- Source: Marvel oversized hardcover
The Marvel Comics oversized hardcover format launched in 2002, reproducing full-colour comics in books approximately 11in x 7.5in in size. This was roughly an inch taller and wider than the original comic book.
Launch
The first two releases were Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 and The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man in late-March and early-April 2002, with then Marvel President, Bill Jemas, saying that the company had “never done hardcovers but every time we’ve done one, it’s been spectacularly successful.” Twelve oversized hardcovers were released in 2002.
A smaller ‘premiere’ hardcover size, plus the thicker ‘omnibus’ format, both launched in the mid-2000s - however the oversized hardcover continued to be Marvel's preferred choice of premium release for recent content. The much-heralded return of the Star Wars licence to Marvel in 2015 saw the publisher use the format to release three remasters of comics from the original trilogy.
Format overlap and shift
With the omnibus and oversized hardcover line running side-by-side while sharing the same print size, there was often confusion in regards to how Marvel classified books. In 2015, a Spider-Verse ‘oversized hardcover’ was released at 648 pages; yet, months later, a Superior Foes Of Spider-Man ‘omnibus’ came out, with only 376 pages. Both collected full runs of a Spider-Man miniseries that had been released within the prior two years. In February 2019, the Hulk: Dogs Of War ‘oversized hardcover’ was 832 pages; while, four months later, Hulk by Loeb and McGuinness was a 912-page ‘omnibus’.
Meanwhile, the 2011 ‘oversized hardcover’ of X-Men: Fall Of The Mutants was re-released with the exact same page count and cover in 2022, but using ‘omnibus’ branding; while 2025's X-Men: Fatal Attractions ‘omnibus’ has identical content to the 2012 ‘oversized hardcover’.
The shortest omnibus was 2007's Devil Dinosaur at 184 pages, while the largest oversized hardcover was 2013's Avengers vs. X-Men Companion at 1,112 pages.
By 2022, even though the overall comics market “was a success on the surface”, the generally thinner oversized hardcover format was struggling. Costs had increased for both retailers and consumers, especially in regards to shipping. This led to a priority shift towards the softcover trade paperback format, and manga-style digests. This was borne out by Marvel's 2025 launch of the 9in x 6in Premier Collection, in response to DC’s Compact Comics, which had been a big hit for retailers.
As a result, just 18 oversized hardcovers came out in 2022, with eight in 2023 - a far cry from the 49 of 2011 and 45 of 2010. Only four books were released in 2024, each rounding off a creator's run that had already started in the format. Those numbers compared to 2024's record 89 omnibuses and 87 Epic Collections, including reprints, signalling the priority change.
Only two oversized hardcovers are scheduled for 2025: Rob Liefeld's Deadpool Badbadder Blood one-shot. and the fourth volume of X-Force by Benjamin Percy.
Marvel Universe OHCs
These books contain stories that take place in the primary Marvel Universe. This fictional continuity is often referred to as Earth-616, with a legacy that stretches back to 1939.
= Alias
== Avengers
== Black Panther
== Cable
== Captain America
== Captain Britain
== Carnage
== Daredevil
== Deadpool
== Doctor Strange
== Elektra
== Eternals
== Excalibur
== Fantastic Four
== Guardians Of The Galaxy
== Hawkeye
== Hellions
== Hulk
== Hulk (Skaar)
== Inhumans
== Invaders
== Iron Man
== Loki
== Luke Cage
== Marauders
== Marvels
== Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan)
== Moon Knight
== Punisher
== Runaways
== S.H.I.E.L.D.
== Spider-Gwen
== Spider-Man
== Squirrel Girl
== Thanos
== Thor
== Venom
== Wolverine
== X-Force
== X-Men
== Young Avengers
== Anthologies
=These books feature comics previously published within the Earth-616 universe, but grouped outside of a single character, or team.
= Miniseries
=These books feature characters or teams that rarely have an ongoing series; or other content from the primary Earth-616 universe that doesn't neatly fit into another category.
Event OHCs
Marvel's first major line-wide event was Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars in 1984. The event “capitalized on the success of previous crossovers to make an epic storyline involving most of the Marvel Universe”. By the mid-2000s, large comics events had become an annual tradition for Marvel, with Avengers Disassembled (2004), House of M (2005), Civil War (2006–2007), and Secret Invasion (2008) providing enormous sales success. After initial trade paperback reprints, these all had premium oversized hardcover releases.
= Age Of Ultron
== Annihilation
== Avengers & X-Men: AXIS
== Avengers vs. X-Men
== Avengers/X-Men Utopia
== Civil War
== Civil War II
== House Of M
== Inferno (1988)
== Infinity (2013)
== Infinity Wars
== Inhumanity
== Onslaught
== Original Sin
== Secret Empire
== Secret Invasion
== Secret War
=The Secret War hardcover was reprinted in 2025. It contains four extra issues from The Pulse and has the Marvel Omnibus branding.
= Secret Wars (2015)
== Siege
== War Of Kings
=Alternate universe OHCs
As part of the Marvel multiverse, other fictional continuities exist. Books in this section still contain Marvel characters; however, they are alternate versions who don't, or rarely, interact with characters from the mainstream Earth-616 section.
= 1602 Universe (Earth-311)
=Written by Neil Gaiman, with art from Andy Kubert, Marvel's 1602 universe reimagines the superheroes as if they existed in the Elizabethan era.
= Earth X (Earth-9997)
=The Earth X universe was created by Dave Kreuger and Alex Ross, and “showed a possible near future for the Marvel Universe”. The project came from “an article for Wizard Magazine and their reaction to the amazing work Alex had done in reimagining and designing the DCU for Kingdom Come.” The Earth X universe is designated as Earth-9997.
A year before Marvel officially launched the oversized hardcover format, June 2001 saw Earth X released as a limited ‘clamshell’ edition. This featured the “hardcover book, sculpted translucent, outer-skin box, 36" x 24" poster and two compact disc containing a wealth of digital audio/visual material”. It was limited to 6,000 copies and slightly wider than what became ‘oversized’.
= Marvel Zombies (Earth-2149)
=The first appearance of Marvel Zombies was in Ultimate Fantastic Four #21, written by Mark Millar. He said: “I had this idea on the plane from Scotland about a superhero arriving from another dimension with a zombie plague and biting the Avengers when they showed up to contain the problem. Everyone hated it. It was so universally loathed and everyone thought I was kidding when I suggested it.”
Despite that, after the first appearance, the concept grew to launch its own series, with Marvel Zombies and Marvel Zombies 2 written by The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman. The initial Zombies universe is designated Earth-2149.
= Marvel Apes (Earth-8101)
=The idea for Marvel Apes originated at the 2007 New York Comic Convention. Series artist Ramon Bachs said: “...it all came from a joke at a convention between (Marvel Editor-in-chief) Joe Quesada and a fan, talking about Marvel Zombies. Something like, "What's next? Marvel Apes!”.
The series was green-lit and launched in 2008, with Karl Kesel writing, and Bachs on pencils. Kesel said the series involved “...a monkeyverse where everyone’s some sort of ape or monkey. Most of the major Marvel characters have counterparts.”
= Ronin Universe (Earth-11542)
=Writer Peter Milligan used the 5 Ronin series to re-imagine Marvel heroes as samurais in ancient Japan. The hardcover includes all five issues, featuring Hulk, Wolverine, Psyclocke, Punisher, and Deadpool.
= Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane (Earth-602636)
=Sean McKeever's “shojo romance manga” interpretation launched in 2004, with the Mary Jane series. The all-ages title focused more on the relationship between a teenage Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson than Spider-Man's superhero antics. It was first collected in a series of digests, before being reprinted as a pair of oversized hardcovers.
See more: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane collected editions
= Squadron Supreme (Earth-31916)
=Marvel's Squadron Supreme was created by Roy Thomas in 1971 as the company's version of DC's Justice League. The series was reinvented by J. Michael Straczynski as Supreme Power in 2003, part of the company's MAX imprint.
The adult-orientated comics allowed for a much darker interpretation of the characters where: “All the heroes' actions bring to mind the question of how far superheroes should go. The result was a book that took a somewhat overlooked classic and kicked its themes into overdrive.”
= Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)
=Ultimate Marvel launched in 2000 as a response to "so much backstory that the stories (in the main books) were almost incomprehensible."
Bill Jemas, President of Marvel Enterprises from 2000 to 2004, wrote: “Joe Quesada and I started the Ultimate books because we wanted Marvel to get back in touch with kids. We wanted Marvel's great teen heroes - Spidey and the X-Men - to star in comics for 2001 kids.” The first Ultimate universe is designated as Earth-1610.
The Ultimates
Ultimate Fantastic Four
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up
Ultimate Spider-Man (2000)
Ultimate X-Men
Licensed OHCs
As well as publishing omnibuses featuring the company's own characters, Marvel also releases books from other franchises. Some of these – like Star Wars – are owned by Marvel's parent company, Disney; others are licensed for certain periods of time, which includes creator-owned content.
= Anita Blake (Laurell K. Hamilton)
== Conan
== Criminal, Incognito (Ed Brubaker)
=After Ed Brubaker launched Sleeper for DC comics alongside Sean Phillips in 2003, the duo moved to Marvel. Criminal #1 debuted in 2006, as part of the company's Icon imprint. Between that and Incognito, the pair released more than three-dozen creator-owned comics, reprinted in a trio of deluxe oversized hardcovers. They switched to Image Comics in 2014.
= Disney
== Empire Of The Dead (George Romero)
== Kabuki (David Mack)
== Kick Ass (Mark Millar)
== Max Ride (James Patterson)
== Oz
== Powers (Brian Michael Bendis)
=The Powers series was published by Image Comics between 2000 and 2004, before moving to Marvel's Icon label in 2004.
Seven ‘definitive’ oversized hardcovers were published between then and 2017, before writer Brian Michael Bendis signed a deal to republish the books with Dark Horse Comics in 2021.
= Star Wars
=Following the October 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, it was announced that the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics in 2015.
The company used the oversized hardcover format to re-release remastered comic book versions of the original Star Wars trilogy. It also launched a new canon continuity, with Star Wars (2015) #1. This issue "exceeded one million copies sold on the direct market ... the top-selling single issue of the past 20 years." The first 12 issues of the book was collected in an oversized hardcover a little over a year after launch.
Miscellaneous OHCs
See also
Marvel omnibus
Marvel Gallery Editions
Marvel Epic Collections
Marvel Premier Collection
Marvel Premiere Classic
Marvel Complete Collections
Spider-Man collected editions
Daredevil collected editions
Marvel Masterworks
DC Omnibuses
DC Finest trade paperbacks
DC Compact Comics
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Marvel oversized hardcover
- Marvel Omnibus
- Marvel Gallery Editions
- Marvel Premier Collection
- Stan Lee
- Marvel Premiere Classic
- Marvel Complete Collections
- Daredevil collected editions
- Marvel Epic Collection
- The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection
