Marvel 75th Anniversary Omnibus

The Marvel 75th Anniversary Omnibus is the closest we can get to having the entire marvel universe in one book.

Counting from when Marvel was called Timely in 1939, the 75th Anniversary Omnibus team asked fans to nominate the most significant Marvel stories since those days. This is, therefore, a compilation of comics chosen by the fans and not the editors at Marvel.

There is no better hero to "bookend" the Marvel years than Captain America. The two other potential candidates would be the Human Torch and Namor, the Submariner. The original Human Torch didn't make it out of those early years, superceded by the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm. Namor, undeniably still a major Marvel character, simply doesn't have the cache of Captain America. The collection starts near the beginning with Captain America #1 from 1941, then readers get a Captain America tale from 2005.

The Captain may bookend this collection but the undeniable star is Spider-Man. From Spidey's origins in Amazing Fantasy 15 to the most iconic stories including the Death of Gwen Stacy, Spidey is definitely the biggest gem in the Marvel Crown.

Marvel's utterly incredible cosmic stories is represented by the first - and maybe, still the best - cosmic tale: The arrival of Galactus and the Silver Surfer in the pages of the Fantastic Four.

The next big focus is the X-Men. Though I am a big fan of the original X-Men it cannot be denied that the first team was less than a "box office hit" - seeing effective cancellation after issue 66. The Omnibus covers the birth of the new team - the one with Colossus and Nightcrawler - and the beginning of a new, and extremely successful franchise within Marvel. Also included under the 'X-Men banner' is Hulk 181, the first appearance of you-know-who .

There's more. Thunderbolts, Hawkeye, Daredevil's "Elektra stories" - they're all here.

If you want to give the a truly representative omnibus to a Marvel fan (yourself included, of course) you can hardly do better than this 75th anniversary book of wonders.

What is a Marvel Omnibus?
Annihilation Omnibus
Marvel Now! Omnibus
Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus
Marvel Zomnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus
Ultimate Marvel Omnibus Volume 1
Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades
Amazing Fantasy Omnibus

Choose from a selection of Marvel Omnibuses