SCOOP: DC/Marvel Amalgam Omnibus Destroyed After Printer Error

Posted in: Avengers, Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Doctor Strange, Justice League, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Superman, X-Men | Tagged: amalgam, omnibus

SCOOP: DC/Marvel Amalgam Omnibus Destroyed After Printer Error

The DC/Marvel Amalgam Omnibus has been destroyed after massive printer error... so don't expect it anytime soon

Published Mon, 07 Oct 2024 10:27:12 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• DC/Marvel Amalgam Omnibus destroyed due to massive printer error.
• Reprint pushed to 2025 after five-figure run pulped.
• Printing issues too extreme for a simple PDF fix.
• Delayed release impacts publishers, retailers, and collectors.

The Marvel/DC Crossover Omnibuses have been delayed, but one has been delayed more than the others. The DC Marvel Amalgam Omnibus collection has even been removed from Amazon searches, though you can find it through Google, and the schedules have it now for the 31st of December, 2024, though "currently unavailable" to order.

I have discovered that there is a very, very expensive reason for this. And it may not be fixed by New Year's Eve. Both books were delayed by corporate procedures, signoffs, schedules and printer availability for what was originally planned as a 3000 print run for each volume but had orders that pushed that into the mid-five figures, making it the biggest print run for any comic book omnibus ever. But everything was (finally) going smoothly until the copies began arriving at the publishers and being sent out to contributors. This was suddenly stopped as it became transparently obvious that something was very, very wrong with the DC/Marvel Amalgam Omnibus, the volume that reprinted all the "mashup" DC/Marvel stories, aside from those written by Gerard Jones.

Of late, publishers have become a little more free and easy when it comes to printing errors. Rather than issue a recall and a reprint, publishers are more likely to issue missing or faulty images via PDF. Long is the day when Bob Greenberger would be fired over an error in copies of the Golden Age Hawkman Archives printed with pages in an incorrect order.

But for this one? I understand that the printing issues were so egregious that this was nothing a PDF could solve, and the issues stemmed directly from the printer rather than the publishing. As a result, the five-figure print run of this thousand-plus page oversized hardcover volume has been pulped, and the book is going to have to be reprinted when they can find a print schedule to allow such a monster. I am told not to expect it on the shelves until a while into 2025. And how that goes may all depend on the printer's insurance.

This is likely to be a setback for publisher and retailer alike; these Omnibuses were seen as guaranteed Christmas sellers, with many retailers ordering far more of the Omnibus than they would have of any other volume, with four or five-figure bumps to the cashflow. That has now been halved.

However, if those printed copies make it onto the market, there may be more opportunity for some to a) see just how bad the printing job was and b) see how much someone will be willing to pay for a "misprint" copy.

In February this year, Bleeding Cool scooped the news that these volumes would exist, later confirmed by DC Comics. I later confirmed the $150 cover price for each and that there would only be one printing. Then, they would be delayed until September and then until October, and then Amalgam split to the end of the year. Now we are getting a better idea of what actually went down.

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