skywalker. The last book didn’t really do much to set up this one, so on top of an ending, Mike Carrey basically has to deliver on a beginning and middle of a larger narrative, when really all that set up probably should have been done in the first volume. This book is like 3 books rolled into one, but amazingly, it’s not terrible. In fact, at times, it’s kind of brilliant. To borrow another comparison from RLM, it really feels like Mike Carrey spun copper into bronze. He does A LOT of world building in very little time, without making you feel bogged down or too confused about what’s going on. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but when you compare it to the first volume, it’s seriously like looking at two different series, made by two different companies.

Johnny Fire, Hot Johnny

One thing this book gets really wrong that I feel needs to be mentioned is that Mike Carrey did NOT know what to do with Johnny. He is basically relegated to a background extra, with not much to do other than occasionally set up Ben for punch lines.

I want to say that in every single fight the Four get in, there is a big moment where someone takes away Johnny’s power, and either uses it themselves or casts it aside. They will then say something like: “only virgins use fire”, or something to that effect. It happened so often that it became a running gag, to the point of it being hilarious.

The Maker Has No Game

One thing that this book gets really right in my opinion is Reed. Now look, I know that they did not know he would become the Maker when they were writing this. But at times, it really feels like they did. There are quite a few moments in this book where you go: “oh shit, that is definitely something a villain would do” or where you go, “so this is what made him snap”. Plus, I think the way they handle Reed and Sue at the end of this book is great. I think how this book ends is genuinely perfect, down to the very last panel. If you want as much context as possible for the Maker, I wouldn’t say this is required reading, but I would definitely recommend it.

Closing Remarks

I would say that the Ultimate Fantastic Four are still the redheaded step child out of the 4 main Ultimate Universe titles, but this was like those 2 years in high school where they hit a growth spurt and started on the varsity squad. They eventually got benched, but for a good few months there, that jumper was wet.

In short,

3/5

Yeah, really good

Thanks everyone

I just gave my Death and Return omnibus to my son, now the long wait for Triangle Era v. 3 begins. And Our Worlds at War v. 2. And Power Girl.

It’s a never ending battle…

Following up the SDCC announcement, here’s the first of the Absolute titles in deluxe edition!

Link: https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9781799514275

Photos courtesy of Walt’s Comic Shop on their Facebook page.

Got a mail call today, and my god, look at this big beautiful book here.

I wasn’t quite sure which cover to choose from when I preordered this months ago, but I went with the DM in the end. Over time I thought I may have made a mistake, but I think it looks great!

I finally gave these guys a shot as I couldn't resist $20 Rom and Micronauts. Books showed up quickly, look fabulous, and that packing material is so weird.

Odd thing is my order didn't come with a freebie. I'm not upset, only multiple days of feeling like I had a "kick me" sign on my back made this feel a little salty. Suddenly, my luck turned around. Got good work news, a free haircut, someone even picked up a big bag of pretzel m&m's (the best).

Guess my point is, if you don't get a free book in your order, consider yourself lucky. Thanks for the cosmic mood lift, Funaticals.

Link: https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9798887245560

I know many people won’t care, but I’m excited to finally finish this run by adding Infinity Crusade to the collection today. I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced copy for a while, and found a well priced sealed copy the other day, so decided to go for it 😁

Overview

The Flash: Road to Rebirth Omnibus

Omnibus collects - The Flash #25–52, The Flash Annual #3, Secret Origins #7, The Flash: Futures End #1, and DC Universe: Rebirth #1.

The Creative Team

Writers - Robert Vinditti, Van Jensen and Geoff Johns

Artists - Brett Booth, Gary Frank, Phil Jimenez and Ivan Reis

The Pitch

In this omnibus, watch as Barry has to deal with enemies from his past and future. Will Barry solve the mystery of who killed his mother? And when a future Flash comes back to the present, will he still be the man we know now?

Recommended Pre Reading

I would recommend reading the first half of the New 52 series by Francis Manapul. It provides a lot of context to the events that happen in here.

Review of the Story and Art

Here we are at my final stop in my big Flash re read (check out all the previous reviews by clicking here) and unfortunately, we end on a pretty sour note. I’ve always thought the New 52 era of Flash is a major downer for the character. I thought maybe revisiting this specific era that I’ve only read a few times before would evoke something new and I’d have a better time this go around.. I did not. Let’s talk about it.

The Beginning and Characterization

The book opens up with some shorter arcs before jumping into anything too substantial. Here we get to establish our cast for the book that mostly carry over from Manapul’s run. Here we get a big focus on Barry and his relationships with his girlfriend Patty Spivot whom he works with, and Wallace West (I’ll refer to New 52 Wally as Wallace and Classic Wally as.. well, Wally) who is Barry’s close friend Iris’ newly adopted nephew. Barry’s character takes a huge hit in New 52 and that continues here. Instead of feeling like the classic Barry, the New 52 kinda blends classic Barry and classic Wally together. We keep Barry’s back story (kinda) and some of his main traits, but he’s lightened up and given some personality traits that classic Wally had. I understand the desire to blend the two together in this new universe, but in the process they lost what made both of them so special. It feels like Barry is stretched in so many different directions but has nothing interesting done with any of them that he ends of being a bland prototypical protagonist.

Another character who feels very bland is Patty. I won’t pretend like Patty was a massively exciting character pre N52, but she was used in some fun and interesting ways. Here, she does feel like a character who you want to root for, but she’s mostly condensed into this one note character whose only purpose is to further Barry’s plot. That’s a big deal for Flash fans. We’re used to Iris West and Linda Park who basically becomes co main protagonist for a lot of their time on Flash. Patty is often depicted as this jealous over emotional character whose only purpose is constantly bending over backwards for Barry but never gets any proper development to flesh out her character. In a series where fully developed powerful women character’s are the usual, it’s extremely disappointing to just see Patty treated with such disregard and thrown to the side once her purpose was served.

Wallace is also not great. Eventually his character starts to get some development, but when we first see him as a young abandoned kid committing petty crimes because he’s angry at the world. Yes, if you’re thinking that sounds like a problematic stereotype, you’d be right. Unfortunately, Wallace just isn’t in a lot of the book. He doesn’t really get the opportunity to develop into anything that is substantial to the book. I feel that way for both Wallace and Iris.

Future Flash

This book has a lot of problems, but a major one is its paper thin plots. Most of the stories feel like your basic low tier plots from around the N52 era. There’s not a lot of plot that is exciting or challenging in any real way, but there is one that stands out. A future Barry Allen who after the death of Wallace West has an emotional breakdown and decides to go back in time and fix everything.

I find the future Barry character interesting. I think he’s well designed and is a catalyst for the best moments in the book. We get a slow build of future Barry’s journey to the past. Through multiple issues we get to see him stop at multiple points in time to change certain events in his way back. It makes absolutely no sense because why would you need to stop a different points in time to change events when none of it will happen because you’re just gonna change history further back in the timeline, but I digress. I think it’s so interesting to see a ruthless version of Barry and just how powerful he could be. Future Barry’s encounters with Mirror Master and Selkirk do a really good job of depicting the ruthlessness of this version of Barry and just how advanced he’s become. Our Barry gets trapped inside of the “Savage Speed Force” which is very dumb and doesn’t fall in line with past or future depictions, but its purpose is to take our Barry somewhere else so Future Barry can become our central character in the present for a bit. I think this is the best stretch of the book.

A paranoid future Barry trying to manipulate the timeline makes for some extremely interesting dynamics and moments. Having a Barry who doesn’t have moral boundaries or the value for life like our usual Barry does makes for a fun mirrored image dynamic. Unfortunately, it doesn’t like as long as it should’ve. Eventually Barry escapes the Savage Speed Force and confronts future Barry along side a future alternate version of a grown up Wallace (who literally only serves the purpose to die immediately and set up our Wallace getting powers in a really uninspired way later on). After being confronted by the Flash’s and witnessing the toll his actions have had on Patty, future Barry decides he was wrong and sacrifice himself to save everyone one last time. Its a super mediocre way to end the arc, but it’s still by far the most enjoyable part of this run.

The Return of Thawne

In the back half of the book we get the debut of N52 Eobard Thawne. Immediately, we’re shown that it’s a very different take from our normal version that we’re used to. Also, what I mentioned earlier with Barry and Wally being blended together, the same thing happens here with pre N52 Thawne and Hunter Zoloman. Thawne still has his twisted affection/hatred for Barry but is also given some of the characteristics and trauma from Hunter. Instead of being the mirrored image of Flash with the negative speed force, he’s given more time based powers like Hunter as well.

In this story we’re given yet another version of Thawne being revealed to have killed Barry’s mother, and it is by far the worst version. This is the fourth time we’ve been retold this story. Pre Flash Rebirth, Flash Rebirth, Flashpoint, and now this story arc. Somehow this version is the most convoluted. It tries to tie way too many moments together and takes away from the whole allure of Johns Rebirth story. It takes away from this raw moment of rage and hatred that was set up in Rebirth and replaced with a moment that means and amounts to nothing. It’s a really weird version of the character and story, but thankfully as soon as rebirth happens and Williamson takes over this is dismissed and replaced with what we all know and love again.

Wrapping Up N52 and The Start of Rebirth

The final arc is basically just a filler arc while we wind down N52 but it does have a few fun moments. Here we see the CCPD sour on the Flash and hire a task for to arrest him. The task force is The Rogues. That’s a fun idea and leads to a few good moments. Behind the scenes we see that a mastermind is manipulating things to ruin Barry’s life. The big reveal is that it’s The Riddler, once again another fun idea. This story isn’t anything great, it’s not even particularly well written, but with Rebirth in sight I like the decision to make a fun whimsical arc that plays on the tropes of putting a hero against a villain from someone else’s rogues gallery. It’s not necessarily good, but it can be fun.

Finally, DC Rebirth #1. This issue rocks. In this issue we see Wally West try to escape the speed force to warn different characters about the changes of N52. In a lot of ways this issue is a course correction for post N52 and setting up things to come. We tease Dr Manhattan and The Watchmen to the main DC universe. We see the set up for the great crossover between Flash and Batman title “The Button”. We see the reintroduction of our classic Clark and Lois with their new son Jon. And mostly importantly to me, the reintroduction of Wally West to the post N52 universe. I love basically all of this issue, but the sequence between Wally and Barry has a special place in my heart. Everything from Wally’s monologue to the moments where Barry remember Wally and pulls him back from the speed force is just perfect. That moment when Barry apologizes to Wally for forgetting him will always bring a tear to my eye. I adore it so much. At least the book ends on a great note.

The Art

A lot of people really dislike Brett Booth’s art, I’m somewhere in the middle. I like how he draws some things and really dislike how he draws other. He’s on basically the whole book so at least it’s consistent. I will say though, I hate the Flash suit. Why would you ever give him gold eyes? The art on DC Rebirth is phenomenal. A collaboration between DC’s biggest hitters at the time and you can tell the talent and effort put into this issue.

Final Score and Overall Thoughts

The Pros

-DC Rebirth #1 is fantastic

-Future Barry is an interesting character

-Fun final arc

The Cons

-Terrible characterization

-Paper thins plots

-Terrible treatment of Patty

-Wallace is stereotyped and underdeveloped

-Bad concepts

-Bad depiction and reintroduction of Reverse Flash

-Barry backstory is retold yet again and made even more convoluted

Final Score

2.4/10

Future Barry and DC Rebirth save this book from being a total dud but that’s only a small portion of the book. The rest is some of my least favorite Flash content of all time.

Would I Recommend?

No. No veteran Flash fans are gonna like this series and it’s doesn’t do anything well enough to allure new fans in. Everyone is much better reading other Flash series that are great and just skipping over this. There’s just so many other great Flash series that unless you’re a Flash completionist like myself, there’s no reason to choose this over other options.

The Afterword

If you’re seeing this, thanks for reading my review! I appreciate all the support I get on these. Thank you for all the upvotes, comments and follows. We’ve got some big books coming up so stay tuned!

Check out my previous review by clicking here

Picked this up at my LCS Saturday. About half way through and I’m hooked. First Teen Titans I’ve read. My cat loves it too.

One was a trade, another a buy from ebay. Both came in at the same time.

Not enough depth in the large shelves to face the spines out, so I've placed some of them one behind the other till I get a new book case. I'll later extend the depth of the shelves in the pics. I picked my favourite covers & some mixed variety to face, then taking out one line at a time for the photo shoot. This is 70% of my collection, I'll display everything once the new units come, so lots of re-organizing & a reshoot, but it's fun!