Supeman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 3

I am on a comic collecting spree and its awesome to be able to read Superman comics from the goldenage. The art work is not impressive but i just love the fact that i am able to witness the evolution of the man of steel.

The book was packed poorly and the cover was slightly damaged.

Just three volumes in and the Omnibus series has already exceeded the material in the Chronicles series. Superman Chronicles ceased with Superman issue 19, Action Comics 56 and World's Finest 7. This volume reaches Superman issue 24, Action Comics 65 and World's Finest 10. After volume four the Omnibus series will have exceeded the limits of the Archive series and will truly be the most complete Golden Age series yet.At this point in the Golden Age Superman is still battling a lot of crooks and thugs but he's starting to branch out into more reasonable threats. So far the only enduring villains that had been introduced so far are the Ultra-Humanite and Luthor. With this volume we get the introductions of The Prankster and The Puzzler. The Prankster had a longer career but neither was even a slight threat to the Man of Steel. The extra dimensional extortionist, Mister Sinister, was a little bit more of a threat but his was a one time appearance. The original Metalo (different spelled name) is the only character I've seen thus far that was a physical match for Superman. You get the feeling that it was dawning on Siegel and Shuster that Superman needed a more legitimate opponent but they were still mostly serving him up small potatoes. In this volume we get the precursor to Superman's Fortress of Solitude. His original home base was a mountain retreat called the Secret Citadel.The funniest thing about this volume is how Clark constantly uses his Superman identity to scoop Lois on every news article. For a guy trying to maintain a secret identity this continually gives the appearance that he has superhuman methods for getting information. Occasionally he even mocks Lois about his super skills at scooping her. At one point Lois says, "Clark, Don't tell me you've scooped me again?!" to which Clark replies, "It's the SUPERMAN in me!". What a super jerk.The beauty of the Omnibus series is that it has the high quality pages of the Archives but the combined Superman stories of the Chronicles series. At 9 by 6.5 the pages are slightly larger the Archives which fall in at 8 by 6. I also find the Darwyn Cooke covers more attractive than the covers on the other two series. This volume is 788 pages so the price per page is quite good. All in all I would say that the Omnibus is now the premier collection for the Golden Age fan bar none.BTW: Superman Omnibus #4 is scheduled to be released in May so then it's supremacy will be complete.

Now we are getting into the good stuff. Don't get me wrong, Superman as a true Social Justice Warrior (kicking slum lord's butt's, etc) is right on stuff, but I love this period or Superman. The artwork really improves, and Superman starts to battle members of what will be his rogue's gallery. The volume, like all omnibus editions (DC or Marvel) is cumbersome, but then you get a lot in one volume.

The third omnibus of Superman, as with the first two, is on great quality paper and printing. The stories were written during the American involvement in World War Two and the stories and covers reflect that fact.

Love this collection. Nice quality paper and enjoyable stories. The binding could be a bit stronger, but holds up well.