Golden Age Batman is my favorite. Greatest Batman panel of all time: Batman smashes a painting over a thug's head and says "Looks like you're being framed for this crime, pal!"
Bill Finger is one of the best Golden age writers along with Jerry Siegel and Gardner Fox, very underappreciated as is the Golden age in general smh. Not to mention he was a very detailed writer that would come in with lots of research on the types of stories he would write involving the world's fair or the harbor or things like that as well as provide schematics to the artists for reference as well as wrote compelling, wholesome and entertaining (sometimes emotional) stories (including of course noir detective ones). And not to mention oh yeah is the sole creator of Batman who also had an actual collaborator in Jerry Robinson as well. Also important to note that most of these stories are meant to be/designed as monthly anthologies involving the character with recurring appearances of villains. Something people tend to forget and overlook.
They need to reprint all of them, because they're a business that likes money, and we shouldn't have to appeal to Omar to get these guys to do common sense things. What a clueless bunch. Do they understand that new people are born every day, when they go years without reprinting some things?
Waiting for that Vol 10 then I'll have a happy Golden Age shelf! Love seeing it all from the very beginning even if it can be a hard read, like opening a time capsule!
Unfortuantly they still haven't completely collected Robin's stuff from Star Spangled Comics during the Golden Age, thats the only Gold Age stuff I know of thats missing.
Golden Age Batman was my Batman, it was my first exposure to the character on the printed page albeit it was through the old Batman Chronicles Trade paperbacks that I borrowed from the local library. Honestly, the first 6 years of Batman is incredibly solid I still think, reading them initially at 6 and 7 was definitely a transformative experience and you can see why Batman stuck.
Thank you for taking another chance on this both for the content and to review the the new book construction. Do you happen to know whether the more recent volumes (e.g. 9-10) have the improved spines and thinner paper stock, or has it only been this one so far to your knowledge?
Volume One of Silver Age is out, in addition to 2 Volumes of Batman/Superman World's Finest. If they are doing a second run of Gold Age I'm sure they will keep up with Silver.
"evolved" into decompressed soapy melodramas. These old stories are great. Batman actually has a sense of humor, his relationship with Robin is great, (a surrogate father-son relationship) and there are some genuinely great character stories. However, these stories usually happen with regular, one-off people. Some of the best stories feature some Joe Schmoe who has a problem and Batman & Robin help them just because they're good people. I find the modern Batman to be cringey & try-hard. He has become overpowered to a ridiculous degree & feels psychopathic. After reading Golden Age stories I'm convinced that Robin is a necessary character because he humanizes Batman. You'll notice that without Robin, Batman becomes more & more unstable. I can say a lot more but I'll just leave it at that lol.
@@kasperk.651 they're designed/meant to be monthly anthologies not a binge read breeze that people love and have been accustomed to for years now. So anything with an actual substantial amount of writing that gives more to the story and characters via thought balloons and third person narration boxes (which they never should've taken away precisely because they added so much to the story and characters and are storytelling techniques unique to comics) people get turned off and call it "wordy" so it's not palatable enough for them i.e. lazy readers. I can go more on that, but I'll stop there lol . People don't understand as well as forget and overlook that. Not to mention Bill Finger is a great writer and one of the best Golden age writers who wrote compelling, wholesome, entertaining, and sometimes emotional stories. I just really hate this mentality of "too old, therefore bad or not good enough" bs. People are just too uncultured and apathetic, either past what they grew up with or things that are older than them. This is honestly one of those things where it's more for a niche, cultured audience. Not for the mainstream, and that's a good thing, not everything has to be mainstream or popular to be considered "valid." In fact, that shouldn't be the case. Anyways, that my little soapbox on that, lol. I will say tho that how people can really overstate the "edginess" and grit of Batman currently or in recent decades, because he def has had nuance, vulnerabilities, limitations, and asked for help as well as good rapport with the Robins and batfamily in general but yeah there are certain times where he can get too flanderized or misinterpreted in the books or media and no one has ever fully and properly fleshed out his moral code and explained it perfectly than Doug Moench in his Batman run (#540-541) with the Spectre. Under the red hood only gives a partial half assed reasoning that people continually cling to lol and/or twist. But for sure, Batman is one of those characters that can easily be misunderstood and misconstrued, especially at face value.
I grew up with Batman comics by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. When I read reprints of the golden age comics at that time I was shocked how different they were.@@kasperk.651
@@anthonygarcia8749 All facts lol. Yeah I think you made a great point about the "wordiness" of old comics. I don't understand why people complain about this. They were written more for children and semi-literate audiences so it was a great way of introducing reading to those audiences. But also like you said it's weird that they're absent in more modern stories. (And on that note, why are so many words bolded in modern speech bubbles???) It is unique to the medium of comics because you can effortlessly change the perspective. One panel can have multiple character's thoughts. Doing this in a novel is difficult and jarring.
I'm on the fence with this one. I want to get it just to have Batman's early stories in Omni, but then I don't have any more space. I'm thinking of downsizing my collections but DC keeps announcing titles that I want. That's why I make extreme considerations on getting titles that are not on my list.
Got this and superman golden age vol 1. But that's it for golden age. I'll start collecting all the batman/ superman silver age omnibus as they come out.
I have the original, plus vol 3, 4 & 10. Hope this does well to reprint any of the older ones to stop scalping. My hat goes off to Omar for reading this, though he is on record saying that he didn't like the golden age. I myself come and go with the golden age because of the writing and art but I will wait through then in time.
My total for the month when this was solicited was already way too high so I didn’t preorder this one but now I’m regretting it. Really want to pick this up…
If only I had unlimited shelf space for these golden age omnis. Alas, I don't so I've decided to stick with late bronze age / post COIE era which is what I grew up reading.
I will be picking up this book. It’s interesting to see how much Batman has changed over the years, but the core elements haven’t changed too much. For me, I started reading Batman from the Bronze Age. It’s good that DC is releasing stories that were published before I was born. Thanks for the review, I will be getting this and other Golden Age books.
I found the golden age Batman stories nostalgic as I read them as a kid in the old paperbacks I would check out from the library. I doubt they would hold up for me today though. The only comic I can really go back to from this time period and re-read over again is Dick Tracy. That's my jam.
So awesome that we now have the first nearly 20 years of batman on our shelves! Really hope they keep the silver age omnis releasing regularly and ideally with a bronze age line. Even one SA and one BA omni a year would be great.
Part of me wants every Golden & Silver Age Batman omni cause I want ALL THE BATMAN COMICS, but these Golden/Silver Age omnis can be wordy. 😂 I'll try the first one & see if I wanna go from there. 👍 Wait... So Batman was popping vampires point blank before Blade?! Thats GANGSTA!! 😂
They first half or so of the first Golden Age ombi is facinating to read just to see where all the characters come from and how much has changed, and how quickly some of it changed. No Alfred, no Batcave... stright up murdering people. and much more.
I'm glad DC reprinted this for those who missed out. Vol 6 -8 should be reprinted as those are going for $500 - $900 on the secondary market. Also, it looks like vol 10 is selling out everywhere!
I recently spent a lot of money on volume 6 through 9 to complete my golden age omnibus collection. If only I new reprints were going to be an option. 😢
Not sure how much there is to improve, I know I saw one comment somewhere saying they didn't even bother drawing in all the lines but then someone showed the orginal comic and yet thats just how they were drawn.
@@RogueDragon05 Well they've been using the same files that they restored back in the 90's for the original DC Archives - it would be nice if they did some better reproduction (look at the original Marvel Masterworks compared to the current omnibuses/Masterworks and they have massively improved the restoration but DC are content with still using the old Archives file)
I don't believe there's anything offensive in these older issues. These stories from the 1930s through the 1990s are essential reading and largely remain the gold standard of Batman. While there are some common racial depictions of Asians, Africans, and others typical of the times, there's nothing overtly offensive-except perhaps to those who are easily offended.
Golden Age Batman is my favorite. Greatest Batman panel of all time: Batman smashes a painting over a thug's head and says "Looks like you're being framed for this crime, pal!"
"I did get rid of my golden age and silver age because....ya not for me" Omar's own words from "My Batman Collection" Short🤣
Yep. But my viewers wanted an overview of the new printing. :)
Bronze Age Batman omnis would be nice…
70s+ era would be great!
@fishin4bass2002 Yes, the 80s was the best DC era, and DC make a horrible job with reprints of this era!
They do have Batman The Brave and The Bold, Batgirl, Robin, and Joker omni's out at least. But I totally agree we need more bronze age stuff.
Bill Finger is one of the best Golden age writers along with Jerry Siegel and Gardner Fox, very underappreciated as is the Golden age in general smh. Not to mention he was a very detailed writer that would come in with lots of research on the types of stories he would write involving the world's fair or the harbor or things like that as well as provide schematics to the artists for reference as well as wrote compelling, wholesome and entertaining (sometimes emotional) stories (including of course noir detective ones). And not to mention oh yeah is the sole creator of Batman who also had an actual collaborator in Jerry Robinson as well. Also important to note that most of these stories are meant to be/designed as monthly anthologies involving the character with recurring appearances of villains. Something people tend to forget and overlook.
I have this omni when it first printed up to vol 5. They need to re-print vol 6-9! Make it happen Omar!!!
They need to reprint all of them, because they're a business that likes money, and we shouldn't have to appeal to Omar to get these guys to do common sense things. What a clueless bunch. Do they understand that new people are born every day, when they go years without reprinting some things?
Waiting for that Vol 10 then I'll have a happy Golden Age shelf! Love seeing it all from the very beginning even if it can be a hard read, like opening a time capsule!
Unfortuantly they still haven't completely collected Robin's stuff from Star Spangled Comics during the Golden Age, thats the only Gold Age stuff I know of thats missing.
them raising the price from 75 to 125 is crazy
I'm just waiting for the first looks at complete moonshine & nice house on the lake DLX. Gotta check them bindings are all good
Golden Age Batman was my Batman, it was my first exposure to the character on the printed page albeit it was through the old Batman Chronicles Trade paperbacks that I borrowed from the local library. Honestly, the first 6 years of Batman is incredibly solid I still think, reading them initially at 6 and 7 was definitely a transformative experience and you can see why Batman stuck.
I'd say the first 11 years were very good and underrated
Thank you for taking another chance on this both for the content and to review the the new book construction. Do you happen to know whether the more recent volumes (e.g. 9-10) have the improved spines and thinner paper stock, or has it only been this one so far to your knowledge?
Thank you Omar for this overview. I was confused of which to buy between this and 80 years of Batman.
Did they fix the blurry pages that they had in the original printing ?
Im happy they kept the the darwyn cooke dust jacket art. My golden age onmis will still match.
Now that the Golden Age omnis are wrapped up, I hope they continue with the Silver Age ones
Volume One of Silver Age is out, in addition to 2 Volumes of Batman/Superman World's Finest. If they are doing a second run of Gold Age I'm sure they will keep up with Silver.
As much as I love Batman, I don't think I can read an entire Golden Age omnibus.
Same here. It’s a good thing comics have evolved.
"evolved" into decompressed soapy melodramas.
These old stories are great. Batman actually has a sense of humor, his relationship with Robin is great, (a surrogate father-son relationship) and there are some genuinely great character stories. However, these stories usually happen with regular, one-off people. Some of the best stories feature some Joe Schmoe who has a problem and Batman & Robin help them just because they're good people.
I find the modern Batman to be cringey & try-hard. He has become overpowered to a ridiculous degree & feels psychopathic. After reading Golden Age stories I'm convinced that Robin is a necessary character because he humanizes Batman. You'll notice that without Robin, Batman becomes more & more unstable.
I can say a lot more but I'll just leave it at that lol.
@@kasperk.651 they're designed/meant to be monthly anthologies not a binge read breeze that people love and have been accustomed to for years now. So anything with an actual substantial amount of writing that gives more to the story and characters via thought balloons and third person narration boxes (which they never should've taken away precisely because they added so much to the story and characters and are storytelling techniques unique to comics) people get turned off and call it "wordy" so it's not palatable enough for them i.e. lazy readers. I can go more on that, but I'll stop there lol . People don't understand as well as forget and overlook that.
Not to mention Bill Finger is a great writer and one of the best Golden age writers who wrote compelling, wholesome, entertaining, and sometimes emotional stories. I just really hate this mentality of "too old, therefore bad or not good enough" bs. People are just too uncultured and apathetic, either past what they grew up with or things that are older than them. This is honestly one of those things where it's more for a niche, cultured audience. Not for the mainstream, and that's a good thing, not everything has to be mainstream or popular to be considered "valid." In fact, that shouldn't be the case. Anyways, that my little soapbox on that, lol.
I will say tho that how people can really overstate the "edginess" and grit of Batman currently or in recent decades, because he def has had nuance, vulnerabilities, limitations, and asked for help as well as good rapport with the Robins and batfamily in general but yeah there are certain times where he can get too flanderized or misinterpreted in the books or media and no one has ever fully and properly fleshed out his moral code and explained it perfectly than Doug Moench in his Batman run (#540-541) with the Spectre. Under the red hood only gives a partial half assed reasoning that people continually cling to lol and/or twist. But for sure, Batman is one of those characters that can easily be misunderstood and misconstrued, especially at face value.
I grew up with Batman comics by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. When I read reprints of the golden age comics at that time I was shocked how different they were.@@kasperk.651
@@anthonygarcia8749 All facts lol.
Yeah I think you made a great point about the "wordiness" of old comics. I don't understand why people complain about this. They were written more for children and semi-literate audiences so it was a great way of introducing reading to those audiences. But also like you said it's weird that they're absent in more modern stories. (And on that note, why are so many words bolded in modern speech bubbles???)
It is unique to the medium of comics because you can effortlessly change the perspective. One panel can have multiple character's thoughts. Doing this in a novel is difficult and jarring.
Yes! I want the 3 golden age vol 1 for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (now just missing WW).
I think DC is planning on reprinting GA WW 1.
@@ebilliot510yes, it is getting reprinted on November.
Laughed when you said Bill Kane and Bob Finger(First Names Opposite)😂 Keep up the great reviews Omar!
One way to make sure they both get credit for a change I guess
I'm on the fence with this one. I want to get it just to have Batman's early stories in Omni, but then I don't have any more space. I'm thinking of downsizing my collections but DC keeps announcing titles that I want. That's why I make extreme considerations on getting titles that are not on my list.
Got this and superman golden age vol 1. But that's it for golden age. I'll start collecting all the batman/ superman silver age omnibus as they come out.
I have the original, plus vol 3, 4 & 10.
Hope this does well to reprint any of the older ones to stop scalping.
My hat goes off to Omar for reading this, though he is on record saying that he didn't like the golden age.
I myself come and go with the golden age because of the writing and art but I will wait through then in time.
Love Batman’s pointy ears 😁
I said you shouldn’t do the review. But you did it very professionally. Great video
I appreciate that!
My total for the month when this was solicited was already way too high so I didn’t preorder this one but now I’m regretting it. Really want to pick this up…
If only I had unlimited shelf space for these golden age omnis. Alas, I don't so I've decided to stick with late bronze age / post COIE era which is what I grew up reading.
I will be picking up this book. It’s interesting to see how much Batman has changed over the years, but the core elements haven’t changed too much.
For me, I started reading Batman from the Bronze Age. It’s good that DC is releasing stories that were published before I was born.
Thanks for the review, I will be getting this and other Golden Age books.
I found the golden age Batman stories nostalgic as I read them as a kid in the old paperbacks I would check out from the library. I doubt they would hold up for me today though. The only comic I can really go back to from this time period and re-read over again is Dick Tracy. That's my jam.
Omar
Will you be reviewing the new What If Omnibus and Marvel Age Omnibus? Thanks
Already filmed and putting it on Patreon today. Thinking of a release day. Perhaps Monday.
So awesome that we now have the first nearly 20 years of batman on our shelves! Really hope they keep the silver age omnis releasing regularly and ideally with a bronze age line. Even one SA and one BA omni a year would be great.
I mean, clearly a must have 😃
At this rate we're never gonna get the bronze age omnis.
Part of me wants every Golden & Silver Age Batman omni cause I want ALL THE BATMAN COMICS, but these Golden/Silver Age omnis can be wordy. 😂
I'll try the first one & see if I wanna go from there. 👍
Wait... So Batman was popping vampires point blank before Blade?! Thats GANGSTA!! 😂
They first half or so of the first Golden Age ombi is facinating to read just to see where all the characters come from and how much has changed, and how quickly some of it changed. No Alfred, no Batcave... stright up murdering people. and much more.
Will there be reprint of volume 2?
I'm glad DC reprinted this for those who missed out. Vol 6 -8 should be reprinted as those are going for $500 - $900 on the secondary market. Also, it looks like vol 10 is selling out everywhere!
I recently spent a lot of money on volume 6 through 9 to complete my golden age omnibus collection. If only I new reprints were going to be an option. 😢
Just got my copy last week. Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱
Alfred doesn't show up til vol 3!
That’s crazy. Robin had to pull double duty for a while.
Does anyone know if the restoration has been improved since the original printing? (I'm guessing not as there's no mention in the solicit)
Not sure how much there is to improve, I know I saw one comment somewhere saying they didn't even bother drawing in all the lines but then someone showed the orginal comic and yet thats just how they were drawn.
@@RogueDragon05 Well they've been using the same files that they restored back in the 90's for the original DC Archives - it would be nice if they did some better reproduction (look at the original Marvel Masterworks compared to the current omnibuses/Masterworks and they have massively improved the restoration but DC are content with still using the old Archives file)
Each omnibus covers about two and a half years of material.
First supervillain is Ultra Humanite in Supernan for some months
I need to read this
Damn
Hey near mint condition. Do you ever read standing up?
Omar when is the marvel age Omni overview?
Today. Now!!
I plan on getting this book and #10, now if DC will only reprint 2-9.
What changed NMC’s mind? I thought you could not get into the pre crisis, especially the golden age, silver age DC contents?
People asked if I could do an overview. As you could tell in the overview; I set my personal feelings to the side.
Just give me a VOL 7 reprint. Near impossible to find other than ridiculously priced secondhand sellers.
I will never buy or read anything from the golden/silver/bronze age but these videos are fun
Sucks for you
The real Batman kills!
His character evolved not to.
I don't believe there's anything offensive in these older issues. These stories from the 1930s through the 1990s are essential reading and largely remain the gold standard of Batman. While there are some common racial depictions of Asians, Africans, and others typical of the times, there's nothing overtly offensive-except perhaps to those who are easily offended.
Wow, this looks absolutely atrocious
Can't believe they still put out such awful digital coloring job officially as if there's nothing wrong with it
😂
#Spider-HamOmnibus
I woulda been more excited for bronze age omnis.😡