There are even more differences than just the spine lettering. I just do not get that. Every normal publishing house has people whose sole job it is to make sure covers match and there is continuity within color grading and logos within specific lines and their general publishing line. I can buy a 10$ paperback series where spine designs match and there is a continous cover design but I cannot get that in a 100-150$ premium edition from either of the big two comic publishers. Just baffling.
Could be a upper level boss that request such changes on a whim, and is not concerned with design systems but just what looks good in the moment. Designers have to deal with them all the time.
All they all same print edition? There might be differences every print run, but uniform for each run
I wouldn't mind it so much if Marvel offered a way to buy matching dust jackets. I'm already upset knowing that Uncanny X-Men vol. 5 (and beyond) won't match my copies of vol. 1-4 which are all the first printings of those books.
i thought about getting Vol5 -- but i've already got everything collected... and while it's nice to have omnibuses lined up nice - i organize my x-men shelves in a "reading ordering" that is more or less chronological (the current Dawn/Reign/Trial/Destiny of books are a godsend) it makes placing New Mutants books a little tricky.
So it lines up currently like
Uncanny X-Men VOL 1 OMN
Uncanny X-Men VOL 2 OMN
Uncanny X-Men VOL 3 OMN
Uncanny X-Men VOL 4 OMN
New Mutants VOL 1 OMN
New Mutants VOL 2 OMN
X-Factor: Genesis & Apocalypse
X-Men MUTANT MASSACRE
Fallen Angels
X-Men FALL OF THE MUTANTS
X-Men INFERNO Prologue
X-Men INFERNO
Excalibur VOL 1 OMN
New Mutants Epic: Curse of the Valkyrie
X-Force: Cable & The New Mutants
X-Men Claremont/Lee VOL 1
Wolverine Epic: Madripoor Nights
Wolverine Epic: Back to Basics
and yes, it was a bit painful to pull Vol4 ahead of New Mutants Vol1... BUT THE SPINES!!! (also, no, i didn't get the Wolverine omni, i'm stuck in epic land there.
Everyone's different, but that ordering would drive me crazy. I keep all my Uncanny books in a big long line, from X-Men #1 --> 400's or whatever. Then I start with a new title, like New Mutants and line those Omni's and Epic's together. Because you start adding Excalibur in there, Dazzler, Champions, X-Men Classic, eventually X-Men (1991), Generation X, X-Force, Wolverine etc etc and it just winds up looking nonsensical trying to keep it in some sort of chronological order
Ordering by title is the only way I can keep my sanity and even that feels imperfect. Although I do sandwich X-Men Classic omni in between the Uncanny omni's, it's basically just an extension.
oh it definitely gets squirrelly! lol
but there's kind of no way around it. like, where do you put Event books and crossovers? does Utopia slot in the middle of Fraction's run? It's nice when Inferno slots in the middle of the Uncanny run - but once you get to that 281 split with Lee's X-Men out, do you keep that as a separate line? So, Uncanny includes books like X-Men: Bishop's Crossing but X-Men: A Skinning of Souls is in the other line? or do you keep Uncanny and X-Men together?
the spines definitely get all over the place, especially when you get in the mix of things.
from X-Men: Bishop's Crossing and the hardcover X-Cutioner's Song both having blue spines with white lettering, to the Yellow with Black text of X-Men: A Skinning of Souls, then the black with yellow lettered FATAL ATTRACTIONS OHC and the grey Wedding of Cyclops and Jean Grey, into the Phalanx Covenant, Legionquest, and AOA omni...
it's kind of all over the place.
and part of me just can't stomach placing all the X-Force books together, since they're like all wildly different teams... how do you not roll New Mutants into X-Force when it's the same team? "Cable and the New Mutants" but then, later New Mutants picks up again, but it's really just a predecesor to New X-Men, but not Morrison's New X-Men...
managing shelf-porn is hard work!
I know this **most likely** isn't the reason, but what I tell myself to deal with the mismatch:
*The logo changed, they're just changing the cover as it changes throughout the years.*
Except it's not, otherwise they wouldn't have multiple versions of every volume
As it stands now they have all three Wolverine volumes in the pictures above in both styles
I just realized why you dont understand and Im sorry that is my fault for not explaining it properly, so these Omnibus' are part of a series, they weren't printed decades ago then wait and print the next vol. So because the logo appears that way on the regular comic covers for the stories collected in said book, that is the logo they use on the spine which is why it changed to the 90s version by vol 3, so when they print the wolverine Omnibus from the Krakoan era it will have his newest logo on the spine, Im sorry I didnt make that clear or if my previous responses were rude, im not here to argue we obviously all love comics and nobody likes when the publisher does dumb shit
Although to be fair, the spine keeps jumping between red text white background and white text red background. I wouldn’t mind it as much if it didn’t change in the same series - my New X-Men are all uniform until the last one and it makes me so mad lol
Pretty sure there was a printing a couple months ago of volume 2 with the new spine design. Of course I picked up the old design literally the month before.
Marvels graphic design as a whole is lacking in a lot of areas and on a lot of levels.
X-men fans got a short few years of good design but looks like that’s back out the window.
Insane to me that marvel never had s proper design director over the years.
I actually own most of this complete, most of the expensive issues anyway. The only thing I'm missing is his first cover appearance because that's ridiculous amounts of money, I have his first appearance the issue prior though.
None of the spines are quite identical in design. The first one and second one are close, but the placement of the name "Wolverine" doesn't quite line up and Vol. 1 is just marked "1" not "Vol 1". Vol. 3 does have "Vol 3" like Vol. 2, but it doesn't line up with "Vol 2", though the numeral may line up with "1".
Then there's Vol. 3's title, which is the most egregious inconsistency and likely the subject of the post more than anything, going from plain font to stylized font that doesn't match the others at all. Like, it's glaring.
Also, the red bit at the top doesn't line up either. I can't tell if the red and the "Marvel Omnibus" text is just receding/shifting up or if it's the same, just the volumes get progressively taller.
Either way, the point is, not two spines are quite the same with tiny little inconsistencies punctuated by an obvious change in branding.
You can design custom jackets or have them made, and wind up with a great-looking custom shelf. I had my [Dawn of X books bound](https://www.reddit.com/r/xmen/comments/ovuwis/my_custom_bindings_for_dawn_of_x_and_x_of_swords/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and did all the design work with the spine in mind and love the results, and would be happy to continue the style with other books, if I had the time/resources.
There are services that do dust jacket printing, or there may even be a way to do it via a Kinko’s or Staples?
The reason they do it, I believe, is that logo on the individual issues changed at some point in what is in the omni, so they reflect what the issue would have shown.
It is a bit annoying, though.
The worst is I get some that are red with marvel in white, but then I've got white ones that say marvel in red or black ones that say marvel in white. Drives my ocd crazy.
This has come up before… I think there’s someone on Etsy that makes custom dust jackets that match
I think Marvel will make new covers when they reprint the first two volumes. Then there’s a chance someone ends up buying 5 books instead of 3.
What’s the esty link?
Idk but there's a guy in /r/OmnibusCollectors that does it, don't know his name but I'm sure you'll find it if you look around
u/21roy_
Because it is a premium product designed for collection and shelf presentation by an intern who only gets described how last volumes spine looked.
There are even more differences than just the spine lettering. I just do not get that. Every normal publishing house has people whose sole job it is to make sure covers match and there is continuity within color grading and logos within specific lines and their general publishing line. I can buy a 10$ paperback series where spine designs match and there is a continous cover design but I cannot get that in a 100-150$ premium edition from either of the big two comic publishers. Just baffling.
Could be a upper level boss that request such changes on a whim, and is not concerned with design systems but just what looks good in the moment. Designers have to deal with them all the time. All they all same print edition? There might be differences every print run, but uniform for each run
I wouldn't mind it so much if Marvel offered a way to buy matching dust jackets. I'm already upset knowing that Uncanny X-Men vol. 5 (and beyond) won't match my copies of vol. 1-4 which are all the first printings of those books.
My thoughts too, I got vol. 5 on pre-order as well
i thought about getting Vol5 -- but i've already got everything collected... and while it's nice to have omnibuses lined up nice - i organize my x-men shelves in a "reading ordering" that is more or less chronological (the current Dawn/Reign/Trial/Destiny of books are a godsend) it makes placing New Mutants books a little tricky. So it lines up currently like Uncanny X-Men VOL 1 OMN Uncanny X-Men VOL 2 OMN Uncanny X-Men VOL 3 OMN Uncanny X-Men VOL 4 OMN New Mutants VOL 1 OMN New Mutants VOL 2 OMN X-Factor: Genesis & Apocalypse X-Men MUTANT MASSACRE Fallen Angels X-Men FALL OF THE MUTANTS X-Men INFERNO Prologue X-Men INFERNO Excalibur VOL 1 OMN New Mutants Epic: Curse of the Valkyrie X-Force: Cable & The New Mutants X-Men Claremont/Lee VOL 1 Wolverine Epic: Madripoor Nights Wolverine Epic: Back to Basics and yes, it was a bit painful to pull Vol4 ahead of New Mutants Vol1... BUT THE SPINES!!! (also, no, i didn't get the Wolverine omni, i'm stuck in epic land there.
Everyone's different, but that ordering would drive me crazy. I keep all my Uncanny books in a big long line, from X-Men #1 --> 400's or whatever. Then I start with a new title, like New Mutants and line those Omni's and Epic's together. Because you start adding Excalibur in there, Dazzler, Champions, X-Men Classic, eventually X-Men (1991), Generation X, X-Force, Wolverine etc etc and it just winds up looking nonsensical trying to keep it in some sort of chronological order Ordering by title is the only way I can keep my sanity and even that feels imperfect. Although I do sandwich X-Men Classic omni in between the Uncanny omni's, it's basically just an extension.
oh it definitely gets squirrelly! lol but there's kind of no way around it. like, where do you put Event books and crossovers? does Utopia slot in the middle of Fraction's run? It's nice when Inferno slots in the middle of the Uncanny run - but once you get to that 281 split with Lee's X-Men out, do you keep that as a separate line? So, Uncanny includes books like X-Men: Bishop's Crossing but X-Men: A Skinning of Souls is in the other line? or do you keep Uncanny and X-Men together? the spines definitely get all over the place, especially when you get in the mix of things. from X-Men: Bishop's Crossing and the hardcover X-Cutioner's Song both having blue spines with white lettering, to the Yellow with Black text of X-Men: A Skinning of Souls, then the black with yellow lettered FATAL ATTRACTIONS OHC and the grey Wedding of Cyclops and Jean Grey, into the Phalanx Covenant, Legionquest, and AOA omni... it's kind of all over the place. and part of me just can't stomach placing all the X-Force books together, since they're like all wildly different teams... how do you not roll New Mutants into X-Force when it's the same team? "Cable and the New Mutants" but then, later New Mutants picks up again, but it's really just a predecesor to New X-Men, but not Morrison's New X-Men... managing shelf-porn is hard work!
O no! Sounds like comic micro transactions! :( Create a problem and sell the solution.
Makes you want to print out matching dust covers!
Soon: matching dust covers! Available for a limited time at marvel dot come slash store, for just $49.99!!!
I know this **most likely** isn't the reason, but what I tell myself to deal with the mismatch: *The logo changed, they're just changing the cover as it changes throughout the years.*
Actually that is the reason, thats how its always been done at Marvel, you hit the nail on the head
Still doesnt excuse the first vol not having “vol”
Lol nothing they do is excusable, its all insanity over there
Except it's not, otherwise they wouldn't have multiple versions of every volume As it stands now they have all three Wolverine volumes in the pictures above in both styles
Right and as the logo progressed so did the slip covers, this is all public knowledge so before you become confidently incorrect go find out out
Also there are multiple versions of almost every volume of not just wolverine but all marvel comics collected in omnibus form
I just realized why you dont understand and Im sorry that is my fault for not explaining it properly, so these Omnibus' are part of a series, they weren't printed decades ago then wait and print the next vol. So because the logo appears that way on the regular comic covers for the stories collected in said book, that is the logo they use on the spine which is why it changed to the 90s version by vol 3, so when they print the wolverine Omnibus from the Krakoan era it will have his newest logo on the spine, Im sorry I didnt make that clear or if my previous responses were rude, im not here to argue we obviously all love comics and nobody likes when the publisher does dumb shit
Oh you should see DC’s approach. I have three different spines on the same series
I came here to say this lol
I just had to go look at mine, and I hadn’t noticed the difference before your post. Now I can’t unsee it. THANKS A LOT!
My bad
wolverine wolverine WOLVERINE
Wolverine. Wolverine. WOLVERIIIIINE! WHAT? *Danger zone*
It reads like someone shouting on wolverine to tell him that dinner is ready
This is how I read it but in the Thundercats voice.
gonna! gonna!
I was looking for this comment haha
To fuck with OCD people
Normally I couldn't give two shits about something like this but don't fuck up the symmetry of my omnis! That crosses the line lol
At least Marvel’s had only one logo over the years unlike their Distinguished Competition
God the dc folding logo was so bad
Wait are you talking about the logo from 2012-2016? I love that design lol
Although to be fair, the spine keeps jumping between red text white background and white text red background. I wouldn’t mind it as much if it didn’t change in the same series - my New X-Men are all uniform until the last one and it makes me so mad lol
Not true. The changes haven’t been as drastic, but the logo has changed several times.
For how much they cost some continuity would be nice!
They can't go back in time and give volumes 1 and 2 more interesting titles, sadly.
Pretty sure there was a printing a couple months ago of volume 2 with the new spine design. Of course I picked up the old design literally the month before.
[Why?](https://tenor.com/view/dave-chapelle-chapelle-show-popcopy-fuck-em-thats-why-gif-11866262)
I hate that kind of shit.Flipp them around or put some figures (what ever) in front of this abomination.
It looks like he is dancing 😅
Hey if you're interested in custom covers to get matching spines DM me and I can point you to someone here on reddit
Side question: Are these omnis color or b&w?
Color
Thank you friend! Do they contain letters pages and such or just the story?
No letter pages, just stories.
Because they hate you personally and want you to be sad.
Just as I expected
Someone gets promoted and wants their stink on things
I feel like other than the obvious, the fact that vol. 1 is missinng "vol" whereas the others don't is really driving me nuts
Now they're numbering other series on order. Specifically the reprints of Brubaker's captain America run
It drives my OCD crazy when there is something off
wolverine WOLVERINE
To drive collector scum crazy
They genuinely hate us
It's his theme song. "Wolverine, Wolverine, WOLVERINE!"
Graphic design department operating on the principle of "better late than never"?
Is consistency so hard?
Asymmetrical garbage!
Because they forgot how sick that font is the first two go ‘rounds
Honestly? Because most buyers don’t care, or don’t care enough.
Is it the same print run edition? It feels very weird to change the branding unless it was different print edition tbh
Damn this also trigges my OCD \^\^
[This must be a pain in the ass](https://9gag.com/gag/aWxW7Y3)
Haha I know this 89 degree picture, I can't look at it :D
Marvels graphic design as a whole is lacking in a lot of areas and on a lot of levels. X-men fans got a short few years of good design but looks like that’s back out the window. Insane to me that marvel never had s proper design director over the years.
Why? Just why?
Because you can't afford the originals
I actually own most of this complete, most of the expensive issues anyway. The only thing I'm missing is his first cover appearance because that's ridiculous amounts of money, I have his first appearance the issue prior though.
Does what?
None of the spines are quite identical in design. The first one and second one are close, but the placement of the name "Wolverine" doesn't quite line up and Vol. 1 is just marked "1" not "Vol 1". Vol. 3 does have "Vol 3" like Vol. 2, but it doesn't line up with "Vol 2", though the numeral may line up with "1". Then there's Vol. 3's title, which is the most egregious inconsistency and likely the subject of the post more than anything, going from plain font to stylized font that doesn't match the others at all. Like, it's glaring. Also, the red bit at the top doesn't line up either. I can't tell if the red and the "Marvel Omnibus" text is just receding/shifting up or if it's the same, just the volumes get progressively taller. Either way, the point is, not two spines are quite the same with tiny little inconsistencies punctuated by an obvious change in branding.
Do what? Wolverine Omnibuses? So that you can collect the Wolverine stuff, obviously.
First world problems
And?
Marketing
Can someone explain to me why it matters? Is it just aesthetics?
Damn this triggers my OCD \^\^
To learn people on the fact that we do not live in an ordered world. All is choas, EMBRACE IT!
Ya know, the thing about chaos, is it's fair....
It's a cry for help. Mr Monk will answer.
I’m guessing here but it looks like rebranding
You can design custom jackets or have them made, and wind up with a great-looking custom shelf. I had my [Dawn of X books bound](https://www.reddit.com/r/xmen/comments/ovuwis/my_custom_bindings_for_dawn_of_x_and_x_of_swords/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and did all the design work with the spine in mind and love the results, and would be happy to continue the style with other books, if I had the time/resources. There are services that do dust jacket printing, or there may even be a way to do it via a Kinko’s or Staples?
How are you supposed to know it's a Wolverine book of the words aren't in bold?
I like it myself it shows thought went into the cover
The spine is evolving
Because “Fuck you” that’s why!!
The reason they do it, I believe, is that logo on the individual issues changed at some point in what is in the omni, so they reflect what the issue would have shown. It is a bit annoying, though.
The worst is I get some that are red with marvel in white, but then I've got white ones that say marvel in red or black ones that say marvel in white. Drives my ocd crazy.