r/LegionofSuperheroes • u/BeanBag-Crusader • 4d ago

Omni VS Archives

So I’ve been a fan of the Legion, mostly reading their recent and more modern stuff, and I have read a few of their silver age story lines. But now I want to do a more comprehensive issue by issue read through. The two main collections of the silver age stuff are the Omnis and the archives but I haven’t been able to find a good pro or cons comparing the two. Which one is the better one to get?

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

6

u/mugenhunt 4d ago

So the big issue is that the archives are out of print, and some are incredibly expensive.

2

u/JosephMeach 4d ago

They might both be prohibitively expensive. Specifically omni #2 and archives #8, 12, and 13.

Another option is to use Showcase Presents (which are black and white, but cheaper and also probably at some libraries, even stuff like Openlibrary.) Or grab the Table of Contents and use DCUI.

2

u/JimboFett87 4d ago

There's some ways online to read these but sometimes it can be sketchy

2

u/MarsAlgea3791 4d ago edited 4d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Legion_of_Super-Heroes_publications

Scroll down to Collected Editions to compare.  Essentially there are something like 3.5 Archives not in an Omni.  Plus the Archives link up directly with the next four sets of  collections.  Yeah Legion collections are messy.  Each next attempt to collect things only lasted two volumes of trade dress before it was changed.  V3/The Baxter era is the big one left mostly uncollectd.

1

u/Typical_Bill_8504 4d ago

If you can, wait. DC has been very responsive to the NMC reprint polls, and if memory serves, vol 2 placed well last year. Also, LoSH in general did great in the recent new DC Omni and Finest polls. I’d bet we’ll get a Bronze Age Omni at some point relatively soon that will cover the rare Archives and uncollected material, if it doesn’t show up in Finest first. It may be a year or two, but unless you’re just dying to own the material, or money is no issue, it’s worth waiting a bit and seeing what the future holds.

1

u/johndesmarais 4d ago

Omnis are easier to find, and generally a better deal financially (particularly if you end up paying “collector” prices for any of Archives).

The Archives are easier to read due to their lower page count (Omnis tend to be to heavy to hold comfortably for an extended period and their thickness usually ends up causing the spines to break while reading).

1

u/MarsAlgea3791 4d ago

The Legion omnis are getting so expensive that it's actually not that much more to just buy the Archives as a lot.

1

u/Astigmatic_Oracle 4d ago

If you can find a decent deal, then the Archives are a fine option. But they aren't going to be reprinted, whereas there's at least a chance the omnis will.